Whats the best value you've gotten on cache containers?

[+u1bd2005]

Hi guys, was just wondering what the best value cache containers you've bought were.

 

I just got some nice cheap, pretty looking containers at my local poundland, 8 small containers (meant for spices/sauces ect...)

 

Far from camouflaged (they're pink/orange/blue and green.) but 8 containers for £1 is pretty good for what I got, they seem pretty watertight too.

 

Note: The Pepsi Max (500ml) was 2 for £1 at Poundland and is not one of my cache containers, it's there for size reference only.

 

----

 

Also picked up some nice sheets of handmade card charms in The Works for £1 a sheet, which should make nice tradables.

[+seldon]

Around here containers like that look pretty watertight, but always get wet. Perhaps they are different across the pond.

[+John in Valley Forge]

You get what you pay for. The cheaper ones do not seem to hold up as well to the elements in the long run.

The only food storage containers I've seen work well are lock-n-locks.

[+u1bd2005]

Yeh I'm slightly hopeful (gotta be better than what I've been using)

 

At £1 for the 8 of them its worth seeing if they do the job.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Cheap is cheap is cheap. In my opinion, one really shouldn't go there.

 

I get ammo cans at various surplus stores for $1.75 - $2.50 per (don't know the current conversion [ $/£ ] rate).

[+briansnat]

I liked when Cheaperthandirt sold 6 ammo boxes for $19. They haven't been available at that price for years though.

[+Coldgears]

Cheap is cheap is cheap. In my opinion, one really shouldn't go there.

 

I get ammo cans at various surplus stores for $1.75 - $2.50 per (don't know the current conversion [ $/£ ] rate).

Well, lucky you! The surplus store in Center City Philadelphia sells then for $10, so I went to one in New Jersey and they sold them for $20. I think you must live in "no-inflation" land.

[+Sol seaker]

The best way to test those is to put a rock inside of them wrapped in a kleenex tissue, and sink it in a bucket of water for at least 24 hours. If it does not pass this test it will not hold up in the field.

 

 

The best value I've gotten on a cache container was when I found my Squirrel Heaven container on the discount rack at the hardware store.

 

It's a charming ceramic squirrel all kicked back in a hammock. It is absolutely darling. I had to tie a bison tube onto it for something waterproof to sign. I've gotten, I think 8 feedback points on it at this point.

I've gotten a lot of really great logs on it. It's given a whole lot of people a whole lot of smiles. And I think I only paid 12 bucks for it.

 

That's a whole lot of smiles for 12 bucks. I wish I had of bought more of them.

 

(actually almost 20 when you include the price of the bison tube. A great value at twice that price.)

 

I would rather put out one really good cache, then 5 cheap crappy ones.

Edited July 30, 2011 by Sol seaker

[+CanadianRockies]

That's a whole lot of smiles for 12 bucks...actually almost 20 when you include the price of the bison tube.

Did you really pay $7 or $8 for a bison tube? I bought several for $1.50 each at a store that isn't known for its bargain prices.

[AZcachemeister]

With only a week of Geocaching under your belt (and three finds), perhaps it would be a good idea to get out and see what types of containers other Geocachers are using. Then you can see for yourself what works and what doesn't.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Cheap is cheap is cheap. In my opinion, one really shouldn't go there.

 

I get ammo cans at various surplus stores for $1.75 - $2.50 per (don't know the current conversion [ $/£ ] rate).

Well, lucky you! The surplus store in Center City Philadelphia sells then for $10, so I went to one in New Jersey and they sold them for $20. I think you must live in "no-inflation" land.

Hardly "no-inflationland", but true -- it was a lucky find. I snatched up a goodly number. Of course, I had to search through pallets of them to get those w/o dents that corrupted the seal. Will be going back tho, when I get there -- 'tis a couple of hundred miles away. But then too, it's not in a population-centered area. Maybe that helps, you know, one of those price v. demand equations. They seem to be used around this geographic area more-so than in a metro area.

[+Kabuthunk]

When I build a geocache, the price of it rarely factors into it. I've made very few geocaches (and very sadly had to archive two of them yesterday, one due to theft, the other due to hunters setting up their hunting treestands in the area, and me feeling this area is no longer safe), and generally the entire process of building them, swag, camouflage, etc will end up costing about $30 to $50, and probably about 20+ hours of labour (some less, some far, far more).

 

And technically, the FTF prize would in itself be around $50 to $80 on its own if you were to buy it in a store, but since I make chainmail, a titanium intricately woven chainmail bracelet costs me far, far less than to buy it outright.

Edited July 30, 2011 by Kabuthunk

[+awopcxet]

i are getting that containers who my parent's don't have a use to

[+Panther&Pine]

i are getting that containers who my parent's don't have a use to

I had a head tilt moment then came up with "I'm using containters that my parents don't have a use for anymore".

 

I've repurposed a few items for cache containers, but with the high bear population I don't use anything that has had food in it before.

[+kunarion]

Yeh I'm slightly hopeful (gotta be better than what I've been using)

 

At £1 for the 8 of them its worth seeing if they do the job.

