Light Pole Caches?

[+fratermus]

Ok, my last three searches resulted in DNFs because the only thing at the location was a lightpole. No magnetic fasteners or anything else that could hide a cache.

 

Ding! I read an article about 1/1 lightpole caches.

Ding! maybe the lightpole itself hides the cache.

Ding! all three poles had access plates

 

Am I supposed to remove the access plate and look *inside* the light pole? If so, does this kind of thing make anyone else nervous? Anyone get questioned by cops or property owners about it?

[+briansnat]

I've found one lampost micro. Thankfully they have't made it to my area yet. Anyway, the baseplate lifts easily (no tools required) and cache is usually attached to the underside.

 

No I don't feel nervous because I'm not doing anything illegal.

Edited February 15, 2005 by briansnat

[+greengolftee87]

I personally wouldent open the light. If the cache page doesnt indicate that specail tools will be needed, and i cant get to the hiding spot with my hands then i assume that it isnt there. Taking off those covers may not be leagl also.

[+rusty_tlc]

How easy do you want us to make this?

I'll start with a hint; No you don't have to remove the access plate.

[+Ocean Archer]

...and you really have to be steady-handed, because the process of revealing the cache could be very noisy --> muggles are attracted to noise

[+sbell111]

Don't remove the access plate. Think bigger. No tools required.

[+fratermus]

Thanks for the input, folks!

 

fm,

who had been blissfully ignorant about the anatomy of lightpoles up to now.

[+sbell111]

I'd like it to go on the record that the OP does not live in Nashville.

[+Ladybug Kids]

No need to get into the electrical part of the light pole if that's the access plate you are talking about (at least for the light pole hides I have found). I would be uneasy about rooting around inside the pole where the wires are.

 

There is another standard place the cache can be hidden (magnetic or nonmagnetic), but I'd hate to ruin that first "Aha" moment for you that occurs during the first light pole find . Following Renegade Knight's sage advice from another forum, I'll probably create one (and ONLY one) up here since there aren't any.

[+Monkeybrad]

I am glad to see someone who has been challenged by and is enjoying "just another lame lightpole cache".

[+fly46]

I am glad to see someone who has been challenged by

*giggles* I just had a DNF on one of mine a week ago - a vacationer from out of state... I emailed him to find out where the were looking (to decided if I needed to drive out there and replace it or not) only to discover that "The cords took me to the middle of a parking lot and there weren't any hiding spots there" lol.

 

I agree. It's good to know a lightpole can still stump people.

[HIPS-meister]

I think it's safe to say that you should never look inside of a light pole, where the high-voltage circuits are. Nor, generally, should you stick your fingers underneath the area where the high-voltage wires come up!

 

But "a light-pole cache" can actually be made to be a lot of fun. I've seen some difficulty-4 light-pole caches that deserved the number! Light-poles rate second only to landscaping cross-ties as, "when you see them, you assume the cache must be there." You assume it's going to be drop-dead simple. So, what's fun to do is to design a cache that is different, especially one that takes advantage of the seeker's assumptions and perhaps his or her impatience. (hee, hee, hee.... )

 

All in the spirit of good-natured fun and a refreshing challenge, of course! Probably the most important element of any cache is its difficulty-rating: it should always be appropriate. The seeker should ultimately receive what s/he expects.

Edited February 16, 2005 by HIPS-meister

[+fratermus]

Wow, you folks weren't kidding about the noise. I was expecting it and it was still a bit startling.

 

Converted those three DNFs on the way home, and I'll never look a lightpole the same way again. :-)

[+OzGuff]

I'll never look a lightpole the same way again. :-)

That is just sick...

 

[CoyoteRed]

I am glad to see someone who has been challenged by and is enjoying "just another lame lightpole cache".

Yeah, but after the first one, the other several hundred are pretty easy.

[+JMBella]

If You Can't Find This Cache, You're An Idiot!

 

He got more than one person with this one.

[avroair]

I've found a couple of lampost micros and I am very glad we don't get them in Northern NJ.

Usually you can lift up the baseplate and viola! The small magnetic holder, with a soggy full logsheet should be underneath.

 

Technically it is quasi public property, so you shouldn't have a problem, but discretion is advised.

[+sbell111]

Wow. The thread went to 16 responses before someone gave away the technique.

[+briansnat]

Wow. The thread went to 16 responses before someone gave away the technique.

I thought I did in my first response.

[+sbell111]

Oops, I must have missed your post. The following responses followed Rusty's lead.

[+ironman114]

I've found a couple of lampost micros and I am very glad we don't get them in Northern NJ.

Usually you can lift up the baseplate and viola! The small magnetic holder, with a soggy full logsheet should be underneath.

