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Does anyone go caching when it's raining?


ItisTrue

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heck yeah i go in the rain! i have some really nice rain gear and LOVE using it :lostsignal:

i even splash my way through every available puddle! Montrail boots for the win!

 

i'll be in the rain hiking all morning tomorrow too!

 

coyote point, CA last week

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last week

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few days ago

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:)

Edited by SubyJeff
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For your "super saturated" 100% humidity thingie......

For the record, it's not my thingie. Unless things have changed radically since I woke up, most of the air outdoors has no owner. If there is high humidity, it is yours as much as mine. You feel it is entirely acceptable to allow moisture into a cache, even if the cache is not yours. Who am I to argue with that? Gaia knows, I wouldn't want to interfere with your right to open an ammo can in a downpour.

 

Well, since you just want to be a "smarty" and not attempt to converse about the topic you started, I went ahead and did the work for you...

 

In an 86°F air temperature atmosphere at 100% humidity, a micro container that holds 20 mL of air will have up to 30 micrograms of water in it. The droplet that could be formed by 30 micrograms of water would hardly be visible on the logsheet.

 

This is yet another totally bogus issue. Folks should feel free to go caching in the rain.

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In an 86°F air temperature atmosphere at 100% humidity, a micro container that holds 20 mL of air will have up to 30 micrograms of water in it. The droplet that could be formed by 30 micrograms of water would hardly be visible on the logsheet.

Out of curiosity, how did you get this number?

 

Personally, I think not opening a geocache because humidity is too high (> 80%) is being a bit too cautious.

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Easy. Just pulled up the atmospheric air water vapor content charts on the 'net. At 30°C at sea level, air that is 100% saturated contains 30g of water per cubic meter of air (it changes drastically with temperature, so I used the warmest entry on the chart that has the most water per volume of air). Just did the conversions to find out how much would be in a film canister sized container (estimated the 20mL capacity, so that's just ballpark). Science is kool. :lostsignal:

Edited by SSO JOAT
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Personally, I think not opening a geocache because humidity is too high (> 80%) is being a bit too cautious.

I agree but some people seem to think a cache log will get ruined if you let 2 hydrogen atoms and an oxygen molecule into a cache. I think he would be much happier if cachers only signed caches in a full vacuum.

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Personally, I think not opening a geocache because humidity is too high (> 80%) is being a bit too cautious.

I agree but some people seem to think a cache log will get ruined if you let 2 hydrogen atoms and an oxygen molecule into a cache. I think he would be much happier if cachers only signed caches in a full vacuum.

 

Since I rarely vacuum and even more rarely empty it ahh... nm...

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Folks should feel free to go caching in the rain.

Of course you should. I would never suggest that you shouldn't open up someone else's ammo can in a down pour. :lostsignal:

If you should hunt one of mine in torrential conditions, all I ask is that you note the weather conditions in your log. :)

That way I can go dry it out ASAP and not subject the next finder to mold & mildew. :)

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When I cache in the rain, I bring along a pocket full of paper towels to ensure the cache is dried out when I'm done. Actually, I nearly always carry some paper towels for that, even in good weather.

 

If you were to compare the volume of "moist" air that can get into a bison tube to that which can get into the ammo can, then the ammo can should have lots more water in it. However, it seems that the ammo cans are usually dry while the bisons and similar are soaking wet inside. Couldn't be the fact that the o-ring seal on bisons and similar break down in the sun and start leaking within a couple weeks of placement, could it?

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Couldn't be the fact that the o-ring seal on bisons and similar break down in the sun and start leaking within a couple weeks of placement, could it?

I think overtightening is the most common cause of gasket failure. Cranking down the lid extrudes and eventually cuts the gasket. Tightening the lid just enough to seat the gasket is sufficient for a waterproof seal. One doesn't need to mash it.

 

Around here, I think snow in the container is as big or bigger problem. Snow from people's gloves, from the sky, from the tree above the hide, etc., gets into the container a few or more flakes at a time and then when spring comes around the snow melts and soaks everything. I've gotten into the habit of emptying the cache into a plastic bag (if the contents aren't already bagged), turning the container upside down and shaking/wiping all the snow out of it and from the lid, and then repacking and closing it.

Edited by Ladybug Kids
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Agreed on the o-rings. The last batch of bisons I put out I actually went and found some different o-rings for them first. I noted the originals were of very low quality and quite thin. So I pulled out the "good" o-ring kit and replaced them with the next size thicker of a much better quality ring. They've been sitting out there since October, so we'll see how they look this spring when I do my first maintenance run.

