Camo Techinques

[colonelby]

Hye,

 

There are some really nicely painted and/or (man) weathered geocaches out there. Got any tips for a nice camo job?

[+briansnat]

I use flat brown, black and olive green spraypaint...usually primer. Sometimes I just give random squirts here and there and other times I use a few leaves taped to the box, spray one color, move the leaves a bit and spray the next. That looks comes out pretty good. I thin Criminal has a tutorial on this method somewhere

 

For caches hidden among rocks, I'll often use a textured stone finished spraypaint, in a dark grey. This can be found in many crafts store.

 

I've also found plastic ferns and pine branches in crafts stores. I've glued these to cache containers.

Edited April 1, 2004 by briansnat

[+Criminal]

Go here.

[+stu_and_sarah]

My method:

 

Use car spraypaint in only dull natural colours (brown, beige, 'tundra' green) plus matt black.

Spray a base layer of brown.

Lean sticks (including branches, twigs, maybe some leaves) against the cache to mask the spray.

Spray streaks of different colours over sticks.

Make sure any straight edges are disguised with distracting patches.

Spray dark colours on corners to make the box look rounded.

 

Don't get too carried away!

[kingcach]

Think NATURAL. The best camo is natural. Think about the cache's environment, then match the camo to the environment. Of course, this all depends on how difficult you are planning to make the cache.

 

I generally find that "the simple things confound the wise."

[colonelby]

I generally find that "the simple things confound the wise."

Right on, There's a cache so close to where I live and it's rated difficulty 1 or 2 and I cant find the thing! Everyone else can, AND THEY THINK IT'S SIMPLE! I guess I have a disability.

[+Stem]

I have to thank criminal. I saw your technique a few weeks ago while surfing, and used it the other day. It came out awesome. Thanks

[+Sparky-Watts]

I used the camo instructions from Crim's pages on these:

 

 

I thought they turned out pretty well, and I'm definitely no artist!!

[+Team GPSaxophone]

I used the camo instructions from Crim's pages on these:

 

 

I thought they turned out pretty well, and I'm definitely no artist!!

Is the cat a first-finder's prize?

[colonelby]

Hye,

 

I've read a bit about glass geocache containers and I know the risks, but can anyone recommend a paint that sticks to glass and does'nt peel off after a while in weather.

[+Sparky-Watts]

Is the cat a first-finder's prize?

No, she just keeps an "eye" on my caches for me!!!

 

You've read all those "Who's watching my cache" threads, right?

[+Criminal]

Hye,

 

I've read a bit about glass geocache containers and I know the risks, but can anyone recommend a paint that sticks to glass and does'nt peel off after a while in weather.

Duct tape.

 

Lasts longer, goes on faster, and adds to the structural integrity of the glass.

[+bigredmed]

Cammo is best when it doesn't look like cammo. Painted a can for our cache raffle at our March meeting. One layer of Kilz to all exterior surfaces and inside if rust apparent there. It should be thick enough that no writing is visible so you might need 2 coats.

 

Start with colors that when blended will blur together to look like rocks. Stand with the paint cans about 3 feet above the can and spray while moving the spray paint side to side and up and down slowly. This distance turns the paint into fine drops. The change in direction makes them fall with a seeming randomness. The change in altitude makes the density fall and rise randomly (like a rock).

 

There is a spray paint called "Webbing" that is a plastic/paint mix that is used for faux marble finishes. When used up and down instead of side to side, it makes your ammo can look like a Jackson Pollack painting.

 

Seriously, want to get some ideas, look at the similarity between the Naval cammo of the American and British Navies in the early 20th century (bold colors and strange polygonal patterns), and compare these images to some art works (Pollack, DeKooning, and Picasso's Blue period). Very similar. The idea of this style of cammo was to create polygons that would fool the eye of the German submarine parascope operators. Same optical problem exists in geocaches. Small little visual signal (brush and sticks covering most of it), odd polygons throwing off the eye of the finder.

[+MJinFL]

I'm trying to figure out how my cat got into Sparky's place. I swear I took almost that exact picture of my cat (that happens to look just like his cat). I was playing with the macro option on one of my lenses, and it looks like he photoshopped MY pic onto the one of his caches...

