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Camo Lock 'n Locks


TeamK-9

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I had recently hidden a cache in a Lock 'n Lock.

 

First I painted it with brown spraypaint. It looked pretty good, but the paint started peeling off.

 

So I scraped all the paint off, and wrapped it in camo duct tape. It didn't look nearly as visually pleasing.

 

Well, the other day, I went out to check on the cache, and found that one of the hinges had been broken off and that the "Official GEocache" sticker had fallen off somehow.

 

I really like the Lock'n Lock containers, and I won't hesitate to use it again, but how the heck do I camo it. Since obviously paint doesn't work too well, and geocache stickers won't stick to duct tape for some reason...

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I have only come across one Lock'n'lock so far and it was definitely painted. I have a lock'n'lock that i bought I'd like to use for a cache, but I'm curious about painting it. I'm sure it's going to depend on what type of paint you use.

 

Doesn't Rustoleum make a spray paint for plastics these days?

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I've experimented a bit with painting Lock & Locks. Sanding with a medium to fine grit sandpaper is by far the best, albeit most labour intensive, way to go followed by a few coats of Krylon Camo paint. I generally use a 220 grit sandpaper. You have to be very careful to sand in all the various nooks and crannies, which can be very difficult, otherwise the paint will start to lift from the unsanded areas. Be sure to mask off the seal on the lid before painting as any paint on the rubber seal will compromise the seal.

 

I've tried the Krylon Fusion but it still flaked and the colours weren't that great. I tried Rustoleum Plastic Primer on an unpainted L&L and it stuck pretty good but as soon as I sprayed a coat of Krylon Camo paint over the primer it immediately blistered and took off the primer. :lol: This week I'm going to take a L&L into work and try sandblasting it to see if it is as effective as sanding. I've got about 15 L&L's that need to be painted but I've been much too busy to spend the time sanding them so I'm hoping that sandblasting will work well. I'll post back in this thread after I've tried it.

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Question: is there an absolute need for painting the container?

 

The reason I paint ammo boxes is in case the finder doesn't cover the container completely. A camoed container won't stick out like a sore thumb.

 

One of our first letterboxes was a plastic container. We used a heavy duty window screen material and made a pouch out of it by simply stapling it together. It comes in black, but I'm sure it would take standard camo paints fairly well. Plus, as anyone has ever hunted a cache in a black plastic garbage bag it makes it hard to spot in deep brush. The screen material, though, doesn't collect water and make it nasty.

 

We got this idea from a cache that was hidden in a camo mesh bag. Worked pretty good.

 

Hope this helps.

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An easier alternative to sanding plastic is the use of a chemical "deglosser". You can find some in the paint section of your favorite hardware store near the paint thinners/denatured alcohol/etc. Just wipe it on and let it dry...it removes the oils and makes the surface ready to accept paint.

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Has there ever been a survey of camo tapes?

 

The wife spotted a cache a while back from 30' away because the camo tape had turned a funky purple color. It made it stand out instead of blend in. Also, we've seen some camo tapes that are really shiny which also doesn't do a good job of blending in. The cloth camo tape, while works well in blending in, is kind of expensive.

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I haven't had a chance to check out these paints on plastic cache containers but I have had a chance to try them on the molding of my project rig.

 

Krylon Fusion is a plastic paint.

Rust-o-leum also makes plastic paint, as well as vinyl paint.

Duplicolor (auto stores) makes vinyl paint as well.

 

They are all meant for plastic. The plastic paints for hard plastic, and vinyl...vinyl. When I get back into placing caches I've got some tupperware that I"m going to try the paints on and see how they hold up.

 

The biggest problem is brittle paint. You can scuff it up, use a plastic primer, and then paint it,but the paint will need to be flexable.

 

Duct tape lives a short life span in nature.

Edited by Renegade Knight
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Coincidental to this thread popping up I was about to experiment with the use of Acetone to etch the lids of round plastic jars. Actually I already know it will do a good job but the experiment was to see how I could use it safely at home. Reading over the "Material Safety Data Sheet" I think I'll pass and try the recommended light sandpaper treatment followed by washing with hot water and dish soap. Even though these containers are rated as "food grade" there still could be a slight oily film left over from the molding process which would lessen the paint adhesion.

 

Cheers, Olar

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What is a Lock n lock? Haven't heard this term before.

See my photos above. They are plastic containers with locking lids and a gasket that does a pretty good job of keeping the cache dry. They are also pretty inexpensive and they come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. Some weirdos actually use them for food storage.

 

Here are some more pics

 

31414e25-0625-4287-8f90-ae9d853ea142.jpg

 

a150d194-ad8c-47b0-9cbe-75f248e07762.jpg

Edited by briansnat
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Like briansnat I don't use a sticker on my Lock&Lock caches but instead have a printout taped to the inside of the transparent lid. I mask this off when painting so the printout remains visible after the paint job.

