Dangerous Tb's

[+Globetrotter.uk]

I understand from the guidelines that we should not place certain items into caches, ie KNIVES, MATCHES, FOOD etc. so how is it that many of the geocaching community see it fit to use a keyring knife or multi tool type weapon or even a corkscrew tool as a Travel Bug. Surely these are contribain too. So what would you do if you found one?

[+CrazyL200]

Take a picture of it and send it to a reviewer for advice ??

 

My lad found a safty pin that was open in a cache a while ago - the hard way

[Jungle Goddess]

Can't say I have seen any knives or anything like that as TB's. I saw a corkscrew once but didn't think it was anything untoward. When you say "many" .... how many? Presumably no-one would be daft enough to leave a TB with something dangerous attached in a cache. Are they just for taking along to caching events, particularly camping ones, to be used by anyone who needs them? Can you highlight some examples please Globetrotter.

[+Globetrotter.uk]

one example is the one my 10 yr old son found today in his cache. TBGCVV it's a corkscrew but has a blade which is very sharp. I have seen in the past a couple of lighter tb's ok no fuel in them and a swiss army knife tb.

[Red Squadron]

I understand from the guidelines that we should not place certain items into caches, ie KNIVES, MATCHES, FOOD etc. so how is it that many of the geocaching community see it fit to use a keyring knife or multi tool type weapon or even a corkscrew tool as a Travel Bug. Surely these are contribain too. So what would you do if you found one?

 

If I understand it correctly, No knives or inflammables or food should be placed in caches. If I were to find one I would remove it and find out who owns it and send it back to them. Explaining the reasons for the return.

Unfortunately we live in an age where the lawsuits are prevalent, God forbid that a child got hold of one of these knives and injured themselves, or used the matches and got burned, or to start a fire which could lead to the death of animals,woodland,people But then we come up against the fact that Parents should be looking after their children when going caching. How many children go caching on their own ? There are so many possibilities, so I say 'prevention is better than the cure'. Its just commonsense.

[terrible2u]

i always happen to find these dangerous, sharp pointed pencils in caches, i will remove them next time i'll happen to come across one.. not that one will poke it in the eye of another!

Edited October 17, 2006 by terrible2u

[Red Squadron]

i always happen to find these dangerous, sharp pointed pencils in caches, i will remove them next time i'll happen to come across one.. not that one will poke it in the eye of another!

 

This is where commonsense kicks in........................

[+Kryten]

I came across a TB which had originally been a detonator. Although deaactivated, somebody substituted another item, good decision in my view.

[terrible2u]

i always happen to find these dangerous, sharp pointed pencils in caches, i will remove them next time i'll happen to come across one.. not that one will poke it in the eye of another!

 

This is where commonsense kicks in........................

 

yeah, true, i am sure that one stashes their kitchen-knives and corkscrews some place where they almost cant reach them, not to speak of their kids. which will probably be some time of day unssupervised in the kitchen..

[+Simply Paul]

I bet that Deego TB could give you a nasty bite...

[Deego]

I bet that Deego TB could give you a nasty bite...

 

I will have you know I am a Lover not a biter

[+Bumbling Fools]

.... multi tool type weapon ...

 

Was it a tool or was it a weapon? I always (legaly) carry a leatherman multi-tool with me, and it is exactly that - a tool. It's this sort of emotive language that really bugs me, as it leads to all sorts of knee-jerk reactions in a "won't somebody think of the children....." manner. Whatever happened to teaching our children about risk, assessing that risk, and the consequences of getting that assessment wrong? It's a life lesson we all need to learn, and it won't be done by giving our children a risk-free environment. Obviously we need to make those judgements on behalf of our children when they are too young to recognise that danger. but we mustn't remove it all together, or where will it all end? As someone has already pointed out, there are some pretty sharp pencils in some caches.....

 

I can understand the guidelines wrt dangerous items in a cache, and never place any myself, but if your (our) children are young enough for such contraband to pose a danger to them, they should be under supervision when caching anyway. I don't see any need to over-egg the pudding by refering to such contraband as weapons when they are not.

[+Simply Paul]

I bet that Deego TB could give you a nasty bite...

I will have you know I am a Lover not a biter

Combine the two and make new friends

[+Alice Band]

Are you purring in that picture Paul?

