Photos/Images of bad cache containers

[+Darren V]

Oh, and for my geocache hides I bought a 18 piece lock and lock set (like the real lock and lock stuff) for $10!!!!!

[+mchaos]

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.

 

 

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 June 10, 2010 by mchaos

[+roziecakes]

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:

 

 

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.

[gsbohr]

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...

[+power69]

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:

 

 

 

But what exactly is it in this gladware container?

 

Did you post a picture of the wrong one?

its obviously a stash, but what KIND of stash

[+power69]

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….

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.

[+power69]

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?

[+power69]

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.

[+power69]

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:

 

 

 

Update:

 

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

 

 

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.

[+mchaos]

Any cache that involves this,

 

and this,

 

Is pretty much lame, tired, and boring.

[+bittsen]

Any cache that involves this,

 

and this,

 

Is pretty much lame, tired, and boring.

 

Says you.

 

I still enjoy finding GRCs

[Inway2deepnow]

Depends on where the guardrail is located. I'd be willing to bet, not as much as the mortgage payment, that 95% or more are pointless beyond the all mighty smilie.

[+The Ravens]

Any cache that involves this,

 

and this,

 

Is pretty much lame, tired, and boring.

Any cache that involves this,

 

and this,

 

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.

[+Pork King]

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

 

Who wants to start a thread on bad cache locations?

[+XD1]

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

 

Who wants to start a thread on bad cache locations?

 

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

[+power69]

Any cache that involves this,

 

and this,

 

Is pretty much lame, tired, and boring.

Any cache that involves this,

 

and this,

 

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]

[+power69]

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

 

Who wants to start a thread on bad cache locations?

 

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

anyone ever find a loaded .22 pistol?

[knowschad]

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….

Must be a wise guy!

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

[ashnikes]

Dollar-store containers:

 

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.

[+brslk]

Dollar-store containers:

 

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 June 14, 2010 by brslk

[+Pork King]

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

 

Who wants to start a thread on bad cache locations?

 

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

anyone ever find a loaded .22 pistol?

 

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

[+BigAl437]

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:

 

 

 

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

 

Hmmm, Maybe crickets for a snake?

[ashnikes]

Dollar-store containers:

 

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?

[+Twitch Hugs Trees]

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.

[+Maj.Duty]

 

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.

[+RatRunCrew]

I work in a photolab and can vouch that the clear ones are the better of the two, saying that the lab is in a chemist, and for a measly 50p you can get a rather fetching urine sample bottle! now one would hope that that was waterproof!

[djhobby]

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.

[knowschad]

Dollar-store containers:

 

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.

[+Papa EGTH]

I saw this one pop up a few years ago: orange juice shotgun shell.

Here's the description: This cache is not a very good cache. The cache is a piece of a paper lunch bag with numbers on it inside of a shotgun shell which is in and orange juice container without a label."

 

Somehow it has lasted over 2 years and is still active.

[+Flintstone5611]

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

[ashnikes]

Dollar-store containers:

 

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 July 7, 2010 by ashnikes

[+TABjuggler]

that psych cache is really bad lol

Edited July 7, 2010 by TABjuggler

[ashnikes]

it looks almost identical to the one pictured here doesnt it?

 

i guess we should replace it cause i cant remember if i contacted the owner or not, orif they contacted me back yet, ill keep an eye out for a good small container.

[+RandomH3ro]

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.

[+roziecakes]

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...

[+redtech]

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.

[+L0ne.R]

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

[+NevaP]

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.

[+L0ne.R]

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:

 

 

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 July 31, 2010 by Lone R

[Andronicus]

I have seen a few of these recently

 

I will post a pic when I get home of the actual one I found with a large hole in the side. I had to 'clean it up' after it was archived due to retired cache owner.

[+thedeadpirate]

I found with a large hole in the side.

I'm pretty sure you can't blame that one on vampire rats.

[+dbrierley]

GC10PZ1 - Pipe bomb look-alike

[+roziecakes]

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.

[+genegene]

GC10PZ1 - Pipe bomb look-alike

 

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.

[+Viridios]

GC10PZ1 - Pipe bomb look-alike

 

Wow... That just screams "Oh! Oh! Over here, Bomb Squad! Pick me! Pick Me!!"

 

How does someone not see that as a problem???????

[+catcher24]

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.

[+L0ne.R]

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

 

 

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.

[+succotash]

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.

 

 

 

Pretty amazing that the logbook was dry in its ziplock.

[GOF's Sock Puppet]

GC10PZ1 - Pipe bomb look-alike

 

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 August 2, 2010 by GOF's Sock Puppet

[+L0ne.R]

Found another example to add to the collection of bad cache containers. Today I found a clam-shell eyeglass case used as a cache. It was in the root area of a tree. Surprisingly in good shape but it looked fresh, probably just planted: