Peanut Butter jars

[+Mule Ears]

If Peanuts and Peanut Butter Is So Dangerous...why don't the food stores lock them up in isolation instead of having them out in the isles where someone can get sick and sue them?

 

Some of the food markets where I go have huge boxes of open peanuts on the floor...you scoop out what you want. I have NEVER seen a dead person next to those boxes....or even one that is scratching.

 

That's a good point--even sealed containers are generally contaminated to some degree with the product that's inside by virtue of having spent time in the manufacturing plant that packed the product. (Duh.)

[+JoeMerchant]

So if the alergy can only be trigered by contacting a microscopic portion of the oils does this mean we need to buy a microscope for geocaching?

 

Yes, that's the safest way. Here's what I use...

 

 

Takes up room in the back pack, but what the heck, I can never remember to bring all them travel bugs along anyway.

[+Jeep_Dog]

Mule Ears -

 

Thanks for taking the time into researching this issue.

 

You may remember meeting one of my caching kids at the CCR#2. He's one that is hypo-allergic to peanuts, and it can be life threatening. Also, hopefully, he can grow out of the allegy. At any rate, I was a bit surprised with the callous attitude displayed by many posting on this topic, but on the same thought was not at all surprised, since it appears many Americans cannot think outside of their particular understanding of the world. Hey - that's my society, c'est la vie, and I just "gotta deal with it."

 

I believe it is certainly each cacher's responsibility to avoid circumstances where they may be injured or find other harm. Indeed, is that not what is behind the disclaimer of "Cache seekers assume all risks involved in seeking a cache"? As a cache placer, I will place and annotate with terrain difficulty a "reasonable" assessment. As a cache seeker, I have and will continue to abort hunts that do not seem safe for either me or any other person in my party (if any are along).

 

Now, my 2 year old caching kid sometimes lacks this kind of judgement, so I expect all cache owners to anticipate his peanut allergy and place caches accordingly.

 

Alright, that was sarcasm. As a parent, it is my responsibility to look out for these circumstances and make that judgement call. I know, a parent excercising responsibility for their children can be appalling to some folks. If I see a container that seems to be very obviously peanut related, then I can explain that to the little one (he's quite keen on the allergy being life-threatening, and until he's probably 3 or 4, will willingly comply with avoidance of items deemed such), or abort the hunt. Again, MY responsibility kicks in here.

 

Oh, yeah, and in the event of something overlooked - as Mule Ears mentioned, the epi-pen in the backpack is a back-up plan to good judgement.

[+elephantmama]

In all seriousness, how could someone survive with a fatal allergy to minuscule quantities of such a common substance? Peanuts and foods containing peanuts are everywhere; you would think that it would be just a matter of time before the inevitable fatal exposure occurred.

I've had three anaphylactic reactions in the past 2 years, two requiring epi-pen injections and the other should've, except that I'm sometimes stupid and living by grace. So yeah, it is a bit of a challenge. Actually, there are times when it's particularly terrifying, especially in those few weeks post-reaction. In a few weeks, we're going on vacation. The town we're going has a ton of fresh roasted nut shops. It means that I don't go in those shops and I walk on the other side of the street when we have to pass by.

 

In every day life, I read labels. No peanut or nut products enter my home. I don't eat baked goods that I didn't personally bake. I don't eat many convenience foods. I don't go into or eat from places like Chick-Fil-A or Five Guys. I tell waiters of my allergy and ask them to talk to the chef about it. If we're going to a party, I let people know about my allergy ahead of time and if not, I eat before or after we go. I carry an Epi-Pen and Benadryl everywhere and I take Zyrtec every day to help minimize accidental reactions.

 

But I also don't live in a bubble. I live my life. I take precautions and leave the rest up to God.

[+Mule Ears]

Hey, Jeep Dog! I do remember seeing ya'll at CCR#2! A good time. You stayed at the Inn, right?

 

I'm just getting myself up to speed on this. I'd give people a little slack on their skepticism and apparent callousness. So many conditions, trends, phenomena, etc. get overhyped that the safe bet seems to be to disbelieve everything. When I was growing up, the peanut allergy was unheard of, so I could easily have blown it off as nonsense had I not done a little research.

