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Creative Geocache Ideas?


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Hey Guys,

 

I'm trying to think of a new Geocache and I want to do something that cachers will remember. Do you guys have any ideas as to what kind of creative caches I could make? We are talking about challenging/fun/crazy caches. Give us your ideas!

 

-GeoShif :o

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There are some geocaching stores that offer unique caches should you want to go that route. There's even one that's shaped like an arrow that you could stick on a tree (Robin Hood was here, LOL).

 

A personal favorite of mine was finding a cache that turned out to be a lead pipe as part of a series based on the game Clue (the pipe was the "murder" weapon). I had to locate several caches first in order to determine the final location of the murder weapon. Very clever, and it might give you an idea or two for something similar.

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Hey Guys,

 

I'm trying to think of a new Geocache and I want to do something that cachers will remember. Do you guys have any ideas as to what kind of creative caches I could make? We are talking about challenging/fun/crazy caches. Give us your ideas!

 

-GeoShif :o

 

Personally that's a tough one. It's really limited to your imagination and resources, your time and effort. I've seen just about everything, even a fake dead half-decayed animal in the woods. Get crazy, get wild, get off-the-wall. That's what it's all about. Sometimes the most simple, obvious hide is the one folks get stuck on. Go out and have fun. What would you least suspect of being a cache?

 

Good luck!

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One of my favorites is a upright pipe that must be filled with water to make a float rise and the cache is attached to the float. Small holes in the bottom of the pipe make it a bit harder to complete the task but also serve to drain the pipe when you have finished. :o:o

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One of my favorites is a upright pipe that must be filled with water to make a float rise and the cache is attached to the float. Small holes in the bottom of the pipe make it a bit harder to complete the task but also serve to drain the pipe when you have finished. B):blink:

I hid the original one of those types back in '02. :)

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I was planning on chopping a rock in two, hollowing it out, and hiding it in a rocky place... As soon as I find a way to do it safely

Find someone who does lapidary work and has a rock saw. They can cut the rock, how you hollow it beats me. I've got my own ideas about how to make hollowed rocks, and I'm not talking about a small rock used for key hides.

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A personal favorite of mine was finding a cache that turned out to be a lead pipe as part of a series based on the game Clue (the pipe was the "murder" weapon). I had to locate several caches first in order to determine the final location of the murder weapon. Very clever, and it might give you an idea or two for something similar.

 

That sounds awesome! I wish I could do that one but no doubt it's thousands of miles from my home (the ones I really want to do always are, it seems). I don't suppose you have the starting GC# on hand?

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My idea of a really tough one would be a cache with a small, weak flashing light inside a pipe. The muzzle of the pipe would point towards the given coordinates, some hundred yards away, and between the coordinates and the cache there would be some kind of obstruction, a lake or a steep hill.

You'll have to be there in the dark to see the light, and you'll need to do the swim/climb thing in the dark.

And maybe one should throw in some sort of code for good measure.

Übertricky.

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A personal favorite of mine was finding a cache that turned out to be a lead pipe as part of a series based on the game Clue (the pipe was the "murder" weapon). I had to locate several caches first in order to determine the final location of the murder weapon. Very clever, and it might give you an idea or two for something similar.

 

That sounds awesome! I wish I could do that one but no doubt it's thousands of miles from my home (the ones I really want to do always are, it seems). I don't suppose you have the starting GC# on hand?

 

It's GC1E4H4, and yeah unfortunately it's in NY. :) Overall it took me about 5 hours to do, but it was definitely a lot of fun.

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Hey Guys,

 

I'm trying to think of a new Geocache and I want to do something that cachers will remember. Do you guys have any ideas as to what kind of creative caches I could make? We are talking about challenging/fun/crazy caches. Give us your ideas!

 

-GeoShif :grin:

 

Think of your "standard" poo of the area, and go from there. You can even go the extra mile and spray it with "fake fart spray" which woul definitely deter muggles if the poo hadn't already!

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I didn't see this one, but a fellow cacher told me they found one that was a cylindrical box that opened in the middle, like two doors opening in the middle on hinges, and when you opened the two doors, it activated a singing frog with a banjo! Would have loved to have seen that one!!

 

I think wandering through your local home depot or the like, and looking at real plumbing parts or electrical parts, bolts, strapping that can be modified to be magnetic... this can give you an infinite number of ideas.

 

We created a cache, which is now kind of passe', that was an outdoor j-box, attached to the electrical conduit where we put it with strapping (from the plumbing dept) and left the outlet out of the box. The hinged lid looks just like a normal outdoor electrical box. Best to put in a logical commercial place, like a shopping center, where it won't stand out, but from experience, put it somewhere where there are other places to hide something or it will stand out like a flashing sign, "look here!"

