Pictures - Cool Cache Containers (CCC's)

[+d+n.s]

This is our newest cache. Its our first try at doing a "custom" container, so go easy on us... we think it's pretty cool.

 

Ground zero:

 

The Hide:

 

The container:

 

The container is a Witz Sport Case and the hide was inspired by these two Head Hard Hat videos:

&

 

We made a mold out of styrofoam, and put Bondo in it, before adding a small container. I collected dirt from around GZ before painting the cache, and after putting some textured paint over my primer, I coated it with the dirt before it could dry. It looks better in person than these pics suggest.

 

Its exciting to have something out there to match how lovely the location is...

Edited July 11, 2011 by d+n.s

[+Dgwphotos]

This is not a cache of my own, nor is it a cache that I have found. I read about it here in the forums a number of years ago, and until today, had forgotten about it. But I think that it is too unique to let it get lost in the archives!

 

The now archived cache was a multi-cache called Baby Talk (GC41E2). From what I think I remember reading, the first stage was a bell on or near a fence. When you rang the bell, a pair of llamas came wandering on over to see if there was any yummy treats to be had.

 

Around the neck of one of the llamas was the next stage:

 

 

I hope the information I've given is reasonably accurate, but, of course, I'd welcome any corrections or additional information.

 

Hey, that's my picture!

 

I didn't know you were a llama!

[+6NoisyHikers]

Oh Llama... la la la la la lovely llama...

Oh Llama... la la la la la lovely llama... we la la la la la lo-ove you!

Oh Llama... la la la la la lovely llama...

Oh Llama... la la la la la lovely llama... And we know you love us too!

[+sword fern]

This is our newest cache. Its our first try at doing a "custom" container, so go easy on us... we think it's pretty cool.

 

Ground zero:

 

The Hide:

 

The container:

 

The container is a Witz Sport Case and the hide was inspired by these two Head Hard Hat videos:

&

 

We made a mold out of styrofoam, and put Bondo in it, before adding a small container. I collected dirt from around GZ before painting the cache, and after putting some textured paint over my primer, I coated it with the dirt before it could dry. It looks better in person than these pics suggest.

 

Its exciting to have something out there to match how lovely the location is...

 

Problem with HHH's evil ant hill video is that it only works in a few states. Here in washington we don't have ant hills like that, but hills three times as big.

[+d+n.s]

This is our newest cache. Its our first try at doing a "custom" container, so go easy on us... we think it's pretty cool.

 

*snip*

 

The container is a Witz Sport Case and the hide was inspired by these two Head Hard Hat videos:

*snip*

 

We made a mold out of styrofoam, and put Bondo in it, before adding a small container. I collected dirt from around GZ before painting the cache, and after putting some textured paint over my primer, I coated it with the dirt before it could dry. It looks better in person than these pics suggest.

 

Its exciting to have something out there to match how lovely the location is...

 

Problem with HHH's evil ant hill video is that it only works in a few states. Here in washington we don't have ant hills like that, but hills three times as big.

Yeah, I didn't think it looked like any ant hill I'd ever seen, but it DID look like concrete. By crossing the two techniques, we ended up with a pretty convincing bit of camo.

[+salsaguy]

That's why they created paint! to cover and protect surfaces that rust

 

PLEASE DO NOT USE ALTOIDS CONTAINERS AS CACHE CONTAINERS!!! THEY RUST... SHUT!

The Steaks

Edited July 14, 2011 by salsaguy

[+FraenCache]

pffff ... 80% of these things are so mean ... but what fun if you finally find one of these ... Great!

[jholly]

That's why they created paint! to cover and protect surfaces that rust

 

PLEASE DO NOT USE ALTOIDS CONTAINERS AS CACHE CONTAINERS!!! THEY RUST... SHUT!

The Steaks

I have yet to find an unrusted Altoids tin, painted or not.

[Clan Riffster]

That's why they created paint! to cover and protect surfaces that rust

 

PLEASE DO NOT USE ALTOIDS CONTAINERS AS CACHE CONTAINERS!!! THEY RUST... SHUT!

The Steaks

I have yet to find an unrusted Altoids tin, painted or not.

Agreed. Altoids tins could very well top the list of suckiest containers on the planet, if duct tape covered ziplock baggies ever fall out of favor.

[+power69]

That's why they created paint! to cover and protect surfaces that rust

 

PLEASE DO NOT USE ALTOIDS CONTAINERS AS CACHE CONTAINERS!!! THEY RUST... SHUT!