Those might be worth a try. Some folks are a little jaded by poor cache maintenance, so they'd discourage the use of real cheap containers. But maybe you check your cache regularly, and if those boxes last 6 months each, that's 4 years worth of clean dry cache for £1.

[+SeekerOfTheWay]

Ammo cans for $7.99

Lock N Locks for $1.99

 

Space Coast Geocaching Store

This store is awesome, go there! It's the ONLY geocaching store that I know of. An actual store that you walk into to.

 

They have tons of containers, coins, stickers, logs, walking sticks, ammo cans.

 

SCGA Geostore

Edited July 30, 2011 by SeekerOfTheWay

[Mr.Yuck]

I liked when Cheaperthandirt sold 6 ammo boxes for $19. They haven't been available at that price for years though.

 

Cabellas.com used to match that too. But that was like 2004 or something. The OP is from the UK, but I used to buy Farberware (long established U.S. company) Lock-n-lock clones at Dollar General for dirt cheap. But that was a couple years ago, and haven't seen them there since.

[+Cyndaria]

Our local military surplus sells ammo cans around $10 however my best caches are free! I get some cylinders that contained concrete molds from an engineer friend and the size is about the size of a small ammo can. They are great and water tight. I also get a container only a little smaller than a pill bottle from the hospital. They use these bottles to hold blood test strips that can't get wet. No medicine goes in them, and they come water proof.

 

While I realize most people don't have the resources to get everything free (myself included) sometimes all it takes is telling a friend what you are looking for.

[+cmar22]

My wife went with her mother today to go shopping & came home with two ammo cans for me. . That is a great deal to me and she is not a cacher.

[+Sharks-N-Beans]

Got it! Poundland is like The Dollar Store. I thought it was some kind of home for wayward dogs. Was trying to think what pet supply would make a good container.

[Clan Riffster]

Did you really pay $7 or $8 for a bison tube? I bought several for $1.50 each...

Were they made by Bison Designs, or were they the cheap Chinese knock offs?

[+TomToad]

I actually bought some of these on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P91E4C

They work great, never had any of them cross-threaded nor have any gotten water inside. Only problem is that the seals do not last very long, but even without the seal, the contents have remained dry.

[+Viajero Perdido]

The forest has teeth.

 

Around here, coyotes are the problem; a coyote will have a hard time getting into a Lock-n-Lock brand plastic container, but occasionally will drag it off to wherever it keeps the power tools.

 

Soft plasticware as shown in the picture above wouldn't stand a chance.

[+CanadianRockies]

Did you really pay $7 or $8 for a bison tube? I bought several for $1.50 each...

Were they made by Bison Designs, or were they the cheap Chinese knock offs?

I suspect they are cheap knock offs, but they seem to be doing a good job of keeping everything dry so far.

[+Vater_Araignee]

Did you really pay $7 or $8 for a bison tube? I bought several for $1.50 each...

Were they made by Bison Designs, or were they the cheap Chinese knock offs?

OT

Looks like I have been vindicated. As displayed by CR I am not the only person to note that bison tube has become a generic term like xerox for photo copy or coke for any cola soft drink.

 

BOT

I get LNL knock offs for a buck at a local around a dollar store. It took me over 600 complete flexes to break off a tab at room temperature and around 400 in January below freezing.

I thought at first good container but then I decided to lock and unlock a tab and it only took about 100 times before the tab would no longer lock. I also put them through a few other tests like submersion and freezing, thaw and unthaw. I even have one sitting 2 feet underwater.

After some additional consideration I concluded that they are good containers for caches with less visits. Too bad that I only wanted them for a cache series that hasn't worked out.

[+AmphibianTrackers]

Hhhmmm, I am such a newbie I can't quote the right post. I was responding to the problem of coyotes.

 

For us, it is raccoons and they would have these little containers apart quicker than you could place them. Case in point is Tupperware containers that the raccoons are just dying for us to place outside for their enjoyment. Edit to add: We were recently at a cache where we found the container but they had scattered the items all over the place just like they do trash left in unsealed trashcans.

Edited August 1, 2011 by AmphibianTrackers

[+Nature Kids]

A wide mouth thermos for a quarter at the Good Will store......

[+The Chaos Crew]

When I build a geocache, the price of it rarely factors into it. I've made very few geocaches (and very sadly had to archive two of them yesterday, one due to theft, the other due to hunters setting up their hunting treestands in the area, and me feeling this area is no longer safe), and generally the entire process of building them, swag, camouflage, etc will end up costing about $30 to $50, and probably about 20+ hours of labour (some less, some far, far more).

 

And technically, the FTF prize would in itself be around $50 to $80 on its own if you were to buy it in a store, but since I make chainmail, a titanium intricately woven chainmail bracelet costs me far, far less than to buy it outright.

 

helloooo fellow mailler

 

I make chainmaille bracelts for FTF prizes too

 

and our sig item is a moebius charm

[Dinoprophet]

About 8 years ago, I got a couple of smaller ammo cans for $1 each at a roadside market.