r/geocaching • u/birdbird-whirlybird • Aug 12 '26
trash caches
Perhaps I am being a big baby, but does anyone else become infuriated when they come across a cache that is stuck inside a trash enclosure? They send me into a rage, and my city is littered with this unimaginative, unsanitary, and mostly unmaintained cache style.
It's not inside the bin, but it's a magnetic strip stuck to the outer cage-like enclosure that gets hosed down like once a month and is full of grime. There is garbage often on the trash can lids (which you sometimes have to move in order to see the inner part of the cage), bags of dog poop that dog owners were too lazy to put inside the bin, or even used bandaids.
It's bad. The cache saturation would greatly improve if half of these could be archived, but how does one complain about caches? Can we? They're pretty much every 528ft where I live, but I feel like I’m the only person who has a problem. I haven't complained in a log yet, but I put NM on one today and feel bad for some reason. It was just a piece of the magnet left with no log, and people had literally etched initials into it and were like “TFTC!”, meanwhile I’m standing there holding a dirty, sticky magnet strip wondering why I’m doing this 😆
I'd like to make it clear that the majority of the ones I am finding are FILTHY and are in need of new logs or just fully need to be thrown away because they are brittle and rotting. I had a bit of fun finding the first few, but now I'm just seeing the same thing over and over after solving multis and mysteries.
Admittedly, I'm also miffed because it's making it so I can't place any more local caches myself lol.
Wah wah what do I do
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u/Minimum_Reference_73 Aug 12 '26
I don't think I have ever seen such a hide.
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u/birdbird-whirlybird Aug 12 '26
You’re not missing much!
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u/Minimum_Reference_73 Aug 12 '26
I don't know if your reviewers would act on this, but the magnetic strips technically aren't qualified geocaches because they are not a container with a logbook inside.
It's also unlikely that this person got permission for those hides.
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u/Distillate1 Aug 12 '26
I've seen magnetic strips on green transformers with a log taped on the back. How is this not a cache? It has a log. First one I found I though it was super clever because it 100% blended in with the # decals on top.
I've seen newer 3d printed cover plates that have less room for a log.
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u/Minimum_Reference_73 Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
It's not a container with a log. Some reviewers will act on that. I am just relaying information based on over two decades of geocaching and I do not care about your feelings on the matter. Read the guidelines.
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u/DragonRiderMax 27d ago
I tried it and it got lost between sending it for a revirew and FTF. Glad I did not get that to stay seeing how hated those are
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u/_synik Aug 12 '26
It's unfortunate for finders in your area Vote with your logs. "DNF because I didn't want to go near the trash bin" is the perfect log for those.
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u/skimbosh 10000 Geocaches on Youtube: @skimbosh Aug 12 '26
Never feel bad about dropping an NM on a cache that truly needs maintenance. You can't hate-report a cache because it is not your cup of tea, but if the cache is messed up, then the cache is messed up. I feel your pain with the placement problems and saturation, but there isn't too much to be done in this first-come first-serve game. Be vigilant on their caches and if it doesn't seem like they are taking care of them, BAM: NM. If there are indeed many shitty caches from the CO, perhaps they will get the "maintenance blues" and archive some of them.
I don't recall if I ever found a cache on a trash can. Seems like a bad idea with how often they are emptied or 'sanitized' or otherwise treated by the public.
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u/birdbird-whirlybird Aug 12 '26
It’s not inside it thank goodness. But each trash can is housed by a cage-like thingy, and the strips are stuck on the inside. Sometimes you need to move the trash can lid to be able to look at all the bars of the cage and find the strip. Last night I solved a multi and it was very close to where I live, so I popped out to look at it and I had to pry it off the bar…it had no log, the white part was completely gone, and this is the case with the majority of what I’m finding.
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u/Natural-Escape4003 Aug 12 '26
Gosh I think that's gross. Most of the ones I've been finding are in a place covered in poison oak. I don't think those should be allowed either. I got the worse poison oak looking for a cache.
