When does a cache cease to be a cache and become rubbish?

[foxbat]

I received a log that one of my caches was in disrepair and needed some maintenance. No log book or swaps.
The last finder took a photo as proof of the find. I retrieved the container and lid both of which were just lying in the open. The container was wet and not much use anymore. Now, had I come across this I would have removed it as rubbish and posted a note to the owner. So, What would you do?

[caughtatwork]

I believe it irresponsible to remove a cache, regardless of the state of repair. My state of disrepair could differ from the cache owners and all I have then done is make the cache unfindable.

I would log a needs maintenance and rehide the cache the best way I could.

It's up to the owner to retrieve / replace the cache if necessary, after their determination of whether it is in an unsuitable state of disrepair, after all that's part of the accountability for owning a cache.

[jusojara]

I drove a fellow cacher to a cache yesterday that was literally floating in it's hiding spot. We couldn't put it back in there so we found another hiding spot nearby, logged the new coords and posted a needs maintenance log.

As C@W said, we couldn't remove it as it was not our cache and it is still there to be found although the name now doesn't match the hide. That said I would have felt irresponsible if we dropped it back into the water.

[Sky Dog]

I agree. You shouldn't remove a cache even if it's close to being a non-cache.

I have been known to totally replace the container and contents when the original was a sodden pile of bacteria-brewing scunge. However I only do that if the owner is not responding to requests to maintain it.

[Freddo]

Fix it. Somewhere in your car is a new container, a new log book and some swaps.

[ian-and-penny]

I would have performed some cache maintenance myself. Then logged the items I had replaced as swaps.

Think about the karma! If everyone repaired damaged caches as they found them, someone will eventually repair one of yours that is wet or damaged . . . . . .

(Some people actually care, for others it's just about the numbers.)

[reasonjo]

I once found a cache sitting out in the open and it's hiding place had been destroyed by a recent flood. It was lucky the cache hadn't been washed away. I picked the cache up and returned it to it's owner. I was on the way to an event that the cache owner was also attending so it was easy. Given a similar situation again (i.e nowhere else to hide the cache) I would probably collect the cache and contact the owner so I could drop it off to them.

[Captain Terror]

This cache got on the wrong side of a bushfire, and like jusojara, left the cache and did what i could in the sport's best interest.

[emily~angel]

I know which cache you are speaking of as I am the one that put it back and posted a note with a photo. The cache itself was still in good condition it just needed a logbook, which I was planning on putting back there when I next drove past the area. I wouldnt throw it away as it is still a cache, still there for the finding.
Sorry if that offended you in someway, I thought I was doing the right thing.
I found, I took a photo as we now do with all our caches, I rehid it, then I logged it.....exactly as I do with all my caches.

[foxbat]

Emily-Angel. No offence taken. When I went to replace it, it got me to thinking, was it still a cache or just rubbish lying there. The code we are supposed to be running with is Cache in Trash out.

[emily~angel]

I sort of agree, it could easily be rubbish, with that particular cache though I had seen previous photos so realised it was the actual cache....I think under normal circumstances with a container not marked, not hidden like a cache and no log there then it would be classed as rubbish.

[Dik:]

I will usually post a log like

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx ... 649c7dcef8
and
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx ... bda349fd56

or
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx ... 2528f7f1d7

[grahamf72]

I remember one cache I found, coords were well off (put me in the middle of a mown field) so I didn't really know where the cache was. I DNF'd twice before on my 3rd visit finding the cache container and it's contents strewn over quite a large area of the field. Since I still had no idea where the thing belonged, I gathered up all that I could find and contacted the owner, who happened to be overseas at the time. With the owners description of where it lived, I returned it as close to the original spot as possible. Unfortunately it only received one more find before going missing again.

Another one was one of those little magnetic nanos, supposed to be attached under a seat in a bus-stop. I had no joy finding it, but then by chance spotted it amongst some leaf litter on the ground. It had lost its magnetism so would no longer stick. Obviously I couldn't just leave it where I found it, it would go walkabout the next time the council cleaned, and I couldn't replace it where it was intended because it wouldn't stick. I considered taking it and mailing it to the owner, but decided to leave it on the ledge at the top of the frame of the bus-stop and posted a Needs Maintenance log. I don't know if the owner has done anything with it yet, as the Found logs since then indicate it is still where I left it.

[Sky Dog]

A cynical person might say that a nano is rubbish anyway.
Of course, I wouldn't say that. A cynical person might...

[Yurt]

As soon as it is placed in a NSW National Park apparently.