How to make a great cache!

[+tollerdudes]

Come here to share tips for how to attach magnets etc..

 

I'll start. I find that epoxy glue works quite well for attaching magnets to other metals.

[Clan Riffster]

My stint in the military taught me that the human eye is naturally drawn to straight lines & right angles, so I've opted for a physical camo application as opposed to just paint. Some of the mediums I apply include crushed palmetto leaves, Spanish moss, ground moss and a product called Excellsior, which comes in several different shades. The brown looks very much like pine needles.

 

I process the medium by either chopping it into small bits or shredding it, as needed. As I process it, I store it in thich, gallon size Ziplock baggies.

 

I'll lightly sand and paint the ammo cans to remove any militar markings and to inhibit rust. Then I apply clear drying silicon caulk to the exterior of the cans with a caulk gun. Then I smear it to the thickness of peanut butter on a sandwich using a plastic knife, taking care to avoid hinge points and locking hasps.

 

The next step involves applying the mediums, which are typically just pressed into the caulk firmly. The can will need to cure indoors for about 3 days before the caulk fully sets up. Generally, once it's cured, I'll toss the can out into my garden to season till I'm ready to hide it. Whichever side of the can will be sitting on the ground will not get any camo. I've found that mixing many different mediums on one can provides the best camo.

[+Snoogans]

Hint #2

 

 

SPEND AT LEAST THREE YEARS SETTIN THE WHOLE THING UP!

[+Arndtwe]

use gorilla tape for all things!

[+StarBrand]

Location, location, location. That is the key.

 

Take me somewhere interesting, out of way, educational, rarely seen or unique. - please?

[+dzdiver]

After location, a quality container is key.

[+gh patriot]

Ive got some nanos to hide but I'm still trying to find a GREAT place to put them. I want them to be relativly unique hides, not just another nano.

[+Super_Nate]

Hint #2

 

 

SPEND AT LEAST THREE YEARS SETTIN THE WHOLE THING UP!

 

Oh boy....that is the first I have seen of that cache! I didn't realize that their was going to be another one...I remember the first one, and now I want to do this sequal even more!

 

Anyway sorry about the Off-Topic post....what were we talking about? Oh yeah, stuff to make a cool geocache.....umm, you need to spend the time to scout out locations, locations, locations! People will love your cache by it's location. Then you need the creative container to boost...and that is being covered already.

 

TT2 is really here??? That's awesome!!!!

[+StarBrand]

Location, location, location. That is the key.

 

Take me somewhere interesting, out of way, educational, rarely seen or unique. - please?

Oh and don't forget to load them up with gold bars as swag..........

[+sm0ke42o]

I camo my caches by first spray painting them a flat brown or dark green. Then I take leaves of varying sizes, shapes, and species and hold them up to the surface im painting. I also use sticks, straw, etc...

 

I then take other shades of brown, green, black and tan and spray paint around the leaf from a distance in quick spurts to make a hazy but visible outline around the leaf. I keep doing this over and over and over until I achieve the desired effect, which usually looks like a professionally done camo job.

 

I'll post a picture shortly.

 

Smoke

Edited January 29, 2007 by sm0ke42o

[+sm0ke42o]

Here's some examples of what I was talking about. I just placed three of these recently. It's made out of 2" PVC that cost $10 for 10 feet. I got several caches like these out of one 10 foot stick. I just paint them, cap one end off, glue a collar with threads on the inside and screw on a threaded cap. Easy to make, cheap, and durable.

 

 

Edited January 29, 2007 by sm0ke42o

[+mudsneaker]

One thing I do to all my caches first thing. Water test them. hold it under the faucet and if any water gets inside, dont use it unless the hide is well sheltered. I hate wet moldy caches and dont want to place anything that might be unpleasant to find.

[+briansnat]

Location, location, location. That is the key.

 

Take me somewhere interesting, out of way, educational, rarely seen or unique. - please?

 

I agree. The chief ingredient of a great cache is the location. The container is a distant second.

 

As long as the container keeps the contents dry, I'm happy. I have nothing against unique containers, they can add something to the hunt, but the coolest container on the planet won't make a cache in a garbage dump appealing to me.

 

Here's some examples of what I was talking about. I just placed three of these recently. It's made out of 2" PVC that cost $10 for 10 feet. I got several caches like these out of one 10 foot stick. I just paint them, cap one end off, glue a collar with threads on the inside and screw on a threaded cap. Easy to make, cheap, and durable.

