Worst cache containers found

[+wandererrob]

OK, after some mention of people having actually found a Pringles can and then somebody topping that with a Ziploc cat food pouch it got me thinking.

 

Who wants to get an opposite of the CCC thread going? What's the worst cache container you've found. Feel free to add pics if you have them.

 

I intend this to be humorous, but will hopefully also serve as a warning to other cache hiders. ""These are examples of what NOT to do".

Edited August 3, 2007 by wandererrob

[CacheNCarryMA]

Toothbrush holder (the two piece cylinder kind), hidden in a stone wall, containing a slightly damp, folded log.

[+Knight2000]

For me it has been a rusty skoal can.

 

To me it is leaving garbage around. (It was lying on the ground.) It also isn't doing much to encourage kids to not use tobacco. ("Daddy, what's that for?")

 

Thats just me though. Others probably don't care either way.

[+vonRichthofen]

Well... don't know what it was... but it was awful.

 

[+Kit Fox]

Used deodorant container complete with white residue, hidden in a Court Parking lot.

[+9Key]

I found a zip lock baggie - no container - hidden in a bush in bank parking lot in southern Oklahoma. Top 5 worst cache for me.

[+wandererrob]

Well... don't know what it was... but it was awful.

 

 

Maybe a fish food container? Nice hiding job too.

 

So far my worst is a rusted old first aid kit wrapped in a trash bag. Nice place, but a disappointing find for the kids that were with us for their first cache. And it was pretty soggy inside as you might imagaine.

Edited August 3, 2007 by wandererrob

[Mr.Yuck]

Well... don't know what it was... but it was awful.

 

 

Maybe a fish food container? Nice hiding job too.

 

So far my worst is a rusted old first aid kit wrapped in a trash bag. Nice place, but a disappointing find for the kids that were with us for their first cache. And it was pretty soggy inside as you might imagaine.

 

1. Glad you mentioned that (I would have forgotten). anything wrapped in a plastic trash bag or plastic shopping bag. They attract, not repel, moisture!! And they are a breeding ground for creepy crawly insects. Fortunately, it seems to be quite regional, and not widespread.

2. Dollar store plastic shoe box.

3. Plastic office supply box.

4. Chapstick container.

 

Sorry, couldn't choose one, 4-way tie.

Edited August 3, 2007 by TheWhiteUrkel

[+reptlcal]

I found a zipblock bag. The skinny sandwich kind.

[+briansnat]

That's easy, a cassette case. Right behind it is an Altoids tin.

[+StarBrand]

Small ziploc bag wrapped in a small black trash sack near the bank of a river. Had no finds for about 3 months we when found it one spring day. EEEEWWWWWW!!!! slimy, wet, smelly - but had a logbook pencils and some swag. hint said something about smooth black camo over.........

[+CurmudgeonlyGal]

How can one possible choose in a contest like this?!

 

Anything inside of a plastic trash bag... I generally choose to NOT log caches found in plastic bags. Risk getting That Smell on me w/o any facilities nearby? You've got to be kidding. Yuck.

 

One of my fave "I'm too cheap to put money into this game, but I want to hide a cache" micro's was an empty dental floss container. Hide that baby in an abandoned brick building wall that is crumbling and falling down around your feet and you've got a cache.

 

Howabout the Lysterine breath -melt-on-your-tongue- strip containers? Velcro it to the bottom of a railing at a park and you're good to go. Guaranteed to NOT be waterproof!

 

Remember those AOL tins? Those are really nice, too.

 

 

michelle

[+OEnavigators]

For me it has been a rusty skoal can.

 

To me it is leaving garbage around. (It was lying on the ground.) It also isn't doing much to encourage kids to not use tobacco. ("Daddy, what's that for?")

 

Thats just me though. Others probably don't care either way.

 

I totally agree. We found a cemetery cache which was a plastic skoal can. The log was actually a satellite bill that actually had "Official Log" written on the back.

 

It wasn't in a baggie or anything. Soaking wet. It was one of our first few finds and I almost quit geocaching that day. I didn't want to drag my family around searching for garbage!

