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Geocache Hiding Average


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I have 8 finds, 2 hides. I have hid the only 2 within 5 miles of our town(99169), a micro in our city park and an ammo can just outside of town. Pickins is a little slim locally. Right now my job and wife's schooling limits me on how far away the kids and i go to cache. The kids and I try to hit a couple every weekend, a fairly slow pace compared to some but there are not many around my area so I am stretching them out a bit. My hide ratio is 25% now, but I see that going down as I won't hide too many more locally. Oddly enough, my DNF to found ratio is the same 25%. A couple friends of ours are just getting started in it and I am sure they will each want to hide one or two. I may do a couple more ammo cans for traveling cachers at rest stops not far from where we live, about 20 miles down the road. I don't want to set any much farther out than that until I can afford the time to maintain them properly, if needed. When schedules ease up there is a couple of long hike in's I am planning, would like to make them both puzzles or multi's. Since I am just cutting my teeth I'll stick with the 2 I have for now.

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<_< I really don't know what these stats mean but in our area here are 5 caches found/ caches placed ratios. 1432/240, 1016/43, 381/7, 370/16 and 195/36. These are from some of our very active cachers.

It may be a more telling study to see the ratio of total caches placed to micros placed. Does this give us a creativity index, lameness index or just meaningless stats. :rolleyes:

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We here in Maine aren't used to the cache densities that a lot of the states are accustomed to and I don't hope that the state gets that way either. We have so many beautiful areas of the state but most of it entails traveling some distances to get to them. I think we have a little over 700 caches in the WHOLE state and that is fine with me. We don't have the micros under every lamp post but we do have a few very unique micros and that's just the way we like it here. We have a Motto Geocaching Maine "The way caching should be" and I hope it stays just the way it is.

Edited by haffy6
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I really don't know what these stats mean but in our area here are 5 caches found/ caches placed ratios. 1432/240, 1016/43, 381/7, 370/16 and 195/36. These are from some of our very active cachers.

 

Somehow we have evolved to ratios now. This thread originally started out as a percent hides to fines. Again this percentage can be as meaningful or meaningless as the input data of number of hides or number of finds.

Edited by AddedValue
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I really don't know what these stats mean but in our area here are 5 caches found/ caches placed ratios. 1432/240, 1016/43, 381/7, 370/16 and 195/36. These are from some of our very active cachers.

 

Somehow we have evolved to ratios now. This thread originally started out as a percent hides to fines. Again this percentage can be as meaningful or meaningless as the input data of number of hides or number of finds.

It went to a ratio because there is no such thing as a percent of hides to finds because neither is a subset of the other. That's why they are posting ratios.

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127/12 Working on a seven stage multi. Does that count as one or seven?

 

3 are Urban cache in Boston including a very popular one for Travel Bugs. :rolleyes:Fort Point One is in an area many would consider to trashy. <_< It is the final stage of a three leg muti taking you to the three McDonalds in town. Mickey D Toys Each cache has its own good and bad point.

 

As for ratio, I think it is up to the individual what they want to contribute. I am shooting to keep it around 10% for now. I just fear those with a large number of hides can't possibly have time to do regular maintenance on all of them. One cacher referenced in this thread has about 1 out of 3 caches now inactive. Another cacher referenced has 100's of caches now inactive. Is more better, no. Better caches, well maintained is better. Quality over quantity.

 

Loch Cache

from the Boston Area

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So. Are we bad members of the commmunity because we have 51 finds and no hides yet? :rolleyes:

 

We live in an area which is pretty much saturated. (the greater Trenton area). But we do have plans to hide a cache or two shortly, we are working on it. We plan to because we want to, but it seems that we are expected to.

 

Is that the case? Are we expected to hide a certain number of caches? Will we be judged and frowned upon if we don't live up to that expectation?

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So. Are we bad members of the commmunity because we have 51 finds and no hides yet? :rolleyes:

 

We live in an area which is pretty much saturated. (the greater Trenton area). But we do have plans to hide a cache or two shortly, we are working on it. We plan to because we want to, but it seems that we are expected to.

 

Is that the case? Are we expected to hide a certain number of caches? Will we be judged and frowned upon if we don't live up to that expectation?

No. I would rather have someone out there enjoying themselves finding caches than feeling some sort of obligation to place some.

 

I don't think I had found very many when I placed my first one, a very easy roadside cache in a rural location, so it gets very few visits. I recently put up a series of five so I have 12 hides now for a 477/12 ratio. I have about 12 more containers ready to go, but I've been too busy finding caches to place any. <_<

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So. Are we bad members of the commmunity because we have 51 finds and no hides yet? 

 

We live in an area which is pretty much saturated. (the greater Trenton area). But we do have plans to hide a cache or two shortly, we are working on it. We plan to because we want to, but it seems that we are expected to.

 

Is that the case? Are we expected to hide a certain number of caches? Will we be judged and frowned upon if we don't live up to that expectation? 

 

I don't think anyone with 51 finds should be looked down on. This is just a game and we should all participate to whatever extent we want including looking at whatever stats we care to.

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Here is another stat that got me interested in thinking about stats in Geocaching. The forum keeps track of average number of posts per day. My average was 0.0 with 6 posts since I joined. Starting this topic got me up to .01. With this my 13th post, I should make .02. I don't think there is an average number of posts per day expected but the forum keeps track of it anyway.

See why a low number of posts per day may be good in my case.

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(JanniCash @ Aug 4 2005, 03:05 PM)

(Sue Gremlin @ Aug 4 2005, 10:40 AM)

Is that the case? Are we expected to hide a certain number of caches? Will we be judged and frowned upon if we don't live up to that expectation? 

 

As far as I understood it, you can make up for it by leaving a few blanco-cheques in existing caches.

