Jump to content

Conspicuous caches


Jayeffel

Recommended Posts

Been thinking of hiding a cache in a way that it is so obvious it is overlooked. Not sure how yet though. Anyone know of such a cache?

 

I have seen some capeches that Arte close. A birdhouse type structure that is very evident, but the way to access the cache is not. I am thinking of something a person would see and bypass because it is so obvious. That being the case I'd probably miss it when doing a maintenance check!

Link to comment

I'd think that anything that looks like it belongs there should do the trick.

I have a ball, about 6" diameter, that unscrews to open & access the container.  Sprayed (and sealed) the exterior with cement texture paint to match the cement birdbath where it stands, placed on a pedestal, in the middle.  Logs note that they walked past it many times before zeroing in on it.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment

The downside to "obvious" is then folks uproot everything in the area.   Lawn sprinkler hides get a "down vote" for that...

We saw a lot of areas closed to this hobby because of our fellow cachers trampling/tearing everything apart.

One summer we saw numerous bird's nests destroyed after a "hider" decided that a fake egg in a "looks real" bird's nest was a "so obvious no one will notice"  hide.

 - Our wildlife suffered because of one person thinking they're "clever", and a lot of people checking other's later hides "just in case..."

Another, a pill bottle under the only bush at a memorial, had every light cover, switch plate, and even the flag pole loosened by people not realizing how "obvious" it was.

  • Surprised 1
  • Helpful 4
Link to comment
2 hours ago, Jayeffel said:

Been thinking of hiding a cache in a way that it is so obvious it is overlooked. Not sure how yet though. Anyone know of such a cache?

 

I have seen some capeches that Arte close. A birdhouse type structure that is very evident, but the way to access the cache is not. I am thinking of something a person would see and bypass because it is so obvious. That being the case I'd probably miss it when doing a maintenance check!

 

There are a few common "hidden in plain sight" types of hides.  The fake electrical plate or fake bolt has become almost ubiquitous.  Other examples are the magnetic sheet sign (with a plastic baggie taped to the back of it) or the add a piece of PVC pipe next to some pre-existing pipe.  I used to have a multi which had as it's first stage a block of wood (with coordinates written on the back)  placed such that it looked like it was part of a wooden gazebo.   I saw a really good fake water faucet that took advantage of a pre-existing hole in a brick wall.   They cut out a piece of wood, attached a faucet, and it fit into the hole in the wall (and hid a container behind the wood/faucet).  

 

Use your imagination.  Try to avoid something that requires finders to disassemble something, especially if it's something that's not part of the cache.   Cachers don't always put things back exactly how they found them.

  • Upvote 2
  • Helpful 2
Link to comment

How about a concrete angel stature on a grave. An old, neglected grave that no one visits. The log could be in the base. It would sit there in full sight, the same as many other small statues in a cemetery. In fact, in another game I have hidden a travelling angel in full sight for the next finder to find, in just such a situation.

Thinking about this, I might give this hide some consideration myself. A nice, respectful angel; nothing silly and out of place.

Link to comment
1 minute ago, Goldenwattle said:

How about a concrete angel stature on a grave. An old, neglected grave that no one visits. The log could be in the base. It would sit there in full sight, the same as many other small statues in a cemetery. In fact, in another game I have hidden a travelling angel in full sight for the next finder to find, in just such a situation.

Thinking about this, I might give this hide some consideration myself. A nice, respectful angel; nothing silly and out of place.

 

So, how does one tell the difference between a concrete angel that has been turned to a geocache on an old, neglected grave from a concrete  angel that someone has put on the grave of a recently departed family member?    Better hope that the coordinates for the hider and all finders are very accurate.

 

Quite a few years ago I was searching for a cache in a cemetery.   For some reason the GPS coordinates were bouncing all over the place.   In never did find the  cache, but I could easily see the results of those that had previously searched for it.  There was bark ripped off of several trees,  some foliage trampled down, and quite a few rocks turned over.   Ever since, if I find myself searching for a cache in a cemetery and my GPS is leading me anywhere close to a grave, I move on.  