[+BlueDeuce]

I understand from the guidelines that we should not place certain items into caches, ie KNIVES, MATCHES, FOOD etc. so how is it that many of the geocaching community see it fit to use a keyring knife or multi tool type weapon or even a corkscrew tool as a Travel Bug. Surely these are contribain too. So what would you do if you found one?

 

I would notify my reviewer or gc.com and see if they agree it's against guidelines. If so, either contact the bug owner or have the reviewer/gc do it and offer that I would be willing to mail the whole thing back to them.

 

That's what I would do.

Edited October 18, 2006 by BlueDeuce

[Deceangi]

A muggle or more especially a Landowner who finds a cache will not differentiate between the contents of a cache and a TB. But only see the contents on how dangerous they can be. Multi Tools and similar are covered by the guidelines

 

Cache Contents

 

Use your common sense in most cases. Explosives, fireworks, ammo, lighters, knives (including pocket knives and multi-tools), drugs, alcohol or other illicit material shouldn't be placed in a cache. As always respect the local laws. Geocaching is a family activity and cache contents should be suitable for all ages.

 

The guidelines on cache contents are not just to insure the safety of children out caching with their parents, but also the safety of an unsupervised child or irresponsible Adult who accidentally finds the container.

 

Remember we promote Geocaching as a "Family Friendly" activity, items which have a age restriction on them are not family friendly.

 

In North Wales were I live, retailers in liaison with The North Wales Police and County Councils, have voluntarily raised the age limit at which knives/multi tools, lighters and similar items can be purchased. From 16 to 18 years of age, and they are covered by a proof of ID for under 21 years of age scheme. As these are posted all around North Wales, the public image of these items it definatly not family friendly.

[+Teasel]

The North Wales Police and County Councils, have voluntarily raised the age limit at which knives/multi tools, lighters and similar items can be purchased.

Which leads to the sort of nonsense that the "my first cutlery set" that I bought for my 2 year old could not be purchased by anyone under 16! Granted, the law cannot distinguish between a tool used as a weapon or a weapon used as a tool. But by deliberately encouraging the general public to fail to distinguish between toddlers' cutlery, multi-tools and fighting knives, and to fear them all, we do ourselves no favours. Frankly, any ten year old should have the skills to handle a sharp knife without hurting themselves, and the character to pick it up without turning into a knife-wielding psychopath. If not, then shame on the parents and shame on our risk-averse society!

 

...and don't get me started on the "one child risking a broken arm is one too many" idiots from the council who have systematically removed most of the equipment from our childrens' playgrounds. Grrrr!

[Lactodorum]

Frankly, any ten year old should have the skills to handle a sharp knife without hurting themselves, and the character to pick it up without turning into a knife-wielding psychopath. If not, then shame on the parents and shame on our risk-averse society!

 

...and don't get me started on the "one child risking a broken arm is one too many" idiots from the council who have systematically removed most of the equipment from our childrens' playgrounds. Grrrr!

My feelings exactly Ian! I've always thought that a blanket ban is too draconian.

 

However as a Geocacher (let alone, a reviewer) I have to put aside my own opinions and implement this requirement. So if I came across such a TB I would remove it from the cache, contact the TB owner and suggest that I remove the tag from offending article and replace it with something innocuous. If he/she refused I would have to point out that I couldn't put the TB back into another cache and so its journey would have come to an end.

[+rutson]

My feelings exactly Ian! I've always thought that a blanket ban is too draconian.

 

Yeah, I mean, just how dangerous CAN a blanket be?

[Red Squadron]

My feelings exactly Ian! I've always thought that a blanket ban is too draconian.

 

Yeah, I mean, just how dangerous CAN a blanket be?

 

Thanks Rutson, Just what I needed a good laugh.............................brilliant !

[+The Biffas]

My feelings exactly Ian! I've always thought that a blanket ban is too draconian.

 

Yeah, I mean, just how dangerous CAN a blanket be?

 

If you upset him he might set his guide dog on you, that would be dangerous.

[terrible2u]

My feelings exactly Ian! I've always thought that a blanket ban is too draconian.

 

Yeah, I mean, just how dangerous CAN a blanket be?

 

If you upset him he might set his guide dog on you, that would be dangerous.

