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Geocaching Injuries

Snowyvl

By Snowyvl
in General geocaching topics

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Snowyvl

+Snowyvl

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yesterday, I introduced my fellow Cub Scout Leader to Geocaching. Unfortunately, we didnt get a chance to open it, despite the fact it was in sight, bearly an arm lengths away. Stupidly, I had focused on the cache and not the nicely camoflaged tree branch that I collided heavily with and subsequently IMPALED my left thigh on.

The injury was shocking and spectacular. Words cannot explain the initial discovery of the bloody black hole that was evident on my lower thigh. :)

 

I need not say much more; as we very swiftly abandoned any attempt at bagging this cache, and concentrated on immediate First Aid and a swift journey to the nearest Hospital.

 

Watch out for the low lying branch at: X Marks the Spot by Ben and Alex (GC1KG3R)

New South Wales, Australia. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...dc-7612c8cc7094

(Pictures and all)

 

I will be taking a hand saw down there tomorrow night and removing the offending vegetational hazard.

 

Anyone else injured themselves whilst Geocaching?

Edited by Blondybear
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bittsen

+bittsen

Posted
Posted

Yesterday, I introduced my fellow Cub Scout Leader to Geocaching. Unfortunately, we didnt get a chance to open it, despite the fact it was in sight, bearly an arm lengths away. Stupidly, I had focused on the cache and not the nicely camoflaged tree branch that I collided heavily with and subsequently IMPALED my left thigh on.

The injury was shocking and spectacular. Words cannot explain the initial discovery of the bloody black hole that was evident on my lower thigh. :)

 

I need not say much more; as we very swiftly abandoned any attempt at bagging this cache, and concentrated on immediate First Aid and a swift journey to the nearest Hospital.

 

Watch out for the low lying branch at: X Marks the Spot by Ben and Alex (GC1KG3R)

New South Wales, Australia. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...dc-7612c8cc7094

(Pictures and all)

 

I will be taking a hand saw down there tomorrow night and removing the offending vegetational hazard.

 

Anyone else injured themselves whilst Geocaching?

 

There are a few threads on geocaching injuries out there.

 

Though I understand your desire to do so, removing any natural vegetation (or offending branches) is contrary to the basic concept of geocaching. We aren't supposed to alter the environment to accomodate our activity.

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Windcalmer

Windcalmer

Posted
Posted

I get the whole "not messing with nature thing", I do. I also know this a very family oriented activity. I think if there is an obvious hazard that a child. adult, or elderly person might be seriously injured on I think that any cacher should do the bare minimum to make it safe for the next cacher. I am not saying cut a tree down, but in this case I say round it off, or just remove enough of the limb to make it safe for the kids. I have shifted rocks near a cache that were a broken ankle waiting to happen. I have done that for as long as I have been hiking and climbing. I really think its a good thing to do. You take five minutes to make a trail safer to the next person so that the park system or wherever does not have to deal with yet another person being injured on the trail. You are not messing with nature, you are making it so that more people can enjoy it in the future with less risk of a trail being closed off or a park having to spend thousands to send out a response crew.

 

Hope that leg heals up. I have gotten cut like that while rock climbing and it sucks. Worst part is watching your pants leg turn dark red before you get to see the real wound. Heal up quick!

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buttaskotch

+buttaskotch

Posted
Posted

Jeez, that sounds painful! However, removing the branch to accommodate a cache or cachers is against the fundamental rules of Geocaching and of the LEAVE NO TRACE concept.

The cache should be moved or like everything other cache, the finder should take their own risks for seeking a cache. I went over my handlebars on a trail while looking for a cache the other day, but I m not going to go back there with a broom to push the dusty dirt out of the way. It was there long before me or the cache

 

Also, I thought LEAVE NO TRACE would also be a fundamental aspect of the cub scouts. Leave nature be.

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roziecakes

+roziecakes

Posted
Posted

I get the whole "not messing with nature thing", I do. I also know this a very family oriented activity.

 

Well, it is and it isn't. If a cache owner wants his/her cache to be family friendly, or they place it with children in mind, they can put the 'recommended for children' icon on their cache, or they may mention on their cache page that the cache is good for children.

 

But no, not all caches are family friendly. A good many of them in fact, are not; and they don't have to be. As long as the cache owner puts the correct terrain rating and mentions the dangers on their page, at that point folks can make informed decisions whether or not to hunt that cache.

