Common Misconceptions That Lead to ANGST!

[+XRayPenguin 3]

1 minute ago, Goldenwattle said:

Are you logging those DNFs 😉 🙂? If you are well done 👏.

Sometimes I read logs, such as, "I finally found this, on my fourth attempt" (or even more), and I check, and not even one DNF.

I've logged 2 of them, wrote notes the other times... begged the CO for hints with no luck, haha

Edited July 25, 2019 by XRayPenguin

[+XRayPenguin 3]

I also wanted to add that I get some angst from the knowledge that I should have started geocaching years ago, but I wasn't enlightened then, and now I have the shame of being a noob... I wanna be like you guys and have all the years under my belt so I can complain about noobs like me and LPC's 🤣

[+Goldenwattle 922]

28 minutes ago, XRayPenguin said:

I also wanted to add that I get some angst from the knowledge that I should have started geocaching years ago, but I wasn't enlightened then, and now I have the shame of being a noob... I wanna be like you guys and have all the years under my belt so I can complain about noobs like me and LPC's 🤣

Many of us were like that once :). I joined in 2012, but even then some had been caching for many years and I would have been what you call a "noob" too. One day you won't be either.

Oh, and well done for logging those DNFs. Keep up showing you are brave enough to :).

[+colleda 598]

21 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Are you logging those DNFs 😉 🙂? If you are well done 👏.

Sometimes I read logs, such as, "I finally found this, on my fourth attempt" (or even more), and I check, and not even one DNF.

Yep, I get that too, especially on one of my D4s. I probably would have sent them an extra hint or two after their second DNF especially if they had written an interesting log on how their search went. Often, at home on my desktop,  I'll be watching a cacher doing one of my series caches and, if they're going in order, I can spot their DNFs because they log their finds as they go an then skip one, or possibly more. Recently I saw a DNF logged, then some finds, and was able to message the cacher an extra hint on the DNF which they were able to come back to and make a find. If there's no DNF logged I'm never really sure if they didn't find it or just skipped it, or worse still, it's missing.

[+Goldenwattle 922]

13 minutes ago, colleda said:

Yep, I get that too, especially on one of my D4s. I probably would have sent them an extra hint or two after their second DNF especially if they had written an interesting log on how their search went. Often, at home on my desktop,  I'll be watching a cacher doing one of my series caches and, if they're going in order, I can spot their DNFs because they log their finds as they go an then skip one, or possibly more. Recently I saw a DNF logged, then some finds, and was able to message the cacher an extra hint on the DNF which they were able to come back to and make a find. If there's no DNF logged I'm never really sure if they didn't find it or just skipped it, or worse still, it's missing.

Yes, I have also messaged some people who log DNFs an extra hint. I like to do that. Although, LOL, I had one reply to the hint I sent, from one cacher who said they didn't want the hint, as they like to keep returning until they find it without hints, but I think they would be in the minority who don't want an extra hint.

 

I had one message though from a cacher saying they had searched several times and couldn't find the cache and would I be willing to give an extra hint. I checked, and no DNFs from this person, so I replied that if they had logged their DNFs I would likely have already sent them an extra hint, especially after multiple DNFs (or words to this effect), but sorry I don't send hints to people who don't log DNFs, as they should log them. I got a reply something like, "Whatever rocks your boat." Still no DNFs from that person and they never got extra help from me. I would consider it the height of presumptuous cheek to ask for a hint without logging a DNF first. I just couldn't do this. What is it with some people that they can't log DNFs? Are they that spineless and scared what others might think? I think they really are!

Edited July 25, 2019 by Goldenwattle

[+arisoft 711]

45 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Yes, I have also messaged some people who log DNFs an extra hint. I like to do that. Although, LOL, I had one reply to the hint I sent, from one cacher who said they didn't want the hint, as they like to keep returning until they find it without hints, but I think they would be in the minority who don't want an extra hint.

 

It is always polite to ask if they want a hint before spoiling. All geocachers are not statistics collectors. Small small minority are geocachers.

 

45 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

What is it with some people that they can't log DNFs? Are they that spineless and scared what others might think? I think they really are!

 

The funny thing is that some of them may log DNF only after CO declares the cache missing 😀

 

I am using this for my advance as a CO. No DNF means that cache is in a good shape and needs no maintenance check.

