Geocaches in trees

[+**JEM**]

Has anyone come up with an ideas that meets geocaching guidelines on how to mount a regular size cache to a tree without nailing etc. Would like to know what fellow geocachers have come up with or any feedback relating to this matter.

[+kunarion]

Has anyone come up with an ideas that meets geocaching guidelines on how to mount a regular size cache to a tree without nailing etc.

I have an ammo box on a tree limb, 20 feet up. It's raised and lowered on a rope hooked to a smaller tree nearby. I used a "cambium saver", and set it all up using the instructions here: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-get-a-rope-into-a-tree-without-climbing-it/.

 

And another ammo box is on a branch just above eye level. That uses a cambium saver and a metal clip.

Edited April 15, 2015 by kunarion

[+cerberus1]

My other 2/3rds has a oversized rural mailbox in a tree (around 37' up).

We used the support straps/base from a single seat tree stand, and just have to adjust it once each Fall to prevent girdling.

Edited April 15, 2015 by cerberus1

[+ByronForestPreserve]

A hammock strap would work well, and they aren't too expensive. You can get two for under ten dollars, and they come with an "S" hook that could hold a cache with some fiddling.

[+coman123]

Pick a dead tree and nail it to that....

 

Edited April 16, 2015 by coman123

[+Touchstone]

Pick a dead tree and nail it to that....

 

Probably better to just stick to the Guidelines rather than reading too much into the GOW article:

 

Geocache placements do not damage, deface or destroy public or private property.

 

Caches are placed so that the surrounding environment, whether natural or human-made, is safe from intentional or unintentional harm. Property must not be damaged or altered to provide a hiding place, clue, or means of logging a find.

 

Best not to set up new Members for failure IMO.

[+narcissa]

I see zip ties fairly often. (A conscientious cache owner would replace the zip tie every year or two so it doesn't damage the tree as it grows.)

[+Gill & Tony]

I found a bison tube inside a full-size rubbery-plastic frill-neck lizard whose tail had been cable-tied to a branch of a tree. The advantage was that the tie would cut into the lizard, not the branch.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

Almost all of my hides are in trees secured with tie wraps or #14 solid core wire ( secured to container with tie wraps and wire hooked around branches )

[+Team Microdot]

Bungee cord?

[+kunarion]

Bungee cord?

Is there a brand that works well outdoors? Around here, with heat and humidity, elastic self-destructs quickly. Still, I'm considering heavy bungee cord for a couple of bird house caches. If I use that, I'll report the results.

[+cerberus1]

Bungee cord?

Is there a brand that works well outdoors? Around here, with heat and humidity, elastic self-destructs quickly. Still, I'm considering heavy bungee cord for a couple of bird house caches. If I use that, I'll report the results.

Maybe it's the sheathing?

I don't think heat as much as Sunlight. Maybe something marine grade.

Our kayaks have bungee lacing to hold gear and sit outdoors most of the Summer, yet still stretch like new for a few years now.

I made pool tool hangers for the fence with dock line (attaching killed bungee's hooks) that held up well untill a permanent solution came up.

"Mart" cheapies used just to hold the fence door open (full Sun) deteriorate before one Summer's over, about even with those black, molded all-rubber ones.

- Yet built a cheapy for-storage "roof" under my Mother's deck (tarp, eye screws and black molded bungees) and they've held for 7 years so far.

[+kunarion]

marine grade

Good idea! I'll look it up. There's a puzzle series north of Atlanta that uses some kind of cord (seems like paracord, not sure. It's thinner that I'd expect for the weight of the box), somehow holding rather large bird houses to trees. Thus far, none of the cachers who placed them have replied to my email question about what the cord is (huh, yet they have "authorized" email and all. Go figure ).

 

I have the unusual plan of attaching birdhouses in a way that is instantly identifiable as tree-friendly. Very obviously NOT attached in a questionable way. No nails, nor screws, for example. It's in a nature area, and I'm hoping for cachers to copy whatever better device these are attached with. A "bungee cord" (even a quality one) seems too "temporary" to me. That is, way too easy to remove the whole thing, and even the finest Geocachers seem tempted to dismount the birdhouse to work the puzzle (when it doesn't even help to remove it all to do so). Will they then put it back in it's spot? ...Nope .

