How many caches have been blown up by the bomb squads?

[+ventura_kids]

I just read about a geocache that the bombsquad Blew up.

 

It made me wonder.... How many geocaches have actually been Blown up by Bombsquads?

I think the number is small....

[+StarBrand]

I'll bet somebody has a bookmark list somewhere........

 

If not we should have one.

[+Cyclosarin]

I think it's just a sign of the times. Would authorities be so quick to blow up containers ten or fifteen years ago, big and small - compared to how quickly they do now?

 

I could be mistaken - but I don't think it's just the unfortunate side effect of living in a time period where terrorism - both domestic and international - is played up to the maximum effect. I stopped watching evening news shows some time ago because I eventually became fed up with how they use the deep creepy voice to scare you while talking about the latest terrorism related find. I'm sure stuff *does* happen - but sadly now - there is a market for it - and society is in turn influenced to a good degree because of it. That's just my thoughts.

 

Poor little geocaches.

Edited March 14, 2007 by Cyclosarin

[+sbell111]

Given the current paranoia and the huge amount of caches placed, it's a very small number.

[+wesleykey]

I just hunted for a cache within the past hour and found a police business card instead. Lots of caches have permission issues, but I've never known one here in Alabama that was perceived as a threat.

[+sbell111]

I just hunted for a cache within the past hour and found a police business card instead. Lots of caches have permission issues, but I've never known one here in Alabama that was perceived as a threat.

The cache may or may not have had permission. Was there a note on the business card? Did you let the cache owner know of the issue?

[+wandererrob]

I'm sure stuff *does* happen - but sadly now - there is a market for it - and society is in turn influenced to a good degree because of it. That's just my thoughts.

 

Poor little geocaches.

 

That's just our gubmint showing us how safe they're keeping us from the terrorists that are hiding around every corner.

[+RamPC]

Maybe we need to put these stickers on our Caches. Check it out. Not A Bomb

[+sbell111]

Maybe we need to put these stickers on our Caches. Check it out. Not A Bomb

Unfortunately, I only bought enough of those for my bombs.

[+briansnat]

I'll bet somebody has a bookmark list somewhere........

 

If not we should have one.

 

Questmaster has a BM list. Its up to a few pages.

[+sbell111]

As I recall, a number of those caches weren't detonated. Some were confiscated. Others were just checked out and replaced.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

My memory isn't so hot, and I certainly don't know of every occurance, but my SWAG is 20 or less, and I would say certainly less than 50.

[+Totem Clan]

Maybe we need to put these stickers on our Caches. Check it out. Not A Bomb

Oh geez. Funny

 

But please don't do it for real. Never put the word "bomb" on a cache.

[+gh patriot]

 

this is a picture of me looking for an urban micro. I took a picture of the cache when I found it.

 

[+wesleykey]

I just hunted for a cache within the past hour and found a police business card instead. Lots of caches have permission issues, but I've never known one here in Alabama that was perceived as a threat.

The cache may or may not have had permission. Was there a note on the business card? Did you let the cache owner know of the issue?

 

The police had taken the cache as "evidence" but later returned it.

 

Oh, and I was FTF after the fiasco.

[+Quest Master]

I'll bet somebody has a bookmark list somewhere........

 

If not we should have one.

 

Questmaster has a BM list. Its up to a few pages.

 

The list is no longer available to anybody but me since I quit my charter membership.

 

If anybody wants to adopt and maintain the list, contact me.

 

There are 75 caches in the list but not all of them are bomb squad related and not all of them were blown up. I'd say that slighly less than half of the caches in the list were detonated or blasted with a water cannon but I think that's irrelevent because some scares are worse than detonations and some detonations are not as bad as some scares in terms of the inconvenience they cause. There are likely many more cache-related bomb scares but I won't arbitrarily judge whether or not the total number is "small". That likely depends on your interest in advancing the agenda of hiding stuff willy-nilly everywhere.

Edited March 15, 2007 by Quest Master

[GPS-Hermit]

I believe we should avoid muggle heavy cache placements to avoid the risk of having ourselves become a nuisance to the police. I don't want to be a nuiance to them, they got enough to do. I don't like to see warning on cache descriptions to be extremely careful of muggles. We DO look wierd and ANYONE would have to wonder if that just doesn't look right to me.

