Jump to content

Bad Cache Ideas


scavok

Recommended Posts

The attraction between two pieces of velcro is often stronger than the bond of the glue backing hold the velcro to whatever. This is especially true if "whatever" is in any way a rough surface. A large piece of velcro to the "whatever" surface, so it has a lot of glue bond, and the smallest effective piece on the cache.

 

I spent about $20 on polymer clay & supplies to make a fake rock that perfectly fit and matched the stone fascade on a monument - end point of a walk-a-bout town. People liked it, but weren't especially wowed. It disappeared and I did a hasty replacement with a Blinkie cache in the nearby stop sign (cost 50 cents). Folks have been really excited about that. Sigh I'm talking here about the cache container, not the cache experience. I've got enough polymer to make another, but I doubt I bother.

Link to comment

When making a micro cache, don't make the logbook so small that it takes forever to roll it back up and put it back in the micro.

It's one thing to be sitting at home preparing a micro and rolling up a logbook so small it takes tweezers to get it out, but it's another to have to spend 15 minutes rolling up that same log out in the field trying to get it back in without tearing it to shreds.

I don't see the point of having a logbook so small that all you can write on it is your initials. But then again, I don't see the point of a lot of things.

Link to comment

I painted my first cache with a textured paint to resemble the granite it was hidden in. Unfortunately, the Geocaching.com cache sticker I put on it wouldn't hold to it very well. It fell off after the second or third find, so I had to trash it. If you go with a paint like that (which looks awesome, by the way), either mask off teh area for the sticker, sand down the area AFTER painting to get a smooth surface, or just use a magic marker.

Edited by New England n00b
Link to comment

I painted my first cache with a textured paint to resemble the granite it was hidden in. Unfortunately, the Geocaching.com cache sticker I put on it wouldn't hold to it very well. It fell off after the second or third find, so I had to trash it. If you go with a paint like that (which looks awesome, by the way), either mask off teh area for the sticker, sand down the area AFTER painting to get a smooth surface, or just use a magic marker.

 

Here's another answer for that problem. I did something similar for a recent cache.

 

GCTFWN-02t.jpg

 

Spray painted with a stencil and filled in with a Sharpie Marker.

 

JohnTee

Link to comment

The worst one I ever found was this one that is now archived for the same reason that I did not enjoy my hunt.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...a9-26089e61d414

 

The cache itself was good, well hidden, and the park itself was a very lovely place to visit. However, the woodsy trails in the park were inhabited by men who, like me, were looking for something, but they were looking for something completely different.

 

I stumbled across a male couple who had found what they were looking for and enjoying it very much. <_<

 

So I guess the lesson is to be aware of the type of wildlife inhabiting public places and make sure that their animal behavior is family friendly.

Edited by YuccaPatrol
Link to comment

I painted my first cache with a textured paint to resemble the granite it was hidden in. Unfortunately, the Geocaching.com cache sticker I put on it wouldn't hold to it very well. It fell off after the second or third find, so I had to trash it. If you go with a paint like that (which looks awesome, by the way), either mask off teh area for the sticker, sand down the area AFTER painting to get a smooth surface, or just use a magic marker.

 

Here's another answer for that problem. I did something similar for a recent cache.

 

GCTFWN-02t.jpg

 

Spray painted with a stencil and filled in with a Sharpie Marker.

 

JohnTee

 

VERY NICE!!

Link to comment

I painted my first cache with a textured paint to resemble the granite it was hidden in. Unfortunately, the Geocaching.com cache sticker I put on it wouldn't hold to it very well. It fell off after the second or third find, so I had to trash it. If you go with a paint like that (which looks awesome, by the way), either mask off teh area for the sticker, sand down the area AFTER painting to get a smooth surface, or just use a magic marker.

 

Here's another answer for that problem. I did something similar for a recent cache.

 

GCTFWN-02t.jpg

 

Spray painted with a stencil and filled in with a Sharpie Marker.

 

JohnTee

 

I agree, very impressive!

Link to comment

The worst one I ever found was this one that is now archived for the same reason that I did not enjoy my hunt.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...a9-26089e61d414

 

The cache itself was good, well hidden, and the park itself was a very lovely place to visit. However, the woodsy trails in the park were inhabited by men who, like me, were looking for something, but they were looking for something completely different.

