Ibar

My turn: When I started over a year ago, my "focus" as a georunner was on cleaning the neighborhood. Now I'd have to run far too far for a running cache, so I've given up on this Then the focus was to log an FTF. There are a few really FTF die-hards in this area, so it proved a real challenge. Eventually I made an FTF an immediately afterwards I realized that it wasn't my thing. I have quite a stressful work, and extra stress just to be the first to find a cache? No, it didn't really make much sense (to me). Nowadays, some days I cache, others I don't. I am VERY lucky,though, to travel quite a lot for my work, so I'm having fun planning a couple of caches in a distant country I may just do between the meeting and the business lunch, or by early morning or .. In the meantime I'm trying to "convert" some colleagues to this great game Ah, and other than collecting countries, and regions and so on, I love going for oldies (read anything older than 2010). I dream to finish some day the Jasmer matrix, it's pretty cool digging in the history of this game.

Just logged my first 7 caches in Slovakia (Bratislava) Country #17. Pretty cool city caches. Next stop Slovenia in November. Keep on caching !!

Yes, there are quite a few caches in Airports, from Barcelona to Hannover, to Port Elizabeth to ... and I am "collecting" them on my cache GC50KT9 (hopefully self-advertising is allowed )

I'm relatively new to this game but because of "business reasons" I've got the opportunity to cache in the last year in 16 different countries, and it's curious how different countries show different hiding habits (Sure I've just done a few caches in those countries, so please don't think I'm trying to "judge" anybody, it's just fun) - Here in Flanders (Belgium) we love series. Every patch of forest in this part of the world has a 5-20 caches series .. with a bonus ... sometimes a couple of (mostly difficult) extras ... and a beautiful banner that you can put to your profile - In the USA I found the most candid description of caching so far GC2GCM1: "In all the years I have been geocaching, everyone keeps saying the same thing - "It's not about the numbers". Except...we track the numbers...we know our numbers...most of us know at least one other cachers numbers...we even track numbers that don't exist [how many FTFs does Groundspeak say you have?]. So I've come to the conclusion... Really It's About Numbers! So I am starting a new series of mostly PNGs for the avid numbers hounds out there. You know who you are, and if you're reading this it's probably you. Most are straight-forward but there may be an occasional twist thrown in just to keep it interesting..." - In Portugal the few caches I found had a far too high D in the description - and then .. Germany (where I work). I get the feeling that if not "by", the game was made "for" Germany. Caches everywhere, a very responsive CO community, well maintained caches, but when it comes to the "D", I have faced too often that it was underrated. On my first caching months I found a D1T1 that required 2km of walking on a dirt trail, walk across high vegetation for 20 m and then the cache was pretty well hidden up in a tree 2-3 meters high. Yesterday I was going for a T3,5 D2,5 in the Frankfurt area. Based on pics it was clear that the cache was up in the pipes of a metallic structure holding some advert. The T wasn't really a big deal, so I tried my chances. As I couldn't find it, I posted a short DNF saying something like "either the cache is not there or I had a bad day". Well, this morning I got an answer from the CO (it has just happened to me twice, both in Germany, that after a DNF a CO mailed me back trying to help me). His answer is one to remember what D2,5 means .. in Germany: "You need tape or something else to temporarily seal the 3 drilled holes at the bottom end of the barrel. Then you need (based on how good the holes are sealed) 6-8 liters of water. When I did it there was very much old tape of previous cachers that did not seal good and therefore my tape wasn't able to hold the water inside and so I needed to get new water. I used approximately 12 liters. After you filled the water into the barrel the container will float up Hope I was able to help you, if you're still in xxxxxx. I used old plastic bottles to transport the water to the cache." Fantastic :rolleyes: Keep on caching !!

Just back from Austria (Country #16). I was "georunning" 30 min south of Vienna. It was interesting to see the amount of letterbox caches in the area (a rarity here in Belgium). Next stop should be Slovakia, 4 days meeting in Bratislava. Time to start planning the caches around the convention hotel

Thanks!

