Principle #1
I pay attention to my safety and that of the other players."
What's so dangerous about geocaching?
In this context, safety does not primarily mean that, for example, a T5 climbing cache should only be sought with professional climbing equipment. Security is also an issue with a "normal" forest and meadow cache. And that's because geocaching is anoutdoor hobby and you don't just move on paved paths when searching. On trees, in caves, on and under bridges, in tunnels, in old buildings - the list of possible locations is long. Each of these places harbors certain risks and in the right weather (rain, ice, snow) a normal forest, embankment or similar can be extremely slippery.
What should you consider as a cacher ?
If you are traveling alone, you should let someone know where you are going to be in the next few hours and roughly when you plan to be back. That may sound terribly exaggerated at first, but we cachers are often out and about in areas that only a few passers-by know or frequent. And usually at the worst moment, the cell phone battery is empty or the reception is disrupted. If nobody knows where you are, a supposedly harmless situation can become quite dangerous.
It's better to go as a couple or in a small team - that's more fun anyway! But also in the team, everyone involved should take care of each other. Consideration is the magic word - not everyone has the same physical constitution and has had the same experience of balancing, climbing, crawling, etc. And in a group it can happen that a less experienced person quickly gets carried away into something that he or she should have left alone. The same is especially true when adults go on a caching tour with children!
Know and accept your limits! No one is forcing you to seek out a bridge cache if you are afraid of heights. No one is asking you to find an island cache unless you're a good swimmer. And if, for example, you have reached a climbing cache without safety gear/equipment or the necessary technique, that is not a sign of strength and smarts, but of stupidity and a lack of responsibility.
Also make sure your equipment is safe: Spare batteries for the GPS, flashlight and mobile phone ensure that you don't "run out of juice" at the wrong moment. Spare devices should also be checked before a tour. A small first-aid kit weighs little and costs little - there should be room for it in every belt pouch.
What should you consider as an owner?
So that the cacher does not only find out on site that the way to the cache or the direct cache location entails certain dangers, you as the owner are responsible for clearly pointing out these dangers in the listing . The same applies if certain items of equipment are required to ensure everyone's safety (e.g. safety rope or similar). If you omit such hints, one or the other cacher will be tempted to reach the cache even without safe equipment - "where one is already there...".
As far as equipping the cache with items to trade, you as the owner (the same applies to anyone who trades items, of course) should make sure that there are no items in the cache that could be dangerous in the wrong hands . These include: knives, matches & lighters, fireworks, medicines etc. - and no one needs to think that something like this hasn't already been found in caches! Particular attention should be paid to the safety of children.
Greeting,
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