I stumbled across a male couple who had found what they were looking for and enjoying it very much. <_<

 

So I guess the lesson is to be aware of the type of wildlife inhabiting public places and make sure that their animal behavior is family friendly.

 

Out of curiosity, Why did you not mention this in your log? Others before you had.

Link to comment

I painted my first cache with a textured paint to resemble the granite it was hidden in. Unfortunately, the Geocaching.com cache sticker I put on it wouldn't hold to it very well. It fell off after the second or third find, so I had to trash it. If you go with a paint like that (which looks awesome, by the way), either mask off teh area for the sticker, sand down the area AFTER painting to get a smooth surface, or just use a magic marker.

 

Here's another answer for that problem. I did something similar for a recent cache.

 

GCTFWN-02t.jpg

 

Spray painted with a stencil and filled in with a Sharpie Marker.

 

JohnTee

 

I agree, very impressive!

I agree! Unfortunately mine was in teh field and needed and I.D. mark right away, and I hadn't a stencil (or thought of it). Very nice touch!

Link to comment

 

Out of curiosity, Why did you not mention this in your log? Others before you had.

 

While I was at the cache, my father was in a nearby hospital undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. I couldn't stand being in the hospital any longer and was just happy to get outside. It wasn't a cache I had researched, just one I had coords for. Had I read more logs before posting mine, I would have known that I was not the only one to find more than he was looking for. The park itself was very nice and I thought my unusual discovery was an isolated event.

Link to comment

When placing a cache keep in mind that thoughless idiots are going to hunt for it and tear up flower beds, retaining walls and anything else in the area if they can't find it. If it's not an easy find it should be in a place that they can't hurt.

 

I recently went searching for a cache which appeared to be hidden in an Eucalpytus tree with the hint indicating it's hidden within the bark. When I arrived, the tree was there but most of the bark had been peeled off. The other trees in the area still had their bark. Sadly, everything points to the work of cachers.

Link to comment

When listing puzzle caches, make sure you have the cache at the spot the code solves for and not the spot you are going to put the next puzzle cache!

 

One of our local cachers was out looking for one of my caches 15 minutes after it was posted. Spent an hour searching before e-mailing me to ask if he had solved it correctly. When I saw the results he got for the code, I realized I used the wrong spot. DOH!

 

They got me back though, by placing this cache:

 

GCMRYA

 

My log is the first one, and refers to the fact that not only did they usurp the great spot that I found, but also used an ammo can that WE painted and donated at a meeting! :D:lol:

Link to comment

I have come across several caches that are hidden in the flood plain of a stream. If you are going to hide one near a stream or other body of water, take the time to find out how high the water is going to rise after a heavy rain or snow melt.

Link to comment

When making a micro cache, don't make the logbook so small that it takes forever to roll it back up and put it back in the micro.

It's one thing to be sitting at home preparing a micro and rolling up a logbook so small it takes tweezers to get it out, but it's another to have to spend 15 minutes rolling up that same log out in the field trying to get it back in without tearing it to shreds.

I don't see the point of having a logbook so small that all you can write on it is your initials. But then again, I don't see the point of a lot of things.

AMEN!!!!!!!

Link to comment

When making a micro cache, don't make the logbook so small that it takes forever to roll it back up and put it back in the micro.

It's one thing to be sitting at home preparing a micro and rolling up a logbook so small it takes tweezers to get it out, but it's another to have to spend 15 minutes rolling up that same log out in the field trying to get it back in without tearing it to shreds.

I don't see the point of having a logbook so small that all you can write on it is your initials. But then again, I don't see the point of a lot of things.

AMEN!!!!!!!

 

What I have been doing with my micro logs is folding them in half a couple of times THEN rolling them up. It's a lot faster to open and close the log doing it that way and it takes up no more room.

Link to comment

I have come across several caches that are hidden in the flood plain of a stream. If you are going to hide one near a stream or other body of water, take the time to find out how high the water is going to rise after a heavy rain or snow melt.

Heh, I have hidden one that specifically is in a flood plain. It can be done if thought out.

Link to comment

If you are hiding one under the dam, it needs a bigger chain. No, even bigger.