 

Hope your tyke does grow out of it, or that they perfect the tolerization therapy to the point that he can beat it. As I said in my original post, it's tough to imagine having to go through life constantly on the alert for accidental exposure to a small quantity of such a common substance. Yikes! Elephantmama's post illustrates this perfectly.

[+flask]

i'm going to say this again:

 

an allergy that severe is uncommon. the people are usually prepared.

a surprise peanut butter jar can cause a problem.

a peanut butter jar is a substandard container (opinion)

even if washed, animals may still smell the container.

it is not difficult to use a different jar.

it is not difficult to mention presence of the peanut butter jar in the description, which can be a big help.

 

second topic:

 

it is not fair to discount the concerns of a group of people just because you don't think it's important.

it is not fair to ridicule people who wish to assist people in the above set.

 

what NOBODY said (except that one wacky person):

 

peanut butter jars should be banned

you should be required to place warnings

you should somehow surrender your civil liberties.

 

 

it's really not that big a deal. what got me going (and will always get me going) are those people who can't be bothered to help in small ways, pick apart the people with the problem, ridicule those who wish to help, and then blame the government or the public schools.

 

one of the reasons there are so many people walking around with severe allergies is that because of good medical care, we don't die so often. another is that our environment is increasingly toxic with chemicals that are not natural, or at least not in those proportions. look, i love my plastics and such, but when was the last time you tried to buy just plain soap without superpowers? most of you don't need to.

 

some of us are extremely sensitive; my sensitivity actually shows up to a surprising extent in bloodwork, so you know it's not my imagination.

 

i don't want you to hold my hand or guide my every step, but every time i miss a day's work because somebody chose to wear a fancy deodorant when they come to my room, it's uncomfortable, painful, and i lose income.

 

if you have ever had an allergic reaction during which the lining of your lungs begins to slough off and you start to drown, you may understand why i empathize with the peanut crowd.

 

and here's the fun thing: you can't always predict how you will react. depending on how taxed your system is, you may react with a different severity on different days.

 

so while in some situations you may still wish to use a peanut butter jar, it is possible to mention it casually in the description, e.g., "the cache container is a peanut butter jar", or even "the cache container is a peanut butter jar of undisclosed size". while in some circumstances you may feel it's more important to keep the container shape a surprise, it's a small thing you can do and it might help someone quite a lot.

[+The SuzyQs]

How about this...

 

 

???

[+sseegars]

Is this still going on?!?!?!

[+TrailGators]

Is this still going on?!?!?!

I never understood what would end it.

[+KBI]

Is this still going on?!?!?!

[Voice, whispering from the corn]: If we stop posting, it will sink.

[+Knight2000]

What about a bunch of temp partially buried PB caches at an event?

 

Edited July 17, 2007 by knight2000

[+Mule Ears]

i'm going to say this again:

< -snip- >

 

Hey, I'm in agreement. No reason to use a lousy container that potentially poses a rare-but-serious health threat. Maybe with sufficient washing you can get most if not all peanut residue out of the jar, but at that point you've probably expended more effort, hot water and soap than the container is worth, and you've still got a lousy container.

 

My postings were just to reflect the quick research I did on the peanut allergy (which I previously knew little about) and to wonder aloud what it must be like to have to try to avoid, under threat of death or serious injury, such a common item as peanuts. It's boggling and must be very difficult for those with the problem, or (worse) those whose kids have it.

 

Not sure if your post was triggered by mine, but I wanted to clarify.

[+Glenn]

i'm going to say this again:

< -snip- >

 

Hey, I'm in agreement. No reason to use a lousy container that potentially poses a rare-but-serious health threat. Maybe with sufficient washing you can get most if not all peanut residue out of the jar, but at that point you've probably expended more effort, hot water and soap than the container is worth, and you've still got a lousy container.

 

My postings were just to reflect the quick research I did on the peanut allergy (which I previously knew little about) and to wonder aloud what it must be like to have to try to avoid, under threat of death or serious injury, such a common item as peanuts. It's boggling and must be very difficult for those with the problem, or (worse) those whose kids have it.