The Steaks

I have yet to find an unrusted Altoids tin, painted or not.

Agreed. Altoids tins could very well top the list of suckiest containers on the planet, if duct tape covered ziplock baggies ever fall out of favor.

I have an altoids thats been out 2+ years and has not a speck of rust on it!

[+webgoof]

This is our newest cache. Its our first try at doing a "custom" container, so go easy on us... we think it's pretty cool.

 

Ground zero:

 

The Hide:

 

The container:

 

The container is a Witz Sport Case and the hide was inspired by these two Head Hard Hat videos:

(Edited for space)

 

We made a mold out of styrofoam, and put Bondo in it, before adding a small container. I collected dirt from around GZ before painting the cache, and after putting some textured paint over my primer, I coated it with the dirt before it could dry. It looks better in person than these pics suggest.

 

Its exciting to have something out there to match how lovely the location is...

 

Problem with HHH's evil ant hill video is that it only works in a few states. Here in washington we don't have ant hills like that, but hills three times as big.

 

Same for me, which is what inspired me to modify HHH's original design to the resin-based one he blogged about, and inspired him to do the evil nano ones from the second vdeo. I will try to post pics of my cache in the coming days.

 

Regarding altoid cans...I saw one not rusted once. It was ujder a lamp post skirt! :-)

[+webgoof]

Here's some pics of my version of HHH's evil ant hill in it's original placement. I've since moved, and moved it with me.

 

 

http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/2010/06/very-nice-modification-of-my-evil-ant.html

[Clan Riffster]

I have an altoids thats been out 2+ years and has not a speck of rust on it!

Rare exceptions do not a quality container make.

[+LEGO]

Here's some pics of my version of HHH's evil ant hill in it's original placement. I've since moved, and moved it with me.

 

http://headhardhat-g...y-evil-ant.html

 

Nasty hide. Well done.

[The_Hypnotoad]

Regarding altoid cans...I saw one not rusted once. It was ujder a lamp post skirt! :-)

 

Were you the FTF?

 

I thought I'd try my hand at camouflage today and this is what came out. What do you guys think?

 

[+LEGO]

Regarding altoid cans...I saw one not rusted once. It was ujder a lamp post skirt! :-)

 

Were you the FTF?

 

I thought I'd try my hand at camouflage today and this is what came out. What do you guys think?

 

 

Tremendous. Soda bottle preforms are nice and watertight, and you can generally get the log out of them easily. I recommend zip-tying it to a tree branch about 30 feet up for a perfect hide.

[knowschad]

Regarding altoid cans...I saw one not rusted once. It was ujder a lamp post skirt! :-)

 

Were you the FTF?

 

I thought I'd try my hand at camouflage today and this is what came out. What do you guys think?

 

 

Very nice job of breaking up the outline.

[+EJCache]

I hid one a couple days ago and it's a micro! It's tied to wire and put through one of the holes in a stop sign and the have to pull it out using the long wire!

[Clan Riffster]

What do you guys think?

 

Very nice! Love me some preforms.

What did you use for the khaki pattern?

[+power69]

I have an altoids thats been out 2+ years and has not a speck of rust on it!

Rare exceptions do not a quality container make.

I could have killed a fairy by hiding a film cannister

[The_Hypnotoad]

What did you use for the khaki pattern?

 

The pattern came from an old mesh laundry bag.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

Tremendous. Soda bottle preforms are nice and watertight, and you can generally get the log out of them easily. I recommend zip-tying it to a tree branch about 30 feet up for a perfect hide.

 

Please don't use zip-ties. The tree will eventually get damaged by them (they will grow and then get cut-off). It also makes retrieval harder.

 

I create a hook out of copper wire, to allow for easy hanging and retrieval.

 

[The_Hypnotoad]

I think they were being sarcastic. At least about the 30' up in a tree comment.

 

I plan on making a hook like yours. Thanks.

[GOF and Bacall]

I think they were being sarcastic. At least about the 30' up in a tree comment.

 

I plan on making a hook like yours. Thanks.

 

Don't be too sure about that. There are many cache that require climbing a tree.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

I think they were being sarcastic. At least about the 30' up in a tree comment.

 

I plan on making a hook like yours. Thanks.

 

Don't be too sure about that. There are many cache that require climbing a tree.

 

There's one locally that is about 40' up a pine tree, with no branches between you and the cache. Can you say "hunter's self climbing tree stand"?

[+LEGO]

I think they were being sarcastic. At least about the 30' up in a tree comment.

 

I plan on making a hook like yours. Thanks.

