Cache Containers – Anyone Make Your Own?

[+Iowa Tom]

I am sure a zillion questions have been asked about cache containers but I hope to approach it in a little different way here.

 

I am curious about what other geocachers use for cache containers. For instance, if you don't mind sharing, do you make some of them or adapt ready made objects obtainable at the store and so on and so forth. Please share by answering some are all of the following questions.

 

Thank you!

 

Here are the questions I am proposing. Feel free to add some of your own to this list if you like.

 

(1) Do you make or significantly modify any of your own geocache containers?

 

(2) What have you used for containers: like PVC, barn wood, small logs, metal pipes, plastic jars, other plastic containers - other than the everyday Tupperware and ice cream buckets etc. etc.?

 

(3) Do you or how do you waterproof the lid’s seal?

 

(4) Have you put a lock onto a cache?

For all that have:

....(a.) where and how do you hide the key or

....(b.) in what way does the user determine the combination of a combination lock?

 

(5) Have you made a geocache container that someone needs to figure out how to open once it’s found?

 

(6) Have you used an electronic device as part of your geocache?

 

(7) Please describe the most creative cache container like that you’ve run across.

Pictured below is the most recent cache container I've made. I tried to make it as much muggle proof as I could, being I figured that one would eventually discover it within the big Arbivitae tree in the corner of the school yard. It's called the WRBA TB VAULT. It's back side is cabled to a tree with a bike cable locked in place. The lid is locked via a combination bike cable lock in the front. The front cable also wraps around part of the same tree. The geocacher needs to come up with the combination as per instructions at the cache site. To seal the lid, I used a mouse pad that gets crushed against a thin layer of silicone rubber. When they are not too thick I have often used a mouse pad to seal a lid of even a peanut butter jar.

 

......................................

Edited November 28, 2005 by Iowa Tom

[+Jamie Z]

. I tried to make it as much muggle proof as I could, being I figured that one would eventually discover it within the big Arbivitae tree in the corner of the school yard. It's back side is cabled to a tree with a bike cable locked in place. The lid is locked via a combination bike cable lock in the front. The front cable also wraps around part of the same tree. The geocacher needs to come up with the combination as per instructions at the cache site.

I like the idea of using a lock as part of a puzzle, but it's not good muggle-proofing.

 

The best muggle-proof technique is to use good camoflauge and hide it in an area where it won't be found. Muggles finding a locked box will go to great lengths to get inside. You're risking having your box destroyed by muggles trying to find out what's so valuable inside.

 

Jamie

[+DocDiTTo]

Ignoring the bazillion questions for a moment, you actually hid that in a school yard? Sounds like trouble just waiting to happen. School yards aren't a good place for caches to begin with, especially those that look homemade like a potential bomb might. The last school yard cache around here ended up being archived because 2 people from Ohio were seen hunting it, and the local police were called because concerned parents thought they might be kidnappers or pedophiles.

 

Back to the topic...

 

Yes, I've made a few containers, the only reason I did so was because they needed to be well camouflaged. Many available containers are already waterproof, and quite sturdy. Ammo cans come to mind. And with just a little extra hardware they can be made lockable and muggle-proof too. I don't have the time to spend creating a fancy container when a standard ammo can will fit the bill and probably cost a lost less.

 

Edit: Ok, I just read the cache page, so in this particular case a school yard cache might be ok, as long as all the staff at the school understand that it's there and strangers can be expected to be lurking in the bushes there... I'm still leary after what happened here.

Edited November 28, 2005 by DocDiTTo

[+Mystery Ink]

 

 

Like this?

Edited November 28, 2005 by Mystery Ink

[adampierson]

Off the top of my head, I've seen cache containers disguised as part of plumbing, pine cones, tree trunks, rocks, and electrical boxes.

 

Silicon is a pretty good sealer if you plan on making your own containers.

 

Locks IMO are not a good idea, unless you make it as a part of the puzzle to open the cache.

 

The most creative container was a hollowed out log. Rare earth magnets were embedded into the wood allowing a tight fit when the log was put back together again.

[+Mule Ears]

I like the OP's "vault," in part because I just placed a cache with a similar theme: Vault of Kaidoz.