 

I'm eager to start hiding caches . Have been since I learned of this game. And the part I'm most excited about is the container and its camo. I dunno why, I just am.

 

(edit for yet another dumb typo by MJinFL )

Edited April 2, 2004 by MJinFL

[colonelby]

Hye,

 

Bye the way, a really good hiding place can be just as good as an excellent camo job.

 

It's true

[+RoyalRed]

Hye,

 

I've read a bit about glass geocache containers and I know the risks, but can anyone recommend a paint that sticks to glass and does'nt peel off after a while in weather.

The only good way to paint glass is to etch it first with an acid. Don't the exact acid type use but a local craft store could guide you in this.

[91B10]

The Krylon Ultra Flat Camo paint is pretty good. It can usually be found at your local wal mart

Edited April 2, 2004 by 91B10

[+WARedBear]

I have an ammo can that is hidden in some old wood. I took some of the wood pieces and glued/screwed them to the sides/bottom of the can and then placed some extra on the can. Another cache container is a large plastic bottle that is hidden in some rocks. I sprayed the bottle with glue and poured sand and gravel on the glue. I also did that on one I posted today that is with just sand and placed at the base of a fallen tree. Again as was stated earlier use as much natural components you can to blend in with nature.

 

Red Bear

 

Seek and you shall find.

[+Ltljon]

Hye,

 

I've read a bit about glass geocache containers and I know the risks, but can anyone recommend a paint that sticks to glass and does'nt peel off after a while in weather.

Pardner, theres no advantage to using a glass container. If funds are in short supply I'll gladly send you a plastic container, free of charge. (Plus $4.95 S&H)

Edited April 2, 2004 by Ltljon

[Earthdog Patrick]

That's right. PLEASE don't introduce GLASS into the woods. When it breaks, and it will, it cuts the pads on our feet, for real.

[+Criminal]

Yes, use glass. I have had glass jars in my home for over 40 years and have yet to to be killed or maimed by them.

[CoyoteRed]

 

Note the can in the back row, second from the left. This pattern has worked very well for me. I've got a 5lb peanut butter jar in a local park with this pattern. Works pretty good.

 

There are two schools of thought about camoing. One is to completely change the shape of the container and making the container actually look like something else. The other is basically painting a container to blend in with surroundings--this has worked for me quite well.

 

My pattern of choice is start with olive green base. Add a pattern of dirt brown and then flat black. The effect is the opposite of application. An area of green with dark holes of the background.

 

I also have a jar painted to look like spanish moss. Drop some moss on it and the jar disappears.

 

The idea is to paint the container like its surroundings and then use material from its surroundings to break up the container's shape. The combination works very well. As you can see in the above photo, move that can back two feet and it's gone from view.

[CoyoteRed]

Follow up:

 

The stencil I use for camoing the larger cans I just cut random shapes from a piece of cardboard.

 

For camoing smaller containers from larger vitamin bottles and smaller, I use a sponge technique. A sponge with larger holes or a wadded up paper towel with plently of ridges is my "brush." Spray some of your camo paint onto a piece of paper and while wet quickly dab your sponge into it and then onto your container. Change up the angle of the sponge between dabs so you don't get a pattern. Works great.

[fallout4x4]

What color of brown do you use? I tried krylons #1317 ruddy brown primer and it would probably work pretty good in that reddish texas dirt but it don't work for squat here in the pacific northwest.

[CoyoteRed]

The only spray camo colors readily available around here is the Rustoleum Specialty colors in Sand, Dirt and Olive found at Home Depot. The black is Krylon ultra flat.

 

I've looked all around and tried what I thought were neutral, earth colors but they all just don't cut it.

 

Though I haven't tried it to camo a container, but did make a 3D logo for a customer to shoot a commercial. The logo had to look like it was made of sand like when you make a sand castle. Thing is, it needed to handle the waves. I had the logo cut from 2" styrofoam and attached it'd to plywood. I sprayed adhesive on it and covered it with sand. After I let it sit for a while I dumped the sand off and inspected. It took a few applications to get to right but in the end looked great.

