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just for fun...if you were lost in the woods, what would you want to find in a cache?


Guest mfratto

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Guest mfratto

Mike_Teague on another thread (which has been closed), wrote a post describing how he thinks of putting things in caches which would be useful to people who are out in the woods, and I thought, what a cool thought! He said something like "if you were lost in the woods and came across a box filled with happy meal toys..how would you feel?" etc.... you get the idea. But I had never really thought of it that way. I would be very frustrated, I think! But in a recent cache, we put things like chemical lightsticks, a mosquito net, etc -- maps of the area, might be another good one for someone lost, or flashlights -- what things would you like to find in a cache if you were lost in the woods and came across a cache?

 

I would probably like to find a charged cell phone, but not likely. Maybe bug spray and a powerbar. Bottle of water?

 

For the whimisically challenged, this is *not* a thread meant to start debate on what should be in caches -- it is like one of those "if you were stuck on a desert island what books would you want?" questions, k?

 

Mauri, of Mauri and Mike

 

[This message has been edited by mfratto (edited 05 July 2001).]

 

[This message has been edited by mfratto (edited 05 July 2001).]

 

[This message has been edited by mfratto (edited 05 July 2001).]

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Guest jeremy

With all her angst you'd probably kill yourself. We're talkiung *survival* here icon_wink.gif

 

That mike guy who killed the pig on Survivor would be good.

 

Jeremy

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Guest logscaler

My House. But seeing as it would not fit, I would like to find a deck of playing cards. I have been told from a long way's back this is all the survival gear you really need. All you would have to do is sit down and start playing a game of solitaire and some S.O.B. will come by and tell you "Red three on Black four" and then you could ask which way out. Popping him after words is your option.

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Guest tslack2000

I actually found a couple of caches in my area that were in the mountains and they had some good stuff in them if I got lost. I actually ended up using one of the items; a poncho, because it started raining. There was also a first aid kit, and for the cache that was on the top of the peak, some binoculars!

 

To keep this thread on the right track though, if I were lost in the wilderness I would like to find a Liahona in a cache! icon_wink.gif(Utah humor) Actually, I shouldn't define it as Utah humor as some Utahns would be offended to be put in the same category as the dominant religion. (Some people are so touchy) So let's call it what it actually is...LDS humor.

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Guest Epal

Candles and matches... and of course Goonies on videotape. (going on the assumption that most people carry a vcr and power source along with them on a hike)

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Guest Cybeq

If you're lost it must mean your GPS is not functioning and the most likely reason is battery failure. Therefore, I would like to find AA batteries.

 

------------------

"There's no need to be afraid of strange noises in the night. Anything that intends you harm will stalk you silently."

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Guest Snowtrail

If you got lost with your GPS, maybe a bigger antenna would help along with the AA batteries... or the upgrade on your GPS.

 

I'd like to see a Tom Brown Survival School book in the cache. And matches, cuz if you burn the forest down, somebody's going to show up eventually.

 

For that matter, I've usually been found near the cache. So if I were lost, I'd like to find the cache, becuase a fellow geocacher will be along soon enough...

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Guest Exocet

I was going to say "water" but that seems vaguely iffy. Maybe water purification tablets?

 

Does bottled water go "bad" ...? As a cache item, I probably wouldn't take it unless I really needed it. And 99% of the time, you aren't going to need it.

 

My caching partner, Chad and I often put in stuff like handwarmers, emergency poncho things, etc. Stuff that's useful for the outdoors - not just for the lost.

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Guest Moun10Bike

I think I'd hope for the basic survival needs:

 

* Food -- a something nonperishable like a package of peanuts or a PowerBar

 

* Water -- bottled, or else purifying tablets

 

* Shelter -- a rain poncho or a tarp for creating a cover

 

* Heat -- waterproof matches or a lighter

 

* Jennifer Love-Hewitt

 

------------------

Jon (Moun10Bike)

25H/54F/3C/2S/2X

N 47° 36.649', W 122° 3.616'

www.switchbacks.com/geocaching.html

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Guest mfratto

It's truly heartwarming to see how many men here want to find a woman in the woods in order to survive! icon_smile.gif

 

Interesting that none of the women here have stated the need to find a man, tho...LOL.

