Quality or quantity, that is the question.

[+2202]

I believe its sad news that we hit over 1000 new caches this month, we will soon become like the USA, one on every street corner (so to speak).

Surely the watchword should be:- Less is more.

[+PopUpPirate]

Ones that have popped up near me all appear to be quality. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em - get some quality ones of your own hidden

[+Renegade Knight]

A persons cache hiding muse makes its own demands.

[nobby.nobbs]

not always.... sometimes people have lots of good ideas so more can be more but... mostly it isn't

[+Birders]

The more the merrier as far as we're concerned - keep laying 'em.

[+scottpa100]

I know where you're coming from, less is more, but don't forget that more people are joining in with the fun of geocaching. So they are going to place caches too. So the number is bound to go up.

[+Haggis Hunter]

More quality caches is the answer.

Edinburgh has had a few placed in the last month. I have enjoyed them all. Only one was placed in a not so desirable place, but the cache owner done an excellent job in making it more interesting.

 

Quantity doesn't have to mean loss of quality. You will get a few that are just basically NAFF, but give it some constructive criticism in your log.

[+Bambography]

Having just posted in the lost caches thread, this seems like a timely thread. I think it is going to become a delicate balance between the quality and quantity.

 

In Basingstoke, we seem to have quite a high concentration (mainly micros) and it has been great to have plenty to pick one every now and then, in fact theres still several i've not done. Although there is one place i'd think to place a micro in town, I don't think we want many more there, otherwise it would be just too much.

 

There are over 300 in quite a small radius so again quite dense. However there are plenty of places that i've identified on my OS sheet where decent traditional caches could be placed without stepping on the toes of any previsouly placed caches.

 

So yes, some town centres could easily end up saturated (Basingstoke centre is almost there) however with a quick look there are huge areas of the county for us to explore and place the quality caches we crave.

[+mongoose39uk]

Both!

 

Quantity does not always mean a loss in quality; in fact very local to here I would say the quality of the caches with some exceptions has been fantastic.

 

On Saturday I did 14 caches on a ten mile walk including caches (thanks for the company Billy the cache, GrahamBro and TJCache&Carry) by Wicker, Rose Thorn and madwozle. These were in very good locations and the quality of the containers was very good.

 

A few days before I had done 14 on the Moors around Saddleworth, again 14 very good caches, by Erny, Silver Dolar, Langden and M1YEO. These really are worth doing, spectacular views but a good hard walk.

 

I have also noticed a fair few caches coming out in the area by Stonefielders in areas that I know will be well worth visiting.

 

Over the last few months I have also seen the “Sound Of” and Kirklees Series of caches come out. These have provided very pleasant walks in nice country parks.

 

For those who like a good Multi Bargee has placed a few on the canals which also provide historical interest.

 

There have been a few not so great ones as well but this may be down to my preferences not that the caches are bad. Still did them though (I do like my numbers).

 

Ok, so there are lots of caches going out. There are a lot more active cachers so there are bound to be. Locally to me I have not seen a drop in quality, we always have had some caches that are not so great (and yes I include some of mine in that). However we now have an increasing number of ones that are very good.

[+Jimblonduk]

We find that with the broad spectrum of cachers, different cache placements mean different things to different people. Whereas some of the walkie types like a good long hike to get to the cache and think drive-by's are a waste of space, I know of less mobile people who wouldnt be able to walk that far and therefore think that quality is in a short distance from parking. Then there are those that you have to drive miles to get to, which doesnt really suit the cyclists. I could go on, but I wont......

 

We prefer a good puzzle cache to give our minds and bodies exercise but others hate them. We can respect that and see that every cache has its merits to someone somewhere.

 

Sometimes it can be a challenge to see the reasoning behind some cache placements, but isnt that challenge also a way of making the cache more interesting to some?

[markandlynn]

We ve seen a drop in quality over the years yes you get the odd gem still appearing but they are infrequent.

 

Thats why we use GSAK filters and the ignore list.

 

No one says you have to do every unfound cache within 50 miles of your house.

[+mongoose39uk]

We ve seen a drop in quality over the years yes you get the odd gem still appearing but they are infrequent.

 

Thats why we use GSAK filters and the ignore list.

 

No one says you have to do every unfound cache within 50 miles of your house.

