Some Creative Supplies

Tonight, we are going to deviate a bit from our usual design post and talk a bit about some basic supplies you can equip yourself with that may become part of your regular cache design kit.  Some of these supplies may be used more than others depending on how you design your caches, but all are useful.  We'll start with supplies for the inside of your cache.

Interior Supplies

1. Baggies - these are wonderful tools for protecting a logsheet from moisture.  Larger kitchen use baggies can be useful when placing a regular size cache, while smaller arts & crafts baggies are great for micro and small caches.  The smaller ones can be found at any arts & crafts store, and usually in arts & crafts departments of stores like Wal-mart and Target.  Just find the section where beads are found and you can find a variety of sizes in 50 and 100 quantity packages, often for $2 or less per set.  A few bucks can supply you with enough baggies for plenty of potential caches.  Carry them around with your regular caching supplies and you can help other cachers protect their logsheets as well, or replace damaged baggies.
2. Writing utensil - not everyone likes to add a writing utensil to their caches, often because of the varying cache designs they might use.  Consider picking up a package of golf pencils.  Since they are smaller, the open up the range of cache sizes you can use them in.  Plus, a writing utensil inside can be useful if a cacher forgets their own pen or pencil.
3. Swag - this may not work for micro caches, but if their is room for swag, consider adding an item or two.  What you use is entirely up to you.  Dollar stores are invaluable resources as you can often by packages of items like toy soldiers, plastic coins, etc.  Crafts stores are also useful, especially if you might be interested in making some personalized FTF swag.  Party stores often care packages of cheap party favors for parents looking to make gift bags for their child's party.  Toys often make great swag for kids.  What should be avoided?  Inappropriate or hazardous items, alcohol, food, liquids (what if something accidently breaks), and sharp objects or weapons, among other potentially bad swag ideas.
4. Stash Notes - you can get these from various geocaching sites.  They break down geocaching into an easy to understand explanation for muggles who might find the cache.

Exterior Supplies

1. Camo Tape - there are several varieties of camo tape that you can find, ranging from camo duct-tape to camo felt tape.  They are all usually pretty good.  Take any basic cache design and add camo tape to help reduce the visibility of a cache.  Most stores that sell a variety of duck tape will sell camo tape right there.  Otherwise, check sporting goods stores/departments to find some.
2. Sharpie - this can be used to write something on the outside, like "Official Geocache, Do Not Remove" or a GC code.  
3. Geocache Label - unless you make them yourself, you can buy "Official Geocache" labels to apply to the outside of a geocache.  These can be useful in case a muggle happens to find the cache.  Great when combined with a Stash Note inside.
4. Spray paint - this mostly applies to ammo cans.  Try to have a can of spray paint, preferably a shade of Forest Green, to paint a recently purchase ammo can.  This is done to cover up the military markings which might worry muggles if found.

Each of these items is not necessary, but can be useful ways to add a little extra umph to your next cache.  Are their any other ideas out there?  Post a comment and share your ideas for readers to consider.

TripCyclone

The Pen is Mightier Cache

While caching, you'll eventually run into a cache design that you hadn't thought of before.  This design is exactly one of those caches.  I ran into it a while back while traveling.

Materials Needed:

• A pen with a clear casing
• Logsheet

The most important aspect of this design is having a certain type of pen.  The pen must be designed such that there is a clear casing somewhere in the design.  A clear casing that would allow you to see the inside of the pen.  Well, this isn't a necessity as you could probably design this without such a particular type of pen, but for the purposes of this design, it should be clear.

Open the pen up.  Carefully roll a logsheet around the ink holder and slide the whole setup back into the pen.  Make sure the logsheet is positioned so it is visible through the clear part of the pen casing.  Then seal it back up.

Why leave the ink part inside?  Why not?  You can quite honestly say that you don't need to bring a pen to the cache, even if it is a micro. 

This is a quick, cheap micro cache design.  Make sure you have some spares for future maintenance and have fun as people log their surprise at this different design.

TripCyclone

Pet Caches

Blending caches in with the environment can be tricky and there are a lot of ways to do so.  While camouflage can be very basic, to truly get it just right takes practice.  But there is another fun way to do camouflage that we will look at today, along with several examples of this method.  Because of the various methods used, it will be hard to provide a materials list that covers every possible method.  So we will try to highlight what will be needed for each of the provided examples so you can get an idea about how to approach the method.  And what is the method...

ANIMALS!

Yep, I said animals.  So what exactly does that mean?  Those of you who have found a lot of caches may have seen a cache built like this before.  It a geocache built to look like an animal.  In some cases, the animal part is a prop that has been turned into a geocache.  Other times, it is a geocache that is attached to some kind of animal prop.  And in some cases, the animal actually hides the container.  We will look at one of each of these methods.

MATERIALS
One hard part about the methods we will be looking at is finding the right prop for the design.  There are two easy places to find these items, though they aren't the only locations.  One is a Garden Center.  Many stores that cater to landscaping and gardening will often have some animal related props.  Another location would be Halloween stores.  While these are usually only found in early Fall, with a little bit of looking you can sometimes find stores that sell Halloween related goods year-round. 

ANIMAL IS THE GEOCACHE

Our first example is an animal that has been turned into a geocache.  In this example, the animal is typically a larger prop that is hollow in some form.  Is this always the case...definitely not.  I've seen examples of bison tubes made to look like insects.  But for this post, we will focus on a larger version.  For this example, you will need a few items:

• A fake cat
• Logsheet
• Weather resistant glue
• PVC Plug and respectively sized threaded PVC adaptor

For the PVC Plug and adaptor, you can commonly find something called a PVC Cleanout W/Plug.  This would fit perfectly.  You just need to find a size appropriate for your design.  First, we see the cache itself, held by one of my caching friends:

You can see the cat, along with the black PVC fitting attached to it's belly.  A hole was cut into the belly, cut to the diameter of the bottom of the PVC Cleanout. The cleanout is then glued to the cat.  The PVC Plug then can screw into the cleanout to create a water-tight seal (provided you've properly glued the cat to the PVC).  In this photo, you might also notice a small metal loop in front of the PVC plug.  This loop was used to attach the cat to a tree, as seen here:

To attach this the way it is shown, the person who hid this would have had to drill a small hole into the tree, then take a hook screw a bit larger than the hole and screw that into the tree as well.  This would then provide the hook for the loop you see in the above photo, thereby attaching the cat to the tree as shown.

While this design is pretty cool when you see it in person, this did require putting a screw into a tree, which could cause damage to the tree.  If you like how this is setup (and it was pretty cool when I saw it), I would encourage you to find a location that doesn't require drilling into a tree.  I have seen reviewers archive caches that do this and they are right to do so.  It may not seem like much, but this can cause damage.

As you can see in this image, the design does create an interesting atmosphere for a cache, especially on Halloween. I know I laughed pretty hard upon finding this because my first thought was that we had actually found a cat.  Imagine the logs you would receive with a cache like this.

ANIMALS ATTACHED TO THE GEOCACHE

The next type of animal cache involves attaching animals to a geocache.  One of the first examples of this that I ran into involved a fake rat attached to a 35mm film canister, hidden under a log.  I happened to go after it at night, which made the cache even more fun to find.  These types of hides are rather simple and require nothing more than a geocache and some kind of fake animal to attach to the outside.  Spiders, snakes, and rats are the most common fake animals you'll see used, but insects often work wonderfully as well.

When building a cache like this using a smaller cache size, you typically need nothing more than the geocache itself, the animal to attach, and a method for attaching it.  Weather resistant glue is the most commonly used method.  For larger caches, like ammo cans, some geocachers will use items like snakes and large spiders and just rest them on top of the cache.

Here is an example of a micro attached to an insect.  The photo was taken by rhondapalooza.