 

Mauri

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Guest tictoctom

quote:
Originally posted by Moun10Bike:

* Heat -- waterproof matches or a lighter

 

* Jennifer Love-Hewitt

 


 

Ummm... sounds to me like you would be using Jennifer Love-Hewitt for heat, so what do you need the matches for? :D

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Guest Mike_Teague

As someone mentioned, this stuff aint just for if you get lost.. After all it's pretty hard to get lost with the navigation equipment most of us bring (or should bring) on a geocaching trip... gps's, maps, compasses, etc..

 

Say someone in your group breaks a leg on the way back from a geocache.. It's 2 miles back to the car, yer out of water and yer buddy's gonna have to sit tight until you can get back to civilization to get help.. Would be nice to go back to that cache and grab that bottle of water and a snack, or something to get a campfire going!

 

I've always liked MRE's in a geocache (they have matches in em also) and seem to be impervious to everything -- including your digestive system, with some components icon_smile.gif, bottled water, space blankets, compasses, maps, batteries, flashlights, etc... You can always find some cheap item in the camping section of yer favorite store that someone someday might find useful, maybe yourself!

 

BTW, I dont think bottled water goes bad..

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Guest Anton

Greetings!

 

C'mon now, think about this! Doesn't anyone besides me want to find an old tarnished oil lamp: the kind you rub, and then make 3 wishes? Yeah, that's it!

 

Anton, 10H/9F

 

------------------

Anton Ninno - N2RUD

Syracuse, NY 13210

 

[This message has been edited by Anton (edited 06 July 2001).]

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Guest Markwell

quote:
Originally posted by mfratto:

It's truly heartwarming to see how many men here want to find a woman in the woods in order to survive! icon_smile.gif

Interesting that none of the women here have stated the need to find a man, tho...LOL.

Mauri


 

Just for the record, the question had nothing to do with survival:

quote:
Originally posted by mfratto:

what would you want to find in a cache?


 

I just think it's interesting how many of us guys are thinking about women instead of survival.

 

How about a Wilson Volleyball? It worked for Tom Hanks.

 

[This message has been edited by Markwell (edited 06 July 2001).]

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Guest jeremy

quote:
Originally posted by Markwell:

I just think it's interesting how many of us guys are thinking about women instead of survival


 

But we are truly lost without the companionship of a woman.

 

Ah hahahah haha haha. uh... heh.

 

Jeremy

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Guest mfratto

Ah, Jeremy knows what to say...LOL.

 

I think it's interesting how this idea got taken up -- I especially like Anton's genie idea -- I guess I am whimsically challenged cos I was thinking more practical too.

 

I think my initial idea, though, was based on a *non-geocacher* (they do exist, and they do go into the woods) being lost or stumbling on to this mysterious box in the woods -- and if you were a NON-geocacher, lost, hungry, etc -- and you came upon this treasure, what would you hope for?

 

Any geocacher who goes in the woods without a real compass as well as extra batteries deserves to get lost, heh.

 

Mauri

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Guest Silver

quote:
Originally posted by mfratto:

...if you were a NON-geocacher, lost, hungry, etc -- and you came upon this treasure, what would you hope for?


 

A good topo map!

 

Silver

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Guest mfratto

This is Mike, Mauri's husband. What do I want to find in a cache? A good book. I like reading in the evening, but I get a novel, read it once and then I am stuck with it until I carry it to the local thrift store or find someone to give it to.

 

Now if I were lost in the woods (and don't rely on a GPS to save your butt. Mechanical stuff can and does fail, often at the worst possible moment. Carry a compass, know your area, and let someone know where you are going.), a good book is an excellent tool for making you sit down and wait for help to come find you. icon_smile.gif

 

mike

 

[This message has been edited by mfratto (edited 07 July 2001).]

