Pill bottles?

[+user13371]

I've come across several plastic pill bottles used as micro caches. Every one I've found has been leaking and many were cracked, and in many ways they seem indistinguishable from litter/trash.

 

Can anyone present a good reason for using these?

[+Vater_Araignee]

I've come across several plastic pill bottles used as micro caches. Every one I've found has been leaking and many were cracked, and in many ways they seem indistinguishable from litter/trash.

 

Can anyone present a good reason for using these?

Nope, they may think there is a good reason for using a cheap leaky container but if they let water in then the reason is nullified.

[ao318]

The only thing I can think of is that they are easily accessible and that the person hiding them has found them before and thinks it's a good idea.

[hoosier guy]

I have had the same experience. They are just like film cans if you ask me.

[+sseegars]

Said it before I will say it again. AMMO BOX!

 

Pill bottles are a bad idea. Even the best bison tubes end up with a wet log in my personal experience.

 

I know it's a micro but the reason I said AMMO BOX (not a micro hater, I'll hunt anything) is because I have one that has been hidden almost two years on an island in the middle of the Pee Dee river in N.C. We actually have a maintenance run coming up and I am curious to see if it held as well this year as last year. The AMMO CAN spent several days underwater. Ranging from 5 to 14 feet underwater. Everything inside was secure and dry.

 

OH! No I can't give you one good reason for using a pill bottle!

[+Coldgears]

I have only found one pill bottle so far. It was hidden in a lamp post... How original. Anyway, it was completely dry on the inside and had a few tradeable items, a mini flashlight and a toothpick.

[+sbell111]

As Coldgears alluded, they are perfect containers for some placements. In fact, every cache container imaginable is perfect for some locations and horrible for others. Rather than trying to figure out someone's motivation for a certain container, simply post a NM if the cache needs attention.

Edited March 15, 2010 by sbell111

[+dfx]

the worst part of pill bottles for me is that even though some of them provide quite some space inside, they have a tiny neck making it very hard to get anything in and especially out. most of the ones i've found were actually nice and dry inside, but the log was torn to pieces and unusable because people couldn't get it in and out properly.

[+cw1710]

There are a lot of differing opinions here and a lot of people don't like them but you only have to find each one once. They are ok to use in places that they won't see a lot of water but they will let it in eventually. IMO they are just cheap (usu. free) containers and I am thankful someone took the time to hide a cache because sometimes I still like the numbers runs so I choose not to complain about them. I don't see it easily being confused with trash when they are painted/camo'd because I don't know of too many people who paint their pill bottles. (I know they are not always camo'd though but usually when they aren't they are in a lampskirt.) A lot of times it will say on the cache page you are looking for a pill bottle and just like with any other type cache you don't like, don't look for it.

Edited March 15, 2010 by cw1710

[hoosier guy]

Good for child safe caches I guess.

[+sseegars]

As Coldgears alluded, they are perfect containers for some placements. In fact, every cache container imaginable is perfect for some locations and horrible for others. Rather than trying to figure out someone's motivation for a certain container, simply post a NM if the cache needs attention.

 

Inside a drug store? Just kidding, just kidding.

[+Vater_Araignee]

As Coldgears alluded, they are perfect containers for some placements. In fact, every cache container imaginable is perfect for some locations and horrible for others. Rather than trying to figure out someone's motivation for a certain container, simply post a NM if the cache needs attention.

 

Inside a drug store? Just kidding, just kidding.

That would make a great needle in a haystack cache.

[+bittsen]

Maybe I should lay out how to properly use a pill bottle for a geocache.

 

Step by step:

 

1) Get a simple white screw on lid plastic pill bottle.

2) Get a rare earth magnet that is 3/8 X 3/8 X 1/8 and place it in the bottle

3) Get a piece of plastic pipe with the same outer diameter as the pill bottle neck inner diameter and cut to the exact length to sleeve the pill bottle.

4) Trap the magnet between the edge of the plastic pipe and the side of the pill bottle

5) Insert Rite in the Rain logsheet into the tube in the pill bottle.

6) Hide your magnetic micro pill bottle in the wild and don't worry if the logsheet gets wet.

7) Enjoy cachers logs.

 

 

Not all pill bottle caches are created equally.

[+Castle Mischief]

Maybe I should lay out how to properly use a pill bottle for a geocache.

 

Step by step:

 

1) Get a simple white screw on lid plastic pill bottle.