Hi, I've been caching for a while and have a few caches out there. I'm afraid I'd need your help on the following point: - One of my caches (GC55WNT) is a nano (the usual magnetic nano you can buy in events). Now, the last couple of finders "complained" that the cache is a nano though in the cache description is mentioned to be a micro. Well, I haven't mentioned the words "micro" nor "nano" in my description. The only thing is that on the size grid I have selected the smallest possible size, and that happens to be "micro". What should I do then, change the size to "?" ?? Because if I do so, I'm sure that the reviewer will complain (already happened) that I haven't specified the size of the cache. So I'm a bit lost Looking forward to your enlightenment ...

@All, thanks for your feedback. Now I believe I am an "average quitter"

Hey, Yesterday I had a bad geocaching day, 0 F & 2 DNF. On the way back to the hotel I was thinking about which would be the average time to DNF, I mean how long would you spend trying to find a cache before giving up? And I'm talking about caches, let's say, D<=3,5 and T<=4 Personally I think (let's see what your feedback is like) I'm a "quick quitter". I hardly ever spend more than 10-15 min looking for a cache and I believe my absolute record is 30-35 min, but there are a few reasons: - I'm a "georunner", I run almost daily and try to get some caches along the way. Of course the idea is a quick find and keep moving, rather than freeze with my sweaty running clothes on trying to find that *@"!! canister. I may have found over half of my caches while running - I travel very often, so if you are, let's say, 3 days somewhere in Russia, you focus on the easy wins, because you may never get back there again, and if a theoretically easy one takes longer than expected ... I just move on to the next theoretically easy one, rather than spending one hour on the first one. - And when it's not one of the earlier cases, I've learnt that if I don't find a cache in 10-15 min, the chances for me to find it in the next 30 min are considerably lower than the chances to call it a day, and get back tomorrow. A night of sleep can really open my eyes on a second visit. Anyway, I'm talking too much about myself, and I'm really curious to know whether I'm a "quick quitter" or maybe I'm an "average quitter", so what's your "Time to DNF"?? (Remember D<=3,5, and yes I know that D=3 is theoretically supposed to "take up a good portion of an afternoon." .. but still) Thanks in advance

Maybe the OP could adopt the cache and get things set up right. I thought about it when it got disabled, but it possible to do that if the CO is Missing in Action? And if yes, how?

There was no climbing needed to retrieve the cache. Eventually uncareful cachers could damage the structure by trying to look behind stones that couldn't actually be removed, but that risk is everywhere. I'm quite convinced, though, that several if not most of the DNF's where due to people that didn't "dare" to look behind the altar. I fully agree with your last sentence. I have a final question on this story. How "correct" (not so sure if this is the right word, but anyway) is to log disabled caches? I've seen a few disabled caches in my area and unless the cache is gone, I get the feeling that people continue logging Finds without real concerns. I get the impression that in some cases the disabled is considered by the community as a warning prior to archiving so some people may get the "let's log before it's gone for good" approach

The reason why I went to search for a cache that is disabled is simple. I solved the puzzle while it was enabled, I tried first time to find the cache while it was enabled and I searched everywhere (literally) except in the chapel. The cache has been disabled because somebody wrongly (at least that's my opinion) logged a NM just because she couldn't find it. The cache would be archived anyway because the CO is long gone, so I wanted to try to find that cache that would (somehow unfairly) be archived. That was my reasoning why I searched the cache, obviously BEFORE I realized where it was, decided to post it in the forum and so on Strongly disagree, see my previous comment I do, at least till a couple people logged a found, there's a chance that the cache is gone for good, so it's good to know that I didn't find it ... because I didn't find it, and no because it's gone Yes understood. Unfortunately in this case it's a puzzle so there was no comment at all about the chapel. To be honest we do have quite a few "chapel caches" around here (including one I've placed). In almost all cases there's an interesting description of the chapel and something like "the cache is NOT in, on or attached to the chapel, so please respect it". In one of them there wasn't such a comment, and when I got there it looked as if a whirlwind had passed around, tiles upside down, statues moved, flowers misplaced .. I felt quite bad about it.