Edited July 25, 2019 by arisoft

[+Goldenwattle 922]

7 hours ago, arisoft said:

The funny thing is that some of them may log DNF only after CO declares the cache missing 😀

Or only after someone else logs the first DNF (back to my spineless comment). I've likely given this example before. I logged a DNF on a cache that hadn't been logged for six months. I calculated based on previous logging statistics for that cache there were likely up to 20 not logged DNFs during that six months. In other words, amazingly 20 people who were either too lazy, or two scared to log a DNF. Another clue to  missing DNFs is when a cache has a number of watches on it, but not the corresponding DNFs. Within a few days after my DNF there was a second DNF! As I predicted there would be, after someone was willing to log the first DNF and was willing to accept being wrong about it missing 😒!!!

It was missing the CO confirmed.

Edited July 25, 2019 by Goldenwattle

[+cerberus1 2408]

6 hours ago, XRayPenguin said:

I also wanted to add that I get some angst from the knowledge that I should have started geocaching years ago, but I wasn't enlightened then, and now I have the shame of being a noob... I wanna be like you guys and have all the years under my belt so I can complain about noobs like me and LPC's 🤣

 

I don't feel the issue is "noobs"...      

Complaints usually stem from new folks who don't bother to read the basics, which they're presented entering the hobby.

We had many of our ammo cans taken from their spots and "re-hidden" in other areas , because "that's how I thought the game was played".

 - Separate from the ones who thought the "treasure" in this "world's largest treasure hunt" was the container and contents.

Trackables held with no log who/where.  Two just asked roughly the same time, "how do people track me?", and "please find my dog".

Just reading the basics of this hobby would have shown both that they aren't real-time tracking devices, they only log caches visited and people who "discover" them  in that person's online log. 

Numerous other examples, that are mostly based on people not bothering to even scan the basics.

Years ago we had an investment in this hobby (you had to buy a GPSr just to play), and wanted to learn all we could to return our investment. 

Today,  you can enter a free app and "go geocaching" with no knowledge other than there's treasure in the woods.

 

I feel lpcs are viewed by many as not interesting - "just a find",  with porta-potties and dumpsters  worse.  

Maybe it depends on how one starts, and whether this is a hobby ( I consider it a hobby) or game.

We were outdoors folks , hiking, camping, hunting and fishing long before this hobby.  

 - Parking lots aren't my idea of "the language of location"...

I don't understand what's the attraction, other than a "point" in playing a game.     That's not a complaint.     

[+hzoi 1173]

7 hours ago, XRayPenguin said:

I also wanted to add that I get some angst from the knowledge that I should have started geocaching years ago, but I wasn't enlightened then, and now I have the shame of being a noob... I wanna be like you guys and have all the years under my belt so I can complain about noobs like me and LPC's 🤣

 

I'd wager that the only folks who don't have this angst are the charter members.  We started in 2007.  Wish I'd started in 2001 or so when I first heard about it and dismissed it.  If I had, this photo would be of me celebrating my find on Iraq's oldest geocache, and not in a log lamenting that I was right on top of it (I even remember seeing the pile of rocks) and didn't know it.

 

[+L0ne.R 1398]

1 hour ago, cerberus1 said:

Years ago we had an investment in this hobby (you had to buy a GPSr just to play), and wanted to learn all we could to return our investment.

 

This. 

[+L0ne.R 1398]

1 hour ago, cerberus1 said:

Maybe it depends on how one starts, and whether this is a hobby ( I consider it a hobby) or game.

We were outdoors folks , hiking, camping, hunting and fishing long before this hobby.  

 - Parking lots aren't my idea of "the language of location"...

I don't understand what's the attraction, other than a "point" in playing a game.     That's not a complaint.     

 

And this. 

[+Goldenwattle 922]

1 hour ago, cerberus1 said:

Years ago we had an investment in this hobby (you had to buy a GPSr just to play)

I found 180 caches before I bought a GPS. My car Tom Tom would get me to the area, and then I pulled out the map I had printed on (waste) paper and also looked at the ground to check for signs of where others had walked and followed that. Most confusing though for that method is when you get to GZ and previous finders have walked all over the place looking for the cache; then I didn't know what track to follow. Often I just stood back and scanned the area for likely hides. My GPS made it soooooooo much easier.

[+XRayPenguin 3]

 

8 hours ago, arisoft said:

 

It is always polite to ask if they want a hint before spoiling. All geocachers are not statistics collectors. Small small minority are geocachers.