 

Odd gem, just pointed out a rake of them!

[markandlynn]

We ve seen a drop in quality over the years yes you get the odd gem still appearing but they are infrequent.

 

Thats why we use GSAK filters and the ignore list.

 

No one says you have to do every unfound cache within 50 miles of your house.

 

Odd gem, just pointed out a rake of them!

 

With one thousand placed in the last month id still call them the odd gem

[+mongoose39uk]

We ve seen a drop in quality over the years yes you get the odd gem still appearing but they are infrequent.

 

Thats why we use GSAK filters and the ignore list.

 

No one says you have to do every unfound cache within 50 miles of your house.

 

Odd gem, just pointed out a rake of them!

 

With one thousand placed in the last month id still call them the odd gem

 

Done them all then?

[markandlynn]

We ve seen a drop in quality over the years yes you get the odd gem still appearing but they are infrequent.

 

Thats why we use GSAK filters and the ignore list.

 

No one says you have to do every unfound cache within 50 miles of your house.

 

Odd gem, just pointed out a rake of them!

 

With one thousand placed in the last month id still call them the odd gem

 

Done them all then?

 

No but id guess you allready knew that so why the question ?

[+rutson]

Mongoose's point is perfectly clear IMHO.

 

Out of the thousand, he's done 'a rake' of gems within his local area. OK, it may not be statistically significant, but you can hardly say there's only the odd gem.

 

No-one's forcing you to do all the caches, just do the ones you like and let the rest of us get on with it.

[markandlynn]

Mongoose's point is perfectly clear IMHO.

 

Out of the thousand, he's done 'a rake' of gems within his local area. OK, it may not be statistically significant, but you can hardly say there's only the odd gem.

 

No-one's forcing you to do all the caches, just do the ones you like and let the rest of us get on with it.

 

Did you read my post ? i clearly stated

 

Thats why we use GSAK filters and the ignore list.

 

No one says you have to do every unfound cache within 50 miles of your house.

[+mongoose39uk]

Mongoose's point is perfectly clear IMHO.

 

Out of the thousand, he's done 'a rake' of gems within his local area. OK, it may not be statistically significant, but you can hardly say there's only the odd gem.

 

No-one's forcing you to do all the caches, just do the ones you like and let the rest of us get on with it.

 

Did you read my post ? i clearly stated

 

Thats why we use GSAK filters and the ignore list.

 

No one says you have to do every unfound cache within 50 miles of your house.

 

Then perhaps you need to change the way you filter so you go out and find the gems then

 

Hey whatever, believe what you want!

Edited April 25, 2007 by mongoose39uk

[markandlynn]

Mongoose's point is perfectly clear IMHO.

 

Out of the thousand, he's done 'a rake' of gems within his local area. OK, it may not be statistically significant, but you can hardly say there's only the odd gem.

 

No-one's forcing you to do all the caches, just do the ones you like and let the rest of us get on with it.

 

Did you read my post ? i clearly stated

 

Thats why we use GSAK filters and the ignore list.

 

No one says you have to do every unfound cache within 50 miles of your house.

 

Then perhaps you need to change the way you filter so you go out and find the gems then

 

Starting a separate thread

 

edited to add something that was not here before

Edited April 25, 2007 by markandlynn

[+Stuey]

I believe its sad news that we hit over 1000 new caches this month, we will soon become like the USA, one on every street corner (so to speak).

Surely the watchword should be:- Less is more.

 

To keep the numbers down, perhaps all of us "old hands" who have had caches in place for years and years should archive them all to give the new cachers a chance? I SERIOUSLY don't think that by the way!

 

I'm happy that there are more caches. It will save me another trip to the USA to go on a serious numbers run

[+John Stead]

Rubbishy caches for the number boys can be ignored if they are properly described - I have to hold my hand up here as GC1130T is a parody on the title of this topic and another cache nearby. I described it as rubbish and yet there have been 18 finds (and a DNF) in just over two months.

Of course rubbishy caches will always be hidden but most of the new ones round my neck of the woods including those by some of the most profilic hiders have been well worth the hunt.

I don't mind how many are hidden so long as they are not just hidden to boost hiders' numbers and are at least hidden in such a way that they do not become geolitter which gets geocaching a bad name - but that is getting onto the old topic of when will people learn to hide caches properly and equally importantly rehide them where they should be.

