Glass containers

[+psubrian]

So I've been caching for a little over a year now and closing in on 800 finds, but I've only placed 6 caches so far. I've been 'collecting' potential cache containers for a few months now and with an infant at home, I'm stockpiling a lot of baby food glass jars. To me, they are solid waterproof containers since it just got done holding in food, but I'm wondering what the geocaching community's stance is on glass containers? The more I think about it, I don't recall seeing very many. Is it fear of the glass breaking? I know many COs complain about animals eating through a plastic container, but I wouldn't think they'd chew their way through glass.

 

Just looking to get input from folks on their thoughts about using glass containers for cache containers.

 

- psubrian

[Night_Hiker]

I've never seen one and would advise not using them. There's probably a rule against it or at least an unwritten rule. They will eventually get broken and cut someone. It's just not worth it

[+ngrrfan]

No glass please, and baby food jars are not as water proof as you think. Use them in your workshop for screws, nuts, bolts etc.

[+entogeek]

Please avoid glass containers. Should they break, and eventually they will, and a finder cut themself you will definitely hear about it. Aside from that, falling tree limbs, falling rocks, etc. add to their shortened lifespan.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

There is no rule against using them. But do you want to assume responsibility for somebody (geocacher or muggle) being injured from the broken jar that has your name/account associated with it? The geocaching waiver of liability does not extend to muggles.

[+StarBrand]

Bad Idea. Not really waterproof once the seal is broken and glass just breaks when left out in nature and lets just face it - many cachers are clumsy and drop things.

[GOF and Bacall]

Bad Idea. Not really waterproof once the seal is broken and glass just breaks when left out in nature and lets just face it - many cachers are clumsy and drop things.

 

Hey! I resemble that remark!

[+Sol seaker]

Cachers drop things all the time.

 

But another thing is the winter freeze.

I should think glass should hold up frozen okay, but I've had glass jars break in my freezer when I try to store food in them. I store all my food in glass in my refrigerator, but no longer in my freezer because of breakage problems. One even broke when it was safely in the door. The whole bottom just broke right off.

 

If you really have to place glass, you might want to do some freezer testing on them first. It gets cold in the winter where you are. Baby food jars are thick glass they might be okay, but remember, you need to leave them in there a few months to really know.

 

When glass breaks it not only could cut the cacher, but also make a mess of glass shards where it was dropped, leaving a hazard even after the container is replaced.

 

If you have to re-use a container, use a plastic peanut butter jar soaked in bleach a few days to get the smell out.

[+psubrian]

Okay, okay ... no glass it is. If I could lock this thread now, I would.

[knowschad]

Before this is locked, I will say that I have found a couple of caches that were hidden in glass containers that held up for years in Minnesota weather. Those are the exceptions, but they can work. The ones I found were very thick glass, and NOT hidden under a pile of rocks, like a couple of others that I had to post NA logs on. Still... why? When you have other options... why?

 

In addition... because a container can hold something in does not imply that it can hold water out.

 

IBTL

[Mr.Yuck]

Okay, okay ... no glass it is. If I could lock this thread now, I would.

 

Oh c'mon, it wasn't that bad, was it? I have, in 8 years of Geocaching, and 2,000+ some finds, seen exactly one glass container(could just be me). I'll actually disagree with some of the early posts, I think a screw-top baby food jar would be rather waterproof. But with the danger of it being dropped or crushed, and the temperature changes pretty much anywhere North of Florida, I'd never go for it.

[+Chrysalides]

I've been 'collecting' potential cache containers for a few months now

Yeah, that seems to be a recent hobby of mine too....

 

I've found glass containers that have held up well. But I won't be placing any myself for the reasons given. Some of the small, thick containers probably hold up to abuse better than plastic containers though.

[+Shaved Ewok]

I've seen several old mason jars with a layer of camo duct tape on them here in Ohio. They have held up for several years without any issues. I even dropped one on the road and all it did was bounce. Maybe the camo tape makes them safer who knows.

[+TeamDadcubed]

How about acrylic? Same toughness without the shatter hazard? No idea myself is why I ask.