 

 

 

My experiences with these PVC pipe caches have not been good ones. Every one I've ever found was soaked inside. Usually if the cap is tightened enough to keep out water, it's too tight to open without tools and I generally don't carry a pipe wrench in my pack.

 

Also, because they might look like pipe bombs to the uninitiated, you have to be very careful where you hide them.

Edited January 29, 2007 by briansnat

[+JohnTee]

A great glue for geocaching is Gorilla Glue. I find it at Wal-Mart.

 

G.G. foams up a bit as it sets up, so keep that in mind as you apply it. If you use an excess amount, it may ooze out and down the sides of your project . . . this may be a pro or a con. If using it to create camo (see my screw head description below), it's best to apply it in several thin layers, allowing each to foam up/set up, before applying another layer.

 

In general, I scuff up surfaces to be glued with a little sandpaper and clean them with a little paint thinner to ensure a good hold. Some things get drilled with small drill bits to create extra places for the glue to hold. It dries with a tan color, which may need some painting to keep it from standing out. No failures of G.G. yet.

 

I've sucessfully used it for a fence post cache. Glued a link of chain to the underside of a chain link fence post cap, so I could suspend a micro inside the fence post from beneath the cap. Scratched up the inside of the cap, cleaned it with paint thinner and it's holding good so far. OOOPS . . . gave away an idea there!

 

Have also sucessfully used G.G. to glue bark to an ammo box, which does a nice job of breaking up those straight lines. Should also work very well with Lock-n-Lock containers. Be sure to scuff and clean plastic surfaces. I'll be doing a Lock-n-Lock very soon, so will see how it turns out. Still haven't decided if I'm going to paint it or apply camo to it . . . might be both. Thinly coat the outsides, roll it in pine needles, then shoot with a little green spray paint and stick it in a pine tree.

 

G.G. also works very well for gluing rare earth magnets, i.e. HDD magnets, to micros and small caches. It also takes spray paint very well.

 

I had a need to camo a stainless screw head that was securing one end of monofilament fishing line (hmmm, what could have been on the other end, do you suppose? ). A lone screw head would have been VERY obvious in the particular application. Applied a small bit of G.G. to the screw head, using a toothpick to work it into the screw slots (same way I've worked it into small holes drilled into other pieces for that extra little bit of hold) and allowed it to set up on the top and sides of the screw. Applied yet another layer. After it set up, I shot it with camo spray paint to match it's location. No, you can no longer use a screw driver to turn it in; if you have a hole that is larger than the screw shaft and smaller than the screw thread, you can use your new camouflaged screw just like a knob and turn it in by hand. Here's a picture I posted in the Cool Cache Thread . . .

 

 

Below is a waterproof match container that I 'digital' camouflaged. Take a piece of card stock, mark it off with a 1/4" grid, like graph paper. Cut random square, rectangular, L-shaped and T-shaped areas out. Paint any container, from matchbox to ammo box a base color. Hold your new digital stencil up and shoot through it, changing angles and paints as you go. Scuff up the surface before painting.

 

 

Here's one that lives in a rocky area. Shot with faux granite finish paint that comes in a spray can from either Krylon or Rustoleum . . . For permanent applications, it should be shot with a clear, protective coating. After a year out in the wild, the paint seems to be holding up. I've washed my ammo boxes with a strong detergent soap and scuffed up with sandpaper before painting.

 

 

This is a small plastic container, wrapped in camo tape that is intended to be wrapped around guns and bows. It's actually meant to be temporarily applied and removed, as the glue may get gummy over time. I applied super glue to overlapping seams to help keep it in place.

 

 

I've also come up with a great way to camo small objects, and should be adaptable to larger objects, with spray paint that comes out looking like tree bark. That will be another post . . .

 

 

Well . . . that's a good start for now!

 

JohnTee

[+One of the Texas Vikings]

Here's how I did one of mine.

I bought this at Walmart, more for the tube, than the tools.

Glue a ring, to attach cable, so you can tether it to a tree.

Spray it with dark green plastics paint

Cover it with camo burlap

Finished ! with the lid off.

Then just wait for the emails of people trying to find it !

 

One of the Texas Vikings

[+dak's Emu Mob]

G'day,

 

I have been enjoying a thread on Cool Cache Containers elsewhere on the Forum. That thread is the best place for posting pictures of camouflaged containers.

