Korichnovui

I’m really new to the game and trying to get interested in the different aspects. I’m trying for a streak, I figure I better try it while I’m new and there are plenty of caches to find near my home. I’m not very far into it, I think just getting 31 days or some easy milestone should be good enough. What you guys say about streaking becoming a chore and degrading the fun makes a lot of sense and I don’t want to fall into that trap. For hides, I definitely am interested in putting thought and effort into my hides. I hid a nice one not too long ago “Secret Swamp” which I’m pretty proud of finding this interesting location in the middle of town, and so far only 2 separate entities (a team and 1 other person) have found it. I’m working on several different projects for more intricate hides, including the first 5/5 hide in my area, as well as a series of YouTube videos, and I’m growing increasingly concerned that my efforts will all be for only a very few people. For now I’m going to press forward with the intent of 1) improving the quality of caches in my area, set a good example, raise the bar 2) so I can look back and say “I did that, at least I tried my best”

I'll show you my puzzle once I have it made, but because of certain bottlenecks It won't be ready for another month and half - ish.

Well one of my teammates made a hide recently and I helped him. I didn't sign the log initially because I wanted the FTF to be faced with a pristine log. I simply checked on the cache a little later to make sure it was doing okay, and signed at that time. IMO that is the way it should be done - you should check on caches anyway to make sure they're okay. But if the hide is really far out of the way, very inconvenient to get to, I guess that's more of a gray area.

Tri-Cities WA has a mega each year, and in simply doing caching around town, you run into the ones that were hidden in previous years, and in general they're above-average containers, well made, and not very difficult. Probably the area we are talking about is a circle of maybe 10-15 mile diameter. Yeah I wondered if there would be a line up. Actually that doesn't sound very fun, but neither does rushing from hide to hide to get 28 in 1 day sound all that fun either, the more I think about it. Hmmm. I mean I could do it myself, but I'll be having the whole family in tow....

Hey guys, So I’ve been getting kind of excited to attend a mega event at the end of June, a geocoin challenge, my first one. Apparently you go get 28 caches and then you’re awarded a fancy geocoin. I’ve got it on the calendar and the intent is that the whole family (spouse and kids) are going to come along and have a fun time. We’ll pack a lunch and snacks, etc. But lately I’ve been thinking, whoa wait, 28 caches spread all across town? Can we even accomplish this in one day? I don’t want it to be something where I start snapping at the family to pick up the pace so we can cross the finish line... I was interested to hear some stories from you more experienced types about how this sort of thing ends up playing out.

I came upon your post while doing some research. I was thinking of making a puzzle cache where the puzzle clues are contained in a YouTube video, with some of the footage captured by a drone. Hopefully that’s different?

I recently solved a mystery to get the coordinates and, once i was finally in that area, headed to the GZ. I didn't pay enough attention beforehand to realize the container was micro size. Once I got to the GZ, I then noticed the container was listed as micro size. In a spot of uncountable rocks next to a river, with several small but many-branched trees clustered at the GZ. My team (I wasn't alone on this) looked for about 30 minutes but we admittedly didn't scrutinize every twig on every tree, nor did we overturn every single rock in the GZ. At several points, disgusted with this sort of hide, I backed up, figured "surely someone wouldn't create a needle in a haystack hide and think that's fun, there must be something obvious" and tried to think of the obvious spots were someone would put it, not "overthink" it. Well, it didn't work. We left the site disappointed, especially since the puzzle had taken a bit of paperwork/thinking to solve in the first place. Also annoyed because the GZ could have easily accomodated a larger cache, which could then hold a more proper log, swag, etc. I know I'm not the most experienced geocacher yet, but I'm quickly developing a sense of what I do and do not enjoy about the game. As I gain more experience, I will try to be more selective in what caches I go for in the future. Moral of the story, in my opinion: micros can be a needle in a haystack hide. Personally I don't like those. Don't make one of those.