ANIMALS HIDING GEOCACHES

The last example involves using an animal to hide the geocache.  Now the above example of the cat might seem like it fits here to but there is a difference.  With the cat, the cat was turned into the geocache.  The PVC parts merely provided an easy method to open and close the container, but the cat's body was the geocache itself.  For this last method, the fake animal isn't the geocache itself, it's merely the camouflage designed to hide the geocache.  Here, let's see an example of this:

In this example, the bird is the camo.  If you look closely, you can see the red, rounded edge of the geocache sticking out the back end of the bird.  It is hard to tell from this view, but the bird is actually carved from a lightweight wood, carefully painted to look like a real bird.  Using a drill, a hole was created for the bison tube.  A perch was created and tied to the tree on which the bird is attached.  Look carefully and you can see a triangular piece on the back end of the perch which helps prevent the bison tube from falling out accidentally.  To retrieve this cache, the bird rotated forward just a bit.  This was achieved by making the feet loop around the perch, but with a little bit of looseness to allow the rotation.  Rotate the bird forward, pull out the bison tube, and sign the logsheet.

Birds are definitely the most commonly used animal for this method, at least from what I've experienced.  Here is another example of a bird geocache (which happens to be an exact replica to two bird caches I have seen) as taken by Wrapped In Piano Strings, who we should welcome to the geocaching world as this is a picture of their very first find:

Once, I saw a large GINORMOUS Bison using this method up in St. Joseph, MO.  Always good for a laugh when taking someone to find it.

So there you have it.  Three ways to turn a simple geocache into a creative geocache using animals.  Have you seen an example of this before?  Post a GC code in the comments.

TripCyclone

P.S. I am waiting for permission from a few people to display their photos on the site.  I will update the post with photos as permissions arrive.  For now, I've merely linked to the photos I am awaiting permission from.

Building a Pict-O-Cache

Disclaimer: This is an edited version of a post I made on my personal geocaching blog.  I was getting ready to write about this when I realized I had already done it a long time ago.  I've made a few updates.

If there was ever a cache that everyone should try once, pict-o-caches would likely be near the top of the list. They take aspects of several different types of caches and join them together to make a cache that everyone can participate in and enjoy. But how do they work? First, we need to establish what they are.

Pict-o-caches are a class on their own. Taking cues from multi-caches, on-site puzzles, and visual puzzles, these puzzles definitely require an observant eye. Given a location to start at, you are basically guided through a multi-cache not by finding hidden stages with coordinates inside, but by finding things right out in the open. The clues are pictures. Follow the pictures and find the cache. It sounds simple enough.

Let's look a bit closer. There are two basic methods of doing a pict-o-cache. For the first one, we'll use a pict-o-cache that I completed in 2008 with my friend 8601Delphinium.  Both of us enjoyed this cache and thought it was a good example of this method. It is the Hastings Pict-O-Cache located in Hastings, NE, set up by Still Searching.  In this method, you are given a starting location, usually the cache coordinates themselves. Standing in that location, you have to scan around the area. Somewhere, within your field of view, you would find this:

Obviously, this image shows a brick wall, so you would want to scan for brick buildings. It could be on a building near to you or one in the distance, but it will be in your view. One thing to consider is whether the object is close to the ground or not. If you find a building in your view that has other objects masking it, like vehicles, bushes, or trees, you'll need to take that into consideration. Once you find the object in the picture, you need to go over to it. Stand next to it, and begin searching for picture number two:

Examining the photo, you at least now that it is near a window. Second, you can also guess that it is at least a second story window based on the ledge. Third, even though it also appears to be on a brick building, don't assume that it is the same building. So make sure to scan every building in your view. Okay, over there. That's the window. Let's move over to it. Time to find number three:

Now, you can be certain that this is the corner of a building, and along the roof. Again, start scanning around, this time paying attention to roof corners that have this style of decoration on it. Wait...over there. Nope, it doesn't have the streetlamp object visible along the edge of the photo. But, if you look at that other corner of the same building, it does have it. Time to go to stage four.

This is the overall idea of this type of pict-o-cache. It's nothing more than following the pictures. These caches are great caches for group caching or family caching. Everyone can get involved with finding the images, including kids.

But I said that the above method is just one type of this style of puzzle cache. So what's the other method? For the other method, I'll use Krypto Kache, found in Omaha, NE. Set up by Team Kryptos, this one still has you looking for pictures, but this time you are given a list of coordinates for the pictures. This might seem counter-intuitive, but it's not. The coordinates are just a list of coordinates with letters assigned to them, and the pictures are numbered. Go to each of the coordinates and figure out which of the photos is found there. Match each coordinate to a picture and you'll get numbers for the letters. Then fill in the numbers in the provided final coordinates based on the letters and you'll get the final location for the puzzle. Go to that location and find the cache.

Either method provides an interesting caching experience. But, what if you want to make one? Before you do anything, you'll need a few things.

Materials Needed:

• Camera
• Photo editing software
• Notebook
• Cache Container
• Logbook

A notebook?  That seems odd.  However I would also recommend bringing a notebook to help keep track of note only the order of the photos, but to match the photos to coordinates and to write notes about the photos. Both of those last two will make sense in a bit.  For a cache container, any size can be used.  Just remember to make it appropriate for the location you use.  Ammo can's are obviously not the way to go if this cache will be designed in an urban area.  And regarding the photo software.  Anything will work.  GIMP is a good free software.  It has a learning curve, but there are plenty of tutorials out there to help and it is quite powerful considering it is free.

For the first method, there's a bit more that goes into preparing this puzzle. Start by finding a place to hide the cache (and mark the coordinates). Many of the pict-o-caches I've seen are usually found in vibrant urban environments. Urban areas provide a lot of different options for photos that you just won't find elsewhere. Whether using architecture, window, window displays, vents, signs, lamps, etc., you should have a pluthra of objects to use for photos.  "Historic Downtown" areas often make great spots.  Out in a park, on the other hand, is not so great.  You have trees, bushes, plants, trees, benches, lamps, trees...imagine looking at a photo of a tree then looking around you to find a hundred trees that all look like the photo. Case settled.  However, that doesn't mean a park can never work for this type of cache, it's just harder to make it work.

Once you find a location, you have two options. You can find a random starting location and work your way along a path to the final location, taking pictures along the way. Or you can do the same thing, only working backwards through the route. Either way works, but it might be easier to visualize if you work your way forwards through the route. I'll describe the rest as if you are doing it forwards.

Find a random starting location and grab the coordinates. Then, scan around and find something to take a photo of. Remember, your path can be whatever you want, so don't feel like you have to always be getting closer to the final location. Also, your photo can be at a distance, or it can be closer to the object you want to photograph. Feel free to mix it up to increase the difficulty, just make sure that what you see in the photograph is at least big enough to see from the previous spot. Another way to increase the difficulty is use only a portion of the photo. For example, instead of using a photo of the entire statue, crop it so that you only see a small portion of it. This also helps to reduce the chances that someone spots stage nine and rushes straight to that spot in the puzzle before they've done stages one through eight. This is where the notebook can really come in handy, as you can write down notes about each image in case you want to mess with the images on the computer.

Once you have your photograph, move to whatever you took a photo of and stand next to it. Before you continue, make sure to grab coordinates. You will want to add waypoints for each picture when you list your cache online. This helps the reviewer in two ways. One way is to help them see what route you are having the cacher go. They may see something you hadn't thought of based on where those stages are that may require fixing. Second, each picture is techniqually a stage in a multi-cache. Multi-cache guidelines require posting the waypoints for each stage. Some reviewers may see it as a puzzle cache and not require the additional waypoints, but trust me that it will be appreciated. Some reviewers will actually require them for the above reasons.

