Using Hints

[joe_shmoe]

So, how much patience do you have? How often do you use hints? Do you post the fact that you used a hint when you log your visit, or is the ego too big for that?

 

I'm just wondering, because sometimes people will log a "quick find" when the container is hidden unlike any other in the area or seems very difficult (to me) without the hint. Thanks for your responses.

[+treasure_hunter]

Unless the cache is a sneaky hide then you will probably not need the hint, after you've cached a while you pretty much know where it is, like a phone booth, I got what I call the Phone Booth Inspection where I check under it and the obvious places but if I cant find it then I go to the hint for help.

[+Yamahammer]

Most times, no. But there have been times when I/we have. Yesterday, I went after one I had in my GPS but I didn't bring my book with me. I was in the area and switched to "locate nearest waypoint'. I got to within 10 ft and had to call my ... wife ... and ask her to look it up and give me the details. The hint was 'next to a big tree'. There were about bipty big trees in there. I found it but the hint wasn't much help.

 

[+Cardinal Red]

I use hints and I'm never embarrassed to admit it. I think it is most important to mention those Caches that probably would have been DNF's without the hint. I do like the idea previously discussed where several hints are provided. Each one would be progressively more specific. Also a good hint can minimize enviornmental impact on the Cache site.

[+VegasCacheHounds]

I use the hints when needed, and I don't feel bad about it.

 

I hate when there is a million possible spots for a micro to be hiding and there is no hint whatsoever.

[+JMBella]

Sometimes I don't have anything more than a waypoint. I've had older caches in my GPS, when I went looking for them I didn't even know if it was a micro, ammo can, multi ... Makes it more interesting. If I'm traveling I make sure I have the hint and I'll look at it after about 10 minutes of hunting. If it's meant to be a challenging find, the hint usually isn't too specific anyway.

[+sbell111]

If I look around for the cache, but don't find it, I read the hint. Isn't that why its there?

[+StarBrand]

If I look around for the cache, but don't find it, I read the hint.

Me too.....

 

Just seems a bit too obvious......

[+EKYHunter]

If I look around for the cache, but don't find it, I read the hint. Isn't that why its there? 

 

Exactly, but I confess to it when I post it.

[RandLD]

We will usually print out the hint, and possibly print out the previous logs, and use them only if necessary. Some of the hints have been absolutely no help ("Between the soccer field and the ampitheater" -- I knew that much by following my GPS to the coordinates! But that's a topic for another thread ...) but most have been helpful when we used them.

 

So far, we haven't stated in our logs whether we used the hint or not, but that's an interesting thought. I may consider that in the future:

 

"Easy find. No need for the hint."

"Got frustrated, but once we read the hint, it really helped."

"Wish we would've read the hint first. Would've saved us 20 minutes."

"Misinterpreted the hint, spent 30 minutes on a wild-goose chase, and eventually found the cache right where it was supposed to be."

"Got frustrated, but the hint wasn't worth a dime. Quit after an hour. Logging a DNF."

 

Those notes may be beneficial to future finders as well ...

Edited June 15, 2005 by RandLD

[Swordmaster7022]

I use hints anytime I've been walking aimlessly in the woods for anywhere from a half-hour to an hour.

[+Team Neos]

We are still pretty new at this (about 190 finds) so we still have to resort to using the hints most of the time....but they are on the PDA and we try to find the cache without the hint first and only click on the hint button if the first attempt fails....

We are getting better and I would guess that we only need the hint about 1/2 of the time now.

I personally LOVE when I have to admit in the log that I would never have found the cache without the hint (it means the cache was challenging).

Edited June 15, 2005 by Team Neos

[+briansnat]

I'll search about 20-30 minutes before I go to the hint.

[+pghlooking]

I hate when there is a million possible spots for a micro to be hiding and there is no hint whatsoever.

And it always seems that after decrypting the hint it says:

 

"too easy for us actually give you a hint"

 

Thanks for the help buddy.

[+Joypa]

Yes, I use the hints, but, sometimes I am absolutely amazed what can be done without one. I was 40 miles from home last weekend and saw I waypoint I had no information on. Despite this, I went to check it out. It turned out to be a pretty well hidden micro and we went right to it. I think a little experience can lead a cacher to a cache. You just start looking in the obvious places after you've been doing it for awhile.

[tubby and]

As a Trad-caching luddite, (i actually just ordered my first GPS unit for placing) i probably break out the hint sooner than most. As mentioned earlier, i can usually more or less get a feel for where the cache is hidden as soon as i enter the general area, especially if there is a pile of parallel sticks lying across it! Must be a Jedi thing.

[+Joypa]

A pile of parallel sticks is certainly a useful hint.

[+cudlecub]

Usually a pile of sticks / rocks / leaves, phone booth, light pole, gaurd rail or heating unit is a give away. But there are times I use the hint after looking for a while. Now that I'm paperless it's not something I've decrypted, copied and pasted onto a sheet I used to have to carry so it takes a little more effort to look at the hint now.