 

If you are hiding one in a real loaf of bread, with shellac on the outside to preserve it, don't (Animals still eat it or it molds).

 

If you are hiding a micro near a really cool mural, be sure the spot isn't a drug drop.

 

If you hide on in the top of a seven foot fence post, make sure you have some way to retrieve it when some idiot drops it down into the post.

Link to comment

 

Here's another answer for that problem. I did something similar for a recent cache.

 

Spray painted with a stencil and filled in with a Sharpie Marker.

 

JohnTee

 

VERY nice work on that ammo can! I think you just gave me an idea. <_<

 

The stencil is my Sissy-n-CR geocaching stencil. Paint is the granite fleck stuff from Wal-Mart, coated with spray laquer/urethane.

 

JohnTee

Link to comment

In my area, there is a lot of land designated as state trust land. They welcome cachers but we must have a permit or it is a steep fine if you are caught. Given the cost of gas, I cant tell you how frustrating it is to get to the cache site and find it is on state trust land, and we are without the permit. These lands dont show up on the maps at geocaching.

 

If a permit is required to be on the land, or there are other special issues, show some courtesy and tell people beforehand.

 

Please please dont put a cache where used syringes or used condoms will be encountered. I know of 2 caches in my area that have this type of litter around it. Absolutely revolting!

Link to comment

Don't put a cache anywhere near an active lampost that has a removable cover plate. Someone will ALWAYS take the cover plate off and then not know how to get it back on, leaving the wiring exposed. I've been to caches where it even says on the cache page "The cache is not in or on the lampost!" But it was close enough that folks just had to be sure!

Link to comment

 

Please please dont put a cache where used syringes or used condoms will be encountered. I know of 2 caches in my area that have this type of litter around it. Absolutely revolting!

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether they've been used or not. Prob'ly best to just steer clear of all of 'em. <_<

Link to comment

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION......worst experiance was finding a cache in a mosquetto infested marsh - no reason to be there! Thank God the cache had a can of bug spray - I sweated my layer off , trying to get GPS readings in Newcomb NY. I heard they've relocated cache to a scenic spot! The mosquetoes are prob very disappointed.

Link to comment

I've successfully used latch-top canning jars as cache containers on mountaintops. They work great--like mini ammo cans, but with an even better seal. Here's the 1-liter model I like:

 

B0001BMYGQ.01-AVNF7U7GN6VQJ._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

 

However, they become a bad cache idea when placed in higher-traffic locations where somebody will eventually drop 'em onto a rock. Even if they have to bring along the rock to drop them onto.

Link to comment

I had a jar like that for a cache container. It was a nightmare. Eventually, I gave up on trying to keep it dry and pulled it.

 

Huh. What was the problem? Stuff getting into the seal? I've had no problems along those lines, to the point that whenever I open one of these caches there's an audible whoosh of air. Maybe the seals will eventually rot, but I'd think that'd take some time. (My jars are protected from sun exposure by their hiding places, so UV damage to the seals is not an issue.)

Link to comment

Huh. What was the problem? Stuff getting into the seal? I've had no problems along those lines, to the point that whenever I open one of these caches there's an audible whoosh of air. Maybe the seals will eventually rot, but I'd think that'd take some time. (My jars are protected from sun exposure by their hiding places, so UV damage to the seals is not an issue.)

Does condensation build up inside the jar?

Link to comment

Huh. What was the problem? Stuff getting into the seal? I've had no problems along those lines, to the point that whenever I open one of these caches there's an audible whoosh of air. Maybe the seals will eventually rot, but I'd think that'd take some time. (My jars are protected from sun exposure by their hiding places, so UV damage to the seals is not an issue.)

Does condensation build up inside the jar?

 

Here in southern Arizona, no. I suppose it could happen if the cache were visited on a (rare) rainy day and the contents got wet. But as a practical matter, almost no one hunts remote caches during our rainy season as the storms can be quite violent.

Edited by Mule Ears
Link to comment

I had a jar like that for a cache container. It was a nightmare. Eventually, I gave up on trying to keep it dry and pulled it.