 

Only if they use a non waterproof key holder instead of a waterproof bison type capsul like the one I found.

 

The one I found was not in a parking lot but a public viewing tower in the middle of a busy Industrial port.

Edited February 16, 2005 by ironman114

[HIPS-meister]

Hmm, if you think that's the only thing you can do for a light-pole cache... well, I can't say exactly where it is. But I can say that, when you fail-to-find the cache at "the usual spot," you're probably staring right at the darned thing but don't know it. It's not my cache but it's a good'un.

[+mortaine]

I remember my first "standard light pole" cache. We walked around for almost an hour trying to figure that one out.

[+rusty_tlc]

My lightpole ancedote.

About a year after I started caching I got stuck with a dead battery in the mall parking lot. While I was waiting for AAA to show up I checked every light pole within sight on the off chance that somebody had planted a micro and it wasen't posted. It helped to pass the time and kept me warm walking around.

 

I still look for listed LP caches on occasion, usually when the Mrs. is shopping for shoes or something.

[+fly46]

The real question is if you found one or not.

 

I've managed to resist that up to this point!

 

[+sbell111]

... The small magnetic holder, with a soggy full logsheet should be underneath....

It occured to me that I have never found a wet LP micro. Also, most that I've found have either been in a pill bottle or a film can.

[+fly46]

You know, now that you said that, I don't think I have, either.

 

I don't think I've ever found a soggy magnetic keyholder, either.

[+hb'sbear04]

Have found more than a few soggy magnetic keyholders. Okay, the keyholders weren't actually soggy, but the logs inside are often not even usable. Maybe a snack-size zippie bag would help?

[+q22q17]

We found a lightpole cache by accident. The first one we came to, the access plate was off, and all the wires were exposed and some even looked pulled out. I was nervous to stick my hand in there, and after searching all the bushes around the lightpole my hubby (Grush) said "well let's think" and leaned on the hiding spot. Then we were upset with ourselves for not thinking of it. When he leaned on it, we heard it move.

 

Then, a few weeks later, we had the coords of another cache, got to GZ (ground zero), and our boys (11 & 17) were very impressed as we showed them....... oh, ya, we've done this before, here's where it HAS to be.

 

But that first one, man oh man, I was worried about getting electrocuted! And yes, they make a lot of noise, especially in a grocery store parking lot at high noon on a Saturday! Eeep!

[vagabond]

Ok I admit I have one, and a cacher posted a dnf on it last month and stated he had done these before and it must be missing.

So I went by the next evening to replace it and it was still there, so I posted a note that maybe this was a new style that he hadnt done before.

[+diverhank]

Ok I admit I have one, and a cacher posted a dnf on it last month and stated he had done these before and it must be missing.

So I went by the next evening to replace it and it was still there, so I posted a note that maybe this was a new style that he hadnt done before.

As someone new to the game...lamp post cache wasn't that easy. A lamp post cache stumped me completely the first time. As the first wpt for a multi, this lamp post was in the middle of many landscaping bushes and there were tons of signs around. I spent a good half hour looking for everything. As the last desperate attempt I lifted the skirt of the post, expecting it not to budge only to have it lifted clear off...what a startling experience... The coords was written on the inside.

 

I suppose it gets easier the 2nd time around because if there's a lamp post around, that's the first thing I'd check.

[+JohnnyVegas]

For a twist on the light pole hide I have a multi that starts a few feet from a light pole, While the starting hint is not in the base of the light pole, I did place a small sign under the light pole the reads "This would be too easy"

[+The Leprechauns]

I remember my first "standard light pole" cache. We walked around for almost an hour trying to figure that one out.

My first one took 45 minutes. But, it wasn't in a shopping center parking lot; it was a light pole in a riverfront memorial park with the flags of all 50 states flying overhead, and all sorts of statues and plaques and passing boats to look at. A very cool spot. Of course, it also had lots of bushes and landscaping rocks. I looked in dozens of places before I trusted my GPS and stared at ground zero. Bingo!

 

I loved every minute of that hunt. If you're gonna hide a lamp post micro, try to think of a spot worth taking the finder to visit.

[4x4van]

Our first lampost micro stumped us the first time out. We spent at least 30 minutes searching in the bushes around it with no luck. I had even heard about a hider who painted an altoids tin to match the pole and had placed it directly on the side of the post so it looked like an access panel, but this pole had nothing of the sort. We eventually gave up, thinking it had been muggled. Went home and logged on in order to log a DNF, and realized that there was a "found it" log from just the previous day. Told my son, "get your shoes on, we're going back out!" After about 30 more minutes at the sight, it finally hit me and I tried the bottom cover plate. Duh! Did I feel stupid! Of course, now that's the first place we look at a lamppost cache!