 

Not sure if your post was triggered by mine, but I wanted to clarify.

 

I remember saying something like this on page 1 or 2 of this thread. I'll say it again and much simpler. Awareness is good. Banination is bad.

[The Black Pearl]

Once I found a night cache where you had to follow reflections to get to it. I left some matches in the container since it was dark. Then I learned it was wrong to do it.

 

So why dont you stop poisining people with those be peanut buter caches.

 

 

No matter how many times I read this, I still don't get it...

 

It is not really all that compilcated. I was out one night and found this geocache what had nothing in it. It dwas very dark outside at night so I put matches in the box so some people could find there way back. This is wrong because kids can find the matches and get hurt. Now do you get it?

 

So I think that peanut buter guy should quit poisoning people.

[+The Jester]

Please don't feed the troll wearing socks!

[+benh57]

IMO, it's nice to see a nice flamewar which hasn't been rehashed a thousand times. This one's pretty original.

 

Basically these forums are mostly reruns, so its nice to have a new series every now and then.

[+OEnavigators]

I've read through about three pages of this thread and I'm completely overwhelmed. Are all threads this negative?

I by no means claim to have learned all there is to know about playing this game but I do know that I have children. As a father of four I can sympathize, for some of you that means to understand the feelings of others.

I applaud Jeep Dog for taking his kids to enjoy the outdoors even with such allergies. I don't think it a problem at all to list what sort of container you used on a listing.

An adult cacher can care for themselves just fine but children can't. I know the minute my kids think a cache may be located somewhere they almost run me over to get it

If I ever use a PB&J jar for a hide I'll be sure to note it in my description. Although the bears around here would probably log the FTF!

[+Serial Finder]

How about this...

 

 

???

 

You forgot the part about "This container may contain items that may have previously been in a container that may have contained peanuts or may have been found and handled by someone who has previously eaten peanuts, found a container that may have contained peanunts or may have contained items that may have previously ben in a container that may have contained peanuts or may have been found and handled by someone who has previously eaten peanuts..."

[Clan Riffster]

Snarky? I'm not embarrassed to say I had to look that up.

Don't worry Joe, I had to look it up too, when Criminal labeled me as Snarky. I consider it a term of endearment.

 

You forgot the part about "This container may contain items that may have previously been in a container that may have contained peanuts or may have been found and handled by someone who has previously eaten peanuts, found a container that may have contained peanunts or may have contained items that may have previously ben in a container that may have contained peanuts or may have been found and handled by someone who has previously eaten peanuts..."

Let's not forget, "This ammo can is believed to have been near a TV when a commercial for peanuts was shown"

[+IceCreamMan]

i'm going to say this again:

stop, don't, come back

 

an allergy that severe is uncommon. the people are usually prepared.

Please, isn't that enough to say?

 

a surprise peanut butter jar can cause a problem.

But then, it's not as if the profile of a peanut butter jar is unrecognizable to someone for whom it is a matter of life and death.

 

a peanut butter jar is a substandard container (opinion)

Well, everyone has orifices too. The question is, how well informed is that opinion. Numerous people have posted that they have used such containers successfully. Most of the people who believe it is "substandard" or not "reputable" can count there hides on their four extremities. If you're going to ask someone about hiding and containers, it might be worthwhile to ask someone who has, well, you know, hidden a few.

 

The ammo can is the best container. Lock n Locks are probably second only to the ammo can. In my opinion, and I have a little experience in the matter, plastic jars (in my case egg containers, though they are the exact same type jar that peanut butter is sold in), properly cammo painted make a container of excellent quality and versatility. Though admittedly not as good as an ammo can or lock n lock.

 

even if washed, animals may still smell the container.

And space aliens. Don't forget, space aliens have scanners that can detect food residue from orbit.

 

But seriously, I once again have to defer to the opinions of the folks who've actually hidden these containers. There's nothing to suggest this is a rampant problem.

 

it is not difficult to use a different jar.