After you have your coordinates, repeat the above process until you reach the final location. When you close in on the final location, think carefully about the last two photos. The last photo should be close enough to narrow down where the final location is within 10 - 20 feet (or about the typical accuracy of your GPSr). The second to last photo should get you close enough that the last photo makes sense. If the final location is hidden in the skirt of lamp post, and your final location is of the skirt, the second to last photo should not have eight lamp posts in the image. Figure out a way to narrow it down to no more than two, maybe three if they are closer together. You'll get complaints from cachers if you don't.

Now that you have all your photos, coordinates for each photo, and have placed the hide, you're ready to go home. At home, you'll need to take some time to get everything organized. Hopefully, you took notes of the coordinates for each photo and a description so that you can quickly match things up. Load up your images and start preparing them. I recommend numbering your final images so that you can get them arranged properly. Feel free to put a visible number in the photo to help the cachers as well.  If they are printing off a sheet of images then the numbers will help them keep everything in order too. Once you do have them prepared, you'll need to do one more thing.


When you post this online, you'll have an easier time displaying the photos if you create an image file that has the photos arranged in order that can be displayed online. Check out both of the linked caches listed earlier to see examples of this. It will make setting up the cache page easier. Also, don't forget to create additional waypoints for each image. They can be hidden from public view if using the "follow the images" method, or they can be public if using the "match the images" method (you have to list the coordinates anyway for this one). Get everything ready to go and submit.  As to the software to use for this, that may vary depending on your experience.  This isn't needed, but it makes creating the cache page easier.

But what about that second method I described.  You know, the one where you match the photos to the coordinates?  This method has a bit wider range of options for where you can set it up as compared to the first method because you aren't following images to the hide, but matching images to get numbers in order to determine the final coordinates. Your images can be in a confined area of a few blocks or they can be spread out over a mile wide area. I've seen some spread out across entire communities.  You just need to keep track of which images go with which coordinates.  Find some locations with something you want to take a photo of and take several photos of varying zoom levels.  You can also crop those as you see fit.  Make sure you take coordinates of the spot you took the photo from.  If using the notebook, take note of which coordinates go with which image.  Keep doing this for the number of photos you want to use, then find somewhere to place the final cache.  

Once you get home, make sure the photos are marked for identification.  Numbers are recommended.  Why?  Because when you provide the list of matching coordinates, labeling them with a number might confuse people.  Labeling them with a letter prevents this.  And if you label with letters, you don't want to label the photos with letters too. 

After cropping and marking the photos, and preparing the coordinates to match to the photos, you need to figure out how you want cachers to determine the coordinates.  One way to do this is to make math equations.  Write out a basic formula for the provided coordinates where certain positions equal certain letters.  For example:


N 40° 35.189 W 098° 23.354
N 40° AB.CDE W 098°FG.HIJ

Then, for each picture, provide a formula, such as:

Photo A = (B+G)*(F-I)

As cachers match up the correct coordinates to each image, they use those coordinates to determine the value of each photo.  Then they can plug those values into the final coordinates to determine where the cache is located at.  Since this is done in the field, a coordinate checker isn't needed.  Once they have the final coordinates, they can go after the cache to claim a find.

When submitting this design, it can be labeled as either a puzzle cache or a multi cache.  If you aren't quite sure how to list it, contact your reviewer and ask for what they would like it listed as since they will be the ones approving it.

These two methods are the two most common methods I've seen, but there are probably other ways to set this up.  I don't see Pict-O-Caches as often anymore, but I have seen a type called "Steeplechases" which are essentially method #2, but with a theme.  Themed Pict-O-Caches can be fun too.  While Pict-O-Caches aren't as common, I haven't met too many people who dislike them since they are a bit different and can be an interesting way to explore an area. 

TripCyclone

PS: A thanks to reviewers *gln and Heartland Cacher for their input on how to submit a pict-o-cache and to Still Searching for letting me use some of the photos on his pict-o-cache. I probably SHOULD say thanks to Team Kryptos, but I didn't use any of their photos so they'll get a thanks for letting me reference their hide.

An Electrical Plate

Some of you may have seen this design before.  It isn't anything new.  But it is easy to build and it makes a great example of creativity.  Before we begin, let's look at what materials you'll need.

Materials:

• Electrical Wall Plate
• 2 magnets
• Metal Epoxy
• Small baggie
• Logsheet

Most of the materials can be found in a hardware store.  However, most magnets you would find in a hardware store are larger and thicker than what is best to use.  For my magnets, I rely on Grainger due to the variety of different styles and sizes.  The only problem is that they usually require an account for most products they sell, especially magnets.  They are considered hazardous materials.

When you go to buy the wall plate, make sure that whatever you buy is the style of a wall cover with two holes for the screws.  For hiding outdoors, the metal variety will blend in better than plastic.  For magnets, I used a nickel plated, neodymium magnet that is .375 mm wide and .100 mm thick.  For a glue, I used a Metal Epoxy to better grip the metal between the two objects.  It is also fast drying and holds up to weather a lot better than normal super glue.  You will need a small baggie for this design.  Look in the bead section of any arts & crafts department/store to find cheap bags (50-100 for less than $2.00).

Here is an example of the Wall Plate alongside the magnets.  Notice one magnet covering the left hole.

With this image, you can easily see how everything will fit together. The magnets cover the holes on the backside of the plate.  All you need to do is glue them down.

Metal Epoxy works by mixing two substances.  One is a hardener and one is a resin.  This typically comes in a special container that looks like two syringes fused together.  Make sure you have a disposable container handy and something small and disposable for mixing the materials.  Open the container and carefully squeeze a small amount of both materials into the disposable container.  One of the materials will move rather slow.  I used my mixer to scrape the glob off the tip of the syringe.

Once you have the two materials in your container, you only have about five minutes to work before it becomes hardened enough that you can't easily apply it.  Quickly mix them until they have a uniform color and consistancy (about 30 seconds of stirring should be minimum).  Then, carefully begin applying the epoxy.  Use a little bit on the front side of the hole to seal that up, evening it flat with the rest of the plate.  Apply more to the back side, this time to the gap between the magnet and the plate.  Apply it a big thicker so that it can drip fully into the gap.  Apply it around the entire magnet and once you feel satisfied, you're done.

Here is what it should look like on the backside when you are done:

Now I recommend that you only do one magnet at a time. In the amount of time it takes to mix and apply the epoxy to one magnet, the rest of the epoxy will have dried out too much for easy application to the second magnet.  Once you are completely finished preparing the cache, allow at least one hours before handling it.  For the best strength, allow a full 24 hours before use.

This cache, as you might already be able to tell, works best in locations where an electrical face plate would seem likely (and not dangerous to the cacher who goes after it).  Since the epoxy dries a different color, you might look into a metal looking spray paint to blend the in the front side.  If placing this in a location with a different color than the face paint, definitely consider spray paint.

Once you have the location picked out, place a logsheet into one of the small baggies and place the baggie between the two magnets on the backside.  You will have to rely on the object you are attaching too to hold the baggie in place with the above design.  However, you can always consider modifying the design to hold the baggie into place.

A rather simple design, but also a devious design.  Even experienced cachers can overlook this one at first.  So find a good spot to hide it and enjoy the logs.

TripCyclone

PS: Watch your fingers handling the wall plate.  The edges are sharp.  I accidentally cut my thumb while trying to clean off some excess epoxy because I didn't have a good grip.

Geocaching...from your computer?

I am trying to stick to a bi-weekly posting on this site.  Last weekend found me away from home from Saturday through Tuesday, and I forgot.  So here is a quick post featuring an online friend of mine, ErikaJean.  Erika has put together a rather interesting blog that combines several of her various interests, including geocaching.  It's obvious to anyone reading her blog that the keyboard loves her.  But today, we focus on a YouTube video she put together that definitely fits into the Creative Caches site. It's called Interactive Geocaching, but there's just one problem.  There's no actual cache to find.

