Cache hunt safety

[+Cswageo]

Hello geo-community,

 

I was wondering what TOTTs I may need to use for certain caches? Some caches I'm referring to would be rock walls and guard rails. The main reason I ask is because those caches can have spiders sometimes especially brown recluse spider. I do agree it is important to be careful especially when cache hunting. Luckily, when my Mom and I go cache hunting and if we see any, we avoid them and came lucky by not going near them and get bitten. I was just hoping any of you may have knowledge on how to find and log any caches safely when you find any of the places I mentioned above. What kinda tools would you use when/if you're in those areas when your GPSs guide you to those kind of hides? I'll edit one my lists to make it public and add warnings so you may read and insert optional tips and wisdom.

[+lee737]

We're in Australia.... so dangerous critters are everywhere. We use a combination of common sense and a little risk taking to find caches..... I'm more concerned of falling off a rock wall, or getting hit by a car near a guard-rail, than any spider.... take a flashlight, and wear gloves if you are worried....

[+barefootjeff]

29 minutes ago, lee737 said:

We're in Australia.... so dangerous critters are everywhere. We use a combination of common sense and a little risk taking to find caches..... I'm more concerned of falling off a rock wall, or getting hit by a car near a guard-rail, than any spider.... take a flashlight, and wear gloves if you are worried....

 

Most of those dangerous critters are on the roads sitting behind steering wheels...

 

The most dangerous spider around here is the Sydney funnelweb, but I don't think there have been any fatalities since the antivenom was developed a few decades ago. I try to remember to use a stick to poke around before sticking my hands into dark places but often in the thrill of going for the cache I forget. A couple of years ago I lifted a cache out of a tree fork, signed the log and walked around to the other side of the tree to put it back, only to find a couple of entwined snakes and a large spider nestled into the fork under where the cache had been sitting.

 

 

But such encounters are rare. Most of our more dangerous critters are also timid and will try to get out of sight if they're aware of people approaching, so being noisy helps. The lizards and marsupials around here are small and pretty harmless, and at least in this part of Australia we don't have crocodiles and cassowaries to worry about. Caching in the tropics would take on another dimension...

[+Cswageo]

When I approach rock walls, I'm usually on the ground and never at the top. So even with gloves and a flashlight to look in dark places, that sounds scary for me and my Mom if she and I ever did try that method at rock walls and guard rails. We don't wanna get bitten by spiders (regardless on what type they be) if we see them and whenever we get there.

 

One time, my Mom and I got to this hide GC3PBV9 in Marysville and I saw the spider and then she freaked out and the spider got scared and it went inside the hole where the container was. It could've been a brown recluse spider. We didn't wanna take the risk of reaching in to get the cache container without a proper safety tool and we decided to avoid that cache for safety and went on to a different one. That's why I made my lists, rocks and rock walls, and guard rails, public and added warnings so any cachers can help out if possible.

[+Max and 99]

I've encountered more scorpions than spiders.  I've encountered a black widow too. I've seen plenty of brown recluse spiders at my house, but I've never run into one at a  cache. 

One of the most relevant tools to your post, that we have with us, are thick welding gloves for reaching into places. In some spots we can get away with garden gloves. 

[+niraD]

9 hours ago, Cswageo said:

I was wondering what TOTTs I may need to use for certain caches? Some caches I'm referring to would be rock walls and guard rails. The main reason I ask is because those caches can have spiders sometimes especially brown recluse spider. I do agree it is important to be careful especially when cache hunting. Luckily, when my Mom and I go cache hunting and if we see any, we avoid them and came lucky by not going near them and get bitten. I was just hoping any of you may have knowledge on how to find and log any caches safely when you find any of the places I mentioned above. What kinda tools would you use when/if you're in those areas when your GPSs guide you to those kind of hides? I'll edit one my lists to make it public and add warnings so you may read and insert optional tips and wisdom.

This isn't Pokémon. You don't "Gotta catch 'em all!"

 

I was searching for a geocache with friends, and we quickly found a likely hiding spot for the cache. Inside was a nest of baby rattlesnakes. We quickly walked away and logged a DNF.

[+Snoogans]

I'm a retired safety professional and I've been caching since early 2003.

 

I was and still am an advocate for a safety forum here, but this community is just for fun and it certainly doesn't really want to be reminded that outside is dangerous, and they certainly don't want to discuss the common types of injuries that occur and how to prevent them like every other activity where serious injuries can happen. Scuba, shooting sports, and skydiving are all good examples of communities firmly entrenched in safety, but don't suggest that we geocachers, as a group, talk about safety at events or forums because that's just boring. Right?