I say, let the person taking the time and effort to hide a cache do the cost/benefit analysis for themselves.

 

it is not difficult to mention presence of the peanut butter jar in the description, which can be a big help.

Because people with deadly peanut allergies and who can't recognize a peanut butter jar, are suddenly taking up caching, going out completely unprepared, and dropping like flies.

 

it is not fair to discount the concerns of a group of people just because you don't think it's important.

What about people who think these concerns are silly?

 

it is not fair to ridicule people who wish to assist people in the above set.

But it's fair to say that people who think these concerns are silly what people with allergies to be house bound and die.

 

peanut butter jars should be banned

you should be required to place warnings

you should somehow surrender your civil liberties.

No, but we know how such things start. Today its just nannies wringing their hands about silly things, tomorrow the mayor of NY is telling restaurants what kind of fat they can use in their friers.

[+IceCreamMan]

Are all threads this negative?

 

Yes, they are. It's been my standard practice to stay off the forums. I ended up on this thread because a friend of mine knew it would get be going, wanted to stir the pot, and sent me the link (thanks a bunch fed).

 

Take a look at the stats of many of the posters. Thousands of posts, hundreds of finds and a dozen or two hides (if any). The mere recognition of this will likely get me flamed big time.

 

I recommend looking for a local group with forums. They tend to be a little more sane and civil.

[+JoeMerchant]

Snarky? I'm not embarrassed to say I had to look that up.

Don't worry Joe, I had to look it up too, when Criminal labeled me as Snarky. I consider it a term of endearment.

 

I long for the day I get verbally attacked by Crimanal (sic). You're just not a cacher until you been called names by the master.

[+sbell111]

Looking at your stats (2,278 posts/1226 finds/20 hides) you might want to reconsider offering advise on hiding caches. But, you're definitely the go to guy for advise on posting.

Please tell me that you forgot to put the smiley on your post.

Nope, can't say I ever really considered a smiley, but then I don't have the experience posting that many of the folks here do. You think it might dress up my post a bit? BTW, since I now have cracked the 50 mark on posts, you reckon I can start giving advice on forum posting?

If you are comfortable with your knowledge of posting, go ahead. If you're wrong, people will call you on it. No worries.

Is it your position that someone with 1226 finds and 20 hides doesn't have a right to discuss cache hiding?

He's got the right to do what ever he wants, and the question wasn't about "discussing" cache hiding, it was about making pronouncements about what a "reputable" container is.

Geocaching isn't rocket science. It isn't difficult to realize that if the container is drier on the inside than on the outside, it passes.

Further, I think your snarky comment is pretty ironic considering that you only have 1007 finds (51 of which were events) and 20 finds (Conicidently, the same number of finds as the person you jumped on).

Snarky? I'm not embarrassed to say I had to look that up. Yep, I've only got 20 hides. That's why I'm not cranking out twelve hundred posts giving advice on what containers are "reputable".

Snarky is a well worn word around here. You'll likely have to get used to it.

BTW, advice on where I should have inserted smilies would be welcome from a poster of your experience.

Generally, if your smiley is a direct comment on a previous post, put it at the beginning of your post. Otherwise, either put it right next to the part of your post that you are highlighting, or at the end. Edited July 17, 2007 by sbell111

[+Jeepgrl98]

Food containers are generally poor cache containers

 

This seems to be a repetitive theme in this thread. I disagree, at least when it comes to these jars. I've hidden well over a hundred of these containers after simply rinsing them well with hot water and painting them. I've never had much of a problem. They don't disappear any faster than ammo cans. Less so perhaps, because they are less obtrusive and less desirable to muggles. An occassional one will fail to be water-tite, but not too often. I picked one up last month that had been out for a couple years and it was still dry as a bone. Other than the good swag having been magically transformed into rubber lizzards it was still in great shape. Nothing beats an ammo can, but these containers work just fine and are very versatile. At $5 for a lock n lock, why not go the full route and get an ammo can?

 

The Dollar TRee has some great "Lock n lock" type containers...THAT MEANS...$1.00 a piece!