If you are a fan of computer games, you've probably played a game inspired by Myst.  Myst was an graphic adventure game released in 1993, most notable for it's "Choose Your Own Adventure" like method of story telling.  You were in control of how you played the game, with the ability to explore at your own free will.  You clicked on a spot in the game and it would either move you in that direction, or you interacted with something in the game world.

Erika has created a YouTube video that plays out just like Myst.  The collection of videos give you the opportunity to try and find a geocache from the comfort of your computer.  Now while none of our readers will be able to claim a find from the video, I have an idea for how to turn this into an actual cache. 

Required Materials

• A micro or small geocache, ready to go
• A video camera
• A computer

Find a decent location to place a geocache.  For this cache, a good location will have a variety of possible hiding spots nearby.  If the spot you choose has a limited amount of spots to look for that size container, you should probably choose another location.  This is important for the overall design of this cache.  Once you've hidden the container, step back a bit and survey your surroundings.  Find a good spot to start and mark that location, both in your mind and on your GPSr.  We'll call it Waypoint A.  It might be a good idea to physically mark the site with something so you remember where you started.

Now, pick a collection of different items within your view: bushes, trees, man-made structures, etc.  You want a good collection of a least 10 different items.  Try to make the items viable hiding locations for your container (this works best if you are using a micro or small container).  Shoot a short introduction video of the scene with you speaking in the background.  If your camera has the option, make sure to stop each time you shoot a scene so you have easy reference points for later editing.

Once you've shot the intro, begin shooting video of you walking towards the various objects you noted earlier.  If your hand comes into view as you move things about in a fake search for a cache container then don't worry about it.  Play it up a bit.  Add commentary as you film.  After you film the various objects, pick a couple of random points that may seem like obviously unlike locations, but film them anyway.  It will provide more options for viewers.

Once you're done filming, and you have both the starting coords for the video and the final location's coords, head on home and go through the process of editing.  You'll need a collection of short videos encompassing all of the random points people might choose, including the correct location.  Edit them however you want, but in the clip that leads to the actual cache, post the coordinates for Waypoint A into the end of the video.  This way, when people find the correct location in the video, they will get the coordinates for the video's starting location.  Once they arrive on scene, they should see a view just like the video.  They already know where the final is located at, so the find will be easy from that point on.

Now all you need to do is upload the videos.  YouTube provides an easy, free option for doing so.  Once they are uploaded, you'll need to add linked notes to the video.  YouTube calls them "annotations" and they can be added by going to "My Videos" after logging in, finding the starting video, and clicking on "Annotations".  When you do this, make sure you have a second tab open so you can get the URL's for each video.  Pick the point in the starting video where you want to give people the option to pick their choices.  Pause the video there and add a notation.  Spread the annotation out over one of the areas people can choose, switch it to the "Notes" type (you can use "Speech Bubble" or "Spotlight" if you want), then click on the chain link icon to create an Annotation Link.  This is where you paste the URL for the video that explores that particular spot.  You'll have to be organized at this point so that all of the annotations link to the proper videos.  Once done, you'll have a video much like Erika's.

Yes, it's an easy find for anyone who completes the video.  But it will also be a fun find.  Due to the nature of the design, it should probably be listed as a puzzle cache.  This means that even cachers who don't like puzzles would be hard pressed to complain about this.  And if they automatically ignore puzzles without even looking at them, this is a shining example of why that practice can backfire.  This is also a kid friendly cache design that any geocachers with kids in your area will enjoy.

Enjoy,
TripCyclone

PS: And a thanks to ErikaJean for letting me highlight her video.  The starting video is below:

A Sprinkle of Finds

Yesterday, I was reminded of a cache container that is a classic example of creativeness.  Both the design and placement can confuse many geocachers who haven't seen the design before.  And better yet, it's easy to build.

Here's what you need:

• 1 pop up sprinkler head
• A 35mm film canister
• Logsheet
• A small spade

Optional items:

• Bison tube
• Toothpick, thin Dowel Rod, or popsicle stick
• PVC
  

The best sprinkler head to get is one of those common round black ones you can find in most Gardening or Hardware stores.  For the spade...well that will depend on the location you choose to place it at. We'll discuss that after looking at the build.

The first thing you will need to do is unscrew the top of the sprinkler head, marked in the image to the left.  Once open, look carefully at the guts.  Sometimes there is a hollow piece running the length of the sprinkler that could easily hold a rolled up logsheet.  If not, just pull out everything, leaving the sprinkler casing and lid.

Next, get your logsheet ready.  The simple way is just to get a standard micro logsheet.  You can staple a few sheets together if you want to allow more finds between log refills.  Now if there is a hollow piece inside, you can slide the logsheet into there.  If this is an option, I recommend attaching something at the center of the roll that people can grip to pull the rolled up logsheet out.  A popsicle stick or thin dowel rod works great.

If there is not a hollow piece inside, then grab a micro container like a 35mm film canister, bison tube, etc.  Make sure it will fit inside, then add the logsheet and then toss the container inside the sprinkler head.

Once you have everything inside, just seal it up.  Now you need to find a location for it.  This is where this one can be tricky.  If you pick a spot with mulch, there's a chance the mulch is deep enough that you can just clear out a hole, place the sprinkler inside, and position the mulch around it to fill gaps.  You could also find a small bush, insert the sprinkler head through some branches, and cover the top with a leaf or two.  But sometimes, you might need to dig a small hole.  If you have exhausted other options and decided on digging, make sure you have permission from the landowner if it isn't on your property.  This is especially true at parks.  If a muggle sees you pulling up a spinkler head, they might get suspicious enough to report it.  You'll want the parks department to be aware of it.

To the right is an example of how to hide it to blend in.  Notice that unless you were looking for the cache, and even if you are looking for it, this sprinkler head looks like it blends in rather well.  You might not even realize it's not real unless comparing it to surrounding sprinkler heads (if there are any).

As you can see, this cache is a great example of concealing a cache out in the open.  It has become more common in the last two - three years, and some Geocaching stores will even sell ready to go versions of this.  The downside is blending it in.  Many parks and homes now have these pop-up sprinklers installed.  If you know what location you are aiming to place it, you can try to match the design as closely as possible to better blend it in so it doesn't stand out. Imagine an all black sprinkler head as the real sprinklers, then having the cache in one that has a bright white stripe around the lid.  An observant person might notice that.


Also, if you look at the picture of the cache surrounded by mulch, you'll notice the white base, a piece not seen in the first image.  An additional way to set this into the ground is to use a piece of PVC pipe that snuggly fits the sprinkler head.  Then, when you set up the hole for the cache container, you can place the PVC pipe in the hole.  Now, when the cache is retrieved and then put back, it will quickly slide into place.  No need to make sure dirt or mulch doesn't fall into the hole and force finders to redig them back out.

Now we have one more photo to show you.  In this case, it's an example of a homemade logsheet.  A longer piece of paper, likely from a calculator printer roll, has been rolled up with a small toothpick in the center.  The toothpick is taped to the printer roll.  Just twist to tighten the paper up on the toothpick and then pull down.  The housing is a small plastic sleeve glued inside a small piece of PVC pipe with a Geocaching logo taped to the side.  A rubber plug is at the top end to help seal that side.  And this all fits nicely into the sprinkler head.  Even though the logsheet isn't in a baggie, it has remained quite dry.

Like I said, a rather simple hide to build, not to bad to place, and great for concealment in plain view.  And this design works with any type of cache: traditional, multi, or puzzle.

TripCyclone

A Picture Perfect Puzzle

On today's edition of Creative Caches & Containers, we come back to the category of puzzle caches.  This time, we will look at a puzzle cache that not only can be made to fit ANY cache container you so desire, but can be solved by anyone. 

