Anyone See A Good Buried Cache

[The Junkyard Dogs]

my kids raelly want to bury one with the whole X marks the spot and every thing. does anyone have any good suggestions on how to do this without making people bring a shovel and search dog.

[+Renegade Knight]

In your front yard. The dirt patch in your lawn will be a giveaway.

 

In your backyard in the sandbox. X ft west of your fence and X feet south of the other fence.

 

Using youre own yard solves the problem of digging holes on other peoples land which would not be approved unless you got some seriouse permission and maybe not even then.

Edited March 2, 2005 by Renegade Knight

[+fishingfools]

I have seen a "t" shaped PVC pipe underground that had a Fake stump glued to the cap.

[+Markwell]

Geocacing.com Guidelines

 

Off-limit (Physical) Caches

By submitting a cache listing, you assure us that you have adequate permission to hide your cache in the selected location. However, if we see a cache description that mentions ignoring "No Trespassing" signs (or any other obvious issues), your listing may be immediately archived.

 

Caches may be quickly archived if we see the following (which is not inclusive):

• 
   
  
• Caches on land maintained by the U.S. National Park Service or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (National Wildlife Refuges)
   
  
• Caches that are buried. If a shovel, trowel or other “pointy” object is used to dig, whether in order to hide or to find the cache, then it is not appropriate.
   
  

 

You can do it on your private property, but you also might have a hard time getting it listed.

 

Remember that the GPS is only accurate to about 30 feet. Let's see, ∏r² (3.14159 x 30 x 30) = 2827.43 square feet. That's a lot of potential area to dig up. Unless you provide some other clue like "It's under the Mr. Turtle Sandbox lid in the backyard."

Edited March 2, 2005 by Markwell

[+briansnat]

If you find an existing hole in the ground, you can use it and just cover the cache with leaves and duff.

[The Junkyard Dogs]

If you find an existing hole in the ground, you can use it and just cover the cache with leaves and duff.

ok how to x mark the spot over a hole without it looking hokey? everyone would love to play piarate every now and then or is that my little dirty secret.

[+Stunod]

If you find an existing hole in the ground, you can use it and just cover the cache with leaves and duff.

ok how to x mark the spot over a hole without it looking hokey? everyone would love to play piarate every now and then or is that my little dirty secret.

The "X" was only on the pirates map, so draw a map of the hidden location (it doesn't have to be buried), and tell the cachers to use the map to find the treasure. Your GPS coords would lead them to an obvious starting point, and use the map from there.

[+John & Hazel]

my kids raelly want to bury one with the whole X marks the spot and every thing. does anyone have any good suggestions on how to do this without making people bring a shovel and search dog. 

Try something like This cache

[+fly46]

everyone would love to play piarate every now and then or is that my little dirty secret.

I'm sorry. I don't do that with cachers I don't know well.

 

Seriously, though, buried caches are a no-no. Find an existing hole and cover it up with a rock or something like that. Otherwise, you're going to have to stick with holes in trees and stuff like the rest of us have to.

[Stony2008]

I recomend digging a hole and placing a large bucket or container in the hole. then get a smaller container for the cache and put that in the bucket. Then just cover it up with some leaves bark or whatever you want.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Didn't you watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? "X never marks the spot"

[+Jamie Z]

I recomend digging a hole and placing a large bucket or container in the hole. then get a smaller container for the cache and put that in the bucket. Then just cover it up with some leaves bark or whatever you want.

And make sure it's on your own property.

 

Jamie

[+VegasCacheHounds]

Okay, I've seen this debated plenty of times, but I still have not seen an approver answer the key question. If you have permission to dig and bury a cache, can you? I'd love to see a definative answer from TPTB on this.

 

Shannon

[+Reviewer Jones]

Okay, I've seen this debated plenty of times, but I still have not seen an approver answer the key question.  If you have permission to dig and bury a cache, can you?  I'd love to see a definative answer from TPTB on this.

 

Shannon

I can definitively tell you that I wouldn't approve it.

 

The guidelines are pretty clear, as Markwell stated them above. Nothing is said about "it's ok if you have permission." It seems to me that making an allowance like that simply opens the door for someone who only claims to have permission and then someone who skips the permission all together.

