Hiding in Plain Sight/ Trust the Camo?

[+MinionBrigade]

I have recently seen a thread about poorly hidden caches, along with other complaints. It inspired me to start a topic on caches I've seen and those I've hidden. It surprises me often to find caches that are elaborately painted and camouflaged that are 'buried' under pine straw, dead leaves and the such. It seems to me a waste of time to create such an elaborate camo system and then not rely on it to do it's job. I'm not talking about things like fake water spigots and the sort, I'm talking good-size rectangular containers, painted to match their surrounding environment.

 

Several of my hides which have generated positive response from the community rely on being hidden in plain sight. Some have questioned the viability of such a system, but I've had great success with it. I hold to the belief that if someone is not actively searching for a cache, the chances of them stumbling onto it when it's got a decent camouflage paint scheme are slim. What are the thoughts of those of you who have more established hides? The ones I'm referring to have been hidden for several months without problem. Is the addition of extra natural 'camo' really necessary?

 

MinionBrigade

 

[+Ambrosia]

I think it really depends on the location and the cache container itself. Some things can be more in plain sight, others cannot.

 

I have a cache in a city park that is so clean. I can't hide it well, which frustrates me. If it doesn't get any better, I'll have to turn it into a micro under a bench, and I just don't have the heart for that.

[+T.D.M.22]

I think it really depends on the location and the cache container itself. Some things can be more in plain sight, others cannot.

 

I have a cache in a city park that is so clean. I can't hide it well, which frustrates me. If it doesn't get any better, I'll have to turn it into a micro under a bench, and I just don't have the heart for that.

 

I agree. Hide an ammo can or LnL in a city park, expect it to vanish. But if you have access to, say the "junk pile" and can get stuff that maybe municipal works, or the utilities company use, or make something similar, it might stay there for years. We are really talking 2 types of camo-one is making something look like it's surroundings. Actually hidden. Think military type camo. You might use it on a LnL or ammo can. The second is making it look look like it belongs. Like a light switch, maybe a no parking sign. The second is best, but not always possible.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

I think it really depends on the location and the cache container itself. Some things can be more in plain sight, others cannot.

 

I have a cache in a city park that is so clean. I can't hide it well, which frustrates me. If it doesn't get any better, I'll have to turn it into a micro under a bench, and I just don't have the heart for that.

 

I agree. Hide an ammo can or LnL in a city park, expect it to vanish. But if you have access to, say the "junk pile" and can get stuff that maybe municipal works, or the utilities company use, or make something similar, it might stay there for years. We are really talking 2 types of camo-one is making something look like it's surroundings. Actually hidden. Think military type camo. You might use it on a LnL or ammo can. The second is making it look look like it belongs. Like a light switch, maybe a no parking sign. The second is best, but not always possible.

 

I have an in with one of the local state parks. I have hidden several "in plain sight" caches thanks to them. And in return, they got three useful signs and a trail map box. Caches have yet to disappear, and a couple of them have a lot of FAV points.

[+Faycocache]

I only have two hidden caches one of which is under or in something and the other is in plain sight. If you camo your container up good enough nobody will even notice it. When I first started caching two years ago, I looked at the map and was utterly amazed at how many geocaches I had walked by.. literally right by them in plain sight. If your not looking for one, odds are your not going to find it easily.

[+briansnat]

Every one of my containers are painted in colors that at least attempt to match the environment. I also make an effort to conceal them among rocks, duff, leaves, etc. The idea is that if they are not re-hidden properly, which happens often enough, they still won't be noticed. Rarely do I want to rely on the camouflage itself however.

 

In high traffic areas and even in areas that are not high traffic, unless a cache is elaborately camouflaged, the idea that non geocachers won't discover them eventually without proper concealment is naive. Heck, even caches that are well camoflaged and well hidden are accidentally discovered. I have a cache that is extremely well concealed and painted to look like the rocks among which it is hidden. Yet I received an email from an accidental finder. I was pretty surprised and e-mailed him back asking him how he possibly could have stumbled on the cache. He replied that he likes to explore rock formations looking for salamanders and snakes and that's how he found it. There are people like him, as well as mushroomers and others who poke around places you'd never expect non geocachers to explore.

 

I once a put a .50 cal ammo box in a hollowed out section of an oak tree I cut down in my yard. It too two of us to carry it and we couldn't carry it far because it was so heavy, so we set it a short distance from a picnic area and about 50 feet from a parking lot. That one lasted years and some of the finders actually mentioned that they sat down on the "stump" to contemplate where the cache was hidden and only found it when they realized that their seat moved. That is an exception.

