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When Is A Cacher Not A Newbie Anymore?


geognerd

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100 found. Totally arbitrary...but that's the measure I picked, I'm completely comfortable with it, and I'm sticking to it. I hate gray areas.

 

I'm a real cacher now! :):mad: I knew that golden micro was good for something!

 

The moment they feel that they no longer are.

 

That would have put me at around 50 found.

 

I say your no longer a newbie after 100 finds, 10 hides, and 1,000 forum posts. It is all about the numbers you know. :mad::D

 

While I guess forum posts should count for something as it is contributing, I think it should only have minor weight. I have much more time to do forums than caches, so I'll probably reach 1000 forum posts (I'm almost 1/4 way there) well before I reach 100 finds (almost 1/3 of the way there now) or possibly even 50 finds. Don't know if I'll ever get to 10 hides, just starting to think about my first 1 or 2.

Edited by hairymon
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Your a newbie when its convienent to be a newbie, and a professional when its ok to be. Example:

 

Person with 200ish finds

Cop:"do you really think its a good idea to be sneeking around at night, at a cemetery, so close to the property line?"

Cacher: "Oh, i'm so sorry, i didnt realize i was near private property, Im really new at this"

-Cop Leaves, you get a warning-

5 minutes later

Cacher:"YES FTF @ 11:58, #200, YESYESYES, i'm really good at this whole thing"

 

Oh my gosh! I laughed so hard on this one!! LOVED IT! :mad:

I'll have to remember this when officer friendly caches me...I mean catches me someday!!!

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You saw the question. Now let's hear some opinions.

In the immortal words of Donald Rumsfeld, there are things we know we know, and things we know we don't know, etc.....

 

Among the things I may not know is whether or not I'm truly a newbie. I've toyed with, navigated by, and been generally fascinated by GPS for years now. I'm also an old Boy Scout with a fair bit of orienteering under my web belt. I can read topo maps, road maps, and nautical charts. I've been on long hikes to remote woods and found my way through city streets. I'm smart enough, capable enough, and athletic enough. At my age, I've dropped, misplaced, and outright lost enough things that I'm pretty good at finding them now.

 

I'm drawn to geocahing because it ties up a lot of this knowledge and experience into a single activity. Does how many caches I've found really matter? Can experience be measured in numbers? Or, is newbie status (or lack thereof) more a function of understanding and experience with the entire spectrum of life and the outdoors and its relationship with the sport? I have to go with the latter.

 

No doubt I have a lot to learn. My interest in this sport has just begun, and I have yet to search for my first cache. I am technically, chronologically, and numerically a newbie. But I have to believe the question implies much more than that.

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My opinion would be when other cachers in your area have heard of you from the logs and your hides....and possibly from running into you on the trails.

 

I got a reply on a post on the forums from a local reviewer because he recognized my name, but have yet to run into other cachers on the trail in my home town. I have been approached by muggles near urban chaches to "find out if that's what I was doing", bumped into a cache owner in the middle of a 10-hide multi, then saw him again waiting for me at the end just cause he was excited someone was doing his cache. But never, ever bumped into another cacher in my home town... with 200 local finds and 4 local hides.

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Well, I will consider myself a newbe...started caching in Feb and have had only 2 dnfs and found 25, But...

 

Once I find a micro or mini of a western colorado cacher then I will not consider myself a new be...

 

He has a habit of high altitude caches snow now 5 to 25 feet of snow.. Ususing public business with permission to hide on their property but not during business hours....

 

When I find one of the most deceptive cache hidders from our area cache, then I will say I am not a newbee no mo...

 

Dave from Team_Talisman

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You are no longer a newbie when you realize that lampost hides are no longer clever.

 

When you despise bush hides.

 

You have more altoids tins that one could ever possibly hide in ones lifetime.

 

When you realize that you hate altoids tins.

 

Your GPS points you to a wall of ivy and you say "crap".

 

Have I mentioned about hating bush hides!

 

You are on a first name basis with the dollar store cashier.

 

You buy a chainsaw to cut down every bush with a 20 mile radius of your house.

 

You stalk the owner of that last bush hide.

 

Anybody else want to help me out????

 

When you are sitting here giggling like a fool (but agreeing with every word) while you browse thru the forums :rolleyes:

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Actually, does it matter?

 

I am a newbie and feel every trip out is an adventure. I have a lot of interests and this is only one of them and I am finding it a great way to get out is the open spaces.

 

One of the best things I am getting from it is seeing new trails I have missed in the past.

 

I hunted for a cache Sunday but did not find it but I did find a Porcupine dened up under a stump and we had a small chat. I left him as I found him.

