Off Your Rocker

[+JakeBond]

Okay, first of all, What do you think about this series of caches? Do you like ultra-muggle caches? Any great high muggle cache tricks/stories?

 

A direct search can be found here:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.asp...er&submit4=Find

 

And the original OYR cache is here:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...f7-0dc61dcd9d95

 

Bonus question, NYC residents/tourists who have done my Follow Me Home series, do you think they qualify? do you think all manhattan caches qualify?

 

Follow Me Home 1: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...09-e92589ef3932

FMH2:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...c8-d934ca4b5541

FMH3:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...d2-87412514c88b

 

Sound off, Go!

 

PS, sorry but i dont feel like doing HTML tags to clean this up....

Edited May 25, 2006 by JakeBond

[+briansnat]

Do you like ultra-muggle caches?

 

Nope. I'm not into a cloak and dagger game. In high traffic areas I just walk up, grab the container, sign and replace. I don't care who is looking. If the owner chooses to place a cache in a poor spot, that's his problem not mine.

[+sbell111]

Do you like ultra-muggle caches?

 

Nope. I'm not into a cloak and dagger game. In high traffic areas I just walk up, grab the container, sign and replace. I don't care who is looking. If the owner chooses to place a cache in a poor spot, that's his problem not mine.

Every time a read this response, I can't help but think about how irresponsible this attitude is. If you don't like a particular type of hide, or can't bring yourself to respect the hider enough to limit the chance of a cache being muggles, skip the cache and put it on your ignore list.

 

I don't care if the cache is an urban micro or an ammo can under a pile of sticks. As cache seekers, we owe it to the cache owner to try not to compromise the cache.

[+wesleykey]

I agree. I once pulled up to a light pole micro and a car was right in front of the pole with people in it. I pulled out the cache, logged it, and moved on. Muggles are not even on my radar screen.

[+sbell111]

I agree. I once pulled up to a light pole micro and a car was right in front of the pole with people in it. I pulled out the cache, logged it, and moved on. Muggles are not even on my radar screen.

I hope people don't feel the same way about your caches.

 

I can't wait to read the thread about your poor, muggled caches.

 

Hmmm.... Maybe its time for another cache run to Huntsville.

Edited May 25, 2006 by sbell111

[+drat19]

I agree with sbell on this (mark this day down, sbell! ); I believe cache searchers have an implicit obligation to try to protect the caches we search and find from non-cacher discovery.

 

Now, my opinion on the placement of caches in high-muggle-probability zones is well documented - to me they shouldn't have been placed in the first place (which in turn agrees with briansnat's take).

 

But as usual, that's just my opinion.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

Have to agree with SBell on this sort of thing. If you don't like them, don't do them. If you insist on doing them, don't ruin it for everyone else by exposing them. I know we all play our own way, but no matter how you defend it, that's just plain disrespectful.

[+Team Cotati]

As a general rule we no longer hunt caches in areas of high muggle activity. Further we try and influence our caching buds to do the same. Gives us the creeps. If these were the majority of available caches, we wouldn't be cachers.

[+sbell111]

Okay, first of all, What do you think about this series of caches? Do you like ultra-muggle caches? Any great high muggle cache tricks/stories?

Back to the topic of the thread, I kind of like this type of cache. For the last couple of years, I've been slowly (very, very, slowly) getting back to be able to look for caches with a terrain rating higher than 1. During this time, I've really learned to appreciate good urban micros. While I agree with Drat about poorly thought out micros that really don't hit on the three criterion for a great cache (great placement, great container, or great location), I really enjoy any cache that contains at least one of these criteria.

 

Three caches come to mind. Last weekend, I found an 'Off Your Rocker-type' cache. The description contained great clues, but there were muggles all over the porch. I carefully made the find (and replaced the container) without being seen. This is what made the cache fun for me.

 

Another cache was a micro hidden on a statue on a busy corner. It took a few minutes to extract and replace the cache, but this made it even more fun.

 

The third was a micro that used to be at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It went missing about a week before our visit. Drat!

[+drat19]

The third was a micro that used to be at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It went missing about a week before our visit. Drat!