 

Huh. What was the problem? Stuff getting into the seal? I've had no problems along those lines, to the point that whenever I open one of these caches there's an audible whoosh of air. Maybe the seals will eventually rot, but I'd think that'd take some time. (My jars are protected from sun exposure by their hiding places, so UV damage to the seals is not an issue.)

As near as I can tell, the problem is that people are dumb and can't get them to seal well. After a good rain, my jar would have an inch of water in it.

Link to comment

As near as I can tell, the problem is that people are dumb ...

They could be BEMs.

 

Booger Eating Morons

 

Yes. Many strange phenomena are explained by the actions of BEMs. Fortunately, BEMs rarely make it to the mountaintops where I've stashed these caches, so I'm good.

Link to comment

If you need to unscrew, unbolt, unhinge or otherwise take apart public property to find the cache - either make sure it is the ONLY thing there or better yet - just don't hide it. I've seen damaged fence ornaments, caps on playground equipment and twisted hinges on cabinets all from poorly thought out placements.

 

Alo agress with RK - seen too many damaged flower gardens, pots, planters etc....... maike it obvious or at least post that it clearly isn't in those places so they remain unspoiled.

 

From my own hides - learned early on to picture the spot in all four seasons - what is good cover now my be barren another time of year.

Link to comment

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION......worst experiance was finding a cache in a mosquetto infested marsh - no reason to be there! Thank God the cache had a can of bug spray - I sweated my layer off , trying to get GPS readings in Newcomb NY. I heard they've relocated cache to a scenic spot! The mosquetoes are prob very disappointed.

 

Wow... poor thing. Just feel blessed that you live in a state that doesn't have mosquitoes all over it. If we didn't go caching because of the mossies, we wouldn't go at all... whiners. </sarcasm>

Link to comment

Alo agress with RK - seen too many damaged flower gardens, pots, planters etc....... maike it obvious or at least post that it clearly isn't in those places so they remain unspoiled.

 

<rant>

I'm still trying to figure out how some reviewer would approve 1) a cache that is placed in the bushes within a sensitive Biological Preserve maintained by California State Parks - who has a strict policy against Geocaches; 2) within 350 feet of an already existing cache that is NOT within that same park/preserve; and 3) placed by cachers that hide caches in areas where they don't live and don't hunt caches.

 

I hate to be ugly about that, but WTF? When I visit an area I don't live in, even if I drive there once a month, I can't get permission to place a cache. If, or more likely WHEN the CSP discovers the cache, who do you think is going to take a hit to the eye for this? Um, not the people who placed it... they don't even participate anymore, and no one can get them to respond to emails. No, it will be Geocaching as whole.

</end vitriolic blatantly condemning rant - for now>

 

BEMs is right. :wub:

Link to comment

Alo agress with RK - seen too many damaged flower gardens, pots, planters etc....... maike it obvious or at least post that it clearly isn't in those places so they remain unspoiled.

 

<rant>

I'm still trying to figure out how some reviewer would approve 1) a cache that is placed in the bushes within a sensitive Biological Preserve maintained by California State Parks - who has a strict policy against Geocaches; 2) within 350 feet of an already existing cache that is NOT within that same park/preserve; and 3) placed by cachers that hide caches in areas where they don't live and don't hunt caches.

 

I hate to be ugly about that, but WTF? When I visit an area I don't live in, even if I drive there once a month, I can't get permission to place a cache. If, or more likely WHEN the CSP discovers the cache, who do you think is going to take a hit to the eye for this? Um, not the people who placed it... they don't even participate anymore, and no one can get them to respond to emails. No, it will be Geocaching as whole.

</end vitriolic blatantly condemning rant - for now>

 

BEMs is right. :lol:

 

Maybe I am wrong, I still consider myself a newby, but if a cache is in an area where it is obviosly not allowed , wouldn't that justify it be archived when reported by a finder, or even just picked up and taken by a finder when they realize where it is?

 

Quick edit to add:

Obviously taking a cache is generally frowned upon, but sacrificing a (dangerous/illegal) cache to save a bit of geocaching-as-a-whole's reputation would be worth it, no?

Edited by scavok
Link to comment

OK Picture this

 

A popular Dog walking area

lamp post micro

Wet stinky piece of paper to sign

 

been there...done that :mad:

 

Edited to say: But it's cool someone placed one in that reststop.