[+KBI]

Not just because it was leaky:

 

One of the caches that has impressed me the least was the one I once found:

• In a Wal-Mart parking lot
  
• Under a lamp post skirt
  
• With a magnetic hide-a-key as the container
  
• And using the Wal-Mart receipt for the purchase of said hide-a-key as the log sheet .
  

That's right -- the hider walked into the store, bought a hide-a-key box, walked out to the parking lot, got as far as the nearest lamp post, unwrapped the box from its packaging (this step represented the most effort involved), placed the receipt in the box, placed the box under a lamp post skirt, marked the coords, and drove home to submit his hide.

 

The interesting thing is that dozens and dozens of cachers have logged it, many with very complimentary logs, earnestly describing their fun.

 

I logged it. I actually enjoyed it, in a twisted sort of way. Kind of the same way some people love to watch bad sci-fi movies from the 50s, the ones with the cheap and terrible special effects.

 

I wasn't impressed, but you do have to marvel at the efficiency of the whole concept.

Edited August 3, 2007 by KBI

[+briansnat]

It wasn't in a baggie or anything. Soaking wet. It was one of our first few finds and I almost quit geocaching that day. I didn't want to drag my family around searching for garbage!

 

[+wimseyguy]

How can one possible choose in a contest like this?!

 

Anything inside of a plastic trash bag... I generally choose to NOT log caches found in plastic bags. Risk getting That Smell on me w/o any facilities nearby? You've got to be kidding. Yuck.

 

I concur, except for the logging part, I'll take them. So my submission to the thread is a used Swiffer pad dispenser in a black trash bag tossed in the shrubs in a nice small town lakeside park. Dozens of better options within 25 yards of the spot. Occupational habits and hazards mean that I have a ready supply of latex gloves for retrievals such as these.

 

Remember those AOL tins? Those are really nice, too.

 

There are exceptions. Since this is long archived, I think I can spill the beans on it now. This was one of the coolest hides I have ever seen, and really belongs in the CCC thread. Yes, it was one of the AOL tins, but it had screw heads glued to the outside, and the hider, thanks to the support of a friend in the town's public works department, had painted it with the exact same paint used on the lampposts in town. Add a few HD magnets, and it looks just like an access panel for the lamppost. An outstanding in your face 'hide' IMO.

 

For me it has been a rusty skoal can.

One of the first times I saw the traditional skirtlifter hide was on a road trip. We also learned that Arkansas tupperware=used skoal can. We found a couple like that earlier in the day. During a conversation with another carload of cachers in our motel parking lot my companion lifted the nearest skirt to demonstrate our recent discovery. Even though there wasn't a cache posted for these coords, there was a skoal container there. But when he opened it, all that he found was foul tobacco colored water that splashed on his shirt. At least a fresh clean shirt wasn't far off.

 

Yup, used skoal container are the second worst.

[+Jeep_Dog]

Carmex lip balm tin. Yup, you guessed it - complete with lip balm residue still in the container. Also, attached to metal using a magnet - and the magnet was not attached to the container.

[+Glenn]

I found a zip lock baggie - no container - hidden in a bush in bank parking lot in southern Oklahoma. Top 5 worst cache for me.

 

I've found two such zip lock baggie caches. Both are on my worst containers of all time. The first one I found is on a beach. It has holes in it and sand is everywhere inside. I rechecked the past logs to see if could figure out what type of container it originally had. To my amazement the baggie is the original container. I disliked the cache so much I've never logged it.

 

Recently I found another zip lock baggie cache. This time it was under some bushes and the baggie was covered in some kind of slime. Luckily, this time, none of that slime had found its way in to the baggie but I imagine it is only a matter of time. Again another cache not worth logging.

[+Thrak]

I found a plastic water bottle - the kind you buy in a grocery store with water already in it - that had been cut in half and kind of pushed back together. #1 on my list of worst containers I've found. Zero water protection. Zero insect protection.

[+Lotho]

some sort of cosmetics pot with no water proffing at all. All the water went right in, leading the bagdes and coin swag inside to get rusty. Yay.

[+SousReal]

Well... don't know what it was... but it was awful.

 

 

Maybe a fish food container? Nice hiding job too.

 

So far my worst is a rusted old first aid kit wrapped in a trash bag. Nice place, but a disappointing find for the kids that were with us for their first cache. And it was pretty soggy inside as you might imagaine.