 

Also, a note on the PB jars. Nice size and all if they get clean enough, but with some dark tape (camo duck tape!!!)I have noticed that they want to warp. The two I found so far have both done it to the point of compromising a water tight seal. My area does get pretty hot in the late summer and I suspect some direct light to be the ultimate culprit

but it's something to keep in mind.

 

My second cache I built out of a dark plastic pill bottle using hot glue to add "natural" camo. It'll be a real treat to find when I get it placed. I got a very small amount of warpage from the thickest glue spots, but other than that it's been in direct sun for a week now and is showing no problems. I think I'll try the freeze thing just to test it.

 

Anyway, I hope this doesn't get locked but if it does I'll try to start a new topic.

 

Thanks,

 

Dad of TeamDadcubed

[AZcachemeister]

Glass jars are OK, depending on how and where they are hidden.

In Arizona, most substantial mountain peaks have a summit log, and invariably it's in a glass jar under a rockpile.

Some of them have been there for 40-50+ years and the glass is unbroken. The lid has rusted away on the older ones though.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Back to glass jars.... I think (usually get it trouble when I do that), some need to know WHY the seal doesn't work all that well.

 

An earlier poster is correct, keeping water in vs keeping water out, are two separate issues. While one works, the other may not work at all!

 

The reason that the baby food jar seemed so adept at solving the problem is that it was sealed with the contents HOT, creating a vacuum as as it cooled CREATING that seal. I doubt that you could re-create that type of seal in the wild.

 

That's my lesson in CANNING 101.

 

Good luck.

[+bflentje]

I've seen three glass jars in my 4800 find career. Two were broken and one was ok. Those aren't good odds.

[+paleolith]

How about acrylic?

I don't think I've ever seen an acrylic cache container and don't know where you would find one. Look at the resin ID codes on the bottom of containers and learn the types of plastic. Most plastic containers used for caches are PETE, LDPE, or PP. PVC is good but uncommon for caches. Occasionally you'll find ABS or polycarbonate, which do not have standard codes.

 

a note on the PB jars. Nice size and all if they get clean enough, but with some dark tape (camo duck tape!!!)I have noticed that they want to warp. The two I found so far have both done it to the point of compromising a water tight seal. My area does get pretty hot in the late summer and I suspect some direct light to be the ultimate culprit but it's something to keep in mind.

Plastic peanut butter jars are PETE, which holds up well in direct sunlight. The warping is from the heat rather than from the radiation. The lid is probably HDPE (lids are seldom coded), which in general doesn't hold up well to sunlight, but I haven't seen any with problems.

 

More generally, LDPE degrades quickly in sunlight and HDPE also degrades in sunlight but perhaps not as quickly. The other plastics mentioned tend to hold up pretty well. (Whether the containers keep water out is a different matter but is mostly unrelated to the type of material.)

 

My second cache I built out of a dark plastic pill bottle

Most pill bottles are better than a sieve at keeping water out, but not much. Test your containers underwater for at least an hour with tissue inside; if the tissue is even damp, then the cache will be full of water after a few rains. The Containers Explained section of the guidelines now has a brief description of this test.

 

Edward

[+A & J Tooling]

3 glass jars so far. Not even 20 finds. Go figure. Old canning jars with the glass top with the gasket and the wire part that latches on top. Those things will last 1000 years if taken care of. I think it all depends on the cache. If I found something like an old glass canning jar in an old abandoned town or something, I think it would add to the find.

 

Ever smash your fingers while latching shut a 50 cal ammo box? That hurts too. My last find was under a dead tree leaning against another dead tree. It was during a very windy day. I spent more time getting up the nerve to go under that thing then actually looking for the cache.

[+roziecakes]

I think I've found four glass jars, and all were in okay shape, but I question whether or not they would hold up over time... mostly just because of being affected by temperature changes.

 

I'm another fan of Peanut Butter jars. They are also easy to stockpile, to cammo, and some have nice wide mouths for easy swag / logbook removal, and they seem to stay dry. Some of the driest containers I've found here in rainy ol' Oregon have been PB jars. (second only to ammo cans and lock n locks).

