Glass Containers

January 12, 2006

I just got bitched out by a cacher in his find log. It seems he did not approve of my container. It was a glass jar wrapped in masking tape painted green. I guess he dropped it, broke it and cut his hand on it.

I have found quite a few glass containers and never knew they were so controversial.

Was I out of line? I know glass containers are not forbidden in the guidelines, but are they really that frowned upon?

Your opinions, please!

3.8k · January 12, 2006

I would avoid any container that could be broken if dropped or struck with a hard object.

January 12, 2006

I agree with sept1c_tank . A lot of cachers like myself cache with children, and sometimes accidents happen, I would be unhappy if I found a glass container as a cache. It is not against any guidelines but not a very smart thing to do. for a hide. If you really like this type of container at least say so on the page so those of us who dislike these containers could ignore the cache for safty concerns for our families.

pS glass containers in maskingtape also usually get condensation , which in cold weather freezes and then unfreezes makingthe glass more prone to brakage with movement. Glass A VERY BAD IDEA for a Container.

January 12, 2006

I don't think glass containers are a good idea. Too many parents take their kids and we all know how clumsy kids can be especially when they get exited to find the cache.

January 12, 2006

I actually stated in the cache description that it was a jar- although I did not say glass or plastic. You could see the container from the ground before climbing for it. I also had the "no kids" as well as the "dangerous climb" attributes. And I stated "please be careful" and gave it a 4 star terrain rating.

3.9k · January 12, 2006

Yes, there is a lot of controversy over glass containerts, especialy when someone's kid gets a serious gash a couple miles away from the car.

But again, there is no guideline or rule specificaly against it. Folks already find the few rules there are to be too limiting so do not expect to see one. Many rules were put in place because of land managers, not cachers. Such as no guns/knives or food.

A little more on track... glass breaks, plastic dries out and cracks, metal corrodes and/or rusts. All containers have thier issues and thier strong points and the community will police it much as they have done here. There are probably places where glass makes a great cache container.

Chalk this up to experience and keep on hiding caches!

January 12, 2006

I just looked at this cache and two things stand out....the first being that you had a decon container until 1/2/06 when you replaced it with the glass jar and you placed it high enough that people would have to climb something to get to it and bring it down to look at and sign it. Common sense would indicate that if it's up high (say in a tree), it can fall down, and if it's glass, it will shatter. Personally, I think the cacher did you a favor by giving you a free decon container and keeping your cache active. He didn't have to do that (although his log was a bit over the top).

Just my 2 cents...

Team Maccabee

5.9k · January 12, 2006

Man, the grocery store is chock full of glass containers. I even saw some kids in there!

January 12, 2006

Man, the grocery store is chock full of glass containers. I even saw some kids in there!

hahahahaha that's funny. Doin a bit of fishing??

2.3k · January 12, 2006

It's a VERY BAD idea to introduce glass into the woods. Why on earth would anyone with any common sense do it?

January 12, 2006

Man, the grocery store is chock full of glass containers. I even saw some kids in there!

Yeah and the inconsiderate owners don't even put tape around them. Some of them are even high up.

January 12, 2006

I actually stated in the cache description that it was a jar- although I did not say glass or plastic. You could see the container from the ground before climbing for it. I also had the "no kids" as well as the "dangerous climb" attributes. And I stated "please be careful" and gave it a 4 star terrain rating.

I suppose like so many things in life, there's a time and a place. But considering the climb and terrain rating you stated, why did you choose glass for this one? Sounds like an accident that was waiting to happen.

Generally speaking it's always best to go with something less breakable. Containers get beat up out there anyway, be it by cachers, muggles, animals, and even just the weather. I'd suggest going with something more durable.

January 12, 2006

Never mind.

Edited January 12, 2006 by Mustcache

38.2k · January 12, 2006

Man, the grocery store is chock full of glass containers. I even saw some kids in there!

And a lot of them fall off the shelf and break.

Glass containers are a bad idea, unless you don't mind going out every few months to replace it because of a butterfingered cacher. I've found two caches in glass containers and both were broken when I found them.

January 12, 2006

I actually thought glass containers weren't allowed. Guess ya learn somethin' every day...

I couldn't care less about the kids, though. Gotta thin the herd out somehow...