 

I believe this thread was set up for telling people about materials, techniques, and so on. For example, I'd like to know what glue people use to stick magnets to plastic or metal. I've used epoxy, but have found it to be unreliable on plastic of smooth metal. It eventually just falls off. So, what do you use?

 

Cheers,

 

dak

[Clan Riffster]

Good question, Dak! I'd like to know the answer to that one myself. I'm hoping to build a hide using rare earth magnets affixed to an ammo can, and I'd like to adhere them permanently to the can, rather than rely on just their magnetic properties.

[+tollerdudes]

For plastic, try roughening up the surface a little bit before trying the epoxy. On metal...Hmm...a sharp knife might work for scratching up the surface a bit...Just make sure it is not a knife that you really like...!

[+lindsychris]

JB Weld will work VERY well on any metal/magnet/wood surfaces...completely permanent, waterproof, etc. But don't try using it with plastics/rubbers-- it just turns them to goo

[+mamid]

I am getting so many ideas. Worse... my other half, who doesn't want to find caches but hide them, is getting them too.

[+jackrock]

My stint in the military taught me that the human eye is naturally drawn to straight lines & right angles, so I've opted for a physical camo application as opposed to just paint. Some of the mediums I apply include crushed palmetto leaves, Spanish moss, ground moss and a product called Excellsior, which comes in several different shades. The brown looks very much like pine needles.

 

I process the medium by either chopping it into small bits or shredding it, as needed. As I process it, I store it in thich, gallon size Ziplock baggies.

 

I'll lightly sand and paint the ammo cans to remove any militar markings and to inhibit rust. Then I apply clear drying silicon caulk to the exterior of the cans with a caulk gun. Then I smear it to the thickness of peanut butter on a sandwich using a plastic knife, taking care to avoid hinge points and locking hasps.

 

The next step involves applying the mediums, which are typically just pressed into the caulk firmly. The can will need to cure indoors for about 3 days before the caulk fully sets up. Generally, once it's cured, I'll toss the can out into my garden to season till I'm ready to hide it. Whichever side of the can will be sitting on the ground will not get any camo. I've found that mixing many different mediums on one can provides the best camo.

 

Great. How about a shot of a finished product? How well does the caulk hold up over time?

 

jackrock

[+sbell111]

... For example, I'd like to know what glue people use to stick magnets to plastic or metal. ...

To stick magnets to metal, I either use a gel CA glue (for tiny magnets) or two-part epoxy (for larger ones). To stick magnets to plastic, I've used outdoor goop with some success.

 

If you are gluing them to film cans or similar small containers, glue the magnet to the bottom of the container, not the top. The top flexes too much when the container is open. This will eventually cause any glue to fail.

[+Gecko1]

Try not to use pipes as caches unless you want trouble with the bomb squad.

[Clan Riffster]

How about a shot of a finished product?

 

If the caulk is properly cured indoors, it holds up well in most environments. If it sits in moisture, the caulk turns white and gets soft.

[+campingfarmer]

What is the best paint to use to spray on plastic. What I've been using seems to chip off over time

[Clan Riffster]

Krylon Fusion works well. The real trick is to properly treat your plastic before putting any paint on it. Lots of plastic containers, especially food containers, are treated with a coating to resist staining. This can be removed with acetone or paint thinner. Then scuff your plastic with medium grit sand paper or a wire brush on a drill. A plastic specific primer will bond well, and allow you to apply regular spray paint, just in case you can't find Fusion in the color you want.

[+jackrock]

How about a shot of a finished product?

 

If the caulk is properly cured indoors, it holds up well in most environments. If it sits in moisture, the caulk turns white and gets soft.

 

Looks great. Do you cover the latch on the end or just face that away so that's it's not visible?

 

I stopped by Hobby Lobby yesterday to explore the moss options. I'm planning some new caches soon and am thinking of more elaborate camo than just painting. They also had some excelsior that looked very similar to pine needles (or I could just collect a bunch of pine needles, they're everywhere here). A combination of moss & pine needle might work well.

[Clan Riffster]

The final step, (not shown in that picture), is to write "OFFICIAL GEOCACHE" on the handle with a Sharpie. It won't get any camo. I tried pine needles first, and found them to be very hard to work with. That's why I switched to the brown Excelsior. I cut the Excelsior into pieces about an inch or two long, using a heavy duty pair of scissors. I cut the Spanish moss and dried palmetto fronds the same way. The ground moss just gets pulled apart into manageable clumps.

 

If you develop a successful method for utilizing pine needles, I'd love to hear about it. I've got a few tons of them in the yard.