Jump to content

Photos/Images of bad cache containers


L0ne.R

Recommended Posts

This one had a lot of water inside of it and had to pour it out, and was highly visible despite the CO's camo attempt with very bright green painters tape. It was a plastic Folgers coffee can.

 

coffeecan.JPG

 

I have found others by this CO, and they seem pretty good, one in particular was excellent. I was disappointed in this one tho.

 

EDIT: In general I think any kind of basic glad ware is awful. They are almost always wet inside. Also, some I know has recently started geocaching because there is an app on his droid. He was going to place a cache and told me what he was gonna use as a container. He had one of those KONG dog toys that was too big for his dog, so he found something to plug the ends. I told him it will leak like crazy. Told him if he wanted to hid it in a KONG to go to walmart and get an orange match holder because it has a rubber seal, and put that inside the kong.

Edited by mchaos
Link to comment

I thought it might be fun to visually demonstrate examples of bad cache containers. It has to be container types that you've actually found. I'll start.....

 

 

I actually found this type of container a couple of times in the wild......the airline travel pouch:

 

TAM035.jpg

 

When I first saw this, I was like "no way... really?" And then we found one of these the other day! I could not believe it! I shall never doubt you again.

Link to comment

I recently found a cardboard toilet paper tube that had little plastic caps at both ends (I think it was a temporary container that has since been replaced). Also a soapdish or two, a yogurt container, and a ziploc sandwich bag sitting at the base of a road sign.

 

However, all the film cans I've found have been in fine shape...

Link to comment

Other than that, I've seen lots of disposable gladware. Bad stuff.

 

Here's are a couple of pictures of gladware, in case newbies don't know what gladware looks like:

 

prodshot_gladware.jpg

 

img7078thumbmm2.jpg

 

But what exactly is it in this gladware container?

 

Did you post a picture of the wrong one? :blink:

its obviously a stash, but what KIND of stash ;)

Link to comment

Sounds like I need to just throw all the 35mm film cans away!

Why would these be handed out by other cachers as seed cache containers…. :blink:

Must be a wise guy! ;)

I have six that I was getting ready to hide!

the white film cannisters are good, the black and grey ones toss out.

Link to comment

I don't have photos, and I can't find any on the interweb...

but, how about a plastic 'happy-meal' lunch container from Sea World?

Hinged plastic clam-shell in the shape of Shamu.

No seal what-so-ever.

Kudos to the cache owner (who put out several of these) for trying to make use of something that would normally go into a landfill, but let's get real.

Was there a ziplock inside to protect the log?

Link to comment

Other than that, I've seen lots of disposable gladware. Bad stuff.

 

Here's are a couple of pictures of gladware, in case newbies don't know what gladware looks like:

 

prodshot_gladware.jpg

 

img7078thumbmm2.jpg

 

Update:

 

Here's an actual gladware container that I found, a few days ago, in the field:

 

img00532a.jpg

 

Note the cracked lid. Also note that the gladware container was in a plastic shopping bag. New COs will sometimes do this when the container is not water resistant. There's an assumption that the shopping bag will protect the contents. More often bags wrapped around a container causes moisture damage and results in moldy, slimy conditions.

I used to do that with cookie tins when i first started hiding. don't do it anymore.

Link to comment
Any cache that involves this, 2388459094_ca2c92b69e_m.jpg

 

and this,

guard-rail1.jpg

 

Is pretty much lame, tired, and boring.

Any cache that involves this, 2388459094_ca2c92b69e_m.jpg

 

and this,

guard-rail1.jpg

 

Is pretty much lame, tired, and boring.

 

Says you.

 

I still enjoy finding GRCs

 

Depends on the hide. A cool bridge with a scenic view is one thing and a bland country road or dead end is another.

Link to comment

Kin to the cheap storage containers are the butter/coolwhip tubs. Best saved for homemade salad bowls! :laughing:

 

Who wants to start a thread on bad cache locations? :laughing:

 

Or bad contents! WOW!!! An AA battery! and my boy got himself a lighter! :laughing:

Link to comment
Any cache that involves this, 2388459094_ca2c92b69e_m.jpg

 

and this,

guard-rail1.jpg

 

Is pretty much lame, tired, and boring.