 

well, as you can see in my avatar.. if have one of these "dangerous dogs". but let me tell you, its not the dog you should fear, you should fear the owner.. and since i am a nice guy, some people probably will say otherwise (not only, but also because of the dog), no-one has to fear me nor the dog. we get avoided pretty often tough. but as kids are, they usually run not only me over, but also the dog. i have to admit that she doesnt like kids too much. but if they approach her nice and calmly, she lets herself get petted. if not, she might grawl and f*** off. actually that just gave me a great idea, i will attach a travel bug on her necklace, so only people with the right state of mind can "log her"..

[+The Other Stu]

 

well, as you can see in my avatar.. if have one of these "dangerous dogs". but let me tell you, its not the dog you should fear, you should fear the owner.. and since i am a nice guy, some people probably will say otherwise (not only, but also because of the dog), no-one has to fear me nor the dog. we get avoided pretty often tough. but as kids are, they usually run not only me over, but also the dog. i have to admit that she doesnt like kids too much. but if they approach her nice and calmly, she lets herself get petted. if not, she might grawl and f*** off. actually that just gave me a great idea, i will attach a travel bug on her necklace, so only people with the right state of mind can "log her"..

 

Anyone met Phoebe? She's a travel bug

[+Us 4 and Jess]

Jess is a travel bug she has teeth and a wild tail

 

Our Disco is a travel bug it has big wheels and a big engine

 

Daniel our youngest is a travel bug he is a wild kid

 

I think we just need a blanket ban on our whole team

 

Common sense must prevail somewhere along the line.

 

Mandy

[terrible2u]

heck, i just burned all my blankets, they are sooo dangerous! thank god you guys pointed me to that.. much better sleeping on a bed of nails, without all this blankets..

Edited October 18, 2006 by terrible2u

[+Globetrotter.uk]

My Son got a reply from the owner of one such TB, and was told to either remove the blade or post the tb back to him. So we are going to make the tb more fun and safer too.

[+The Biffas]

My feelings exactly Ian! I've always thought that a blanket ban is too draconian.

 

Yeah, I mean, just how dangerous CAN a blanket be?

 

If you upset him he might set his guide dog on you, that would be dangerous.

 

well, as you can see in my avatar.. if have one of these "dangerous dogs". but let me tell you, its not the dog you should fear, you should fear the owner.. and since i am a nice guy, some people probably will say otherwise (not only, but also because of the dog), no-one has to fear me nor the dog. we get avoided pretty often tough. but as kids are, they usually run not only me over, but also the dog. i have to admit that she doesnt like kids too much. but if they approach her nice and calmly, she lets herself get petted. if not, she might grawl and f*** off. actually that just gave me a great idea, i will attach a travel bug on her necklace, so only people with the right state of mind can "log her"..

 

Blanket?- I thought you said Blunkett

[+Happy Humphrey]

In North Wales were I live, retailers in liaison with The North Wales Police and County Councils, have voluntarily raised the age limit at which knives/multi tools, lighters and similar items can be purchased. From 16 to 18 years of age, and they are covered by a proof of ID for under 21 years of age scheme. As these are posted all around North Wales, the public image of these items it definatly not family friendly.

Surely that doesn't extend to penknives and multi tools? That would be ridiculous. Imagine if boy scouts are prevented from buying the tool to remove stones from horses hooves!

[Deceangi]

In North Wales were I live, retailers in liaison with The North Wales Police and County Councils, have voluntarily raised the age limit at which knives/multi tools, lighters and similar items can be purchased. From 16 to 18 years of age, and they are covered by a proof of ID for under 21 years of age scheme. As these are posted all around North Wales, the public image of these items it defiantly not family friendly.

Surely that doesn't extend to penknives and multi tools? That would be ridiculous. Imagine if boy scouts are prevented from buying the tool to remove stones from horses hooves!

 

Yepp it's a major ban, and I've even seen a young lady who claimed she was 20yrs and 7months old be refused alcohol as she did not have ID [i'd estimated her age as being around 19yrs old ]

 

Hence my comments about public perception and not personal belief

[+Happy Humphrey]

How silly of them then. It brings the whole weapons/safety issue into disrepute and does us all a disservice. I'm with Teasel on this.