 

Good catch on the snow and don't forget all the soaking a cache gets during break-up. Caches on the ground that have been under a couple feet of snow all winter are practically submerged in water for a month as things thaw out.

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Personally, I think not opening a geocache because humidity is too high (> 80%) is being a bit too cautious.

I agree but some people seem to think a cache log will get ruined if you let 2 hydrogen atoms and an oxygen molecule into a cache. I think he would be much happier if cachers only signed caches in a full vacuum.

 

If you cover the cache while opening it in the rain, it's all good.

 

However, I just picked up 3 ammo cans that were soaked because a while back someone made a cache run through the area during a bad storm. Ammo cans are just as good at holding rain water as they are at keeping it out.

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When I cache in the rain, I bring along a pocket full of paper towels to ensure the cache is dried out when I'm done. Actually, I nearly always carry some paper towels for that, even in good weather.

 

If you were to compare the volume of "moist" air that can get into a bison tube to that which can get into the ammo can, then the ammo can should have lots more water in it. However, it seems that the ammo cans are usually dry while the bisons and similar are soaking wet inside. Couldn't be the fact that the o-ring seal on bisons and similar break down in the sun and start leaking within a couple weeks of placement, could it?

 

The reason bisons would get wet faster than ammo cans, considering the rain aspect, setting aside the O-ring argument, is simple. One drop of water in a bison tube presents a larger volume of water percentage than a drop of water in an ammo can. An ammo cans atmosphere can absorb a drop of water much easier than a bison tubes atmosphere.

 

It's simple science learned in the 7th grade.

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Except Cliffster wasn't talking about the liquid sunshine entering the cache, but about water vapor entering the cache through high humidity air. And if that were the case, the larger container would get more water in it because it has more "humid air" entering it. Also learnt in 7th grade science. :D

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Actually, Bittsen was kinda on the right track. I was talking about caching in the rain, and my belief that it's not healthy for the contents, be those contents high end swag or just a scrap of paper. As noted by the multiple references to opening up ammo cans in a down pour. Water vapor is just one of the ways to increase the amount of moisture in a waterproof container. Rain drops do a pretty good job as well. Reading comprehension was something I picked up in 7th grade. :D

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I want to know if anyone goes caching when it's raining?

 

And do you prefer going when it's raining?

 

What about other weather conditions? (snow, hail, storm, tornado, earthquake.. etc.)

Of course we do when it's raining, we live in the PNW. We go in ice and snow and darkness and have been in an electric storm and when we have a wind storm. We do stay out of the trees in a windstorm however.

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But you're still opening a (hopefully) waterproof container in an environment with a super saturated atmosphere.

It doesn't take rain drops plunking into a cache to get moisture inside. :ph34r:

 

Actually, Bittsen was kinda on the right track. I was talking about caching in the rain, and my belief that it's not healthy for the contents, be those contents high end swag or just a scrap of paper. As noted by the multiple references to opening up ammo cans in a down pour. Water vapor is just one of the ways to increase the amount of moisture in a waterproof container. Rain drops do a pretty good job as well. Reading comprehension was something I picked up in 7th grade. :D

Apparently you didn't do such a good job in 7th grade regarding clear and concise writing.

 

Just to be clear, are you saying very humid air is not an issue, provided rain drops doesn't fall into the cache?

Edited by Chrysalides
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Just to be clear, are you saying very humid air is not an issue, provided rain drops doesn't fall into the cache?

I guess I'll try typing slower... :ph34r:

The problem, (in my opinion), is moisture entering a cache. Moisture can enter a cache in many forms, to include rain drops and water vapor. Both are in abundance during a down pour. I see moisture in a cache as an inherently bad thing. Obviously, not everyone has this same opinion. If you're trying to convince me that letting water into an ammo can is a good thing, you are not succeeding. But I gotta give you props for trying! :D

 

But he apparently aced basic thread drifting. :o

Snippy didn't work for Palin. Doesn't look like it's working well for you either.

Maybe it's an Alaska thing? :D

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Oh, this is so fun. So, let's try typing this s-l-o-w-e-r... again...

 

When caching in the rain, sleet, snow, or any other form of water, the cacher simply doesn't allow any water to go in through a simple shielding maneuver. Then a quick wipe out with a fresh paper towel to remove any water that was already in the cache leaves it better than we found it.

 

It ain't a problem, no matter how much one tries to fabricate it into one.

