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How To Hide A 5-gal Bucket?


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I want to hide a 5-gal bucket locally in some woods where I have permission.

 

I plan to make this a "kiddy" cache, lots of toys. (I wish my dad had done something cool like geocaching when I was little.)

 

It's a low-lying area, mostly pines, quite a few blown-over trees. The obvious thing would be to hide it among the roots of a downed tree, but I don't want it to be so obvious. What I'd LIKE to do is partially bury it out in the open maybe 15-20 feet from a downed tree. Problem is that I don't want to run afoul of the "shovel rule".

 

Anyone have suggestions on a good way to do this?

 

Thanks!

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I want to hide a 5-gal bucket locally in some woods where I have permission.

 

I plan to make this a "kiddy" cache, lots of toys. (I wish my dad had done something cool like geocaching when I was little.)

 

It's a low-lying area, mostly pines, quite a few blown-over trees. The obvious thing would be to hide it among the roots of a downed tree, but I don't want it to be so obvious. What I'd LIKE to do is partially bury it out in the open maybe 15-20 feet from a downed tree. Problem is that I don't want to run afoul of the "shovel rule".

 

Anyone have suggestions on a good way to do this?

 

Thanks!

 

Is there a place that is in the open, but out of line of sight?

 

What kind of foot traffic is in the area?

 

The reason I ask is you only have to hide it from the accidental finder. Burying is generally a no-no, but if you can find a hole left by a rotten stump that should work. Then, find a large log and cut a section out of it to use as a cover for the hole. Be creative.

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In late 2005, I found a 5 gallon bucket cache container which had been placed in 2001 near Targhee National Forest in Idaho. The buket was in a rather remote backcountry area, and had simply been placed upright in the space under several fallen trees which had not fallen all the way to the ground, but rather were suspended (by about two feet above ground level. This largely obscured the bucket from the sight of most casual visitors to the area.

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I have two 5-gallon bucket caches that are both hidden using a combination of:

 

camo duct tape to break up the visual image

being off the beaten path by a bit

being placed in natural depressions that have been improved by piling some brush around them

 

Jamie - NFA

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I have 3 large caches hidden and 1 is a 5 gallon bucket. Paint it flat black and go with the roots. I found a nice pile of "natural" sticks (well a large log pile) to hide the bucket in.

 

If you want it to be a kid hide play it up in the listing and don't bother trying to hide it too hard, make it easy so the kids can use the GPS to find it themselves.

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I already have the bucket camo painted, didn't really want to put it in a downed tree because it would be so obvious once you got within 50 feet or so. "Hmm, arrow points directly at that 6-foot high root ball over there, I wonder where the cache could be?"

 

There is a fair amount of foot traffic about 100 feet away, mostly kids cutting throught the woods between two subdivision neighborhoods.

 

Think I'll go back out and see if I can find a natural depression somewhere...

 

Thanks for the ideas.

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If there was....cough, cough....an 'existing hole' already there....cough, cough....you can place the 5-gallon bucket and fill in the....'existing hole'....with dirt to secure the cache in place....

 

See? No rules broken at all.... :)

 

Just make sure no "pointy object" is necessary for retrieval. 5 gallon bucket holes are common where trees have rotted below ground. You could actually being doing everyone a favor by filling in the hole with your bucket as stepping in one of those holes could easily break something!

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The best way to hide one that I know of , and have seen in action, is this:

 

The bucket was hoisted up about 35' in the air and the rope was run through the neighboring treetops via dollar store carabiners and nylon line, and came down to the ground alongside the trunk of another tree 100' or so away. The moss took to the line like it belonged there, and it has never been muggled. Even after seeing the bucket up there, it took another 10 minutes to lower it to the ground, as the end of the rope was a beast to find in the oaks and pines. :)

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Set it behind a 10 gallon bucket.

 

What kind of ground cover is there other than what was already mentioned?

 

But then what do I hide the 10-gallon bucket behind?

 

No ground cover to speak of. it's in the piney woods. Pines tend to make the soil so acidic over time that not much grows around 'em.

