"multi" Caches - A Plague In The Uk?

[+Learned Gerbil]

As someone who often spends 12 hours or less in a distant city or foriegn country, the multi symbol is a terrible turn off. I may have a 30 minute break or an hour or so on foot to explore before an event starts. A regular or virtual is worth going for - a multi, based on my experience may involve 10 minutes of searching, or a three hour walk. With no clues on duration, when seriously pressed for time, I usually just don't bother if there are any more obvious finds. That does not mean I don't enjoy multi stage caches with puzzles etc - some of my most enjoyable have involved unexpected treks!

Edited January 6, 2006 by Learned Gerbil

[+Bambi&Thumper]

It does not make a crap cache good if you have to spend 30 minutes looking for inane clues first. Equally if a cache is of good enough quality you shouldn't ruin it with a mundane and pointless "quest" first!

I am with davester on this one, dressing up a cache with a pointless hunt for clues often to end up at a crap cache is not fun. I also agree that sometimes you do not want to deviate from a planned walk in order to log a cache, which at first sight appeared to be a traditional.

 

 

For what it's worth, I think part of this has been caused by the inability to place virtual caches. In the good old days (!), the setter would have sent cachers to the site of interest and asked them to search for the clue and email it to them to log it as a find. Tuppaware may not be appropriate given the location, and The Powers That Be say that the solution to this is an offset cache.

 

Thus, there will be a prolferation of these sorts of caches.

 

Bambi.

[+drums4monty]

I can never see the point of "Multi caches" where you find a cache/micro first then inside all there is is coords to the final cache. You dont have to do anything like solve a puzzle etc, just write down the coords, put them in your GPS and off you go, you may as well just go to the final cache from the off.

 

Of course this is just my opinion.

[+AuntieWeasel]

I'll certainly second the observation that the UK has a really high proportion of these compared to the US (I mean the areas I'm familiar with).

 

The plaque type of cache is an excellent way to learn about an area. Particularly an urban or historical area where physical stages would be impractical. If I were good at this sort of thing, I suspect these would be my favorite caches of all.

 

In reality, however, Uncle Badger and I are such mathematical imbeciles that even the simplest coordinates that require cyphers, substitutions or maths sail way over our pointy heads. We've done some of these, we've just...never...succesfully finished any.

 

As a result, we avoid them completely. One doesn't play the game for the bruised ego

[+Stuey]

I can never see the point of "Multi caches" where you find a cache/micro first then inside all there is is coords to the final cache. You dont have to do anything like solve a puzzle etc, just write down the coords, put them in your GPS and off you go, you may as well just go to the final cache from the off.

 

Of course this is just my opinion.

Interesting features, a nice walk, or maybe just that the cache placer wants you to work a bit harder for one that might be right by a road perhaps and prevent you just doing a quick drive-by.

[+drums4monty]

Interesting features, a nice walk, or maybe just that the cache placer wants you to work a bit harder for one that might be right by a road perhaps and prevent you just doing a quick drive-by.

 

The ones I have done don't fall into that category but I do take your point Stuey.

[+Snosrap]

I’ve been giving a bit of thought to this myself recently.

 

I have a cache the sole purpose of which is to show a little bit of interesting local history (yes, there’s a plaque). A few years ago I would probably have set it as a virtual but since the ‘new’ rules dictate otherwise I have placed a micro at the site. Due to the nature of the area the micro has been muggled on two or three occasions so far which is really annoying for me to replace (although that was one of the reasons I chose a micro in the first place) but even more so for the cacher who had to post a DNF to draw my attention to the situation.

 

I am now considering making this an offset (and my reading of the guidelines make this a Multi) but the area doesn’t really lend itself to decent hiding places within a short walk of the site.

 

So my choices are: keep replacing the micro (and the general that this entails) or place a proper box half a mile away (which defeats the object of the cache).

 

If only we still had virtuals!!

[+The Hokesters]

I can never see the point of "Multi caches" where you find a cache/micro first then inside all there is is coords to the final cache.

To be honest I quite enjoy those ones as usually they create a nice circular walk (as lon as the cache sheet tells you how long the work is. For example I FTF'd this one this week.

 

I reckon on the whole all of this is personal opinion.

[+The Blorenges]

I can never see the point of "Multi caches" where you find a cache/micro first then inside all there is is coords to the final cache.  You dont have to do anything like solve a puzzle etc, just write down the coords, put them in your GPS and off you go, you may as well just go to the final cache from the off.

 

Of course this is just my opinion.

I think it depends how it's set up: We have a cache where first you have to do some on-line research....which will take you to the first "cache"....which isn't actually a cache. So the fun is seeing who can find the item concerned....once they've found it then the co-ords to the final cache box are straightforward.

 

Hopefully it's enough to keep folks amused/puzzled

 

Mrs B

[mjbvbjjbtmb]

It seems to me that we all cache for different reasons and with different aims in which case some are not going to like them and some are! We chose to ignore the multis today for three traditionals, whereas another day we would prefer to do a multi/offset that takes us on a nice circular walk.

 

It's nice having a mix in order that everyone has a choice.

 

[+The Hokesters]

It seems to me that we all cache for different reasons and with different aims in which case some are not going to like them and some are! We chose to ignore the multis today for three traditionals, whereas another day we would prefer to do a multi/offset that takes us on a nice circular walk.

 

It's nice having a mix in order that everyone has a choice.

 

Well spoke!