 

I'm with the peanut gallery on cuts and scrapes. Some of the best finds and DNFs I can remember required a blood donation in the effort. I can remember returning to my car scratched up and bleeding having experienced a geocaching adventure that remains epic in my memory. The best being on a cache I had DNF'd for years and finally got.

 

The other serious injuries and the occasional death can ALL be reduced or outright prevented through active awareness campaigns, but what users get here is a disclaimer and an implied hold harmless agreement. Outside is dangerous. Hunt at your own risk. Oh, and whatever you do don't die. Because that's all on you. Far be it from us to discuss what could have been done to prevent it so others can learn from it

 

So here's my list to prevent the worst injuries and deaths I have seen in nearly 23 years of caching.

 

Snoogans' Five DO's of Geocaching Safely

 

DO - Be prepared for the challenges of each hunt (this one item could be a thousand pages long) That basically means reading and looking at maps and sometimes talking to previous finders or the hider. Most of the geocaching deaths I know of are from lack of preparation. MOST.

 

DO - Hydrate, hydrate, flippin' HYDRATE. This is actually part of preparation too and this small consideration would have prevented many of the geocaching deaths I know of and for sure the first one that ever occurred

 

DO - Wear Safety Glasses. From my research over a decade ago, the most common serious injury in geocaching is an eye injury. I wear safety glasses even for a skirt lifter.  You just never know. (I was struck in the eye by a rock from a mower while doing a skirt lifter. I had just come off the trail from doing another cache in the woods and I still had my safety glasses on.)

 

DO - Leave the wildlife alone.

 

DO - Keep people informed of your whereabouts 

 

Do be do be doooo...

[+kunarion]

7 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

I try to remember to use a stick to poke around before sticking my hands into dark places but often in the thrill of going for the cache I forget.

 

I do that, but next have the anxiety that now I've made an unseen snake angry.

[+The Leprechauns]

My wife and I ordered these gloves off Amazon, to help protect us when searching hiding places, doing CITO, grabbing branches with thorns, etc.  They are extra resistant to being cut, and I can operate my smartphone's touch screen without taking off the gloves.  Because they're lightweight, I'm more likely to wear them than would be the case with more protective glove solutions.

 

Fun fact:  I learned about this brand of gloves from a geocacher who posted about them on Reddit.  The following weekend, we attended a CITO event more than an hour away from home, and we wore our new gloves.  It turned out that the host of the CITO Event was the person who made the post on Reddit!  

[+Cswageo]

11 hours ago, Snoogans said:

I'm a retired safety professional and I've been caching since early 2003.

 

I was and still am an advocate for a safety forum here, but this community is just for fun and it certainly doesn't really want to be reminded that outside is dangerous, and they certainly don't want to discuss the common types of injuries that occur and how to prevent them like every other activity where serious injuries can happen. Scuba, shooting sports, and skydiving are all good examples of communities firmly entrenched in safety, but don't suggest that we geocachers, as a group, talk about safety at events or forums because that's just boring. Right?

 

I'm with the peanut gallery on cuts and scrapes. Some of the best finds and DNFs I can remember required a blood donation in the effort. I can remember returning to my car scratched up and bleeding having experienced a geocaching adventure that remains epic in my memory. The best being on a cache I had DNF'd for years and finally got.

 

The other serious injuries and the occasional death can ALL be reduced or outright prevented through active awareness campaigns, but what users get here is a disclaimer and an implied hold harmless agreement. Outside is dangerous. Hunt at your own risk. Oh, and whatever you do don't die. Because that's all on you. Far be it from us to discuss what could have been done to prevent it so others can learn from it

 

So here's my list to prevent the worst injuries and deaths I have seen in nearly 23 years of caching.

 

Snoogans' Five DO's of Geocaching Safely

 

DO - Be prepared for the challenges of each hunt (this one item could be a thousand pages long) That basically means reading and looking at maps and sometimes talking to previous finders or the hider. Most of the geocaching deaths I know of are from lack of preparation. MOST.