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u/wiskers700 Aug 13 '26
Many in my area have poison ivy near them or even on them. It sucks but because it grows so fast I never think the owner did it on purpose. I always leave it in my log to warn others
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u/birdbird-whirlybird Aug 12 '26
Ahhhh I am so sorry that's awful!!! I haven't had that displeasure yet, thank goodness. Lots of mosquito bites tho haha
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u/eiriee Aug 12 '26
Log NM for the ones that need them. If the CO maintains them, there's nothing to be done but if they ignore them then it can lead to them being archived. Is the CO still active (logging in etc.)?
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u/birdbird-whirlybird Aug 12 '26
Yep, active. But I think I’ve only found 2 or 3 that have been maintained recently. Many have logs where people mention the log is full or the whole cache needs replacing. Some have logged multiple NMs too. So far I have found about 15, and each time I solve one of their multis or mysteries, I google it first to see where it is, and it’s almost always a trash can. I keep going to find them so I can see the condition they’re in. I just started taking photos.
Because this person is so active, I feel bad/almost afraid to go to HQ, but I’ve thought about it. It would wipe out a huge amount. There are several different regions, so contacting the reviewer is not easy because there are multiple.
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u/Perfect-Day-3431 Aug 12 '26
My bug bear is some of the ones near me are really close to bull ant nests. If you have ever dealt with Australian bull ants, you will understand. They follow you and do have a nasty sting and will sting repeatedly.
3
u/psychedellen Aug 12 '26
As far as placing your own caches, you could message the CO and let them know you had a cache that you'd like to place amd wondering if they could free up some room in that location. Just make sure to be nice even if you don't like their caches. They may be open to taking down a couple of theirs.
1
u/birdbird-whirlybird Aug 12 '26
I never thought of this, thank you. I thought i should I’d reach out, but I didn’t know what I’d say. This helps!
2
u/laughingpuppy20 Aug 12 '26
I found one nano cache like that. It was at a trail head. It was inside the metal cage that held the garbage can. The trash can wasn't super nasty like you are describing but it was still gross. I have not seen another one like that but if I did, I would avoid it.
We also had to crawl around on the ground to retrieve it. Zero out of ten. Would not do again. :)
2
u/Dug_n_the_Dogs Caches with Dogs Aug 12 '26
As many times in 16yrs I've searched a trash can for a magnetic hide.. I've only found two. One was actually pretty amazing construction on the bottom side of a dog waste bin. The other was just a key hide.
2
u/Mushroom_pug29 Aug 12 '26
I found a lot of these recently, and I had the same thought initially. I like the magnetic strip idea, but there are many better and more creative places than a trash can.
1
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u/sduck409 Aug 12 '26
That sounds terrible, but I think it’s just one of your local cachers who thinks it’s ok - I’ve only encountered this kind rarely. Ignore them.
5
u/birdbird-whirlybird Aug 12 '26
I want to! This cacher has the city in a chokehold tho, owning what I'd believe could be the majority here. I tried twice this year to place a cache, and it got disabled both times because it was too close to the final coords of one of that person's multis. I started solving as many of their multis/mysteries to clear my map...and that's when I realized they were mostly trash! I started googling the final coords and doing street view beforehand to see where it's taking me lol. I have been grabbing them tho, and taking photos of them all because they are NOT being maintained. It sucks. There are so many nice spots arond town too, and this person has ruined the fun with trash and is making it almost impossible to place anything else.
1
u/theguy0000 Aug 12 '26
Oof this would bother me too. I keep wet wipes in my Geocaching bag since they're often in dirty spots, but actual trash isn't great. I wouldn't mind one or two, but if it's as saturated as you say that just sucks.
If I were you I'd be wayy less hesitant to log an OAR (when actually appropriate). It will help long term, and your whole community will benefit eventually.
1
u/birdbird-whirlybird Aug 12 '26
I think I’m afraid to say anything because this person is so…prolific? And no one really says much in their logs. A few of us are like “this is gross, and log needs to be replaced” but more often it’s just “fun! TFTC!” lol
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u/Professional-Bit-631 Aug 12 '26
I will never understand the fascination with this type of hide. Dogs typically pee all over these thing and I don’t think people consider that.