2) Get a rare earth magnet that is 3/8 X 3/8 X 1/8 and place it in the bottle

3) Get a piece of plastic pipe with the same outer diameter as the pill bottle neck inner diameter and cut to the exact length to sleeve the pill bottle.

4) Trap the magnet between the edge of the plastic pipe and the side of the pill bottle

5) Insert Rite in the Rain logsheet into the tube in the pill bottle.

6) Hide your magnetic micro pill bottle in the wild and don't worry if the logsheet gets wet.

7) Enjoy cachers logs.

 

http://www.bittsen.com/images/pillbottle1.jpg

http://www.bittsen.com/images/pillbottle2.jpg

http://www.bittsen.com/images/pillbottle3.jpg

 

Not all pill bottle caches are created equally.

 

Do you ever glue the tube in place so cachers don't dislodge the magnet?

[+bittsen]

Maybe I should lay out how to properly use a pill bottle for a geocache.

 

Step by step:

 

1) Get a simple white screw on lid plastic pill bottle.

2) Get a rare earth magnet that is 3/8 X 3/8 X 1/8 and place it in the bottle

3) Get a piece of plastic pipe with the same outer diameter as the pill bottle neck inner diameter and cut to the exact length to sleeve the pill bottle.

4) Trap the magnet between the edge of the plastic pipe and the side of the pill bottle

5) Insert Rite in the Rain logsheet into the tube in the pill bottle.

6) Hide your magnetic micro pill bottle in the wild and don't worry if the logsheet gets wet.

7) Enjoy cachers logs.

 

http://www.bittsen.com/images/pillbottle1.jpg

http://www.bittsen.com/images/pillbottle2.jpg

http://www.bittsen.com/images/pillbottle3.jpg

 

Not all pill bottle caches are created equally.

 

Do you ever glue the tube in place so cachers don't dislodge the magnet?

 

It's a tight fit. The tube won't come out unless you really try but if I build one that's loose, I will glue it. Pill bottles appear to be PVC so PVC cement will bond the pipe and bottle quite permanently.

[+Chrysalides]

Not all pill bottle caches are created equally.

Looks great, thanks for the pics and instructions. Sadly, I haven't seen a pill bottle in the wild yet with the amount of thought and effort you put into yours.

[+bittsen]

Not all pill bottle caches are created equally.

Looks great, thanks for the pics and instructions. Sadly, I haven't seen a pill bottle in the wild yet with the amount of thought and effort you put into yours.

The trick to get people to make good cache containers is to show people how to make good cache containers.

 

[Clan Riffster]

Sadly, I haven't seen a pill bottle in the wild yet with the amount of thought and effort you put into yours.

Agreed. Most of the folks around these parts, who intentionally choose crappy containers, such as (most) pill bottles, black & grey film cans, hide-a-keys and Altoids tins, for their caches, are unwilling to take the time and effort to rectify what makes the containers crappy. Kudos to Bittsen for doing it right!

Edited March 15, 2010 by Clan Riffster

[+Harry Dolphin]

I will admit to having one pill bottle cache. Prescription type bottle. Great park, with great views. Only place we could figure to hide a cache there was to replace a missing fence post cap. Medicine bottle fit in well. Five years, 75 finds, never had a problem with the log getting wet.

But, that is probably the only medicine bottle cache that I will hide.

[+briansnat]

Maybe I should lay out how to properly use a pill bottle for a geocache.

 

Step by step:

 

1) Get a simple white screw on lid plastic pill bottle.

2) Get a rare earth magnet that is 3/8 X 3/8 X 1/8 and place it in the bottle

3) Get a piece of plastic pipe with the same outer diameter as the pill bottle neck inner diameter and cut to the exact length to sleeve the pill bottle.

4) Trap the magnet between the edge of the plastic pipe and the side of the pill bottle

5) Insert Rite in the Rain logsheet into the tube in the pill bottle.

6) Hide your magnetic micro pill bottle in the wild and don't worry if the logsheet gets wet.

7) Enjoy cachers logs.

 

Not all pill bottle caches are created equally.

 

I think when people refer to pill bottles being horrible containers they mean these:

 

[+bittsen]

I think when people refer to pill bottles being horrible containers they mean these:

 

 

Even those, if hidden in a covered area, would be fine. They would be fine in a non covered area if the cache owner used Rite in the Rain paper.