Edited April 17, 2015 by kunarion

[+ecanderson]

"It's in a nature area, and I'm hoping for cachers to copy whatever better device these are attached with. A "bungee cord" (even a quality one) seems too "temporary" to me. That is, way too easy to remove the whole thing, and even the finest Geocachers seem tempted to dismount the birdhouse to work the puzzle (when it doesn't even help to remove it all to do so). Will they then put it back in it's spot? ...Nope ."

 

After placing bird houses in a 'nature area', why would you want a cacher to be messing about with the bird house at all? Or these bird houses design so that they cannot be used as residences for the locals? (Confused).

[+kunarion]

After placing bird houses in a 'nature area', why would you want a cacher to be messing about with the bird house at all? Or these bird houses design so that they cannot be used as residences for the locals? (Confused).

Yes, I've repurposed these boxes to be a sealed, locked enclosure, so that there's no entry for animals. They will not have birds nesting, they're Geocaches in trees.

[+ecanderson]

Ah, got it.

 

I assume they're not too heavy. Marine bungies are pretty spendy as such things go. I'd take a long look at 550 paracord. Easy enough to obtain, and tough stuff. If one makes a loop over a branch, tying each end to an eye bolt or similar on the bird house, there's no issue of constricting the branch.

[+kunarion]

I'd take a long look at 550 paracord. Easy enough to obtain, and tough stuff. If one makes a loop over a branch, tying each end to an eye bolt or similar on the bird house, there's no issue of constricting the branch.

That might do. The county with the big bird houses (Geocaches) seems to be using 550 paracord (can't tell for sure what it is), wrapped around the trunk, and I could see that becoming a maintenance issue. Maybe they change the cord on a regular basis. Those require COs to visit frequently anyway. They're very fancy caches.

 

I'll take a few more waypoints at trees that have suitable branches. I still have some cambium savers (OK, they aren't the expensive true cambium savers with one eyelet smaller for easy throwing over branches, they're just short straps ). While I was pondering the most gentle way to attach a cache to a tree, at one local park, the staff placed a bunch of bird houses (the kind for bird nests, not Geocaches) at tree branches, hung using piano wire. Go figure.

Edited April 19, 2015 by kunarion

[+coman123]

Pick a dead tree and nail it to that....

 

Probably better to just stick to the Guidelines rather than reading too much into the GOW article:

 

Geocache placements do not damage, deface or destroy public or private property.

 

Caches are placed so that the surrounding environment, whether natural or human-made, is safe from intentional or unintentional harm. Property must not be damaged or altered to provide a hiding place, clue, or means of logging a find.

 

Best not to set up new Members for failure IMO.

 

Is the FB page not run by Groundspeak? if so, in the article I have highlighted, Groundspeak was OK with this hide, because the tree was already dead. So why would it be OK for this hide but not others?

I understand the rules completely but there seems to be mixed understandings sometimes.

[+**JEM**]

I decided to experiment and use ratchet straps but without the ratchet just a braking system to hold it to tree, I thought 3 would do the trick as the weight is a factor for this cache. I also added a light gauge chain that can hang loose around tree to secure cache from theft. The reason I thought this maybe a good idea is because as tree grows the straps will or can be loosened or repositioned as required. I want to thank everyone for the wealth of knowledge on this matter and loved reading your ideas, will continue to see what other ideas pop up as this will not only help me but others with the same problem.

[+wmpastor]

Pick a dead tree and nail it to that....

 

Probably better to just stick to the Guidelines rather than reading too much into the GOW article:

 

Geocache placements do not damage, deface or destroy public or private property.

 

Caches are placed so that the surrounding environment, whether natural or human-made, is safe from intentional or unintentional harm. Property must not be damaged or altered to provide a hiding place, clue, or means of logging a find.

 

Best not to set up new Members for failure IMO.

 

Is the FB page not run by Groundspeak? if so, in the article I have highlighted, Groundspeak was OK with this hide, because the tree was already dead. So why would it be OK for this hide but not others?

I understand the rules completely but there seems to be mixed understandings sometimes.

 

In my area, the reviewer is not okay with nails or screws in dead or even fallen trees. The view is that the issue is not harm to a tree, it's defacing property.