For this puzzle, you will need a few things:

• A cache container
• A logbook
• A computer
• A camera

Before we explain the details of this puzzle, let's look at how the puzzle works.  You go out and hide a cache.  Stand next to the cache location, facing away from the cache (preferably).  Using your camera, take some photos of the surrounding area, but no photos of the cache location itself.  Pick a nearby spot away from the cache to mark Bogus Coordinates.  Go home.  Then, at home, pick a few of the photos to post in the cache description.  Submit.

To solve the puzzle, geocachers have to use the photos to figure out where you were standing.  Then, upon determining where you were at when you took the photos, they commence the cache finding operation.  Voila, you have a puzzle cache.

Relatively simple in design, and simple in execution, there are a few things we want to look at.  First of all is location.  When finding a location for just this kind of cache, you need to make sure that there are visual landmarks nearby that can be matched up in photos.  Topography, artwork, buildings, signs, poles, and even landscaping (in doses) can make good visual landmarks.  On the other hand, placing this kind of cache out in the woods is torture.  It doesn't mean it can't be done.  You might be able to find some unique looking trees that really stand out from the surrounding trees, providing an easy landmark.  But in general, it isn't going to have geocachers walking away in a happy mood.

The next thing to consider is the photos.  You want the photos to be useful in identifying where you stood.  There are two ways to do the photos.  You can take a group of individual photos in different directions from where you stood.  A cacher would print off the photos and upon arriving on site, would use compare the relative positions of objects in the photos to triangulate the cache location.  But, you could also get more elaborate and produce a panoramic.  I know that not all of you are familiar with making a panoramic, so let's look at how that is done.  This is where the Creative Cache article turns into a Photography How-To article.

Panoramics are rather simple to make.  In the simplest sense, it only takes two overlapping photos to make a panoramic.  Ideally, you want to use a tripod to ensure horizontally level photos.  For the purposes of this puzzle cache, you can easily shoot it handheld.  You can shoot the photos two wide, three wide, or more.  You can shoot two tall, three tall, or more.  No matter how many photos make up your final image, there's just one thing you need to make sure you do.  The photos need to overlap each other by about 1/4th to 1/3rd of the photos.  I've provided an example of my own for you below.  In this example, you'll see two images side by side.  The section of the photo that is Black and White shows the section of the final image that overlaps.  These were taken handheld.


Notice the tall tree in the overlapping section. When taking photos for a panoramic, it's important that SOMETHING is visible in that section of the photo. This provides points for software to match up when combining the images.

Combining photos would seem like a hard task.  You have to individually go back and forth matching up specific points on both photos, then hoping the software can recognize those points and properly stitch together the images.  But wait, there's more.  After doing that, you will likely have to open the photo up in an image editor and fix any color differences to blend the images seamlessly.  Yeah, not exactly something to look forward to.  Thankfully, there is software out there that will drastically simplify the process.  It's called AUTOSTITCH.

Once the software is on your computer, open it up.  Before doing anything else, open the "Options" menu.  In the upper left corner is an option for image size that will have 10% as the default value.  Change that to 100%.  You can play with other options if you want, but the only other thing I usually mess with is something in the lower left that says "Sigma gain".  I usually push this to .3 instead of .1 before closing the options.  Then, just load the images and the program will do the work for you.  It isn't perfect, but most problems that I have ever run into are usually the result of a poor images and not the software.  Here is an example of the above two images after running them through Autostitch:

Once the program is done stitching the photos, just open the photo up in a basic image editing program and crop out the black borders if desired.  For posting on Groundspeak's site, you'll probably want to reduce the image size a bit.  Most image editors have an option for that.

There you go.  You have the images you need for producing this puzzle.  But, I have one more trick up my sleeve.  And for this one, I'm going to employ some help from Team Gamsci, a geocacher from De Sota, Iowa.  Team Gamsci likes to take videos, which you can view on their YouTube Channel, which displays some of their Geocaching videos.  In 2007, while thinking about videos, Team Gamsci came up with an idea very similar to the one I've described above, but with one difference.  Instead of using a picture, they made a video while standing next to the cache.  In fact, the tip about having identifiable landmarks came from Team Gamsci when I asked if he had any tips for someone interesting in using their idea.  The cache they did this with is called Frames Per Second, and it is located West of Des Moines, Iowa right off of Interstate 80.  I actually found this cache back in May of 2009 while on my way back to Kansas City from visiting the GPS Adventure Maze with WebScouter., one of my Geo-buddies.

This can be a fun puzzle for anyone of any age.  The use of pictures or videos makes this a very visual puzzle that anyone can solve too.  And everyone likes puzzles that anyone can solve.

TripCyclone

Ant Hill Cache

Here at Creative Caches & Containers, we are not impartial to creativeness from outside sources.  We encourage you to let us know about your ideas so that we may help spread that creative nature to interested geocachers.  It is in that nature that we present this next idea straight from HeadHardHat (HHH), host of the geocaching video series known as GeoSnippits and the author of the GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed...Right? blog.  With his permission, we provide you with this video on how to design an Ant Hill Cache:

Let's quickly look at what is needed for this design:

• Bondo
• Bondo Hardener
• A small bucket or cup
• Latex or vinyl disposable gloves
• Something to stir with (and disposable)
• Spray Paint (textured, and roughly the color of ant hill sand)
• Plastic 35mm film canister

Bondo is, simply put, a putty. But it's not like the Silly Putty that most people play with as a kid.  Bondo is a two-part putty.  This is because Bondo alone is okay.  But once you add the hardener, it hardens FAST.  And the more hardener you apply, the faster it will harden.  This is why you want the gloves.  It will harden to anything and you don't want it under your fingertips when it does.  Bondo was originally designed for automotive use and is commonly used in automotive repair.  But there are many other uses. Just looking it up I came across pictures of people who have used it to design creative outsides for their Wii, making hand holds for rock climbing walls, making a ceiling fan look like helicopter blades (complete with helicopter hanging below), and even for making buttons on a Guitar Hero controller that light up when you push the buttons.  There are likely limitless ideas for its use, so it's no surprise that it can be useful for making geocaches.

The video pretty much sums up how to make it, so I'm not going to go over that.  When I first saw this, I commented to HHH that most ant hills I've seen don't look so vertically tall.  Guess the North Carolinian ants are bigger. :P  But all kidding aside, you don't want to create an ant hill that doesn't look like the ant hills commonly seen in the area you want to hide the cache.  I've seen ant hills that look like his but half the size.  I've seen ant hills that are small in height but are wide and circular.  What we are going to look at now is how to modify the design to blend this cache in with the ant hills in your area.

First, you'll want to go out and find some ant hills as examples to see how you want yours to look in the end.  Part of why his is taller is because of the position of the 35mm film canister.  That's going to be hard to position any different.  You could use something smaller, but I have another thought that will help in making a smaller ant hill while not necessarily reducing the size of the container.

If you want to make one of these that doesn't stand up as tall, then don't build it around the cache itself, but around a cache holder.  Let's first look at some additional supplies that are needed.  First, you need to know what size container you are going to use.  Avoid anything larger than a 35mm film canister.  Try to aim for something thinner. The goal is to lay the cache on it's side inside the fake ant hill to reduce the height, but still allow geocachers to open the container.  Bison tubes, Advantex film canisters (more oval shaped than the 35mm kind), nanos, and other small containers will work well for this.

Once you have the size picked out, make a thin plastic sleeve that fit snuggly around the container.  If using a nano, you can also just get a magnet the same width as a nano.  You want this sleeve to fit snuggly to help hold the container in place, but still be able to remove it from the sleeve as needed.  If need be, you can try to hunt down some moldable plastic.  It's been a while since I've seen it in stores, but there is a product out there that can be heated up in boiling water so that it is moldable.  Take it out of the water, and within a few minutes it will harden into whatever shape you position it in.  I'll try to look for in the future, but if you know what I'm talking about, send me the info.  Once you have this mold made, you then just snap the container into the sleeve and you have a cache holder. When you apply the Bondo, this will take the place of the 35mm in the video.

