Tree etiquette.

[JRMoney]

I didn't want to post this on the groundspeak forum and I haven't done it since I built a tree-house.

I have a decon container that I considered hanging in a tree from a nail. Again I haven't done this, just wanted to run this by some fellow cachers before my Freudian slip.

Is this bad? Like I said most of us built tree-houses as kids and the tree where my house stood is still alive. Is it proper geocaching etiquette? My gut tells me it's not proper etiquette. What do you think?

[SpankytheWizard]

You will catch some heat from people who see it as destructive to the tree. A single nail won't do any real damage as you have proven by your childhood treehouse. But, the basic tenets of geocaching seem to focus on doing no harm and leaving no trace. Would it be possible to tie a natural colored string to a higher branch and hanging the container from that? I have seen nails, etc. used to place hides and I kind of cringe because I think of overall reaction it will get. Suppose it is a nongeocacher that finds it? What kind of impression do we want to leave for others?

STW

[nidomio]

You could always use a zip-tie....That wouldn't damage anything and would assure the cache stays where you want it to stay.
NidoMio

[topkitty98]

Look for a tree that has a broken off stub on the trunk already. Or use one of those zip ties to put it around a healthy branch. That way you also have the leaf cover to help hide it.

[TheAlabamaRambler]

So funny to see this!

Saturday we had a Meet & Greet for AvroAir and DHenninger as they passed through Alabama on their 10-state road-trip.

Afterward we went night-caching.

We get into the woods looking for one, a dozen or so of us looking around Ground Zero, flashlights flickering all over the place..

I am leaning against a tree, looking all around at the ground, at nearby trees, up in the branches... I know the hider to be evil, so I am looking for detail.

AvroAir comes up behind me and starts giggling, so I know something is wrong. I turn my head to look back at him and there it is, literally two inches from my eyeballs... a small bollard nailed to the tree, green line running up the trunk to a hanging container! Doh!

I almost touched it with my forehead and never saw it! Sometimes I feel like SUCH a newbie!

As far as nails in trees, yes, you'll get some flames if you post it in the gc forums; there was a recent long and heated thread on just this topic.

Since you find mostly extremists and very few moderates in those forums you can imagine how it went!

Bottom line, most folks agree that nails and screws are pretty much harmless and acceptable, things like using a paddle bit to drill a hole and inserting a film can isn't.

I don't know your new Reviewer nor her opinion on this... so my thinking is that you should be careful what you say in your listing on the off chance this is a hot-button issue with her.

If she approves it I would tell you not to worry about any whiners that complain.

Ed

[flannelman]

I don't really see a problem with it. Using a string or a zip tie around a limb will eventually do more harm than a nail would. The best way it to find a broken off limb and hang from that. Trees are really tough and it will take more than one nail to do it in. Like a lot of things in life, this is a topic that gets a lot of people excited when there are more important things to worry about.

Almost every night cache I've ever seen or heard of uses firetacks (or the something simular) nailed to dozens of trees to mark the path.

I see no problem with it.

AR_kayaker

[mountainborn]

I wonder if I should stop chainsawing trap doors into hollow trees ?

[geowoodstock]

Not to get anything started, but....I agree. I don't think ONE nail would hurt, just as ONE person's toliet paper above ground doesn't hurt. But if you give permission for one person (namely yourself) to do it, then you give permission for all to do it.

Personally, I do not want to see everyones used toliet paper above the ground's surface so I do what is "proper" with mine. In the same respect, I do not want to see a tree with a bunch of nails so I would not put my one nail in it.

A zip tie, string, wire, etc would be better and if you are a good geocacher, you will be checking on your cache periodically. When you check on it, you can see if the limb has grown any and the zip tie, string, wire, etc needs replaced with a larger version to reach around the growing limb.

[JRMoney]

Almost every night cache I've ever seen or heard of uses firetacks (or the something simular) nailed to dozens of trees to mark the path.

Never really thought about about that. I've only done one night cache with the reflectors. I remember being excited to find the cache not sad for the trees.

As a hiker and backpacker I believe in "tread lightly." Shortcuts really cheese me off. I want to become a member of ELF because of all the urban sprawl in NW AR. One nail in a tree, I could sleep at night.