What About A National Cache Maintenance Weekend

[alistair_uk]

Another thread is taking about the closest unfound caches to each of us. I had a quick look at my list and many have not been found recently.

 

The trouble is that as people do not always DNF and the absence of logs could be that the cache is missing in action. The problem is self-perpetuating though as if everybody leave a cache until someone else finds it will never get found. For reference I have not had a go at them because there is a big river in the way but if a cache has not been found for a while I am for more likely to pass on the the next cache.

 

If a cache of mine has not been found for a while I do a maintenance visit just so I can log that is it still okay and clear out any geoclutter in the cache, amd I am not alone.

 

What I am proposing is we create a maintenance day, weekend or week where we encourage catchers to check on all there caches, or at least the caches that have not been found in the very recent past.

 

Any thoughts?

[+t.a.folk]

Any thoughts?

Got us thinking about caches that have been archived in circumstances where their owner hasn't logged on for ages prior to the archiving.

Wondering how may of such cache containers are still out there "in the field "so to speak but unseen on main cache pages .

Perhaps such caches could be included in the event ?

[Dave from Glanton]

Good idea.

 

One nice benefit from this could be that if there's a cache that somebody has really been struggling with then if there's a scheduled maintenance visit then they could potentially arrange to visit with the owner and maybe get an extra clue or two.

[+Jango & Boba Fett]

I'm sure that I have seen on some US caches requests from the reviewer for any cacher passing by to collect in long unvisited caches or ones which no longer meet guidlines (by that I mean seriously infringe like placed in wildreness preserves where no human arctifacts are meant to be).

 

But it would be good to have a special day like you suggest, as sort of nation wide event.

[SandyGarrity]

Personally, I feel it is for the owner to look aft it. They place it there so there is a duty to look after it.

[alistair_uk]

Personally, I feel it is for the owner to look aft it. They place it there so there is a duty to look after it.

Yes, and I hope that the owners would go out and check on there own caches as the norm, but if it is easer for someone else to check on a cache then why not. This date would only be an excuse to get out and check on a cache that would otherwise remain unchecked.

[+Sensei TSKC]

If cachers were honest with themselves and others - logged their DNF's then the setters would get more information about their caches.

 

I have seen time and time again, "This is my 3rd attempt ......" There is no other reference / DNF / note on the page to suggest that this is the case. Okay, if the cacher did not find because they didn;t get further than the micro in a multi, for instance, then why note a note on the log. It doesn't harm anyone to leave DNF's or Notes. Quite the opposite. If more of us did it, we may not need a National Maintenance day!

 

Thoughts.

 

Oss!

[markandlynn]

I could always ressurect the Dust Off List

If adambro could find some way of adding this to the COTM pages i would have no objections.

The list comes from GUK using thier last found before search but has not been updated for a while (lack of interest)

A quick check of some archived caches indicates that some could still be in situ

[LazyLeopard]

Personally, I feel it is for the owner to look aft it. They place it there so there is a duty to look after it.

Yes, but folks vanish for all sorts of reasons, leaving caches orphaned. Seems to me it'd be a good idea to get interested folks out to caches that appear to be orphaned, and to ones which have been archived if there's evidence they may still be in place, if only as a way of clearing up after ourselves. I guess there may already be a fair bit of this cleaning-up going on informally anyway.

[The Royles]

Yes, but folks vanish for all sorts of reasons, leaving caches orphaned. Seems to me it'd be a good idea to get interested folks out to caches that appear to be orphaned, and to ones which have been archived if there's evidence they may still be in place, if only as a way of clearing up after ourselves. I guess there may already be a fair bit of this cleaning-up going on informally anyway.

I came to this thread to say something very similar.

 

It would be a good idea for the caching community to have a CacheCITO day. The PTB could have a list of all archived caches, and then we could go and ensure that there is no evidence of a cache at the location. As has been said, some caches are archived with no evidence that the container was removed, so it is in our interests to ensure we are not leaving litter around.

 

For our estemmed reviewers, how about when you archive a cache because it has been abandoned by the owner, you let people know via the forums so that someone could just go and check that there is no litter left.

 

Self policing like this will reflect well on our community.

[markandlynn]

A list of archived caches can be found here only 2250 to go through minus the events, virtuals, webcams and earthcaches of course.

 

Id guess the ones you mean are ones like this ??as the last finder (our first ever cache) id guess its still there in some form or other !

[+Pengy&Tigger]

We usually carry around spare 35mm containers with log books and pencils, and replace them as needed.