 

I prefer to spend as much time as I want in the Search and if I am Searching I am not as aware of Muggles. I do the best I can, but I really enjoy not dealing with it. I have talked to the police to see what they think, but our encounters with them need to be very positive respectful ones.

 

If we have a list that involves the Bomb Squad we are really hurting ourselves and need to police our own activities. This game is way to much fun to have others wanting us to Quit doing it because our own thinking is not what it should be. O.K. I'm Done!

[+sbell111]

My wife thinks the game is stupid. Should we all quit? What if she was a cop?

 

The bottom line is that caches should be hidden well. Cache containers should be chosen carefully to allow the cache to be hidden well. Cache seekers should use caution to ensure that they don't give the cache away.

Edited March 15, 2007 by sbell111

[mebesaturday]

just wondering has anyone ever thought of notifying police after they have place one?

should this become standard practice?

[+sbell111]

just wondering has anyone ever thought of notifying police after they have place one?

should this become standard practice?

When I went to LA a few weeks ago, I loaded nearly 2800 caches into my pda and GPSr. This was not a complete list of LA caches. I suspect that if area cachers attempted to notify the police of all these that the police would shortly get sick of it and tell them to get lost.

 

Also, what would you do if the police told you that you were being a nuisance and that you need to remove your caches?

Edited March 16, 2007 by sbell111

[mebesaturday]

just wondering has anyone ever thought of notifying police after they have place one?

should this become standard practice?

When I went to LA a few weeks ago, I loaded nearly 2800 caches into my pda and GPSr. This was not a complete list of LA caches. I suspect that if area cachers attempted to notify the police of all these that the police would shortly get sick of it and tell them to get lost.

 

Also, what would you do if the police told you that you were being a nuisance and that you need to remove your caches?

 

tell them to "KISS MY CACHE" i mean remove them i guess.

ok maybe your right...but its not like all 2800 caches were planted on the same day

maybe one or two a day...

and they are supposed to "SERVE and PROTECT"

[+Renegade Knight]

just wondering has anyone ever thought of notifying police after they have place one?

should this become standard practice?

 

It's been brought up many times, dicussed with the police in many areas by many cachers and for the most part the answer by the police to most variatoins of letting them know where the caches are is "no" it's not a tool we would use or would find effective.

 

I think it's best overall if you could convince several members of the police that geocaching is a kick and sell them on this activity. Then it does help. Especially if they become local power cachers.

[+sbell111]

just wondering has anyone ever thought of notifying police after they have place one?

should this become standard practice?

When I went to LA a few weeks ago, I loaded nearly 2800 caches into my pda and GPSr. This was not a complete list of LA caches. I suspect that if area cachers attempted to notify the police of all these that the police would shortly get sick of it and tell them to get lost.

 

Also, what would you do if the police told you that you were being a nuisance and that you need to remove your caches?

tell them to "KISS MY CACHE" i mean remove them i guess.

ok maybe your right...but its not like all 2800 caches were planted on the same day

maybe one or two a day...

and they are supposed to "SERVE and PROTECT"

That was actually a trick question. Please cannot give permission or revoke it.

[Rupert2]

I'll bet somebody has a bookmark list somewhere........

 

If not we should have one.

 

Questmaster has a BM list. Its up to a few pages.

 

The list is no longer available to anybody but me since I quit my charter membership.

 

If anybody wants to adopt and maintain the list, contact me.

 

There are 75 caches in the list but not all of them are bomb squad related and not all of them were blown up. I'd say that slighly less than half of the caches in the list were detonated or blasted with a water cannon but I think that's irrelevent because some scares are worse than detonations and some detonations are not as bad as some scares in terms of the inconvenience they cause. There are likely many more cache-related bomb scares but I won't arbitrarily judge whether or not the total number is "small". That likely depends on your interest in advancing the agenda of hiding stuff willy-nilly everywhere.

 

Quest Master's "Bomb Scares and Other Fun Stuff" bookmark is back up and running. Please let me know if there are additions to be made.