 

So this is what I was talking about earlier... being taunted by people saying there are only a minority of "real" geocachers.  Makes me not want to immerse myself in the community.  

[+bflentje 327]

30 minutes ago, XRayPenguin said:

 

 

So this is what I was talking about earlier... being taunted by people saying there are only a minority of "real" geocachers.  Makes me not want to immerse myself in the community.  

 

The majority of the participants here in the forums move more hot air than they do finding caches. In addition, the people that like to hear themselves talk here in the forums represent a tiny fraction of geocachers in the real world. I would not come here for advice but come here for the entertainment value. So with that in mind, don't avoid the community based on people here in the forums that think their opinions are the gospel.

[+VAVAPAM 157]

7 hours ago, bflentje said:

 

The majority of the participants here in the forums move more hot air than they do finding caches. In addition, the people that like to hear themselves talk here in the forums represent a tiny fraction of geocachers in the real world. I would not come here for advice but come here for the entertainment value. So with that in mind, don't avoid the community based on people here in the forums that think their opinions are the gospel.

 

Wow.  That's quite disappointing.  Maybe ... I dunno, "filter what you read with your common sense while awaiting your ability to recognize which contributors give sage advice"?

Just sayin' that's more harsh than accurate, from my experience ... solely.

[+CAVinoGal 387]

9 hours ago, bflentje said:

The majority of the participants here in the forums move more hot air than they do finding caches. In addition, the people that like to hear themselves talk here in the forums represent a tiny fraction of geocachers in the real world. I would not come here for advice but come here for the entertainment value. So with that in mind, don't avoid the community based on people here in the forums that think their opinions are the gospel.

 

1 hour ago, VAVAPAM said:

Wow.  That's quite disappointing. 

I guess I am in a minority here on the forums then (though from my limited time here, I don't think so).  Granted, my caching has slowed this year compared to last, but that's been due to circumstances that forced geocaching to the back burner for a while.  But I still use the forums to glean useful information, bounce ideas around, and hopefully add some input that others find useful, if not entertaining.  I don't necessarily like to hear myself talk - and I definitely don't think my opinions are gospel. 

 

And, frankly, I don't get that vibe (hot air, like to hear themselves talk, think their opinion is gospel, etc) from most of the participants here either. I enjoy participating, interacting with other geocachers.  Yes, I'm new to geocaching and new to the forums (relatively speaking).  What's with reviving all these old threads??

 

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by CAVinoGal

[+The Jester 309]

9 hours ago, bflentje said:

 

The majority of the participants here in the forums move more hot air than they do finding caches. In addition, the people that like to hear themselves talk here in the forums represent a tiny fraction of geocachers in the real world. I would not come here for advice but come here for the entertainment value. So with that in mind, don't avoid the community based on people here in the forums that think their opinions are the gospel.

Let's see if I have this right:  You are giving advice to not get advice in the forum where you posted your advice?  So they shouldn't take that advice, and get advice here; but that means it they are getting advice here, which they shouldn't ...  pair of ducks!

[+XRayPenguin 3]

My whole point was to say that there is "angst" in being new to the hobby and feeling like you have to prove that you are a "real cacher" somehow... whether that be by years of membership, amount of finds, difficulty of finds, or the topic I brought up earlier about a CO taunting seekers as not being real cachers because they can't all find his 5D hide.  I was originally trying to add my 2 cents to the angst tree 😂

[+hzoi 1173]

7 hours ago, XRayPenguin said:

My whole point was to say that there is "angst" in being new to the hobby and feeling like you have to prove that you are a "real cacher" somehow... whether that be by years of membership, amount of finds, difficulty of finds, or the topic I brought up earlier about a CO taunting seekers as not being real cachers because they can't all find his 5D hide.  I was originally trying to add my 2 cents to the angst tree 😂

 

My only recommendation would be to have fun with it and not worry about other cachers.  The only cachers who aren't "real cachers" are those who log finds from the comfort of their own home.  You've found over 100 caches, and perhaps more importantly, you've made the effort to give back and hide some of your own.  I've seen people with thousands of finds who have never made the effort to hide a single cache.  You've arguably contributed more to geocaching in the last three months than they have in years.

 

As for the taunting CO, well, I'd hope that was done in jest.  If not, it doesn't sound like someone who I'd want to sit next to at events.

