Goldenwattle

Not forever...that's a long time, but a good cache container (say an ammo tin) placed in a protected, dry place, should last decades. I have even found plastic containers in protected places still in good condition after more than ten years, and the log still having lots of room.

Maybe every ten years , and then maybe longer than that. Yes, seen too many of those. Mostly they are place and forget. Anyone who cares enough doesn't place caches like that, but sadly too many are placed. Rusting, leaking mintie tins, tiny plastic specimen tubes...

So you are not talking about this.

Some COs delete DNFs too without justification. I had one removed fairly recently because I mentioned the road guard, and they said I had made a spoiler. The coordinates took you to road guard, with very little else where the cache could be hidden. I mean no other caches have ever been hidden in road guards and who would think that a cache might be hidden in a road guard . No one would think that, without that "spoiler" at assist, not even after finding power trails full of caches in road guards. "Spoiler"...the CO had to have to be kidding !

Maybe its been fixed, as I can see a retrieve option.

The cache with two missing WPs, had one easy one to answer; I started at 1 and moved up. I think the answer was 5. I didn't bother with putting the answer to that one in my logs. The one I did include in my logs was the answer to the other WP. Name the tree species. The tree was gone. That took a ridiculous lot of searching online. Then was it the common name or the proper name?

Did you give the answer in your AL log to help future people? That's what I did with the missing answer in the example I gave, to assist others following. I also put it in the bonus cache log too.

That's fine; I can accept that. It's when the CO does nothing that it's a problem.

I saw the map; there are nearby caches. Not like there are no caches for a hundred kms or more, or even none for twenty kms. But I fully agree with you, as it was a great container, it shouldn't have been archived. (I'm pleased my local reviewer is slow to act on remote caches, which are also often oldish. They won't be replaced.)

That's sad and very unnecessary. Fortunately though there are lots of other caches in the area, so not a rare cache.

Last trip to Europe I didn't go to Czechia because all the caches were puzzles where I was going to visit. I was on a river cruise and we had optional day tours to Czechia and Slovakia. I took the one to Slovakia because there were caches there I was capable of finding. I found eight. Where the tour was going to in Czechia all the caches available to me on the tour were puzzles, so I didn't go. Wasn't impressed, and was disappointed😢. Stayed behind and went on a long walk by myself, which I prefer than organised tours. But I overlooked the tour bit to get the caches in Slovakia, and would have done the same for Czechia.

It certainly will be trash if archived. Trash just sitting there with no finders now to maintain it. Archiving a cache doesn't make the 'trash' disappear. A big waste too if the cache is in good order.

If I come upon a cache in a cache rich area, such as an urban area and it needs maintenance, unless I have permission from the CO I can fix that cache, or a past understanding that I can do maintenance on their caches, I won't maintain those cache because I don't have permission, but I will make a NM. I am more likely to make NM than many others I have found. Then a month or so later I'm likely to do a NA if no word or action from the CO. Tough though when a reviewer says a NA is the wrong log on a cache with already more than one NM and reported problems by finder over some time, as once happened to me. Not saying which country. If it's a cache in a remote area, where there are few or no other caches for a long way, and the CO won't be easily able to maintain it, or they are now inactive, then I won't do a NM or NA, unless there is some very extreme reason why I should. The land where the cache is has fallen into the sea for instance, and it's dangerous to go anywhere near the place. That would get a NM; likely a NA. But otherwise, unlikely from me. These caches will almost never be replaced, and anyway there is lots of room for other caches. While I am visiting I will maintain that cache if I can. Replace the crumbling container, or add a new log. One of the first caches I maintained was a 2001 cache in a semi-remote area, along a sandy side track off the highway. I replaced the cache and put the old log into that. That cache is still going. Many other travellers do the same. When travelling to those areas I pack cache containers of different sizes. This is to keep caching alive in those areas. The lack of caches in those areas could be partly solved if more Virtual caches were allowed in remote, cache lacking areas. And for those good at geology, publishing more Earthcaches in those areas. I have just realised I can tick the attribute for NM. Next time I travel to a remote area I will try to remember to check which caches NM. I also won't do NMs on old caches. So will no caches.

Clear to me what barefootjeff has been saying, and I find it hard to believe that you don't understand the points he has been making.

1. I keep a list of those I have signed the log for, but don't yet qualify for. Every now and again I check the list. If I find one I now qualify for, I make a find log and delete this challenge cache from my list. 2. Those I qualify for but haven't found yet, I copy the coordinates and add them as updating the coordinates as though it were a solved multi or puzzle cache. Then it shows up on the map as solved.

Yes, extremely frustrating for those of us the comments here will effect. And I don't understand why you can't understand the issue. That in some countries it is possible to drive a hundred or even hundreds of kms (especially after the first trip there) without finding a cache, and so any existing ones are precious. Too many people here, who won't encounter this are telling those of us who will, bad luck, they need archiving if the owner is inactive, even when the cache is okay. They are alright, so what do they care about others with different experiences. Doesn't effect them! That's what is to understand. If this issue doesn't effect them, they don't care about people who it will effect. They are alright mate! That's all that matters.

Mine don't have that accuracy, as I imagine it would be the same for many people. Still, we don't have to do them all.

That's fine when you can take the water home and use a stove to do this, but no good for a traveller without a stove or a scales capable of weighing such a small amount. In fact I can speculate that most households wouldn't have a lab type scale capable of weighing such a small amount. My kitchen scales wouldn't be able to do this. However, maybe it could be taken to the local pharmacy. Maybe they could weight it for those without sensitive enough scales. A lot of mucking around. I could have weighed this when I was working, but not now I am retired.