 

I found a marsh that is marked a Loon nesting area, of which there are few in Michigan. In doing so I found two marshes I can kayak and take some pictures in the spring.

 

I have found small parks in my area that I did not know exsisted.

 

I have found something to do when I have been normally suffering from Cabin fever. Now I can get out of the cabin.

 

I can get out in nature and relax.

 

I prefer doing things alone and can not imagine going on organized hunts. I refuse to compete in anything as it takes the fun away for me. Who cares who is best? I don't. I am not in it to be best. I am in it to relax.

 

Another of my hobbies is Metal Detecting. Sat while Caching I found an old Ghost Town that I never new exsisted. Now I have another potential detecting site.

 

No there is no shame in being a newbie, I have been one all my life and am proud of the fact that I enjoy so many hobbies.

 

When it gets hot and the trees get their leaves and the bugs get hungry, I will be diving or metal detecting or kayaking but come fall, I will be caching.

 

It is a wonderful new hobbie I am enjoying.

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When you:

 

-have met at least 5 cachers on the trail.

-have at least 3 caching buddies.

-have the phone numbers of at least 2 cachers you can call if you need help while looking for a cache.

-attend at least one event.

-don't worry about the trade any more.

-enjoy the thrill of at least one FTF.

-maintain at least 1 cache.

-have a geocaching bag ready to go at all times.

-realize it is better to give negative feedback or advice about a cache directly to the owner.

-wonder if you need to buy stock in a battery company.

-most importantly, enjoy the adventure.

 

A great lady (Katydid) once said, "It's all about the people." Once you fully understand this you're there.

 

MS

Edited by Katydid & Miles Stone
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Well...that would be me...went to the dollar store yesterday and spent more than $10.00 on stuff that I don't need ( candy, tea, etc) just for the containers! I have a stash of containers in my car, at work and in my home...but i keep buying more...and my friend at work give me all their altoids and other such containers!

Hmmm...is this an obsession? ( I only have 400+ finds, 18 hides, maybe 3 forum posts ...I guess i need to get some posts under my belt...so i can be considered a "real" Geocacher? :):):)

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You saw the question. Now let's hear some opinions.

NEVER... After your first,which is new to you, comes your 2nd,which again is new to you and so on.

So with each cache that you visit you are a NEWBIE to that. After a number of caches you gain experience, and then become ELITE, but you are still a NEWBIE to your next cache because they are all different.

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I am a noobe , found my first cache that I was looking for today. I got interested in this sport because I kept finding these boxes, containers, tubes, film canisters with cords in them, etc. and looked into what it was all about. I spend alot of time in the woods with my dogs and bow and am very observant. Looked like a lot of fun so I bought an eTrex legend yesterday and here I am. ( I gave my old Magellen to my son in law last year) and have been using a compass. Looking foward to meeting some of you and earning my what? Wings? Stripes? What do we get when we are no longer a noobe?? <_< See you on a trail. Cladius.

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The moment they feel that they no longer are.

 

Best answer of them all, it’s really up to each individual person. As soon as I found out about this sport I went nuts with it I went out and bought a GPSr and everything that I needed before ever even going caching. I have been caching for less than a month and have 33 finds and 3 hides (one pending) I know I am still a newbie but it won’t be for to much longer..... <_<

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I'm a n00b and will always BE a n00b. Unless I change my username of course.

 

Jokes aside, there is always something new to learn - a new way of hiding, a new way to seek, places to go... I'm perfectly happy being a perpetual n00b. If I ever get to be a professional or an expert, I think the fun of the activity will be gone. So I take my time and enjoy even the failures (DNF).

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Since I work with computers, I am familiar with Eric Raymond's answer to "When is someone considered a hacker?" (The real definition, not the confused news media creating hype definition). So I would say you are a geocacher and not a newbie when someone else refers to you as a geocacher. Numbers don't tell the whole story. I made my first four FTFs on the same day after geocaching for less than a month. I was still a newbie, but I was in the right place at the right time and I got lucky. I just recently reached 100 geocaches and I haven't placed one yet (but I am trying to adopt one that can no longer be maintained by the owner). On the other hand, I have learned to mark the car before I leave and I can spot the "unnatural pile of rocks" pretty quickly.

Edited by Don Coyote
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When they can arrive at a location, look at the type/size of container, and walk right to the plastic sleeve around the telephone pole guy wire and find the cache. :rolleyes:

 

Too funny. I DNF'd one of these, went back a month later and the lightbulb came on as I was walking up to it. Alas, I am no longer a nOOb. :laughing:

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When every time you type the "c" word for paper currency, you type cache instead of cache - oops - cache - oops - cache - oops - cash.

