Have you found any caches NOT appropriate for kids?

[vanceland]

I am learning about Geocaching, and would like to take my 4 and 6 year old with me "treasure hunting". Has any one found a cache that had contents inappropriate for kids? (i.e. sharp objects, racy reading material etc...).

 

Thanks in advance for your response.

[knowschad]

I am learning about Geocaching, and would like to take my 4 and 6 year old with me "treasure hunting". Has any one found a cache that had contents inappropriate for kids? (i.e. sharp objects, racy reading material etc...).

 

Thanks in advance for your response.

 

Rarely. Actually, never, in my case, except for a couple of closed pocket knives that I removed, but occasionally we do hear stories here. Rare, but still you should probably check the caches out first before you let your kids rummage through it, just to be safe.

[+Bear and Ragged]

UK wise.

3 years and 600 caches. 1 condom unused, still in its wrapper. I removed it from the cache.

 

A person has been convicted in the UK by the police for 'distributing pornographic material' by leaving it in caches -a cache trasher, the local caching community were aware of him leaving stuff in caches, and were keeping an eye on thier local ones.

 

Doesn't happen very often that 'inappropriate items' get left in caches. If it is left, it's soon removed.

Edited June 24, 2009 by Bear and Ragged

[+Renegade Knight]

I am learning about Geocaching, and would like to take my 4 and 6 year old with me "treasure hunting". Has any one found a cache that had contents inappropriate for kids? (i.e. sharp objects, racy reading material etc...).

 

Thanks in advance for your response.

 

Pocket knife (in a sheath) but that's not common and not offcially allowed.

Other than that it's not the cache so much as the area around some of them. I've found in the parks drug paraphanelia including needles, used condoms, mens magazines, and vagrants. Alas caches are in the world we live in. As long as you are there, your kids will be fine and odds are the cache won't be the problem.

[+fratermus]

After a few years in the field, the most obnoxious thing I've found in a cache was one of those "convert to my religion, which is of course the One True Religion" comic book tracts. I traded it out of the cache and drizzled chicken blood, rum spray and cigar smoke over it while dancing in the moonlight near the..... sorry, got sidetracked there for a moment.

 

As others have noted, I have found far worse in junkpiles in the forest. Needles, drug paraphenalia, used condoms, homeless encampments. This is a function of littering in general and not caching in particular. Indeed, cachers generally leave places better than they found it.

Edited June 24, 2009 by fratermus

[vanceland]

Thanks very much for your responses. Pretty much what I expected, but thought I would check to be sure. My kids can't wait to get started!

[+Chrysalides]

I've found excrement (either human or large canine - I declined to inspect in detail) in a cache. Not sure who left it there. I removed it and informed the cache owner, as it was listed as a kid friendly cache and I didn't want anyone getting sick from rummaging inside it.

 

I've also come across edible items which I removed. Most adults know better than to eat random things they find, but some of the younger kids may not.

[+StarBrand]

I've seen a few with rusty fishing lures and 2 or 3 with pocket knives - but never really anything terribly objectionable for kids.

[+StarBrand]

I've seen a few with rusty fishing lures and 2 or 3 with pocket knives - but never really anything terribly objectionable for kids.

[+MountainRacer]

Likewise here in New Jersey. Aside from two or three pocket knives and, oddly, a road flare, most of the thousand-plus caches I've found have been perfectly safe and sanitary. The most annoying thing I've encountered with any regularity is "9/11 Truth" postcards, courtesy of some local tinfoil-hatter. I consider them harmless CITO fodder.

[+AlohaBra and MaksMom]

Outside of the contents...I thought I would mention some dangers..... I usually use gloves but I still smashed my hand recently. The object was heavy and slipped with my hand under it and smash! oww! I'll live though.. and some ice made it much better. So, just look out for those things.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Thanks very much for your responses. Pretty much what I expected, but thought I would check to be sure. My kids can't wait to get started!

 

Quite often a conscientious cache owner will write something up in the cache listing if it there area might be potentially dangerous for small children. There is even an attribute that can be included to indicate that a cache is or is not recommended for kids.