Drat?? But, but, but....I wasn't there!

[+fox-and-the-hound]

I like most of them, but does anyone else start hearing the theme to Mission Impossible while trying to stealthily remove one from hiding?

[ParentsofSAM]

I like the OYR series. I know it is something we can grab with driving down the freeway on vacation. We know the exact place to go and park, they are fun and if we are hungry then we just head inside.

 

As for high muggles area. We generally always send one of our girls to grab the cache. We sit in the rockers or the car if it is real close and she jumps out grabs the cache and brings it to us for signing....muggles never pay attention to what kids are doing so it is our perfect cover.

 

Plus our daughters get a feeling of accomplishment since she found the cache by herself, and she feels like a super spy because we do tell her to be careful and not let anyone see her.

 

Yep....OYR are a good thing!

[+Pablo Mac]

I look at muggle-heavy caches as another type of fun challenge, in the same category as a well-executed puzzle, great camo, a long hike, and any number of other creative and adventurous challenges I've been faced with in this kooky activity.

 

One great muggle-heavy (not that most muggles are heavy...) cache that comes to mind was in Vancouver, WA that was inside a hollowed-out boat bumper hanging on a rope in plain sight among two or three other similar items on the deck of a very public restaurant dining area, adjacent to a public sidewalk. I found the cache in the middle of the night, but others had somehow found, opened, retrieved, signed and replaced the small (non-micro) cache in plain sight during business hours. I call that a great cache, and it stayed in place as long as it did only because those who found it took the time and made the effort to avoid muggle detection.

[+Maingray]

I don't mind the urban hides when in the mood with regard to the muggle factor.

 

I particularly like the OYR series as they are all placed with national permission (from the CB Head Office), and in (most cases) the local managment as well.

[+briansnat]

Every time a read this response, I can't help but think about how irresponsible this attitude is.

 

Its the cache hider who is the irresponsible party.

[+Pablo Mac]

Every time a read this response, I can't help but think about how irresponsible this attitude is.

 

Its the cache hider who is the irresponsible party.

Every time a read this response, I can't help but think about how irresponsible this attitude is.

[+whistler & co.]

I don't think it's irresponsible to hide a cache in an area where there is high muggle activity. As with all caches, you as the cache seeker decide whether or not you can "handle" that type of cache hunt. We don't have rock climbing equipment, scuba gear, a Tyvek suit, or a boat, but I would not even consider complaining about people who place caches where owning the aforementioned devices is a prerequisite for accessing the cache site. Why should people who don't own kids, dogs, or invisibility cloaks (all invaluable aids in seeking caches at muggle-infested sites) complain about the OYR, Always, or Wally's caches? True, the hide may not be a memorable or innovative one, but cachers who are caching with kids, pressed for time, not athletic, traveling in an unfamiliar area, or physically disabled really do appreciate a 1/1 cache! No one is OBLIGED hunt for any cache...but if you choose to hunt for a cache, I feel that you are ethically bound to insure that your actions do not compromise the integrity of the cache and its surroundings.

 

(edited for spelling)

Edited May 25, 2006 by whistler & co.

[+ranger-rob]

I've got several "high muggle" area caches out, one of which was placed at the request of one of the repondents to this thread. With the exception of one, which is a .30 Cal. ammo can, none of the containers or contents are of any real value, so when they're gone, they're gone. I would however, like the chance to read the logbook entries and that, to me, is the actual loss when a cache disappears. All that said, if a certain type cache or cache environment isn't your thing, have a little respect for not only the owner but the people that come behind you that enjoy having to be super sneaky.

 

As for "being sneaky", there's a lot of ways to do so. A clipboard and orange vest works pretty well (as any road construction worker can tell you)

[+DocDiTTo]

I don't think it's irresponsible to hide a cache in an area where there is high muggle activity. As with all caches, you as the cache seeker decide whether or not you can "handle" that type of cache hunt. <snip> No one is OBLIGED hunt for any cache...but if you choose to hunt for a cache, I feel that you are ethically bound to insure that your actions do not compromise the integrity of the cache and its surroundings.