 

My vault is a 1-foot cube of fiber-reinforced concrete with a cast-in cavity that holds a Lock-n-Lock container. The outer vault weighs 100 pounds; 85 for the box and 15 for the lid. The concrete box protects the inner container from the weather, but isn't waterproof. There's a drain hole in the bottom.

 

The Vault of Kaidoz is hidden in a limestone outcropping on a mountainside, which, through no planning on my part, matches the color of the concrete perfectly.

 

Here's a pic of the vault just after removal from the mold.

[+Iowa Tom]

Ignoring the bazillion questions for a moment,

Should I have asked each question one per post? Just curious. Terribly sorry for any annoyance. I try to tread lightly.

 

The school where I teach is a private school. Having been teaching here for 11 years I have a pretty good feel for what can and cannot be done and what is OK and what is not. The tree where the cache is hidden is near a far corner of the property past the parkinglot and in full sight of a main road about 100 feet away. I also was very concerned about somebody wandering around. I made sure I got the approval of the top authority in our establishment and showed him the box and so on. I will add to the cache page that I do not want anyone visiting the cache when students are in the parking lot. Thanks!

 

I made the container out of 2 x 4's, bolted together with lag bolts and glued. I know it's not impervious but it would at least take some work to get into. A bolt cutters would suffice quite well. If that happens I will probably make a new unit and move it into the woods nearby.

 

Thanks for answering some of my 7 questions!

Edited November 28, 2005 by Iowa Tom

[+Iowa Tom]

The Vault of Kaidoz looks good! I really like the plumbing one by Mystery Ink too. I hope others (I know I have) can learn from these two examples and from the responses that have been made so far.

 

I have updated my TB VAULT page requesting that cachers not seek the box when kids are in the area. Thanks for the great advice DocDiTTo!

 

-it

[+DocDiTTo]

I'll try to answer a few more...

 

(2) What have you used for containers: like PVC, barn wood, small logs, metal pipes, plastic jars, other plastic containers - other than the everyday Tupperware and ice cream buckets etc. etc.?

 

Pipes (PVC, Metal or otherwise) often end up looking like pipe bombs, therefore I shy away from them. Way out in the woods isn't much of a concern, but I'd never hide one in any urban or suburban area where muggles would be likely to stumble across it. Metal pipes tend to get stuck after time too, requiring a wrench or some other tool to open, not really a good choice. PVC is tough to get water tight, unless you glue it, which tends to make it hard to open. Plastics are good as long as they're water tight and durable. Logs make for great camo as long as you use a waterproof container inside them.

 

(3) Do you or how do you waterproof the lid’s seal?

If the container isn't already waterproof, I don't use it.

 

(4) Have you put a lock onto a cache?

Yes. I used a combo lock, as keys are too easy to lose or to accidentally walk away with. If you use a combo lock with a changeable combination, make sure to get one where you have to TRY to change the combo. I had one where all you did was push a button, and cachers accidentally kept resetting the combo to something different. I was usually able to figure it out, until the last time when the only solution was bolt cutters, and a new style of lock.

 

(5) Have you made a geocache container that someone needs to figure out how to open once it’s found?

 

Only the one with the combo lock. Search under "Monkey Puzzles" if you're interested in different tricky to open containers.

 

(6) Have you used an electronic device as part of your geocache?

No. Batteries die quickly, especially in the cold, and maintenance is a pain. If you had a cache near home or work (as yours is) it wouldn't be such a big deal.

 

(7) Please describe the most creative cache container like that you’ve run across.

See this thread

[+One of the Texas Vikings]

Here is how I did my latest one.

With a "junk" tool kit from Walmart. But the real thing I was after was the tube. Of course, I can always use extra screw drivers around the house.

1.throw the tools in my junk drawer.

2.glue on a hole support to hold the aircraft cable and then spray with plastic krylon paint, dark green

3.glue on camo burlap from walmart

4.find the right area, wrap the thin cable around a tree

and you have a cache.

I am looking into buying more of these tubes. 2" x 10" about $1.30

and air tight and water proof...

 

[bogleman]

A little self gratifying promotion GeoCola