 

I was definitely NOT being sarcastic. I would much rather climb a tree to find a cache than look under a lamp post skirt.

 

The hook is certainly a better idea than attaching with zip-ties, except that the hook can be dislodged and the cache can fall. I don't think that the zip-ties will hurt the tree. I have seen signs and even bicycles embedded into trees that just keep on growing.

[The_Hypnotoad]

I'm still new to GCing. I never thought of climbing a tree before now. Thanks for the tip.

 

As far as zipties go, I would think there wouldn't be a problem using them as long as someone maintained the cache properly.

[Clan Riffster]

As far as zipties go, I would think there wouldn't be a problem using them...

Zipties are great as a means of temporarily affixing one thing to another. If I were to hide a micro in a tree, knowing ahead of time that it wasn't going to be a long term cache, I might very well consider using zipties. The only down side I can see is that the tree is going to keep growing, reducing the amount of space in the loop, making the cache harder to retrieve. The tree might even start growing around the ziptie, but other than aesthetics, this would likely have no ill effects on the tree. Though a land manager might not come to the same conclusion if they learned that the ziptie they found protruding from a tree was left by a geocacher. A quality container, such as a preform, would probably win the struggle between itself and the ever decreasing ziptie, with the ziptie snapping, dumping the cache to the ground. A crappy container, like a black and grey film can, would probably be slowly crushed by the process. Neither scenario is particularly healthy for the cache. The cheaper zipties are also rather susceptible to UV, causing them to turn brittle fairly quick.

[+A & J Tooling]

Regarding altoid cans...I saw one not rusted once. It was ujder a lamp post skirt! :-)

 

Were you the FTF?

 

I thought I'd try my hand at camouflage today and this is what came out. What do you guys think?

 

 

Just remember that there are very few straight lines in nature so those grids will stick out like a sore thumb.

[+A & J Tooling]

pffff ... 80% of these things are so mean ... but what fun if you finally find one of these ... Great!

 

I consider them more fun then film containers and camo taped baggies.

[The_Hypnotoad]

 

Just remember that there are very few straight lines in nature so those grids will stick out like a sore thumb.

 

Yeah, but they look cool!

 

Seriously though, when I did it I laid the mesh fabric flat on the preform. I was going to try and lay it out so that it isn't straight and see if I could get a more natural pattern.

 

The mesh reminds me of pine cones.

Edited July 22, 2011 by the4biddendonut

[+GeoReapers]

That's why they created paint! to cover and protect surfaces that rust

 

PLEASE DO NOT USE ALTOIDS CONTAINERS AS CACHE CONTAINERS!!! THEY RUST... SHUT!

The Steaks

I have yet to find an unrusted Altoids tin, painted or not.

 

One of our first finds was our in the Gorge, and it was in-fact, an unrusted altoids tin.

 

The only one that I think we have seen so far.

[knowschad]

The mesh reminds me of pine cones.

Reminds me of an ex-girlfriend.

[+d+n.s]

 

Just remember that there are very few straight lines in nature so those grids will stick out like a sore thumb.

 

Yeah, but they look cool!

 

Seriously though, when I did it I laid the mesh fabric flat on the preform. I was going to try and lay it out so that it isn't straight and see if I could get a more natural pattern.

 

The mesh reminds me of pine cones.

Makes me think of snakes

[+Froxi]

 

My "treecache"!

[+sword fern]

 

My "treecache"!

Thats pretty cool, But I would suggest adding some branches and leaves to the top of it to make it look like a small sapling.Suggestion: and place a peice of PVC pipe on the ground and place the tree cache on top of it to make it stand...

 

However its your cache, not mine. I like it.

[+A & J Tooling]

 

My "treecache"!

 

I've already found 3 of those.

[The_Hypnotoad]

I was wondering if putting a healthy coat of thompson's water seal on these hollowed out branches will help them last longer and keep them natural looking.

[+ATXTracker]

I've found a few caches like this with sealer and/or urethane and I think it makes it stand out and look less natural. JMO.

[+sword fern]

I was wondering if putting a healthy coat of thompson's water seal on these hollowed out branches will help them last longer and keep them natural looking.

Yes, but make sure you read the directions on that can of aerosol carefully as they are essential.

[+sword fern]

I've found a few caches like this with sealer and/or urethane and I think it makes it stand out and look less natural. JMO.

Was the sealer a spray on like aerosol?

[The_Hypnotoad]

I was thinking the stuff you brush on. It doesn't have much of a sheen.

