Cache Container Exchange

[+Inmountains]

I have a question that I haven't seen before, but maybe it has been addressed. I have a cache that seems to be quite popular, but it was a really cheap, dollar store container. If a cache has a lot of activity and resides in a rather extreme location (this one is at 12,000 feet elevation), should the container be changed out to a better, more durable container? This one is still under 10 feet of snow, so I will have to wait till probably June to exchange it if I should! My fear is that a better container has a stronger chance of being muggled.

[+hydnsek]

I have a question that I haven't seen before, but maybe it has been addressed. I have a cache that seems to be quite popular, but it was a really cheap, dollar store container. If a cache has a lot of activity and resides in a rather extreme location (this one is at 12,000 feet elevation), should the container be changed out to a better, more durable container? This one is still under 10 feet of snow, so I will have to wait till probably June to exchange it if I should! My fear is that a better container has a stronger chance of being muggled.

Yes, more durable containers are much preferred to cracked ones with soggy contents. Certainly, if it's under several feet of snow, it should be durable. Plus, you'll have lower maintenance needs, as it will last longer. If it's not in a heavy-traffic area, the chances of it being muggled are quite low. Ammo cans and lock-n-locks are the preferred containers out here, esp. in the snow zones. Both hold up quite well for years.

[+Taoiseach]

By the sounds of it, an Ammo Can would be the best

 

Lock 'n' Locks are good in that they stay closed well, however they are still plastic and therefore brittle when frozen

[+StarBrand]

Go with an ammo can for those conditions. I have one at 10,800 feet. In winter its sits under up to 30 feet of snowpack. Been there 6 years and going well in a 50 cal ammo can.

[+briansnat]

The more extreme the location, the better quality container you should use, unless you want to keep going back to repair or dry out the cache. I'd put an ammo box in a spot like that.

[+hydnsek]

By the sounds of it, an Ammo Can would be the best

 

Lock 'n' Locks are good in that they stay closed well, however they are still plastic and therefore brittle when frozen

True, ammo cans are the best, but I have two lock-n-lock caches in the Cascades under several feet of snow, and they are in their third winter, doing fine. Tough plastic!

[Trinity's Crew]

My fear is that a better container has a stronger chance of being muggled.

I'm curious... why would a better container be more prone to being muggled? As others have suggested, an ammo box sounds like the best choice for this cache. Edited April 3, 2008 by Trinity's Crew

[+ThePetersTrio]

My fear is that a better container has a stronger chance of being muggled.

I'm curious... why would a better container be more prone to being muggled?

 

Maybe muggled isn't the best word. I recently had a waterproof camouflaged container ($20 from Joes) stolen from an 8 day old cache. The contents of the cache were replaced less than 48 hours later inside of a $1 Glad food storage container. The cacher even went to the lengths to peel off my identification stickers (both inside and outside the cache) and put them on the crappy replacement container.

 

At least I got the log book back and almost every entry says, "cool container" so obviously some cacher thought it would be ok to just take it.

 

I left them some choice words on my now disabled cache page. Fat lot of good that'll do.

 

But the point is to get an appropriate waterproof container without having it be something you would be upset to have taken.

Edited April 3, 2008 by ThePetersTrio

[Clan Riffster]

why would a better container be more prone to being muggled?

I agree with ThePetersTrio. Imagine some wandering muggle coming upon your cache. If it's an old, faded, warped piece of Tupperware, they might poke around the innards, but they'll probably not want to bring it home. If it's a pristine ammo can, that baby's gonna be in their livingroom faster than Rosie O'Donnell can gnaw through the side of a carton of Ben & Jerry's. Kewl stuff is just more prone to getting stolen than carpy stuff.

 

Maybe that's why no one has stolen my truck...

[+briansnat]

My fear is that a better container has a stronger chance of being muggled.

I'm curious... why would a better container be more prone to being muggled?

 

Maybe muggled isn't the best word. I recently had a waterproof camouflaged container ($20 from Joes) stolen from an 8 day old cache. The contents of the cache were replaced less than 48 hours later inside of a $1 Glad food storage container. The cacher even went to the lengths to peel off my identification stickers (both inside and outside the cache) and put them on the crappy replacement container.

 

At least I got the log book back and almost every entry says, "cool container" so obviously some cacher thought it would be ok to just take it.

 

I left them some choice words on my now disabled cache page. Fat lot of good that'll do.

 

But the point is to get an appropriate waterproof container without having it be something you would be upset to have taken.

 

That stinks that someone would steal your container and replace it with a cheaper one, but it's also pretty rare. Anyway ammo boxes are pretty cheap if you shop around.