  • Upvote 6
  • Surprised 1
  • Helpful 2
Link to comment

Often, it's simply paying attention to the details that make the difference in whether it blends or not.

For example, the bird feeder?  Consider printing and laminating a copy of a bunch of birdseed to insert where the clear plastic is, making it appear to be used for its intended purpose.

Link to comment
1 minute ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

 

So, how does one tell the difference between a concrete angel that has been turned to a geocache on an old, neglected grave from a concrete  angel that someone has put on the grave of a recently departed family member?    Better hope that the coordinates for the hider and all finders are very accurate.

 

Quite a few years ago I was searching for a cache in a cemetery.   For some reason the GPS coordinates were bouncing all over the place.   In never did find the  cache, but I could easily see the results of those that had previously searched for it.  There was bark ripped off of several trees,  some foliage trampled down, and quite a few rocks turned over.   Ever since, if I find myself searching for a cache in a cemetery and my GPS is leading me anywhere close to a grave, I move on.  

Only the geocache would have the GC number on it and a place for the log. The other wouldn't. It's not hard to tell. If the wrong angel is picked up put it carefully down again. But I did write, "An old, neglected grave that no one visits." If no-one visits, who is going to add an angel to a grave of someone who died a hundred years or more ago and the grave has been 'forgotten'. Many old graves are like that. No one has visited them for a long time, so not a "recently departed family member". Some even can be found in bushland where the trees have taken over again. I would hope the geocacher who places the angel would use common sense where they placed it. Could even add a hint, such as '1885.

Link to comment
20 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

How about a concrete angel stature on a grave. An old, neglected grave that no one visits. The log could be in the base. It would sit there in full sight, the same as many other small statues in a cemetery. In fact, in another game I have hidden a travelling angel in full sight for the next finder to find, in just such a situation.

Thinking about this, I might give this hide some consideration myself. A nice, respectful angel; nothing silly and out of place.

 

We're not allowed to hide caches on graves unless you have permission from the cemetery (hard to find the appropriate person to contact in most cases, especially in small ones) or it's a family member's marker.  Reviewer won't publish them.  Some states don't allow caches at all in cemeteries.

 

I've found a couple "pipes" that are magnetic on either end that look like connectors between boxes.  They were obvious once you looked carefully enough but imagine they could cause issues.  I have a thin magnetic ATT sticker (family member works for ATT) with coordinates for the next stage that blends right in.  I've found a cypress knee that was hollowed out but placed where other cypress knees were.

Edited by coachstahly
Link to comment
3 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

How about a concrete angel stature on a grave. An old, neglected grave that no one visits. The log could be in the base. It would sit there in full sight, the same as many other small statues in a cemetery. In fact, in another game I have hidden a travelling angel in full sight for the next finder to find, in just such a situation.

Thinking about this, I might give this hide some consideration myself. A nice, respectful angel; nothing silly and out of place.

 

There's nothing respectful about this.

As a fan of cemetery caches, I'd pass this one by in a minute. Maybe file a NA.

 

A monument is one thing, but a grave?

  • Upvote 4
Link to comment

I found a cache on a wetlands walkway that had a “toeboard” rather than a handrail.  The walkway construction with 2x4s.  The toeboard was made of 8-foot 2x4s laying flat and supported from the walkway deck at the ends by short (4 to 6 inch long) 2x4 pieces.  The cache was placed in a partly hollowed out short 2x4 piece placed under the toeboard, between supports.  It was “out of place” compared to the other short pieces, but only if you were really looking.

Link to comment
6 hours ago, Jayeffel said:

Been thinking of hiding a cache in a way that it is so obvious it is overlooked. Not sure how yet though. Anyone know of such a cache?

 

There are a bunch of examples in the Cool Cache Containers thread.  I made a "hummingbird feeder" that might work well in a garden or park.  Here's one with my ideas for "sprinkler head key hiders" that aren't all just "sprinkler head" style hides.

