How Long Do Temporarily Disabled Caches

[+Zzyzx Road]

Is there a time limit for a cache being disabled?

There are several in my area that have a note from the owner stating, "We'll check on them soon, sorry!" Those in the last month or so I can understand, December is a crazy month.

Some are from 3 months ago though, or even during the summer. Is it up to us "users" to request the owner to either "move it or lose it"? Or is there a time frame before th cache drops off the face of the earth and geocaching.com?

Thanks!

[+BlueDeuce]

In my opinion, six months, then archived. Active cacher or not.

Edited January 16, 2006 by BlueDeuce

[+WizCreations]

They are disabled until someone says something similar to, "This has been archived for x amount of time" in a Request Archive Log. Basically, if no one wants to put a cache in the area and the mods don't look at it after it's been disabled for a few months, it's okay.

 

The owner should get it replaced as soon as possible though.

[+Airmapper]

I don't know if he gets notified, of if he just keeps a keen eye on the caches, but the cache approver in my area will post a notice after so long if a cache is not being taken care of, and he will archive it if there is no activity after a period of time after that.

[Keystone]

Have a look at the Cache Maintenance section of the Geocache Listing Guidelines/Requirements, which says:

 

As the cache owner, you are also responsible for physically checking your cache periodically, and especially when someone reports a problem with the cache (missing, damaged, wet, etc.). You may temporarily disable your cache to let others know not to hunt for it until you have a chance to fix the problem. This feature is to allow you a reasonable time – normally a few weeks – in which to arrange a visit to your cache. In the event that a cache is not being properly maintained, or has been temporarily disabled for an extended period of time, we may archive or transfer the listing.

 

Some volunteer cache reviewers act affirmatively to make sure that this section of the guidelines is followed. They order pocket queries of disabled caches in their review territory, search for the ones that have gone the longest without being found, and leave reminder notes on the pages. Then, the cache is archived if there is no response within another couple of weeks.

 

Other reviewers, especially those in busy territories like California, rely on reports from the community to bring long-term maintenance issues to their attention. Don't be shy about entering a "needs archived" log on a cache that's been disabled for four months without any good reason. The reviewer will receive a copy of the log and take a look at the situation.

 

Archiving disabled caches is NOT an automatic process. There are many good reasons why caches need to remain disabled for an extended period of time. Two good examples include trail closures due to winter weather, or prohibited access due to a construction project.

 

As a rule of thumb, the guidelines say that caches should only remain disabled for "a few weeks," but do not expect most volunteers to take action unless the cache has been disabled for two months or so. Give the owner a chance to deal with the issue. It's always preferable to work these matters out with the owner. If all that's needed is a new logbook, offer to replace it if you will be in the area!

[+Astro_D]

This is somewhat common in our area. We have some caches that have been temp disabled for over a year now! We take it upon ourselves to email the owner of the cache and if we get no response and its been awhile - we submit a SBA with the stated reasons (too long disabled, no response from owner etc). Our approvers do a pretty good job of getting those caches archived and off the listing.

 

I realize that some caches have extenuating circumstances that require it to be temp disabled a good portion of the year in our area (ie under water thats frozen), but I think anything longer than 3 months without any attention, needs to be archived.

[+Renegade Knight]

Reviewers tend to keep tabs on them. How long they need varies with the cache. If in September one of my remote caches came up it could be June before I could exptec the snow to clear for the hike in.

 

It depends.

[+Zzyzx Road]

Thank you all.

I agree that weather and terrain may create a longer disablling than other places. There are a few in this area that are in a place that I have relatives living and they have to have 4W drive to get in there in the winter. As far as I can tell all of these I am looking at are just either too full of Muggles, have been in an area that is under construction or just plain forgotten. I will try emailing the owners to see if they are going to fix them any time soon, and if not, please request an Archive...And I will do it with the utmost politeness...

[+Renegade Knight]

...in an area that is under construction...

Thanks for pointing that out. I had two that were out of commission for a year due to construction.

[+jazz_man]

In general, a cache listen as "temporarily disabeled" should only be disabeled as long as it needs to be. This means that you should look at the note as to what it was disabeled for, and how long ago it occured. For example, if they say it was disabeled for winter weather, you should wait up to the beginning of Summer in some places before action should be taken. But if the cache was disabeled due to a simple need of a new log book, and it's been months since, yeah. That cache needs to be archived.

So, I guess it all just depends on the paticular situation.

 

By way, AstroD-Team, I do recognize the StarGate avatar. I'm a fan of both shows.

Edited January 16, 2006 by jazz_man

[+ZackJones]

Interesting discussion. For kicks I ran a PQ for the state of Georiga. We currently have 243 caches marked as unavailable. A few have been that way for 6 months or more.

[+Airmapper]

By way, AstroD-Team, I do recognize the StarGate avatar. I'm a fan of both shows.

Another SG fan here, cool Avatar AstroD-Team. (If you can see it the "A" in Airmapper is the gate symbol for earth, on my current avatar.)

 

Back OT, I have seen several caches that were archived after being unattended, I like this as it keeps them out of the search results.