 

If you're trying to match some dirt, you could do the same thing. Spray it with a nice wet coat of a color that is close and immediately cover with dirt. Use clear for each coat thereafter so you don't lose color. Two or three should be enough.

 

Just remember that people are going to be handling this. It needs to be stuck very well.

Edited April 3, 2004 by CoyoteRed

[+RPW]

Criminal Yes, use glass. I have had glass jars in my home for over 40 years and have yet to to be killed or maimed by them.

 

I've had glass jars in my house for over 40 years and, while I have to be maimed by them, they have cut me as they get chipped and broken. Which was the point of the poster above you:

 

Earthdog When it  [glass] breaks, and it will, it cuts the pads on our feet, for real.

 

No need to blow up the discussion into something that it is not.

[+Criminal]

Criminal Yes, use glass. I have had glass jars in my home for over 40 years and have yet to to be killed or maimed by them.

 

I've had glass jars in my house for over 40 years and, while I have to be maimed by them, they have cut me as they get chipped and broken. Which was the point of the poster above you:

 

Earthdog When it  [glass] breaks, and it will, it cuts the pads on our feet, for real.

 

No need to blow up the discussion into something that it is not.

Not trying to blow it up into anything. But I don't always like to let nonsense just blow by without allowing my common sense to speak.

 

It always sounds good and right to make statements like, "Glass is not a good container" even though the person advising it feels confident they would never have a problem with them. But they are looking out for all the less intelligent and geo-inept. That just winds me up...

 

No offense meant.

[CoyoteRed]

Follow up to "Dirt Technique":

 

 

The above is an example of the technique using spray paint and applying dirt to a can. I used a funky green I had laying around for a base and applied dirt. Then there was 3 more coats using clear and then applying dirt. Make sure to allow the paint to dry thoroughly! before re-coating. Also, knock off the loose dirt with a soft brush before re-coating.

 

I finished up with a sponge effect with flat black to give visual texture. Of course, it can still be seen out in the open like this, but this gives you an idea of how to make it blend in with the surrounding.

 

It will take handling, but how much abuse I don't know. I will be using this box as helper stage on a local cache.

[colonelby]

Cool "Dirt Technique". Do you mind if I try that?

 

Anyway,

 

Went to my local canadian tire hardware store and came across a new type of spray paint. They call it something like "A Textured spray paint", it is suppos to dry out and have the appearance and feel of natural rock, ground, ..... Has anyone ever used this on a cache?

[CoyoteRed]

Cool "Dirt Technique". Do you mind if I try that?

Absolutely. Be my guest!

[+briansnat]

Went to my local canadian tire hardware store and came across a new type of spray paint. They call it something like "A Textured spray paint", it is suppos to dry out and have the appearance and feel of natural rock, ground, ..... Has anyone ever used this on a cache?

 

I've used something called Fleckstone. It is a textured paint that looks like stone when it dries. The dark grey works very well here in the NE, where we have a lot of granite and sandstone. Its available at Home Depot and most crafts stores. The only problem with the stuff is that the valve clogs easily if you store it for any length of time, so I paint several cans and use the stuff up in one sitting.

[+SomewhereInND]

You can get camo duct tape at any hunting store, works well, also protects plastic containers from sun light.

[+hydnsek]

Go here.

Thanks for resurrecting this old thread, SomewhereInND, I didn't see it first time 'round.

 

I would love to read Criminal's tutorial on camo, cos the pic of the resulting ammos is great, but the link is dead. Crim, if you're reading this - is there an updated link?

[+LCAS-271]

I'm trying to think of a good camo pattern to use on a few ammo cans. I've picked up cans of Krylon Camouflage paint in 4 different colors. I've thought about trying a tiger stripe pattern but I'm not sure if the technique would work. Any other ideas on a good camo pattern?

[+Bad_CRC]

My best luck has been to put a thick coat of camo spray paint on the cache, then cover it in bits of dirt, leaves, sand, etc. works pretty well.

 

I also have had good luck in covering a can in pine needles, then painting it, comes out looking a lot like the realtree paint when the needles are removed.

 

I've been trying to figure out a good rock camo for the carpy limestone around here.

 

 

It's a start, but I'm going to get it better before I'm happy with it.

