Suspended Cache

[+BeachBuddies]

I've got an idea for a suspended (and camouflaged) ammo-box cache. But I don't want to hurt the tree(s), and I don't want a maintenance nightmare. Any advice?

 

I was basically thinking some kind of thin but high-quality rope, strung from the cache across to another tree, and then down. The finder would have to lower the cache to get to it, and then raise it back into place when done.

 

I would probably rig up some sort of spool to wind the rope onto when it was in place. And I guess the spool could be on a dead branch or something...

[+Renegade Knight]

I found one that did that without a spool. An ammo can is heavy enough though the pully you talk about would save wear and tear on the bark.

 

Oh and not adding two and two, I climbed the tree to get it. Then I found the other end of the rope and the knot.

Edited January 28, 2005 by Renegade Knight

[+carleenp]

I doubt that would hurt the tree, so go for it! Here, there is a cache on an old phone pole near a bike path that is rigged w/ a flag pole pully. So the the cache is obvious, if you look up! But many search for some time because they are looking down! I think that if you don't go drilling holes in trees etc, that there is little room for complaint and it could be a really cool cache. The one here needed to include drilled holes etc., but since it was in an abandoned pole no longer in use, it was no problem for anyone. Generally people here think it is one of the best caches around.

[+bigredmed]

How about this?

 

A loop of airplane cable (3 mm) around the branch loosely (so you won't limit its growth) and a piece of rubber hose around the cable part way (like arborists use to tie up a sappling). Then from the loop, hang a rubber bungee or a pair of regular bungees that would be able to hold the cache in the air, but be able to be stretched to allow the cache to be pulled to the ground.

 

You can get braided cable and the metal clamps that close them into loops at most hardware stores, the tubing could be a piece of old hose, and you could be in business.

[+El Diablo]

It's been done a bunch of times...go for it.

 

El Diablo

[+The Leprechauns]

I like bigredmed's suggestion or any variant of it, because no harm is done to the tree. I once found a cache that used a pulley system that was screwed directly into the tree trunk, 20 feet off the road in an *arboretum.* Geocaching would get a black eye if the park ever stumbled across that cache!

 

Also if you use climbing rope/parachute cord, it is low friction and you can throw it right over a branch without an elaborate pulley system. If the cache is in a remote area (rather a given for something with an elaborate setup), it will only be visited once or twice a month. Not that I have a hide like that, but if I did, and I checked it a few times each year, I would expect to find no noticeable damage to the tree from 20 or so pulls on the rope.

[+mtn-man]

Parachute cord does work great. Also, get some camo burlap from your local surplus store. Put it over the cache and pull the rope through it. It hides my... ahem, I mean a cache very well.

[CoyoteRed]

Don't use a tree with thin bark, use something with a tough skin.

 

Here's a link to a site about climbing trees. They use a technique of throwing a rope over a limb and hauling themselves up. There is some good advice there about how to prevent harm to a tree.

 

If they can haul up a person with these techniques, I'm sure a fully loaded ammo can with do little harm

 

Hope this helps.

[+briansnat]

I just have my ammo box hanging from a bungee cord. Its been there two years without a problem.

[+wimseyguy]

All of the advice given is excellent, but I would suggest finding a camo bag rather than just a piece of the cloth. I may have also seen a cache hung from a tree in a mesh bag. The bag can be filled with leaf litter to help blend into the surrounding canopy, and even be adjusted for the seasons.

 

I used to love to climb trees when I was a kid. I'm often on the lookout for good ones while out caching, but either there were more good climbing tree up north where I grew up, or the perspective is just all screwed up from my adult viewpoint.

[CoyoteRed]

I used to love to climb trees when I was a kid. I'm often on the lookout for good ones while out caching, but either there were more good climbing tree up north where I grew up, or the perspective is just all screwed up from my adult viewpoint.

If you like climbing, come on down. I can recommend a couple of caches for you.

[+Greymane]

I saw one that used a peice of poly pipe with a glued cap on one end and a threaded cap on the other. It followed the lines of the tree trunk (making it hard to see). They also used a rope over a limb and then run over to a tree about thirty feet away. You had to unhook the rope and then as you approached the main tree, the cache lowered itself to the ground. Great concept, I though.

[+sbell111]

My cache got suspended for throwing spit-wads.

[+RJFerret]

Surprisingly, an ammo can w/goodies is a LOT of weight to a tree.

 

Depending on the tree, you might find it grows around your rope in as little as one year!

 

Pulley = good

 

Instead of just looping a rope over a limb, spread the weight over two limbs (which won't encircle one branch and leaves room for growth).

 

I included a counter-weight on mine so folks just "let go" to return it to it's proper spot.