[+sbell111]

Hey, I'm in agreement. No reason to use a lousy container that potentially poses a rare-but-serious health threat. Maybe with sufficient washing you can get most if not all peanut residue out of the jar, but at that point you've probably expended more effort, hot water and soap than the container is worth, and you've still got a lousy container.

The thing is, if the container has been washed, then no peanut proteins will be present. If no peanut proteins are present, no allergic reaction to them can take place. Therefore, there is absolutely no chance of the 'rare-but-serious' health threat.

 

Also, a number of people have had good luck with these containers. Many have stated that a bleachy soak will greatly reduce the chance of the container attracting animals. I don't know if this is because the peanut smell is removed or because animals don't like to eat bleach and, frankly, I don't care.

IMO, it's nice to see a nice flamewar which hasn't been rehashed a thousand times. This one's pretty original.

 

Basically these forums are mostly reruns, so its nice to have a new series every now and then.

Sadly, this thread rolls around in exactly the same manner about once a year.

[+Knight2000]

The Dollar TRee has some great "Lock n lock" type containers...THAT MEANS...$1.00 a piece!

Not here yet.

I am waiting patiently though.

 

I cant wait to test them.

[+TexasGringo]

2 Days Later....Whats the verdict?

 

Peanut Butter Containers Are:

 

Good or Bad

[+KBI]

Take a look at the stats of many of the posters. Thousands of posts, hundreds of finds and a dozen or two hides (if any). The mere recognition of this will likely get me flamed big time.

And rightly so.

 

If you come in here and claim some kind of superiority based on a comparison of find/hide stats, coupled with a demand that nobody challenge that claim, you'd better be wearing some heavy Nomex pajamas ... and a good helmet.

[Mushtang]

2 Days Later....Whats the verdict?

 

Peanut Butter Containers Are:

 

Good or Bad

They're good.

 

There is a risk to a very small number of people if the container isn't cleaned first. There is a risk to a tiny teeniny percentage of people if someone that had found the cache previous had been eating peanut butter. But that seems to be true for all cache containers. A couple of people think there should be warnings on cache pages for these containers.

 

There are much bigger risks to life and limb connected with all caches, such as driving to the cache, cutting yourself on a piece of rusty metal, falling down on a hike, etc. Most people don't feel it's required to point out every possible risk on their cache pages.

[The Black Pearl]

OK, I changed my mind about the peanut buter jars usde for geocacheing.

 

Maybe it is ok to use them because one day I ate some peanut buter and I had an itch. So I scratched it. Then I went to school and it itched me all day. So I scratched it and my teacher sent me to the school nurse. She told me not to keep scratcfhing it. Now when I eat peanut buter I don't scratch anymore.

 

So what's the problem?

[+sbell111]

[chuckr30]

I have a food allergy to gluten, so I understand what is going on here. Peanut allergies run the gamut, from not too bad, to life threatening. If you have a "life threatening" level of peanut allergy, you should be very careful what you are reaching into. And you should carry an Epipen 24/7 anyway (for anaphylactic shock).

 

When I got a blood test for food allergies the doctor said I was "mildly" allergic to peanuts. I have never noticed a symptom so I continue to eat peanuts and other nuts.

 

If you have a severe peanut allergy you are in a very, very tiny minority and it is simply rude, and self-centered, to ask the majority to change their habits. I suppose you could ask, but don't really expect much.

 

At my son's school they do not ban peanuts, but at lunch they always have one table which is "peanut free".

[+Team FIREBOY]

Phenylketonuria = PKU. Most states have a law requiring testing of babies within 72 hours of birth. My nephew has PKU. His body cannot breakdown phenylketone and other metabolites of phenylalanine. He has a VERY special diet! Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid needed for normal growth of humans. His body cannot break it into tyrosine. He lacks the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase and therefore toxic levels of phenylalanine can build up in his brain tissue and make him have progressive mental retardation, among other side effects if not treated. It is a metabolic disorder. He is 17 and a senior in High school, 3.2 GPA. His mom has done a VERY good job of raising him, controlling his diet. He can't even take tylenol, read the warnings for PKU on the package. He wishes he just had an allergy to peanuts, then he could just try to AVOID peanuts.. which is much easier than avoiding almost every known food to man. Yes, I know about PKU. I learned about it in nursing school, before I married my husband and met our nephew.