 

 

And I think a hider is ethically bound to let people know in advance if their cache is placed in a location requiring a high degree of stealth, and if it is, to make it POSSIBLE to retrieve it stealthily. If I'm going to drive out of my way to find a cache, I should be able to do so without having to worry about muggles. OR, if muggles are going to be a factor, tell me in the writeup so I can either plan a better time, or just skip the cache altogether.

 

Yes, I've walked away from caches where people were everywhere, and I've also hunted for, found, and logged caches when muggles were 3' away. If you're going to choose an extremely busy location for a cache, be prepared to replace it frequently. I have one or two hides in "high traffic" areas, however I warn people on the cache page, and I made the hide easy to locate and pocket without drawing attention even with people standing right next to you.

 

If you hide a cache in a high-muggle area and make it impossible to be stealthy, what do you expect? I know there are people who WILL NOT walk away from a cache. If they're there, they're going to write their names in the log. Hide appropriately, or replace often.

[+sbell111]

... If I'm going to drive out of my way to find a cache, I should be able to do so without having to worry about muggles. OR, if muggles are going to be a factor, tell me in the writeup so I can either plan a better time, or just skip the cache altogether.

That is a cop out. Muggles are a factor for all caches. Every time we go out to find one, we know that we may have to blow it off due to muggles.

If you hide a cache in a high-muggle area and make it impossible to be stealthy, what do you expect?

I don't understand. How can it be 'impossible to be stealthy'? Did the cache have special logging requirements that involved clown shoes and a bullhorn?

I know there are people who WILL NOT walk away from a cache. If they're there, they're going to write their names in the log. Hide appropriately, or replace often.

It's true that some play this way. A few have posted to this thread. They are irresponsible and would no doubt get upset if their caches got muggled.

[salmoned]

Huh? I've never blown-off a cache due to muggles - why would anyone feel the need? If muggles become curious or interested in my searching, they soon come to believe I'm just a nut and pay less attention, especially if they question me (Friend, can you spare a couple bucks?). When I find the cache, I grab it, but continue the antics for a few minutes before opening & signing the log. Then it's back to the antics to replace it. Intense focus and/or 'strange' behavior can be one of the best stealth methods in high traffic areas. Didn't find it? That's okay, I can soothe my bruised ego with a double espresso at the nearby Starbucks with some of the spare change I panhandled during the search.

Edited May 25, 2006 by salmoned

[+DocDiTTo]

 

If you hide a cache in a high-muggle area and make it impossible to be stealthy, what do you expect?

I don't understand. How can it be 'impossible to be stealthy'? Did the cache have special logging requirements that involved clown shoes and a bullhorn?

 

 

One cache that comes to mind is a lamp skirt hide in a rest area right in front of the bathroom doors, across from the benches where people wait for their smaller-bladdered compatriots to return. Unless you come at midnight, there will be people all around, walking, sitting, and driving past. When I was there, some guy was emptying the trash can 15 feet away. How exactly would I stealthily upskirt the lamp post to get the cache, then do it again to put it back? Had the hider moved a couple lamp posts down, stealth wouldn't have been an issue. Stupid placement. And if that was the intent of the hider, then I just should have went for it, muggles or not. I was nice that day -- I left. I have no plans to return. Yup, fun cache.

[salmoned]

That's easy, you check every skirt, twisting half of the hidden nuts as a 'tightness test'. Then you write something down on your notepad. After doing them all, you do it again to the other half to replace it. Oh, and don't forget to ask for spare change...

Edited May 25, 2006 by salmoned

[+Team Snorkasaurus]

...you check every skirt, twisting half of the hidden nuts as a 'tightness test'...

Checking up skirts and twisting nuts?!? Just what kind of forum is this???

 

 

!!!LOL!!!

 

(thanks for the much-needed laugh!)

[+JakeBond]

Every time a read this response, I can't help but think about how irresponsible this attitude is.

 

Its the cache hider who is the irresponsible party.

 

I fiercly disagree with this statement. Please show me where in the rule book it is stated that one must not place a cache in an urban environment where many muggles congregate. Ive crawled all over the GC website and never found it.