[+Roo & the Bears]

I had read this thread earlier this weekend and today I ran into my first hide of this type.

 

A lot of what I read did not make sense untill I actually realized what the method consisted of. It was real DOH!!! moment considering the amount of time I spend looking at everything else near the actual hiding place.

 

Before seeing one, all the comments about the noise did not make any sense, but once you see it, you know what they mean.

 

Good one...

 

(PS, the kids and I had spent 30 minutes looking for this cache with an older less accurate GPS last week. A friend loaned me his new model and it was dead on within 3 feet of the final location - time for a GPS update I guess <G>)

[+Thot]

As someone new to the game...lamp post cache wasn't that easy. A lamp post cache stumped me completely the first time. 

When I was a kid I used to hide coins under the skirt of parking meters, so when I ran into a light pole cache (as about my 4th cache) I went to it immediately.

 

Of course, it probably helped that it was on a pole in the middle of a perfectly clean, paved and deserted sports stadium parking lot. Not a thing in sight but smooth, flat concrete and light poles for more than a hundred yards in every direction. There was absolutely no where it could be except the light pole near the coordinates.

[+wimseyguy]

I am glad to see someone who has been challenged by and is enjoying "just another lame lightpole cache".

Lightpole 201 is now in session. They can look for one of Joe's.

I have found dozens and dozens of them. It always makes me smile to think of all of the unsuspecting non cachers who pass by it everyday. I have seen very few soggy logs. I have seen soggy logs in all other types of containers, even once or twice in an ammo can.

A good source for little ziplocks is a paper speciality store, or the jewelry counter in a department store. I also hear that Walmart will give away the film cans too.

Edited March 7, 2005 by wimseyguy

[HIPS-meister]

One of the most common places where a cache is hidden in a lightpole is inside the base: the cover pulls up. The cache might be attached inside the cover! If the cover does not move very easily, "it's not there."

 

There are definitely some "evil alternatives" to hiding something on the traditional light-pole. Don't walk up to an area that features a lightpole and simply assume that the cache is actually there! Evil-cachers sometimes use a lightpole as a thirty-foot-tall red herring!

 

Danger: There is also very high voltage electricity inside a lightpole. The "hot" areas should be covered with access-plates, but ... A lightpole's interior and undersides "ist nicht fur gerfingerpoken und mittengrabben!" Be careful.

[+OccidentalErrant]

I would just watch for cops. Most of them are like muggles and don't understand the game.. I avoid those that I think would attract the attention of cops.. and I haven't had the necessity to explain what I am doing either.

[+DanOCan]

We don't have very many lightpole caches here -- in fact I have never seen one. (A lightpole cache, I mean -- I have seen plenty of light poles!) I actually want to travel to an area that has some just to try one so I can come into the forums and complain like everyone else.

 

To be honest, I've never looked at a lightpole closely enough to know what everyone is talking about. I'll have to check one out sometime.

[+W7WT]

The first light pole cache I ever saw was on the Central Washington University campus. I remember walking around that pole and the GPS insisted it was there. But where? Once I found it, I thought what a great idea. I wonder what Geocacher was the first one to think up and actually use this idea in a cache. Dick, W7WT

[+Roo & the Bears]

I would just watch for cops.  Most of them are like muggles and don't understand the game.. 

And some of them are also cacher's. Only problem is I'm driving a desk & computer now after 27 years in the field. However since I was recently introduced to the sport by a friend (spouse of another cop), I've shown 4 or 5 of my cop buddies who camp and have GPSr's about the sport and they are finding it is addictive as well.

 

Actually it would be a lot easier to explain what you were doing to the average cop if you had a cache print out or two with you as well. Paperless caching has it's drawbacks.

Edited March 10, 2005 by Roo & the Bears

[+sbell111]

Do you think that having the page in your pda via Plucker or Cachemate will do the trick?

[+The Leprechauns]

We don't have very many lightpole caches here -- in fact I have never seen one. (A lightpole cache, I mean -- I have seen plenty of light poles!) I actually want to travel to an area that has some just to try one so I can come into the forums and complain like everyone else.

 

To be honest, I've never looked at a lightpole closely enough to know what everyone is talking about. I'll have to check one out sometime.

I'll never forget the experience of finding 240 caches in 24 hours with carleenp to set the then-current world record for speed finding. Over the course of that long day and night in Nashville, we found quite a few lamp post micros. They were Carleen's first ones. She kept saying "gee, we don't have those kind of lamp posts back home in Nebraska."

 

So she goes back to Nebraska, logs her 240 finds, and then drives to work. Right in front of her parking space is one of "those" lamp posts. You don't really notice them until you find a few!!!

[+Jamie Z]

"gee, we don't have those kind of lamp posts back home in Nebraska."

Isn't that a line from Cheers?