Hiding and Marking your New Cache - for Newbies!

[+Hedge]

Hey there new guy!

 

You want to place your cache, and you want to do it right. Here's some advice I've not seen in other places.

 

First off, I'd say don't try to place caches till you've found 75 to 100 of 'em. You'll have the hankering to do it sooner, but after seeing what's out there, you'll know better what's a lame hide and what's a good one. Then the ones you make will be better, less likely to get stolen, etc. I remember finding my first skirt lifter and thinking, "Pretty ingenious hide!" ... and then I found another, and another, and another ... good thing I didn't place one under a skirt early on, I'd have kicked myself later.

 

Be certain when you do hide one, that the only people who can find it are geocachers - if you're worried that it might get muggled when you place it, then it is probably going to get muggled... And muggled sooner rather than later. If you walk away thinking that it's hidden well, you'll sleep better at night. Nothing's more demoralizing than reading DNF logs from frustrated cachers who came to find your cache but it wasn't there - face it - because you didn't hide it well enough. Not to mention the time and expense of replacing the cache and contents.

 

I've also found with my unit that having different batteries makes a big difference. Rechargeables at 1.25 volts lead me 40 feet away from every cache, where 1.5 volt non-rechargeables give me dead-on coords. Guess what? It's right there in the owner's manual: my GPS is rated for 1.5 volt batteries. Finding out what voltage batteries your GPSr is made to use is so simple, but can make a huge difference when finding and marking!

 

I know I sweated bullets placing my first few because I didn't trust my marked coordinates. I have a cheapy yellow eTrex, which is just fine for finding caches, but I still want to make sure that my posted coords are dead on the mark.

For my first couple of caches, I made sure to come back on multiple days to test the coords. That doesn't hurt one bit! But one thing you should do each visit when placing is to take a few marks, then go away a good football field or so, turn your GPSr off and then back on, then walk back trying to find your cache using the GPS. You'll see in a hurry which mark is the best, and how far off the bad ones are. You can also take a moment to adjust the coords using your compass, then find again, and again, until you're right on the money.

(How to do this? Say you're now standing on your cache again, but the GPS is saying it's 22 feet South. You have "too much South and not enough North." Just raise the N coordinate number, say by a couple of ticks. Alternately, if the GPS is saying it's 22 feet SouthWest, you have "too much South and West." You'd raise the North number a tick or two, and lower the West number a tick or two. Doing this a few times should get you spot on, even under weerd conditions.)

 

If you're under power lines, or between high walls and having wacky readings, you can do what I call "Bi-angulation." Walk directly North until you have clear sky. Here, your North reading will be totally off (it will be higher than the cache), but your West reading will be the same as the cache location. Make a note of the West coord, then do the same directly West of your cache location - and you have a good North coord for your cache, too.

 

Finally, don't be in a hurry to place and publish your cache. Be sure before you pull the trigger on it. Feeling like you gotta get it done so you can get the reviewer to publish it today will only cause you to make a mistake, or settle for a worse placement or concept than you should. Take your time! Take your Time!

Place the cache container, and wait for a day or two. Come back and find it under a fresh constellation of satellites to re-check your coords.

If you have a fellow cacher who's willing, have them pre-publish find it and tell you what they experienced. Feel free to move it if they think there's a better hide 10 feet away. Feel free to change the coords if their GPS didn't agree with your mark. Feel free to upgrade the container, add camo, add swag, ruminate on a good hint... Giving it time can improve your cache in so many ways. Don't feel that you have to publish it right NOW.

Look at it this way, if you think the cache is going to stay in place for years for cachers to enjoy and find, what's another day or two for it to sit in place before it's published? It's just additional time for the hide to weather a bit, get good and dusty and blend in, so the FTF has to work for their trophy. Right?

 

There's lots of other stuff to say, but let's not go overly long. I'll keep it short by saying simply,

PLEASE FOR PETE'S SAKE DON'T PLACE MICROS UNLESS YOU HAVE A GOOD REASON!

Trade up!

Replace 'em better than you found 'em!

Give other hiders positive feedback!

Add some TBs and Geocoins to the pool!

and

Thanks for hiding one! Without you, there's no geocache to find, and no geocaching!

 

See some other good advice in this related topic here.

[+PastorDIC]

Some of this is a good reminder even if you aren't new.

 

PLEASE FOR PETE'S SAKE DON'T PLACE MICROS UNLESS YOU HAVE A GOOD REASON!