Any cache that involves this, 2388459094_ca2c92b69e_m.jpg

 

and this,

guard-rail1.jpg

 

Is pretty much lame, tired, and boring.

 

Says you.

 

I still enjoy finding GRCs

 

Depends on the hide. A cool bridge with a scenic view is one thing and a bland country road or dead end is another.

i only have one of those but it employs a small altoids tin[don't fret it has a ziplock for the log] :laughing:

Link to comment

Kin to the cheap storage containers are the butter/coolwhip tubs. Best saved for homemade salad bowls! :laughing:

 

Who wants to start a thread on bad cache locations? :laughing:

 

Or bad contents! WOW!!! An AA battery! and my boy got himself a lighter! :laughing:

anyone ever find a loaded .22 pistol? :laughing:

Link to comment

Sounds like I need to just throw all the 35mm film cans away!

Why would these be handed out by other cachers as seed cache containers…. :laughing:

Must be a wise guy! :laughing:

I have six that I was getting ready to hide!

the white film cannisters are good better, the black and grey ones toss out. burn

Link to comment

Dollar-store containers:

ea961471-1d53-478f-8bc3-3cfdbbd36b4b.jpg

 

This is my own cache, in a location which tends to be underwater several months of the year. I placed it on impulse and I only had a cheapie $1 container with me - a lapse of judgment I'll never repeat.

 

I've since re-engineered the hide to be much more submersible.

 

I think i found this one today, at ucf near the psychology building, you sure you replaced it? nearly the same contents and everything. A badly leaking lighter, a beer bottle cap, a pants rivet style button, and a log that had turned into mud. there were several NM logs on the cache page, so i didnt bother making a new one, left a plastic horse, figured it would hold up a bit, and removed the lighter beer bottle cap, and button in exchange, cleaned out the mud in the container, and cleaned out some of the debris that was preventing the cache from being hidden as im sure it was supposed to be in its man made hole. got the smiley.

Link to comment

Dollar-store containers:

ea961471-1d53-478f-8bc3-3cfdbbd36b4b.jpg

 

This is my own cache, in a location which tends to be underwater several months of the year. I placed it on impulse and I only had a cheapie $1 container with me - a lapse of judgment I'll never repeat.

 

I've since re-engineered the hide to be much more submersible.

 

I think i found this one today, at ucf near the psychology building, you sure you replaced it? nearly the same contents and everything. A badly leaking lighter, a beer bottle cap, a pants rivet style button, and a log that had turned into mud. there were several NM logs on the cache page, so i didnt bother making a new one, left a plastic horse, figured it would hold up a bit, and removed the lighter beer bottle cap, and button in exchange, cleaned out the mud in the container, and cleaned out some of the debris that was preventing the cache from being hidden as im sure it was supposed to be in its man made hole. got the smiley.

 

wow.. you now have an agenda.

Edited by brslk
Link to comment

Kin to the cheap storage containers are the butter/coolwhip tubs. Best saved for homemade salad bowls! :laughing:

 

Who wants to start a thread on bad cache locations? :laughing:

 

Or bad contents! WOW!!! An AA battery! and my boy got himself a lighter! :laughing:

anyone ever find a loaded .22 pistol? :laughing:

 

You have?? Cool. I hope you traded up!

Link to comment

Other than that, I've seen lots of disposable gladware. Bad stuff.

 

Here's are a couple of pictures of gladware, in case newbies don't know what gladware looks like:

 

prodshot_gladware.jpg

 

img7078thumbmm2.jpg

 

Hmmm, what kind of 'herb' you got in that container...

 

Hmmm, Maybe crickets for a snake?

Link to comment

Dollar-store containers:

ea961471-1d53-478f-8bc3-3cfdbbd36b4b.jpg

 

This is my own cache, in a location which tends to be underwater several months of the year. I placed it on impulse and I only had a cheapie $1 container with me - a lapse of judgment I'll never repeat.

 

I've since re-engineered the hide to be much more submersible.