 

Edited by kunarion
Link to comment
3 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Only the geocache would have the GC number on it and a place for the log. The other wouldn't. It's not hard to tell. If the wrong angel is picked up put it carefully down again. But I did write, "An old, neglected grave that no one visits." If no-one visits, who is going to add an angel to a grave of someone who died a hundred years or more ago and the grave has been 'forgotten'. Many old graves are like that. No one has visited them for a long time, so not a "recently departed family member". Some even can be found in bushland where the trees have taken over again. I would hope the geocacher who places the angel would use common sense where they placed it. Could even add a hint, such as '1885. 

I think you're kinda missing the point. All those things make sense for the actual cache you're proposing. But no one should be messing around with anyone's angels because of the times there's a completely different hide that's missing. After all, the perfect angel for your cache will look like an angel that's been on the grave a hundred years and has been as neglected as the grave. And hints help you *find* a cache, but if you don't look at them, they won't tell you which angel to leave alone.

 

Besides, even at that, you're assuming everyone's as careful and conscientious as you. It's not you or me or even most cachers that you have to worry about, it's that one out of hundred that forgets about anything except finding the cache.

 

None of that necessarily rules out your plan, it just means you'd have to handle it very carefully.

3 hours ago, coachstahly said:

I've found a couple "pipes" that are magnetic on either end that look like connectors between boxes.  They were obvious once you looked carefully enough but imagine they could cause issues. 

That's the first example I thought of. And I've found a couple pipes like that that were not even slightly obvious even after I found them. One was an exact duplicate of another pipe right next to it that really did connect the two boxes.

 

One of the problems with obvious caches like bird houses is that muggles start to mess with them, including vandalizing and stealing, because of what they seem to be, so it's another level of muggling beyond what people do to geocaches. Don't let that discourage you, but try to keep your chin up if you have problems like that. There's a CO in my area that loves to put out bird houses (well, owl houses, technically), but he's learned to always hide them out of sight where only a geocaching will find them. Not quite what you're thinking of.

Link to comment
30 minutes ago, Jayeffel said:

How about a fake mailbox with the cache number as the address?

 

We have a huge rural mailbox 30' up a tree in the woods.  That's "obvious", but not overlooked.   :D

 

Would it be next to, or in line with other,  official mailboxes ?   On your own property ?   One incident and you could be  talking a felony.  

We've seen some years ago on old back roads with no other homes around.  They weren't "overlooked" either.  

 Good luck...

Link to comment
8 hours ago, coachstahly said:

 

We're not allowed to hide caches on graves unless you have permission from the cemetery (hard to find the appropriate person to contact in most cases, especially in small ones) or it's a family member's marker.  Reviewer won't publish them.  Some states don't allow caches at all in cemeteries.

 

I've found a couple "pipes" that are magnetic on either end that look like connectors between boxes.  They were obvious once you looked carefully enough but imagine they could cause issues.  I have a thin magnetic ATT sticker (family member works for ATT) with coordinates for the next stage that blends right in.  I've found a cypress knee that was hollowed out but placed where other cypress knees were.

I have found many caches in cemeteries, so it doesn't appear a problem here.

Link to comment
6 hours ago, TeamRabbitRun said:

 

There's nothing respectful about this.

As a fan of cemetery caches, I'd pass this one by in a minute. Maybe file a NA.

 

A monument is one thing, but a grave? 

There is nothing disrespectful about this if placed sensibly. If someone placed one on one of my ancestor's graves I would NOT find this disrespectful at all. They are dead, they are no longer there; whether one doesn't believe in the life after or one does. The person is gone; either they no longer exit, or they have passed to the world beyond. But the sort of grave I mentioned is a very old neglected one, (likely in a neglected cemetery), where often there is no sign of anyone visiting this cemetery, except geocachers finding a cache there. Caches in cemeteries are common now, so this is just another type of cache.

Edited by Goldenwattle
Link to comment
41 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

If someone placed one on one of my ancestor's graves I would NOT find this disrespectful at all. They are dead, they are no longer there; whether one doesn't believe in the life after or one does. The person is gone; either they no longer exit, or they have passed to the world beyond.