My thought was that you could write a note on the paired cache page indicating that you want to partner up with someone, and then they could contact you through the app message system. I've already written a rough draft of instructions for a teamwork cache, what do you think? -- This is a teamwork cache! Here is how to solve the cache: 1. To play, you will need someone in state X to help you. You may request a friend by writing a note on this log. Someone in X will see the note and contact you through the website message center. Now you are a team. 2. Go to the starting coordinates. This is stage 1. There will be a hidden container with information on how to proceed. This information is for your partner in X, not for you! It will be a projection, meaning a heading and distance. Message this information to your partner, and have your partner message the information they find at their cache’s stage 1 to you. Do not post it in a public note -- keep the information secret! 3. Using the projection your partner in X sent you, find stage 2. There will be a hidden container there with information on how to proceed. This information is for your partner in X, not for you! It will be coordinates to stage 3, for your partner in X. Message those coordinates to your partner in X, and they will message you the coordinates that they have found at their stage 2. Do not post it in a public note -- keep the information secret! 4. Find the stage 3 container from the coordinates you got from your partner’s stage 2. This is the final cache that contains the logbook. Because of the multiple stages involved, it may take more than one visit to this spot to get to the final cache, depending on how active your partner is / how well the two of you cooperate. Please do not volunteer for this cache if you are not willing/able to coordinate with your partner in a timely manner! Maybe state your availability in your note requesting a partner. Do not log the state X cache as a find! Only log caches where you have physically found and signed the logbook!

I figure you could use the attribute in this way, or for example if there was a gadget cache that required more than 2 hands, etc. But yeah, there is also a teamwork cache. I had kinda thought the attribute would be specifically for that cache (like night cache or UV light required, etc) but I guess it doesn't have to be. Now I want to make a teamwork cache! My geocaching brother lives in a different state..... And so the plotting begins!

I was reading about cache types and there's an attribute you can choose that indicates "teamwork required", something about this cache being paired up with a cache a great distance away, and needing someone at that spot to help you, and you help them, etc. Curious, I did a search for caches around me that had the teamwork attribute. I thought there would be few so I set the radius to several hundred miles. To my surprise, I got hundreds of results. These were just ordinary caches that happened to have the "teamwork required" attribute clicked on. Nothing in the description indicated that teamwork was necessary. What's going on here?

What is the purpose of "locking" your "milestone" caches on the stats page? What happens if you don't lock them or do lock them?

I may be new to the game but I applaud those willing to suggest NA’s. We need this to keep the game healthy. Some people want to hide caches as they get into the game and the saturation rule can be disappointing at times. I’ve run into this several times already myself. And it’s disheartening to see that the cache occupying the space is not in good shape at all. We also don’t want new players coming across dilapidated or ruined or missing hides. NM and NA logs are an official part of the game. As a CO, take care of your business or get out of the way and someone else can have a shot at that spot.

This is one of the appeals to me. There's a feeling of "synergy" to geocaching which is really appealing to me. I really like efficiency. So I'm "hiking AND geocaching" or "biking AND geocaching". It's not the only thing about the activity that works for me, though! Some of the other factors are: Being brought to a new place right in the middle of my hometown and thinking, "Wow, I never knew this was here, neat." The satisfaction of solving a puzzle and making a find feels good to me. The statistics aspect and the feeling of "making progress" is also somewhat appealing. I'm now working on a new aspect - channeling creativity and personal expression through my own hides. I have a new hide submitted for review in a spot that I feel pretty proud of for discovering, I hope it goes through... I want to add to the scout discussion, as well. I have been a scout leader for new scouts for several years now, and we have started working on the geocaching merit badge as a good break from working on tenderfoot - second class - first class requirements. I already put a group of scouts through the merit badge last year, and that cache is currently my only hide on my profile. It's true that the hiding of the cache is only 1 option among several for getting the badge, and it does require a maintenance plan, which I thought was good. I made sure that the scouts were responsible for the cache for as long as the merit badge requirement stipulated; afterward, I assumed the responsibility of the cache. Our maintenance plan was easy because we hid it close to our usual meeting spot and we would sometimes go check on it. Today the cache remains in good shape. I'm now in the process of working through the merit badge again with another group of new scouts, and they have also elected to hide a cache and keep track of it. We have yet to "scout out" and choose a spot, but they will be under the same obligation to maintain it, and I will again ensure the longer-term maintenance. I think the merit badge is well done, being pretty thorough in introducing the scouts to GPS concepts and the geocaching hobby in general. New scouts are at a great age where they're still engaged in learning and trying new things, that teenage cynicism of "what's cool and what's not" hasn't rubbed off on them yet.

