Water ingress problems with 35mm film canisters

[+The Jones']

Some of my caches are really suffering with the rain we have been getting recently, especially the 35mm film canisters, can anyone recommend an alternative of similar size or some protection mechanism?

 

Thanks,

The Jones'

[+Lost in Space]

Some of my caches are really suffering with the rain we have been getting recently, especially the 35mm film canisters, can anyone recommend an alternative

 

Ammo cans - Give up on micros...........

[+melmur]

Or put the 35mm film container inside a tupperware box.

[+ventura_kids]

Here in California, where it never rains, we enclose the logsheets in tiny plastic baggies.

Most of our 35mm hides still seem soggy at times.

 

In Oregon, they don't put baggies on anything. Most of the logsheets we found were dry, even a day after a rain....and it rains there everyday.

 

So, I guess I don't have an answer....nevermind.

[+harrogate hunters]

Those little canisters that diabetic testing strips come in.....

 

Or any little pill boxes should work

[+Just Roger]

 

Or any little pill boxes should work

 

Pill boxes are better at keeping adults out than they are at children and water.

 

Seriously the snap on lid variety are no more waterproof than a 35mm can. The screw top ones are probably better.

[+scottpa100]

The preform plastic bottles are good. They are designed to keep liquids in.... so they should also be able to keep liquids out. They are longer than micros - but the diameter is about the same.

[+Sue and Bernie]

Using the same principle as above - we use specimin bottles (unused of course).

 

These have the advantage that they are transparent so make ideal intermediate waypoint micros for multicaches with a small laminate set of coordinates visible without needing to open the container.

[Deceangi]

Those little canisters that diabetic testing strips come in.....

 

 

If The Jones care to contact me with a snail mail addy, I've got a couple hanging around the house Currently I can supply a new one every 50 days though that periods looks like getting shorter in the future

[+Simply Paul]

Some army surplus places have aluminium cigarette tubes, which have a rubber inner seal and screw top. You should get 4-5 for a pound, and they're even green as standard.

[+sTeamTraen]

The 35mm canisters where the lid goes "inside" (often in cloudy sort-of-clear plastic - I think they are made by Fuji) keep the water out quite a lot better than the Kodak-style ones with the lid which overlaps the rim.

[+mongoose39uk]

Some army surplus places have aluminium cigarette tubes, which have a rubber inner seal and screw top. You should get 4-5 for a pound, and they're even green as standard.

 

Been trying that avenue for a year now and none of them seem to have any left

[+drdick&vick]

Take a quick look at this listing on EBay

EBay listing

[+Alibags]

I have used some sample tubes passed on to me from a customer. They were designed for sending samples of water through the post, so they are pretty good. However, one cache I have set using one of these is reported as soggy. Doesn't matter how watertight your caches are if people go caching in the rain and don't attempt to keep the logs dry!

[+Team Sieni]

There's always the human factor too. I found an ammo can recently and the lid had not been shut. It was in a nice dry place, mind so all was well, but you have to rely on the finder putting the lid back on properly. (I should own up that I once saw the next log after me complaining of the similar thing on a cache I'd found).

[+tman4591]

Most outdoor/camping shops do watertight match containers. They are slightly bigger than a 35mm film container & are bright orange but will paint ok. I've used one underwater & it's been ok so far.

[+thekennelat79]

When I go to visit my local hospital / doctor's surgery, I make a point of "scrounging" a few (unused) sample containers.

These are clear plastic tubes, typically about 5" x 1.5" with a screwtop lid. Since they are designed to keep "liquids" in, they are equally suitable for keeping water out! There is usually a rubber seal in the top which guarantees a watertight seal.

As a previous poster has said, they can be left clear so that waypoint instructions inside them can be easily read without opening the container. Alternatively, for use as a cache, they can be covered with tape and then painted.

All in all, much better than a film canister!

[+purple_pineapple]

When I go to visit my local hospital / doctor's surgery, I make a point of "scrounging" a few (unused) sample containers.

These are clear plastic tubes, typically about 5" x 1.5" with a screwtop lid. Since they are designed to keep "liquids" in, they are equally suitable for keeping water out! There is usually a rubber seal in the top which guarantees a watertight seal.