 

This may be a horses for courses scenario, but I would find this disrespectful. Believing in the after life has nothing to do with it. Would a grieving relative want to see a stranger trampling all over a grave? Or the grave next to theirs?

 

45 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Caches in cemeteries are common now, so this is just another type of cache.

 

I'm led to believe that the reviewer for my area does not allow caches in cemeteries. I'd also like to see proof that any cemetery gives permission for COs to place caches on graves or gravestones.

Link to comment
10 minutes ago, South_Stander said:

I'd also like to see proof that any cemetery gives permission for COs to place caches on graves or gravestones.

One of the cemetery caches that I've found was placed by the family of the deceased. The cemetery allows families to leave whatever memorial objects they want at the grave sites. There are a few basic limitations (e.g., dead plants and flowers will be discarded by the groundskeepers), but otherwise, it is up to the family to decide how to memorialize their departed loved ones.

 

I thought the cache was a very fitting memorial, and the description included interesting information about the life of the deceased. And somehow, I managed to find the cache without "trampling  all over a  grave".

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
28 minutes ago, South_Stander said:

This may be a horses for courses scenario, but I would find this disrespectful. Believing in the after life has nothing to do with it. Would a grieving relative want to see a stranger trampling all over a grave? Or the grave next to theirs?

 

I think Goldenwattle is referring to historic cemeteries that are no longer in use, with graves dating from the 1800s. I think there'd be unlikely to be any grieving relatives getting upset over strangers wandering about those if they're on public land. I have a cache near one such historic gravesite (GC4X42A), with the cache some 20 metres away from the fenced-in grave, and have done others where information on the old tombstones was used for virtual waypoints in a multi or puzzle. I'd still feel a little uncomfortable adding an angel to one of those graves, though, mostly out of concern with thoughtless cachers damaging other possibly fragile graves while looking for it.

Edited by barefootjeff
Spelling
Link to comment

I had a Letterbox Hybrid next to an old pioneer cemetery in bushland. This was a cemetery that had over 200 burials but, due to

bush fires and vandalism, there was not one head stone left standing and all but one had been smashed. A fallen angel among the debris would not have been out of place in a place that had no signs of any visits by mourners for years. I first came across the cemetery while orienteering about 25 years ago and it was in bad shape then. I had to archive the cache due to a new residential sub-division on two sides and a playground on another side. It looks like the local council may preserve the site but there's not much there to preserve.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Quote

I've found a couple "pipes" that are magnetic on either end that look like connectors between boxes.  They were obvious once you looked carefully enough but imagine they could cause issues. 

 

Not crazy about electrical box hides. One that I visited was a large conduit box that lit up a tennis court. Inside were various smaller boxes and lots of wires. The hint said "Yank". 

Seriously? Turned out one of the small boxes inside the big box was a dummy box with very strong magnets attached, you had to yank hard to get it off. I wonder how many wires and other parts of the device were yanked to see if they were real or not. Thankfully there were others who voiced concern. But there were plenty who loved it. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
2 minutes ago, L0ne.R said:

Not crazy about electrical box hides. One that I visited was a large conduit box that lit up a tennis court. Inside were various smaller boxes and lots of wires. The hint said "Yank". 

Seriously? Turned out one of the small boxes inside the big box was a dummy box with very strong magnets attached, you had to yank hard to get it off. I wonder how many wires and other parts of the device were yanked to see if they were real or not. Thankfully there were others who voiced concern. But there were plenty who loved it. 

 

Years ago we saw that as well, and stopped doing those kinda hides after finding a couple.

One ended up knocking the other 2/3rds on her can when she didn't notice wires hanging., touching the framework. 

Her wording would have made a sailor blush ...

It got archived shortly after when the park had issues with their lighting, and figured out whyA little surprised they're still allowed.

Another had all the covers mixed , some with screws missing too.  You'd think the "finders" would have done one-at-a-time.

 - We skipped those.   IIRC, after a bomb scare at a park n ride, that CO took a breather from the hobby...

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
4 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

I just threw that out as it popped in to my mind, of course would need to put it so it was not "In use" but people looking at it would not recognize it as such.

