Fingertip Searches

[+EmzyJanezy]

I often read people advise a "fingertip search".  I presume this means if you can't see you can put your hand in or on top and try to find the cache that way.  However, I worry I may put my hand onto or into something dangerous or scary!  Does anybody else worry about this and are gloves generally recommended?  However, wearing gloves may stop me feeling anything and therefore missing the cache by searching this way!

 

I guess my phobias may stop be being a very good geocacher 

[+barefootjeff]

11 minutes ago, EmzyJanezy said:

I often read people advise a "fingertip search".  I presume this means if you can't see you can put your hand in or on top and try to find the cache that way.  However, I worry I may put my hand onto or into something dangerous or scary!  Does anybody else worry about this and are gloves generally recommended?  However, wearing gloves may stop me feeling anything and therefore missing the cache by searching this way!

 

I guess my phobias may stop be being a very good geocacher 

 

There's one like that near here where every likely nook and cranny that might be fingertipped is inhabited by spiders, including the potentially deadly* redback. I used a stick as an extension of my fingertip, hoping to be able to tell from touch or sound whether there was something unexpected in there that wasn't alive. In the end, and after several embarrassing DNFs, it turned out I was meant to put my fingertips somewhere quite different (and safe) and the CO modified the cache page to warn about the spiders.

 

*The last recorded redback death was in 1955 so they're not that deadly, but even so.

Edited June 25, 2018 by barefootjeff

[+Touchstone]

Perhaps it's a regional thing, but I would never stick my hand into anyplace I could not see, with or without gloves.  We had a rather infamous story of a cacher I know, that was bitten by, what was thought to be a baby/young, western diamondback rattlesnake, when he went reaching for a cache.  Luckily, he had a friend with him, who was able to transport him to an Emergency Room at a nearby hospital.  As it was, he was nearly unresponsive when he arrived, and was unable to enter the ER without assistance.  He spent several dodgy weeks in the ICU, not knowing if he would be able to keep his arm or not, due to the damage done by the venom.  For a short time, he was told he held the world record for administered anti venom doses.

 

Never underestimate the value of a stick or hiking poles to poke with first.

Edited June 25, 2018 by Touchstone

[+MartyBartfast]

Somehow  Emzy I don't think we have to worry the same level of threat as Touchstone or BarefootJeff. Yes I will stick my hands into holes, or under benches/pipes etc.;  sometimes I wear gloves but not usually. If you're concerned about "yucky" stuff then you can buy nitrile gloves (like medics use) quite cheaply in bulk, and they will preserve all the sensitivity you need to search for a cache. If you're concerned about "sharp" stuff (needles/glass etc), then you'd need something more substantial and for needles they would need to be so tough as to make a fingertip search quite ineffective I expect.

 

 

 

[+EmzyJanezy]

1 minute ago, barefootjeff said:

 

There's one like that near here where every likely nook and cranny that might be fingertipped is inhabited by spiders, including the potentially deadly redback. I used a stick as an extension of my fingertip, hoping to be able to tell from touch or sound whether there was something unexpected in there that wasn't alive. In the end, and after several embarrassing DNFs, it turned out I was meant to put my fingertips somewhere quite different (and safe) and the CO modified the cache page to warn about the spiders.

 

The stick idea is a good one.

 

I think my biggest fears are needles or … and I realise this is a tricky one for a geocacher to avoid … snails!  I have a massive phobia of snails, even the empty shells!  But yes, needles and used syringes are a fear for me.

[+EmzyJanezy]

35 minutes ago, Touchstone said:

Perhaps it's a regional thing, but I would never stick my hand into anyplace I could not see, with or without gloves.  We had a rather infamous story of a cacher I know, that was bitten by, what was thought to be a baby/young, western diamondback rattlesnake, when he went reaching for a cache.  Luckily, he had a friend with him, who was able to transport him to an Emergency Room at a nearby hospital.  As it was, he was nearly unresponsive when he arrived, and was unable to enter the ER without assistance.  He spent several dodgy weeks in the ICU, not knowing if he would be able to keep his arm or not, due to the damage done by the venom.  For a short time, he was told he held the world record for administered anti venom doses.