 

Geocaches which are near busy roads, cliffs, or near water are often candidates for the "not recommended for kids" attribute. However, not all cache owners will take the time to include them. I found a cache a couple of weeks ago that was along a well worn, fairly flat trail. The trail had a few exposed roots but it was otherwise easy to navigate. However, about 200' before I got to the cache location and again in another spot very close to the cache there was a lot of erosion near the trail. In one spot, for a distance of 50' or so, there was a near vertical 200' drop into the riverbed below. At one spot the drop was about 10' from the edge of the trail. I was FTF on the cache and wrote a note about the potential danger for future seekers of the cache that might have small children in tow.

 

Quite frequently in these forums the topic of rating caches comes up but I don't think any of them are talking about NC-17 ratings on caches.

[knowschad]

Quite often a conscientious cache owner will write something up in the cache listing if it there area might be potentially dangerous for small children.

 

Example here

[+Steve&GeoCarolyn]

Quite often a conscientious cache owner will write something up in the cache listing if it there area might be potentially dangerous for small children.

 

Example here

 

Aren't you supposed to avoid terrifying newbies in this part of the forum? I thought the tadpole designation or posting in the Getting Started area was a guarantee of gentle treatment. And here you expose him to Psycho Urban Caches first time out of the gate! Shocking!

 

Carolyn

 

P.S. Other than soggy plush toys in the cache, we haven't seen anything bad.

Edited June 25, 2009 by Steve&GeoCarolyn

[+niraD]

Of course, given the "not suitable for small children" definition of 3-star terrain, parents should think seriously before taking young kids to caches with 3-star (or higher) terrain.

 

Back on topic, the worst trade items I've found in a cache were some rather graphic (blood and gore, not sex) politically-oriented stickers. I traded up for them, and then disposed of them.

 

But I've also found a couple caches that contained wet, decomposing messes. I wouldn't wish something like that on another adult, let alone a kid.

[+Rockin Roddy]

We went after a cache advertising it was for the kids, it even told told the adults to sit down and allow the youngsters to make the find. The container was hidden inside a fake electric junction box which required the kids to remove the screws and remove the lid in order to obtain the container. I wrote the owner asking if this was such a good idea, he agreed it wasn't and archived it!

[+Prime Suspect]

Found a crack pipe in one of the first caches I ever found. I'm guessing the person who left it probably didn't know its true purpose. They used to sell (and may still, FAIK) in convenience stores a tiny flower in a capped glass tube. The cacher who left it probably didn't know that the flower was just a way to get around the law, and allow the selling of drug paraphernalia. It's the glass tube that's really being sold.

[+fratermus]

Tangent: as an ex-soldier, Eagle Scout, and human, I'll add that I would really to prefer to live in a world where a pocketknife was an appropriate tool for any kid old/capable enough to geocache on their own.

[+BlueDeuce]

I am learning about Geocaching, and would like to take my 4 and 6 year old with me "treasure hunting". Has any one found a cache that had contents inappropriate for kids? (i.e. sharp objects, racy reading material etc...).

 

Thanks in advance for your response.

 

Rarely. Actually, never, in my case, except for a couple of closed pocket knives that I removed, but occasionally we do hear stories here. Rare, but still you should probably check the caches out first before you let your kids rummage through it, just to be safe.

 

Just to add that sometimes when I cached with my then four year old, I would find the cache myself long before I took him. That way I knew how far of a walk it was going to be and whether or not the cache was still there.

 

But for the most part you won't have an issue with inappropriate swag. It's more likely you'll find worthless junk to trade for.

[knowschad]

Quite often a conscientious cache owner will write something up in the cache listing if it there area might be potentially dangerous for small children.

 

Example here

 

Aren't you supposed to avoid terrifying newbies in this part of the forum? I thought the tadpole designation or posting in the Getting Started area was a guarantee of gentle treatment. And here you expose him to Psycho Urban Caches first time out of the gate! Shocking!

 

Carolyn

 

P.S. Other than soggy plush toys in the cache, we haven't seen anything bad.

 

Oops! Let's see... what is the phrase I'm looking for? ... oh yea. "My Bad!"

 

By the way, last night I did a little research about that cache. The map shows that it is located here, at Fort Armistead Park: Looks like Vinnie is NOT exaggerating the risks of that place!