[+L0ne.R 1398]

9 hours ago, XRayPenguin said:

being new to the hobby and feeling like you have to prove that you are a "real cacher" somehow

9 hours ago, XRayPenguin said:

I brought up earlier about a CO taunting seekers as not being real cachers because they can't all find his 5D hide

 

Well then, after 18 years of caching, 1000s of finds, almost 7000 posts in the forums,  I'm not a "real" cacher either. I don't have even one 5D cache in my stats. I don't like needle-in-a-haystack caches. 

 

[+coachstahly 467]

12 hours ago, XRayPenguin said:

My whole point was to say that there is "angst" in being new to the hobby and feeling like you have to prove that you are a "real cacher" somehow... whether that be by years of membership, amount of finds, difficulty of finds, or the topic I brought up earlier about a CO taunting seekers as not being real cachers because they can't all find his 5D hide.  I was originally trying to add my 2 cents to the angst tree 😂

 

EVERYBODY was a new cacher at some point in time.  You keep caching and you'll begin to realize that you belong.  It took me a couple years to realize I was already a "real" cacher, regardless of what types of finds or hides I had and that what others said or thought of me didn't really matter in the larger scheme of things.  I wish I had realize that sooner.

 

Be content with what makes you happy when you cache and don't worry about what others think, say, or do.  That doesn't mean to ignore what they have to say but realize that they're coming at it from their experiences while you are coming at it from yours.  Their "way" works for them but it won't necessarily work for you.  If it does, great; if not, then no big deal.  There is no one right way to cache.  I've changed my caching habits from a find them all attitude (first couple of years) to being more selective in what types of caches I find.  Don't be surprised if you change as well.  It's part of the game.

 

Your years in this activity don't really make you a "real" cacher.  They just make you one that has stuck around a long time!  Those charter members and early members, however, are great to talk to and have some recollections about the early days that are neat to hear.  I have a couple friends with over 125,000 finds each but that doesn't make them any more "real" cachers than my friend who caches sporadically and has less than 1000.  I met some Canadian cachers this past weekend with a crazy high D/T average, but that doesn't make them any more "real" than my friend who has an average around 1.5/1.5.  As for the CO who is taunting seekers for not being able to find a 5D cache, that's uncalled for.  A 5D cache will, by nature, have significantly MORE DNFs than it will finds and every one of those DNFs is a "real" cacher who logged their adventure the way it should be logged.

[+coachstahly 467]

23 hours ago, bflentje said:

 

The majority of the participants here in the forums move more hot air than they do finding caches. In addition, the people that like to hear themselves talk here in the forums represent a tiny fraction of geocachers in the real world. I would not come here for advice but come here for the entertainment value. So with that in mind, don't avoid the community based on people here in the forums that think their opinions are the gospel.

 

Ouch.  Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?  That's a rather negative attitude to take toward your fellow forum members here.

 

You honestly believe that good advice can't be found here?  I can cite numerous times that show where advice has been provided that is appropriate, concise, and meaningful.  It might not be in this subsection (as this one seems to draw more opinionated discussions) but it certainly can be found.

 

[+barefootjeff 2312]

8 hours ago, L0ne.R said:

 

Well then, after 18 years of caching, 1000s of finds, almost 7000 posts in the forums,  I'm not a "real" cacher either. I don't have even one 5D cache in my stats. I don't like needle-in-a-haystack caches. 

 

 

I have four 5D finds, none of which I'd consider deserve anything like that difficulty rating. One is a traditional placed in 2002, when I guess the D/T ratings weren't as well defined, which I spotted in less than a minute after arriving at GZ, another a traditional rated 5/5 that was probably closer to a 2/3, and the other two were long (20+ stages) multis that I'd consider 3.5 or 4 D at most. I suspect many of the 5D caches out there are like those.

[+XRayPenguin 3]

7 hours ago, coachstahly said:

There is no one right way to cache.  I've changed my caching habits from a find them all attitude (first couple of years) to being more selective in what types of caches I find.  Don't be surprised if you change as well.  It's part of the game.

This is already true for me. I've learned how to use the filters to seek out the harder hides, multi caches, and mysteries. I wanna save the easier ones for when I need them, when things like MAtM happen, or there's a certain challenge to fulfill.  This hobby is really fun for me, and I wouldn't let anyone's negativity ruin that. I've been perusing used GPSr's and am hoping to have one soon. I do a lot of backcountry trips as is, so I'm excited to learn more about it for more than just geocaching.  Thanks for your kind words.