[+Team Zappy 45]

I usally don't use the hints, however, if I just killed myself bushwacking to the cache and made an honest effort I pull out the hint. I know I would probably not return. I've looked for one cache of a multi 3 times with no luck. Quess what no hint. I've always had trouble with his hides.

[+Pioneer 'n' Tiff]

From a rookie....

 

With less than a handful of finds chalked up I'm trying to avoid using the hint as a means to locating the cache. I do most of my geocaching on a bicycle so it can be anywhere from a 5-20 mile ride just to put me into the area. Usually I'll do the first preliminary check on my own.

 

If I can't find the cache, when I come home I decrypt the hint and arrange to go back out another day. I'm still trying to factor in errors for the GPS so I'm using the hint to determine how far off I am. Trying to find a micro in a 60 foot that I'm not even zeroed in on is frustrating for me after what could be a 40 mile bicycle ride.

[+Jeep_Dog]

There's no problem using hints. That's why cache owners put them there, eh?

 

Now, I don't personally use hints. In fact, I don't use any form of cache pages any more. I just load the points in my GPSr and go. I have even stopped using road maps. I know, I am a total freak. It started with me converting to paperless caching using a PDA. My PDA kept dumping programs and information since I was really bad about recharging it. So, I tossed aside the PDA and stayed paperless.

 

Once in a while using only a GPSr bites me in the arse, but I have been having a blast using nothing but coordinates and a foggy memory of briefly reading the cache descriptions online. If someone is in it for the number of finds, my ridiculous method of caching would probably be hugely irritating, since if I don't find a cache I will look the cache up again, and perhaps even take a peek at the hint, and go for the missed cache(s) on another day.

 

Honestly, though, it has been a total hoot searching out caches where I cannot remember even the size of cache for which I am looking. My method at times turns 1/1s into 3/1s, but I like it for the challenge.

[+AuntieWeasel]

I decode the hint before I read the description of the cache. Seriously. If I could default my browser to "decoded hints" I would do.

 

I so don't care for the hunt. I'm out for a nice long walk in the woods -- the longer, the better -- and a beautiful view. Maybe a neat historical thingie, or some wildlife. I have to drive a bit to that sort of cache now. If I get there and can't find the cache after an angry, sweaty hour, it totally poops on my happy experience.

[+CYBret]

I'll use the hint in two different circumstances:

 

1. When the hunt isn't going well and I can't find the cache. However, as I think about it, usually the hint doesn't help. Either the hint isn't a real hint (something like "You don't need a hint") or the cache is just plain gone.

 

2. When the muggle factor is so high I don't want to attract too much attention to myself.

 

Normally the hint is a last resort for me. My bro-in-law likes to keep track of how many times he uses the hint.

 

Bret

[+budd-rdc]

Hints are like free pamphlets. No shame in using them, but don't rely on them too much or your search skills won't improve.

 

There's no set criteria on when I resort to the hints. Typically, I don't use them until I've searched the hide location first. For areas with too many potential hiding locations and/or too many muggles, I resort to the hints pretty quickly.

 

If I'm in a rush, I may cheat a little and read the hints first (for example, rushing to beat a park closure).

 

I don't put a timer or stop watch on my search time (it's distracting) so I can't tell you in order of minutes - sorry.

[+bpratt]

I admit I almost always use the hints but do not always post that I use them, not because I have a big ego just because I do not always think of it.

[supermanfan]

If I look around for the cache, but don't find it, I read the hint. Isn't that why its there?

Couldn't have said it better myself

[+Cait&aly&unc]

I like the hints and I must admit they do help when you're wandering aimlessly in the woods. The girls love decoding them too. We are pretty new to this with around 30 finds under our belt's. Every bit of help is gratefully accepted. Not always used right away but welcomed none the less. After a half mile walk today we decided to return to the truck to check the clue. It didn't help a bit so maybe in the future we will copy it down and bring it when we start walking and use it only if we have too. The girls are VERY competitive about finding the caches so I am sure there may be a little subterfuge between them when it comes to reading the hint's. Time will tell.

[+Melrose Plant]

Like Auntie Weasel, I decode the hint, if any, straight away. I dislike farting around looking for the container. It's almost incidental to the whole experience for me. It's just the way I've chosen to play the game.

 

So that's why I'm currently in the process of doing a fairly hard multi with micros for the stages. Hate it or not, I've got to get it out of the way, I guess. Notice I'm not doing it all at once. I told you I don't really like spending a lot of time looking for the containers.

[+Team Shibby]

I'll usually give it a good 20 mins or so, but it also depends on the situation. If I am getting eaten alive by skeeters or other bugs, Im going to decrypt the hint alot quicker! I cache with a Palm Pilot, so decrypting the hint is just a stylus click away if need be.

 

Kar

[+Metaphor]

What the Weasel said. The last thing I want to do on a hot and muggy/freezing cold/rain-drenched/muggle ripe/time-pressed cache hunt is decode a hint. I just decode it when I write down the cache info before I go. The hike or the exotic locale I'm in is the value to me, not simply finding the cache. Finding the cache is more like marking the fire hydrant to say I was there. That said, sometimes I need the hint and sometimes I don't.