Yes, I logged the find and then Washed my hands :o

Edited by RustyBeerCan
Link to comment

I've successfully used latch-top canning jars as cache containers on mountaintops. They work great--like mini ammo cans, but with an even better seal. Here's the 1-liter model I like:

 

B0001BMYGQ.01-AVNF7U7GN6VQJ._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

 

However, they become a bad cache idea when placed in higher-traffic locations where somebody will eventually drop 'em onto a rock. Even if they have to bring along the rock to drop them onto.

 

I have one of these (plastic) near a creek bed and it has been flooded several times. Everything is dry so far. These jars seem to be excellent in my experience. The *plastic* part is important- mine is hidden in rocks. :o

Link to comment

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION......worst experiance was finding a cache in a mosquetto infested marsh - no reason to be there! Thank God the cache had a can of bug spray - I sweated my layer off , trying to get GPS readings in Newcomb NY. I heard they've relocated cache to a scenic spot! The mosquetoes are prob very disappointed.

 

Gee, I guess we are all different. One of my favorite finds was an ammo can buried neck-deep deep in a mosquito-infected swamp. To get to it I had to wade thru several hundred yards of tangled roots and deep mud up to my waist. That was a Fergus cache, called Ye Olde Fishing Hole. For me, it was almost as much fun as crawling into the wreckage of a crashed aircraft in a Texas canyon to retrieve a radioactive canister (from among a pile of thirty or more such canisters, most of them covered with a black sticky substance which smelled really bad) for one of the latter stages of Snoogan's Quantum Leap cache, or crawling on my belly into a storm drain filled with toxic waste for. . . oops, I am not allowed to name the cache. Course, if you really wanna get grossed out, try rappeling into the belly of an abandoned nuclear reactor containment housing, still heavily radioactive and contaiminated with toxic chemical waste as well as rodents and fleas carrying hantavirus.

Link to comment

 

I hate to be ugly about that, but WTF? When I visit an area I don't live in, even if I drive there once a month, I can't get permission to place a cache. If, or more likely WHEN the CSP discovers the cache, who do you think is going to take a hit to the eye for this? Um, not the people who placed it... they don't even participate anymore, and no one can get them to respond to emails. No, it will be Geocaching as whole.

</end vitriolic blatantly condemning rant - for now>

 

BEMs is right. :o

 

First, why are you all constantly making snide remarks about members of the Board of Engineers of Malaysia (BEM)? Next, what does WTF stand for? It is not in the glossary. I am assuming that it means "Where to Find" or "What to Find" or "Wasted the Find", but none of these makes much sense. And, what is a CSP? That too is not in the Glossary. . .

Edited by Vinny & Sue Team
Link to comment

WTF is a military abbreviation (like ASAP, BOHICA, etc) meaning "what the f***?!" .

 

CSP is Calif State Parks.

 

Ghengis, thanks for the partial enlightenment, but what does "f***" stand for? And, I notice that you skillfully avoided disclosing what BEM may mean, if it does not mean Board of Engineers of Malaysia. . .

Link to comment

<rant>

I'm still trying to figure out how some reviewer would approve 1) a cache that is placed in the bushes within a sensitive Biological Preserve maintained by California State Parks - who has a strict policy against Geocaches; 2) within 350 feet of an already existing cache that is NOT within that same park/preserve; and 3) placed by cachers that hide caches in areas where they don't live and don't hunt caches.

 

 

Has anyone ever bothered to tell TPTB about this? Forget that it is approved, it can be unapproved. Why not let the approver in your area know about this cache.

Link to comment

Another bad idea for a cache is one that vandalizes or defaces private property.

 

I heard that someone had hidden a cache in a cemetery in SC using spray paint to mark some coords on a tombstone. This was particularly bad since soon afterwards the state heard bad things about geocaching and wanted it banned from all public and historical places (pretty much the entire state). I think this cache was one of the ones they pointed to as something they didn't want to happen.

 

I've also seen a few that were hidden in really high muggle areas with notes on the page that say something like, "This is really hard to ge to without being seen, getting to it is part of the challenge. Be careful when removing and putting back". These tend not to last very long.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...