 

One of the hardest ones we ever found was on a bronze statue of an Elk, at a sculpture garden. The ears of the Elk were hollow. The CO glued a small piece of nylon thread about a 1/2 inch down inside the ear, and once you found the string (very hard) you pulled it out of the ear, and there was a nano glued to the other end. Can't say anything about "defacing private property" but will leave that up to you.

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One of my favorites is a upright pipe that must be filled with water to make a float rise and the cache is attached to the float. Small holes in the bottom of the pipe make it a bit harder to complete the task but also serve to drain the pipe when you have finished. :D:D

I hid the original one of those types back in '02. :)

 

What was the name of it? Because I have found two like that. One in Penticton BC Called Fillerup again, and one in Richmond BC. What did you hide?

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I was planning on chopping a rock in two, hollowing it out, and hiding it in a rocky place... As soon as I find a way to do it safely

Find someone who does lapidary work and has a rock saw. They can cut the rock, how you hollow it beats me. I've got my own ideas about how to make hollowed rocks, and I'm not talking about a small rock used for key hides.

One word... LIMESTONE

 

Cut it with a handsaw (don't use Dad's favorite one though). You can hollow it out with old chisels/wood carving tools -- or cheapies, just don't use good quality ones.

 

The next trick is to place it so that there is other limestone nearby, so it wouldn't be obviously out-of-place.

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Intersecting Coordinates Cache.

 

A variation on "Multi Caches" --

 

I'm thinking about this, and have a flat desert area with little ground cover. Think about intersecting lines in your Intro Geometry classes. This is the way surveyors find a "corner."

 

Let's call the coordinates "waypoints" because this is how you'd navigate on the GPS. First cache location specifies a second coordinate. "A" to "B" forms a straight line.

 

"B" specifies a waypoint "C."

 

"C" specifies "D." The line formed by "C" and "D" is perpendicular to "A" and "B."

 

The intersection of A, B, with C, D is the location of the cache stash.

 

The motive in this comes from the experience I come up with when I'm "close" but can't quite hit the numbers for the coordinates on the GPS. If you track an X across the area, the intersection becomes easier to find than a single point.

 

Also, if you intersect several lines, three, four, five . . . This will help compensate for GPS error in coordinates. Laying out one of these might require some surveyor's line and stakes. But that's not hard to come by.

 

More work for the search, but a creative variation in open terrain where it's possible to walk or sight in straight lines.

Edited by Allison Wunderland
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For micros, I've seen fake poo and fake chewed bubble-gum. The larger ones are a little bit more tricky, but I've seen one called the tin man that was inside of an unused grain silo. I've also seen some that were made to look like a bird feeder.

 

The neatest ones I have seen are multi caches that take you to a fake book inside of a public library.

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Well, the more memorable ones that I have done I've also copied or planned to copy...

 

First was a Nano Cache called a "Well Guarded Cache" that brought you to a standard cattleguard made of steel pipes. Hint tuned out to be "magnetic". Took an accidental discovery for me to find it. CO had added some round reflectors to the fenceposts at either side of the cattleguard, made most of them "real", but had one attached to the post by a magnet attached to a washer behind it, then a hole drilled in the post with the cache inside it. Took me leaning against the post and my hand brushing the reflector to actually find that one...

 

Next best was an ammo can suspended in a tree by ropes. Getting to GZ the searchers would find the "UPoS" at the base of the tree, but you had to look way up to find the cache suspended next to the tree, then follow the rope through the canopy to find the release spot.

 

Third was along those same lines, a copse of poplar with 3-5 inchers mixed in with a few larger trees. As the forest matures some of the smaller trees die off. CO had taken a smaller dead tree, attached the cache to the top of it with some plastic binders, and then leaned it up casually against a larger tree... all looking very normal and natural, and reminding me that people rarely really look up when hunting these... I have yet to copy that design, though I will if I get the right materials and location found...

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just remember, the game isn't always about the container, either.

You could get creative with a multi, basing it on local history or some favorite theme. Those have been some of the most memorable ones for Pugs and me. The dates on buildings, or the coordinates of local landmarks, pretty much anything can be a clue to the next cache.

I am begging you, though, as one cacher to another, do not under any circumstances, place another bleeping micro in the bleeping woods! I will come after you for that! :lol: Worse, Pugs might come after you... :lol:

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I have personally always thought a "choose your own adventure" type multi would be awesome. I have yet to see one, but I'm sure one is out there, as I haven't been caching very long. I have a plan for one based off of a pastiche of the three musketeers, that I personally think would be hilarious, but I won't put that one up for a long time, so I can find more geocaches first!

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I've been wrapping my mind around an artificial hornet nest. Probably have to be fiberglass or stronger to keep it from being a "muggle pinata". The bottom would twist off and cache would fall out, mounted on a branch near a creek.