For added measure, we're going to design a cover to go over the cache to help ensure it doesn't fall out by accident.  To do this right, you'll need to design this part first, before you make the ant hill.  Figure out roughly what size you want the base of the ant hill to be (width wise) and about how tall you want it to be.  Get some hard plastic and cut it out to be about that width of the base.  Then get a screw that will be a bit smaller than the planned height of the ant hill.  Put the screw through one end of the plastic piece.  Have this with you when you apply the Bondo.

Before apply the Bondo, have newspaper down like in the video.  Take that plastic sleeve that you'll use to hold the cache and place it on top of the plastic piece with the screw.  Make sure it's not right up against the screw.  Then place a small piece of newspaper between both plastic pieces, covering up the bottom piece, but with the screw poking through the paper.  You are doing this because you want the Bondo applied to both the sleeve and the screw, but not the plastic piece that is attached to the screw.  Now apply the Bondo.

When finished applying the Bondo, and once it's hardened, remove the small piece of newspaper that you placed between the two plastic pieces.  If designed right, this will create a plastic cover that can be rotated open to expose the cache inside, and rotated closed to help protect the container from falling out.  This won't protect against the elements, so make sure that the inner container can be sealed.  If the shape isn't quite what you want, sand any undesirable parts away.

Now all that's left is to apply the spray paint.  As HHH mentions, use a textured spray paint.  Try to find one that closely matches the color of the ant hills in your area.  Paint it, let it dry, and there's a modified Ant Hill Cache.

Thanks to HeadHardHat for making this video.  It really shows how some creativity can produce interesting cache designs.  Keep up with his blog for some great general geocaching tips.

An Attractive PVC Cache

Today, we are going to look at a cache that is similar to a design we've looked at before.  The difference is we've made it a bit larger.  You'll need some supplies for this one so let's look at the essentials.

• A piece of PVC pipe, about four feet long
  
• Post-hole Digger
• Power drill and some drill bits (read below to figure out what sizes)
• A bolt, two washers and two nuts (see below for details)
  
• A tube shaped cache, small or micro sized
• A magnet
• Superglue (preferably a kind that's designed for outdoor use)
  
• Logsheet

Before continuing, let's look at the post-hole digger requirement.  For this cache, it is imperative that you not only have permission for the location the cache will go in, but that whomever gives you permission understands that you will need to dig a small hole (no more than a foot deep).  DO NOT place this in a location where you don't have that permission.  Don't worry, you aren't burying the cache.  It will make sense in just a bit.

When you are ready to get supplies, the first thing to decide on is the cache container.  You will need a tubular shaped cache.  For our design, we'll use a waterproof matchstick container.  They are easy to find in any camping store or department.  The reason we need to figure out the cache container first is that the width of the container will help us pick the PVC pipe you'll need.

The cache will need to fit easily inside the PVC pipe, so after you figure out what container you are using, either measure it's width or take it to the hardware store with you.  You need a section of PVC pipe that is at least a half inch wider than the cache container.  Also, make sure it's about four feet in length.  You can bump that to five feet if you'd like.  

Next, we need a magnet.  Aim for a magnet that is between half as wide to the full width of the cache container.  Try not to get one that is wider than the magnet, or else you'll need to widen the PVC pipe to account for that.  Just make sure you have some superglue (or another adhesive) designed for outdoor use.  You may want a second one, and we'll come to why later.

Last of all, the bolt.  You need to get a bolt that is wider than the PVC pipe.  Aim for one that is about two - three inches wider.  Get washers and nuts to go with it, and make sure you have a drill bit wide enough to make a hole for the bolt.  There is one more thing.  If you can, get a bolt made from a non-magnetic metal.  There are some out there, you just have to look.  If you can't find one, then scrap the second magnet I mentioned in the above paragraph and talked about below as it will actually hinder the cache.

Now you should have all the supplies you need.  Let's start building by attaching the magnet to one end of the cache.  I would suggest attaching it to the end of the container opposite the lid.  You don't want someone to accidently remove the magnet.  Be thorough with gluing it on.

While that is drying, let's get the PVC pipe.  You'll need to place about a foot of this into the ground so measure a foot from one end of the pipe and mark that spot with a line around the pipe.  Next, measure about one inch further up the pipe and mark that spot with two dots on opposite sides from each other.  Measure another inch and repeat.  Do this two more times.  You will drill holes through each of these dots.  Two of the holes need to be drilled wide enough to fit that bolt we talked about.  The bolt should not be placed in the bottom set of holes.  Ideally, try to place it in the last set, farthest from the line.  The remaining holes are the drainage holes, hence why you want the bolt in the highest set of holes.  When you put this pipe into the ground, those holes will help make sure the pipe can drain any water that collects inside.  The bolt will help hold the cache up out of the water when the pipe fills.

By now, the glue is likely dry (unless you used Gorilla Glue).  Grab the newly drilled pipe, your post-hole diggers, the cache container, and a logsheet.  I'd recommend a small baggie for the logsheet (can be found in any crafts store or department near where they have bead supplies).  Time to go to the cache site.

At the selected cache site, you'll need to dig that hole. This is why you need permission.  Once you have the hole dug, pack some of the dirt into the end of the PVC pipe that you measured.  Try your best to keep this packed dirt under that line, as you want to keep those drainage holes clear of dirt.  If you can, use something to stick in the top of the pipe to help pack down the dirt at the bottom, be it a stick or a hiking pole.  Once this is ready, stick the pipe into the hole and fill the surrounding hole up with dirt.  If done right, the line you drew should be level with the ground.  Make sure you pack down the dirt to help secure the pipe.  If you are able to find a spot close to a fence or other structure, you can even help tie the pipe to that structure to help hold it up.

Now for the tricky part.  Make sure you place the geocache into the top of the pipe so that the magnet is facing up.  For security purposes, you can always attach a magnet at both ends of the container just in case a geocacher puts it in upside down.  But don't do this unless you can get a bolt that won't attract magnets.  If you do, and you place a container with magnets on both ends into the pipe, the bolt will grab hold of the magnet and nobody will be able to retrieve the cache.  If you are forced to use a bolt that will attract the magnet, make sure to include a line in the cache description about being careful replacing the cache (you don't have to say way, just that they need to be careful).

The cache works like my Magnetic Micro cache, but on a larger scale.  A geocacher will have to bring something that they can lower down into the pipe to "Attract" the magnet on the geocache, then pull it up to retrieve.  Now it should make sense why we placed drainage holes and why we put the bolt in there, alongside why I made a big deal about the magnetism of the bolt and using two magnets.

Oh, and you can easily modify this one a bit.  Here is a design that MrDSW took of just this kind of cache (used with permission):

Note that the pipe used is attached to a girder for stability.  Also, the unique idea of placing this lure makes it feel more like fishing, which is essentially what geocachers will be doing.  If you look carefully at the cache container, you can get an idea of how they built it using PVC parts, a hook to attach to the hole at the back of the lure, and the tongue of the lure to attach the magnets too.

There are some other variations of this design, which I'll introduce in the next post.

By the way, I mentioned designing log books in my last post.  Sorry I haven't posted since as I've been busy, but that is on my list.  I'll give you a quick preview here: LOGBOOK SNEAK PEAK

TripCyclone

Halloween Series - The Skull

Yesterday, we looked at The Rat as a Halloween themed cache.  Today, we are going to look at how to build a Skull Cache.  And this one definitely has some variety to it depending on what you use for the skull.