 

For example, my husband hunted a cache near GeoWoodstock called 'Ring of Fire' that involved climbing down a cliff into a ravine on cables secured to trees to then climb around on a train carcass that was sticking up out of the river. I would hope that most people would not bring their little ones to attempt that cache.

 

Also, mentioned a lot around here is the psycho-urban cache series; especially #9, that involves donning special protective gear, being in extremely good physical shape and climbing down into an old nuclear reactor. I would sincerely hope that no one would bring their children to do that.

 

And those are just a couple of examples. In the case of the cache in question, Bittsen is correct. Geocaching.com discourages displacing any part of the natural area around a cache. I am VERY sorry to hear about the OP's injury, that is a terrible thing! What I would do is email the cache owner and suggest upping the terrain level for their cache and making a note on their cache page to use caution rather than going out with a saw.

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knowschad

knowschad

Posted
Posted
Worst that I ever did was slip and hit the inside of my thigh on the top of a guard rail from about three feet up. I had not realized that a bruise can wrap an entire 360 around a body part.

2nd worst you ever did was a double post. :)

 

Seriously... when you time out, don't refresh... simply go back in through the Forums link. You will find that your post went through just fine, and there will only be one of them.

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lachupa

+lachupa

Posted
Posted

But but you’re in Australia where the goldfish can KILL and innocent looking blades of grass can rise up and choke you where you stand. :)

I saw it on tv so it must be true.

 

Thanks for the head’s up. Yesterday as I reached under a UPR to retrieve a cache the story in the paper over the weekend about how the state of NC is #1 for copperhead bites did pop into my head.

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Snoogans

+Snoogans

Posted
Posted

giveblood.jpg

 

Giving blood is a way of life in Geocaching. I got cut up pretty badly erasing a 7yo multiple DNF from my record while on vacation this year. I just laughed at every fresh cut and scrape because it just hardened my resolve to find the durn thang.

 

I probably looked like the biggest nerd yelling and holding an ammo can over my head standing on a cliff edge overlooking southbound traffic on HWY 395, but I could care less. I FOUND IT!!!! :ph34r::D:D:D

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Driddy

+Driddy

Posted
Posted

I have not had more than the usual scrapes and poison ivy. However, I have encountered several caches that could injure people in ways that are not clear from the cache descriptions. A notable example is a cache in Maryland that is at the bottom of an abandoned well. I have no problem with putting a cached at the bottom of a dry well, but it does concern me that the well is in an area with heavy vegetation and there is no wall or fence around it. It would be very easy to fall in the pit while hunting for ground zero, particularly if one were fixated on the GPSr (likely given the bouncy signal near gz). I am surprised that the land owner/manager has not taken any protective measures given that this is is a small stand of trees near homes.

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Snoogans

+Snoogans

Posted
Posted

A crappy case of poison ivy.

 

I had a GOOD one. My doctor had a wonderful bedside manner. :ph34r: At first he just acted grossed out and then he took pictures. :D Then he said that he had seen pics of radiation burns that didn't look as bad and were probably less painful than that. :sad: Then he said that he was surprised that it hadn't gone systemic and killed me. :D

 

I never went back to that %@^(er. :D

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The red-haired witch

+The red-haired witch

Posted
Posted

I think all the people horrified at the idea of a dead branch being cut are funny

 

Also, I thought LEAVE NO TRACE would also be a fundamental aspect of the cub scouts. Leave nature be.

 

Actually, scouting does involve making campfires and such (anyway, it did in my day ;) ), so I don't see why any scout would oppose cutting a pointy dead branch from a tree. I'm assuming it is a dead branch we are talking about, because I've never seen a tree with live branches pointy enough to cause that kind of wound... but I've never been to Australia.

 

The whole "LEAVE NO TRACE" (in all caps, of course) movement sometimes takes things way too far in my opinion. Don't walk on grass, don't gather raspberries, poop in a plastic bag to carry everything out :D .

 

Scouting tends to take a more practical approach, teaching kids how to responsibly use natural ressources. Picking edible plants, fishing, building shelters out of branches... It's not "let nature be" it's "we're part of nature".