 

I think i found this one today, at ucf near the psychology building, you sure you replaced it? nearly the same contents and everything. A badly leaking lighter, a beer bottle cap, a pants rivet style button, and a log that had turned into mud. there were several NM logs on the cache page, so i didnt bother making a new one, left a plastic horse, figured it would hold up a bit, and removed the lighter beer bottle cap, and button in exchange, cleaned out the mud in the container, and cleaned out some of the debris that was preventing the cache from being hidden as im sure it was supposed to be in its man made hole. got the smiley.

 

wow.. you now have an agenda.

 

what do you mean?

Link to comment

I agree with the statement that not all film cans are bad. I have a bunch of clear ones from my school's photo lab, and they are waterproof even when fully submerged. The cap snaps inside instead of on top, giving it a tighter seal.

 

Then again, I have no idea if they would melt in a desert climate, so situation is definitely the determining factor about the durability of a container.

Link to comment

 

They tend to leak. I've found dozens and probably can count the ones with dry contents on one hand.

 

haven't found one yet that leaked, .....

 

Most of the film containers I have found show signs of at least past leakage if not currently wet and ruined logs. Sure it depends on where they are placed but that does not change the fact they are poor containers for keeping out moisture.

Link to comment

Here's a video that pays tribute to the abundance of bad containers in bad locations.

 

LOL. would have been nice if the windows were rolled up so you could make out what the guy is saying.

 

Yeah the sound isn't great, the windows were rolled up (until I threw the cache out the window) but we were on a really, really neglected gravel road in the middle of nowhere that was as rough as a washboard. All that noise was just the car rattling around. Here is the cache listing for Sux Cache.

Link to comment

Dollar-store containers:

ea961471-1d53-478f-8bc3-3cfdbbd36b4b.jpg

 

This is my own cache, in a location which tends to be underwater several months of the year. I placed it on impulse and I only had a cheapie $1 container with me - a lapse of judgment I'll never repeat.

 

I've since re-engineered the hide to be much more submersible.

 

I think i found this one today, at ucf near the psychology building, you sure you replaced it?

I guess you were just kidding by that, 'cause from what I can see, you haven't been caching up in Alberta, Canada, nor have you found any caches by Viajero Perdido.
Link to comment

Dollar-store containers:

ea961471-1d53-478f-8bc3-3cfdbbd36b4b.jpg

 

This is my own cache, in a location which tends to be underwater several months of the year. I placed it on impulse and I only had a cheapie $1 container with me - a lapse of judgment I'll never repeat.

 

I've since re-engineered the hide to be much more submersible.

 

I think i found this one today, at ucf near the psychology building, you sure you replaced it?

I guess you were just kidding by that, 'cause from what I can see, you haven't been caching up in Alberta, Canada, nor have you found any caches by Viajero Perdido.

 

Of course I was kidding,

you are really bad at spotting my jokes, or my jokes are really bad at having a punch line which anyone else but I can see.

 

Maybe I need some sweet glasses like you, or just some better jokes.

 

Like....

 

What starts with F,

and ends in uck?

 

 

 

 

Fire Truck!

Bwahahahahahaha heard that from a 4 yr old.

Edited by ashnikes
Link to comment

i found a powder Nestle Quik container the other day. it was wrapped in camo and the log was in a ziploc.

 

everything was dry, but then again, its only been out for 6 months.

 

I've actually found several nestle quik container caches that have been out for several years and have still been dry... although I imagine somewhere warmer they would probably get brittle and crack. I'm not sure if I'd hide a cache in one myself, but that is my observation.

 

I found one of those old orange 1970s tupperware containers made into a cache yesterday that was completely filled with water... the hider of that cache has several hides with those old tupperware containers (one bungeed closed) and they are all always wet inside. I think those containers are better for leftover pasta salad personally...

Link to comment

Here's a video that pays tribute to the abundance of bad containers in bad locations.

 

LOL. would have been nice if the windows were rolled up so you could make out what the guy is saying.

 

Yeah the sound isn't great, the windows were rolled up (until I threw the cache out the window) but we were on a really, really neglected gravel road in the middle of nowhere that was as rough as a washboard. All that noise was just the car rattling around. Here is the cache listing for Sux Cache.

 

I was thinking it was just me having trouble hearing it but I'm at work :( and didn't have the volume up very high.

 

So you chucked it out the moving car? The look on the driver's face was hilarious at that point. Its like its a common occurance or something. Did I hear that you guys filled it up with sprite first or in some way put the log in already wet?