 

Never underestimate the value of a stick or hiking poles to poke with first.

 

Oh my goodness !!!  

 

[+Max and 99]

1 hour ago, EmzyJanezy said:

I have a massive phobia of snails, even the empty shells!  

Snails?? That's a first. They're so cute!

[+schmittfamily]

I was going to search a hollow stump one time, I took a peek first and saw this:

Glad I didn't stick my hand in first.

 

 

[+on4bam]

2 hours ago, EmzyJanezy said:

I think my biggest fears are needles or … and I realise this is a tricky one for a geocacher to avoid … snails!  I have a massive phobia of snails, even the empty shells!  But yes, needles and used syringes are a fear for me.

 

You would have to DNF several multi's and traditionals we've done. We found tags for multi's attached to snail shells as well as small containers hidden in a hole in a pole with a snail shell on top. Downside is that we have pulled live snails from poles a few times

Around here we don't have to worry to much about dangerous animals but I tend to poke in holes with our stick before sticking my hand in. We also carry thin gloves to avoid sticky/dirty stuff.

If I see needles (has only happened once in 12 years) I log a DNF and write the reason of the DNF in my log. +1 is not that important.

 

[+Team Microdot]

I've taken fingertip search to be a euphemism for a very detailed and thorough search of an object / location rather than specifically relating to searching a void which can't be examined visually.

 

I reluctantly stick my hands into places I can't see into. I'm sure one day I'll come a cropper.

 

This is though why I have absolutely zero sympathy for the kind of CO who throws a blue fit when I mention in my log that there are hazards around their GZ such as barbed wire, broken glass and dog waste and their coords are x meters out.

[+NanCycle]

4 hours ago, EmzyJanezy said:

I often read people advise a "fingertip search".  I presume this means if you can't see you can put your hand in or on top and try to find the cache that way.  However, I worry I may put my hand onto or into something dangerous or scary!  Does anybody else worry about this and are gloves generally recommended?  However, wearing gloves may stop me feeling anything and therefore missing the cache by searching this way!

 

I guess my phobias may stop be being a very good geocacher 

 

You are smart.  I usually use a stick to poke in where I can't see, but once I stuck my fingers in and got bit by a bat.  Had to have rabies shots.

 

https://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=9baa8cc3-162c-4ebc-804a-0b1186156cee

[+cerberus1]

Agree with Touchstone that it may be area specific.  Never heard anyone mention a "fingertip" search around here either.

We have enough critters around that most know to use their hiking stick to search (with a flashlight if necessary), rather than blindly shoving their hands in.

Get a couple porcupine quills in your hand/wrist under rock ledges will cure you of that quick. 

I still have the knuckle scars from a baby squirrel that wouldn't let go when I  reached my hand in a tree knot hole as a kid (about when God made dirt).

 

Fortunately rare to do urban hides anymore.  "Needles" would have me giving up the hobby some time ago.

[+EmzyJanezy]

This thread is doing nothing to alleviate my fears  I'm definitely gonna stick to avoiding inserting my hand into dubious places and I won't care one jot if I end up with an abundance of DNFs because of it 

[+NYPaddleCacher]

6 minutes ago, EmzyJanezy said:

This thread is doing nothing to alleviate my fears  I'm definitely gonna stick to avoiding inserting my hand into dubious places and I won't care one jot if I end up with an abundance of DNFs because of it 

 

Like Team Microdot I've often put my hands into a spot where I couldn't see and fortunately have not suffered any consequences.  I have frequently used a "finger search" on caches under a bench or metal railing.  There was one cache that I DNFd several times before finding it that was in a spot on an old steam train where one couldn't find it without feeling for it.  The nano cache (yes, a nano on a train engine) was impossible to see so the only way to discover it was by feel.  