 

To get back to the subject of geocaching injuries, mine are mostly sprained ankles, but I also have a few scars from encounters with various plants, the worst ones being those extra-sharp stumps left by beavers snacking on small trees. I can say I've left plenty of blood traces. :)

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The red-haired witch

+The red-haired witch

Posted
Posted

Actually... for me, the leave no trace issue is more of following the guidelines than my personal philosophy.

 

The geocaching guidelines do ask us to not modify the environment to place or hunt caches. But I wouldn't interpret them as meaning that, if I see something dangerous near a cache, I can't try to make the place safer for the next hiker (be it a geocacher or not). I don't mean that in a heavy handed manner... As always common sense is important. I'm not saying that everything dangerous should be removed from nature. The OP is not saying he's going to remove all the pointy sticks from the forest. But cutting one branch (that is now contaminated with blood) seems like a good idea.

 

If I see broken glass or old rusty barb wire near a cache, I'll try to remove those things if I can safely do so (or at least make it safer somehow). It may go against the letter of the guidelines, but certainly not their spirit. Sure, those things may have produced all kinds of interesting stories about geocaching injuries in the future, but we don't really want that, do we :)

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bfdhud

+bfdhud

Posted
Posted

A crappy case of poison ivy.

 

I had a GOOD one. My doctor had a wonderful bedside manner. :) At first he just acted grossed out and then he took pictures. :huh: Then he said that he had seen pics of radiation burns that didn't look as bad and were probably less painful than that. ;) Then he said that he was surprised that it hadn't gone systemic and killed me. :D

 

I never went back to that %@^(er. ;)

 

haha, I must have used the restroom after touching the plant because :erm: yeah, well it sucks.

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roziecakes

+roziecakes

Posted
Posted

Actually... for me, the leave no trace issue is more of following the guidelines than my personal philosophy.

 

The geocaching guidelines do ask us to not modify the environment to place or hunt caches. But I wouldn't interpret them as meaning that, if I see something dangerous near a cache, I can't try to make the place safer for the next hiker (be it a geocacher or not). I don't mean that in a heavy handed manner... As always common sense is important. I'm not saying that everything dangerous should be removed from nature. The OP is not saying he's going to remove all the pointy sticks from the forest. But cutting one branch (that is now contaminated with blood) seems like a good idea.

 

If I see broken glass or old rusty barb wire near a cache, I'll try to remove those things if I can safely do so (or at least make it safer somehow). It may go against the letter of the guidelines, but certainly not their spirit. Sure, those things may have produced all kinds of interesting stories about geocaching injuries in the future, but we don't really want that, do we :)

 

I can definitely see where you're coming from. One has to weigh the pros and cons of each situation for sure.

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Team Dromomania

+Team Dromomania

Posted
Posted

I really enjoy caches which require lots of hiking. When I'm with one or more other cachers we almost always note who drew "first blood." This year I had no Poison Oak (it pretty much leaves me alone) and I did reach deep and grab hold of a 6 button rattlesnake (and let go faster than he could strike - it was cold) but I've had many, many cuts and scrapes and had several ticks take hold including one in my belly hole that took a doctor, knife and 2 stiches to remove. Yet, I can stll say - I really enjoy caches which require lots of hiking.

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JesandTodd

+JesandTodd

Posted
Posted

The better question would be... Have you gone a geocaching day without an injury?

 

Minor injuries with minimal blood loss are par for the course. I did one cache today: I cut my leg on a mesquite brush, and had 2 different cacti attach to me. One was quite large!

I also nearly died of heat stroke (seriously!!).

 

I've also impaled my hip/thigh with curved hemostats while caching. It actually left a piece shirt in my body. It bled like ain't nobodys business! It took weeks to heal.

 

I've had jumping cholla stuck in my head.

Had inch long thorns go straight through my shoe into my foot.

Attacked by a snake (but I totally fell down the hill faster that it did!)

Fell down a rock side hill and had rocks fall on my ankle. I think it broke a little because it turned completely blue.

And so on and so on....

 

Grace is not my forte :D

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Dragery

+Dragery

Posted
Posted (edited)

"Give Blood, Go Geocaching"

 

There was a cache in front of a blood bank, dedicated to a guys daughter who was thankful for their services. After grabbing the cache, I stopped in really quick to give blood :) Nothing like taking that phrase literally lol. Free cookies, chips and water!

 

As for injuries, nothing more than minor scratches.

Edited by Dragery
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