Winter Caching Tip: Use the Thermos

For Christmas, my sister bought me a new Thermos.

Now, you might think this isn't too thrilling, but I love it. She brought hers to a summer caching jaunt - one of the hottest, most humid days - and she left it inside a hot car (practically in direct sunlight) for hours. We returned and I went to take a swig of water from it and almost died of shock - that sudden jolt of cold when my whole body was a melty, gooey mess.

18 hours HOT - 24 hours COLD

And this is no joke. I left my Thermos overnight at work, and it was still cold the next day. Well made, solid construction, easy to clean.

So what does this have to do with Winter caching besides the obvious? 

I was just listening to the Geocaching Podcast (episode 433), and they were talking Winter caching tips. Co-host Scott Berks (from the mighty Chicago area) had some great tips for newbies, but he shared one I'd never heard (or thought of) before. When caching in the woods, carry a thermos of boiling hot water to unfreeze containers embedded in a block of ice! DOH! I can't tell you how many containers I've replaced trying to free them! (They tend to shatter here in Michigan when you kick them with the heel of your foot - OOPS!). 

And I have just the Thermos for it. This thing is solid. It will definitely stay hot during a trek out into the woods without leaking all over my geobag.

Speaking of Winter tips, he also keeps a rubber mallet in his car to unstick frozen LPCs. And that made me think.... no mallet onhand? Wrap your trusty Thermos in a towel or stow it in your hat and use THAT to tap that lid! This thing is a tough little fellow!

And Heaven help him if I'm ever chased by a bear while toting my new Thermos...

Thank you, WikidKriket, for my new Tool of the Trade!