Got it. Thanks

Well,I find your statement "Judging caches, acting like you're asking innocent questions" ... a bit too strong. While accessing the cache this morning there was nobody around for miles and I didn't profane anything, so far for my log. About archiving: I read somewhere in GC that you must think and think and think before placing a NA, and I don't want to be a policeman, so I thought asking the community about it would be a good idea (and yes my motive is sincere, I'm trying to learn this game and the CO is long gone, so I'm not trying to speak on anybody's back (hope you understand what I mean, cause english isn't my mothertongue)). Back to the cache, there are 5 people "watching" the cache. I'd bet (just a guess, I know) that they are watching because they haven't found it, and they haven't found it because they didn't step in the chapel. Now, this is a game we are all supposed to enjoy while respecting others, honestly putting that canister 5 meters further would have made IMHO it more enjoyable, for both cachers, and people coming to pray. That's all

Me again. It seems to be the seasons of weird caches. After having found the "unloggable" cache GC4M6WH (very quickly disabled & archived, btw) today it was the turn of GLEY641X. I will spare you my personal story with the cache, but I wonder whether the location is "ok". Now this cache is disabled, but just because somebody put a NM out of frustration of DNF's and the CO never took care (actually he hasn't logged for over a year). As it usually happens in this part of the world, if we have a NW without an OM shortly after, one of our diligent reviewers disables it. About the cache: This is a puzzle cache. GZ brings you to a very nice chapel built in the shape of a cave, at the end of a small path. Though this may be a bit of a spoiler here you are the pics of the chapel: http://lourdesgrotten.skynetblogs.be/archive/2009/07/23/zedelgem-loppem-emmaus.html Now, the problem is that the cache is (now) INSIDE the chapel. In order to get to it you have to ensure not to drop any of the candles and right behind the icon of the Virgin Mary (40 cm maybe) you can find the cache. I am definitely not a religious person, but I think every belief deserves respect and if I would be kneeling praying for whatever, the last thing I would like to see is a stupid guy with a GPS trying to find a film canister, don't you think?

Waw, they were fast. It seems that the reviewer is either reading this forum or constantly checking logs, as I didn't approach him directly. In any case good to know our reviewer community is so proactive, that can just improve the quality of the game

Today I stumbled upon a tradi cache: GC4M6WH with the followig description (rranslated from Dutch) "The cache is regularly stolen (last maintenance dates from 8th April). SO I HAVE GLUED THE STASH AS WELL AS THE COVER, SO IT CAN ONLY BE LOGGED ONLINE" Isn't this against the rules of the games? I just wonder

Something that came to my mind reading this endless thread: A couple of months ago, here in Belgium while trying to find the final stage of Multi A, I found by mistake/accident/luck the final stage of Multi B (which was somewhere between 100 & 200 M from GZ of Multi A). I signed the log and of course on the online log I mentioned how did I get there. I didn't get the feeling I was cheating at all, what do you think?

Please don't get me wrong. The point I'm trying to make is that I personally wouldn't feel too good about placing a cache e.g. where I was born (1600 km from where I live)and hoping that somehow "my" cache would be maintained by somebody. Having said that I fully understand that this approach may be the only way to "start" the game in black spots of the map. I DNFed this cache this year once. Yes, it had been placed by its CO in a place that you just described. Not many alternatives there, I think. I know the CO and will talk to him about the cache as soon as we meet. Thanks !! To be honest I never thought about checking this forum before my trip to Russia, and I'm really sorry for that. This is, honestly the major lesson I've learnt of this story. Doesn't matter how "remote" a country/site may look like it's certainly worth to look in the forums if there's anybody (like in your case) that keeps "the fire burning" THANKS !!