As a previous poster has said, they can be left clear so that waypoint instructions inside them can be easily read without opening the container. Alternatively, for use as a cache, they can be covered with tape and then painted.

All in all, much better than a film canister!

 

as someone who works with these sample containers all day every day, I would add a word of warning. There are many different types of them, and some are more water tight than others. yes, they are supposed to keep liquids in, but some are not very good at doing even that!

 

Additionally, keep in mind the material. Some of the containers are made froma quite brittle clear plastic (polystyrene - not the squidgy white stuff!), which are very prone to cracking, and will not survive freezing.

 

I use sample containers myself - an opaque plastic and more flexible (polypropylene) - which makes them freezable AND gives a better seal.

[+PSHAX]

I now use bottle preforms for my micros.. They are extremely strong, and waterproof.

Just how waterproof depends on how tight the finder puts the top back on, but I also pop a small silica gel sachet in mine and use "write in the rain" type paper for the logbook just in case.

 

I've also knocked up a "holster" to make attaching to "objects" easier..

 

Edited November 4, 2008 by PSHAX

[+Stuey]

I've just brought in two caches that have been out for several years. They are open to the elements and are in the standard black 35mm containers with the overlapping lid. The log rolls inside them are fine, so I have no problem using them again in future.

[+sTeamTraen]

but I also pop a small silica gel sachet in mine

Silica gel sachets have no practical use in any form of cache. They are designed to absorb a small amount of humidity inside a packaged product, presumably during air shipping (when the drop in temperature means that condensation can be a problem). They don't have some magic quality that allows them to absorb an unlimited quantity of moisture, unless you dry them out; so once they're "full", which takes about two days in the outdoors in autumn, they stay that way.

 

Write - sorry, "Rite™" - in the rain paper is a good idea because it's not only fairly damp-proof, it can also take quite a lot of scrunching. Logs in PET preforms suffer from that more than most because of the friction involved in getting the log in and out.

[+J10fly]

For the 35mm canisters I've always had good luck with the milky white ones. They are sturdier and a heck of a lot more waterproof. Myself, I have been also starting to do a lot of the preforms. You can practically drive over them without them breaking. They are incredibly waterproof and easily paintable. I also have done some hides with what we call a mini-canister. It's about the size of a 35mm film can but it has a threaded top with o-ring and a key ring on top. They work wonderful!

[+PSHAX]

but I also pop a small silica gel sachet in mine

Silica gel sachets have no practical use in any form of cache. They are designed to absorb a small amount of humidity inside a packaged product, presumably during air shipping (when the drop in temperature means that condensation can be a problem). They don't have some magic quality that allows them to absorb an unlimited quantity of moisture, unless you dry them out; so once they're "full", which takes about two days in the outdoors in autumn, they stay that way.

 

Write - sorry, "Rite™" - in the rain paper is a good idea because it's not only fairly damp-proof, it can also take quite a lot of scrunching. Logs in PET preforms suffer from that more than most because of the friction involved in getting the log in and out.

 

Well, I beg to differ on the silica sachet idea... They do absorb the small amount of atmospheric moisture in the tube.. As long as it aint sopping wet.. And I do change them every couple of weeks for fresh baked ones.... My logs are printed to fit the tube, and no folding, scrunching or bending is needed!!!!

 

And my "write in the rain" paper aint the usual stuff.. I get it as offcuts from military maps.. Hence the WRITE in the rain!

[+Sue and Bernie]

Some of the containers are made from a quite brittle clear plastic (polystyrene - not the squidgy white stuff!), which are very prone to cracking, and will not survive freezing.

 

Our experience has been rather different - our first cache, a multi, uses several sample tubes that have now been out for three consecutive winters without mishap. One sample tube is in a very wet location, the others are out of sight (and direct sunlight) and all appear to be as good as new.

 

Similar for our second multi that uses a few more sample bottles but that's only gone through a single winter to date.

[+vw_k]

It's also worth checking the "lock & lock" containers in your local supermarket, I've seen them come in very small sizes, slightly bigger diameter than a film canister allowing geocoins to fit in them.