[+HawkLawless1]

A few weeks into my geocaching experience, I made a pill bottle cache with some camo tape. However, after running across a number of them in the "wild" I'm not satisfied that it would ever make a good long-term cache, so I haven't let it out anywhere. Probably with the addition of a bison tube inside or something that stands up to the rigors of being removed and replaced repeatedly, it might pass.

[Clan Riffster]

They would be fine in a non covered area if the cache owner used Rite in the Rain paper.

It's at this point that personal preference comes into play.

For me, having finders dump water out of my cache prior to signing the Rite in the Rain log is unacceptable.

As such, for my hides, a container utterly incapable of keeping moisture out, is unacceptable.

If you are OK with folks having to dump water out of your cache, feel free to use inferior containers.

[+bittsen]

<snip>

If you are OK with folks having to dump water out of your cache, feel free to use inferior containers.

 

Thank you for your blessing.

 

It's official, folks.

Clan Riffster said it's OK!!

 

WHEW, I'm glad that's settled!

[+Chrysalides]

OK. I'll start cranking out the "This is a Geocaching Gamepiece - Please dump water out of container" stickers and open my own online store.

[+bittsen]

OK. I'll start cranking out the "This is a Geocaching Gamepiece - Please dump water out of container" stickers and open my own online store.

If you need a source for Rite in the Rain paper logs, or water proof label material, let me know.

 

~LOL~

[+Pax42]

Ok, no one has said it yet but I think the guidelines require it for all these types of threads so here goes:

 

Pill bottles make great cache containers...................as long as they're hidden inside ammo cans.

[+user13371]

I think when people refer to pill bottles being horrible containers they mean these:

Yep those. I have yet to have the pleasure of finding one such as Bittsen described.

[+bittsen]

Yep those. I have yet to have the pleasure of finding one such as Bittsen described.

I haven't put one out yet but I have 6 made.

 

You want I should Email you when I put one out?

[+user13371]

I haven't put one out yet but I have 6 made. You want I should Email you when I put one out?...

Nah, that's okay. It'll show up in my daily pocket query if it's anywhere around here (7.5KM circle around the intersection of SE 101st & Holgate). Edited March 16, 2010 by lee_rimar

[+ace862]

I think they are alright to use for a redirect stage of a multi-cache. I'd never use one as the actual cache though. However, I have found quite a few that are used as caches. 9 times out of 10 the log is wet. I always wonder what the owner was thinking when they placed the cache.

Cheers!

[+kh54s10]

Pill bottles?? Lately even the lock and locks that I have been finding have had water in them. That said I have recently found some cheap containers that were hidden in a sheltered place and they were dry. So using your head in the hiding makes a lot of difference in the success of the container.

 

Read in another post of a Glad sandwich box squashed under a rock - go figure.

[+auctioneer1366]

I've come across several plastic pill bottles used as micro caches. Every one I've found has been leaking and many were cracked, and in many ways they seem indistinguishable from litter/trash.

 

Can anyone present a good reason for using these?

It is a bad idea unless it has been hid in a dry place. When I go out I carry extra caches as well as small plastic bags and extra log sheets. When I find a wet one I try to dry it with my defroster on my vehicle and place the log in a bag and return it to the cache. I try to do maint. on logs as I find them if needed, and in return I would hope people would do the same for me.

[+Kyle98632]

I have found a few pill bottle caches and havent run across water in any of them, dispite living in rainy but beautiful SW Washington. As with any cache containier its all in using commonsense as to what bottles would make a good waterproof hide how you hide them. One thing I would never use though are rite in the rain logs as has been talked about in here. I find they are able to be written on when wet, but usually have mold all over them. I would rather use normal paper and have it replaced if it somehow got wet than dealing with icky logs like those.

Edited March 16, 2010 by kyle98632

[+HeliDood]

I've found some prescription pill bottles that SEEM to be (at least) water resistant.

It's only been tested in both the kitchen sink and the backyard, but so far so good.

[+Kyle98632]

I've found some prescription pill bottles that SEEM to be (at least) water resistant.

It's only been tested in both the kitchen sink and the backyard, but so far so good.

 

Exactly. Testing out containiers is always a good idea before putting them out in the field. I actually run the shower with new caches in it for about 15 minutes, twice, once after just making it, and once after freezing it overnight. You can find good pill bottles to use, just as you can find bad ones.

[+popokiiti]

I suppose the main thing is how we as finders replace the lids? Those child-proof lids are a pain to me, I have my 'scripts filled with easy-off lids!