[+ryme-intrinseca]

Hmm, I have been thinking about this quality / quantity thing too. I have several caches hidden within ten miles of my house, and there is one that I'm really not happy with, due to the location (this one, in case anyone cares).

 

I don't want to just archive it, as it is part of a series. However, I have been wracking my brains trying to think of somewhere else in Purbeck to place it, and I really can't come up with anywhere that I feel is a great location. I can think of several 'average' places, but the place it's in at the moment is 'average' (hence the Geocache UK rating of 'top 50%' I imagine!), so that wouldn't be an improvement.

 

There are some places where I would like to place a cache, but I haven't been able to get permission, so they're out. Also, I'm not happy about this one because it is a very small 'regular' - is this preferable to finding a micro, or should it be 'all or nothing' with a regular? I don't know. The present location would not support a larger container. Do I worry too much, perhaps?

 

On a slightly different topic, I feel I have been fortunate in that when I joined the hobby in 2004, there were less caches and therefore, in my opinion, more 'choice' locations left to use. I was recently thinking of placing a cache in Poole (dearth of caches there at the mo), and had got as far as emailing the council to ask for permission, when I saw Minxyy's log, saying that she was hoping to place caches there. Minxyy lives closer to Poole than I do, and as I already own several caches, I feel that it would be unfair of me to waltz in and take up all the best spots in Poole too.

 

So maybe that's something else we need to bear in mind. If we visit a cache and moan about how rubbish the location is, perhaps we should consider whether in fact this is because a lot of the good spots nearby are already taken. New members are just as entitled to hide caches as the rest of us, but perhaps now have less choice about where to put them.

 

Before you all start ranting at me, I realise that there are still plenty of good spots around, but I do think that the increasing number of caches makes it more difficult to place new ones.

[+Stuey]

Hmm, I have been thinking about this quality / quantity thing too. I have several caches hidden within ten miles of my house, and there is one that I'm really not happy with, due to the location (this one, in case anyone cares).

 

I quite liked that cache, and you might be worrying about it unecessarily.

[+ryme-intrinseca]

Hmm, I have been thinking about this quality / quantity thing too. I have several caches hidden within ten miles of my house, and there is one that I'm really not happy with, due to the location (this one, in case anyone cares).

 

I quite liked that cache, and you might be worrying about it unecessarily.

Thank you Since you found it though, the original hiding place has, er, been 'removed' - i.e. the post has been stripped of its ivy and I'm not so sure the new place is suitable.

 

Thanks though, glad you liked it.

Edited April 25, 2007 by ryme-intrinseca

[+Kelsborrow Wayfinders]

I described it as rubbish and yet there have been 18 finds (and a DNF) in just over two months.

 

As the pround DNF'r I would like to agree with John that it is rubbish.

[+Team S-J]

Quality over quantity every time. It would also be a great improvement if the types were categorised more effectively. With the number of multi's ever increasing and having two kids with whom it's hard enough to get out for the walk the prospect of a multi fills everyone in our household with dread. It's also no longer the case of loading up the gps and going out as invariably once in the vicinity you find it's a multi and without the paper work or mobile internet it gets abandoned. I've started to filter out the caches so I only carry traditional caches and leave the multi's for specific visits. And don't get me started on micro caches.....

[+Happy Humphrey]

It would also be a great improvement if the types were categorised more effectively. With the number of multi's ever increasing and having two kids with whom it's hard enough to get out for the walk the prospect of a multi fills everyone in our household with dread. It's also no longer the case of loading up the gps and going out as invariably once in the vicinity you find it's a multi and without the paper work or mobile internet it gets abandoned. I've started to filter out the caches so I only carry traditional caches and leave the multi's for specific visits. And don't get me started on micro caches.....

The cache description clearly states whether the cache is a multi or not. If you choose to ignore the cache descriptions altogether and simply load up the coordinates, I can't see why you complain when the cache turns out be be not what you were hoping for! It's your choice to work like that, but it seems an odd approach when the household has a "dread" of multicaches...