 

Since then, I've found a couple. Unfortunately, without pulleys they often don't want to descend. Cachers often don't hide the excess rope length adequately either (making the cache obvious to find even when looking down). Neither of these are problems with my counter-weight design.

 

hth,

 

Randy

[vagabond]

Wally world sells camo Para cord in 50 ft lengths. When my Inbetween cache was active it used 100 fot of cord, the cache was about 25 ft up in a crotch of an oak tree the cord went to another tree and down the trunk and was tied off.

A lot of cachers have a bad habit of not looking up while theyre caching

[+robert]

A lot of cachers have a bad habit of not looking up while theyre caching          

first thing i do if i'm stuck looking for a cache is look up!

 

beachbuddies i'm not too far from you (baltimore)... now i know you're secret. just might use it up here too

[+AtoZ]

Climbing Rope and parachute cord is NOT low fiction. I climb in Colorado and there are a number of tree that have deep scars in them from pulling down a rappel line. The rope WILL cut a grove. If your going to use any type of rope use dacron as nylon and poly pro ropes will degrade in sunlight and the weather. Dacron is more weather resistant. I would suggest what ever you do use a pully of some kind.

cheers

[+Spzzmoose]

I've done one like that also. I'd give you a link to the cache but I'd be giving it away!

[CoyoteRed]

I would suggest what ever you do use a pully of some kind.

It doesn't have to even be a true pulley set up.

 

Here's an idea: You'll need a 3' lenth of 1/2" rope or larger and a cheap $2 carabiner, the big one. Tie the ends together. Put the 'biner on the loop of rope. Throw the rope over a limb and put the free end of the loop in the 'biner, too. Put your cache suspension line in the 'biner. The 'biner will act as the pulley and provide less friction than the wood, you don't have to worry about a pulley rusting, and it's cheap.

 

Down side: you have to climb the tree to set it.

[+briansnat]

I would suggest what ever you do use a pully of some kind.

It doesn't have to even be a true pulley set up.

 

Here's an idea: You'll need a 3' lenth of 1/2" rope or larger and a cheap $2 carabiner, the big one. Tie the ends together. Put the 'biner on the loop of rope. Throw the rope over a limb and put the free end of the loop in the 'biner, too. Put your cache suspension line in the 'biner. The 'biner will act as the pulley and provide less friction than the wood, you don't have to worry about a pulley rusting, and it's cheap.

 

Down side: you have to climb the tree to set it.

This might be better than a pulley setup. There is a chance that the rope can come off track in the pulley when tension is removed from it.

[+Joe Smith]

I would suggest what ever you do use a pully of some kind.

It doesn't have to even be a true pulley set up.

 

Here's an idea: You'll need a 3' lenth of 1/2" rope or larger and a cheap $2 carabiner, the big one. Tie the ends together. Put the 'biner on the loop of rope. Throw the rope over a limb and put the free end of the loop in the 'biner, too. Put your cache suspension line in the 'biner. The 'biner will act as the pulley and provide less friction than the wood, you don't have to worry about a pulley rusting, and it's cheap.

 

Down side: you have to climb the tree to set it.

This might be better than a pulley setup. There is a chance that the rope can come off track in the pulley when tension is removed from it.

Sounds good to me too. We have about 20 old S&R carabiners from my brother's days at the fire department. They are heavy as all heck so we don't use them for climbing. Two of them are bust holding my kayak up in the rafters, and we use them all the time with the tow strap and tractor.

 

 

Go get a carabiner, rope, and ammo can and you have a nice cache!

 

Joe Smith

[+RJFerret]

Throw the rope over a limb and put the free end of the loop in the 'biner, too.

 

That'll also distribute the weight over two ropes rather than just one, minimizing the damage as the limb grows.

 

Even better would be tossing the loop over two nearby limbs rather than just one (wrapping them each only about 90 degrees rather than most the way around).

 

Nice,

 

Randy

[+Rainwater]

here is an idea WITHOUT any type of rope....I have done one like this in Michigan...

 

the cache container had a wire loop connected to it...a rather large loop...then the the owners hid two straight branches nearby...one had they had written on it "opps not long enough" and the other branch had a shoe string tied to it and a small hook. you had to tie the two branches (which where actually one that had been carefully broke in half) together and then reach up with the hook and unhook the cache that was hanging on a very straight and narrow tree on a little limb. Getting it and putting it back was actually a challenge but it was a fun cache

 

the container was small but I have an idea to improve on it by using a larger container and 2-3 pieces of 1 inch PVC pipe painted and camoed and one with a hook on the end...you could then glue copulers to the ends of the pipe and then just push the 2-3 pipes together to get up high enough...the pipes would offer more strength to lift the container off its branch.

Edited January 30, 2005 by Rainwater