[+on4bam]

10 minutes ago, EmzyJanezy said:

This thread is doing nothing to alleviate my fears  I'm definitely gonna stick to avoiding inserting my hand into dubious places and I won't care one jot if I end up with an abundance of DNFs because of it 

That sums it up nicely, if you don't feel comfortable looking/reaching for a cache, DNF it and move on. It's supposed to be fun, not dangerous.

 

[+on4bam]

6 minutes ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

There was one cache that I DNFd several times before finding it that was in a spot on an old steam train where one couldn't find it without feeling for it.  The nano cache (yes, a nano on a train engine) was impossible to see so the only way to discover it was by feel.  

 

Like this one It was only #63 since I started geocaching.

[+Michaelcycle]

Most the caches I have to "feel" for are in places I get to on my mountain bike. I ALWAYS wear sturdy full fingered gloves when riding that bicycle. I also carry an extendable inspection mirror and flashlight in my pack/ water porter that have made searches easier in many situations.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

4 minutes ago, on4bam said:

 

Like this one It was only #63 since I started geocaching.

Only a 2 star D rating?   The one I found had a 4D rating (and it was quite accurate).   Most people DNFd it several times before finding it.  The CO also had placed only one cache previously, two years earlier, so I wasn't sure how accurate the coordinates were if they had complied with all of the guidelines (was it buried under the train?).  Turned out that it was just very difficult to find.

[+ladyleo191]

5 hours ago, Michaelcycle said:

Most the caches I have to "feel" for are in places I get to on my mountain bike. I ALWAYS wear sturdy full fingered gloves when riding that bicycle. I also carry an extendable inspection mirror and flashlight in my pack/ water porter that have made searches easier in many situations.

I always use a mirror first! It's a case of an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure. Those cheap little mirrors are in all the automotive stores around here and I have placed several in caches as SWAG.

[+Team Christiansen]

16 hours ago, ladyleo191 said:

I always use a mirror first! It's a case of an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure. Those cheap little mirrors are in all the automotive stores around here and I have placed several in caches as SWAG.

You can also buy them as a part of a TOTT (tools of the trade) kit that has other useful tools to include tweezers, an extendable magnet, and a micro-log roller.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

2 hours ago, Team Christiansen said:

You can also buy them as a part of a TOTT (tools of the trade) kit that has other useful tools to include tweezers, an extendable magnet, and a micro-log roller.

I have, and have used one of those inspection mirrors. Some how it feels a lot less conspicuous to use one than running my handle under a metal fence rail or the back of a sign.

[+Bear and Ragged]

In the UK I've found a couple of caches in empty snail shells...

And one in a (plastic) slug.

 

Worth either the gloves, a packet of wet wipes or small bottle of hand sanitizer gel.

 

Under a seat it's fag ends and/or chewing gum, along with the nano cache!

[+cerberus1]

Never mind...  Different term for a smoke. 

Edited June 26, 2018 by cerberus1

[+Team Microdot]

3 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

Never mind...  Different term for a smoke. 

 

UK colloquialism for cigarette butts

[+Voltgloss]

I cache using a smartphone app, and routinely use that same smartphone's camera-with-flash feature to photo the interior of an area I'm considering searching but can't see inside.  

[+EmzyJanezy]

2 minutes ago, Voltgloss said:

I cache using a smartphone app, and routinely use that same smartphone's camera-with-flash feature to photo the interior of an area I'm considering searching but can't see inside.  

 

Fab idea! 

[+*GeoPunx*]

22 hours ago, Voltgloss said:

I cache using a smartphone app, and routinely use that same smartphone's camera-with-flash feature to photo the interior of an area I'm considering searching but can't see inside.  

I do this as well.

[+justintim1999]

On ‎6‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 7:03 AM, EmzyJanezy said:

I often read people advise a "fingertip search".  I presume this means if you can't see you can put your hand in or on top and try to find the cache that way.  However, I worry I may put my hand onto or into something dangerous or scary!  Does anybody else worry about this and are gloves generally recommended?  However, wearing gloves may stop me feeling anything and therefore missing the cache by searching this way!