[+briansnat]

Likewise here in New Jersey. Aside from two or three pocket knives and, oddly, a road flare, most of the thousand-plus caches I've found have been perfectly safe and sanitary. The most annoying thing I've encountered with any regularity is "9/11 Truth" postcards, courtesy of some local tinfoil-hatter. I consider them harmless CITO fodder.

 

And all along I thought that waa YOU putting those in there.

 

The worst things I've encountered were a broken shot glass and a broken Christmas tree ornament.

 

It's always a good idea for an adult to open and examine the cache before handing it over to the kids.

[+Arrow42]

In my area is a color-themed cache. In that cache I found an unused condom of the appropriate color. Odd that... never knew they sold orange condoms.

 

Other then that one cache... everything I've found has been either kid friendly. At the worst, some caches I've visited just have nothing for kids in them.

[+Renegade Knight]

Tangent: as an ex-soldier, Eagle Scout, and human, I'll add that I would really to prefer to live in a world where a pocketknife was an appropriate tool for any kid old/capable enough to geocache on their own.

 

It is. At least that's what I taught my kids. Last night I expressed my utter dissapointment that my daughter wasn't packing when I didn't happen to have my own knife on me.

[+Renegade Knight]

Tangent: as an ex-soldier, Eagle Scout, and human, I'll add that I would really to prefer to live in a world where a pocketknife was an appropriate tool for any kid old/capable enough to geocache on their own.

[+Prime Suspect]

Tangent: as an ex-soldier, Eagle Scout, and human, I'll add that I would really to prefer to live in a world where a pocketknife was an appropriate tool for any kid old/capable enough to geocache on their own.

Would you consider it "appropriate" for a prisoner on a road-side work detail to find in a cache? (Just in case you're wondering why they were banned in the first place.)

[+Steve&GeoCarolyn]

Oops! Let's see... what is the phrase I'm looking for? ... oh yea. "My Bad!"

 

By the way, last night I did a little research about that cache. The map shows that it is located here, at Fort Armistead Park: Looks like Vinnie is NOT exaggerating the risks of that place!

 

OK, I can definitely say that I will not be visiting that cache. It would require someone made of sterner stuff than me.

 

When I first saw Vinnie's Psycho Urban cache series, I showed my beloved that one and said excitedly, "Wouldn't it be cool to go there?"

 

He looked at the listing and said, "But you're afraid of everything in the listing. Everything."

 

"No, I'm not. I don't mind spiders."

 

He told me that he didn't think my fearlessness around spiders qualified as meeting the basic requirements to search for that cache.

 

Carolyn

[+fratermus]

Would you consider it "appropriate" for a prisoner on a road-side work detail to find in a cache?

 

That is truly bizarre logic; I assume it is not your idea and you are merely reporting it, so no personal offense intended.

 

I consider it no more inappropriate than for a road-side work detail to pick up a rock, a broken bottle, a tire iron, or a syringe. Or, for that matter, any trade swag in the cache that might be used in the blackmarket economy. There are protocols for prisoners who find dangerous things when on the chain gang.

 

If this is truly a valid concern (and I suggest it is not), then it would be far more rational for GC to stop accepting cache placements within X miles of a correctional institution. Problem solved.

 

(Just in case you're wondering why they were banned in the first place.)

 

I wasn't wondering at all. I was assuming (and still assume) it was to protect Groundspeak from real or imagined liability.

[+briansnat]

I wasn't wondering at all. I was assuming (and still assume) it was to protect Groundspeak from real or imagined liability.

 

Actually it was because many park systems had an issue with "weapons" in caches. One city parks department implemented a park system wide geocaching ban because of the mention of a pocket knife in a LOG. It wasn't even in the cache at the time. The rule was implemented shortly afterward.

 

Now I don't consider a pocket knife to be a weapon (nor does the law in most states), but apparently certain mindless bureaucrats do and some of them happen to run parks.

[+Knight2000]

Just open the cache yourself if you are worried.

[+Scoots&Nobi]

Tangent: as an ex-soldier, Eagle Scout, and human, I'll add that I would really to prefer to live in a world where a pocketknife was an appropriate tool for any kid old/capable enough to geocache on their own.