 

I did this at work. The person who regularly types the checks was sick so I filled in and had to correct 3 checks where I typed cache instead of cash. <_<

 

(Fortunately I caught them before I hit print.)

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When you find a cache in the middle of a bunch of "muggles" and DON'T holler out......"Look here! Look here what I done went and found!! Whoooppeeeeee!"

 

Well, that rules my mom out. <_<

 

Anyways, I believe it's when you feel like you are. Or, even better, when other people say you're not a newbie anymore. :D

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You may not be a nOOb if...

 

1. You sleep with your GPSr under the pillow

 

2. You have secretly named your GPSr

 

3. Every outlet in the house has battery rechargers plugged into it

 

4. You can recognize the boot prints of local cachers, possibly even their car tire brands

 

5. Have uncontrollable urge to scream "why can't you just give me the coordinates, Luddite!!" everytime someone tries to explain directions to you

 

6. Insist that people only refer to you by your alias i.e. Swamp-Rat, Geo-Gigolo, Viper1, etc. instead of your real name

 

BRB, have to go dig around in a ditch somewhere for something.

Edited by Rho DeKay
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When they can arrive at a location, look at the type/size of container, and walk right to the plastic sleeve around the telephone pole guy wire and find the cache. :laughing:

 

Too funny. I DNF'd one of these, went back a month later and the lightbulb came on as I was walking up to it. Alas, I am no longer a nOOb. :anibad:

 

hummmm....never thought of that....this new information may clear a couple of my dnf's

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You are no longer a newbie when you realize that lampost hides are no longer clever.

 

When you despise bush hides.

 

You have more altoids tins that one could ever possibly hide in ones lifetime.

 

When you realize that you hate altoids tins.

 

Your GPS points you to a wall of ivy and you say "crap".

 

Have I mentioned about hating bush hides!

 

You are on a first name basis with the dollar store cashier.

 

You buy a chainsaw to cut down every bush with a 20 mile radius of your house.

 

You stalk the owner of that last bush hide.

 

Anybody else want to help me out????

 

i'm a newbie period. but man oh man do i know the above. i am soo sick of 35mm film canisters. ive even seen one hidden amoung poision oak. what the heck. guess the joke was on me, i got gloves and signed it.

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You are no longer a newbie when you realize that lampost hides are no longer clever.

 

When you despise bush hides.

 

You have more altoids tins that one could ever possibly hide in ones lifetime.

 

When you realize that you hate altoids tins.

 

Your GPS points you to a wall of ivy and you say "crap".

 

Have I mentioned about hating bush hides!

 

You are on a first name basis with the dollar store cashier.

 

You buy a chainsaw to cut down every bush with a 20 mile radius of your house.

 

You stalk the owner of that last bush hide.

 

Anybody else want to help me out????

i'm a newbie period. but man oh man do i know the above. i am soo sick of 35mm film canisters. ive even seen one hidden amoung poision oak. what the heck. guess the joke was on me, i got gloves and signed it.

Cheer up, with the proliferation of the digital camera, 35mm film will soon be as common as a black vinyl record.

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I am new to cache finding but have a bit of experience with land nav from the military. My rank of newbie was confirmed today on my 2nd cache. After not being locate I was triangulating with compass and gps. After 10 minutes of "confirming" I was right on top of it, my 9 year old daughter called out "I found something". Needless to say she was 30+ feet away where I had been standing taking bearings.

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You may not be a nOOb if...

 

1. You sleep with your GPSr under the pillow

 

2. You have secretly named your GPSr

 

3. Every outlet in the house has battery rechargers plugged into it

 

4. You can recognize the boot prints of local cachers, possibly even their car tire brands

 

5. Have uncontrollable urge to scream "why can't you just give me the coordinates, Luddite!!" everytime someone tries to explain directions to you

 

6. Insist that people only refer to you by your alias i.e. Swamp-Rat, Geo-Gigolo, Viper1, etc. instead of your real name

 

BRB, have to go dig around in a ditch somewhere for something.

 

7. Your hand (or whatever) has been licked or slobbered on by 5 or more different trail dogs, within a

24 hour interval.

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7. Your hand (or whatever) has been licked or slobbered on by 5 or more different trail dogs, within a

24 hour interval.

 

How about if your hand has been licked or slobbered upon by some combination of 5 or more: squirrels, raccoons, sub-species of spiders, snakes, or something unknown but kinda creepy, within the aforementioned 24hr interval?

 

I'd have to think that counts too.

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What aspect of the game? I can live comfortably in the woods for weeks, but can't find a city micro to save my backside. So I think I will be a noob forever for urban micros, but quicker about rural. As far as the forums, I have over 21,000 posts on one message board, so I would not count post counts here in determining anyone's noob status.

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