[+Criminal]

I knew I kept that old computer around for something. Dug up my old webpage, here’s the pictures:

[+Bad_CRC]

excellent!

 

I only wish more people knew about sanding... especially with plastic containers... I see so many plastic caches out there with most of the paint missing because they didn't bother to sand before spray painting.

 

Another good thing you did was continue the pattern around the corners to hide the shape of the ammo box... that's hard to do, but makes a huge different if the camo pattern travels over the top and around the corners without changing at the edges.

[Clan Riffster]

Something I've noticed is that my eye is drawn to straight lines. Nature has very few of these. While spray paint is a good choice to change the color(s) of a can, it doesn't change the shape. For that reason, I opted for applying textured camo to my cans. First I sand them as needed, then I paint them with a durable olive drap spray paint to inhibit rust. Then I apply a bunch of clear drying silicon to 5 sides, (all but the side that will be sitting on the ground), and use a plastic knife or spoon to smear it to an even thickness. I use several different mediums on my cans, to include Spanish moss, ground moss, shredded palmetto fronds, pine bark and a product called "Excellsior", which is really shredded aspen fibers. (I use the brown ones cuz they blend in with pine needles) I prepare the medium by chopping it into usable lengths, typically about an inch long, then I stick it into the smeared on silicon, applying a good deal of pressure. Let it cure indoors for 3 days and it's ready to hide. Be careful not to silicon too close to where the lid meets the body.

As seen in this can;

the ground moss is probably the best universal medium since it's already multiple earth tones.

[+sbell111]

I use a method that is very similar to Criminal's:

[+JohnnyVegas]

I like to use camo fabric, I hot glue strips of the fabric it to the cache cotainer after I paint the container with an Olive Drab base, . I have done this on Urban Micros in trees and bushes. I have also air brushed camo paint on contianers. I have use camo tape, but with camo tape you want to find tape that is not glossy, I have found cache covered in glossy camo tape because the tape was reflecting the sunlight. Another item I have used is the fake leaves you can buy at some arts and craft stores, you can also hot glue these to cache containers.

[CoyoteRed]

Find some second hand camo clothes made of "Real Tree" camo print. Talk wife into cutting it up and making a bag to fit your container.

 

Works very well, just very questionable on the longevity.

[+Kit Fox]

Center of the picture is an ammo box that I glued three different colors of grasses/moss. I added a handful of the local Manzanita leaves, and now you have a nicely hidden container.

 

Another example of the World Famous Clan Riffster method. The side shown in facing the ground.

 

Edited September 20, 2006 by Kit Fox

[+Bad_CRC]

just went to look for a big dead stump to hide a cache in, and found something that may be even better...

 

there was a big dead tree that lost all it's bark in big sheets... so I have big sheets of bark now.

 

I have to go back and get an end cap for it, but it looks like I should be able to put the bark around a 5 gallon bucket for a really nice fake stump. if I ever get around to it.

[+sbell111]

just went to look for a big dead stump to hide a cache in, and found something that may be even better...

 

there was a big dead tree that lost all it's bark in big sheets... so I have big sheets of bark now.

 

I have to go back and get an end cap for it, but it looks like I should be able to put the bark around a 5 gallon bucket for a really nice fake stump. if I ever get around to it.

My Great Caesar's Ghost cache was originally hidden in a big hole in a tree. The hole was covered with a slab of wood from a nearby downed tree, cut to fit. A number of people reached ground zero but DNFed because they didn't notice the big hole in the tree.

Edited September 21, 2006 by sbell111

[+OHMIKY]

a method that works well for me is to simply make a bag out of camo mosquito netting and put the cache container in that. The netting gets weather worn and debris gets embedded in the mesh - the shape is not hard-edged with straight lines - et voila: pretty good camo.

[CoyoteRed]

a method that works well for me is to simply make a bag out of camo mosquito netting and put the cache container in that. The netting gets weather worn and debris gets embedded in the mesh - the shape is not hard-edged with straight lines - et voila: pretty good camo.

 

We found one like that and was amazed at how well it worked. If memory served the actual container was a unpainted rubbermade or similar. It hid the plastic colors very well.