I wanna hide…..

So you have found a plethora of geocaches and now want to expand your fun with the sport by hiding one of your own. All Geocaches are owned by Geocachers who have put them out for others to enjoy. They should follow certain protocols and rules.

Groundspeak (geocaching.com) suggests that you need to have found a variety of geocache types and sizes hidden by different geocache owners before hiding one of your own to ensure that you have a good idea of what is needed to have a successful geocache. An event is considered a geocache as well and before you throw an event you should attend a few events to gain some experience. An event is also where you could get some good advice from other Geocachers.

Now that you are ready to hide, let’s go over a few things.

Probably the first thing you need is a good location. Finding a place that won’t be discovered by Muggles (people that are not aware of Geocaching) or various animals, both wild and domestic may be a bit of a challenge. My wife and I will comment on a spot often and then look around and realize that it is too busy a location.

A hiding spot should not be on private property, must be a minimum of 161 metres from any other caches and in many cases you need to have permission to place a Geocache on some properties. There are guidelines located at https://www.geocaching.com/play/guidelines.

This location needs a spot to place the cache securely out of sight and protected from loss. This is also sometimes done with the use of a camouflaged container. Once you have that great hiding spot you can decide what type of container to use. There are a lot of different types you can buy. Making one yourself is a great option and may bring out a skill you didn’t realize that you had.

Many people will use containers such as pill bottles or various containers that are common in a household such as Tupperware containers. At times it is a lot of fun going around to thrift stores looking for a unique container that fits the place you would like to place one. A good container needs to be waterproof and glass should not be used. A quote that I like to remember is “A cache container design is only limited by your own imagination”. Remember though; try not to use a container that contained food that you can’t clean the smell out of. Animals such as squirrels, raccoons and bears have a keen sense of smell.

Location, container, add a log sheet and anything else that you feel you would like to be in the container and you are ready to hide it. A short pencil is a good idea, if there is room, but anything edible is not. Food attracts anything from mice to wasps to coyotes. Place the container and then have it activated. 

Don’t try to activate it and then place it. Within minutes of activation people are on the way to your cache and can get quite frustrated when it isn’t there yet.

You are not done yet. As a geocache owner you now have responsibilities. If there are problems with your geocache it is your job to ensure that they are taken care of. Most of the time it means that you have to visit the geocache, however you can make arrangements to have someone else do the work. You will still need to be the one that makes the proper maintenance entries into the Geocache page.

This is just a quick primer on hiding a geocache. There is a lot more that you will find is needed when you go to hide your creation, but it is not daunting and becomes fun after you do the first one or two.

I hope to find one of your Geocaches on the trail.

Gary Brown is the President of the Manitoba Geocaching Association (MBGA) and can be reached at [email protected].