 

Edit for spelling B)

Edited by PDOP's
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I sandblasted a 1L Lock & Lock this morning. The sandblaster I used was one of those really cheap, small, light duty, bench-top gravity fed cabinets using medium grade glass bead abrasive. It took me about 10 minutes and the resulting finish was far better and more uniform than I have ever achieved with sandpaper. More importantly, it was able to reach the nooks and crannies of a L&L that you can't get to with sand paper. I'll spray it with Krylon Camo paint tonight to see if the paint adheres as well as on a hand-sanded surface.

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I used a couple good basecoat of a dark brown, using Krylon's Fusion spraypaint. And that worked great, no flaking or nothing. I think how those types of paint work is they have a chemical in them already that eats away some of the plastic to create a more adhesive friendly surface. Once you basecoat it with a plastic spraypaint, anything you put on over it will stick. I used regular spraypaint with no problems. No sanding, no mess, and it's held up fine so far.

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I used a couple good basecoat of a dark brown, using Krylon's Fusion spraypaint. And that worked great, no flaking or nothing. I think how those types of paint work is they have a chemical in them already that eats away some of the plastic to create a more adhesive friendly surface. Once you basecoat it with a plastic spraypaint, anything you put on over it will stick. I used regular spraypaint with no problems. No sanding, no mess, and it's held up fine so far.

I had a very strange experience using so-called "plastic paints". Following the recommendation of another cacher who had more success than me, I painted an unsanded L&L with Rustoleum Plastic Primer and allowed it to dry for about an hour. The primer appeared to adhere quite well and passed my "fingernail" test. I then sprayed a coat of Krylon Camo paint on the primer. It went on well but after about 30 seconds, the whole painted surface instantly blistered before my eyes. I let the paint dry and when I began to flake off the blistered paint I noticed that the primer was bonded quite well to the camo paint and the whole mess lifted off the plastic with very little effort. An incompatibility between the paints, perhaps?

 

I've tried Krylon Fusion paint before but there was a very limited selection of flat colours available, none of which I found suitable for camoflage. I also found that, while it stuck well to other plastics, it scrapes off L&L's quite easily.

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I used a couple good basecoat of a dark brown, using Krylon's Fusion spraypaint. And that worked great, no flaking or nothing. I think how those types of paint work is they have a chemical in them already that eats away some of the plastic to create a more adhesive friendly surface. Once you basecoat it with a plastic spraypaint, anything you put on over it will stick. I used regular spraypaint with no problems. No sanding, no mess, and it's held up fine so far.

I had a very strange experience using so-called "plastic paints". Following the recommendation of another cacher who had more success than me, I painted an unsanded L&L with Rustoleum Plastic Primer and allowed it to dry for about an hour. The primer appeared to adhere quite well and passed my "fingernail" test. I then sprayed a coat of Krylon Camo paint on the primer. It went on well but after about 30 seconds, the whole painted surface instantly blistered before my eyes. I let the paint dry and when I began to flake off the blistered paint I noticed that the primer was bonded quite well to the camo paint and the whole mess lifted off the plastic with very little effort. An incompatibility between the paints, perhaps?

 

I've tried Krylon Fusion paint before but there was a very limited selection of flat colours available, none of which I found suitable for camoflage. I also found that, while it stuck well to other plastics, it scrapes off L&L's quite easily.

I tried the Rustoleum Plastic Primer and found it to be very runny and dried slowly. I don't remember what the recommended top-coating wait time was for the Rustoleum Plastic Primer, but maybe you top-coated too soon?

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I tried the Rustoleum Plastic Primer and found it to be very runny and dried slowly. I don't remember what the recommended top-coating wait time was for the Rustoleum Plastic Primer, but maybe you top-coated too soon?

I didn't experience that with the Rustoleum Plastic Primer. It went on quite evenly and dried very quickly. My workshop, at the time, was cool and humid. I'm not sure what the recommended drying time was but I'll double check the can when I get home tonight. Given that another cacher had better success with the same process, I have to believe that in my case there was some other factor affecting the outcome. Whether it was temperature, humidity or drying time, I'm not sure. I was careful to warm up the shop to about 20C before painting as I've had problems with the Krylon Camo Paint turning a milky white as it dried when I've applied it at cooler temperatures.

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I sandblasted a 1L Lock & Lock this morning.

I use a 'flap sanding wheel' that fits in a standard drill. (No it may not get in to every cranny on a L&L) For ammocans I'll use a wheel that has wire bristles. It takes off paint in no time.

Edited by BlueDeuce
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I sandblasted a 1L Lock & Lock this morning.

I use a 'flap sanding wheel' that fits in a standard drill. (No it may not get in to every cranny on a L&L) For ammocans I'll use a wheel that has wire bristles. It takes off paint in no time.

When I am "hand sanding" I usually use 2" sanding disks either mounted on the headstock of my wood lathe or chucked in an electric angle drill. I use a Dremel detail sander to get at the areas inaccessible to the sanding disks. I resort to handheld sandpaper for any areas that I can't get at when power sanding. Did I mention I hate sanding? B)

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I bought a bunch of L&L's at the Dollar store -

 

first try had the paint flaking off - then I used a sander on them - much faster than hand sanding - and the vibration gets the blood flowing in the hands. B)

 

That helped a lot and the paint seems to be staying on. You need to do two things, remove the release agent from the molding process, and then give the paint a 'tooth' to hang onto. The fine scratches from the sand paper do just that.

