Black Plastic Bags

[+The HERB5]

To use or not to use, that is the question ?

 

Only started recently, but opening a soggy black bag is not nice especially when it turns out to NOT be a cache, if you know what I mean.

 

www.gagb.... says that caches should not be put in bags.

 

Enlighten me please

[+daleswalker]

I'm pretty new to this game, but there has been a thread on this topic during the short time I have been reading the forum. I think the general consensus was that black plaggy bags are frowned upon for the very reason you stated.

[+Pasha]

If it's been sunny for a while, I'm all for the use of plastic bags wrapping the container. If it's been wet, it's about the nastiest thing on earth to have to unwrap it; something about all that wet clammy plastic really drives me nuts.

 

Last weekend a friend and I were approaching a cache location and he said, "I got it," seeing a fairly obvious bit of plastic bag sticking out of the bushes. He grabbed it and was immediately sorry, as it was not the cache but instead a dog-bomb that had been cleaned up by the owner but missed the garbage can nearby. I found the cache while he was off looking for a bathroom to wash his hands.

[Team 'James W']

Previous thread here

[+Globetrotter.uk]

Plastic bags can look like the answer to keeping caches dry, however they don't, they acculimate water, insects and smells. As well they are harmful to the enviroment and to wildlife. My advice is to use good waterproof plastic containers or ammo boxes (labelled correctly).

[+stu_and_sarah]

Good container. No bag.

 

Please

 

Sarah's fed up of accidentally squashing slugs

 

Cheers,

 

Stu

[Alan White]

I wil almost always remove a bpb if I find one wrapping a cache, for the reasons given in this and other threads.

 

The difficulty our reviewers have is that, although GAGB guidelines prevent the use of bpbs, GC.com guidelines do not. So the reviewer has no strong grounds for asking the cache owner to remove the bag, especially as it may not be mentioned on the cache page.

[+mongoose39uk]

Been done

[+The Spokes]

If it's been sunny for a while, I'm all for the use of plastic bags wrapping the container. If it's been wet, it's about the nastiest thing on earth to have to unwrap it; something about all that wet clammy plastic really drives me nuts.

 

Last weekend a friend and I were approaching a cache location and he said, "I got it," seeing a fairly obvious bit of plastic bag sticking out of the bushes. He grabbed it and was immediately sorry, as it was not the cache but instead a dog-bomb that had been cleaned up by the owner but missed the garbage can nearby. I found the cache while he was off looking for a bathroom to wash his hands.

He grabbed it and was immediately sorry, as it was not the cache but instead a dog-bomb that had been cleaned up by the owner but missed the garbage can nearby. I found the cache while he was off looking for a bathroom to wash his hands.

 

I think plastic bags have there uses. As a non geocacher won’t be inclined to examine it as they would a nice Tupperware box stumbled on unexpectedly.

It might be full of doggy do. We know different. I mean if you use your common sense not difficult to determine the difference between a bag of pooh and a Tupperware container for goodness sake. The mind boggles. If they offer you a sandwich take care, you may get more than you bargained for.

[+dysdera]

I also think that the bags are a waste of time but still tend to leave them on (as long as they dont seem to present a danger to wildlife, as I believe it is up to the cache owner to decide. I actually found one cache container that was a di-used pringle tube (waterproof it is not) which provided amusement upon finding and unwinding!!!!!

At the end of the day I guess it is up to the cache placer, but they just seem so pointless and cause more harm than good.

[NickPick]

Absolutely, on no account, ever should you use a plastic bag.

 

Disadvantages:

 

They quickly get tattered and torn, the torn bits are a risk for wildlife.

They gather pools of stinking stagnant water

Slugs, snails and centipedes start to live in them

They don't add to the waterproofness of a decent container

 

Advantages:

None

[+milvus-milvus]

About the only use for a bpb that I've found is for a bit of camoflage - the white lid on a tupperware box does tend to stick out like the proverbial thumb. But a bit of inventiveness works even better. I recently replaced a standard tupperware box with a dark purple sweet box (sweets removed ) - which now merges quite nicely into the background. And there was a recent thread on how to paint ferns on your ammo box, if you're the crafty (in both senses of the word) sort.

[dodgydaved]

oops!

Edited April 8, 2005 by dodgydaved

[+Eckington]

The difficulty our reviewers have is that, although GAGB guidelines prevent the use of bpbs, GC.com guidelines do not. So the reviewer has no strong grounds for asking the cache owner to remove the bag, especially as it may not be mentioned on the cache page.

....and there's the nub, though, as often as I can, if I read a cache submisison that mentions a bpb I ask the setter to remove it, stating many of the things quoted above, however I am careful to say that this is NOT a condition of listing the cache.