 

1. Glad you mentioned that (I would have forgotten). anything wrapped in a plastic trash bag or plastic shopping bag. They attract, not repel, moisture!! And they are a breeding ground for creepy crawly insects. Fortunately, it seems to be quite regional, and not widespread.

2. Dollar store plastic shoe box.

3. Plastic office supply box.

4. Chapstick container.

 

Sorry, couldn't choose one, 4-way tie.

 

Okay, So, I've got one that I did make out of a chapstick container. BUT! you wouldn't recognize it. I de constructed it, reconstructed it, and completely cleaned it out. I'm not lazy.

[+Isonzo Karst]

a zip lock baggie - no container - hidden in a bush in bank parking lot

 

wow, a winner: the ultimate combo of container >baggie, hide>shrub hunt, and location>bank parking lot....

 

I found the cat food treat bag/cache that was the start of this thread, but it was actually in an okay location (crotch of oak) along a nice trail.

 

Take out food containers... several times, fortunately that trend seems to have died

[+Harriet the Spy]

Single cigarette plastic container. It cracked after the first finder replaced the log and put the lid back on.

[fl4t_four]

Just off the top of my head.

 

1. Dental floss container with velcro on the bottom of a sign

2. Magnetic key holder with a reciept as a log. You couldn't find a piece of paper?

3. Magnetic strips with duct tape of the back of it stuck on a guard rail. You sign the duct tape. Sneaky but pen doesn't last long on duct tape in the weather. Nor does the duct glue in the weather.

[+Gator Man]

Two containers come immediately to mind. First was a ziplock bag under a rock in the woods of CT, back in the "Early Days of Geocaching", 2002. Second was a large Beef Jerky bag, left in an area frequented by Raccoons. I think I was STF on that one, and it disappeared shortly after that. I still wonder if the raccoon that ate it survived!

[+Eric K]

Not exactly the worst, but I've always hated the containers used from glass peanut butter jars.

 

Came across one that the glass was busted, just glad I saw it before my son who was pretty young at the time did. Plus if they aren't hidden well they look like garbage under a bush.

[+Driver Carries Cache]

Well... don't know what it was... but it was awful.

 

 

That's some extraordinary camo... how did you ever find it

 

DCC

[+Belfrypotters]

I found a zip lock baggie - no container - hidden in a bush in bank parking lot in southern Oklahoma. Top 5 worst cache for me.

There's one of those in a small Saskatchewan town, too. Ripped baggie, store-front bush. Several of us posted polite notes about what a stupid cache it was (not using the word 'stupid', of course, 'cause that wouldn't be polite ) so the owner disabled it. However, three people found it after that, then it was archived. Now it has been adopted and resurrected, presumably in a better container, but still in the same bush on Main Street.

But the garbage bag wrapped caches are definitely worse, because they are always wet and you're never quite sure what is going to be inside. Yuck!

[Clan Riffster]

Tough choice, as I've found many pathetically inept containers in my time. Although I recognize the hider's right to artistic freedom, using whatever container they choose, I also recognize my right to whine if & when they intentionally choose to hide garbage.

 

I guess the worst was a gallon ziplock wrapped in camo tape, tossed under a palmetto. Because the ziplock had been out in the wild for more than 30 seconds, the seal had failed. It was full of carpenter ants and soggy stuff. We considered revamping it, and had several fully stocked custom camo'ed ammo cans with us, but decided "Why bother?" We figured that anyone capable of hiding such a piece of carp wouldn't be able to appreciate an upgrade.

 

Runners up include a mini ziplock with just a log and water inside, tucked into a sign post. Surprise surprise, the seal had failed. I hear there's even a name for this type of carp. Slim Bob? Others of note include a few tackle boxes full of water, several coffee containers (both metal & plastic) full of water, hide-a-keys anywhere outside (always damp), Gladware outside is always bad, and of course, the woefully miserable film canister.

[+TheBeanTeam]

There have been many that were terrible including the plastic bags and insect filled film cannisters that I have run across over the years but one stands out.

 

A cardboard Tootsie Roll bank. It had masking tape over the coin drop hole and was on the bank of a millrace pond just above the nest of a large nutria. The jump that my caching partner made when the nutria leaped into the water just inches from his hand that was retrieving the cache was the redeeming factor on this cache find.