This is how people get into the game. People will hear about it, look it up on their own, try things out on their own. Or they'll stumble across one, read the "this is a geocache" thing, look into it, etc. Yeah, some will "do it wrong" and maybe ruin a cache. Some maintenance may need to be done, God forbid. Some just might enjoy themselves and get into the game a bit more. I certainly didn't have anyone holding my hand when I got into the game. I started out as a "weekend n done muggle-with-an-app".

I tell anyone who will listen about geocaching. A lot of people never even heard of it. I wish more people were into it in my area. We have a lot of caches in the area but nearly ALL of them were created by the same 3 or 4 people. Don't get me wrong, those 3-4 people have done an awesome job creating a fun environment in my area. I just wish the game was a little more robust, locally. I'm worried that I'll be hiding caches for basically a very small group of people. (if I can get any interesting hides approved... it's a lot harder than I first realized)

I’ve thought about this topic before. Browsing the world map, there’s a cache in Northern Canada that appears to be the northernmost cache in the world. It hasn’t been found yet, except that someone did log it. People were up in arms about it and the find got deleted because that player had also logged finds in other countries on the same day. My thought was, the only way to be sure is to check the log. That’s why we have logs and why it’s so important to sign it! Devil’s advocate: it’s not likely, but the guy could be a world traveler and he logged the cache finds later. The only way to know for sure would be to check the log.... (the log wasn’t checked because the place is that hard to get to) So along those lines, I think in most cases we should not get too worked up and just leave it up to the CO.

Okay, it was a relief to read in that link that physical waypoints within a single puzzle (or multi) can be closer than 0.1 miles, that will help me out with my puzzle.

Thanks for clear replies another question: In scouting out some areas for my puzzle cache, I did a multi-cache. I noticed that the multi-cache doesn’t appear to take up any space on the saturation map, despite having 2 physical locations. Neither of those shows on the saturation map! How does that work?

For a mystery cache, I wanted to have a couple of stages where the player had to visit the spot physically and find a hidden container to receive information on what to do next. It would be like a cache, really, except no log book. Would such containers be subject to the 0.1 mile saturation rule? What about objects created by myself that are not a container, but give a numerical clue? The player would have to find the object that was created and hidden by me, and simply observing the object would give them numerical information. Are these objects subject to the 0.1 mile saturation rule?

As my family has been getting into geocaching this year, my oldest daughter has adopted an attitude of "I'm too cool for this." She said, "If non-geocachers are called muggles, then I'm Voldemort and it's my mission to destroy geocaching." Don't worry, everyone, I think she's just joking!

I read the cache description and I can understand why the CO is upset. It felt like a lot of love went into this cache. It’s a bummer that things turned out this way. I’m working on some designs for my own future caches and I would feel awful if rules changed and the caches had to be modified or removed. That said, I completely agree with all that has been said about civility, cooperating, and fostering goodwill for the future of the game.

(wrong thread!)

Yeah I've already thought a key/tool one would be even more problematic to keep control of. I've already rethought the puzzle where a padlock isn't needed. It should enhance the longevity / reduce the need for maintenance. I've since realized that if people want to vandalize or cause mischief, they can just steal the cache / not set it back right.

I'm planning a puzzle cache intended to be pretty difficult, and I want to include a combination padlock locking the ammo can cache closed. My latest paranoia is that it appears that all combo padlocks these days are able to be "reset" and I'm worried that finders will be tempted to vandalize the cache by resetting the padlock to some number that only they know... Is that just crazy to be worried about that?

If I lock an ammo can with a small combination padlock, will it (the padlock) last long if exposed to weather? What if I get it in a sheltered spot where it won't get wet?