 

Did one yesterday infact, found on the floor with no top and log book on the floor, so we just replaced it, and told the owner that we had replaced it, saved them a trip out just to replace a 35mm.

 

If it`s anything bigger, we`re not in the habit of lugging around full ammo cans with contents ... but a 35mm makes a good replacement until the placer can get around to replacing the cache.

 

Pengy

[+John Stead]

We usually carry around spare 35mm containers with log books and pencils, and replace them as needed.

Pengy

What a good idea - but you need to be careful that (as in the example given) it really has been muggled or you might end up with two cache boxes in the same location.

I could not find a cache last year and as it was 2000 ft up put in a replacement, only to find someone else found the original within a day or two. A bit embarassing as I am the cache owner - now I have to accept finds on either until I have the energy to climb that mountain again!

[+Pengy&Tigger]

What a good idea - but you need to be careful that (as in the example given) it really has been muggled or you might end up with two cache boxes in the same location.

 

Yeah this is true, we did have the other old cache in our hands, so we did know that there isn`t two containers out there.

 

We are meaning if it`s fallen out of it`s hiding place, and rolled say on to a road and been run over, or log book and container haven`t been water tight, we have little ziplock bags for micros we usually put logs in them as the 35mm aren`t really that watertight, the bags give the log a little protection from the elements.

 

As we know it really hard to write your name on pulped paper that used to be a log book Much better to carry a spare log book with dry paper. Then at least the next finder can sign the log too.

 

Pengy

[alistair_uk]

As for retrieving archived caches, we could have a Cache Out Trash Out event.

 

What a good idea - but you need to be careful that (as in the example given) it really has been muggled or you might end up with two cache boxes in the same location.

Personally I believe that only the cache owner should replace or relocate a cache except in extreme circumstances for just that reason. That being said that repair of caches should be applauded IMHO.

[+BikerKats]

If cachers were honest with themselves and others - logged their DNF's then the setters would get more information about their caches.

 

I have seen time and time again, "This is my 3rd attempt ......" There is no other reference / DNF / note on the page to suggest that this is the case. Okay, if the cacher did not find because they didn;t get further than the micro in a multi, for instance, then why note a note on the log. It doesn't harm anyone to leave DNF's or Notes. Quite the opposite. If more of us did it, we may not need a National Maintenance day!

 

Thoughts.

 

Oss!

 

I agree with you Sensei, but this brings us back to the recent topic on why people do or don't log DNFs.

 

For example, yesterday we decided to try a couple of fairly local caches with the intention of picking up a TB. The first was an apparently straightforward multi - we solved the clues, walked to the cache location and after some searching were sure we had found the correct "gerr" (thanks to the hint), but were unable to find the cache. We have e-mailed the owners and depending on their reply will either log it as Found (but explain in the log that we solved the puzzle but the cache was missing) or as a DNF.

 

We couldn't find the second one, but by that time it was raining so hard that we decided to call it a day. We haven't logged that as a DNF because we didn't spend that long searching.

 

Both caches have some DNFs recorded on their logs so it could be that they really have gone. In these circumstances I would like to see the owners visit and check whether the caches are still in place. If they are, we will go and look again.

 

Sorry to ramble but IMO there are sometimes circumstances where it is not appropriate to log a DNF.

[LazyLeopard]

Some folks don't log finds either. For a cache owner I say that's almost as frustrating as folks not logging DNFs...

[+freespirit1402]

i did a multi one time where the second stage had been muggled meaning i could not finish it. i did log it as a dnf so the owner knew and replaced the stage but should it more accurately have been a COULD NOT FIND [LOL]

[+Sensei TSKC]

 

Sorry to ramble but IMO there are sometimes circumstances where it is not appropriate to log a DNF.

Now it's my turn to agree with you but I did say that if a DNF was not appropriate then a note would suffice (albeit not in those exact words!)

[alistair_uk]

Although we can encourage people to DNF, or at lease post a note, I don’t think we will be able to change peoples attitude overnight. I wonder is an anonymous DNF facility would prove more successful.

 

Anyway, I feel we must accept that many people will not post a DNF at the moment and have to work around it.

[+Jango & Boba Fett]

As for retrieving archived caches, we could have a Cache Out Trash Out event.

 

Personally I believe that only the cache owner should replace or relocate a cache except in extreme circumstances for just that reason. That being said that repair of caches should be applauded IMHO.

