Who Hides What?

[+brian b]

I have found several caches in New York and New Jersey, and it seems to me that by looking at the name of the person who had hid the cache, one can get a pretty decent idea of what the seeking will entail.

 

As I ponder this statement, a few people come to mind (keep in mind that I have not met these people personally, with the exception of BrianSnat -- but only in passing):

 

BrianSnat -- Generally, it seems that a BrianSnat cache will be one of two types: 1) a quick little hide (which isn't all that easy to find) at a unique location or 2) a lengthy hike with the cache placements at sites which are usually quite nice. This doesn't mean that it will be an awsome viewpoint, but maybe by the side of a brook, or in a hollow, or some other fine moment along the hike. These type of BrianSnat caches are usually hidden along a designated path of travel (his hiker series, his Ironworks series, etc).

 

jonboy -- anyone who has gone after a jonboy cache knows what is ahead of them -- a lengthy hike and an awsome view. It seems that any star on any map has a jonboy cache attached to it. Miles mean nothing (which is why many of his caches are not sought after -- they require an effort that few are able or willing to attempt). Finding these caches (and reading jonboy's words on his page) are a fullfilling experience.

 

Ziggy Crew -- Andrew has a talent with puzzles. It seems that with each new cache, a new approach to solving the riddle is needed. I can think of several that stumped me for day, sometimes weeks, before I had to grovel for a hint on the solution. His caches are widely placed with no real specific type of location -- parks and long hunts are both fair game.

 

Cache Family -- another Orange County hider (like Ziggy), the Cache Family's caches will bring you to parks you may not have known existed. They are sometimes difficult to find, but rarely difficult to get to.

[+Woodlit]

Just travel a little farther west, maybe another half hour drive? And you will find...

 

HarryDolphin has some tough puzzle caches.

 

Treequest has loads of creative hides. And places them in what people around here call "TQ spots". Because only he can find awesome areas like these.

 

Team Rampant Lion has caches that also usually require a fair hike, none of which is ever on level ground. My brother nicknamed them Team Rampant BillyGoat.

[+briansnat]

Packanackseems to find unique places right in town. No long hikes to breathtaking viewpoints, but if there is an out of the way place known but to a few, an oddity or historic site its a potential Packanack cache site.

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

brianb, since you're in Orange County, you forget to mention:

 

3bunts - Sometimes a long challenging walk in the woods, other times a quick micro in a rest stop and a shopping center. Anyone within a 50 miles radius of Orange County is guaranteed to see his hide (though the same could probably be said about jonboy and briansnat as well for their home areas, though jonboy's "southern" reach is less extensive than his northern one).

 

And locally I'd like to add:

 

spoosh - Seemingly easy but devilishly clever hides in nice normally unknown park areas, usually with nice views

 

OK Terrific - Pretty much same as spoosh above

 

We only have 6 hides, but the rep we're trying to gain is "nice short walks in urban parks with nice natural views or heavily forested parts of urban areas that only the locals normally know about that will make you think you're somewhere else". Our next planned hide in the spring is in a nature preserve in the middle of a very very urban part of the NE Bronx that few people know about (no its not Van Cortlandt Park ) and folks will be amazed because in the middle of it you can't see any of the very tall apt. buildings that completely surround it. We actually discovered it last fall just noticing it in a map in a phone book and couldn't believe it when we went to check it out.

Edited February 3, 2007 by HaLiJuSaPa

[+Frodo_Underhill]

Down in South Jersey this goes by the politically incorrect term of "profiling".

 

This thread will be constructive until it wanders into the territory of caches you may not care for and the chachers who place them.

 

Its much more sporting to figure this information out by caching and asking around when you run into other cachers.

 

My two cents worth,

[+Woodlit]

Does that mean you place traditionals or multis?

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

Does that mean you place traditionals or multis?

 

If you're referring to us, right now traditionals (micros where nothing else would work but preferably ammo cans or lock n locks), but our planned next hide will probably be our first multi.

[+nikcap]

Down in South Jersey this goes by the politically incorrect term of "profiling".

 

This thread will be constructive until it wanders into the territory of caches you may not care for and the chachers who place them.

 

Its much more sporting to figure this information out by caching and asking around when you run into other cachers.

 

My two cents worth,

 

Hopefully we wont get to that point.

 

The point of my recent mini challenge was to highlight some of the finest cachers around the state.

 

I can comment about the style of some of the local near me.

 

TwoCat and KiteGirl will provide you with mean little micros and crafty camos that will usually result in you making two trips and prefixing their caching names wit colorful words.