 

Palin is doing pretty dang well with "snippy". Got a best selling book and a great job out of it. What's not working about that?

 

Don't be too envious of how Alaskans consistently do it better. Ya'll can't help it.

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Easy. Just pulled up the atmospheric air water vapor content charts on the 'net. At 30°C at sea level, air that is 100% saturated contains 30g of water per cubic meter of air (it changes drastically with temperature, so I used the warmest entry on the chart that has the most water per volume of air). Just did the conversions to find out how much would be in a film canister sized container (estimated the 20mL capacity, so that's just ballpark). Science is kool. :ph34r:
Would you mind linking to that site so that we can check it before we decide if we're gonig to head out caching for the day? :D
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I see no problem with caching in the rain so long as you properly shield the cache while opening it.

 

The problem around here is that a couple of cachers made a run in a torrential downpour and did not shield several of my caches. This left me with several substantially wet ammo boxes.

 

I like to have both the logbook and the swag in large ziplocks, but that's still no guarantee.

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I see no problem with caching in the rain so long as you properly shield the cache while opening it.

 

The problem around here is that a couple of cachers made a run in a torrential downpour and did not shield several of my caches. This left me with several substantially wet ammo boxes.

 

I like to have both the logbook and the swag in large ziplocks, but that's still no guarantee.

 

I generally put the logbooks in ziplocks, but not the swag. But one of those caches was a tech themed cache (proto boards, etc.) which did happen to have all the original swap in ziplocks. But you know over time and handling, they get snags and tears. Everything was ruined. :)

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Rainfall? No problem. There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear.

 

Ashfall? That's where I draw the line. I was at home when Mt. Redoubt blew its top in March of 2009 and I called the cachers at this event to make certain they were all right. Fortunately, they were.

 

9ab6bb5e-357c-45b7-b468-50b0159d743b.jpg

That was an evil day along Turnagain Arm and the south side of Chugach State Park! At about the same time, I'd just finished loading my snowmobiles onto the trailer a few miles south of where that photo above was taken when ash & cinder began raining from the sky... not fun at all. Had been out to Spencer Glacier checking on my caches there to make sure they were ready for the summer train-visitor-only season when that miserable stuff began to precipitate out of the cloud carrying it from Mt Redoubt's morning eruption. We were happy to ride out the event inside a vehicle. At least the bulk of that ashfall missed most of Anchorage itself.

 

I like doing earthcaches on rainy days... except you never know when the local wildlife's had enough of the rain and decides to climb aboard your cachemobile to get above the rising waters! The resident ducks had hauled out of the water, huddling miserably in downpour in the grass at marsh's edge, until I pulled up and scared them back into the water. I had a "Malcore" sig item along (one of his locally-notorious yellow rubber duckies) and had fun with a few photos documenting my find there in the rain. While the clouds were right down on the deck, obscuring the 4,000' mountain range usually visible above the trees in this photo, I was delighted to have respite from the winds - which can exceed 100mph on occasion at this point.

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From my log at GC1EHA8 "Making of Potter Marsh" Earthcache

 

I use only 'write in rain' logbooks and log sheets in my caches - from ammo cans to bison - to help alleviate the 'sopping wet log' issue. It doesn't always succeed. In my experience, springtime cache maintenance here (right after 'break-up', when the ground finally thaws) is important - so I can dry out my caches which have suffered inadvertent multiple snowflake entry (which, of course, leads to water in the container at thaw...).

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This is a strange topic, considering it's about a pastime with its headquarters in Seattle (where it rains every day). It rains every day here too, so staying at home in wet weather is not a good option.

 

Well, it doesn't really rain there every day. There are other cities in the U.S. where it rains more often than Seattle. Shhh...don't tell anybody. :) It almost never rains when we visit there, I think we bring the dryness with us. :o Disappointing, really, because I'm always looking forward to a bit of rain. :(

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Just to be clear, are you saying very humid air is not an issue, provided rain drops doesn't fall into the cache?

I guess I'll try typing slower... :)

The problem, (in my opinion), is moisture entering a cache. Moisture can enter a cache in many forms, to include rain drops and water vapor. Both are in abundance during a down pour. I see moisture in a cache as an inherently bad thing. Obviously, not everyone has this same opinion. If you're trying to convince me that letting water into an ammo can is a good thing, you are not succeeding. But I gotta give you props for trying! :o

Let's start with something we both agree on.

 

A wet cache is not good.

 

Now that we have that out of the way...

 

So what you are saying is that letting water vapor that is in the air into an ammo can causes the cache contents to get wet, even if no raindrops get in. Is that correct?