We have a huge rural mailbox 30' up a tree in the woods.  That's "obvious", but not overlooked.   :D

 

Would it be next to, or in line with other,  official mailboxes ?   On your own property ?   One incident and you could be  talking a felony.  

We've seen some years ago on old back roads with no other homes around.  They weren't "overlooked" either.  

 Good luck...

 

Edited by Jayeffel
Link to comment
3 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

There is nothing disrespectful about this if placed sensibly. If someone placed one on one of my ancestor's graves I would NOT find this disrespectful at all. They are dead, they are no longer there; whether one doesn't believe in the life after or one does. The person is gone; either they no longer exit, or they have passed to the world beyond. But the sort of grave I mentioned is a very old neglected one, (likely in a neglected cemetery), where often there is no sign of anyone visiting this cemetery, except geocachers finding a cache there. Caches in cemeteries are common now, so this is just another type of cache.

 

You may choose to do that with your own family's graves, but I strongly recommend you stay the hell away from everyone else's.

 

Caches IN cemeteries are fine if they're allowed, but for you to decide that someone's gravesite is a playground is awful.

 

And frankly, I find the attitude that it's even MORE ok if it's an old grave, what you call 'neglected' is deplorable. They no longer matter and aren't worthy of respect? In my eyes, older graves should get more notice than new ones or ones where a family has paid for the maintenance plan.

 

I visit cemeteries around my home where the graves are up to 400 years old and I make it a point to read names aloud. How cool is it to think that for us normal, unfamous people, someone will speak my name aloud in the year 2419? And not just a name that happens to be the same as mine, but actually referring to 'me'.

  • Upvote 5
  • Love 1
Link to comment
7 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

I just threw that out as it popped in to my mind, of course would need to put it so it was not "In use" but people looking at it would not recognize it as such.

We have a huge rural mailbox 30' up a tree in the woods.  That's "obvious", but not overlooked.   :D

 

Would it be next to, or in line with other,  official mailboxes ?   On your own property ?   One incident and you could be  talking a felony.  

We've seen some years ago on old back roads with no other homes around.  They weren't "overlooked" either.  

 Good luck...

To be clear, I did not say this bolded... 

Link to comment
12 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

There is nothing disrespectful about this if placed sensibly. If someone placed one on one of my ancestor's graves I would NOT find this disrespectful at all. They are dead, they are no longer there; whether one doesn't believe in the life after or one does. 

 

I doesn't matter if you wouldn't find this disrespectful.   Someone else might, and have different feelings about their ancestors.  You don't get to decide what those feelings are.

Link to comment
46 minutes ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

 

I doesn't matter if you wouldn't find this disrespectful.   Someone else might, and have different feelings about their ancestors.  You don't get to decide what those feelings are.

Many graves are not visited, and likely haven't been visited for 50 years. They are abandoned. Both of these abandoned cemeteries already have caches though.

Overgrown cemetery.jpg

Grave position.jpg

Edited by Goldenwattle
Adding photographs.
  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
14 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

I have found many caches in cemeteries, so it doesn't appear a problem here.

 

So have I but almost all of them have been found away from grave markers, not on grave markers.  That's the difference.  Of the two I've found on markers in cemeteries, both are family members of the COs, both actually being the parents of the CO.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
7 minutes ago, coachstahly said:

 

So have I but almost all of them have been found away from grave markers, not on grave markers.  That's the difference.  Of the two I've found on markers in cemeteries, both are family members of the COs, both actually being the parents of the CO.

Unfortunately I don't have any relatives buried near me with graves I could use. I did put a moveable angel (from another game) beside a grave in full view. I placed it beside an old abandoned grave with no sign that family visit it. I rejected those graves that are obviously visited. That angel will move on. I just hope that a grave decoration robber doesn't pinch it.

Link to comment
On 8/15/2019 at 4:44 PM, niraD said:

One of the cemetery caches that I've found was placed by the family of the deceased. The cemetery allows families to leave whatever memorial objects they want at the grave sites. There are a few basic limitations (e.g., dead plants and flowers will be discarded by the groundskeepers), but otherwise, it is up to the family to decide how to memorialize their departed loved ones.