 

I guess my phobias may stop be being a very good geocacher 

 If at all possible never reach blind.     An extendable mirror and a stick should serve in most cases.    

[+hzoi]

I try not to reach in any place I can't see.  After all, there might not just be a cache there.

 

 

Quote

Widow spiders can be found on every continent of the world except Antarctica.

 

[+MAS83]

On 25/6/2018 at 1:10 PM, barefootjeff said:

 

There's one like that near here where every likely nook and cranny that might be fingertipped is inhabited by spiders, including the potentially deadly* redback. I used a stick as an extension of my fingertip, hoping to be able to tell from touch or sound whether there was something unexpected in there that wasn't alive. In the end, and after several embarrassing DNFs, it turned out I was meant to put my fingertips somewhere quite different (and safe) and the CO modified the cache page to warn about the spiders.

 

*The last recorded redback death was in 1955 so they're not that deadly, but even so.

 

On 25/6/2018 at 1:29 PM, Touchstone said:

Perhaps it's a regional thing, but I would never stick my hand into anyplace I could not see, with or without gloves.  We had a rather infamous story of a cacher I know, that was bitten by, what was thought to be a baby/young, western diamondback rattlesnake, when he went reaching for a cache.  Luckily, he had a friend with him, who was able to transport him to an Emergency Room at a nearby hospital.  As it was, he was nearly unresponsive when he arrived, and was unable to enter the ER without assistance.  He spent several dodgy weeks in the ICU, not knowing if he would be able to keep his arm or not, due to the damage done by the venom.  For a short time, he was told he held the world record for administered anti venom doses.

 

Never underestimate the value of a stick or hiking poles to poke with first.

 

I am so happy to live in a place where the most dangerous creature is the tick.

[+dprovan]

I don't recall hearing anyone recommend a fingertip search, but I've certainly searched that way many times, including plenty of caches where that was the only reasonable way to search. There are people in my area that are smart enough to routinely carry gloves for that kind of search, but I don't worry about it myself. Black widows are common in my area, but they hide during the day. So fingertips don't bother me -- for me, the main downside is that fingertip searches are always dirty -- but I am more cautious when it comes to sticking an arm in a hole I can't see into. In that case, I try to get a look if I can find a way.

[+hzoi]

1 hour ago, MAS83 said:

I am so happy to live in a place where the most dangerous creature is the tick.

 

Quote

It is believed that a Brazilian Wandering Spider – one of the world’s most deadly species – was recently discovered in Denmark after surviving the trip from the tropics hidden in a bunch of bananas.

 

link

[+MAS83]

3 minutes ago, hzoi said:

 

 

link

 

Okay, that's it, time to ban bananas, grab the pitchforks guys!

[+Lorien99]

On 6/25/2018 at 7:03 AM, EmzyJanezy said:

I often read people advise a "fingertip search".  I presume this means if you can't see you can put your hand in or on top and try to find the cache that way.  However, I worry I may put my hand onto or into something dangerous or scary!  Does anybody else worry about this and are gloves generally recommended?  However, wearing gloves may stop me feeling anything and therefore missing the cache by searching this way!

 

I guess my phobias may stop be being a very good geocacher 

Oh  my gosh! Gloves are an excellent idea! I have some gardening gloves around here somewhere. I've been reluctant to stick my hand into areas that look like they may contain spiders or other creepy crawly things. I did find a cache recently that was covered in spider webs - fortunately, the spider(s) had moved on.

[+Lorien99]

On 6/25/2018 at 12:48 PM, EmzyJanezy said:

This thread is doing nothing to alleviate my fears  I'm definitely gonna stick to avoiding inserting my hand into dubious places and I won't care one jot if I end up with an abundance of DNFs because of it 

I know, right? I think needles are more likely to be on the ground (though I've never actually found one, I've heard they are in great abundance around here). It's the small, living creatures I'm concerned about, the things that like to live in dark places....

 

I'm not helping, am I ....?