Required supplies:

• Logbook
• Micro Cache Container
• Fake Skull

Optional supplies:

• Power drill
• Screweye
• Fishing line/rope
  

Let's start with the skull itself.  There are a variety of skull products out there.  Hard plastic, soft plastic, foam, hollow, solid, and everything in between.  This will probably be the most important decision you make with this design.  What skull you use will define how to build the cache and how to hide it.  If you use hollow, all you need to do is open it up to hide the cache.  If you use a solid skull, you will have to drill.  That's where the power drill will come in.  If you use foam, you better be prepared to buy a lot of spares as the weather will ruin it.  Better yet, just stay away from foam.

Let's look at the container.  Again, a matchstick container works best but a 35mm can be used as well, just like with the rat cache.

Now for the hide.  The skull can provide some interesting ways to get creative with the hide itself.  You can use some of the common "in the woods" methods such as covering it with brush or finding a hole in a tree.  A more creative way involves hanging from something like a tree. Attach a screweye (for those unfamiliar with that, it's the screw that has the round loop at the top) to the top of the skull and then tie a line to that.  Attach the other end of the line to whatever object you are hanging it from and you now have a hanging skull cache.

In the end, it's a rather basic setup.  The key thing to consider is what kind of skull you want to hide.  That will help define how to build the cache.

TripCyclone

Halloween Series - The Rat

Wow, didn't realize it had been THAT long since my last article.  Well, I've been pretty busy between work and...well work.  But, I thought that as we approach Halloween in five days, I would do a series of quick articles on Halloween themed caches.  Most of these will be short articles and very similar to each other, but with slightly different props.  We'll start with a classic - THE RAT.

Building a rat cache is rather simple.  Here are the needed supplies:

• Rubber rat
• Micro Cache container
• Logsheet

An optional supply would be some sort of adhesive.  That depends on the final design.  In the simplest sense, you will be attaching the container to the rat.  How you attach it will depend on the container used.  35mm film canisters work well, but waterproof matchstick container (easy to find among camping gear in stores) is better.  Mainly because the screw top and O-ring provide a more durable waterproof container (imagine that...a waterproof matchstick container being waterproof!) than a film canister, which can easily get smashed, broken, chewed on or have the lid pop off.

I've seen the attachment go several ways.  If you purchase a rat that is hollow, you can cut a hole on the belly and insert the container inside the rat.  If it isn't hollow, look to see if there is a space between the paws where you can slip the container (this might be where an adhesive would be valuable).  Unless it is a bigger rat, a micro is the best size for a container.

For hiding spots, try to find a good hole at the base of something, be it natural or manmade.  Up in a tree just seems less natural than on the ground.  Most of the time, the rats will be black or brown but I've seen white and gray ones before.  The darker ones will be easier to blend in, and if found in the dark, are more likely to startle someone.  The first time I saw a rat cache, it made me hesitate before reaching for because I was looking at night.

There you have it.  A simple halloween cache.  Next up...the skull cache.

TripCyclone

A Magnetic Micro

Magnets.

They can be so much fun to play with on a rainy day. That is, until you hold one up to something that can be damaged by a good magnet.

They can also be very useful for geocaches. Today, we will be building a simple micro cache. The nice thing about this design is that it is reusable in a variety of ways, which we will look at in the future as well. Today, we will examine building the design.

Most of the supplies for this design are simple and could probably be easily found. One piece is not something you will find readily available at the nearest Wal-mart. Let's take a look:

* Superglue
* Magnets
* Logsheet
* Micro speciman container

It's the last one that is hardest to find. The ones I have actually came from a cache that was full of them for people to grab and place as a new cache. I believe it is a type of speciman container, used in science to collect and store samples. This is what it looks like:

If you look carefully at the log sheet, you can see that this container is quite small. Just barely big enough to roll up a single micro log sheet and slid it inside. Now, look at the front end of this. See the impression? Before you get a magnet, you need to make sure you know the width and depth of this impression. This way, when you acquire the magnet for this cache, you get the right size.

Getting the right magnets is important. I've mentioned it before, but we'll quickly refresh. Look for some kind of neo-dymium magnet. They are quite strong for their size and are inexpensive too. Hardware stores are your best bet, and even through them you are likely to have to order them. Grainger Industrial Supply is the store I went through, and I was able to buy 20 magnets for $10. The downside for many is that they will require you to have an account with them before selling these magnets as they are considered hazardous.

Once you have the magnets and the cache container, all you need is some superglue. Get the supplies together and let's begin.

First, decide which side you want the magnet on. The design of my container requires me to use the impression in the lid. The bottom of the container doesn't provide enough surface to attach the magnet.

Next, apply a small amount of superglue where you want to attach the magnet.

Last, attach the magnet and let it dry. It should look like this:

If you look carefully at this image, you'll notice that the magnet doesn't quite fill the width of the lid. There is a small gap. To help reinforce the magnet, I applied a tad bit more superglue into that gap. You have to be careful that you don't put too much glue. I was just barely squeezing the tube as I circled the magnet. This little bit extra glue helps secure the magnet just a bit more.

There, now you have a container that can be used in a variety of ways. Now we'll come back to this design in the future with some other ideas, but lets look at a simple way to hide that will confuse a lot of people when they first approach the cache site.

For this part of the design, you need to find a place where this is a thin, hollow tube. It is preferable if the tube is not too long. About the length of a pen is good. With regards to the thinness, it needs to be wide enough to fit the cache container, but not wide enough for someone to reach into it and grip the container. Ideally, it will be just wide enough to easily slide the container inside. This container is realitively waterproof, so if the tube is vertical, it should be okay. However, if vertical it allows water to fill up the tube and depending on how deep it is, it could float your container to the top so this should be taken into consideration. To avoid this, try to find a tube that is horizontal.

Now, here is the tricky part. You want to insert the cache container into the tube with the magnet facing out, not in. This is critical to the design. The idea is that once the geocacher figures out where the container is at, they now have to figure out how to get it out. The way to do this is to stick something metal into the tube to magnetically "grab" the cache container, and pull it back out. And not just any metal. Some metals are unresponsive to magnets. If the geocacher doesn't have the right metals with them, they won't be able to retrieve the cache.

By now, you're probably thinking "Now THAT's evil!" Yep...and a good example of how to be creative with the cache hide. I have seen this before and it had me stumped for a while. The hint helped, but until I began thinking outside the box, it had me going in a totally wrong direction. This hiding trick is something else that we might revisit in the future, but on a larger scale.

TripCyclone

Log Caches

How about a design that works with ANY size and shape of cache container?  Well, almost any size.  It might not work so well with large ammo cans or larger.  It's a simple design, can go in a variety of places, and it will still make people think a bit at times.  Oh yeah, I should also point out that this design employs the latest in 3D technology to camo the container.  Intrigued?

The latest in 3D Technology?  What exactly do you need for THAT?

• A cache
• Logsheet
• Swag (depending on size)
• An actual wood log
• Power saw (type will depend on style)
  

Optional items:

• Something to use as a strap (hey...a strap might work :P )
• Screws
• Power drill

Before we look at the design process, let's look at an example of the final design.  This photo was taken by Gordon McKinlay (used with permission).

The basic design is to cut the log to fit the cache.  Hide the cache in the hole, place on the ground upside down, and you have a hidden cache.  Let's look a little more closely at the process.

First, you need to figure out what kind of cache you are going to use.  At a minimum, a micro can be used.  I'd recommend at least a pill bottle, though a 35mm film canister might work.  You can get up to ammo can size, though you will have to make sure the log you use is big enough.  A stump might work well for an ammo can.

Second, you need to figure out where to make the cut.  If it's a stump, the bottom is the obvious spot.  If you're using a log, depending on the size you might want to see how it will rest on the ground first.  You don't want to cut the hole, place the cache into the hole, then find out that it naturally rolls to the side and exposes the hidden cache.

