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New cache looking for feedback on appropriate location


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Hello all... I am a long time geocacher, but first time submitting my own cache.  My family wants to place our first cache.  I have reviewed all the guidelines, taken the quiz, and of course I have found a large number of various caches over 10 years so I am familiar with how caches are typically hidden.  We have already identified the park we want to place the cache and have confirmed with the parks department it is okay... But now we are trying to find an appropriate location.  I am hoping the community can confirm if the specific spots are appropriate.  The cache container we have is the large Geocache container (8.5" x 6").  Below are the three options we are considering and some of my thoughts:

 

1) Under light post base cover (see attached photo for example).  I have seen this type of cache location used before.  The base cover is not fastened down, does not require tools, lists up easily, and does not damage anything.  I am also interested in how people would judge this as difficulty?

 

2) Spray paint the cache container, add magnets to the base and attach to a light pole so it looks like a utility box on the light pole.  I have seen this type of cache concealment before and it is non destructive to the light pole and does not require any fasteners.  The light pole would be in a low traffic location of the park and hidden on the side of the pole that is not visible from the park in general.

 

3) Place under the edge of a large rock (existing space does not require digging).  This would be the easiest to find but we are concerned about the park landscape crew finding / damaging as they maintain the location.  We can put a smaller rock next to the cache container to protect it.

 

Thanks for the help and suggestions.  My kids are really excited to place the cache.  In fact all the locations are my kids ideas so they have spent time considering this based on our past finds.

 

geocache2.jpg

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11 minutes ago, bennettdarren said:

... of course I have found a large number of various caches over 10 years so I am familiar with how caches are typically hidden. 

 

We have already identified the park we want to place the cache and have confirmed with the parks department it is okay.

 

The cache container we have is the large Geocache container (8.5" x 6").  Below are the three options we are considering and some of my thoughts:

1) Under light post base cover 

2) Spray paint the cache container, add magnets to the base and attach to a light pole so it looks like a utility box on the light pole. 

3) Place under the edge of a large rock (existing space does not require digging).  This would be the easiest to find but we are concerned about the park landscape crew finding / damaging as they maintain the location.  We can put a smaller rock next to the cache container to protect it.

 

Curious... did you cache earlier and opened a new account in '18 ?   I see 24 traditional caches since 6/'18.  Thanks.   :)

 

You say you got permission, just ask if the maintenance staff can be notified too. 

 - We never had problems with maintenance crews because we asked for permission.

 

1 and 2 We aren't fond of these, and maybe it's just me, but a larger-than micro container placed in/near a light pole, where the public may notice someone accessing it, (to me) looks like a bomb scare waitin' to happen. 

3: If there isn't anything else other than the  "under the edge of a rock", covered by another, smaller rock in the park to hide your container, I'd pick it.  

Classic, simple hide.

 

 

 

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35 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

1 and 2 We aren't fond of these, and maybe it's just me, but a larger-than micro container placed in/near a light pole, where the public may notice someone accessing it, (to me) looks like a bomb scare waitin' to happen. 

Even ignoring the bomb scare issue, larger caches in such places tend to attract attention when they're found and replaced, and then curious muggles decide to investigate what everyone is so interested in.

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30 minutes ago, bennettdarren said:

Thanks all for the feedback.  It is good to get confirmation on some of my concerns in the replies.  Yes this is my second account (I lost access to my first account after 2 years of no activity and wasn't able to reset it).

Backup. Groundspeak does that? This is important to me. 

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That light pole skirt must be bigger than most. An 8.5" by 6" container would NOT fit under any that I've ever looked under. 

 

Like Cerberus, I really don't care for these types of hides either. The first one was kind of cool but they got old pretty quick after that. Hate to sound so negative but being that this is in a park, might there be a more interesting place to hide a cache?

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I'd rate a LPC 1.5, nothing more. I can't imagine a container as you described fitting under it and allowing the skirt to fully come down. I like the magnetized idea, but your container is larger than most I've seen of this type. The downside I've seen with these is peeling, flaking paint. Then the hide sticks out like a sore thumb. Consider a smaller container for this type of hide. JMHO.

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I hate LPCs. The skirt often scrapes against the pole as it's lifted, it's impossible to do this stealthily, and the skirt limits the size of the cache container to the micro range. With regards to a bomb scare, a pelican case totally alleviates that issue. They are transparent and you can buy them with an integrated geocaching label. That or slap a sticker on one. My favorite micro caches are the ones made custom for a very specific location. A hollow wood block along a boardwalk, a bolt pushed into an existing hole, a small stone with a container attached in a concrete seam. That said, I prefer option 2. Maybe not a utility box, but a magnetic electrical panel. I see these a lot though. If I were hiding a cache, I'd prefer to place something I hadn't seen if possible. 

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7 hours ago, Max and 99 said:
On 11/4/2020 at 10:29 PM, bennettdarren said:

(I lost access to my first account after 2 years of no activity

Bump. Does anyone know if this is standard procedure? 

I assumed that he had forgotten the password, and no longer had access to the email account that would be used to automatically recover the password. Nothing more.

