Cache container in luggage?

[+Team Irish Rover]

Hello!

 

Two quick questions here...

 

First of all, is there anything inherently "wrong" with placing a vacation cache? What I mean to say is...we are going on vacation this week to a place that doesn't have alot of caches placed but is a very popular vacation spot. When I put my list of caches together for this island, it came up to 3 for the whole trip! So...if we placed a nice cache and put right in the description that it was to be a "visitor maintained" cache, would that be considered bad form? I'm looking at this placement as more of a gift than an ongoing responsibility. I personally don't see what the problem would be, but I wanted to get some feedback and direction.

 

Consequently, if we place the cache, that also means we have to get it there. Has anyone ever transported an ammo box cache in their luggage? I'm concerned that it may be considered sketchy and objectionable or worse by the airport screeners as they pass our luggage through the x-ray scanners. Anyone have experience or suggestions with this? (Maybe I should just get a good tupperware container?)

 

Thanks,

 

Team Irish Rover

[+Bill & Tammy]

From the Geocaching Placement Guidelines:

 

"It may be difficult to fulfill your maintenance obligations if you place a cache while traveling on vacation or otherwise outside of your normal caching area. These caches may not be published unless you are able to demonstrate an acceptable maintenance plan. It is not uncommon for caches to go missing, areas to be cleared, trails to be blocked or closed, objects used for multi-cache or puzzles to be moved or removed, etc. Your maintenance plan must allow for a quick response to reported problems. "

 

So unless you can specifically rely on someone else to take care of it, this cache would probably be a no go.

 

As far as air travel I have never taken on ammo can on board so I can't speak to that but a Lock & Lock etc. should be fine.

Edited April 2, 2007 by Bill & Tammy

[+Rockin Roddy]

Unless you can maintain or get a local to maintain your cache, it isn't going to be allowed! Vacation caches are not allowed!

 

I wouldn't carry an ammo box in the luggage, but I'm leary of any strange items at all!

 

HELLO AND WELCOME Team Irish Rover...I see you are nearby!!

Edited April 2, 2007 by Rockin Roddy

[+carleenp]

I once carried two ammo cans full of golf balls in my luggage. I told the airport person of them, who didn't seem concerned, although he asked why I had golf balls in ammo cans. When I explained that it was a joke as part of a game called geocaching, he said "I have a friend who is one of those weird geocacher people!"

 

BTW, ammo cans full fo golf balls make A LOT of noise in your luggage!

[+sbell111]

I wouldn't worry about taking an ammo box in my luggage. Likely, it will result in your luggage getting hand searched, but that's not a big deal.

 

If you are going to place a cache on vacation, make sure that you have a local who's willing to maintain it. Otherwise, it's unlikely that it will get listed.

[+Team Irish Rover]

From the Geocaching Placement Guidelines:

 

"So unless you can specifically rely on someone else to take care of it, this cache would probably be a no go. "

 

 

Wow. That totally sucks. What blows my mind is that I think that with as much traffic as this one would get and as nice as we start our caches, that people would object to it. I mean, I've seen caches placed locally that are totally full of junk, full logs, torn up ziplocks, and McToys that might as well be unmaintained, they're so bad! I just thought it would be nice to place the cache when I know many people would appreciate it. I wish I knew someone there local who would maintain it for us.

 

Oh well. Boy, the minor contingent of Team Irish Rover is going to be bummed that they can't do their "Pirates of the Caribbean" cache!

 

BTW...hello yourself, fellow Michigander! Lovely weather we're having, eh?

[Clan Riffster]

Rover, you mentioned that there were three other caches on the island. Before giving up on your idea, you might check the profiles of the owner(s) and try to determine if they are locals. If they are, you could ask if they are willing to maintain a cache that you want to hide. The worst that could happen is they tell you "No", and if they say "Yes", you could post something on the cache page to the effect of, "This cache will be maintained by _______, with our undying gratitude".

 

Once you get someone willing to do maintenance, (and before you make your trip), contact the reviewer for that area and see if that arrangement would be acceptable.

[+briansnat]

From the Geocaching Placement Guidelines:

 

"So unless you can specifically rely on someone else to take care of it, this cache would probably be a no go. "

 

 

Wow. That totally sucks. What blows my mind is that I think that with as much traffic as this one would get and as nice as we start our caches, that people would object to it. I mean, I've seen caches placed locally that are totally full of junk, full logs, torn up ziplocks, and McToys that might as well be unmaintained, they're so bad! I just thought it would be nice to place the cache when I know many people would appreciate it. I wish I knew someone there local who would maintain it for us.

 

Oh well. Boy, the minor contingent of Team Irish Rover is going to be bummed that they can't do their "Pirates of the Caribbean" cache!