 

I know this is totally off topic, but maybe it will help to place the peanut allergy / PB jar cache into a little perspective for just one person.

 

I am allergic to LATEX. I work in a ER. I know how to handle my allergy. I attempt to avoid latex, try that in a hospital. Do I worry about someone eating a latex glove in a room where I am working. Well, yes, but only because they could block their own airway and I would have to perform CPR in an attempt to save them. Not because I am afraid that the eating of the latex glove near me could harm me.

 

All life or the act of living contains risk. IMHO it's up to the "livee" to decide which risks to take.

[+Driver Carries Cache]

I'm sorry, I'm going to be as un-PC and perfectly blunt as I can be (please feel free to label me a callous, uncaring b*st*rd).

 

Someone else's allergy is not my problem.

 

There, I said it. But please understand, I don't condone carrying around bags of nuts to force down allergy sufferers throats and I don't keep balloons filled with peanut oil to throw at allergic children. If someone has "special needs" that is frankly their own concern and that of their loved ones. I have dealt with allergies as well. I carried an epi-pen while dating a woman who was deathly allergic to many "bug bites" and spent more than my share of afternoons in emergency room waiting areas. Life is dangerous folks. As many of us know, the wilderness (or the city for that matter) can be a cruel and unforgiving place. That being true, I'm not willing to spend my life locked in the house drinking distilled water and putting padding on all the sharp corners of my furniture. The person to best judge the risk you take by leaving the house, crossing the street, or sticking your hand into a hollow log to retrieve a cache, is YOU. And it is up to you if a "find" is worth that risk.

 

Driver Carries Cache

[bogleman]

- anyone alergic to this

 

I have lactose intolerance, I guess I could add this to my cache bag

[+Renegade Knight]

2 Days Later....Whats the verdict?

 

Peanut Butter Containers Are:

 

Good or Bad

 

Ignoring allergens, I'd rate them as a fairly good container. They would be fairly water proof. Locally we don't get a truckload of rodents gnawing on all plastic so that's not much of an issue here.

[+Renegade Knight]

Take a look at the stats of many of the posters. Thousands of posts, hundreds of finds and a dozen or two hides (if any). The mere recognition of this will likely get me flamed big time.

And rightly so.

 

If you come in here and claim some kind of superiority based on a comparison of find/hide stats, coupled with a demand that nobody challenge that claim, you'd better be wearing some heavy Nomex pajamas ... and a good helmet.

The annoying ones are the ones who feel inferior so they try to discredit the numbers and forget to talk about the subject at hand. The only people I've ever seen try to pull rank using numbers are people who log caches but don't post much. I don't see it much in the forums. I do vice versa a lot. I'm not sure what IceCreamMan's point was though. He didn't really discredit or credit...

[+Renegade Knight]

Look again at mine. You'll see I stopped logging online over 2yrs ago, yet I still cache. Did a bunch just today. Nobody but me has any idea what or how many I have or have not found.

 

...Now if you were to post a DNF on one of our caches, we would look at your find count/post ratio and not even bother checking the cache as it appears online that you are an armchair cacher, so the next person would probably find it and we would have wasted our time checking on it because such an inexperienced cacher would probably miss it anyways. ...

 

Your logic is messed up. When I make this same call I don't ever check a persons post count, or the number of words in their log. I check for things that actually tell me if they have the ability to find the cache or not.

 

Things that annoy you may factor into if you want to do that person a favor or not, but it has nothing to do with finding skill.

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

one of the reasons there are so many people walking around with severe allergies is that because of good medical care, we don't die so often. another is that our environment is increasingly toxic with chemicals that are not natural, or at least not in those proportions. look, i love my plastics and such, but when was the last time you tried to buy just plain soap without superpowers? most of you don't need to.