 

Cheers and Cache well,

 

E

 

PS

 

I MUST be careful which account I am using.

I MUST be careful which account I am using.

I MUST be careful which account I am using.

I MUST be careful which account................

[+t.a.folk]

The difficulty our reviewers have is that, although GAGB guidelines prevent the use of bpbs, GC.com guidelines do not

Perhaps GC.com guidelines could be amended .

Edited April 8, 2005 by t.a.folk

[+John & Hazel]

Perhaps GC.com guidelines could be amended .

[+Cave Troll and Eeyore]

Went out caching recently and in one outing we removed 7 plastic bags all cotaing a wet on the outside cache box.

I must admit that the first cache we placed back in September 2003 (iis it really so long ago?) was put in a plastic bag but now we are older and a little wiser

[+t.a.folk]

(t.a.folk @ Apr 8 2005, 11:33 AM)

 

Perhaps GC.com guidelines could be amended .

 

Oooops !

I meant it to read something like ...

"Perhaps G.C. com should have a guideline about not enclosing containers in black sacks /polythene bags " .

Edited April 8, 2005 by t.a.folk

[+minstrelcat]

if I read a cache submisison that mentions a bpb I ask the setter to remove it

Hmmm... a cache was recently placed near us that said it was in a bpb in the description. Slapped wrists for you or Lacky!

 

Lisa

[+Eckington]

if I read a cache submisison that mentions a bpb I ask the setter to remove it

Hmmm... a cache was recently placed near us that said it was in a bpb in the description. Slapped wrists for you or Lacky!

 

Lisa

....trouble is Lisa, that when there are a lot of caches in the q, in order to achieve the turnaround you in the UK rightly expect things are sometimes missed if we know we can, and do, correct them as rapidly as is possible

[+sTeamTraen]

A cloth bag isn't a bad alternative. It keeps a percentage of the drizzle off and most of the mud, and it dries out from time to time.

 

In Germany, plastic boxes inside three plastic carrier bags seem to be the norm. The outer bag is to protect the inner two, the middle one leaks and gets wet, and the third keeps the cache dry. (Reminds me of a joke about Swiss men and prophylactics, which I can be persuaded to reveal if bought a beer.)

 

I've also found ammo boxes in plastic bags. WTF?

[Lactodorum]

if I read a cache submisison that mentions a bpb I ask the setter to remove it

Hmmm... a cache was recently placed near us that said it was in a bpb in the description. Slapped wrists for you or Lacky!

 

Lisa

Thanks Lisa

 

EVERY cache that mentions a Bin liner, etc. gets this message sent to the owner.

 

Hi, I'm very happy to have listed your latest cache. I hope it goes well.

 

Just one thing, I see you say it is in a black bin liner. I'd just like to point out that such plastic bags are generally not a good idea as they tend to trap moisture rather than keep it out. Also they often end up shredded by the undergrowth and can get chewed by wild animals.

 

Can I ask you to consider removing it please?

 

Many thanks, Lactodorum.

 

I cannot "Not list" a cache that would otherwise meet the GC.COM guidelines. We try, but we can't impose.

[+kewfriend]

well your little homily worked with us - removed our only bag and none of our caches now have bags - and candidly they keep better anyway.

[+minstrelcat]

EVERY cache that mentions a Bin liner, etc. gets this message sent to the owner.

 

Hi, I'm very happy to have listed your latest cache. I hope it goes well.

 

Just one thing, I see you say it is in a black bin liner. I'd just like to point out that such plastic bags are generally not a good idea as they tend to trap moisture rather than keep it out. Also they often end up shredded by the undergrowth and can get chewed by wild animals.

 

Can I ask you to consider removing it please?

 

Many thanks, Lactodorum.

 

I cannot "Not list" a cache that would otherwise meet the GC.COM guidelines. We try, but we can't impose.

I stand corrected! I shall aim my diapproval at the cache owner then.

 

Lisa

[+Jan and the Percey Boys]

Aren't bpb put there to take to do CITO with?

 

It's the best reason I can think of

 

Bob

[+John Stead]

Aren't bpb put there to take to do CITO with?

Last one I used like that fell apart as I was putting it in a bin leaving me to pick up the inevitable broken glass!

[+doctor scotland]

when i was waiting for approval for my second cache stashed, i was a little confused when i was told that plastic bags werent very welcome.

i didnt understand why, but anyhow, i changed the bag to a nylon one.

 

a week ago, i was looking for a small cache which was apparently wrapped in a plastic bag.

whilst i struggled to open a bag i found in the bushes, my girlfriend called out that she'd found the cache.

 

she indeed had found the tupperware in its plastic bag - i had found a bag of dog poo - nicely wrapped - but still poo!

 

i'll be more careful with anything wrapped in plastic in future!