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Glass Containers


jusb

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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. :laughing:

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.

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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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