 

If you are saying raindrops might get in no matter what kind of precautions you take, I agree.

 

If you're saying that opening an ammo can, letting in humid air, and then closing it, will create enough condensation in the ammo can to present a problem, I find that a little hard to believe.

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I was just thinking about that today. I am a native Oregonian and have lived with rain in the best and worst of times. The past few year, I had gained an aversion for rain and chose to try and stay dry , when the rains came. Stopped by looking for a cache , jumping ditches, slogging through wet grass, and getting soaked without a coat today. I laughed when I got back in the geovan and said to myself, "If the goal is enough, you forget all about the conditions." Happy Caching

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A ) If you are saying raindrops might get in no matter what kind of precautions you take, I agree.

 

B ) If you're saying that opening an ammo can, letting in humid air, and then closing it, will create enough condensation in the ammo can to present a problem, I find that a little hard to believe.

We'll agree on "A", and disagree on "B". :)

 

While a single opening, during 100% humidity levels probably wouldn't be a problem, I can't help but believe that the practice can have cumulative effects over time. Again, this is just one ole fat crippled guy's opinion. I think that when we allow high humidity air into the cache, then it experiences a temperature change, said moisture condenses. Do that often enough, and you accumulate enough moisture to be problematic. I've found many a cache with moistened contents, and recent logs dictating how BillyBobCacher found it in the rain, which probably led to the formation of my belief system.

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A ) If you are saying raindrops might get in no matter what kind of precautions you take, I agree.

 

B ) If you're saying that opening an ammo can, letting in humid air, and then closing it, will create enough condensation in the ammo can to present a problem, I find that a little hard to believe.

We'll agree on "A", and disagree on "B". :)

 

While a single opening, during 100% humidity levels probably wouldn't be a problem, I can't help but believe that the practice can have cumulative effects over time. Again, this is just one ole fat crippled guy's opinion. I think that when we allow high humidity air into the cache, then it experiences a temperature change, said moisture condenses. Do that often enough, and you accumulate enough moisture to be problematic. I've found many a cache with moistened contents, and recent logs dictating how BillyBobCacher found it in the rain, which probably led to the formation of my belief system.

 

I think you need a class on basic physics.

If you have a 100% humidity day and someone opens a cache then the cache does get filled with 100% humidity air.

When closed, the cache still contains 100% humidity air.

If you open it on another 100% humidity day then the cache doesn't get a second dose of 100% humidity to make it 200% humid. It stays at 100%. BUT, if you open it the second time on a 20% humidity day then the air drops to 20% humidity. It doesn't just drop by 20%.

 

Now, there IS a possibility that you could create a dew point in the cache by changing the temperature. Opening the cache on a 100 degree, 90% humidity day and there will be high pressure plus high humidity plus high temperature in the cache. When the temperature drops, if the pressure drops inside the container, then there is a dew point that is reached. This could cause condensation on any surface that becomes cooler than another. It's a temporary condensation though as the temp evens out the humidity will stabilize and the condensation will be absorbed again into the atmosphere within the container.

 

Basically, the danger is in opening the can on a HOT high humidity day, not on a cold one. Of course if it's foggy then you introduce condensation directly into the cache which would add supersaturated air into the cache. Even that isn't as bad as a few raindrops though.

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I do not go geocaching in the rain. Full stop.

 

Whenever I try to stay dry in a rainstorm, my body betrays me by sweating profusely, and I start to sweat after only walking less than a kilometre, no matter what the temperature is. And since the relative humidity is always 100% when it rains, the sweat doesn't evaporate, and I get saturated. I call this unfortunate situation a "water vise". This makes it absolutely unpleasant for me to cache in the rain, no matter what I'm wearing. Heck, I just might as well go topless in a rainstorm--it won't make a shred of difference.

Edited by DENelson83
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since the relative humidity is always 100% when it rains,

 

I don't mean to pick on DENelson83... several people have made equivalent statements in this thread.

 

It's not true.

 

Up in the clouds, where the rain forms, the humidity is 100%. Down on the ground, where the raindrops keep falling on my head, the humidity is not necessarily 100%. As the raindrops fall into the less-humid air, some of them will evaporate and increase the humidity. They will not usually increase it to 100%.

 

In fact, it's raining at the Raleigh-Durham airport right this very minute. The temperature is 36 F, the dew point is 30F, and the relative humidity is 81%.

 

Over in Charlotte, it's not raining right now. But the relative humidity there is 93%.

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