 

DO - Hydrate, hydrate, flippin' HYDRATE. This is actually part of preparation too and this small consideration would have prevented many of the geocaching deaths I know of and for sure the first one that ever occurred

 

DO - Wear Safety Glasses. From my research over a decade ago, the most common serious injury in geocaching is an eye injury. I wear safety glasses even for a skirt lifter.  You just never know. (I was struck in the eye by a rock from a mower while doing a skirt lifter. I had just come off the trail from doing another cache in the woods and I still had my safety glasses on.)

 

DO - Leave the wildlife alone.

 

DO - Keep people informed of your whereabouts 

 

Do be do be doooo...

I didn't know if I'm meant to avoid using the safety subject. I never say we can't go outside and have a good time. I just wanna be on the same page as every rule follower. I enjoy caching too. I'd give anything to use common sense like everyone would do. This I promise all I'd give anything to know what's right. All I want is to take precautions same as all of you. I never mean to say is that outside is dangerous, I just wanna understand what to use wisely.

 

I can't even think of what Signal the Frog would say.

[+The Leprechauns]

3 minutes ago, Cswageo said:

I can't even think of what Signal the Frog would say.

 

Well, Signal the Frog never talks, so this tracks.

[+Cswageo]

If someday should a cache event where the host does a presentation, how would it work if no cachers shall mention cache safety? I didn't even know anything I used is red light. I'd give anything for all of you. Now that a new cache challenge is coming 07/21 and ends 08/17, I wouldn't mind coming to any events depending on where and when. I promise to look every once in a while to see what new events have been confirmed. I apologize, even in advance, for any disrespect I may have made. I care about all of you.

[+Cswageo]

I love to have fun too same as all of you.

[+The Leprechauns]

Step 1:  Read the stories about geocachers on the cache pages included in this bookmark list.

Step 2:  Don't do what they did.

[+Snoogans]

4 hours ago, Cswageo said:

I didn't know if I'm meant to avoid using the safety subject. I never say we can't go outside and have a good time. I just wanna be on the same page as every rule follower. I enjoy caching too. I'd give anything to use common sense like everyone would do. This I promise all I'd give anything to know what's right. All I want is to take precautions same as all of you. I never mean to say is that outside is dangerous, I just wanna understand what to use wisely.

 

I can't even think of what Signal the Frog would say.

That was just good old safety guy sarcasm. I can talk about geocaching safety ad nauseum, but it's usually met with crickets or worse, ignorance. 

You'll get 10k opinions on what's right. Figure out what's right for you. Remember to have fun and never forget about the danger of being outside.

Edited July 2 by Snoogans

[+fuzziebear3]

As you seem to have a strong fear of spiders, I think you should research more about them.   Learn to identify them, so you will know if what you are looking at is a brown recluse, or just a harmless daddy long legs.  Look before putting your hand in anywhere.   Pay attention and be careful, if something feels dangerous to you, then don't go for that cache.

 

There are many dangers and ways to get hurt --- from wildlife (including other people), from terrain, from nearby objects, to just stupidly tripping over your own feet and falling.   Assess your risks and your abilities, and choose what things you are willing to attempt.

[+MNTA]

My one and only interaction with a rattle snake at a GZ in North Dakota was not pleasant. Needless to say I let the snake win and continue to guard the GZ was not worth a smiley. 

 

That same trip was also my first exposure to ticks. These creatures totally grossed me out and spent a lot of time making sure any hitch hikers were removed. 

 

As for spiders my TOTT is a good stick specially for guard rails poke it out rather than sticking a hand in.

 

 

[+fuzziebear3]

Lets see, injuries and encounters from geocaching:

 

Stung by a wasp

Told to leave by a feral cat

Thrown out of a tree i tried to climb

Cuts and scratches from thorns, vines, branches, and barbed wire

Pain and crying from stinging nettles

itching and steroids from poison ivy

chased by a mad dog

greeted by a police officer

 

 

[+hzoi]

Fortunately, neither of these happened to me, but caching can be high risk even in the absence of critters. Turns out man IS the most dangerous game.

 

Shotgun encounter at GCT9Y0

Teen geocacher shot in the leg

[+Wanderschuler]

I always wear a neon orange hat when caching. Baseball cap in summer; Winter knit hat in winter. It helps cars see me at guardrails, and hunters see me in the woods. Overall it lets people know that I want to be seen and that I'm not trying to hide anything...because we all know how suspicious geocaching looks to some muggles!!

 

However, no amount of neon orange can help at a guardrail cache at a curve on a narrow road with no parking. Certain guardrail caches should be illegal. What was that hider thinking?