Yesterday on a cache adventure with my daughter we encountered our first cache with frozen goodies inside.:( There was toothpaste, body shimmer gel (2 tubes) and hand sanitizer.

The body shimmer jel had actually broken. Green and orange ooze was seeping out. The hand sanitizer was milky white. Fortunately we had brought some paper towels and it wasn't to bad yet so we cleaned it up and took the items.

Folks have added this swag with good intentions over the summer but now is the time to remove it if it is encountered, I would think. Otherwise some caches are going to soon be a sticky or frozen mess.:eek:

Other items which I have seen more, as the summer rolled on, were food stuffs (candy, gum, etc) and scented candles. I had been told these were not a good idea for swag as animals could smell them and would pilfer the cache. Food for thought (no pun intended).

Just some thoughts for all as winter rolls in (which it will). Thanks to all who leave quality swag which won't freeze or attract critters. Also the many cool sig items.

Cache on:D - winter is coming!

The other very popular item to add as a trade goody is bubbles. They are a great fun item for kids, but they will burst the first time they freeze. Then when they thaw it makes a mess of everything else in the cache. I will usually remove any liquids from caches when I find them. Especially as it gets toward winter.

Sheesh! I would like to have had the body shimmer gel... ;) ;)

Sheesh! I would like to have had the body shimmer gel... ;) ;)

AHHH!!! GET THE BAD IMAGES OUT OF MY HEAD!!! AHHH!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:


heheh ;) :p :D

AHHH!!! GET THE BAD IMAGES OUT OF MY HEAD!!! AHHH!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:



Well, she did say there were TWO tubes... :o :o

Maybe we as Mainers need to work on a list of suggested things not to leave in caches that the cold weather would not do good with.

Maybe we as Mainers need to work on a list of suggested things not to leave in caches that the cold weather would not do good with.

i've found that the squishy balls also freeze and make a mess (as do laughing terry's chickens, i love the chickens, but the cold doesn't love them :( )

Well, she did say there were TWO tubes... :o :o

I hope that's not an invite... :p

I hope that's not an invite... :p

Sheesh! NO! It just takes more body shimmer gel to cover me, that's all! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

And that leads me mention another caching "no-no": DO NOT put the sharpened pencil or the pen in the nice plastic bag that you use to keep the log dry. Anyone want to guess why not???

I too have seen a number of folks lately that have been placing candles and food stuffs in caches . . . usually when I see these I try to follow up with a note to the cacher advising them of the dangers of leaving food items/candles and other smelly items.

i've found that the squishy balls also freeze and make a mess (as do laughing terry's chickens, i love the chickens, but the cold doesn't love them :( )

That's why I changed chickens. Now they don't lay eggs anymore unless it is a FTF. This is the 4th chicken.

Another thing to avoid is gel pens for the logbook. They don't hold up well in freezing weather. The ballpoints won't write well, but I don't think they burst.

Everything that I put into a cache I bag first. Then if it freezes it hopefully will be contained. I do put hand santitizer in with my CITO kits. And if you bag your items they won't get covered with other people's gunk and goo. Kayaking Loon