What do you do if a cache becomes out of reach?

[quizzical_quack]

It my first cache so I am stumped as to what to do.... So my problem is this, My sister and I were out cache(ing?), we followed the clues and directions,so we found it .... Good right? Well ..... My sister rushed to retrieve it (leaving me to mind our dogs)but it slipped from her hands and landed three or four feet (or a meter for metric) deeper into the cavity. So now it is unreachable...... What do I do? Please help....

 

quizzical_quack

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

If the cache is metal -- a mechanic's magnet.

If not metal -- chewing gum on a stick or string (if the gum is nice and sticky).

 

EDIT: A string with a magnet may well take the place of a mechanic's magnet.

Edited July 5, 2010 by Gitchee-Gummee

[quizzical_quack]

If the cache is metal -- a mechanic's magnet.

If not metal -- chewing gum on a stick or string (if the gum is nice and sticky).

 

EDIT: A string with a magnet may well take the place of a mechanic's magnet.

 

Thank you for the reply. The particular cache in question is PVC pipe and is on the second biggest scale ...my sister said it was a bit heavy as well.. Thank you so much though, this will be so help full in the future

 

quizzical_quack

[+The Blorenges]

These things happen sometimes - It was an accident - If you've done your best to retrieve it and you just can't get at it then contact the owner and explain by sending them an email through the link in their profile. No need to put all the details of what has happened in your log on the cache page - I'd suggest keeping the log simple, something like, "We found it and signed the log but unfortunately there was a problem when we tried to replace it in the correct position. Owner has been emailed." That lets other cachers know there's a problem without given away the exact details of how/where the cache was hidden.

 

MrsB

[+coggins]

It my first cache so I am stumped as to what to do....

 

What do I do?

You should start by logging your find...

[DannyCaffeine]

Reaching tool. Like a gopher grabber.

 

Let the co know if you can't get it.

[+kunarion]

You should start by logging your find...

Yes. Definitely mention that it's now "out of reach". You don't need to be too specific, if that would spoil the hide once it's fixed. But the next poor soul to arrive may not be the cache owner. So it might be retrieved and then put right back down the hole again.

[BlueRajah]

Post it in your log so other cachers will know, and let the cache owner know.

[+StarBrand]

Fashion any tool you can think of to try a retrieval. If it fails, let the cache owner know and post a note log to cache listing page so others have a heads up.

[+drb566]

This happened to my son and I--it was a film canister teetering on top of a big, but deep crevice in a tree trunk (covered with poison ivy). Well it slipped down the tree trunk as we tried to get it. We tried for almost an hour to get it out, went home got a grabbing tool and tried again and still couldn't get it. We immediately let the owner know what had happened, apologized too. When he finally replied he said "oh well" and may be he would get around to getting it out.

A few days later someone finally got it extracted from the tree and logged it. The owner of the cache immediately thanked him and chastised us for ruining his cache for everyone. Needless to say, I was furious and emailed him and told him what he could do with his cache. Accidents happen and I could have just left it alone and never said anything but I didn't. Needless to say we will NEVER look for any of his caches.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Best to be honest about it. Explain what happened, and offer your apologies. Sounds like a poor hide to me. CO's fault. With that attitude, I'd ignore his caches too. Yeah. I knocked on off a bridge, once, into the Passaic River. I apologized profusely. Someone suggested changing the terain rating to 5! CO accepted my apology.

[+NanCycle]

This happened to my son and I--it was a film canister teetering on top of a big, but deep crevice in a tree trunk (covered with poison ivy). Well it slipped down the tree trunk as we tried to get it. We tried for almost an hour to get it out, went home got a grabbing tool and tried again and still couldn't get it. We immediately let the owner know what had happened, apologized too. When he finally replied he said "oh well" and may be he would get around to getting it out.

A few days later someone finally got it extracted from the tree and logged it. The owner of the cache immediately thanked him and chastised us for ruining his cache for everyone. Needless to say, I was furious and emailed him and told him what he could do with his cache. Accidents happen and I could have just left it alone and never said anything but I didn't. Needless to say we will NEVER look for any of his caches.

 

IMO you did everything you could have been expected to do, and more. It was really the owner's fault for placing it in a way that it could easily get lost.

[+Bundyrumandcoke]

A rope noose on a pole.

[+Leleboo_05]

This reminds me of my geoblunder from the weekend... I got to GZ, found a pvc pipe in the ground with the screw cap. I looked in, and there was the waterproof match cache container. I was excited, because I've read about caches where you had to fill the pipe with water and let the cache float to reach, and had never found one before. SO... i grabbed the waterhose that was nearby, and filled that sucker up. I signed the (surprisingly dry) log, and tossed it back to the still full pvc pipe and to my surprise...the water didn't recede. Then i started feeling like a dummy. My fat arms wouldn't have reached it had i tried, and i don't have one of those NIFTY grabby thingys (YET!) So when i got home, i asked the CO what the "Intended" method of removal is... he said your hand. I told him what i had done, luckily he didn't call the geopolice on me... But i learned my lesson- buy a reachy grabby thing!!!

[+boda]

Had the same problem as the OP. This was an FTF that went wrong. The cache went sailing down a 4 foot pipe. I immediately went home, logged the problem and emailed the CO. He was on his computer at the time so he answered. Soon after, we were on the phone where I apologized porfusely. I really felt bad. He seemed to be a bit miffed and wanted me to get that thing out soon. I devised a couple of tools that might do the job, went out to the cache and tried to get it out, but no luck. Then I noticed that the problem was not my fault but a poor glue-job. The CO was a lot friendlier after that; and together failed to recover the cache.