jampoi

You know what they say about "ASSUMING"? When I take my grandson Geocaching I try to teach him like I taught my son and daughter. BE RESPONSIBLE and always do the right thing. Like I said in a previous post I do not care about swag at all except for my grandson. I want him to enjoy the experience as I have. I have been flabbergasted by the ingenuity and effort some CO'S have expended to hide a cache. As to my not having hidden any caches you are right. I attempted it once. Had two nice ammo cans full of very nice stuff. I ran it past the reviewer several times with changes he required each time. I was down to down to the last item when I discovered the place I was hiding it was private property and not common property to the HOA from which I had permission. So I removed it. I still cannot believe ALL CO'S adhere to all the rules I was asked to adhere to. I firmly believe that if all CO'S followed all the rules I was asked to follow there wouldn't be enough caches left for anyone to find. I could not even push a roofing nail into the ground according to the reviewer. I found the whole experience frustrating.

That is a good point! When my grandson comes over I ask him or he tells me Let's go geocaching! I get out the computer, download my preset pocket queries, put them into the GPS and go. I usually do not look at comments. That I now know is a problem. And I will not use any more TFTC comments, I will be more descriptive just so CO's are more informed.

I'm an adult and would have turned around. Was the cache classified as kid-friendly? Did the previous logs say something about the location? It might be that the trash showed up later and the cache owner does not even know it. In times of TFTC logs this can easily happen. Exactly. When planning an outing with kids, it's up to you to pick a nice area, read the logs ahead of time, maybe even do Google Streetview. Bring a pocket full of swag in case the swag is no good. If you don't do that, well, then it might be a disappointing outing. I have taken my own kids and other people's kids out many times. The best thing is just to have a group of kids. They will run and play with each other and have fun while the adults talk and search for the caches. If we find a cache with bad swag, I just toss some swag from my pocket on the ground and let them pick something. Because I've picked a nice location and a good group of people, we're all going to have a good time regardless of the content of the cache.

In that case I should have but we drove over thirty miles and it was the last one in the area. The last time I looked at the rules (paraphrasing) Get permission to hide the cache on the property Maintain the cache, do not place it so far away from your home that you can't access and take care of it like you should No digging or disturbing of the area. Heck I couldn't even put a nail in the ground when I tried to hide a cache. I could not believe, once I was told all the rules, that all Co's adhere to ALL those rules. I really believe that Geocaching.com SAYS you are SUPPOSED to follow those rules but since they have no way to enforce them it mostly is to satisfy the lawyers. But I digress.

If it was so disgusting, why didn't you just turn around and leave? You could've taught your grandchildren that the cache was in a trash heap and there was no reason to even bother looking for one there.

@Redshoesgirl: I like the way you think. You go girl!!! @Teammicrodot: If the shoe fits.

not really. the only ethical choice is if you want to put swag in or not. level of maintenance is not. it is expected you maintain the cache well and not let it go down hill because that is the way you want to play the game. it is so very simple. place a cache, maintain it on a regular basis, keep it clean — how hard can that be?

Well when a person doesn't care to really do their home work (IE: looking for the positives which are clearly in my posts) I figure they want to enforce their own beliefs (prejudgments)which is bias and therefore agenda's. My wife and I have been literally astounded by the ingenuity of some people and the time and effort they have expended to place a cache. And we have told them so not necessarily on the web site but by personal emails. Some of the suggestions posted on here were useful and I will utilize them more diligently in the future. I went back and looked at all my postings and there are roughly 10-12% TFTC. If they were really bad I said so and if they were really good I said so. If the others don't care about their caches why should I?

The same things irk me, and probably everyone else. Lets recap the original gripes: Wet containers Broken or lousy trade items Failure to rehide properly, or at all After finding many wet containers, you would think that most people would learn not to use the same ones, but they do. Broken stuff is in nearly every cache. Why? It's a mystery, but obviously there are people all over the world carting around broken things to leave as trade items. They are all working in concert, but likely don't know each other. They also never post in the forum, but are everywhere. It seems that many people think that following the rules of trading an object is more important than leaving something useful to anyone. That movie stub, pine cone, or broken pez container is better off somewhere else. Leaving containers poorly rehidden is another constant. It seems that nearly everyone likes to leave it easy for the next finder. That's not the best thing for the CO, who will have to deal with the 13 year olds who found it accidentally and took a dump in it. If its found out in the open, it should be rehidden, not shrugging your shoulders and saying that it isn't your problem. I believe the OP has found the reasons why many people leave the game.