 

I have family in Indianapolis and down around Jasper so on occasion, we'll go from North to South and go through Bloomington. I'll have to bookmark this cache just in case we ever pass through. :(

Link to comment

Most of the key holder/film can/altoid tin/fake rock/pill bottle etc. caches I've found in the past year or so had the log nicely sealed in a little press shut plastic bag (available in the bead department at craft stores). This seems to be widely used now in the midwest. And I never seem to find a container enclosed in a plastic bag around here.

 

I have three altoid tin caches, all secured magnetically in sheltered locations, but I still find the container needs to be replaced after a couple years. But I keep using the tins because the fit the locations well.

Link to comment

Another photo to add. Found a knock off lock n lock last week....

 

Knockoff (usually dollar store) fake lock n lock containers. The tabs break off quickly:

 

gc1y44r-ace-and-carts-cach.jpg

 

Genuine lock and locks tend to last 3-5 years in the wild. Dollar store knock offs generally last a few months. This cache was planted on September 2 2009 and on December 27 2009 there was already a post that reported 2 broken tabs.

Edited by Lone R
Link to comment

This was an old cache that my friend took over. It was a Foldgers coffee tin, but thankfully now it is a sealable tupperware.

 

Here's a video to emphasize why a coffee tin makes a bad container:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Z9vgVf2Lo...feature=related

 

I really think that those folgers coffee cans are some of the worst. And they really are deceiving, they look so nice and big with a nice wide neck... too bad.

 

We found one the other day that had nothing in it but a wet blue moldy log that we were scared to touch and a BIIIGGG spider web in it.

Link to comment

GC10PZ1 - Pipe bomb look-alike

f4f7dcbe-f9ae-4d4a-be5b-1b86c897468f.jpg

 

I found something like this once in a park under a bridge. There were a lot of finds on it until I posted my find and a note about it being a very bad container. Not to long after that it was archived. I then went over to place a cache in the area and checked to see if it was still there and low and behold it was. I promptly removed the cache and contents and placed the cache in the garbage dismantled.

 

P.S. it was tossed in my Dumpster so no one would see it and think it was a bomb.

Link to comment
It seems that only ammo can last forever.

 

As someone noted previously, even these can get wet. I think the biggest problem results from cachers who find the hide in the rain/snow and don't take care to keep the cache dry. I had an ammo can hide, in a decent location, but it was a popular cache (Allegheny Geotrail cache) and cachers were finding it during rain storms and in the winter (snow). Eventually everything inside got wet and I had to replace just about everything. No matter what the container, if a cacher opens it during a rainstorm, or lets snow fall into it over the winter, the contents WILL get soaked eventually. So careless cachers can be added to bad containers as a reason for wet caches.

Link to comment

Found another bad idea for a container today....a dollar store wooden treasure chest:

 

gc27wte-woodenbox.jpg

gc27wtebox-open.jpg

 

It was planted on May 2 2010. Mold is starting to build on the inside of the container.

There's no seal, the cache is not watertight. The contents are being protected by a zippered baggie. The slider/zipper piece had come off and was sitting in the bottom of the container.

Link to comment

Another "no" for the coffee can container. This one was placed in a low-lying area and we actually found it 100 yards downstream from the coordinates. But we've found ammo cans that had fallen into water and were floating, with perfectly dry contents.

 

05dd7c5b-3175-488f-8f83-0fec3ef4737d.jpg

 

185267ad-4b40-46a3-b0b8-89f10d755d9b.jpg

 

Pretty amazing that the logbook was dry in its ziplock.

Link to comment

GC10PZ1 - Pipe bomb look-alike

f4f7dcbe-f9ae-4d4a-be5b-1b86c897468f.jpg

 

Interesting that it was hidden by a user with one hide and no finds. So the question that leaps to mind is was it someone who knew better and used a sock puppet account to see what they could get away with or did they want the bomb squad to show up?

 

Edit to ask - Is it me or does it look like a geocacher called it in as a possible bomb?

 

2nd Edit - Never mind. I have seen the threads. I still have questions but not worth dredging it all up again.

Edited by GOF's Sock Puppet
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...