[+Lotus72]

Our Eugene (Oregon) Geocachers group just had an event cache at a local restaurant. We INVITED the bomb squad. It was an enlightening meeting. They shared their concerns and how they evaluate unknown containers for the possibility of danger.

 

These people put their own lives on the line- we are part of the problem when geocaches are placed near locations that can be rated as a 'target"- this would be gates, openings that specific people might walk through and have a bomb detonated, etc.

 

THe bomb squad members thanks us for inviting them, they brought samples of containers that were actually bomb-type material, wires, etc. It opened our eyes and helped our entire group see how to better place caches that work for all.

 

It is selfish and self-serving for geocachers to make fun of bomb squads these days. They are in a tough situation that is politically managed- if they make one small mistake and allow a bomb to get through their fingers, they are damned by the media and politicians.

 

Placing geocaches on bridges, next to important transportation structures, and military bases, etc, is no longer wise. Yes, the geocacher can be arrested and fined (not to mention being billed for the BSquad time) for stupid placements. I would hate to see cities ban caches being hidden in city property, etc. This could happen.

 

Please- invite your regional bomb squad to a gathering and start talking- it is the best for everybody involved. Strutting and talking tough, making comments about bomb squad folks being stupid, etc makes geocachers sound childish and immature, not to mention irresponsible.

 

Lotus72

yes, whose geocache was blown up by our bomb squad because of my silly placement- I have learned

[+TrailGators]

I'll bet somebody has a bookmark list somewhere........

 

If not we should have one.

 

Questmaster has a BM list. Its up to a few pages.

The list is no longer available to anybody but me since I quit my charter membership.

 

If anybody wants to adopt and maintain the list, contact me.

 

There are 75 caches in the list but not all of them are bomb squad related and not all of them were blown up. I'd say that slighly less than half of the caches in the list were detonated or blasted with a water cannon but I think that's irrelevent because some scares are worse than detonations and some detonations are not as bad as some scares in terms of the inconvenience they cause. There are likely many more cache-related bomb scares but I won't arbitrarily judge whether or not the total number is "small". That likely depends on your interest in advancing the agenda of hiding stuff willy-nilly everywhere.

 

Quest Master's "Bomb Scares and Other Fun Stuff" bookmark is back up and running. Please let me know if there are additions to be made.

Thanks for keeping it going. It is interesting.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

In an interesting twist on bomb scares, I had a situation that was a bit different - I placed a cache too close to explosives!

 

My friend and fellow geocacher Starbase12, a bomb tech, was called out to evaluate reported explosives behind a gas station.

 

A sharp-eyed Marine just home from Iraq was vacuuming his car when he saw the explosives dangling from a bore hole in a wall blasted out to build the gas station five years ago.

 

These walls are carved out by drilling vertical bore holes and explosives are dropped in; when exploded they peel away layers of the wall. In this case not all of the explosives detonated, and this leftover has been dangling out the bottom of the bore hole ever since.

 

The explosives were removed and, as Starbase says, "made to go away".

 

A few days later Starbase tells a mutual friend, Deputy Sheriff JeffcoFive-O about it, who tells him "Hey, Rambler's got a cache on that wall!"

 

They return to the site and log my Lair Of The Wombat cache within feet of where the explosives were found!

 

My cache was in the bottom of a bore hole, just like the explosives!

 

Found 98 times since 4/12/05, it's amazing that no one saw the nearby explosive charge!

 

I guess I need to raise the difficulty level!

 

Just kiddin; I archived it, not because it's very likely there will be any more explosive there, but the store will certainly take any future suspicious-activity reports seriously.

 

Good cache while it lasted, and thank God nobody grabbed the explosive while looking for it!

[+Renegade Knight]

... They are in a tough situation that is politically managed-...

 

That says a lot. For the most part I have not ever seen regular Joe's in law enforcment whine and gnass their teeth. It's been elected officials who do this. The worst I've seen from career officers is "Please think about where you place these caches". I WISH it was left in the hands of law enforcment. I think they would do a better job of keeping the balance.

[+Trucker Lee]

Our Eugene (Oregon) Geocachers group just had an event cache at a local restaurant. We INVITED the bomb squad. It was an enlightening meeting. They shared their concerns and how they evaluate unknown containers for the possibility of danger.