Inspired by markandlynn 's thread on historic caches I went trawling about looking at old archived caches from 2001/2 in East Anglia and the Southeast. I did note that several early caches (just like Dave Ussner's) seem to have been abandoned in place but that some have been rediscovered in the last year, such as this one which had been missing for 4 years.

 

Cannot say that era was the most edifying place to be as some of the more barbed forum comments seem to have spilled onto the online logs in those days. However I can report a couple of positive things. A few cachers who retired at that time seem to have started caching again and I made contact with the first significant cache hider in Norfolk/Suffolk; and may be in a position to resurrecting some first rate caches which were withdrawn in 2003 (Pharisee was the last to find them).

[adrianjohn]

this brings us back to the recent topic on why people do or don't log DNFs.

 

For example, yesterday we decided to try a couple of fairly local caches with the intention of picking up a TB. The first was an apparently straightforward multi - we solved the clues, walked to the cache location and after some searching were sure we had found the correct "gerr" (thanks to the hint), but were unable to find the cache. We have e-mailed the owners and depending on their reply will either log it as Found (but explain in the log that we solved the puzzle but the cache was missing) or as a DNF.

 

The thing is, this was a DNF and should be logged as such. There is no shame in logging a DNF and it may reveal a problem the cache owner would otherwise not know about.

 

Sorry to ramble but IMO there are sometimes circumstances where it is not appropriate to log a DNF.

 

I am not going to ramble on. If you searched for it, there are no circumstances where it is appropriate not to log a DNF. Let the cache owner know about it, and if there are further concerns then E-mail the owner with them too. I would be pleased to know of your concerns.

 

Although we can encourage people to DNF, or at lease post a note, I don’t think we will be able to change peoples attitude overnight. I wonder is an anonymous DNF facility would prove more successful.

 

Anyway, I feel we must accept that many people will not post a DNF at the moment and have to work around it

 

Quite right Alistair, lets all get the idea that a DNF is just what it says Did Not Find. It is not an admission of failure, just a note to warn the cache owner and other searchers there may be a problem. I often get DNFs on one of my caches but I dont worry, it is hard to find for some. I am sometimes prompted to drop them a little hint too.

[adrianjohn]

Apologies if this is off topic and hijacking the thread but....

 

The penny has just dropped, are we about to welcome Icenians back to the fold? I do hope so, I was so sorry when they left in days gone by.

 

Cannot say that era was the most edifying place to be as some of the more barbed forum comments seem to have spilled onto the online logs in those days. However I can report a couple of positive things. A few cachers who retired at that time seem to have started caching again and I made contact with the first significant cache hider in Norfolk/Suffolk; and may be in a position to resurrecting some first rate caches which were withdrawn in 2003 (Pharisee was the last to find them)

[+Jango & Boba Fett]

Apologies if this is off topic and hijacking the thread but....

 

The penny has just dropped, are we about to welcome Icenians back to the fold? I do hope so, I was so sorry when they left in days gone by.

I think the Icenian intends to keep his low caching profile but has offered to allow a couple of his multis/puzzles to return to GC.com. The caches were never totally gone just hiding elsewhere. Those of us East Anglians who only started caching in the last three years are in for a small but tastey treat. I've been out checking and the caches are in good order though a flame proof bird has advised there may need to be some tweeking to meet current guidlines.

 

If you want to see which caches or contact the Icenian I suggest you follow Pharisee's trail through Norfolk & Suffolk in spring 2003; when you do you may notice that some of Iceanian's trads did already return.

[alistair_uk]

This raises another interesting point. The cache is owned by the placer, so is a cacher decided to call it a day and does not collect the cache do we have the automatic right to remove it. Not that I think this is a big problem, but one we should at least consider.

[adrianjohn]

This raises another interesting point. The cache is owned by the placer, so is a cacher decided to call it a day and does not collect the cache do we have the automatic right to remove it. Not that I think this is a big problem, but one we should at least consider.

 

I think that there are many caches in existance that are now abandoned, however they remain to be visited often and are still in fair condition. One of the caches I now "own" I at first adopted by fixing it up in the absence of its owner, and just kept an eye on it by placing it on my watch list.

 

Other caches apparently orphaned, should perhaps be removed if we are to be responsible. This does raise certain questions, but if you find a bad cache and request it be archived then I suppose we should then go remove it or request that someone does iton your behalf. Much like the occasional request from our approvers to pick up caches that dont meet placing guidelines and are not published.

 

At present I am hoping that another cacher will adopt some caches that I was last to search for and are presently archived, or I shall go to clean them up myself soon.