 

There are plenty of natural hiding spots out there that we don't need to start sending people out with shovels. Besides, let's be realistic, the second person who finds that buried cache is going to find a pre-dug hole. How hard is that going to be compared to searching for a cache that has been re-hidden and re-camouflaged well? P

 

RJ

[+briansnat]

Okay, I've seen this debated plenty of times, but I still have not seen an approver answer the key question.  If you have permission to dig and bury a cache, can you?  I'd love to see a definative answer from TPTB on this.

 

Shannon

I can definitively tell you that I wouldn't approve it.

 

The guidelines are pretty clear, as Markwell stated them above. Nothing is said about "it's ok if you have permission." It seems to me that making an allowance like that simply opens the door for someone who only claims to have permission and then someone who skips the permission all together.

 

There are plenty of natural hiding spots out there that we don't need to start sending people out with shovels. Besides, let's be realistic, the second person who finds that buried cache is going to find a pre-dug hole. How hard is that going to be compared to searching for a cache that has been re-hidden and re-camouflaged well? P

 

RJ

Now that's different from the line not long ago where it was said that if it was on your own property, it would be fine.

[+Renegade Knight]

...Besides, let's be realistic, the second person who finds that buried cache is going to find a pre-dug hole. How hard is that going to be compared to searching for a cache that has been re-hidden and re-camouflaged well?...

Your answer is pretty clear on getting the cache approved and approval authority never hurts when answering a question on approval.

 

To answer your other question though. "It Depends" A hole in a lawn would be obvious. Sand on the other hand would work pretty well to disguise who had dug and where they had dug. The challenge would be to define an area of sand to use because it would be so hard to see where someone had dug before.

 

Sometimes it's also not about the challenge of finding the exact spot in standard dirt (which I agree would be easy) but instead the theme of the cache. Maybe they did use a map with an X and the spirit of the cache would involve digging for treasuer. Which brings us to the first answer you gave. You would not approve it.

[+Wheelygood]

I have been intrigued with the buried cache concept as well and wish they could be approved after careful review but like many good ideas they would probably end up a victim of popularity and misplacement.

 

IMO there is a listing on Navicache (N01340) that is an excellent example of a perfect spot for one. It is a public beach where the construction of sandcastles, big and small, take place all summer long. I have seen holes dug that were large enough for children to get into, many times larger than a ammo can.

 

As for finding the cache, once we agreed on the “it must be here” we used a primitive homemade tool to narrow the dig area further and we did not dig a bunch of holes to find it. As our log states we waited a couple days before claiming our find by then our tracks were gone.

 

In this setting I do not feel the cache violates the spirit of leave no trace.

[+VegasCacheHounds]

Okay, I've seen this debated plenty of times, but I still have not seen an approver answer the key question.  If you have permission to dig and bury a cache, can you?  I'd love to see a definative answer from TPTB on this.

 

Shannon

I can definitively tell you that I wouldn't approve it.

 

The guidelines are pretty clear, as Markwell stated them above. Nothing is said about "it's ok if you have permission." It seems to me that making an allowance like that simply opens the door for someone who only claims to have permission and then someone who skips the permission all together.

 

There are plenty of natural hiding spots out there that we don't need to start sending people out with shovels. Besides, let's be realistic, the second person who finds that buried cache is going to find a pre-dug hole. How hard is that going to be compared to searching for a cache that has been re-hidden and re-camouflaged well? P

 

RJ

Thanks. That is exactly what I was looking for. A clear, concise answer from a reviewer.

Good to know.

 

Shannon

[+wifireman]

Ive did a cache that used a very large plastic pickle jar that was buried to the lid of the jar. So the only thing sticking out of the ground is the lid which was painted and camo'd very well. This cache took us over a hour to finually find and when we did hit it we loved the idea! But there is no digging required here! leave the shovels at home.

[+nfa]

they're just guidelines...

 

what if only women were buried...would it be approved then?

 

seriously...the idea of using a pre-exisiting hole or depression, and then covering it with leaves or some sort of top (maybe even with an X pattern in it) would be be a cool way of doing it, and probably approvable

 

nfa-jamie

Edited March 3, 2005 by NFA

[HIPS-meister]

Really, "on the ground" (much less even partially "buried"), can be a very problematic place for a cache. It doesn't take much ground-cover detrius to make the darned thing impossible to find, much less dirty! While "X marks the spot" does have a certain amount of "curb appeal" at first glance, it can really translate to a not-so-good cache and I would not recommend doing it.

[+Kit Fox]

I guess all the fake sprinkler caches made it past the reviewers. This could have been due to the cache hider not revealing how the cache is actually hidden though.