[+Team S-J]

I know it's my choice what cache I do. Take for example a local cache "The Unfortunate Street Names Set: 1 (Pestilence) by mumbo jumbo (GCYF91)". Now do a search of all caches near this location. It's a fair way down this list before you find a cache that you can go out with the co-ords given and find and "cache". So anyone who just has co-ords of caches in the area in their GPS can't cache while out and about. Some people like to research caches before heading out. Some people like to spend the day doing multi's. Some people just want the numbers. I'll do most types given the time to prepare for a trip. Sometimes thoug hI'm in an area I haven't been to before and my MIO has all the UK caches listed but only as co-ords. I've now started saving them to my MIO under different catorgories so I know if it's worth that 5 mile detour off the Motorway. From a similar thread currently running there are plenty of people who filter out caches. All I was trying to get over was the difficulty in just having co-ords in your gps. I also mentioned my kids. The kids do like a proper cache. They may not do any swaps but the rummage is generally the thing.

I wish I hadn't proffered an opinion now.

[+Happy Humphrey]

I wish I hadn't proffered an opinion now.

Sorry, my reply wasn't meant to be an attack on your method of caching. I know that several people simply load up coordinates from a PQ and go - and why not, if that's what you want to do. Having to click a couple of extra boxes in a Pocket Query to filter out Multis and micros doesn't sound too much trouble to me though, so I wasn't sure what the problem was. Obviously (now you've explained further), you like to have all caches in a wide area available in advance - possibly there's some way of arranging the load into the MIO which will differentiate the cache types (I don't have one so I can't advise).

Edited April 27, 2007 by Happy Humphrey

[Alan White]

my MIO has all the UK caches listed but only as co-ords

One thing to consider is to use a third party application to either massage the waypoint code to provide better information, or to use an appplication on your Mio which will provide full details of the cache.

 

In the first category, GSAK will enable you to do almost anything you like to the code. A useful code for the traditonal regular cache named GC12345 could be 12345TR, the multi small GCABCD ABCDMS, etc. The possibilities are (almost) endless.

 

In the second category, Cachemate, GPXSonar, BeelineGPS will all show the full details of the caches on the PDA.

 

None of these apps are free, but they're all very reasonably priced.

[+Firth of Forth]

Rubbish means different things to different people. You might, for example, not be a fan of micros and drive-by caches, but often there is a worthwhile reason for placing these.

 

Jack Aubrey and I set ourselves the task of placing some caches in Prestonpans for this weekend's 'Obliter8' CITO event. Now, we wouldn't normally choose this part of East Lothian for cache placements as the rest of the county is much more scenic. However, it's amazing what interesting spots you can find if you do some research. We found 5 worthwhile places to hide caches, including two monuments to the Battle of Prestonpans, which is of historical importance (the Jacobites slaughtered the Hanoverians ) and which I think are worth pointing out to others. The cache pages tell the story of the people and the battle.

 

But they're both micros and one is a drive-by. Rubbish, perhaps.

Edited April 27, 2007 by Firth of Forth

[+ryme-intrinseca]

FoF - That's the sort of micros I love finding - when there is a reason for them to be placed where they are, and when some thought has gone into it.

 

Some of my favourite caches are micros, e.g. this one. On the other hand, some other micros that we have found seem to have been placed randomly for no apparent reason! These shall remain anonymous (for now at least).

 

I generally have no preference - regulars, micros, nanos, virtuals, earthcaches - whatever. The container doesn't matter, it's where they're placed that counts to me. There are two exceptions to this, though - I love finding cunningly camouflaged micros or nanos, which are in plain view of muggles, and I hate walking for miles through thick vegetation, where a large cache could easily have been hidden, only to find a 35mm film pot stuck in a random tree (therefore, if it looks from the cache page that this is what it might be, I choose not to look for it).

[+Mr'D]

More the merrier, as long as they are more than 10 miles from my home

 

Seriously though... I don't mind doing micros, nanos, power trails, mysteries or multis. It all depends on the location. I have done many caches where I think why, or why, bring me here?

 

I have found I am being a little more selective over the last year on what caches I go for. I read some previous logs and think hmmm...not going to do that one! Perhaps in Berkshire we are reaching saturation point? The time must surely come.

[+2202]

Seriously though... I don't mind doing micros, nanos, power trails, mysteries or multis. It all depends on the location. I have done many caches where I think why, or why, bring me here?