 

Our obsesion with cleanliness is believed to be the biggest cause of allergies. Humans evolved under dirty conditions, we are not supposed to be clean all the time. Many researchers believe allergies are triggered because the immune system, which expects to be invaded by nasty germs regularly, sometimes decides that harmless objects like peanut protiens must by the nasty germs it's been waiting for that never arrive.

 

Several years ago my sister, a nurse in Indy, told me that they used to clean up homeless people who were admitted for an injury, they got a bath, shampoo, haircut, clean clothes, the works. These homeless people would promptly become very sick and require extensive treatment.

The hospital finally discovered that if they simply treated the injury but left the person filthy elsewhere they recovered from the injury quickly and stayed very healthy otherwise.

 

I thought of that last week when I heard on the radio that researchers have discovered that our skin builds up a protective layer that defends us from germs, however that protective coating is removed everytime we wash. Furthermore there are benificial bacteria living in dirt that we remove when we wash.

 

It isn't the chemicals in the soap that are causeing the booming numbers of allergies, it the fact that we wash at all. Evolution prepared us to live dirty, not clean, but who wants to be dirty all the time?

[+Road Rabbit]

I jumped into this early on and have enjoyed reading all of the responses since.

 

In answer to the OP: Yes, the allergy can be triggered just by contacting minute amounts of peanut residue.

 

I want to thank everyone who commented (either positively or negatively) for helping raise awareness of this and other food allergies.

 

If you do turn old food containers into caches, please make sure to clean them out thoroughly. That may help someone else and keep the critters out, too.

 

It isn't the chemicals in the soap that are causeing the booming numbers of allergies, it the fact that we wash at all. Evolution prepared us to live dirty, not clean

Isn't that why caching was invented?

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

Touche!

[+Knight2000]

- anyone alergic to this

 

Thanks for the smile! Now this makes so much more sense.

[vagabond]

 

I like this one better

[Clan Riffster]

The person to best judge the risk you take by leaving the house, crossing the street, or sticking your hand into a hollow log to retrieve a cache, is YOU. And it is up to you if a "find" is worth that risk.

This post was so well written, it should have its own theme song.

DCC, you da man!

[+Mopar]

Look again at mine. You'll see I stopped logging online over 2yrs ago, yet I still cache. Did a bunch just today. Nobody but me has any idea what or how many I have or have not found.

 

...Now if you were to post a DNF on one of our caches, we would look at your find count/post ratio and not even bother checking the cache as it appears online that you are an armchair cacher, so the next person would probably find it and we would have wasted our time checking on it because such an inexperienced cacher would probably miss it anyways. ...

 

Your logic is messed up. When I make this same call I don't ever check a persons post count, or the number of words in their log. I check for things that actually tell me if they have the ability to find the cache or not.

 

Things that annoy you may factor into if you want to do that person a favor or not, but it has nothing to do with finding skill.

It's messed up anyway, and it actually proves the comment I made earlier. Even if you just look at my logged finds, that's over 900. For those that DO play the stats game, there are only about 4000 out of over 1 million cachers in the world with over 900 finds. In my state, there are only 25 cachers over 900 finds. My true find count puts me WELL into the top 10 cachers for my state. Even my logged finds puts me in the top 1/2 of one percent of all cachers. Yet apparently, in certain parts of the country (coughJAXcough) 900 finds is so easy to do that one with so few finds is considered "inexperienced".

Thanks for proving my point.

[+Jeep_Dog]

 

It's messed up anyway, and it actually proves the comment I made earlier. Even if you just look at my logged finds, that's over 900. For those that DO play the stats game, there are only about 4000 out of over 1 million cachers in the world with over 900 finds. In my state, there are only 25 cachers over 900 finds. My true find count puts me WELL into the top 10 cachers for my state. Even my logged finds puts me in the top 1/2 of one percent of all cachers. Yet apparently, in certain parts of the country (coughJAXcough) 900 finds is so easy to do that one with so few finds is considered "inexperienced".

Thanks for proving my point.

 

Very nice. However, are you allergic to peanuts, and do the jars bother you?