 

BTW...hello yourself, fellow Michigander! Lovely weather we're having, eh?

 

Some locals do object to vacation caches. It has nothing to do with the quality of caches or contents, but that someone was presumptuous enough leave a cache behind assuming that they will take care of it. Also, there have been cases where vacationers hid caches where they were not allowed, causing problems with between local officials and geocachers.

 

You're best off letting the locals take care of placing caches and have fun finding them when on vacation. They know the best places and are more likely to be aware of any local rules governing cache placement.

[+Renegade Knight]

In the beginning there were hardly any caches anywhere. Vacation caches were allowed, encouraged, even celebraed. the term vacation cache had not yet been invented.

 

Then along came reality. While it was (and is) nice to get caches out there they need to be maintained. So if you vacation once a year on that island it can be maintained well enough in my book to get the job done. But I'm not the person you have to sell. That's your reviewer for listing it on this site.

[+Rockin Roddy]

Great weather TIR...but it will be cold by the weekend Maybe you should go on vacation in a more cache enriched location

 

Seriously though...it is a shame you'll likely not be able to place the cache, maybe you should write the locals and ask if they plan to place more in the future...being nice of course!! If the owners know that visitors would be interested (and appreciative), they might just get the urge to place a few more!!

[+Team Irish Rover]

RR:

 

We're getting out of town before it gets cold again! (Leaving Thursday)

 

I guess I should be completely honest and say that there are more caches on the island but they're mostly virtuals, which the kids don't like. ("Mom, if it's a micro or a virtual, I don't want to do it -- it's BORING!")

 

If I had the forethought to ask further in advance or do more research, I would have tried to find a local who might be willing to maintain for us.

 

We'll see....

 

THanks for everyone's feedback!

[+Rockin Roddy]

Have a safe trip!! Keep in mind that I'm off work for another couple days so if you need an escort, I'm your man!!

 

Those virts...although not as much fun for the youngsters...would be a perfect way to learn more about the history of the area! Tell the kiddies that you're going sightseeing and just stroll upon a few of the virts and "secretly" find them! The kids will never know they are doing those BORING caches and just might get interested in the history!!

[+halffast]

I would and have maintained vacation caches that were placed around my area before I started caching.But If someone wanted to place a cache on vacation now I would not maintain it for them.I would place a cache of my own in there honor though.

[+Team GeoBlast]

From the Geocaching Placement Guidelines:

 

"So unless you can specifically rely on someone else to take care of it, this cache would probably be a no go. "

 

 

Wow. That totally sucks. What blows my mind is that I think that with as much traffic as this one would get and as nice as we start our caches, that people would object to it. I mean, I've seen caches placed locally that are totally full of junk, full logs, torn up ziplocks, and McToys that might as well be unmaintained, they're so bad! I just thought it would be nice to place the cache when I know many people would appreciate it. I wish I knew someone there local who would maintain it for us.

 

Oh well. Boy, the minor contingent of Team Irish Rover is going to be bummed that they can't do their "Pirates of the Caribbean" cache!

 

BTW...hello yourself, fellow Michigander! Lovely weather we're having, eh?

 

Some locals do object to vacation caches. It has nothing to do with the quality of caches or contents, but that someone was presumptuous enough leave a cache behind assuming that they will take care of it. Also, there have been cases where vacationers hid caches where they were not allowed, causing problems with between local officials and geocachers.

 

You're best off letting the locals take care of placing caches and have fun finding them when on vacation. They know the best places and are more likely to be aware of any local rules governing cache placement.

 

Thanks for this.

 

I live in Hawaii and there seems to be an inordinate amount of cachers that want to own a cache here. The problems with them are many:

 

1. The hiders are on vacation, rarely are they going to take the time to place a good cache.

2. Although their intentions are to return as they promised the reviewer, often life gets in the way. More times than not, they are not back and certainly not here enough to do the needed maintenance on a cache in our environment.

3. History has not proven these caches to have any longevity for many reasons, one of which is that it is impossible to understand who is who and where putting a cache is a really bad idea. A few weeks ago, we had a vacation hider put a cache right in the center of the best place to buy crack on the island. Place is a wonderful place during the day until about 8:00pm and then it's a war zone.

4. The tropics are a different place to hide a cache and some of the containers and hiding techniques that work great other places, do not work here.

 

As it was mentioned, find a local cacher to do the maintenance or don't do it.

Edited April 4, 2007 by Team GeoBlast

[+Team GeoBlast]

So if you vacation once a year on that island it can be maintained well enough in my book to get the job done.

 

This is a very common misconception about what it takes to keep a cache going on an island. Everything you leave in the outdoors takes a pounding and caches get a lot more pressure from the influx of visitors.