 

The spirit of Geocaching is for people to take the sport wherever they want it. To grow with it, and to expand it. Come up with creative ideas. Fun challenges. Different ideas. NEW PLACES!

 

It is absolutely not irresponsible to place them in high traffic areas. I take offense at that statement and am very proud of my 3 urban caches.

 

Check out my first cache.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...09-e92589ef3932

it is in a very busy, urban plaza that regularly has over 200 people in it. It is around 2000 sq. feet in area. Now read all the logs on the page. People love this cache, and they respect it.

 

Please dont ever visit any of my caches with your disrespectful attitude towards this sport.

 

Jakebond

 

edit:

 

P.S. All my urban caches are marked to let seekers know that they are in high traffic areas. but then again, cacheing in NYC, rational people assume this.

Edited May 26, 2006 by JakeBond

[+erikwillke]

Half of the time I can't find them. am I lame or what?

[+Harry Dolphin]

I've done one Off Your Rocker. I didn't especially care for it. But, then, I don't especially care for Cracker Barrel. They are deliberately set to test one's stealth abilities. I've never seen a more mugle-filled environment; people just waiting to be called to dinner. Bored people just sitting around. It was definitely challenging. Of course, being under a porch roof, the coords were unreliable.

I enjoyed Follow Me Home 1. Lots of muggles, but they were not sitting around bored.

Yes. I have some caches in high-muggle areas. They can be very difficult. Once I had to wait a half hour to check on one of them. The difference is that the muggles are not sitting around bored, watching everything that goes on. And mine are in places with very scenic views, not on a terrace full of rocking chairs outside a restaurant in a strip mall.

Great for practicing stealth skills, but otherwise very boring.

[+edscott]

...... If these were the majority of available caches, we wouldn't be cachers.

 

Agree agree agree.....

[+Miragee]

. . . Do you like ultra-muggle caches? . . .

No . . . I won't even attempt them anymore, unless I am with someone else who enjoys those types of hides.

 

I've decided I would rather go for a long hike and find one great cache than drive around an urban area wasting gas looking for film canisters . . .

[+sbell111]

One cache that comes to mind is a lamp skirt hide in a rest area right in front of the bathroom doors, across from the benches where people wait for their smaller-bladdered compatriots to return. Unless you come at midnight, there will be people all around, walking, sitting, and driving past. When I was there, some guy was emptying the trash can 15 feet away. How exactly would I stealthily upskirt the lamp post to get the cache, then do it again to put it back?

Easy. Take a seat on the nearby bench. Be a person waiting for your kids to come out of the rest room until the coast is clear. Unless the rest room is at DisneyWorld, the coast will get clear. Heck, even at DW, there is often no one in the immediate area of a rest room.

[+IV_Warrior]

I've done some OYR caches. Some have been fun. Others have been rather annoying. The annoying ones were right in front of the store near the windows with people seated at tables eating and near the doors with people streaming in and out. Generally there's better areas to hide caches, but it seems only a few of the OYR series are in such locations. Shame the other hiders didn't do a better job of placement.

[dunderhead]

I love the highly muggleable caches, I should run courses on how to cope.

Of course it helps to be an eccentric,bumbling grouchy septugarian.

[+eaglespirit0]

As a cache finder finding a cache of an uknown geocacher, I try to put as much effort into finding the cache as I assume they did hiding it. I don't feel the need to empty water out of a cracked, old film canister under a lamp skirt as much as emptying water out of a new film canister with laminated instructions placed in the vicinity of a historical marker. I don't feel the need to avoid muggles when the cache owner probably drove up to the nearest lamp skirt and plopped a randomn micro, not even batting a lash at any potential muggles. I do feel the need to avoid muggles when it is obvious that the cache hider put much effort into his cache -- be it backwoods or an ingenious urban hide. I don't dislike micros, but I hate uninspired caches at bus stops, Wal-Marts, Cracker Barrels, guardrails, etc.

 

I go into every hunt expecting the greatest. Unfortunately, achieving that seems to be at best occasional nowadays.

 

- JD