 

I have found I am being a little more selective over the last year on what caches I go for. I read some previous logs and think hmmm...not going to do that one! Perhaps in Berkshire we are reaching saturation point? The time must surely come.

 

Could not agree more Mr Dewdrop, and in a number of locations, saturation point has well past.

I would like to add the following as precursors to quality caches.

 

Old adage, Location, location, location.

 

Plus, narrative, narrative, narrative. and engagement, engagement engagement.

 

And no doubt a few more. If you have those, then size does not really matter.

[+ryme-intrinseca]

Okay, after yesterday, I can now sympathise more with why some people don't like micros. I have found loads of micros that I liked, but now I can see why some badly-placed ones could put people off of them all.

 

No doubt I'll mortally offend several people by doing this, particularly the cache owner, but I'm so that at the moment I don't care.

 

We completed several caches yesterday, some of which we really enjoyed - including other well-placed caches by the same owner as the one I have linked to below.

 

However, a couple of them were not placed so well, not least this one. Even if I have got it all wrong, and the owner has permission for it to be there (in which case I apologise humbly), it seems a silly place to me.

 

This, two other seemingly pointless caches (owned by different people) (e.g. "we enjoyed finding this cache. The dangerous road, dried-up pond, burnt out car and broken glass all added to our enjoyment of finding a micro in a place where a large dustbin could easily have been hidden. And such a useful clue - "near a tree", when we're in a woodland, very useful when you have poor GPS reception due to thick tree cover - TFTC") coupled with the fact that our less-than-a-month-old purple Fusion broke down on the side of a dangerous road in the dark on the way home, really added to the general 'pantsness' (new word I just made up) of our day yesterday. I now have an irrational hatred of Basingstoke, I'm sure it's a nice place really - somone correct me if so?

 

What really annoyed me was that the security guard, aside from speaking to us as if we were about five years old, seemed to genuinely feel that it was our personal fault that the cache was here.

 

I'm sorry if I'm breaking any ettiqutte rules by putting the link here, but .

Edited April 29, 2007 by ryme-intrinseca

[+t.a.folk]

I now have an irrational hatred of Basingstoke, I'm sure it's a nice place really - somone correct me if so?

 

We have a couple of pairs friends who have happily lived on the outskirts of Basingstoke for many years .

[+ryme-intrinseca]

I now have an irrational hatred of Basingstoke, I'm sure it's a nice place really - somone correct me if so?

 

We have a couple of pairs friends who have happily lived on the outskirts of Basingstoke for many years .

 

Hehe, no, it seems a nice place really, especially the shopping centre, which we didn't have a chance to explore. I've calmed down now, I know I overreacted, it wasn't like I was arrested, or anything, and we did find some really good caches that day!

 

BTW though, two other people who found the same cache a while ago both emailed me to say that they had had a similar experience with security, so it wasn't just us. It's a shame, as it could potentially be a good location.

 

Sorry to anyone I offended, I'll be nice from now on.

[+t.a.folk]

Not offended us or our friends

[+Us 4 and Jess]

I can honestly say our attitude to geocaching has greatly changed this year, this time last year we were off screeching around the North East, Northumberland and North Yorkshire grabbing anything and everything we could, so as to build up our numbers.

 

This last weekend the sun shone all weekend and we never went out to look for a single cache, we did a few jobs around the house and garden and had a lazy weekend with family then went to the North East get together last night for a drink and a natter.

 

We have 92 caches within a 20 mile radius of home that we will get around to eventually.

 

I don't want to cause any arguments with anyone about any types of caches (remember it's only a game) if you want to do micros do micros if you want to do walks do walks, if you want to doo 10,000 caches in one day do it, what ever rocks your boat.

 

I asked Graham earlier this year if we could change our caching name and start from scratch again, this is not something he wanted to do not because of the number of caches we have found but for another reason, the reason I wanted to change our name and start again was because I now regret the amount of rushing around we did last year, we went to some amazing places and we rushed in and rushed out and never had time to appreciate our surroundings, and I wanted to start again and go back to all of the nice places.

 

One thing I would say to newbies now is take your time and enjoy the caching, whether it be micros, traditionals, multis ect. the caches will be there for years to come there is no rush.