Once you've figured out where to make the cut, you'll need to start the cutting process.  Now, if you're hiding a cache like a pill bottle, a power sander might be an option, albeit a slower one.  A jig saw might be a good all around saw to use whether the hole is round or rectangular.  Just make sure you are securing the log somehow before you do any cutting.  You don't want that thing to slip out from under the saw, and possibly risk the saw slipping and hitting you.  Remember, no cache is worth slicing off parts of your body. Also, consider how much room you want the cache to have while resting in the hole.  If you make the hole too large, the cache won't stay in place.  If it is too small, people will have a hard time getting it out and putting it back in, until it's been done enough to wear down the sides of the hole.  In the end, a measurement might be needed.  Using a sharpie, mark the outline of the cache on the log, and cut along the outside edge of that line.  That should be good.

Now that the hole is cut, put the cache together with logsheet and possible swag (if big enough) and place it in the hole.  Now, go find a spot to hide the cache and enjoy.

But what about those optional items?  Well, over time, the cache container might slowly wear down the hole, making it easier to fall out.  Or, you might have given it just a bit of extra room.  We can fix this too.  You will need something to use as a strap.  You can find straps in the Sporting Goods stores or departments with camping gear.  Rope may also work, but something flat like a strap is best.  If you can search a bit, find a strap that will be wide enough to lay across the hole with the plastic fastener in the center of the rig.

Now, fasten the two pieces of the strap together and lay the strap ACROSS the cache, with either end extending out onto the wood and the plastic fastener in the center.  On one side of the cache, about a half-inch to one inch from the cache, screw in a simple screw.  Don't use a short screw, as you don't want it working it's way out too quickly while people retrieve the cache.  Now do the same on the other side, screwing the strap securely into place.

In the end, the strap should lay out such that it holds the cache in place when latched shut.  Then, when unlatched, each side stays screwed securely into the log.  This whole extra step serves the extra purpose of holding the cache in place in case it loosens enough that it would fall out without the strap.  Plus, as opposed to a similar design where you lift the log and the cache stays on the ground, when you lift the log up, geocachers will first look at the ground and see no cache.  Unless they look at the log, they are likely to miss it, especially if the design is smaller.  Tricky huh.

Here's one more picture of a similar design but with a larger container that I took a picture of:

As mentioned, this design can work with a variety of sizes and shapes for the actual cache container.  The container in the above picture is a paintball container.  With the added "log" for hiding the cache, this also means you have a WIDE variety of locations you can hide this in the woods.  This really helps allow you to pick just the right spot for the log.  Then just work on how the surrounding brush can help blend the log in so that it doesn't stand out.

And that's how to build a "Log Cache".  Enjoy.

TripCyclone

Building a 35mm Film Cache

I know what you're thinking.  "Why is he talking about building a 35mm Film Cache.  That's so simple and uncreative."  Well you are right...if you are thinking of a traditional film canister hide.  This one is a bit different, and it can be used in a VARIETY of ways and with traditionals, multi's, or puzzles. Uncreative...HA HA HA!

Let's look at the materials needed:

• 35mm film canister
• Micro log sheet
• Tape
• Scissors

Before we deal with how to build this, let's look at that first item.  A 35mm film canister.  Now you're probably thinking of the small plastic container that film comes in.  That's not what I'm talking about.  Instead, you need the metal container that the film is actually housed in.  The piece that would go into the camera itself.  For the young ones out there that don't remember film cameras, it looks like this:

Whether you regularly use film or not, chances are you aren't going to have these sitting around the house.   So how do you get your hands on some?  The best place is a film developing center, or a 1-Hour Photo Processing store.  While getting my hands on some, I went to CVS, Walgreens, and Wal-mart.  Many 1-Hour Photo stores will have some kind of system set up where they can get some money back if they send in boxes of used film canisters and those plastic film containers.  At least it used to be like that.  The CVS and Walgreens I went to seem to throw them away.  Good thing Wal-mart still recycles them.  Way to be green Wal-mart.  If you go to the photo lab and politely ask them for either item, usually they are willing to give you a handful.  If they look at you weird and ask why, you can always tell them what they are for or you can tell them something else.  As a science teacher, I can easily say that I'm using them for class and they don't have any more questions.  You can also tell them they are for an art project, or that you use the plastic containers to store things like tacks and paper clips.  A simple reason will usually suffice.  Just make sure the metal film canister (like the one pictured above) has that small piece of film still sticking out and it isn't damaged.  That's important.  From here on out, when I refer to film canister, I'm referring to the metal item in the pictures.

Now that you have the metal film canisters, let's make sure you have the other supplies.  For tape, any tape will do.  I used packaging tape only because all my scotch tape is back at work.  Lay out your supplies in front of you and grab the log sheet.  Depending on your log sheet, figure out which end is the top and which end is the bottom.  Grab the bottom end and line it up with the small tab of film sticking out of the film canister.  Now you need to tape the log sheet to the piece of film.  It can overlap a bit if you want, or you can do it end to end.  Use a small piece of tape and wrap it completely around to secure the paper to the film canister.  When you're done, it should look like this:

Once you have the log sheet securely fastened, carefully insert the film back into the canister.  You might have to work it just a bit if the tape/logsheet/film part is a bit thick, but you should be able to get it in without damaging the container.  If you look at the above picture, you might be able to see that I overlapped the paper and film, and it still went in.  Once you have the paper sticking in, find the round, notched gear on the side of the film canister (you can see it on the right in the above image).  If you are holding the film canister like you see in the above picture, rotate it counter-clockwise (backwards) until it begins to retract the log sheet.  Keep doing this until you get near the end of the sheet.  Like this:

 

You now have a 35mm film cache. Pull the tab out, sign the log, roll it back up.  You might want to put a small label on the film canister that points to the gear with instructions on how to roll it back up.  But what if a geocacher rolls it too far?  Well, there's a way to help protect against that too.  One thing is to put a label on the end of the log sheet that tells them when to stop rolling.  However, if the geocacher isn't paying attention, that won't help much.  So here's something else you can do. 

Get a small piece of paper, no wider than the logsheet.  You can always cut up a log sheet to about 1/3rd of it's original length. Then carefully fold up BOTH ends towards the middle, making a small thick tab.  Then, slide that over the end of the log sheet that sticks out and tape it down.  You've effectively made a brake for the log sheet.  As it is rolled up, when that hits the thin slit that the paper goes into, it will be too big to go any further, stopping a geocacher from rolling the log sheet up inside the container (which you will not easily get out unless you are familiar with working in a photo lab).  In this next picture, I've highlighted where I installed this "brake" in black:

So how would you use this idea?  Well, you can take any traditional 35mm film canister cache and put one of these inside to make it just a bit different. Those cachers expecting a baggie and a log sheet will be surprised at first.  But that's not all.  How about using it as part of a multi?  You can type up a message with the coordinates to the next stage and build one of these. Pull out the tab, get the coordinates, roll it back up and move on.  Maybe your stages involve answering questions.  This is an easy way to spice up the stages a bit.  One idea, that would seem strangely appropriate, is to use them in a multi with a "spy novel" element to them.  Sort of like finding a microfiche container that contains the secret clue to the mystery.  There are lots of ways you can incorporate this design into a variety of hides.

!!!WARNING!!!

This container is NOT a good stand-alone cache.  The very slip in the container that allows the logsheet to come out will also let in moisture, especially with part of the paper sticking out.  That will absorb the moisture and provide it with an easy path to travel inside the container.  So any use of this design will require another container to put it into.  You can try using Rite-In-Rain paper, but moisture might still be a problem.  Now, I haven't tested this, so it's possible that it does better than I expect.  But then you also have the issue with potential rust.  Hmmm...maybe that's something I should test.  I have plenty of spares.

Any other ideas out there for how to incorporate this into a cache?

TripCyclone