That would add to you luggage requirement. Better not carry it in your carry-on.

I can imagine that in Qatar a lot of people finding the Earthcache would be tourists (travellers), so vinegar would not be commonly packed by travellers.

I put my Virtual 2,588 km by road from home. I wanted to put it somewhere that was devoid, or almost devoid of caches. When I planned where to put this it was going to be the only cache for about 75km one way and up to 300km another direction. However there is also now one other cache in the small town. Unfortunately that might be the only Virtual I will ever get, so I can't help fill up the empty spaces with Virtuals. I visited the place before putting it there to qualify. My geology isn't good enough to place Earthcaches. As for long distant multicaches, they can have WP problems and require constant tweaking. The longest multi I have found was at least 5,000kms one way, and then I had to drive home. A lot of work to set up one of those. The road to my Virtual cache. It is sealed. Almost there; less than 200kms to go... Just me and my Tom Tom occasionally speaking to me. Very occasionally; lots of long stretches.

They might travel there for work, etc. It's the only way places like that are going to get caches. Plus some caches were placed before that rule. Exceptions; Earthcaches and Virtuals are allowed in those areas. I placed a Virtual in a remote place (in the white area on the bottom map), but I had to visit it to be allowed to, which is reasonable though. Unfortunately Virtuals are hard to get, and the few available are given out to anyone, even those who will place them in cache saturated areas that don't need another cache, and where a physical cache could be maintained by the CO. I looked to see where you live, so I could understand where you are coming from, but you failed to put where you live. However, you have found caches in Texas, so I'm guessing you live in Texas. Texas has a population of over 30,000, 000 (2023). Australia (March 2023) 26,473, 055 people. Texas is smaller than some of our states, but with a higher population. Imagine less than the population of Texas spread across Australia, in relation to your comment. Then Australia's population is not evenly spread out, because we don't have the rivers in the central areas that the USA has, which means not many people can live there, and the rivers we have often run dry. With your comment, you are in effect advocating that most of Australia should be empty of caches. That doesn't matter to you, who doesn't live here and have to face this, but not good for us who would drive through all that white area and never be allowed to find a cache. Yes, people holidaying, many pulling their own caravan, do travel in those places. There are the occasional roadhouses (photo of the Nullarbor Roadhouse below) for fuel, food, water, camping and a motel or donga room. You, who will never be far from a cache and therefore okay, are demanding we can't have caches to find as you can. Thoughtful of you, not! I should also point out, that some of those red areas are not very populated either. There will be some people who live in the white areas, but as per the general population, very few will be geocachers, if any. Sparsely populated regions of Australia White areas are less than 0.1 person per square kilometre. Several of the red regions in the outback only just missed the cutoff having slightly more than 0.1 people per square kilometre. Roadhouse, on the Nullarbor. I should point out too, that because of the try weather in most of the white area, caches last quite well out there, if placed in a suitable place, or in an ammunition tin, which means less maintenance required. Also that geocachers travelling in those areas tend to maintain caches they find, if the cache needs it.

That's fine in urban areas and populated country areas. A cache in an area with plenty of other caches should be archived with no response from an owner. Unless there is some special reason why the cache shouldn't be archived, but those are rare. Say a 2000 cache. I have found caches like that, and one I reported a problem with, that someone had stolen the container. The original log was still there though. I would not have considered for one moment doing a NM, etc on this cache. No, NEVER! I would consider that as bad an action as those who stole the cache. The best I could do was add a plastic bag. I put the information in my log could the next person please bring a new container. The locals who were maintaining the cache (who I didn't know of), had a new cache there, I think it was, next day. If I had made that NM log it would now be a mark against the cache, as those maintaining it can't do OM logs. I have found at least one other 2000 cache also being maintained by locals. (Then there was the 2000 cache - Europe's Oldest, when I turned up and met the CO who was doing maintenance.) So some still have active COs. But many don't. For remote areas in contrast to urban areas I would be very reluctant to do a NM. The COs often live a long way away. Doing a check on some remote caches, that can be thousands of kms away. They can't just take that drive to check the cache. Some might get to it in a year's time. Many people, especially grey nomads (older retired people) regularly drive around Australia with their caravans, and some are geocachers. Some are on the road for years. However, caches in remote areas are often maintained before that by other travellers. Each country, and part of a country is different, and the rules for urban caches and populated country areas, shouldn't apply everywhere, because 'everywhere' is not the same.

It's good you are an active owner. And so am I, but I still can't know they are all okay at this moment. Some don't get found for months and most are suburban caches. And if people won't log DNFs, or at the least mention the cache condition (I like to do this) I don't know what condition the cache is in, until one of my regular checks. Likely to be okay though. I checked on one of my caches a couple of days ago and found it was out of its hide, lying out on the grass, and I was lucky to spot it among the lawn clippings. Initially I thought it was missing. Last log over four months ago. Back in its hide now. If someone had looked for it and didn't do the DNF, I wouldn't know there was a problem. Silly them too, as I often contact the person who made the DNF and offer more hints. But only if they make a DNF. I like to offer to assist people to find the cache if they are struggling. That has been the feeling of your answers, and responding to that.

LOL, maybe I should go check the one in my front garden now...oh it's raining. How about at night ...when it's like, gee, dark...🦇