Jolly Green Giant

Today's post is going to feature an interesting cache design already out in the field.  The cache is called Jolly Green Giant.  It was placed by Lacomo on February 5th, 2009.  It's location is Lebanon, MO.  Why is it unique?  The size.

I remember being on the local Kansas/Missouri forums when Lacomo first started inquiring about large caches in Missouri.  He was trying to find out what the largest size was in the state.  Then, as time rolled on, we started to find out what his idea was, even seeing a few photos.  Finally, his cache was released to the public and within only a few hours the FTF was made...in the middle of the night!  It seems people really wanted to see what all the hype was about.  So what was so cool about this cache?  This shot was taken when I visited it just over a month later.

You can see a travel bug hanging off the top, and just above it is the Garmin eTrex Legend I was using at the time.  This homemade ammo can is large enough that a kid could likely crouch inside and not be seen.  Now it looks like it is in the woods.  Really it's in a small grove of trees on the back end of some property.  The property is owned by the cache owner's nephew.

Okay, time for some details.  When I asked Lacomo how he built this, he gave me some interesting details.  First of all, the body of the cache is actually a metal filing cabinet turned onto it's back.  Inside is some wooden platform about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom.  This is where the containers for swag, trackables, and the logbook are resting.  It was done this way so that people didn't have to reach all the way to the bottom, and in case any water got inside.  Some framework was added to help hold it up.  The lid was the most expensive and time consuming piece.  Lacomo paid a local machine shop $50 for the material and the labor to bend the lid.  He did his own welding.  Due to how the sides of the lid slip over the sides of the container, it's actually surprisingly waterproof.  A local sign shop made the Geocaching label for the side. 

Once, it did actually get wet.  There had been heavy rain in the area and a small flood happened at the cache site.  It actually picked it up and floated it down a small drainage ditch before getting caught up in some trees.  Surprising that it would float consider the size of the container.

Total cost was about $75.00.  But Lacomo said it was entirely worth it considering the enjoyment people have had finding it.  And just how many people have found it?  Since it's publication, 183 people have found it as of the date I am writing this.

This isn't the only version of this I've seen.  I have seen pictures from a few other giant ammo cans around the world.  I've also seen other LARGE cache designs.  What about you?

TripCyclone