 

Now, for the REAL Camo I bought a bunch of cheap clear caulking at the Dollar store. Slop a bunch of that on the top of the box and spread it around - then dribble on the local 'stuff'. Leaves and dirt from under an oak tree works great. Tried some wood chips from a bag of mulch - not bad - also some shredded bark looked really good. Wear rubber gloves to keep the gunk of your hands - let them sit for a few days to cure and they are awesome.

 

A few of these caches are in plain sight - yup - right out in the open - I have logs and other reports that finders have spent an hour on one of these caches.

 

No, I'm not trying to be mean, nor devilish with my caches, but I don't think it is a lot of fun to walk up and look in a hole and grab it either.

 

cc\

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Now, for the REAL Camo I bought a bunch of cheap clear caulking at the Dollar store. Slop a bunch of that on the top of the box and spread it around - then dribble on the local 'stuff'. Leaves and dirt from under an oak tree works great. Tried some wood chips from a bag of mulch - not bad - also some shredded bark looked really good. Wear rubber gloves to keep the gunk of your hands - let them sit for a few days to cure and they are awesome.

Can you post a picture of this?

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Yes it's Duck brand. Yes you can find it at hunting season at Wal-Mart. No you don't have to wait until hunting season though.............................? You figure it out. B)

Our local Wal-mart carries it all year long with all the other duct tape.

Our Wal-mart has the shiny vinyl camo duct tape all year long, but apparently only carries the dull cloth kind in the fall. I had a little bit of the cloth kind available when I was taping up this Lock & Lock, but not enough for the whole thing, and had to settle for the vinyl kind to finish it off. I put the shiny tape on the top and bottom, and the cloth tape on the sides, because (based on the cache placement) the sides are what searchers will see first.

 

camolnl8oz.jpg

 

(the tabs are colored in with green & black Sharpies.)

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I don't like sanding ... so I use Krylon Fusion, which bonds quite well to plastic. I've not had any peeling problems yet with my L&Ls. The green is a little glossy, so after it's dried, I go over it with Krylon Camo Brown, very lightly. Gives a reasonably good effect.

 

I have always hated sanding too -

 

using the electric sander made it work very well and went quickly - better than when I did it by hand.

 

cc\

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Now, for the REAL Camo I bought a bunch of cheap clear caulking at the Dollar store.  Slop a bunch of that on the top of the box and spread it around - then dribble on the local 'stuff'.  Leaves and dirt from under an oak tree works great.  Tried some wood chips from a bag of mulch - not bad - also some shredded bark looked really good.  Wear rubber gloves to keep the gunk of your hands - let them sit for a few days to cure and they are awesome.

Can you post a picture of this?

 

sure can - just went and took these two photos -

 

now I just gotta remember how to do this -

 

took me a while to figure that out again - been too long -

 

this one is leaves and other gung from under some bushes in my yard -

 

17bf4be2-87c6-4a54-ad86-d15eeffeddaa.jpg

 

this one is shredded bark from a bag ground cover -

 

a8259dcc-fada-4fa7-8e6a-dadb322f0296.jpg

Edited by CompuCash
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actually just used the dull primer paint from Orchard Hardware -

 

then gooped them up - sprinkled on the stuff and pressed it into the calk.

 

these two got a little flattened out being carried in a backpack last week.

 

It's a little hard to 'fluff up' with out destroying it.

 

there are some in plain sight that have been reported as difficult to find -

 

cc\

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I used a couple good basecoat of a dark brown, using Krylon's Fusion spraypaint. And that worked great, no flaking or nothing. I think how those types of paint work is they have a chemical in them already that eats away some of the plastic to create a more adhesive friendly surface. Once you basecoat it with a plastic spraypaint, anything you put on over it will stick. I used regular spraypaint with no problems. No sanding, no mess, and it's held up fine so far.

I had a very strange experience using so-called "plastic paints". Following the recommendation of another cacher who had more success than me, I painted an unsanded L&L with Rustoleum Plastic Primer and allowed it to dry for about an hour. The primer appeared to adhere quite well and passed my "fingernail" test. I then sprayed a coat of Krylon Camo paint on the primer. It went on well but after about 30 seconds, the whole painted surface instantly blistered before my eyes. I let the paint dry and when I began to flake off the blistered paint I noticed that the primer was bonded quite well to the camo paint and the whole mess lifted off the plastic with very little effort. An incompatibility between the paints, perhaps?

 

I've tried Krylon Fusion paint before but there was a very limited selection of flat colours available, none of which I found suitable for camoflage. I also found that, while it stuck well to other plastics, it scrapes off L&L's quite easily.

The problem with your primer and paint blistering problem is an incompatability between the two. One is enamel the other is laquor. They don't mix well, obviously. :) Try a primer that is the same as the paint. Another idea is the texture paints. There a lot of earth tones and the texture makes it look more natural.

 

-JR

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