 

THe bomb squad members thanks us for inviting them, they brought samples of containers that were actually bomb-type material, wires, etc. It opened our eyes and helped our entire group see how to better place caches that work for all.

 

Please- invite your regional bomb squad to a gathering and start talking- it is the best for everybody involved. Strutting and talking tough, making comments about bomb squad folks being stupid, etc makes geocachers sound childish and immature, not to mention irresponsible.

 

GREAT IDEA!!

[+TrailGators]

... They are in a tough situation that is politically managed-...

 

That says a lot. For the most part I have not ever seen regular Joe's in law enforcment whine and gnass their teeth. It's been elected officials who do this. The worst I've seen from career officers is "Please think about where you place these caches". I WISH it was left in the hands of law enforcment. I think they would do a better job of keeping the balance.

IMHO this has more to do with it than any other reason.

[+Renegade Knight]

... They are in a tough situation that is politically managed-...

 

That says a lot. For the most part I have not ever seen regular Joe's in law enforcment whine and gnass their teeth. It's been elected officials who do this. The worst I've seen from career officers is "Please think about where you place these caches". I WISH it was left in the hands of law enforcment. I think they would do a better job of keeping the balance.

IMHO this has more to do with it than any other reason.

It's a risk factor. Nothing more. They recently shut down a ferry terminal due to some toys. You can't avoid the simple fact that if you can forget a toy for your kid and have the bomb squad called in no place is safe. Some places are "less safe" in that they are more likely to get a response.

Edited April 7, 2007 by Renegade Knight

[+Confucius' Cat]

"politically managed"

politically managed economy, politically managed charity, politically managed bomb squad, politically managed education, politically managed war...

 

Is there anything politicians ain't screwed up yet?

 

Oh yeah, health care and caching. And politically managed health care is in process.

 

Well... at least they haven't totally screwed up caching yet, but they're working on it.

 

Gotta keep us "safe" ya know.

 

Thank You, Daddy Sam

[+TrailGators]

"politically managed"

politically managed economy, politically managed charity, politically managed bomb squad, politically managed education, politically managed war...

 

Is there anything politicians ain't screwed up yet?

 

Oh yeah, health care and caching. And politically managed health care is in process.

 

Well... at least they haven't totally screwed up caching yet, but they're working on it.

 

Gotta keep us "safe" ya know.

 

Thank You, Daddy Sam

You got that right...Congress managed to give themselves $15K/month retirement income. They only have to serve one term to get it. Meanwhile they haven't done squatola about our retirement. We continue to dump 7.5% of our income into an account earning a measily 2% each year, plus we will probably never get it. Anyhow, if you want things really screwed up then put the government in charge of it.... Edited April 8, 2007 by TrailGators

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

"politically managed"

politically managed economy, politically managed charity, politically managed bomb squad, politically managed education, politically managed war...

 

Is there anything politicians ain't screwed up yet?

 

Oh yeah, health care and caching. And politically managed health care is in process.

 

Well... at least they haven't totally screwed up caching yet, but they're working on it.

 

Gotta keep us "safe" ya know.

 

Thank You, Daddy Sam

Try caching in any number of countries where the government could care less wether you live or die and you'll come running back to the arms of 'Daddy Sam'!

[+Confucius' Cat]

"politically managed"

politically managed economy, politically managed charity, politically managed bomb squad, politically managed education, politically managed war...

 

Is there anything politicians ain't screwed up yet?

 

Oh yeah, health care and caching. And politically managed health care is in process.

 

Well... at least they haven't totally screwed up caching yet, but they're working on it.

 

Gotta keep us "safe" ya know.

 

Thank You, Daddy Sam

Try caching in any number of countries where the government could care less wether you live or die and you'll come running back to the arms of 'Daddy Sam'!

Really?

Why?

[+Confucius' Cat]

Maybe we need to put these stickers on our Caches. Check it out. Not A Bomb

Love It!

 

[+TrailGators]

Maybe we need to put these stickers on our Caches. Check it out. Not A Bomb

Love It!

 

That is funny! Edited April 8, 2007 by TrailGators