The only reason to tell lies is to bolster a false argument which makes you a liar. I went through all my logs and yes there are some TFTC comments but certainly not any more than a lot of other commenters. If a find warrants a better description I will post it. If you always look only for the negatives you will always find it. What a pathetic life that must be.

I had a look. Ackkk. TFTC-only logs. I agree that effort goes both ways. A log describing the visit to the cache is far more encouraging. As a CO it's the people who comment specifically about our cache(s) and say how they enjoyed the swag, who motivate me to maintain our caches and regularly replenish the supply.

If I am not mistaken the rules state that a cache should not be hidden so far away from the owners residence that they wouldn't be able to maintain the cache effectively. I believe a cache should be checked at least once a month at the very least. And it is clear that is not happening. So many logs I have found are completely full of entries that people have to write on the smallest blank space they can find. If a cache has old coupons, broken toys and gum wrappers the owner is not doing their job. Even if they don't replace swag they have a duty to at least clean and maintain the cache.

A cache owner does not have a duty to serve as a free version of Wal-Mart, Dollar General and McDonalds for little boys and girls. I stock my caches to the brim with new trade items when they're hidden. Trade items are usually of interest to new geocachers and geocachers with kids. Within a year the contents are reduced to gum wrappers, broken toys and expired coupons. So, the OP's wrath should be directed at new geocachers and at geocachers with kids. I did my part as a cache owner; the rest is left to the "trade up or trade even" ethic. Tip when geocaching with small children: carry several trade items in your pack or coat pocket. When the cache is found, insist that an adult must open the container (for safety reasons). If it's low on swag, slip in trade items from your secret stash, which you were holding in your other hand.

If a child puts a leaf or stone in a cache then the adult in charge is not doing their job and that is to teach children responsibility. You do not take someone elses things even if that is what it is there for unless they put something of equal or greater value in return. Isn't that what adults are supposed to do?

You have totally missed the point. I don't give a hoot about the swag. It is my grandchildren who do. When I take them on a long drive and a long walk to find some of these things I want them to enjoy the adventure. They are too young to care about scenery and nature, they want a find a treasure when they open a container. The part I like is the look on the children's faces when they find something they want to keep. But when it is has next to nothing in it or it is full of nastiness they are disappointed and so am I. The very last one we went to was literally a trash dump and not safe for kids or adults. It was disgusting and I said so in my comments. If you don't have anything relevant to say please stay out of the conversation.

I thought the point of the forums was to spread the word and have discussions is it not? The topic is "WHAT IRKS ME". As to your other question there were several, two in particular my wife and I really enjoyed because they were unique and highly imaginative and took some planning and work to achieve. I complimented them and even asked if I could duplicate them. The fact that you looked at the logs and picked out the few to complain about reveals your agenda. So save it for someone who cares WYS.

So why complain on here? What did you think that would achieve? Your feedback - positive or negative - should be directed toward the owners of the caches you find. I doubt very much whether those hiding caches which deserve only TFTC worry too much about the fact they only get TFTC logs as, after all - you're thanking them for the cache that they hid - even if you did think it was a pointless pile of junk. I'll admit I didn't read all of your logs - just scanned a few of them. Is there a good example of one where you rewarded a good cache with a good, encouraging log for a cache you really enjoyed?

To all those that responded with some helpful ideas, THANK YOU! When I go geocaching I always tell my grandchildren to leave the site in better condition than you found it and we always trade up on all items taken and we try to clean the dirty cache containers also. I also have to question whether a lot of geocachers that place containers are following the rules of geocaching.com that requires permission to place the containers on private or public property. As for comments on logs TFTC obviously they did not read all of them. When I use that term it is because there was nothing else to say other than criticism and if a person takes the time and effort to place a cache I appreciate that and don't want discourage them from continuing. The only times I have actually criticized was when the site was absolutely deplorable and unsuitable. I am not looking to enrich myself finding riches in cache containers and resent those that said it. When I said JUNK, that is exactly what I find more and more. I also know that some people will throw about anything in a container just to make themselves believe they are actually trading something just to falsely relieve their guilt. Which really amounts to stealing.

What really irks me is planning a day of geocaching with my grandson, traveling numerous miles to find them and then find them full of useless junk with wet logs. A lot of times the caches are not hidden but lying on top of the ground fully exposed. People are not maintaining their caches and renewing their swag with things little boys and girls get excited about finding. In a word, geocaching is becoming "BORING" and a waste of time. What I would like to see is for Geocachers to take some pride in this activity if for nothing else but to let the kids have some fun. Make it interesting people before it dies out from lack of interest.

HAS ANYONE SEEN "CHIP, THE BUG" #TB5D86 ? Last seen in Cedar Fever Cache Austin Texas but now missing. Area code 78749