No, I did not. Actually I just looked at that cache before going to Russia, and reading through the logs, I realized that wasn't worth trying Yes, I read as well the Metochion as well, but didn't have much time to try the puzzle thing behind it so I just focused on tradi's this way. I still have problems to understand why some people would place a cache on a place hundreds, if not thousands of km's away from where he lives. I understand that this way there are more caches in the area, but there will always be an issue with maintenance. I own 15 caches and none of them is more than 20 km away from my front door First of all I appreciate somebody is taking care of geocaching in Moscow. As I think having mentioned before, the "House of Music" & "Kiss on the brige" are fantastic places I wouldn't have visited without GC, plus the caches themselves were very good (funny the container of Kiss on the bridge is quite popular here in Belgium as well) There are a couple of DNF's I had that I wonder whether they are "correct", the "Beslan tragedy" one is (or better, is supposed to be) on a very strange alley, kind of back street (almost private street) with nothing around. The Plevna Heroes one is almost disrespectful. I tried to find it, but I felt guilty afterwards, you aren't supposed to put your hands around the iron wreaths celebrating some heroes, at least that's my opinion I'm already back home, and I don't think to be back in Russia any time soon (though my trips are business related, so you never can tell), but be sure that in Moscow I had a great geocaching time, quite a long walk, fantastic weather, and I enjoyed the monumental magic of your city !! Regards from Belgium

Please give some specific examples of geocaches. Domodedovo GC1DKH6. Certainly 2 of the last 3 founds are DNF, and probably the other one as well GC2WGVA. The cache is gone since Oct 2013 and people (including myself "as a test", I know) keep logging as Found when there's just a hook. The CO marked "Owner Maintenance" when he obviously did not) And there was another one (I can't find it now) where the visitor said literally "I found it but I had no pen and couldn't take a picture" so I guess is a question of "faith" Regards from "back home"

This week I've been caching in Russia (Kaluga & Moscow). Kaluga was almost a "desert". I was very glad to find one of the only two active caches in the city (both in VERY weird places). Anyway, in Moscow I had a bit of everything, magic places (Red Square, Christ the Saviour,Kiss on the Bridge), a couple of "normal" caches, and a few disappointments (DNF's, ugly places).. Just two comments/questions: - First of all it seems that several CO's aren't doing their work properly when it comes to reviewing logs. Several "founds" of the style "I didn't find anything but this is my only cache in Russia, so I hope it's ok" stayed as valid - And the actual reason why I'm writing this post. On one of the logs, I found something about the "russian geocaching" website, so looking around I found a very strange geocaching.ru website. This site is completely different to the .com site but it seems to contain some caches, different or not from the official one. As most of the info was in Russian I couldn't really understand what was written there. Any idea what that one is about? Thanks

Of course. But it is allowed and supported. You asking about fairness as if that has ever been a qualifying angle for Unknown caches. Trust me, fairness is rarely the issue . I own GC2KQ4Z and although it doesn't have a lot of finds (7 since March 25th when it was published) it has been solved by a few and people seem to like it. If you wanna talk fair we can open (and I think they have opened) a thread on this cache:GC2C91R. Now that was all about being unfair. When I tried to create my first challenge cache: GC50KT9 I got the requirement from the reviewer to fulfill the ALR by myself (what I actually did). I wonder whether such a request was put to the owner of the GC2C91R cache you mention ...

There's a guy (too) close to where I live whose mantra is "99% of the FTF's are found by only 1% of Geocacher" Well, honestly I'm glad to be part of the remaining 99% of geocachers. I see geocaching as a great hobby, rather than a competition. Personally I'm more than "fulfilled" with the 1 FTF I have out of my 500something finds. To get stressed I have enough with my work

This week I'm in Russia and was looking around for possible caches. Found an interesting log: "Was at the locations but couldn't find anything see pictures attached" (and he attached a new pic of the spoiler photo showing that there's no cache there), and now comes the best part "but logged it as it was my only cache in russia " And another guy, same cache: "Hello, while i was staying at the Airhotel i just had to check this cache. Unfortunally at both locations there was no box anymore. Becaus the position was correct, compared with the spoiler foto. So I made a picture my self as proof that i was there at the second location. Maybe the owner shoud hide this box a little bit better to avoid that mugglers find it. There is a lot of trash in the woolds that indicate that the are other people in this area. So i took the liberty to set this one on "found it" because this is also my first in Russia." So, I guess everyone is allowed to F an DNF ... as long as it's you' only cache in the country