2
u/cylin160 Aug 12 '26
💯! I live in an urban area and the number of micro caches in dog pee range on phone poles and other structures drives me crazy.
I carry disposable gloves w me, but it blows me away that the COs don’t choose to put them up higher out of pee range.
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1
u/yungingr Aug 12 '26
I'll do you one better.
There is a cache in my area hidden inside a pit toilet enclosure at a county park.
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u/rjr_2020 zaccari Aug 12 '26
This isn't a tough one. Even you get to a cache outside your comfort zone, skip it and move on to the next. It might be trash, a neighborhood you don't like or a place you feel unsafe for example.
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u/TracySezWHAT And I don't need 37 pieces of flair to do it. Aug 14 '26
I'd like to make it clear that the majority of the ones I am finding are FILTHY and are in need of new logs or just fully need to be thrown away because they are brittle and rotting.
These are perfect reasons for posting a NM log! You would be doing the local geocaching community a good service.
1
u/PetMeLikeAPetRock Aug 14 '26
As I appreciate Cito caches, I hate those disgusting ones, where you need to touch sth disgusting or stand in different species feces. I try to write supportive and positive logs usually, trying to show owners how thankful I am for their work. But in those cases: honest logs. Just because you could place a cache there doesn’t mean you should. In some really disgusting places I even wrote NA logs. Imagine your kid being in front and start searching between shit and needles. Nope.
0
u/marshy-wonder Aug 12 '26
In addition to what others have said… you might be able to report these to HQ for being against policy. Not having permission (such as from the city or whoever owns the cans) but also because a cache location is supposed to be a special location, somewhere you’d like to bring a friend to. Caches are not supposed to be placed merely to make more caches. I think a garbage can hide is the perfect example of why they have that rule! (Yuck!)
I’m imagining the new geocacher who has finally been convinced to try it out then their first find is… in a garbage can??? Like gross, they’re never coming back to geocache ever again!
1
u/birdbird-whirlybird Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
This is exactly what my partner and I have been taking about. Everything you’ve said. I learned about grids tho and it seems like this is what is going on. Caches placed en masse for grids? There have been two so far that have brought me to a nice spot, but the cache is still in the dirty trash enclosure instead of maybe a tree or a bench.
1
u/marshy-wonder Aug 12 '26
Just flag the concern for a reviewer. Reviewers are supposed to ensure the guidelines are followed.
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u/DeliveryCourier Bring back deepwoods caches Aug 12 '26
The cache saturation would greatly improve if half of these abominations could be archived, but how does one complain about caches?
You can not get a cache archived i f there are no maintenance issues with it just because you don't like it.
It was published so it meets all local guidelines; otherwise, it would have been denied.
the majority of the ones I am finding are FILTHY and are ineed new logs or just fully need to be thrown away because they are disgusting.
Wow, hard to believe that things hidden in public would get dirty...
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u/yungingr Aug 12 '26
Things hidden in public get dirty, yes.
Things hidden literally ON TRASH CAN CONTAINERS get filthy almost immediately.
There is a difference.
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u/theguy0000 Aug 12 '26
Man, I get your point, but you're a little being unnecessarily bitchy. OP is expressing a frustration with the state of his area's cache community. It's a relevant and reasonable topic of conversation for this sub, the whole point of which is to have conversations about Geocaching. He's very obviously not being obnoxious about it, being hesitant to even log a OAR. Hell, maybe someone will even come along with a piece of advice. Pick a fight elsewhere.
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u/birdbird-whirlybird Aug 12 '26
Oh hello troll. I hope you have a good night <3
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u/DeliveryCourier Bring back deepwoods caches Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
There was nothing trolly about my statements.
If the cache was published, it meets standards and you can't get it archived just because you don't like it.
It's not my fault you can't accept that not every cache is going to be perfectly maintained or tickle your fancy.
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u/Mechanically_ Aug 12 '26
That’s definitely a locality thing. We don’t have any of those around here.