[+sword fern]

I was thinking the stuff you brush on. It doesn't have much of a sheen.

Oh... I would still prefer a spray-on. Its easier to apply and doesn't show as much.

[+Dgwphotos]

That's why they created paint! to cover and protect surfaces that rust

 

PLEASE DO NOT USE ALTOIDS CONTAINERS AS CACHE CONTAINERS!!! THEY RUST... SHUT!

The Steaks

I have yet to find an unrusted Altoids tin, painted or not.

 

They do make rust resistant primers.

[Clan Riffster]

I have yet to find an unrusted Altoids tin, painted or not.

 

They do make rust resistant primers.

Yeah, you could paint a crappy container like an Altoids tin with a paint/primer specially designed to resist oxidation. But the first time it's opened, and the horribly inferior, (and not even remotely waterproof), hinge grinds itself from the closed to the open position, your protectant surface is nullified. Results like that are to be expected when you start off with such a crappy container and try desperately to turn it into something that doesn't suck, rather than starting your cache creation process with a quality container. Naturally, the type of cacher willing to go to that much trouble, researching containers and buying one that has proven, over time, to have a high survivability rate in almost every environment, just so those folks who seek his cache won't have to deal with an icky container probably wouldn't even consider using something as crappy as an Altoids tin anyway, realizing as most clever folks do that they totally blow as a cache container.

[+power69]

I've found a few caches like this with sealer and/or urethane and I think it makes it stand out and look less natural. JMO.

concur. that takes a potential D3 to a D1.

[+Dgwphotos]

I have yet to find an unrusted Altoids tin, painted or not.

 

They do make rust resistant primers.

Yeah, you could paint a crappy container like an Altoids tin with a paint/primer specially designed to resist oxidation. But the first time it's opened, and the horribly inferior, (and not even remotely waterproof), hinge grinds itself from the closed to the open position, your protectant surface is nullified. Results like that are to be expected when you start off with such a crappy container and try desperately to turn it into something that doesn't suck, rather than starting your cache creation process with a quality container. Naturally, the type of cacher willing to go to that much trouble, researching containers and buying one that has proven, over time, to have a high survivability rate in almost every environment, just so those folks who seek his cache won't have to deal with an icky container probably wouldn't even consider using something as crappy as an Altoids tin anyway, realizing as most clever folks do that they totally blow as a cache container.

 

I'm not defending the use of Altoids, I'm just saying that paint CAN be used to rust proof something.

[+Dgwphotos]

I have yet to find an unrusted Altoids tin, painted or not.

 

They do make rust resistant primers.

Yeah, you could paint a crappy container like an Altoids tin with a paint/primer specially designed to resist oxidation. But the first time it's opened, and the horribly inferior, (and not even remotely waterproof), hinge grinds itself from the closed to the open position, your protectant surface is nullified. Results like that are to be expected when you start off with such a crappy container and try desperately to turn it into something that doesn't suck, rather than starting your cache creation process with a quality container. Naturally, the type of cacher willing to go to that much trouble, researching containers and buying one that has proven, over time, to have a high survivability rate in almost every environment, just so those folks who seek his cache won't have to deal with an icky container probably wouldn't even consider using something as crappy as an Altoids tin anyway, realizing as most clever folks do that they totally blow as a cache container.

 

I'm not defending the use of Altoids, I'm just saying that paint CAN be used to rust proof something.

 

Time for the side discussion to end.

[+Dgwphotos]

Back on topic:

 

This is a recent semi camo job I did:

This is the replacement for a cache that was sitting in a flood plain and was flooded, so I wanted to hang it from a tree so that it was out of the flood plain.

 

I added a clothesline hook to hang it from a nearby tree. (I used silicone to waterproof the hanger attachment point)

 

I purchased a small fake Christmas tree, cut off several branches, wired them together to make a larger branch, epoxied the joints, and epoxied it to the the bottom of the container.

[+jamescam]

I am relatively new to Geocaching but I have been planning my 1st cache since I started. I knew what I wanted to make but wasn't sure how to pull it off. Today I completed the cache and will be testing it for the next week to see how watertight it really is. Since these posts are all about pics I will let the pics do the talking:

 

The supplies (60lb Steelon Nylon Coated Line & Hose clamp not shown but used)

 

Cut 1 1/2" PVC Pipe to ~8" and added slip cap to one end and threaded male end to the other

 

Cut the tail section off the fish and secured the tail to the threaded cap with epoxy and a hose clamp (messed up cutting the fish so I had to use a back up tail I had laying around)

 

Cache complete