Effective Stealth Techniques
Effective Stealth Techniques
As a result of being in a new place and finding it hard to adjust to high-concentration muggle activity, it occurs to me that we need to wise up to new and creative stealthy searching techniques.
We are visiting Cairns (QLD) and finding it hard to access and replace a cache due to the sheer volume of people in and around the GZ. I have been informed that locals are well versed in stealthy techniques. Think in terms of bending and doing shoelaces right next to a cache site....
I am confident many of you will have much more creative techniques than that. Are you prepared to share them? Keep it legal
Chris
We are visiting Cairns (QLD) and finding it hard to access and replace a cache due to the sheer volume of people in and around the GZ. I have been informed that locals are well versed in stealthy techniques. Think in terms of bending and doing shoelaces right next to a cache site....
I am confident many of you will have much more creative techniques than that. Are you prepared to share them? Keep it legal
Chris
- Agent Basil
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Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
Camera is good. Be artistic and take close-ups of stuff!
- Team Wibble
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- Papa Bear_Left
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Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
Look around. In a place with lots of muggles? Put cache on ignore list and go and find a better one.
- Yurt
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Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
I find busy places much easier than quiet places with a few people around. In a crowd you're just one more crazy person doing something a bit odd. Much easier to hide in plain sight. In a suburban street or in the bush in full view of a house or houses it's far worse and I dislike this sort of cache the most.
Wear a high-vis vest (aka the "Cloak of Invisibility") and you can pretty much do anything I've found - the GPS looks like a data logger for reading meters.
It's a bit like the 'SEP' field from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Wear a high-vis vest (aka the "Cloak of Invisibility") and you can pretty much do anything I've found - the GPS looks like a data logger for reading meters.
It's a bit like the 'SEP' field from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
Team Wibble, that video was pure gold. We want one of those vests - mental note to self to get one. Similarly I had thought one should carry a couple of those portable and light orange traffic cones, which strategically placed around a GZ would give you an excuse to probe around.
The camera is of course a good solution too. I am in fact a keen photographer so that should be no problem!
Dropped coins - another great tip.
Chris
The camera is of course a good solution too. I am in fact a keen photographer so that should be no problem!
Dropped coins - another great tip.
Chris
Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
Kids are great as they have a natural way of climbing over any thing if you stand there long enough so people don't really pay much attention to a kid or two climbing jumping poking pulling etc. except for when they yell in a large voice I FOUND IT or ITS OVER HERE.
Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
Hi Viz vest and a clip board = cloak of invisibility.
In such attire I courteously asked several people to move from a circle of benches whilst I examined them for frogs. They didn't turn a hair and carried on their conversation nearby whilst I found my frog, noted it in my clipboard and departed. I guarantee they'd have struggled to remember the slightest detail.
In such attire I courteously asked several people to move from a circle of benches whilst I examined them for frogs. They didn't turn a hair and carried on their conversation nearby whilst I found my frog, noted it in my clipboard and departed. I guarantee they'd have struggled to remember the slightest detail.
Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
I walk my dog or ride my bike to most cache finds and both have proven to be good distractions.
- MtnLioness
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Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
Stop.Papa Bear_Left wrote:Look around. In a place with lots of muggles? ....
Take note of your surroundings, the people around you, what are they doing?
Make a quick assessment of the people in your immediate vicinity and get a good feel for those who may pose a threat, those who may spot you, those who are too preoccupied and those who are simply passing through. Once you have categorized people, you have a smaller threat radius!
Suddenly there are less to worry about.
OBVIOUSLY don't brazenly waltz up to GZ and reach straight for the cache and openly make suspicious activity around gz, think a bit... it CAN be done, in almost ANY circumstance!
Watch the people around you.
Find a break.
Above all, ACT NORMAL, nonchalant even.
People ignore people who have an air of authority about them, if you act like you have every right to be there, then to them, you do!
- CraigRat
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Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
I prefer the Stealth Hat method:
Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
I love city town caching with lots and lots of muggles. Gets the adrenaline pumping. Much better challenge than a leaky sistema in a tree in the bush.
A business suit is the best invisibility cloak there is. Just another middle aged office worker out in the street. While this is great - standing on a park bench is a suit is not, as I discovered.
Peak/rush hours are great in cities - no-one could care that you are doing, especially if dressed for business. But if you go back at 11pm, dressed the same way, when no-one else is around, you'd stand out - especially to the cops. So stealth is about appropriateness of time of day.
The "I have a sudden urgent call" technique works well, as passers-by expect you to be looking into space/down/in weird places when on the phone.
I hear a "hi viz" vest and clip-board works well, but I haven't tried it myself.
A business suit is the best invisibility cloak there is. Just another middle aged office worker out in the street. While this is great - standing on a park bench is a suit is not, as I discovered.
Peak/rush hours are great in cities - no-one could care that you are doing, especially if dressed for business. But if you go back at 11pm, dressed the same way, when no-one else is around, you'd stand out - especially to the cops. So stealth is about appropriateness of time of day.
The "I have a sudden urgent call" technique works well, as passers-by expect you to be looking into space/down/in weird places when on the phone.
I hear a "hi viz" vest and clip-board works well, but I haven't tried it myself.
- spatialriq
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Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
I take my 3 kids along (4,7 & 10yo's) ... especially handy for extracting the low down caches
Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
I am very big on pretending to make calls on my mobile but I tend to get carried away trying to act out the scenario in a realistic way and forget to actually look for the cache!
Yes a bicycle is very good. You can lean it against anything at GZ and it looks normal. Then check the chain, seat, gears or whatever is at the correct level for looking for the cache.
Yes a bicycle is very good. You can lean it against anything at GZ and it looks normal. Then check the chain, seat, gears or whatever is at the correct level for looking for the cache.
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Re: Effective Stealth Techniques
I find that a pram or stroller (containing a child, of course), can serve much the same function. Funny how you always need to rummage around looking for food/drink/wipes/toy/shoes/socks right near a cache.blossom* wrote:Yes a bicycle is very good. You can lean it against anything at GZ and it looks normal. Then check the chain, seat, gears or whatever is at the correct level for looking for the cache.