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8 hours ago, Max and 99 said:
On 11/4/2020 at 10:29 PM, bennettdarren said:

(I lost access to my first account after 2 years of no activity

Bump. Does anyone know if this is standard procedure? 

I've never heard of this happening before. I don't remember seeing any posts about implying that either. Perhaps it's been there for a while and no-one just happened to notice? Or it could be a bug. A very strange one.

But we should probably keep on topic. That would make an interesting thread though!

Edited by TmdAndGG
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13 hours ago, Max and 99 said:

Bump. Does anyone know if this is standard procedure? 

 

Similar to niraD, it seems (to me) something in their account name may not be entered correctly, and they believe it's now "lost".

 - I'd think a mail to HQ might fix that. :)

 

The OP did say they originally "have found a large number of various caches over 10 years so I am familiar with how caches are typically hidden."

 -  I noticed only 24 traditional caches since 2018...  

But nonetheless, any amount of caches found and AFAIK your account remains forever. It's part of this hobby's history.

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Being you have permission of the parks dept, I would go with the fake utility box. Put it out of sight somewhere. If you are concerned about muggles, you could put a lock on it and include the combination in the hint. Let the maintenance folks at the park know it is there, what it is for and that you have permission to place it. They may enjoy being in on the secret.

Sounds like fun. Good luck!

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On 11/15/2020 at 7:01 AM, Max and 99 said:

Bump. Does anyone know if this is standard procedure? 

For what it’s worth, my original account survived some 4 years of being lost/forgotten. I thought I was going crazy at one point as I could find absolutely no proof online or in my email of it ever existing. I’m still not sure whether I just never actually logged any finds online, or if they disappeared somehow.

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On 11/15/2020 at 3:50 PM, G0ldNugget said:

Being you have permission of the parks dept, I would go with the fake utility box. Put it out of sight somewhere. If you are concerned about muggles, you could put a lock on it and include the combination in the hint. Let the maintenance folks at the park know it is there, what it is for and that you have permission to place it. They may enjoy being in on the secret.

Sounds like fun. Good luck!

 

Except that there are ENDLESS conversations in these fora about the use of fake utility boxes.

 

I urge you to abandon the next few days of your lives by reading them.

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4 hours ago, TeamRabbitRun said:

I urge you to abandon the next few days of your lives by reading them.

 

Could you just hit the highlights for me? I've found a few of these, I thought they were fun. One one my all time favourite caches was a fake fire alarm on a fire station wall that you had to pull to open...I was working up the nerve to do it when a cop pulled up and said, "Go ahead, pull it. It's a fake."

Edited by G0ldNugget
tyop
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21 hours ago, G0ldNugget said:

 

Could you just hit the highlights for me? I've found a few of these, I thought they were fun. One one my all time favourite caches was a fake fire alarm on a fire station wall that you had to pull to open...I was working up the nerve to do it when a cop pulled up and said, "Go ahead, pull it. It's a fake."

 

Well, without driving myself nuts again, the discussions were about the pros and cons of caches masquerading as things that are real, and frequently get destroyed by cachers, like sprinkler heads, and caches pretending to be infrastructure items like Utility boxes.
 
The salient points surrounded the dangers of 'training' cachers to consider electrical devices as possible caches.
Normalizing the poking-into of stuff with wires, in my opinion, is irresponsible.
 
Many caches, and there were pictures posted, have 'Geocaching' symbols on them which could assure someone that THIS box was safe, but the lack of such a sticker would never, of course, make someone say "Oh, CAN'T be THAT one" once they know that sometimes, it is.
 
Then there's just the ill-advised aspect of simply being SEEN messing with this equipment.
  
Others disagreed. 
 
Some thought that clear labeling would suffice. Some thought that common sense among seekers would prevail.
 
I'm not among them.

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17 minutes ago, G0ldNugget said:

I still think its fun idea and putting a geocaching sticker on the box makes sense.

 

Putting a sticker on your cache doesn't mean those looking for it won't think other similar objects might be the cache, as they won't know your utility box is the one with the sticker on it until after they've found it. Even mentioning the sticker in the description won't solve the problem as many cachers don't read the description, they just press GO and follow the arrow. You probably won't think it's fun when your land manager bans all geocaches on their lands because of those dadgum cachers prising open their utility boxes and breaking their sprinkler heads.

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2 hours ago, TeamRabbitRun said:

The salient points surrounded the dangers of 'training' cachers to consider electrical devices as possible caches.

Normalizing the poking-into of stuff with wires, in my opinion, is irresponsible.

Yep.   :)

The other 2/3rds, on yet-another FTF run, got knocked on her can once touching a panel that I saw (afterwards...) had a bare, hot wire touching it. 

She was one of two unfortunate ones to touch it. The other didn't want folks upset with them and didn't say anything in their log.

Knucklehead...

Turned out it was done by another who took the thing apart, could find it, and didn't put it all back together.  In a hurry I guess.   :mad:

 - It was never inside the panel covers at all, but hidden in the live wires outside the box.   Sheesh...

It was archived soon after, with the "CO" giving up in a huff, like it was everyone else's fault. 

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