L0ne.R

I see that too. I wonder if some cachers feel that the important thing is keeping the listing active. Perhaps they're hoping that if the listing remains active maybe someone will toss a throwdown and keep it going, before a reviewer gets wind of the growing DNF list. I don't understand why else they are unwilling to disable.

And this is an example of quality community maintenance on that abandoned cache:

The trend I see is that containers and logbooks are for the most part, treated by COs like items that are forced upon them in order to list a cache. They look for minimum cost and effort to comply. Something free or cheap (under a dollar), most unsuitable for outdoor use that will not keep the log dry. They use scraps of paper which they never intend to look at again. When the scraps get full finders replace or add more scraps of paper. Because finders prop this type of CO behavior up, by leaving more scraps rather than logging NMs, some areas get more caches like this. Until it's really difficult to find anything but bare-minimum, unmaintained, poor quality, community-maintained caches.

I absolutely do not see this happening in Canada, where we have the feature. It's rarely used. But when it is used (in either direction), I really appreciate it. I'm in Canada and agree. It's rarely used and not really of much use.

Peanut butter jars don't have narrow necks.

https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=107&pgid=434 3. Log your find online 3.2. When a cache needs maintenance 3.2. When a cache needs maintenance If you find a geocache in need of help (e.g. logbook is full or container is damaged), add a “Report a problem” option to your log. When you select “Report a problem” on Geocaching.com, the system adds a “Needs Maintenance” log and an attribute to the page to alert the cache owner and other geocachers that the cache may need attention. Add "Report a problem" to your log On Geocaching.com On a cache page, select Log geocache. Below the text box, select Report a problem. Select the most appropriate reason. Explain the issue in your log text, and post your log. On the Geocaching® app On the cache details page, scroll down to the bottom. Select Report a Problem. Select Needs Maintenance or Needs Archived. Explain the issue in your log text, and post your log. Tip: This will not increase your find count. Return to the cache page to compose any other logs about your experience. List of Needs maintenance options Logbook is full Container is damaged Cache should be archived Other Logbook is full / Container is damaged Use these options when appropriate. Cache should be archived Cache archival is permanent, so this option is only used under rare circumstances. Consider contacting the cache owner directly with your concerns before selecting this option. Select this option if: Property owners, business owners, or local authorities or law enforcement expressed concern during your search for the cache. Cache placement or searching for the cache damages the area or defaces property. You couldn't find a cache and it has several “Didn’t Find It (DNF)” or “Needs Maintenance” logs on the cache page with no cache owner response. Do not select this option if: You didn't find the cache — use a “Didn’t Find It (DNF)” log. The cache needs repairs — select another “Needs maintenance” option. The cache location seems to be inappropriate — consider contacting the cache owner with your concerns. There is no pen in the cache — caches are not required to contain pens. The cache owner and local reviewer will get notifications and may follow up. The cache will not be archived automatically and you may not see a public response to your log.

I looked at the blog article again and it seems to be a fairly thoughtful article in which the point of the blog is to encourage maintenance and better cache experiences.

Yep. Happened to me. There's a 10 mile long trail on which I had placed a couple of caches. One is an ammo can (and a simple puzzle cache) and the other a large lock-n-lock. There may have been one or two others from a different CO. Then that trail had an "official opening" as a new rail trail, which included building a bridge over a small gorge near the lnl cache. Now that trail has a PT from one end of the other. When I started getting frequent logs thanking the owner of the PT (which exclusively uses pill bottles for her caches), I archived mine. I'll add my story about how excited I was to find a new trail. I brought my handbuilt birdhouse with a sandwich size Lock & Lock inside. Found a nice spot, tied the house to a tree, took coordinates, made notes for the write-up. Then walked down the trail some more for the exercise and perhaps find another nice spot of a possible second hide. Along the way I see a bench and behind it a stump. I look in the stump and there's a camo-taped pill bottle with a GC log 'Cotton Trail #20-something', . Someone has already been here and saturated the trail with pill bottles (not published yet--published about 2 weeks later). I walked back to my cache, untied it and took it home. It's possible if I submitted my cache that day, I might have gotten my cache published before the PT cache. But there's no way I wanted all the copy & paste logs thanking the pill-bottle PT owner for my Lock & Lock in a birdhouse hide. I had a cache 1 kilometre from a PT trail and kept getting cut n paste logs thanking the PT owner for my cemetery cache.

It use to be exciting to plan a trip along a trail to find a small variety of caches. Caches not placed for numbers, owned by at least a couple of different owners. Differerent containers, different sizes, different hiding styles. If one cache was a dud (poor container, poor hide) there was a chance the next one might be a good one, especially if the next cache had an owner with a good reputation. Cache owners who put time, thought and spend a bit of money on containers, and maintain what they hide rarely hide PTs. But they might hide a couple along a trail, leaving room for others to also hide caches. Often, part of the fun of walking the trail was looking for a nice spot for my own potential hide.

