Locked cache in plain site?

[+Team Chevelle]

Has anyone ever been to or created a cache that was out in plain site with obvious public access -- and then done something like put a combination lock on it (with the combination clearly listed here, of course)?

 

My wife just thought of that today as we were trying to come up with places to put a cache and I wondered if (or, more likely, how often) this was being done...

 

- John...

[+Harrald]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

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Nobody can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.

Sydney J. Harris

[Kanto]

_______________________________________________

Hi,

 

I really don't know, yet. I would speculate that would classify under mystery or puzzle type Geocaches, seeing as it is not hidden physically, but hidden cryptically.

 

________________________________________________________

Kanto

 

Temple Kung Fu

"If you know about truth, tell me of it. If not, then I will search with you, together, in order to find it."

-Grandmaster Simon

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[+Stunod]

This cache is securely mounted just off a busy trail and uses a combination lock to keep out non-cachers.

 

"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand."

[+sbell111]

This has been discussed, but I'm not sure if it has been implemented by anyone.

 

[This message was edited by sbell111 on July 15, 2003 at 10:34 AM.]

[Jeremy]

Yes. Early on there was a cache that had been bolted to a stump with a combination lock. After around 2 months someone had broken apart the lock with a rock and took everything inside.

 

An unconcealed locked object has a pandora's box effect, resulting in an obsessive compulsion to open it. Expect your lock to be destroyed just so someone can see what is inside.

 

Jeremy Irish

Groundspeak - The Language of Location

[Kanto]

_______________________________________________

 

Does a box whose contents you can see stand a chance at a longer lifetime, against the onslaught of human curiosity and lack of self-control?

 

Worry not, just a thought !

 

________________________________________________________

Kanto

 

Temple Kung Fu

"If you know about truth, tell me of it. If not, then I will search with you, together, in order to find it."

-Grandmaster Simon

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[+Criminal]

This one does.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

[+CoronaKid]

While Jeremy is correct, I do think there are other creative ways to use locks out in the open without it 'begging' to be opened by geomuggles.

 

The trick is to make it look like something that is supposed to be locked. It can be done but the effort might not be worth it.

 

--CoronaKid

[+sbell111]

I stand corrected.

[Team Kender]

quote:

---

Originally posted by CoronaKid:

While Jeremy is correct, I do think there are other creative ways to use locks out in the open without it 'begging' to be opened by geomuggles.

 

The trick is to make it look like something that is supposed to be locked. It can be done but the effort might not be worth it.

 

--CoronaKid

---

 

I see boxes like this in the city all the time on telephone poles, in back alleys, etc. Which has me blueprinting an urban cache that hopefully I'll be able to implement sometime in the near future went to the hardware store yesterday and found some great empty fuse boxes -Dan

 

Team Kender - "The Sun is coming up!" "No, the horizon is going down."

[+Markwell]

Heh. Stunod beat me to it.

 

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching

[+Renegade Knight]

I think Jeremy is dead on here. Any box that looks like it's worth opening will be opened. A box that looks boring as hell would probably get left alone for the most part, especially if it's in a high traffic area. The lack of percieved reward won't be worth the risk.

[+jasonhuber]

quote:

---

Originally posted by sbell111:

I stand corrected.

---

 

Isnt it hard to stand and type?

 

I was thinking of an urban cache that could be locked, but I havent implemented it yet. That is the only way I can think to get it done.

[Kanto]

______________________________________

 

There are always other ways...however

temporary they may be.

 

________________________________________________________

Kanto

 

Temple Kung Fu

"If you know about truth, tell me of it. If not, then I will search with you, together, in order to find it."

-Grandmaster Simon

________________________________________________________

[+southdeltan]

I'll throw my 2 cents in since the closest cache to my house was a multi with the last stage in a very public place and locked. It lasted about 3 months before it was "stolen"

 

Cotton Country Drive

 

I'm hoping to get in contact with the cache placer, he hasn't replied to email however. I plan to visit the store where the cache was last seen and do some investigating.

 

My opinion is that this is a good idea but in practice it can have bad results. The local who 'looted' the cache was curious - and said it was full of 'drugs (medicine) and junk' - which it wasn't.

 

If you're going to do this, clearly mark what it is. Instruct people to find out more they should visit the website and do a search for the cache's name. Make sure you secure it with something that isn't easily cut (this cache wasn't secured well).

 

I say give it a try, the worst thing that can happen is it'll get looted.

 

southdeltan

 

"Man can counterfeit everything except silence". - William Faulkner

[+MaxEntropy]

I was thinking of bolting an industrial NEMA-3R enclosure to a utility pole for a cache. It would be in plain site, but it might be considered trespassing. I could even put a geocaching sticker on it like graffiti.

 

Mickey

Max Entropy

More than just a name, a lifestyle.

[+Criminal]

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

[runner_one]

I am in the planning stages of a multicache that will involve finding micros and virtuals as will as solving several puzzles to decode the final location of the actual cache.

The final cache then will be a large double locked steamer trunk about 3’ x 2’x 2’ attached securely at its location containing articles that would not normally fit in a standard cache. Once you find the trunk you will have unlock it using the clues that you gathered from visiting all of the clues.

I have already e-mailed my local approver with the idea and seemed to have no problems with a locked cache as long as it or any of the stages doesn’t violate any of the rules concerning locations where a cache may be placed.

As far as it being raided by a non player, well that is a chance I will just have to take, however in spite of its large size I do plan to place it in such a way as to make the possibility of a non player finding it remote.