On your other topic - micro's - They aren't all bad. I recently logged a find on a micro in southern Oregon that was a difficulty of 4. It was one of my favorite searches, and I didn't even turn out to be the person in the group to find it.

 

ON a bad caching day, I like micros. If I DNF most of the caches for the day (such as picking really hard ones, or when traveling and have forgotten all the hints, etc.) I can at least end the day with a couple of microcache finds.

[+CachingCoins]

Hedge777, I like this. Well stated! I haven't placed a cache yet for most of the reasons you stated. What do experienced cachers have to say about this?

[+StarBrand]

How do you know the GPS reading is any more accurate when you come back to find it?

 

Simple point of fact is that consumer grade GPSr's even with WAAS turned on tend to average an accuracy of no better than 20 feet. I used to take 4 - 5 reading over a 30 minute time period and then average the numbers but still find yet another reading each time I revisited.

 

These days, I simply use the averaging feature on my Gamin GPSMap60C and get about 100 readings after letting it settled down for about 5 minutes right over the cache. Whole process takes only about 8 - 10 minutes total and very very few ever say anything about the coords.

 

With a general error of about 20 feet during the hide and 20 feet during my hunt - I figure anything with 30 - 40 feet of my current GZ is fair game. Having said all of that, I know most cachers take 1 simple reading and leave it at that. And I rarely find caches much more than 20 feet of GZ.

 

Need an expensive unit and knowledge of how to use it to get a really precise reading. Anything else is just an estimated position.

 

And as for waiting to place a cache - I placed my first after 1 find and it is still there and nearing 5 years. No need to corupt anybodys thinking with 40 micro-in-a-bush caches. If they have a good idea - they should go for it.

Edited September 14, 2006 by StarBrand

[+fm2f90x]

Finally, don't be in a hurry to place and publish your cache. Be sure before you pull the trigger on it. Feeling like you gotta get it done so you can get the reviewer to publish it today will only cause you to make a mistake, or settle for a worse placement or concept than you should. Take your time! Take your Time!

Place the cache container, and wait for a day or two. Come back and find it under a fresh constellation of satellites to re-check your coords.

If you have a fellow cacher who's willing, have them pre-publish find it and tell you what they experienced. Feel free to move it if they think there's a better hide 10 feet away. Feel free to change the coords if their GPS didn't agree with your mark. Feel free to upgrade the container, add camo, add swag, ruminate on a good hint... Giving it time can improve your cache in so many ways. Don't feel that you have to publish it right NOW.

Look at it this way, if you think the cache is going to stay in place for years for cachers to enjoy and find, what's another day or two for it to sit in place before it's published? It's just additional time for the hide to weather a bit, get good and dusty and blend in, so the FTF has to work for their trophy. Right?

 

 

I've just placed my first cache and that was the hardest part for me. Pulling that trigger. I don't want to look like a fool, so I took what felt like forever to hit that Enable button to send it for publishing. It's a 3 stage multi, with some math based on some numbers found at the first stage, so I checked co-ords on several different days, had friends do the math to make sure it works out, did the whole walk-through to check everything.... After all that is was still agonizing to send it for review.

So of course it gets rejected because there's a final stage of another multi, which I haven't been able to find because the first stage of that one is very difficult, about 100 meters from where mine was. I moved my final in the direction the reviewer suggested, then had to go back and change the first stage co-ords and the math and go through everything again. Tonight is the night that caches usually get published here, so I'm hoping this one is OK now.

Like Hedge777 said, you hope the cache will be around for years so whats a few extra days of preparation and checking. I'd rather have a cache that the local cachers say good things about than have one that is merely OK at best.

 

TTYL,

Tom

[+Dale Bryant]

I've made my first hide a couple months ago it lasted long enough for one find thin was gone within a couple of hours when the next cacher tried to find it. I rehid it in a better place but still close by and its doing fine. I tend to rush mine about half the time. I check the coordinates several times any way and check on the cache an hour or two after placing to check the coord's and make sure every things OK. My second hide didn't stay where I wanted it to so I brought it home after sending out the listing and didn't get it back and secure before publication then I archived it instead of disabling it (that was a hassle). But I've found that the reviewer at least the one around here isn't trying to be difficult but wants you to place a good and lasting cache after all he's a cacher too. I was placing my first multi about a week ago so I asked the reviewer some questions to clear up a couple of points and he was very helpful and quick to respond. I also used Google Earth to check coordinates where I was having trouble getting a fix and in one case I was about 20ft off with my GPS. And I always read the logs for my caches to see it I've got a problem with my coord's I place one two days ago and the FTF folks three of them each with a GPS informed me of my error and I'd corrected them within the hour. I've got three more caches in the works but haven't found just the right spot yet or haven't finished with the container.