 

I thought the cache was a very fitting memorial, and the description included interesting information about the life of the deceased. And somehow, I managed to find the cache without "trampling  all over a  grave".

 

Same here.  In fact, we've visited more cemeteries since we began geocaching 2 1/2 years ago than we ever did before!  Driving through small towns in upstate NY or here at home n California, many cemeteries have caches in or nearby.  Multis, Virtuals, WhereIGos, Puzzles, and Traditionals - we've found all of those types in cemeteries, and they were some of the more interesting caches to find!  Only a couple of the final containers were actually on or near graves; one was a family member with a very touching story, and the cache was hidden in a figurine that was part of the decor for the grave - no doubt which figurine IF you read the description and hint.

 

On 8/15/2019 at 6:24 AM, NYPaddleCacher said:

There are a few common "hidden in plain sight" types of hides.  The fake electrical plate or fake bolt has become almost ubiquitous. 

We have a couple of the fake electrical plates as hides, and yet, I've been stumped by this type many times!!  Especially if it is painted to match - it blends, if placed well it looks like it belongs, and you just don't "see" it!

Edited by CAVinoGal
Spelling corrections
  • Helpful 1
Link to comment
43 minutes ago, Earl B. Fisk said:

Found one in a college town in CA where there was an old bike chain locked to a bike rack. The cache was in a water bottle that was securely attached to the frame.

Yep - we found that one too.  That particular CO has several unique and clever gadget caches.  Hidden in plain sight!

Link to comment
6 hours ago, CAVinoGal said:

We have a couple of the fake electrical plates as hides, and yet, I've been stumped by this type many times!!  Especially if it is pained to match - it blends, if placed well it looks like it belongs, and you just don't "see" it!

I haven't seen it, but I heard about a fake electrical plate cache that was hidden on one of the boxes for traffic light controls. It wasn't that hard to spot, because it was a bare metal plate on a basic green utility box. Then the city started a beautification project where they had local artists paint various traffic light control boxes around town. The artist who painted that box also painted the fake electrical plate to match, making it a lot harder to spot.

  • Funny 5
Link to comment
9 hours ago, niraD said:

I haven't seen it, but I heard about a fake electrical plate cache that was hidden on one of the boxes for traffic light controls. It wasn't that hard to spot, because it was a bare metal plate on a basic green utility box. Then the city started a beautification project where they had local artists paint various traffic light control boxes around town. The artist who painted that box also painted the fake electrical plate to match, making it a lot harder to spot.

I found one in Atlanta that had been painted over when the structure was painted - I had to cut the paint to get the plate free.

Link to comment
On 8/16/2019 at 8:39 AM, Goldenwattle said:

There is nothing disrespectful about this if placed sensibly. If someone placed one on one of my ancestor's graves I would NOT find this disrespectful at all. They are dead, they are no longer there; whether one doesn't believe in the life after or one does. The person is gone; either they no longer exit, or they have passed to the world beyond. But the sort of grave I mentioned is a very old neglected one, (likely in a neglected cemetery), where often there is no sign of anyone visiting this cemetery, except geocachers finding a cache there. Caches in cemeteries are common now, so this is just another type of cache.

It helps if you have permission - from the occupant.

 

 

  • Funny 1
Link to comment
On 8/15/2019 at 9:45 AM, coachstahly said:

We're not allowed to hide caches on graves unless you have permission from the cemetery (hard to find the appropriate person to contact in most cases, especially in small ones) or it's a family member's marker.  Reviewer won't publish them.  Some states don't allow caches at all in cemeteries.

 

 

I was searching for a cemetary thread.  We found two cemetery caches last year. The caches were hidden on the sides of the cemeteries so we didn't have to walk over graves. If hidden near or on a tombstone, I probably wouldn't have searched for it. Anyway, I had read about a teenager who loved geocaching. He passed away. His parents turned his gravestone into a geocache hide. I love the way they honored his passion for the hobby but I can't find the article. I think this would be one grave that I would visit to pay respects and sign the log. 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...