A part of me wonders though how long an unattended locked item like this will survive before someone decides to take a sledge hammer or cutting torch to it, I guess I will find out.

[+Marky]

quote:

---

Originally posted by MaxEntropy:

I was thinking of bolting an industrial NEMA-3R enclosure to a utility pole for a cache. It would be in plain site, but it might be considered trespassing. I could even put a geocaching sticker on it like graffiti.

---

You could always do this in the front of your house if you were worried about getting permission... Of course, you'd have to want a bunch of wackos in your front yard, and what would the neighbors think?

 

--Marky

"All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr"

[Team Kender]

quote:

---

Originally posted by MaxEntropy:

I was thinking of bolting an industrial NEMA-3R enclosure to a utility pole for a cache. It would be in plain site, but it might be considered trespassing. I could even put a geocaching sticker on it like graffiti.

---

 

Yeah, this is the sort of thing I was thinking of too. Make it look like a power box or something that noone is going to really want to mess with and put it on a pole. Mark it very officially like a standar city box but it says "GCxxxx" on it. My main worry too is if the city confiscates it or worse I get charged with vandalism or something.

 

Team Kender - "The Sun is coming up!" "No, the horizon is going down."

[+Right Wing Wacko]

Don't Bolt it to a Utility Pole! At least here in Washington State there is a $500 fine for attaching anything to a utility pole.

 

The law is aimed at those people that cover the utility poles with Garage Sale signs etc and never take them down. The nails etc remain in the pole forever and are a hazard to utility workers that may need to climb the pole in the middle of the night to fix your electricity after a storm!

 

[the federation]

I recently logged a cache just like has been described above a long multi puzzle stlye cache. the cache was located in asuburban neighborhood on a tree with a combination lock for security. didn't see the owner but got some funny looks from the neighbors

 

boldly going where others have gone before

[Kanto]

__________________________________________

 

On a tree eh?

How did they fasten it to the tree?

 

_________________________________________________

Kanto

 

Temple Kung Fu

"If you know about truth, tell me of it.

If not, then I will search with you, together,

in order to find it."

-Grandmaster Simon

_________________________________________________

[+jollybgood]

I don't remember the link but there's a cache near El Paso in a tin mine. The mine has a locked gate with a combo lock on it.

 

To log the cache you have to email the owner for the combination to gain entry to the mine.

 

I thought it was a really kewl idea. I like the idea of being able to go some place where the average Joe Tourist can't.

 

Jolly R. Blackburn

http://kenzerco.com

"Never declare war on a man who buys his ink by the gallon."

[+jollybgood]

quote:

---

Originally posted by the federation:

I recently logged a cache just like has been described above a long multi puzzle stlye cache. the cache was located in asuburban neighborhood on a tree with a combination lock for security. didn't see the owner but got some funny looks from the neighbors

 

boldly going where others have gone before

---

 

The reminds me of a multi cache in Indy I logged last summer. One stage involved going to a locker in the basement of building on a college campus. (the combination had to be obtained from a previous stage).

 

The locker had a box of trash bags in it. YOu had to take a bag to another location and fill it with litter to get credit for the find.

 

I felt like I was in an episode of Mission Impossible roaming those hallways tryin to find the right locker.

 

Jolly R. Blackburn

http://kenzerco.com

"Never declare war on a man who buys his ink by the gallon."

[+Uplink]

I agree with CoronaKid, you just have to make it look official. This cache is a great example. It's right out in plain sight, been there for 5 months, and not problem. Great cache by the way!

[+rogbarn]

One of our local communities (with help from one of our active local cachers) setup a multi cache in one of their parks where the intermediate locations were large markers with a letter and coordinates to the next marker and the final is a locked box set on a post near the main building. You use the letters as the combination to the lock. It is setup to be family friendly and locked box contains buttons as a congratulations for completing the cache. It is called http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c9b13c57-fd6e-4c8b-91ca-4bc075e4a95d. It's been there for over a year, has lots of finds and lots of good comments. It probably stays in good condition because of it's location in a park instead of some ordinary public area.

[martmann]

quote:

---

Originally posted by RogBarn:

One of our local communities (with help from one of our active local cachers) setup a multi cache in one of their parks where the intermediate locations were large markers with a letter and coordinates to the next marker and the final is a locked box set on a post near the main building. You use the letters as the combination to the lock. It is setup to be family friendly and locked box contains buttons as a congratulations for completing the cache. It is called Whitecliff Cache Course It's been there for over a year, has lots of finds and lots of good comments. It probably stays in good condition because of it's location in a park instead of some ordinary public area.

---

 

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If trees could scream, would we still cut them down?

Well, maybe if they screamed all the time, for no reason.

Click here for my Geocaching pictures and Here (newest)

[+StarshipTrooper]

Locks? We don't need no stinking locks!.......

 

It seems to me that if you are going to lock a cache, it either has to be in a location that will be seen ONLY by geocachers - or else one that can be seen so well that no one would think of breaking into it (I'm thinking of something placed right in front of a cop shop here...), or one that looks like part of something mundane.

 

Utility poles may be a bad idea, though. Not only do they belong to the utility company, but they get regular visits from the utility technicians, who are likely to recognize something out of place. If you were to get permission from the utility company, though - hmmm......

 

With some imagination, a cache can be placed virtually in plain sight, without being locked - like this one , or this one .

 

But hey - it's worth trying anyway, if you don't expect too much.

 

...clear as mud?