 

++

 

= a good laugh.

 

Then there was the metal coffee can hidden at the local dump. That was a bad container since it was filled with oily water.

Edited August 3, 2007 by TheBeanTeam

[+Miragee]

The cache that comes to mind as the worst I ever found was a one-gallon pretzel container . . . in an icky black plastic bag under a bush in a difficult-to-access, dead-end suburban alley where, when I turned the car around to get out of there, I picked up a deck screw in one of my tires.

 

Fortunately, the "plastic bag around the cache container" is not a common practice here.

 

One of the saddest caches I found was one that had a "theme" of electrical items: Bike lights, little AM/FM radios, different-sized flashlights, etc.

 

The container was one of those little plastic "sewing boxes" with the handle on the top. There was at least two-inches of water in it when I found it . . .

[+Tsmola]

Wow I feel lucky after reading this thread. I've seen a lot of different cache containers but nothing as weird as some of the stuff mentioned in this thread, a plastic bag wrapped in camo tape?! What is wrong with people? I think I found a plastic bag once, but that was because someone took the container but left all the swag in the bag.

[+Tsmola]

Well... don't know what it was... but it was awful.

 

 

btw that cache is so pitiful looking it's hilarious

[+Packanack]

Just thinking about how much money I could've saved on ammo cans and lock n locks and getting inspired for my next series of lousy container caches...hmmm

[4wheelin_fool]

It was in a cemetary and I could NOT find the log book..

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...9e-2718b05aa12d

Edited August 3, 2007 by 4wheelin_fool

[+Tsmola]

It was in a cemetary and I could NOT find the log book..

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...9e-2718b05aa12d

 

Just looking at the logs the location looked awesome though....

[+chuck6277]

That's right -- the hider walked into the store, bought a hide-a-key box, walked out to the parking lot, got as far as the nearest lamp post, unwrapped the box from its packaging (this step represented the most effort involved), placed the receipt in the box, placed the box under a lamp post skirt, marked the coords, and drove home to submit his hide.

 

I've seen some of those hide-a-keys sold without packaging. Even still, the receipt as log takes the cake!

[+TrailGators]

Not just because it was leaky:

 

One of the caches that has impressed me the least was the one I once found:

• In a Wal-Mart parking lot
  
• Under a lamp post skirt
  
• With a magnetic hide-a-key as the container
  
• And using the Wal-Mart receipt for the purchase of said hide-a-key as the log sheet .
  

That's right -- the hider walked into the store, bought a hide-a-key box, walked out to the parking lot, got as far as the nearest lamp post, unwrapped the box from its packaging (this step represented the most effort involved), placed the receipt in the box, placed the box under a lamp post skirt, marked the coords, and drove home to submit his hide.

 

The interesting thing is that dozens and dozens of cachers have logged it, many with very complimentary logs, earnestly describing their fun.

 

I logged it. I actually enjoyed it, in a twisted sort of way. Kind of the same way some people love to watch bad sci-fi movies from the 50s, the ones with the cheap and terrible special effects.

 

I wasn't impressed, but you do have to marvel at the efficiency of the whole concept.

 

That's funny!

[+OEnavigators]

Not just because it was leaky:

 

One of the caches that has impressed me the least was the one I once found:

• In a Wal-Mart parking lot
  
• Under a lamp post skirt
  
• With a magnetic hide-a-key as the container
  
• And using the Wal-Mart receipt for the purchase of said hide-a-key as the log sheet .
  

That's right -- the hider walked into the store, bought a hide-a-key box, walked out to the parking lot, got as far as the nearest lamp post, unwrapped the box from its packaging (this step represented the most effort involved), placed the receipt in the box, placed the box under a lamp post skirt, marked the coords, and drove home to submit his hide.

 

The interesting thing is that dozens and dozens of cachers have logged it, many with very complimentary logs, earnestly describing their fun.

 

I logged it. I actually enjoyed it, in a twisted sort of way. Kind of the same way some people love to watch bad sci-fi movies from the 50s, the ones with the cheap and terrible special effects.

 

I wasn't impressed, but you do have to marvel at the efficiency of the whole concept.

