How to Properly Hide a Geocache

[+RDCWizard]

How to properly hide a geocache: One persons thoughts

 

- Don't bury it. This is frustrating and geocaches are meant to be found, some with ease, and some with great difficulty.

- Should not be in plan view unless it is a Camouflage Item or Camouflaged Geocache.

** Muggles should be able to look at the spot and not realize that there is a Geocache there.

** Geocachers should be able to look at the spot and realize there is a Geocache there.

- Example: Hollow rock - placed near the base of a tree or just in an open area by itself. If placed in with a bunch of similar rocks, think of how Geocachers will find it. One way would to be glue a plastic spider to it. Geocachers should not have to disassemble a rock wall by turning over many similar rocks in order to find the Geocache.

- How far off trail or in to a garden should it be hidden? Far enough but close enough so one does not have to enter the off trail area or go in to the garden.

- In a wooded area placing sticks side by side over the Geocache will let Geocachers know where to look but Muggles will have no clue.

- Placed on the ground under a hedge, the Coordinates should be bang on so that one does not have to lift a long length of the hedge and possibly damage the foliage.

- Hidden in Ivy? Maybe near the base of a plant or tree? Just hidden in ivy makes for a messy search.

- How to find the Geocache without having to disturb the area is prime in my opinion.

 

These are just a few of my thoughts. I hope you will take the time to add your thoughts.

[+MightyEarBall]

I agree with most of your points.

 

I fully agree trying not to disturb an area.

 

I think most hides are unique by who is hiding it and how they want it to be found. If they are trying to make it a higher difficulty then maybe they want to hide it in the middle of the ivy.

[+niraD]

And of course, there are the following pages on the geocaching.com site:

Hiding Your First Geocache

Geocache Listing Requirements / Guidelines

 

But here are a few more points that come to mind:

 

I enjoy hard-to-find well-camouflaged caches. But it's important to hide such caches in locations that won't be damaged by repeated, extensive searching. And the area around hard-to-find well-camouflaged caches will be subject to repeated, extensive searching.

 

Even if a cache is perfectly invisible to muggles when it is in its hiding spot, you need to consider what the process of finding, retrieving, and replacing the cache will look like to non-geocachers.

 

Don't hide poor containers. A good weatherproof container will more than pay for itself in reduced maintenance trips.

[+cerberus1]

How to properly hide a geocache: One persons thoughts

 

- Don't bury it. This is frustrating and geocaches are meant to be found, some with ease, and some with great difficulty.

There is a don't bury rule.

"Geocaches are never buried, neither partially nor completely.

If one has to dig or create a hole in the ground when placing or finding a geocache, it is not allowed."

 

I don't believe it's just a guideline, as "it is not allowed" kinda sounds like a rule to me...

 

Has nothing to do with it being "frustrating" for others to find, but has everything to do with damage to properties not your own.

Quite a few landowners still believe this hobby buries things, and refuse to allow caches on their property because of it.

[+RDCWizard]

I agree with most of your points.

 

I fully agree trying not to disturb an area.

 

I think most hides are unique by who is hiding it and how they want it to be found. If they are trying to make it a higher difficulty then maybe they want to hide it in the middle of the ivy.

 

Okay, but how do I go about finding a Geocache in Ivy or in an unmarked spot in Rocks for that matter? I am willing to spend the time on a tough hide but don't want to "bust up" the environment. Thanks for you reply.

[+RDCWizard]

How to properly hide a geocache: One persons thoughts

 

- Don't bury it. This is frustrating and geocaches are meant to be found, some with ease, and some with great difficulty.

There is a don't bury rule.

"Geocaches are never buried, neither partially nor completely.

If one has to dig or create a hole in the ground when placing or finding a geocache, it is not allowed."

 

I don't believe it's just a guideline, as "it is not allowed" kinda sounds like a rule to me...

 

Has nothing to do with it being "frustrating" for others to find, but has everything to do with damage to properties not your own.

Quite a few landowners still believe this hobby buries things, and refuse to allow caches on their property because of it.

 

Right you are "don't bury it" is a rule. Thanks for your reply.

[+RDCWizard]

And of course, there are the following pages on the geocaching.com site:

Hiding Your First Geocache

Geocache Listing Requirements / Guidelines

 

But here are a few more points that come to mind:

 

I enjoy hard-to-find well-camouflaged caches. But it's important to hide such caches in locations that won't be damaged by repeated, extensive searching. And the area around hard-to-find well-camouflaged caches will be subject to repeated, extensive searching.

 

Even if a cache is perfectly invisible to muggles when it is in its hiding spot, you need to consider what the process of finding, retrieving, and replacing the cache will look like to non-geocachers.

 

Don't hide poor containers. A good weatherproof container will more than pay for itself in reduced maintenance trips.

 

Excellent thoughts. Thanks for your reply.

[+Manville Possum]

Okay, but how do I go about finding a Geocache in Ivy or in an unmarked spot in Rocks for that matter? I am willing to spend the time on a tough hide but don't want to "bust up" the environment. Thanks for you reply.

 

A good rule is to not hide a geocache in a place that can easily be "busted up". Use common sense with placement because there are "Scorched Earth" geocachers that will tear the place apart to find a geocache.

 

Ask yourself that famous quote from on e of the reviewers here, "If the only reason I'm bringing someone here is to find this geocache... then find a better place.

[+niraD]

Okay, but how do I go about finding a Geocache in Ivy or in an unmarked spot in Rocks for that matter?

I've found a few caches that initially appeared to be "needle in a haystack" hides, but which turned out to be much easier to find with a little thought and planning.

 

One used fake plants to cover a trailside cache, hidden among the plants growing along the side of the trail. If you stay on the trail and look carefully, it is definitely possible to spot the camouflage before touching anything. But it isn't immediately obvious.

 

Another used a rock with a hole drilled in it, with a washer glued in the hole, with a magnetic blinker stuck to the washer. And the rock was hidden in an area with hundreds of similar rocks. But a magnetic compass pointed to the rock with the cache in it.

 

Ammo cans and other metal containers hidden in ivy or other groundcover can be found by "fishing", using a magnet tied to a string, and listening for the magnet to stick to the container.

 

Another used a fake rock in an area with hundreds of similar rocks. But if you step back and notice that "one of these things is not like the other", then it isn't hard to try the correct rock first, without touching any of the other rocks.

 

And so on.

[+ecanderson]

Darin makes rockpile hides sound too easy!

 

As to others: Some caches reveal themselves even more quickly to metal detectors than to magnets. I doubt we've found more than a dozen that way, but in most of those cases, it was worth the extra effort.

 

As for buried caches, they're BOTH not within guidelines AND frustrating! Frustrating because we've all been 'trained' over the years that it isn't allowed, and we tend to ignore looking in some spots that would require that the cache be buried. I've returned to several DNFd caches only to find that the reason I didn't spot them the first time is because they were buried, and the accepted hiding methods told my brain 'don't bother looking there'.