Try posting a notice in your cache description.

That could be the unintended consequences of encouraging some COs to archive their caches to freshen up an area. Instead of freshening up the area, they will churn. I would prefer to see an organic filling of a trail with a variety of cache containers, hiding styles, and owners.

Thanks for remembering this and providing the thread. Maybe GCHQ needs to do more of this. Asking COs to do something isn't going to amount to much, especially when many COs of old-inactive-caches have done nothing for years (and are not likely to read a blog post or the forums if they are still playing). Isono K noted:

I'm not sure if they've done auto-disables and messages for inactive caches owned by inactive owners. In my area reviewers monitor for lengthy rows of DNFs, and multiple NMs that are ignored by COs. Reviewers in my location often respond more quickly to NMs placed on caches owned by delinquent and absent COs.

I agree. The database needs a good ratio of new caches. In some areas the cache owner culture is--hide lots and don't worry about maintenance, and community prop-up. After about a year these types of caches are often in rough shape. This may be off-putting to people trying the game. New caches tend to be in good shape (admittedly some are in rough shape from day one). It looks like GCHQ is hoping to increase the number of caches that are more appealing. If current hiders won't maintain their caches, encourage them to archive them for some much needed refreshening turnover. I'm in favour but not by encouraging FPs. With regards to "Last Found" caches, I don't think GCHQ is saying archive them. Instead I read it as 'check your lonely caches'. Caches that rarely get found are great, as long as they are there and in reasonably good shape. Many haven't-been-found-in-a-long-time caches aren't so difficult to get to. They are often not found much because all the locals have found them, and/or they are more than 500m from the road, and/or they have gone missing and no one wants to log a DNF.

Actually, I do think this is a good idea. But I worry that they've come at it from the wrong direction. We'll get more caches with little thought or care -- attach a bison to a dollar store toy, toss it roadside and forget about it - get lots of FPs. Personally, I think they could encourage cache turnover by writing a blog about how voluntary turnover helps the game stay interesting. In addition, they should strongly encourage retrieval of caches that are voluntarily archived (ask COs to post a note before archival that they've retrieved the cache container). They could also encourage reviewers to do more sweeps and remove the abandoned cache listings that fill the database.

Caches I like generally don't get favourite points. I like good quality, swag-size containers, hidden in pleasant locations (like forests), that are in relatively good shape. In my experience the caches that tend to get the most favourite points are guideline breakers (example: hole drilled into a tree or pole, something attached by nails/screws): And dollar store toys with a bison/pill bottle attached to it (often listed as small, not micro).

Where are you? You have no hides or finds on your account? Approximately where did you find this box?

And a new CO learns nothing from that. But a new CO might interpret that the site D/T ratings are scores, not tools. D/T ratings started off as tools to help finders. But then again, since the site added the Statistics tab (about 10 years ago), the D/T ratings have become a score, rather than a tool. So maybe you are correct about teaching new COs that D/T ratings are earned.

It's listed on AtlasQuest.com: https://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.php?boxId=168918 Not sure if you can see this without an account, but here's the contact page for J and M Boxhunters https://www.atlasquest.com/mail/write/?memberId=24901&returnUrl=%2Fshowinfo.php%3FboxId%3D168918

I've seen this in my area, COs who won't check and enable their caches after a reviewer canned message like the one posted. Claiming COVID lockdown as the issue, but regularly go out to find geocaches during lockdown.

It would be nice if we could tag and filter our gallery photos and have the option to search by tag.

I think COs' attitudes need some fixing too. It's easy to follow through with an OM or a note--we don't even have to get off the couch (if the issue doesn't require a visit). Better yet, go check the cache for confirmation that the cache is OK. We agreed to abide by the guidelines when submitting a listing. If we have so many caches that it's annoying to even have to write a note, perhaps we have too many caches (even if it's only one cache).

Found it 09/02/2020 It’s still busted needs maintenance C Premium Member 886 Found it 08/14/2020 It has been a couple of days since I last found a cache or even been on the site, so tonight I headed out with my mom who had some errands to run. It was great to go out for an evening walk and find some caches. I started here and arrived at GZ to find it smashed. I was at the right place based on previous logs, so I'm going to log a find as well. As mentioned before, this one needs some TLC. TFTH. m Premium Member 42 Found it 08/13/2020 Light cover broken. Cache gone L Member 639 Found it 07/26/2020 Found the lamp post in question, although the cover is now completely broken and there is no cache in sight. Logging this one as a find if CO permits, as we were on the exact spot. Cache will need to be replaced!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_human_height_by_country#/media/File:Average_height_of_women_by_year_of_birth,_OWID.svg 155-165cm (5ft 1inch to 5ft 5inch) appears to be the height range for the majority of women worldwide. I'd say rating based on a 5ft 5inch woman would work nicely and make women feel the guidelines apply equally to men and women.