 

I can't decide whether to be appalled at the hiders laziness or impressed with his efficiency?

[+Bushlight]

Well... don't know what it was... but it was awful.

 

I don't see it.

[+logonwheeler]

I must say that this is a fantstic thread!

 

One of the worst I have seen is a plastic tube that had been slit at the top several times so a "too small" lid would fit on. Definitely not waterproof by any means if there was a real rain.

Edited August 3, 2007 by logonwheeler

[+TrailGators]

I'm having a hard time deciding what my worst was.....

 

It was one of these:

1) A crumpled up piece of paper hidden under a rock.

2) A Centrum vitamin bottle (with label) under a lamp post cover next to a garbage dumpster with just a crumpled piece of dirty paper inside. I'm thinking that they got the bottle and the log from the dumpster.

3) A wadded up piece of paper crammed behind a plastic sign outside the entrance to a gas station.

4) An actual sprinkler head that someone removed the sprinkler from and put a cap on and crammed a ziplock bag inside. I guess they forgot that water would still fill the sprinkler head...

Edited August 3, 2007 by TrailGators

[+mtn-man]

Does no container count? Logsheet only, under a lamp post cover.

 

I posted in my log what I found and that I had put the log in a pill container I used to carry new spare batteries in (that keeps the batteries from touching anything metal in my pack and killing themselves). I got a fast reply from the cache owner freaking out and he said he was going to check it and make adjustments as needed. Great guy and he had no idea that it had become just a sheet of paper.

[+KBI]

Bad cache container? Bad idea for a logbook?

 

How about no container, no logbook?

 

How about a baseball?

 

This cache even features a grueling eight-hour round-trip hike -- but there has GOT to be an awesome view from the top (I've actually seen the mountain, but only from the base). It's a beautiful area.

 

The honor of First Finder is still available. Anyone? Anyone?

[+Knight2000]

I posted in my log what I found and that I had put the log in a pill container I used to carry new spare batteries in (that keeps the batteries from touching anything metal in my pack and killing themselves). I got a fast reply from the cache owner freaking out and he said he was going to check it and make adjustments as needed. Great guy and he had no idea that it had become just a sheet of paper.

We have had a similar instance. I usually take pictures and send them to owner if i feel the cache isnt the way they wanted it originally.

 

I got a reply. The owner simply archived it leaving geo-litter. I stopped by about a month later and it was still there under a rock at the base of the tree. That kind of stuff irritates me.

[+Knight2000]

How about a baseball?

Can't imagine that will hold up too well...

[Mag Magician]

Worst ever for me. 600 miles from home, on a quick trip to SW Michigan, and I had a dozen on my Palm to grab on the in that area. We get to ground zero on one, and after searching for 5 minutes, think it's a DNF. All that's hidden in the bush there is a 12 ounce plastic pop bottle, full of slimy green water. OH! and a pencil!!!! OK, so we put that one in the DNF file on the Palm and head home, another 12 hours drive. I found, when I went to log the DNF that the cache had been archived by the local reviewer, due to some discrediting posts, during our time on the trip. If I remember correctly, at the time I was just angry enough to post a note on it, but I can't remember.

Edited August 3, 2007 by Team Magic

[+Tsmola]

Worst ever for me. 600 miles from home, on a quick trip to SW Michigan, and I had a dozen on my Palm to grab on the in that area. We get to ground zero on one, and after searching for 5 minutes, think it's a DNF. All that's hidden in the bush there is a 12 ounce plastic pop bottle, full of slimy green water. OH! and a pencil!!!! OK, so we put that one in the DNF file on the Palm and head home, another 12 hours drive. I found, when I went to log the DNF that the cache had been archived by the local reviewer, due to some discrediting posts, during our time on the trip. If I remember correctly, at the time I was just angry enough to post a note on it, but I can't remember.

 

living in SW MI, I'm curious which cache this was and who the hider was

[+KBI]

How about a baseball?

Can't imagine that will hold up too well...

It's been there for more than two years now without a find.

[Mag Magician]

 

living in SW MI, I'm curious which cache this was and who the hider was

Wait till I go through my logs and see if I can find it. It's east of Jones, somewhere, and the power was out because of the severe storms you had in May.