Edited by DconBlueZ
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The best way to hide one that I know of , and have seen in action, is this:

 

The bucket was hoisted up about 35' in the air and the rope was run through the neighboring treetops via dollar store carabiners and nylon line, and came down to the ground alongside the trunk of another tree 100' or so away. The moss took to the line like it belonged there, and it has never been muggled. Even after seeing the bucket up there, it took another 10 minutes to lower it to the ground, as the end of the rope was a beast to find in the oaks and pines. :huh:

 

Hmmm... this is actually almost identical to how I planned to do another hide with a smaller cache. Already have all the materials laid out in the basement, the spot picked out, the listing page mostly built, and the waypoint number. :-).

 

My goal is to place and maintain 5 decent-quality caches in my area. I see people with 30-40 caches or more and I think there's no way they can maintain them the way I think they should be kept.

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I've got a shovel that's not "pointy". Would that work? :huh:

Just kidding!

Something else to consider is using a different container. Ammo cans come in extra large sizes, and a big one on it's side would be a lot less obvious than a 5 gallon bucket. Here's one I'm about half way done camoflauging;

778efadc-22d2-4458-8e51-f71cbae7f553.jpg

I just hid a regular ammo can in a pine scrub, and found this really neat camo at a craft store. the package said "Decorative Excelsior", but the contents said "natural shredded aspen wood fibers". It looked similar enough to pine needles, (which are a pain to work with), that I gave it a try. I cut the fibers into 1" to 2" pieces, smeared a thick layer of clear silicon on the ammo can, stuck on the camo, waited two days for it to cure, and Presto!

6cde8f56-01eb-4ca8-b0c1-ed0c42eb2203.jpg

Hindsight tells me I should've painted the can brown instead of olive drab. I will next time.

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I have a 5 gal. bucket @ this cache

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...cd-7a75827890a8

 

It is in some tree area under a bolder I bought from Home Depot.

 

Protects valves from damage due to sunlight or weather. Made with weather-resistant material. Fits up to four WaterMaster anti-siphon valves. Fits easily over a WaterMaster jumbo valve box. Can be used in decorative landscaping as a cover for valves or exposed meters.

 

Internet # 162806

Catalog # 100089457

Store In-Stock SKU # 456704

 

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US...&prod_id=162806

 

I also have a cache that was a white 5 gal. bucket, after it got trashed I did a 5 gal. bucket with camo paint.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...f3-6cd14bdfcf55

 

Here is a funny post from someone who could not find it

 

February 14, 2003 by Haicoole (1426 found)

 

A myopic goat could have found this one, even with a bag over his head.

There is no excuse for people leaving such rude notes on a log.

 

[view this log on a separate page]

 

February 10, 2003 by forman (1559 found)

I have no clue how the Action Kids did not find this one. The ground is covered with green weeds, the bush that it is in has hardly any leaves and the cache container is a white 5 gallon bucket that sticks out like a sore thumb and the GPS showed at the cache site 13 feet away. I wish some other caches were that close. Nice drive out there and no ticket this time. Snagged the T.B. for the troubles. It has not been logged yet so I will place it then take it out.

Don

[view/edit logs/images on a separate page]

 

[upload an image for this log]

 

February 5, 2003 by action kids (23 found)

Either this cache was removed and not posted or someone has taken it because it is no longer there. At least it isn't where the coordinates say.

This site should be updated so people don't make a long trip and waste their time.

[view this log on a separate page]

Edited by forman
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I have 5 gallon bucket, but don't know where to get a top for a bucket?

 

-ChaseOnTheGo [:blink:]

 

Home Depot! They always have stacks of their orange buckets around, and in one or 2 of those areas, they usually have lids... Not a promise that it will fit other 5 gallon buckets... btu for less than $10 you can buy both... then spend $20 on camo materials to hide a bright orange bucket!

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I have two 5-gallon bucket caches that are both hidden using a combination of:

 

camo duct tape to break up the visual image

being off the beaten path by a bit

being placed in natural depressions that have been improved by piling some brush around them

 

Jamie - NFA

 

Kewel!! I don't suppose that you would mind posting the waypoint names for those caches for us to check out? :blink::anicute::anicute: Got any pics?

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