1.5k · January 12, 2006

Some of my earliest hides were glass containers, and I found myself constantly replacing them. Plastic containers may crack, but glass ones tend to completely shatter into several pieces of varying sizes. Several times I found myself scouring the surrounding area to pick up little shards of glass that had fallen into the leaf litter, which is not a good thing. I tend to prefer other containers now.

January 12, 2006

I guess this rules out my cache made of used razor blades...

(Here is some interesting stuff on Glass)

1.5k · January 12, 2006

I guess this rules out my cache made of used razor blades...

Hey, they only said that knives shouldn't be placed in caches...

Edited January 12, 2006 by DavidMac

January 12, 2006

We have a local cacher here in NorthEastOhio that uses 1 ounce jelly jars. It has become her "sig" hide. I have found several of them and not one was hidden in a way that would cause any problems. Mostly at the base of a tree in a small city park or what have you. I think any thing larger than these would break very easy and therefore shouldn't be used. Empty plastic peanut butter jar makes a great alternative though they do need to be cleaned and bleached but they work well. Just my $ .02 worth

3.2k · January 12, 2006

I'm just not sure why anybody would want to use glass. There are so many other containers that work well and aren't breakable. Seems silly to me to even consider glass.

18.9k · January 12, 2006

The 2 glass jars I have come across were both badly cracked and needing replacemnt. I know what clutz I am - don't trust myself with such things so it is reasonable to believe that others may drop them also.

January 12, 2006

I would avoid any container that could be broken if dropped or struck with a hard object.

I've got a glass one hidden in a tree. It is in a wooded area with soft earth all around. I don't think it would break if dropped there.

3.8k · January 12, 2006

Murphey's Law: If if can break, it will. :huh:

11.3k · January 12, 2006

I would avoid any container that could be broken if dropped or struck with a hard object.

I've got a glass one hidden in a tree. It is in a wooded area with soft earth all around. I don't think it would break if dropped there.

Never say never.

I would probably replace that container.

However, if I came along and found your glass container and somehow dropped it and broke it, and then cut myself, I wouldn't blame you for my clumsiness. :huh:

24.7k · January 12, 2006

Glass containers are fine in a location that can support them. Simple as that. It's worth noting it's not good form to break someones cache. It is a risk of being a cache owner. Even ammo cans break if the dozer is big enough.

Edited January 12, 2006 by Renegade Knight

January 12, 2006

Glass containers? At first I willing to agree that they are a bad idea, but honestly it doesn't make a difference. Yeah, glass containers can break and isn't the most friendiest material in nature, but hey it's glass. How different would it be from a piece of obsidian?

If we are going to criticize containers virtually any container has it's problems.

Altoids tins and ammo containers over time can get rusty you may get tenus if you accidently jam your finger or get cut on a sharp edge on one of these containers!!!

Plastic containers can potentially be harmful to indiginous animals that gnaw on the plastic.

It's too bad that someone got cut by a glass container, but hey... in my eyes BOTH the cache owner and finder bears some responsibility. Yeah a better container could have been used, but I certainly don't believe this needs to be put into the rules of dos and don'ts.

January 13, 2006

I have only found 2 little glass jars and there were perched up in forks on tree-- well protected. This winter I have finished off a jar of peanut butter and miracle whip so I can have those PLASTIC containers for new caches this spring. :unsure:

January 13, 2006

I've found a few and always wondered .....WHY?? If you watch those caches, they don't seem to last long.

January 13, 2006

His log does seem a little over the top.

BUT if the jar was actually cammoed so that the seeker couldn't tell it was glass, I probably would've let you know how displeased I was, too.

3.2k · January 13, 2006

I'd not only be peeved that it was glass and I got cut but also that I now had to CITO the darn broken glass - especially if I didn't have anything appropriate to carry it out in.

9.3k · January 13, 2006

I would think that an observant cacher would realize the container was glass when it shattered. How then, can he blame his cut on you? That'd be like me blaming the utensil industry for my being fat. :antenna:

2k · January 13, 2006

Bad idea.

January 13, 2006

I would think that an observant cacher would realize the container was glass when it shattered. How then, can he blame his cut on you?

Maybe I'm reading his log wrong, but the way I read it is that the cache fell out of the tree and broke BEFORE the cut cacher got there. He got there, stuck his hand in the brush looking for the cache and that's when he got cut.