 

Jan 

 

Thanks, that's very helpful. 

 

 

Better yet would be $ 100 bills. I don't get to the bank too often.

Edited by AddedValue
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I have 640 finds and 216 hides, which comes out to 33.75%. I also have a bunch of different hides on the other listing site.

 

A good percentage of my earlier hides were ill-conceived (ie. placed in muggle-prone or flood-prone areas) and have thus been archived. As in all endeavors, I believe the quality of my hides has progressed with practice. I now try to give everyone at least one of the following: 1) a great location; 2) an off-the-wall container; or 3) an interesting puzzle. Sometimes I manage all three, and most folks seem to enjoy my caches. I too enjoy opening up my email inbox and reading all the cool logs every day!

 

I also try to contribute to the community in other ways, by hosting events; making frequent posts on the Texas Geocaching and Houston Geocaching Society forums; and accompanying out-of-town cachers on hunts in my area.

 

Those who are familiar with 9Key will know that he plays a huge role in keeping Texas Geocaching up and running; organizes our Texas Geocoin and medallion designs; promotes our upcoming hosting of GeoWoodstock; helps organize our annual Texas Challenge competition; maintains The Selector; and frequently gets the print and broadcast media involved in caching.

 

In other words, us prolific hiders aren't all bad... :blink::rolleyes:<_<

Edited by Chance Encounter
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Somehow we have evolved to ratios now. ...

ANDY: Now, looky here... we better talk about this thing... Now, now, now, looky here Opie. You can't give a little piddling amount like three cents to a worthy cause like the Underprivileged Children's Drive. Why, I was readin' here just the other day where there was somewhere like 400 needy boys in this county alone. Or, one and a half boys per square mile.

OPIE: There is?

ANDY: There sure is.

OPIE: I never seen one, Paw.

ANDY: Never seen one, what?

OPIE: A half a boy.

ANDY: Well, it's not really a half a boy. It's a ratio.

OPIE: Horatio, who?

ANDY: Not Horatio, a ratio. Mathematics. Arithmetic. Now, look, Opie, just forget that part of it. Forget the part about the half a boy.

OPIE: It's pretty hard to forget a thing like that, Paw.

ANDY: Well, TRY.

OPIE: (looking sad) Poor Horatio.

ANDY: Now look... Horatio is not the only needy boy... Son, didn't you ever give anybody anything just for the pleasure of it? Somethin' you didn't want anything in return for?

OPIE: Sure, just yesterday I gave my friend Jimmy something.

ANDY: Now that's fine. What'd you give him?

OPIE: A sock in the head.

ANDY: I meant CHARITY.

OPIE: I didn't charge him nothing.

ANDY: I meant something for the joy of giving.

OPIE: I ENJOYED IT. I don't like Jimmy anymore. He makes fun of Charlotte.

ANDY: Who's Charlotte?

OPIE: My girlfriend.

ANDY: Oh. Well, I just don't see how anybody who has as much as you could care so little about others.

OPIE: I CARE ABOUT OTHERS, honest.

ANDY: Not when you give a little, piddling amount like three cents. That's being selfish. You should have given at least a half a dollar or a dollar.

OPIE: A DOLLAR? Gosh, Paw. I only have two dollars and twenty cents in my whole piggy bank and I'm saving it to buy Charlotte something.

ANDY: Now well! That's dandy. THAT IS JUST DANDY. Whole dollars you'll squander on your girlfriend Charlotte but when it comes to the Under Privileged Children's Fund you've got only three cents.

OPIE: I wasn't gonna squander it, Paw. I wasn't gonna squander it.

ANDY: Yeah.

OPIE: What's squander?

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Another way to give back:

  • Coordinate a State or Local Organization Geocoin Project

We worked on maintaining a 10:1 ratio after reading about it in an earlier forum, but that ratio is definitely going to trail off as we find more caches because we've just about achieved critical mass in terms of time spent maintaining existing caches versus time spent creating new caches. We put our caches in places we enjoy visiting, so maintenance isn't a "hardship" per se, but it does require time and effort.

 

With the exception of a currently deactivated cache in New York, all of our caches have been returned to action within 24 hours of a problem being reported. We'd much rather hunt a cacher's half dozen meticulously maintained caches rather than another cacher's dozen slowly decaying wet, missing or empty caches.

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IMHO I don't care if a cacher nevers puts out a cache. If those who do put them out, put out good caches that will be maintained an don't over saturate areas. For some great caches in MA check out Bubba Riley's caches. Bubba's

 

I like to take the time to create caches and don't mind if my find numbers are lower because of it. So I put out caches.

 

Keep on caching

 

Loch Cache

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It says nothing about the quality of the hides just as the number of hides listed on a profile says nothing about the quality of the hides.

Amen !!!!

I am tired of some of the low quality hides. Any Bozo can throw a micro over

his left shoulder with his right hand and call it placed..

Within 50 miles of my house are over 2,000 caches, but there is plenty of

room for more. BTW. 50 miles is still in the city of Houston.

So, instead of how many against how many, why not find some and see what

others have done, then use that knowledge to create a similar one, or maybe

to get a better idea...

 

Forget the complaining about the quality of SWAG, lets spend some time looking at the Quality of Caches, not the quantity....

 

Rick

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I'm at about 3%. I have only a few hides but I try and make them in areas where there aren't any yet or make them different than others in the area.

Personally, if somebody doesn't feel led to hide a cache then they shouldn't hide one just to be hiding one.

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Posted: Aug 4 2005, 01:04 PM 

 

tmocm

 

Fizzymagic's list of ways to give back is excellent, and a few others I'd add are:

Join or start a local geocaching group

helping newbies to the sport locate or hide their first cache

 

 

Tried the helping newbies one yesterday with a dad and his two kids. I think they are hooked now.

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