 

By the way, I shy away from any "stats" that are along the lines of "10 cachers for my state", "top 1/2 of one percent of all cachers." I know a cacher with 11 online finds who completely embodies the spirit of caching, is a caching "purist," and has a caching philosophy that blows some of those with 2000+ online logs away. To me, she's number 1 cacher.

 

At any rate, you know this, and embody this, as apparent from your lack of on-line logging.

 

Would a top 1/2 of one percent cacher use a non-clean peanut butter container?

[+Mule Ears]

I see this as a marketing opportunity. Here is our commitment:

 

All Mule Ears caches are 100% peanut free!

 

If you croak seeking one of our caches, it will be the exertion of getting to it, the relentless heat of the desert sun, the bite of a venomous reptile, attack by a large predator, spray of gunfire from a narco-smuggler or the sudden stop at the end of a long fall that will kill you, not some slimey peanut residue. Our cache containers are all refurbished ammo cans, latch-top glass jars, and (in one case) a 100-pound concrete box, not some sorry old Jiff jar like our cut-rate competitors. We want your caching business, and we're willing to work for it.

 

That's my pledge,

 

Mule Ears, CEO

Mule Ears Geocaches, Inc.

[+JoeMerchant]

It's messed up anyway, and it actually proves the comment I made earlier. Even if you just look at my logged finds, that's over 900. For those that DO play the stats game, there are only about 4000 out of over 1 million cachers in the world with over 900 finds. In my state, there are only 25 cachers over 900 finds. My true find count puts me WELL into the top 10 cachers for my state. Even my logged finds puts me in the top 1/2 of one percent of all cachers. Yet apparently, in certain parts of the country (coughJAXcough) 900 finds is so easy to do that one with so few finds is considered "inexperienced".

Thanks for proving my point.

 

Thanks for the numbers that clearly prove that numbers don't matter.

[+IceCreamMan]

Take a look at the stats of many of the posters. Thousands of posts, hundreds of finds and a dozen or two hides (if any). The mere recognition of this will likely get me flamed big time.

And rightly so.

 

If you come in here and claim some kind of superiority based on a comparison of find/hide stats, coupled with a demand that nobody challenge that claim, you'd better be wearing some heavy Nomex pajamas ... and a good helmet.

The annoying ones are the ones who feel inferior so they try to discredit the numbers and forget to talk about the subject at hand. The only people I've ever seen try to pull rank using numbers are people who log caches but don't post much. I don't see it much in the forums. I do vice versa a lot. I'm not sure what IceCreamMan's point was though. He didn't really discredit or credit...

 

My point was that OEnavigator shouldn't get the idea that the people on these forums are representative of geocachers in general. Some may be geocachers, and they may very well be good, experienced cachers and fun to be around besides. But the behaviors exhibited here are much more representative of forum dwellers in general than they are of geocachers. The people who post here regularly are a small microcosm of the geo-community. There are all kinds of geocachers but they are a unique bunch and you'll get a much better sampling of them on the cache trail, at events and on local forums. And you'll find them to be a great bunch of folks.

[+sseegars]

I am allergic to LATEX. I work in a ER. I know how to handle my allergy. I attempt to avoid latex, try that in a hospital. Do I worry about someone eating a latex glove in a room where I am working. Well, yes, but only because they could block their own airway and I would have to perform CPR in an attempt to save them. Not because I am afraid that the eating of the latex glove near me could harm me.

 

My wife has the same allergy. Does she ask the hospital to buy latex free gloves? No. She buys them herself and uses them as a business expense to write off on her taxes.

 

I have allergies to certain things as well. Okay they aren't as life threatening as what is being described here, but I do not ask others not to do certain things around me that I am allergic to that they aren't. I would just feel plain rude and out of line. Sorry but that's my .02.

 

A child being allergic to peanuts, I could see some sense in watching what container you use for a cache. HOWEVER, it is Mom and Dad's place to not let that child even TOUCH the cache before they inspect and open it to make sure it is safe. I have a two year old that I wouldn't dream of letting open a cache by herself. I think I will be keeping that little rule in force for several years to come.

Edited July 17, 2007 by DoctorWho