Peconic Bay Sailors and NatureBoy44 will also provide you with some crafty hides that might frustrate you beyond belief. You all have a good chance of taking a nice hike on one of their hides.

 

CondorTrax really turned up his hide rate late last year. You'll get a fun puzzle, crafty hide, nice walk and/or great park to explore.

 

White Whiskey is the new King Pellinore my suggestion is to come to terms with your fear of hights, the dark and tight places.

 

4Wheeling_fool and OldNavy are currently on my must do list. Both hide a mix of traditionals, multis and puzzles. All very creative and in unique and interesting locations, both have enough hides to keep me busy for the next few months.

 

As for the quoted cacher above.

You can't go wrong with a Frodo_Underhill cache, his puzzle are always interesting and creative, and the cache hides are usually straight foward in a pleasent location.

Edited February 5, 2007 by ekitt10

[+TwoCat]

And we can't let this get too far along without mentioning ekitt10. These two have some ingenious hides ranging from traditional caches with nice walks to evil micros...and then there are the puzzles...oh the puzzles! You know for sure you are in for a good hunt.

 

Happy Caching....

 

And if I could figure out how to put in the link to ekitt10's caches I would!

Edited February 4, 2007 by TwoCat

[+rhelt100]

There are two that come to mind in my area (western PA):

 

 

GoldSnoop - This guy specializes in micros of all types. I've done goldsnoop caches that are park 'n grabs...and I've done some that definitely weren't. I always know beforehand that if it's a goodsnoop hide and the difficulty is higher than 3 I'm in for one heck of a challenge. He also seems to specialize in hollowed out bolts and great camo in general.

 

 

Puppyman - Puppyman's claim to fame seems to be moderately difficult hikes in beautiful state parks. Many of his were already archived before I joined the scene, but the puppyman caches that I've done are always a challenge and certainly can't be done in less than a few hours.

[+nikcap]

I was searching for something else in the forums and ran across this interesting thread.

 

Here's a bump!

 

I'd like to see what people have to say a little more then a year later.

[+Mountain_Man_Mike]

Interesting thread but I am sure to spoil that.

 

We recently dedicated a cache day to Tree Quest finds. His caches are usually original but we did come across a few normal ammo hides, albeit in very nice locations. So I guess you might say there is balance, the more bland the area, the more unique the hide, and the more scenic of an area, the more regular the hide. I think I would generalize that the more convenient the area the more basic the hide will be, with expection of some urban micros.

 

I think if the cache is going to take some great effort (long hike, special tools needed, etc.) the reward should be commensurate.

[+TwoCat]

Let's add Sue&Barry to this thread.

 

By far they have some of the most nicely themed caches (pages and containers) being placed. You can always count on a smile when you find the container.

Edited March 6, 2008 by TwoCat

[+linuxxpert]

My forum title says it all....

[+Marcas_Found]

What we find interesting is that, as we get close to a cache by a specific cacher, we "size up" the area that we're looking at without really looking at the GPSr. After following some cacher's caches (4wheelin fool and Sofiecat for instance) you get an idea of what you're looking for. We're not always 100% correct but its amazing how many times we are. We were discussing this point just the other day and were going to post a thread on it until we read this one.

[+briansnat]

What we find interesting is that, as we get close to a cache by a specific cacher, we "size up" the area that we're looking at without really looking at the GPSr. After following some cacher's caches (4wheelin fool and Sofiecat for instance) you get an idea of what you're looking for. We're not always 100% correct but its amazing how many times we are. We were discussing this point just the other day and were going to post a thread on it until we read this one.

 

Knowing someone's MO is very helpful. Skigirl and I were striking out on a cache in Rhode Island a few weeks ago. 15 mins and nothing. A local came along and joined us and 30 minutes later the 3 of us were still skunked.

 

Then the local happened to mention that this hider is known for magnetic hide-a-keys. The instant he said that I looked around and saw an iron fence about 50 feet from our search zone. We had the cache in hand in seconds. A hide-a-key near the base of the fence.

 

There have been many times around here when I've had a hard time with a cache, then looked up who hid it and changed the kinds of places I was searching based on the owner.

[+KerBear]

as a cache hider-I try and make them all different. some short hikes, some longer hikes, different size containers, etc. wouldn't want anyone to catch on!! prob. the only thing in common with most of them is near water.

[+cachefamily]

And back to Orange County we have to mention the host of this thread brian b. I have only found 5 of his listed 35 caches (4 being part of a micro series), but he has a reputation for only hiding quality caches.