Another idea is a ammo box with sprind loaded "tail" I'm thinking black and white fur camoflage, and in a pile of logs so that when exposed, tail flips up.

Maybe part of a heart stopper series. The wife says I'm too evil. Am I crossing a line?

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As others have said, you really need to follow your own imagination and your own resources. If it's difficulty you're looking for, I don't think I've *ever* twigged on to caches that were suspended above my head. My former husband used to place a number of these and my brain just doesn't work that way. it's something to consider trying!

 

Jeannette, who wrote the book!

Open Your Heart with Geocaching

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I like the idea of a Trackable hotel. It would probably attract lots of experienced cachers especially if the mystery was suitably enticing.

And LOVE the idea of the float in the lead pipe as well as the Clue themed caches.

 

I've been thinking of a box secured with a combination lock, so you have to solve the cache location and get the combination to get in.

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One of my personal favorites was a 2-stage multi. The first stage took you to a brick walkway. You know how at some places you can pay to have your name engraved into one of the bricks? Well, the cache owner had paid to engrave the second stage coordinates on one of the bricks! Really clever, though it must have taken a ton of preparation.

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Looks like I have access to a four foot tall two foot wide freestanding commercial water meter box

 

Similar to this, only smaller

img_mini_general.jpg

 

I am looking to make it into a TB hotel that is going to take some puzzle solving to get open.

 

Just found this one the other day. A bit like a TB/GC hotel, but more in plain sight than any other cache I've ever seen. Just a large wooden box chained beneath the owner's carport with the Geocaching emblem burned onto it. It is locked by an odd little lock where you are required to enter a directional code based off a math problem. It was quite fun and I was able to trade for a few more GC's and TB's. I only wish it would get some more traffic!

 

Maybe you could place your cache near a large interstate or highway with a lot of traffic? Not directly next to it but off an exit or something, that way it gets a lot of movement and changeover.

Edited by dirt_empire
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One of my favorites is a upright pipe that must be filled with water to make a float rise and the cache is attached to the float. Small holes in the bottom of the pipe make it a bit harder to complete the task but also serve to drain the pipe when you have finished. :o:o

I found one like this several years ago. It is my favorite so far of all of them. It was called Bring Water To The Well. Unfortunately it is no longer in play.

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I have an idea of a puzzle. The coordinates lead you to a peace of wood. Trough it is a hole. And on a particular day of the year the sun shines trough the hole and shines on a spot on the ground that gives you the coordinates of the actual cache. I haven't rely figured out the details, but the idea obviously comes from indiana jones. Has this been done before. Is this allowed. Obviously it would not work on a rainy day, so people will have to wait another year to attempt it.

 

Not that here in the north the sun moves a lot over the months.

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Well, I came up with the idea of hiding a micro in a hole drilled in a rock. I gathered 3 rocks, different colors and shading to match the rocks around here, here is what I did:

2v2cuxc.jpg

 

I jammed a split washer in the hole, so the magnetic container would adhere to it, you can shake the rock upside down and it won't fall out. I left the container out a little so the container can be plucked out easily.

Hope you all find it now! :unsure:

OzzOzz

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What about a multi cache where you find a benchmark then have to use a compass to turn an azimuth to the next point. The next point you turn again, then back again but the cache is around 20 feet behind the first benchmark? Would be pretty cool in a park or city where there may be numbers on things that have the next AZ or over larger distances where you have to visit this or that grave and get the AZ and distance.

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GC2K4X4 This one is not a hard to find one but you go by and geocache does not enter you mind. I have been here many times over the past 12 years to ride the trains in the yard with my wifes uncle. For about 10 years I had not done any caching and now that my daughter is old enough we started again. I drove right past this one thinking it was in another spot. The guy has little old west theamed towns scatered around the property by the rr tracks so this cache does not stand out. Inside the station is a ammo can that is the actual cache. If you read through the posts for the cache and find absolute mellow you will find he has a picture posted of this cache. Again the gc code is GC2K4X4

Edited by thumper245
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Hey Guys,

 

I'm trying to think of a new Geocache and I want to do something that cachers will remember. Do you guys have any ideas as to what kind of creative caches I could make? We are talking about challenging/fun/crazy caches. Give us your ideas!

 

-GeoShif :o

 

Personally that's a tough one. It's really limited to your imagination and resources, your time and effort. I've seen just about everything, even a fake dead half-decayed animal in the woods. Get crazy, get wild, get off-the-wall. That's what it's all about. Sometimes the most simple, obvious hide is the one folks get stuck on. Go out and have fun. What would you least suspect of being a cache?

 

Good luck!

 

I found a real dead decaying animal at the base of a tree a cache was in. It took everything in my power not to go poking around that thing. It was a big dead maggot filled raven.. if you can picture that. :)

 

Shaun

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