January 13, 2006

Empty plastic peanut butter jar makes a great alternative though they do need to be cleaned and bleached but they work well. Just my $ .02 worth

Bleached? For peanut allergies, I assume? Never really thought of that. I've accumulated half a dozen plastic peanut butter containers for future caches and only washed them by hand or in the dish washer (note: some brands do not survive dish washers) :antenna:

Scott

January 13, 2006

Bleached to try and get the food smell out of them so an animal doesn't try to destroy the container.

January 13, 2006

I have a cache (called Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) that is a beer bottle well wrapped in duct tape. To test this container, I actually dropped it several times on my Italian tile floors. Didn't break... hid the cache.

Happy Caching!

Lori V.

TeamVilla5

January 13, 2006

I have a cache (called Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) that is a beer bottle well wrapped in duct tape. To test this container, I actually dropped it several times on my Italian tile floors. Didn't break... hid the cache.

Happy Caching!

Lori V.

TeamVilla5

I hope you bleached it well, certain kinds of animals can smell beer from a mile away, like me

January 13, 2006

I actually dropped it several times on my Italian tile floors.

I would have been afraid of cracking the Italian tile

January 13, 2006

Myself, I wouldn't hide a cache using a glass container. Just doesn't seem like it would last long enough, but I wouldn't complain about finding one either.

This is just another example of people not taking responsability for their own actions. He dropped the container and cut himself, not you. You can't protect him from every danger, now can you? Heck, someone will likely complain about it being up in a tree too!

January 13, 2006

I haven't come across any glass containers yet, but I'm not too keen on the idea. Many people cache with their dogs, and I hate the thought of any paws getting cut up due to shards of glass that may have gotten overlooked during a clean-up. :lol:

January 13, 2006

I just found a cache the other day that was a multi, both containers were glass jars. No big deal to me, but I wouldn't use glass if it were my cache.

January 13, 2006

We have a few test tubes that once contained vanilla beans. They have a tight fitting cap. We wrapped one in black duct tape and used it for the first part of our mulit-cache. It only contains the coords for the final.

I've also seen a few others in my area who use small glass jars to hold coords to the next stage. They've always been wrapped in duct tape or electrical tape.

I've seen one cache where the container was a glass spaghetti noodle holder with a flippy lid like you could get at wal-mart. It was secured to the tree so if it was dropped it wouldn't go very far. Again I didn't see a problem with any of these containers.

January 13, 2006

Maybe I'm reading his log wrong, but the way I read it is that the cache fell out of the tree and broke BEFORE the cut cacher got there. He got there, stuck his hand in the brush looking for the cache and that's when he got cut.

It was not in a tree, but it was perched on a ledge under a bridge. Apparently he dropped it and cut his finger while trying to clean it up.

As to why I chose a glass container: I don't really know why. It was just convenient and I never really considered someone dropping it.

3.8k · January 13, 2006

...As to why I chose a glass container: I don't really know why. It was just convenient and I never really considered someone dropping it.

Having had this discussion, will you replace it with glass? :laughing: :mad:

January 14, 2006

Having had this discussion, will you replace it with glass?

No- I'll just leave it in the decon, but put it back on the ledge. That way it will warrant 4 stars. If you're ever in Central Texas, come check it out!

January 14, 2006

I hope you bleached it well, certain kinds of animals can smell beer from a mile away, like me

:laughing:

And, yes, it sat overnight in bleach water before I taped it up for use... all of my former food usage containers are bleached overnight first! :mad:

Happy cachin'!

Lori V.

TeamVilla5

10.1k · January 14, 2006

Glass containers are fine in a location that can support them. Simple as that. It's worth noting it's not good form to break someones cache. It is a risk of being a cache owner. Even ammo cans break if the dozer is big enough.

Oh, I apologized for accidentally knocking the magnetic cache into the river!

I've only done one cache with glass containers. The first stage of the multi, the mason jars were intact, but had standing water inside. The one at the second stage had been replaced.

I don't enjoy caching with broken glass around.

January 14, 2006

I don't know exactly how the cache got broken, but I can imagine a scenario like this....

container is perched on a ledge under a bridge, possibly difficult to see, since the container is covered with tape.

As the cacher is reaching somewhat blindly into the area, or probing an area not easily viewed, he brushes against the cache container, knocking it to the ground, where it breaks.

As mentioned before, not really a good idea.....

Also, although I realize the container is not placed in the sunlight, the sun's rays can become magnified passing through glass (yes, I know this one is covered with tape) and thus starting a grass fire. Right now, the fire danger is very high in Texas with the drought conditions. Broken glass on the side of the road has started fires before.

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