 

The best camouflage paint only takes you so far. A cache in plain sight simply relying on a good coat of camo paint will be discovered sooner or later by non geocachers.

Edited April 17, 2014 by briansnat

[+kunarion]

What are the thoughts of those of you who have more established hides? The ones I'm referring to have been hidden for several months without problem. Is the addition of extra natural 'camo' really necessary?

An essential part of my cache planning is to make it simple to re-hide. So I don't rely on natural cover materials to be available, nor expect cachers to hunt for the pile-of-sticks or whatever to cover it with. Cachers seem to have this built-in desire to cover a container with bark, leaves or sticks, so one or two of mine have developed half-hearted natural camo piles at times.

 

But only three of my caches have containers specially painted or camo'ed to be invisible in place, and these must be put exactly back in place or they won't work (I make these very simple to put back). One of those I recently painted due to its tape cover turning bright blue in the sun.

 

Of the others,

Four have camo specially designed to be in view, but it's more of a clue than a disguise. Cachers find the cache due to the camo seeming out of place. Camo not necessarily blending in, just being part of the general disarray. No need for finders to add cover.

 

Six have no camo on the container at all. They're hard to spot typically due to being surrounded by natural cover (bushes, logs, etc.), and at least half have bright colors that definitely stand out. These of course tend to be hidden in an area that a cacher might go, but muggles pass up. One of those caches was found from a distance of 86 feet, so you know it's not a camo kind of hide.

Edited April 17, 2014 by kunarion

[+The_Incredibles_]

I think it really depends on the area. Where my mother lives, caches are pretty much hidden in plain view. You walk 20 meters into the forest and the cache is just sitting there on the ground.

 

Where I live, at least in the city, you can't do that. You need to hide it under bark or something. I like to spray paint my containers. It's partly just to make the cache look nicer when people do find it. IT shows someone cares, plus it's fun to do. The camo is not always about making the container hard to spot.

Edited April 17, 2014 by The_Incredibles_

[+redsox_mark]

I agree. Hide an ammo can or LnL in a city park, expect it to vanish. But if you have access to, say the "junk pile" and can get stuff that maybe municipal works, or the utilities company use, or make something similar, it might stay there for years. We are really talking 2 types of camo-one is making something look like it's surroundings. Actually hidden. Think military type camo. You might use it on a LnL or ammo can. The second is making it look look like it belongs. Like a light switch, maybe a no parking sign. The second is best, but not always possible.

 

I agree with this.

 

Most of mine are in natural surroundings and camo'd but I also hide them in natural camo (under rock, in a tree etc). As others have said the camo provides a second layer of protection, I do not rely on it alone.

 

For the ones which are purposely in plain sight but a muggle would not notice it, that's different, the camo should be enough. These tend to be in more built up areas as there is more "naturally" occurring stuff around. One of my favourites was a container which was part of a bike lock. The bike lock was in plain site and attached to a bike rack so nobody would think anything of it. Only careful examination reveals how to get at the log. That type of camo does not need to be covered up.

[+niraD]

It may not be the CO who doesn't trust the camouflage. Previous finders may have decided that the camouflage needed a little "help" and covered the container with a little natural cover. And I've found a number of caches that appeared to have been covered by naturally falling leaves/needles, so that's a possibility too.

[+Chief301]

He replied that he likes to explore rock formations looking for salamanders and snakes and that's how he found it. There are people like him, as well as mushroomers and others who poke around places you'd never expect non geocachers to explore.

 

Sounds like a couple of excellent ways to cover your search 😎

[+kunarion]

Here's my ammo can hide. I had to archive it due to curious muggles following me to the cache, since I had to go repaint the entire box every hour of every day, as the sun crossing the sky changed the shadows.

 

[+MinionBrigade]

Here's my ammo can hide. I had to archive it due to curious muggles following me to the cache, since I had to go repaint the entire box every hour of every day, as the sun crossing the sky changed the shadows.

 

 

Crap, I didn't think of that!! Be right back.

[GPS-Hermit]

Part of not getting muggled is placing the cache in a spot not normally traveled and teaching cachers to not yell - I FOUND IT! Having a great container makes the game truely cool and something to remember, I do tend to hide the cache to keep the hunt, a hunt! I have seen caches in plain sight but no effort was made at all to use any kind of camo and they often don't last. Caches should be protected from muggles while searching, perusing, or replacing the cache - it really hurts the game to have the muggles take the cache and they will.