Edited June 16, 2005 by Metaphor

[+Isonzo Karst]

One of the things I love about caching from a PDA - often I start a hunt without having looked at the cache description at all. If I'm not finding, I'll read the description - after a bit more hunting I "turn the page" to the hint. How long depends on how much I like/dislike the location. I'll hunt awhile in a fairly muggle free woods locations without even reading the cache page and very little time in an urban strip mall til I look at the hint. I'm not aware of whether I reference that in my log at all - so I'd say not. If I found the coords to be good, that's something I will mention. I'll only say something about them being bad if they're really really bad and then it's likely to be "found cache about X feet south of posted coords" not always the cache owners fault - people sure do shift caches around.

[RandLD]

Another comment to add --

 

So far, we've done very little caching near where we live. (Closest one we've found was about 10 miles away, and that was found on my lunch hour one day when I had nothing better to do. Next closest find was over 50 miles away.) We tend to cache while we're out of town or on our way home from a trip, so we go ahead and decode the hint and bring the hint with us, because we don't know when we'll be back to make another attempt. As I said earlier, though, we only use it if we get stuck or have been going at it unsuccessfully for a while.

[+treasure_hunter]

If I am having trouble finding it and I have been there for a while searching then I will use the hint because I cant let one cache keep me from many others.

[+DcCow]

I always decode the hints before hunting for the caches, but that is just me.

[+blazerfan]

Sometimes the hint is the first part of the cache page I read , but other times I search for caches with just waypoints and don't even have the hints with me. I use the hints most often in urban areas where I don't want to spend a lot of time looking. Now with my PDA I am less likely to look at the hint until I need it

[+Hoppingcrow]

1) I 'translate' hints before I leave if I'm going for a micro that involves more than a 1-mile (one way) hike. I really don't want to spend an hour pointlessly when I have a number of caches on my day's to-do list.

 

2) I use hints after a DNF.

 

3) I may or may not use a hint for a small or regular size cache if I'm going out of my immediate area and will be spending a large portion of the day driving. No sense wasting gas at the current price!

 

4) I may or may not use a hint on a cache that is 2.5+ stars in the difficulty category. Depends on how dumb I'm feeling that day.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I always decode the hints before hunting for the caches, but that is just me.

Yeah. I gave up translating "Too simple for a hint" while hunting. I'll look around first, but if I can't find it, I hve the decrypted hint handy!

On the other fin, I don't read logs until I've logged a DNF.

[joe_shmoe]

Wow, some of you are more strict in your personal "rules" than I thought anyone would be. I'm impressed that some don't look at the hint (or logs) until the second time they visit the cache site and after logging a dnf! That's kind of cool.

 

Personally I don't have that much patience... maybe 30 minutes or so and depending on the area. As one previous cacher said, if in the woods on a nice day the patience is much longer than in a parking lot. I am currently covered in bug bites due to the last cache find - probably should have resorted to the hint sooner! I usually say that I used the hint, especially if it was a really difficult cache. I liked the suggestions made earlier by RandLD about sentences to use when logging a hint... I can just copy and paste them into my logs

 

I placed my first cache a few days ago and am very interested in how difficult it actually is. I even mentioned in the description that I would like people to let me know when they use the hint - as it goes from being somewhat difficult (IMHO) to easy with the two word hint.

 

Anyways, thanks so much for the response!

 

Joe

Edited June 16, 2005 by joe_shmoe

[+sbell111]

Way back when I was caching with paper, if the walk to ground zero was long, I'd sometimes get bored and read the cache page including the hint. Don't tell anybody, OK?

Edited June 16, 2005 by sbell111

[+smtycolt]

I,like CYBret use the hint when there is a muggle factor or I just can't seem to find the cache without it.

I'm at the location and I want to find the cache,but it just doesn't seem like quite as much of an accomplishment.

When I remember I will log that I did or didn't use the hint.

Smtycolt

Edited June 17, 2005 by smtycolt

[+DcCow]

Most the caches I do are a bit harder as they are in German and I don't read German very well! So I have to translate the pages at home, including the hints and logs. Also, in this area, most of the caches involve a nice hike and I don't really like hiking somewhere I have already been.

 

So I always have the hint and spoilers with me to give me the best chance of finding the cache.

[+Theseus]

I'll use the hint in two different circumstances:

 

1. When the hunt isn't going well and I can't find the cache. However, as I think about it, usually the hint doesn't help. Either the hint isn't a real hint (something like "You don't need a hint") or the cache is just plain gone.

 

2. When the muggle factor is so high I don't want to attract too much attention to myself.

 

Normally the hint is a last resort for me. My bro-in-law likes to keep track of how many times he uses the hint.

 

Bret

 

I was thinking of posting a topic asking if you ever read a hint before you've looked for a cache. A quick search unearthed this precisely two-year-old topic.

 

I quoted CYBret because I'm in that camp. The only time I read the hint before looking is if there are muggles which means 1) it will be difficult to be discrete and 2) I probably won't enjoy the hunt very much.

 

You?