We have found some pill bottles, and those with child-proof lids or screw tops were dry compared to their film canister lid type cousins.

[+bittsen]

I suppose the main thing is how we as finders replace the lids? Those child-proof lids are a pain to me, I have my 'scripts filled with easy-off lids!

We have found some pill bottles, and those with child-proof lids or screw tops were dry compared to their film canister lid type cousins.

 

Chances are most pill bottle caches will be found near civilization. So, find a person nearby and ask them to open the pill bottle for you.

 

But, if you ever find a pill bottle cache of mine, feel free to describe exactly where you found it and log a smiley if you can't open it and can't find someone to help.

[+buttaskotch]

Said it before I will say it again. AMMO BOX!

 

Pill bottles are a bad idea. Even the best bison tubes end up with a wet log in my personal experience.

 

I know it's a micro but the reason I said AMMO BOX (not a micro hater, I'll hunt anything) is because I have one that has been hidden almost two years on an island in the middle of the Pee Dee river in N.C. We actually have a maintenance run coming up and I am curious to see if it held as well this year as last year. The AMMO CAN spent several days underwater. Ranging from 5 to 14 feet underwater. Everything inside was secure and dry.

 

OH! No I can't give you one good reason for using a pill bottle!

I agree, for deep in the woods....

However,

 

AMMO BOX + BIG CITY= POLICE

 

When in doubt, a clear plastic lock n lock should be used. We don't need any more bad press.

[+The Cache Checkers]

 

I think when people refer to pill bottles being horrible containers they mean these:

 

 

This is exactly what I found earlier today. My first pill bottle and I was surprised at the sight. It was along the fence line of a cemetary with woods on the other side, so no one could see the bright orange container with the torn off label in a tree stump unless they were looking for it. The log was wet all the way through, I barely got it out without pulling off pieces.

[+SixDogTeam]

For micros, Rx bottles make GREAT containers!! Kudos to all who use them!!! Yea!!!!

[avroair]

Can anyone present a good reason for using these?

 

Nope. My first experience with these 'cache containers' was in Pennslyvania... go figure.

[+Scuba4jews]

As for a good reason for using pill bottles, I can say one word, FREE! I end up with many empty pill containers as I finish my meds and vitamins. The trick is to use them well, not alway in an ammo can.

[+StealthRT]

I know I should be avoiding pill bottles after reading this thread... but for some reason I instead feel the need to put one out now.

 

I think I'll try modifying a pill bottle a bit and if it goes bad (water, cracking, and the like) I'll just replace it with a matchstick container.

[+Mineral2]

I think when people refer to pill bottles being horrible containers they mean these:

 

 

Keep in mind that the lids to these kind of pill bottles vary from pharmacy to pharmacy. These are great compared to the Advil bottles because the tube is the same width with no lip or narrow neck to navigate around. I have several of these containers (yet to be placed), some have the lids shown in the picture above with holes in the side, and some have solid lids with a liner/gasket on the underside. The solid lids seem to stay dry when submerged in the sink. The lids with the holes do alright, which makes me think they'll withstand minimal moisture if properly protected when hidden. I did once try to use a manufacturer's bottle (the white kind with the lip and neck) and decided they weren't worth it because it was so hard to get the log out.

[+fizzymagic]

I have several of these containers (yet to be placed), some have the lids shown in the picture above with holes in the side, and some have solid lids with a liner/gasket on the underside. The solid lids seem to stay dry when submerged in the sink. The lids with the holes do alright, which makes me think they'll withstand minimal moisture if properly protected when hidden.

 

Please keep them in the "yet to be placed" category. They are terrible cache containers. And no, they won't withstand moisture. Plenty of experience shows they break down quickly and leak like a sieve.

[Clan Riffster]

When in doubt, stuff it with tissue and plop it in the washing machine for a few loads of laundry.

[+cerberus1]

In our area with humidity high, camo duct-taped pill bottles are okay for a stage in a multi with laminated paper, alum. dog tag, or label-maker strips inside for coords to the next.

As a cache holding a paper log, not so hot.

My other 2/3rds has found hundreds of these things and other than the few times she's been FTF, all had problems with damp or soaked paper logs.

[+St.Matthew]

I have one pool bottle hide. It is covered. The log has stayed dry without a baggie for almost 2 years.

[+AutisticMajor]

I've found several pill bottle hides. Most were the childproof type, reinforced with an extra layer of camo duct-tape. Perfect for a tree hide, but I'd rather not see them in a ground hide.