 

Besides sprinkler caches, I have found a peanut butter jar that had a small piece of plywood screwed to the lid. All you could see was the plywood on the ground. The rest of the jar was underground, inside an ABS cylinder. Although this is not within geocaching guidelines, it was a very enjoyable cache.

 

It stumped a few veteran cachers.

[+CYBret]

It stumped a few veteran cachers.

Did it stump them because it was a good hide or did it stump them because they were operating under the presupposition that it wouldn't be buried?

 

I once hunted for about an hour and a half for a cache in a densely wooded area. There were dozens of great hiding spots that I kept going back to over and over again. I finally found the cache buried in a freshly dug rectangular hole (not a natural depression) and hidden beneath a piece of carpet covered in dirt, leaves and sticks. If my head had allowed for the idea that the cache might be buried I would have probably found it quicker.

 

Bret

[+BillsBayou]

Jimmy Durante hid his cache under the "Big Dubya" in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" (1963). Look at the hole they dug in THAT one!

[+DelMarNorth]

We did a cache in the San Diego area last year, and the hiders had found an existing hollow and covered it with 2 pieces of wood that formed the "X" to mark the spot. If you can find a hollow behind a bush, that is not already a home for a critter, this might work for you.

[+justybug]

I found one a while back that if i was off trail, i would have missed. neat cache, but dense forest, bad signal, multiple spots to hide ABOVE ground. if you're not expecting it, which you shouldn't be by the rules on this site, it's kind of aggravating.

fortunately for my find, you have to be on the trail or you can miss it. if your stride is too long, you could miss it!!

and no, i don't want to add a shovel to my caching backpack supplies..

ever..

[The Junkyard Dogs]

OK READING ALL THESE , LETS SEE, if i FIND A ALREADY EXCISTING DEPRESSION AND HAVE A CONTAINER THAT YOU CAN LEAVE THE LID OUT OF HOW WOULD I WRITE THAT IN TO LET OTHERS KNOW THAT IT IS IN THE GROUND . AND WOULD THAT GET APPROVED. SINCE I DID NOT DIG A HOLE AND OTHER CACHERS WILL NOT NEED SPECIAL EQUIP. (SHOVELS)?

Edited March 6, 2005 by The Junkyard Dogs

[+Renegade Knight]

oK READING ALL THESE , LETS SEE, if i FIND A ALREADY EXCISTING DEPRESSION AND HAVE A CONTAINER THAT YOU CAN LEAVE THE LID OUT OF HOW WOULD i WRITE THAT IN TO LET OTHERS KNOW THAT IT IS IN THE GROUND . AND WOULD THAT GET APPROVED. SINCE i DID NOT DIG A HOLE AND OTHER CACHERS WILL NOT NEED SPECIAL EQUIP. (SHOLVELS)?

You describe where it's hidden at. 3' West of the forked trunked tree, 4' south of the white rock. Or whatever is there that is unique.

 

If it's in a depression under leaf litter they are not too hard to find with a walking stick poking the ground. The "thud" is distinct.

 

Edit: You can also describe that. "in a depression under leaf cover"

Edited March 6, 2005 by Renegade Knight

[The Junkyard Dogs]

Maybe I could make this a multi cache the first could be way points and the hint and the secound would be where it is hidden. But this still leaves the question if it would get approved?

[+Renegade Knight]

Maybe I could make this a multi cache the first could be way points and the hint and the secound would be where it is hidden. But this still leaves the question if it would get approved?

Hiding a cache in a depression under leaf cover is fairly common.

 

It's approvable if that's the only issue.

[+AtoZ]

Well for starters if you have to dig to place or find a cache then it WILL NOT be approved no matter where it is at. Here is the GC guildline:

 

Caches that are buried. If a shovel, trowel or other “pointy” object is used to dig, whether in order to hide or to find the cache, then it is not appropriate

 

There is no qualifier as to where the cache is nor premission etc... that it had to bury it. So not sure what you should or want to do, but I doubt it would be approved.

cheers

[+Greymane]

I found one this weekend. It was in a natural depression. Two fairly large and very flat stones were placed over it. It was in an ammo can. With the snow on the ground in this area, I would never have found it, but my son wanted to bring his metal detector along. What a lifesaver! No digging required (except snow). Just had to move one of the stones (not very heavy). In the summer, I think this would be much easier to spot.