[+Kohavis]

First off, I'd say don't try to place caches till you've found 75 to 100 of 'em. You'll have the hankering to do it sooner, but after seeing what's out there, you'll know better what's a lame hide and what's a good one. Then the ones you make will be better, less likely to get stolen, etc.

Excellent advice, and something I wish I had done before placing my first hides.

[rogheff]

I think the best advice for a new cache hider is place one deep in the woods. Find an area with a good view of the sky (for satelite reception). Hide a regular sized container and fill it with decent swag. Post a really good hint. It doesn't matter if you found 5 or 5000 caches.

 

The reason for my suggestions is you want to get feedback on your hide quality, techniques and coords. If the coords are off, the hint will get people to the container. If it's deep in the woods, you'll greatly reduce the possibility of the container getting muggled.

 

Make sure you get permission to hide the cache.

[PDBreske]

Interesting reading, to be sure.

 

I'm very new to this but have already thought of a few places around Miami that would make good hiding places. I'll be sure to take some advice from here before I do anything rash, though.

 

Would a cache placed where it would be inaccessible during high tide be a bad idea? I've thought of watertight containers held down with a weight nestled in the rocks along the shore would be kinda cool.

[+niraD]

Would a cache placed where it would be inaccessible during high tide be a bad idea? I've thought of watertight containers held down with a weight nestled in the rocks along the shore would be kinda cool.

If the waves reach/cover the location during high tide, then it's really hard to keep the cache secure and dry. You'll spend a lot of time maintaining the cache, and it will still disappear regularly. If you want a "low tide only" cache, a better approach seems to be to hide the cache where the water doesn't reach, but where high tide makes it difficult/impossible to reach the cache location.

[PDBreske]

If the waves reach/cover the location during high tide, then it's really hard to keep the cache secure and dry.

 

Oooo, that sounds like a challenge.

[+briansnat]

Lots of good advice there, but I disagree with not placing a cache until you have a set number of hides (The OP used 75-100). I think people should go ahead and place a cache as soon as the muse strikes. It doesn't matter if you have 1 find or 1,000. I've found many outstanding caches placed by people with a few finds and I've found lots of crappy caches hidden by people with hundreds or thousands of finds.

 

I placed my first cache after one find and pretty much the only thing I learned since was that I didn't have to put so much thought into the container, contents and location.

 

If someone has a grand idea for a cache, why poison his mind by making him find 75 skirt lifters and guardrail micros first (because in some areas there is little else)?

[+Wild Thing 73]

What the heck is a "lame" cache...If you sign and date the log and then post the find on the geocaching web site and then get that prized and dear "Smiley". There is no "lame" cache....all caches placed by a geocacher for the caching community to search for is a great cache, if you think there is a "lame" cache out there, then that thought is only in your prejudice mind.

[+BCandMsKitty]

Interesting post and I agree with all but wait for 75 - 100 caches before hiding, and the part about the micro caches. Not all micros are bad, and I have never found one that I would call "worthless" yet! Some are easy and some are hard, but all give the smiley, and get us out hunting.

 

I do agree with not getting in a hurry to publish. I recently embarrassed myself by publishing a cache that had the coordinates a mere 60 miles off! I had transposed a couple of numbers and didn't take the time to check the map on the cache page. First I knew about it was when a cacher from 60 miles away, but familiar to my area knew it was off from the page description and told me about my error!

[+niraD]

Lots of good advice there, but I disagree with not placing a cache until you have a set number of hides (The OP used 75-100).

I don't think the number matters as much as having enough experience to know what kind of caches you enjoy more, and what kind of caches you enjoy less. If you hide something similar to what you like to find, then there's a better chance that others will enjoy finding it.

 

It also helps to understand how much maintenance different kinds of caches will require, but I didn't really appreciate that until I hid a cache that was a maintenance headache.

[TermiteHunter]

Yes get several under your belt before doing one yourself. It will give you ideas on what makes a good hide. But a good micro should be in the mix. A well placed micro in the right environment is always a good idea.

 

Take some time with the container if your considering a micro. They need not be just a bison tube hanging from a tree or a film can stuck somewhere under a lamp post. A carefully crafted container blending in to the surroundings is always a welcome surprise and highly respected when done well.