 

Believe it or not, those gallon size ice cream pails actually make good containers. I wouldn't have believed it myself except that I have found several that have been out for over five years, dry as a bone. I have a hide in one of them myself, and it's been out almost two years now in the middle of the wet woods and is completely dry inside.

 

I don't recommend pill bottles, at least around here they NEVER stay dry, unless you hide them in a dry place.

 

To the OP: Don't feel bad about asking the question, it was a good question!

[+GeoGeeBee]

3 glass jars so far. Not even 20 finds. Go figure. Old canning jars with the glass top with the gasket and the wire part that latches on top. Those things will last 1000 years if taken care of.

 

One of the worst caches I ever found was in one of those. It was full of water and mold.

[+StarBrand]

I think I've seen 5 glass jar caches. I broke one of them by dropping it . 2 others were broken when I got there and 1 was full of water (baby food jar).

[+a-body]

I've found at least 4 glass jars, one of them has been in northern MN since 2003. Glass will not break when frozen, if it did, all the windows in MN and other states would be broken by now.

I won't state how many glass containers I have hidden.

[+StarBrand]

I've found at least 4 glass jars, one of them has been in northern MN since 2003. Glass will not break when frozen, if it did, all the windows in MN and other states would be broken by now. ....

Its not the cold. It the pressure from ice and snow that will break a glass container (and some plastic ones as well).

[+edscott]

Wasn't that many years ago that one of the photos on the GC.Com home page was a kid holding a large glass jar cache. I've found a few and none were broken. Not sure baby food jars would seal well. The ones I use for bolts and screws seem to get cross threaded easily.. probably more often with cold or wet hands.

[+power69]

Believe it or not, those gallon size ice cream pails actually make good containers. I wouldn't have believed it myself except that I have found several that have been out for over five years, dry as a bone. I have a hide in one of them myself, and it's been out almost two years now in the middle of the wet woods and is completely dry inside.

those wouldn't work in arizona, the UV would attack the plastic and they'd become brittle and crack.

[+power69]

There is no rule against using them. But do you want to assume responsibility for somebody (geocacher or muggle) being injured from the broken jar that has your name/account associated with it? The geocaching waiver of liability does not extend to muggles.

most parks and mountain preserves have rules signs up and usually first thing is "no glass containers"

[+Chokecherry]

Believe it or not, those gallon size ice cream pails actually make good containers. I wouldn't have believed it myself except that I have found several that have been out for over five years, dry as a bone. I have a hide in one of them myself, and it's been out almost two years now in the middle of the wet woods and is completely dry inside.

those wouldn't work in arizona, the UV would attack the plastic and they'd become brittle and crack.

 

They become extremely brittle in very cold winters where I am too. Plus with the cold to hot swings the lids will get a little funky fitting too. I've used them outdoors for other purposes and that's been my experience with them.

[Clan Riffster]

For me, it's a matter of, "Just because you can do a thing, doesn't mean you should do a thing"

I've found glass containers that had survived for extended periods out in the wilds.

I've also found glass containers that were broken in the first week.

Anyone who has been caching for more than 10 minutes knows there is no container garunteed not to fail.

Ammo cans, Lock & Locks, preforms, and Bison Design tubes have all been found, occasionally, in damaged states.

But with these containers, when they break, they don't leave glass shards laying around.

I'd rather play the odds and use containers with a solid track record, that don't create hazards when they fail.

[+A & J Tooling]

If ya' just gotta' use glass, they sell transparent duct tape now. It'll hold it all together in case of clumsiness and it might even add a layer of padding.

[+witakr]

Well.... this answered my question....

 

This post should be stickied, imo...

[+Dgwphotos]

I have one glass container for a cache: Do you have any Grey Poupon? II. I've never had it broken. I do have a warning on the cache page, however, to be careful with it. The only reason I'm using a glass container is the theme, of course, and as far as I know, Grey Poupon does not come in plastic containers.