Cache Variety

[The Royles]

Doing a local cache recently I was struck by the variety of caches this team have set. It got me to thinking how people decide on the type of cache they are putting out. So, what do you do - and what kind do you prefer - is it a case of just putting one together and going with the flow of it, or do you deeply meditate on the impact you want the cache to have on the community. I have only set 2 so far, but I intend to strive for a variety of hides.

[+Sensei TSKC]

For me:

 

Don't like setting Trads for the following reasons. I believe a Trad should involve a walk of at least 0.4mi to get to it. i don't like walking that far without doing something else inbetween.

 

Secondly, I want cachers to go where I want them to go. With Trads, they do their own thing.

 

OK. The OP. I suppose it depends on the location. If there are several things you want to take the cacher to then a multi / puzzle / mystery may be appropriate.

 

If it is a Trad type that I want to set, I will make it offset multi with one short stage just to get the cacher to start in the right place.

 

The puzzle / mystery caches I set are purely set when I get an idea! Sometimes these do turn out to be mammoth multi's etc but the feedback is usually good.

 

Just my outlook really. To summarise: Down to cache location or route to take.

[+purple_pineapple]

All depends why we are putting the cache out... So far, we've got a good balance!

 

We want to encourage cachers to walk along the Wandle Trail in South London, so we put some trad micros along the tow path, and a couple of simple multis thrown in here and there where the area has some interesting things to see (eg lots of blue plaques!)

 

We have some other multis, again in an urban area with interesting facts (we hope) to find out.

 

We have a trad (our first) in a nearby, infrequently visited, park. Its not great, but cachers seem to like it - we seem to get quite a few newbie cachers to this one, which is always nice!

 

Finally, We have some puzzle caches. 2 of these I had the 'puzzle' in mind and just picked a couple of suitable places to put them, adjusting the puzzle to get the necessary coords... The third is a toughy which requires some serious armchair research before solving. The final cache is near to a place you need to visit, and is easy to find after all the hard work has been done!

 

Phew!

 

We do intend to try and get a suitable TB-friendly cache in central London, although this is going to be tough! Oh, and distant plans for some MM caches down our way...

 

I love setting the puzzle caches especially, although I hate having to solve other peoples!

 

Dave

[+allieballie]

Multis if I want people to notice and look out for things along a particular route, or if I want them to go to a particular place before finding the cache. Micros for urbanised areas and caches and dashes. Have done letterboxes for a large series based on the same theme.

Trads for anything else.

Edited May 18, 2006 by allieballie

[+Bear and Ragged]

We recently visited Lydney harbour, where there are two caches.

 

A multi GCQT3C and a trad GCQKQ1

 

Both are in the same area, which is well worth a visit in it's own right, the caches are a bonus here!

 

We have noticed since our visit to the caches*, people seem to be visiting the trad, and no one has visited the multi, which is a great shame, as it takes you around the site and the information boards, tells you about the history, and has some "Art". (Its also a shame, as we left a TB in there! )

 

We cache to visit different places, and the cache is a bonus, hopefully set by someone that knows the area better than we do, and wants others to see it.

 

* I don't think it's our visit putting people off!

 

G

[+Learned Gerbil]

The ones I have set (as opposed ot adopted) have all been designed to encourage people to follow a trial where they will discover some unexpected or forgotten history. One of these is an attempt at the type of TB friendly Central London cache that PP mentioned. It lasted less than 24 hours!

[+perth pathfinders]

Multi-cache is great for making people look up at architecture, etc, or to take them on a circular tour. Just keep them interesting and not too long, or split it into several trails.

 

Traditional for long walks or up hills. (I usually take a variety of sizes, as its sometimes difficult to find the right size hidey hole)

 

Micros for towns or cache n dash.

 

Letterbox caches great for kids to collect the stamps.

 

Love puzzles, they great for solving at home on a rainy day!

 

Just do a variety, and see what the best response is would be my advice, and good luck setting!

Edited May 18, 2006 by perth pathfinders

[+Team Clova]

Dont forget using sneaky or unusual containers!!

 

And small containers!- really small!!

 

Just find something to fit the surroundings - have several ideas for containers that will be in full view of muggles without them realising what it is!

 

One thing though - DONT put micros up the top of hills!! - people tend to object to that??

Edited May 18, 2006 by Team Clova

[+The Blorenges]

We just like variety Some of "our" caches are "his", some are "mine", some are a joint collaboration Occasionally the idea comes in a flash of inspiration and all the bits just fall into place. Other times it gets mulled over, put on a back burner, kneaded, proved...and thrown out because it won't work

But, hey!...it's only Tupperware (or nuts and bolts)(or Sudoku)(or Squirrels)(or whatever)

MrsB

[+mollyjak]

Hi Mrs B

Solved your sudoku and planned on doing it this weekend until we realised it was heineman cup weekend so the week after hopefully!!!!

[+Jango & Boba Fett]

When we started geocaching last October there were less then 70 live caches in Norfolk and after our first "big" day (wow 7 caches) we knew what we each wanted: Jango likes making cachers think if they want to find the cache so he's into Puzzles and Multis, Boba likes "good stuff" so he's into zany hides and proper sized swap boxes.

 

Our first attempt Jonah's Quest GCRB7Q linked up a series of quirky nautical things we had seen while walking the dog. Our second Shalom St William GCRFKB was a deliberate attempt to put a cache onto Mousehold Heath that would not get muggled, we also tried to make each stage of the multi different and have a couple of unusual hides.

 

Having let those two bed in we wanted to fill in some of the empty spaces in Norfolk and have a proper Series with a Bonus Cache at the end; hence our current project the Nelson's County Series. having a series of twelve caches has allowed us to try out different sorts of puzzles, urban micros to regular ammo boxes, a Letterbox Hybrid and of course more Multis. NC1 Full Nelson was placed as a cache and dash but, thanks to Eckys timeous enquiries it ended up as a puzzle which makes use of an unusual javascript emulator.

 

Being stuck out in the wilds of East Anglia means that some of our pleasures have to be gained vicariously so every so often we trawl for unusual caches (though we must remember to take our solved puzzles with us when we travel next time). There are also some inspiring cache setters down in Suffolk and I think you can probably see SuffolkChief's influence on our earliest caches.

 

So our criteria in designing a cache would be: an enjoyable walk, learn something new about familiar places, do-able puzzles (though some might dispute that), interesting hides and at least a couple of laughs along the way. We do have very different views on swaps so mine are sparse and Boba's verge towards the stuffed.

 

A series is a double edged sword of course because you have to stick with it so we do have a backlog of unusual hides/ideas taking up space under the stairs, in the boot of the car, under boba's bed, ....

 

There is a down side to our approach however. You may get good scores on GcUK (one of Boba favourite games is seeing how far up the table he can get one of his by manipulating the variables in Cachetools) and positive feedback from those that do find your caches but you may go weeks between finds as most cachers seem to prefer Trads. What is disapointing though is when you get negative feedback not because there was some error in the cache but because someone had come a long way to Norfolk and expected to find it (ie deserved to find it). We don't mind posting DNFs if we enjoyed the challenge only partially soved and can not understand those who will not post DNFs but will berate by email.

 

Oh and in case you are wondering whether to visit Norfolk this summer there are todate 126 Norfolk caches of which nearly 100 are live and we should be over 100 by the time the schools break up.