 

Amen man...We had pocket knives in cub scouts and never cut any chicken heads off...Widdling sticks is a thing of the past. Guess kids these days cut their fingers off or something

[+Scoots&Nobi]

Tangent: as an ex-soldier, Eagle Scout, and human, I'll add that I would really to prefer to live in a world where a pocketknife was an appropriate tool for any kid old/capable enough to geocache on their own.

Would you consider it "appropriate" for a prisoner on a road-side work detail to find in a cache? (Just in case you're wondering why they were banned in the first place.)

 

Maybe thats where all the missing TB's are! Being sharpened into razor blades on a san Quentin floor! Yikes Can you imagine what they do with the snoopy PEZ dispenser that was attached to it?

[+Zolgar]

Tangent: as an ex-soldier, Eagle Scout, and human, I'll add that I would really to prefer to live in a world where a pocketknife was an appropriate tool for any kid old/capable enough to geocache on their own.

Would you consider it "appropriate" for a prisoner on a road-side work detail to find in a cache? (Just in case you're wondering why they were banned in the first place.)

 

Maybe thats where all the missing TB's are! Being sharpened into razor blades on a san Quentin floor! Yikes Can you imagine what they do with the snoopy PEZ dispenser that was attached to it?

 

Probably consume lots of yummy PEZ.

 

Everyone loves PEZ, even hardened criminals!

[+gcfishguy]

Being who we are, we have likely shown our kids pocket knives and made sure they understand that they are tools and not toys.

The problem comes about when a child that hasn't been taught any of that finds the cache by accident.

 

It's not the gun owner's kid who's going to pick up one of his dad's guns and shoot someone, thinking it's a toy. Hopefully he's been taught, warned, and shown. It's his friend who's over at the house and has never been shown safe gun handling and respect for it.

 

I never knew about the reason for banning knives (prison work crew, above) but now that I hear it, it sure makes sense...

 

The common sense reason would be that you're taking something potentially dangerous and putting it out there where you can't control who finds it and what they may do with it. I'm not talking about adults...I mean kids. I certainly wouldn't want to hear about a kid that bled out after he cut himself playing with a knife that *I* left in a cache.

 

To the OP: If you caching in a 'rough' area, or in an area where sketchy things go on in the bushes, expect just about anything. (Not left by a cacher, but rather an idiot thinking he/she is being funny)

 

The type of people that would abuse a cache generally aren't the type of people that will venture too far from their niches. Choose caches in places that those sorts of people wouldn't go.

 

There's always the chance that there's something in there that you wouldn't want your kid driving their hand into...even natural stuff like mold and mildew from leaky caches. Just make sure they understand that (with anything) Mon or Dad will open it and check it out first, then it's theirs to dig through all they want.

 

Having to wait while Mom or Dad sorts through the Halloween candy doesn't discourage them from trick-or-treating....they know it's a part of it. Same would apply to finding caches.

[+GumshoeTully]

About 40 miles to the south of me is a town called Climax, Kansas. There cannot be a town with a name like that and not have a cache in it. There is nothing unsuitble about the cache but there is some inuendo(SP) in the logs. I think I logged that I got there earlier than I expected to.

[t4mel]

About 40 miles to the south of me is a town called Climax, Kansas. There cannot be a town with a name like that and not have a cache in it. There is nothing unsuitble about the cache but there is some inuendo(SP) in the logs. I think I logged that I got there earlier than I expected to.

That's funny...I don't think I've ever made it there.

[jal_ut]

A book of matches in one cache, and candy in a wet cache box that made a big mess, are the worst I have found. I am amazed at how many cache containers are not water proof and the contents are soaked. Add candy and you have a sticky mess.

[+Curioddity]

I found a really disgusting "Say No To Abortion" playing card in a cache. It was disturbing on so many levels, and NOT something a kid should see. I'm not interested in participating in that debate on either side, but stuff like that just doesn't belong in a cache. That's about the only inappropriate thing I've found in a cache, but I've only found about 270 of 'em so far.

 

Pete (who survived lawn darts and spud guns as a kid)

[+johnus]

Nothing inappropriate, but I found a backpack full of stolen stuff at the exact coordinates for a cache tonight (everything from clothes to a few wallets, and some cash register keys and ID cards for a local business). Kinda strange, I dropped it all off with a Police Supervisor.