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Guest brokenwing

Ok, now that this topic has gotten serious, I have to agree, a compass and a topo map get my vote. Unless were talking death valley here. Then I'll take the water. (Stale or not.)

 

brokenwing

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Guest Anton

Greetings,

 

Okay, if I can't have the oil lamp & genie, I'll take an ammox version of Dr. Who's red phone booth. Goes anywhere!

 

Anton, 10H/10F

 

------------------

Anton Ninno - N2RUD

Syracuse, NY 13210

 

[This message has been edited by Anton (edited 09 July 2001).]

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Guest bearboy

If I was stranded for a short period of time(24hrs) in the middle of B.F.E for whatever the reason.I would want to find in the cache,an army MRE and a bottle of water.Maybee a cell phone.A the heck with all that.How about Anna Kournikova.

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Guest logscaler

I asked my dad this question. He said a grade stake. Put some numbers on it, drive it in the ground and within half an hour, some catskinner will pop out of the brush and plow it under. Then just follow him back from where he came.

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Guest Snowtrail

How about some other really kool gadgets to occupy the time... Like a video game...or a outer space gov sponsored laser phaser remote control...

 

for the record Dr Who had a blue phone booth. and I thought I was the only one who watched it.

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Guest mfratto

Hmmm....this is straying off topic, but I'll bite anyway, never caring much about straight lines -- how about Quantum Leap geocaching? You'd never know which cache you were going to end up at, but you couldn't leave until you found it!

 

And let's take it a step further...if my QL geocache were to drop me anywhere, where would be I want to end up (given a choice?)? Anywhere with a good beach, snorkeling, and an underwater cache icon_smile.gif

 

Mauri

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Guest Snowtrail

Hummm where would I like to drop using the QL cache... on the deck of the starship Enterprise with the younger James T. Kirk as captain... (just for throwing another Sci Fi show out there)

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Guest schez

I thought food was a bad idea in a cache?

a) animals will find it first

:D I don't think I'd eat it, not knowing who put it there

c) in bear country, they warn you not to even keep bottled water in your tent. They'll still smell it and investigate.

d) I hope to not look for caches in bear country...

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Guest Boromir

quote:
Originally posted by Snowtrail:

for the record Dr Who had a blue phone booth. and I thought I was the only one who watched it.


 

Technically Dr. Who's TARDIS looked like a 'Police Box', not a phone booth, but now I am just getting picky. I used to watch it, but my PBS channels seem to have let it go. Not sure the TARDIS is what I would want to find, probably end up getting whacked by Daleks, although if Leela was in the TARDIS that could make it worth the risk. (who am I to break the 'find a woman in the woods' trend)

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Lemme see If I were lost in the woods with no GPS ,map, compass etc.. (so I've lost my day pack..) I'd want a case of COLD water and a deck of cards. Why the cards you ask... simple, I'd sit down and play a game of solitare, when I got stuck someone would come up behind me and say "play the 7 of hearts on the 8 of clubs". Happens everytime I play the game. I just hope the other guy/gal isn't lost too! icon_biggrin.gif

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Guest Jamina1

Actually.. it was green, and did say Telephone on it.

 

quote:
Originally posted by Boromir:

Technically Dr. Who's TARDIS looked like a 'Police Box', not a phone booth, but now I am just getting picky. I used to watch it, but my PBS channels seem to have let it go. Not sure the TARDIS is what I would want to find, probably end up getting whacked by Daleks, although if Leela was in the TARDIS that could make it worth the risk. (who am I to break the 'find a woman in the woods' trend)


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Guest prv8eye
Originally posted by mfratto:

It's truly heartwarming to see how many men here want to find a woman in the woods in order to survive! icon_smile.gif

 

Obviously, none of these men have gotten lost, while driving with a woman in the passenger seat, and endured the relentless nagging and *****ing about how they didn't stop to ask for directions.

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Guest Dwarf

Easy, A map with a star that says YOU ARE HERE and a line drawn to the way out along with a written account of visual landmarks along the way..oh and a small kit including water, a band-aid, and if the situation was quite desperate (say a lost child found it) a loud whistle.

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