 

The way we feel now we would rather walk 6 miles and take 2-4 hours and find one cache in a pretty area, and let Jess run free, than leave her in the car as we dash in and out all day and find 20 caches in the same time, we have done the mad numbers rush thing, and know what we have missed out on.

 

We were quantity, but now definitely quality.

 

But each to their own, "what ever rocks your boat", "you play how you want to play" as the saying goes.

 

Mandy

Edited April 30, 2007 by Us 4 and Jess

[+ryme-intrinseca]

I must admit, Saturday was the first time we have ever had a 'numbers' day, and that's pretty much purely what it was. I have this 'thing' in my head that, until we get to 300, we're still beginners! We did 23 caches on Saturday (plus some 'dnf's'), and I have decided that I'm not going to log all of my finds. I don't know how hubbie will feel about it, but for a small minority of the ones we found, I don't feel that I could write a nice, pleasant log, therefore I think I would rather not write one at all (Prior to this, our record for caches in a day was 12 - that was in London).

 

I know some people will think that's the wrong thing to do, perhaps negative comments are just as valid as positive ones, I don't know. I haven't logged any of them yet - I'm still thinking!

 

I'll stress again that we found some caches on Saturday that we really enjoyed, the badly placed ones were definitely in the minority. I feel ungrateful in a way, because someone's obviously taken the time to go and place all of these, and write a page for them.

 

I take my camera with me when caching, as I am a keen photographer. No matter where the cache is located, I always find something to take a photo of. This makes you slow down and look at the area, take in the atmosphere etc. When we visited Blue Lake cache in Mid Wales, I noticed that other cachers had said how lovely it was to swim there. So I took my cossie and did just that. It meant we didn't have as much time to find other caches, but we had a lovely day so it doesn't matter!

Edited April 30, 2007 by ryme-intrinseca

[+keehotee]

Just to add my own bit......

 

Went out yesterday with some friends from out of town to do a nice series on the Moor. We ended up doing a lot of walking, and managed to bag 11 caches for them (I'd already done all but 3 ) - but out of those 11 - given that this was Dartmoor, with a multitude of hiding places of every description - only one cache was what could be called regular - and even that was only a small tub.

 

Don't get me wrong - all of them were great caches, in great locations, and made us work for the numbers - but unless they were opportunist caches ("I found this great spot, and I just happened to have a micro prepped in my bag, so.....") and with so many hiding holes around, why were they all micros ???

[+ryme-intrinseca]

Don't get me wrong - all of them were great caches, in great locations, and made us work for the numbers - but unless they were opportunist caches ("I found this great spot, and I just happened to have a micro prepped in my bag, so.....") and with so many hiding holes around, why were they all micros ???

 

Yes, that's exactly how I feel. If a location will not support a large cache, then fair enough. But if there are plenty of places for a regular, and the landowner is in agreement, then I personally feel that that's the better option.

 

On the other hand, if you find a 3 litre tub with a log book, a soggy tissue, half a McDonald's toy and a broken pen, then perhaps a micro wouldn't have been so bad! (uh-oh, I'd better be careful, or the 'trde up / trade down' discussion will start again! ).

 

As I think I've mentioned above, though, I love finding well camouflaged nano's, so that would be an exception. There is a cache close to my home which is tiny and which I know will be a difficult walk - this one - but I definitely want to find it sometime, it sounds like a good challenge!

[+Seasider]

An age old debate which has been raging since the birth of the sport. Just do a forum search for Robin Lovelock and you will see threads from 2001/2002 where 35 caches west of London were considered too much.

 

The day when supply outstrips demand and the FTF cachers can't even be bothered dashing out anymore is when the problems begin. I've just started caching again after a long break and it's great to see oodles of good caches from new cachers (new to me) in my neck of the woods which has got my interest again and will keep me busy for a while. I'm sure there are bad caches as well but I can always ignore them as I have always done in the past.

 

Cheers!

 

Seasider

[quimbly]

Well, I like a quality long multi - did one on Saturday morning that took us 1.5 hours for the round trip. Really enjoyed it - fabulous weather, lots of wildlife, an interesting monument, beautiful bluebell woods and a well-hidden cache. And we had it all to ourselves - apart from a distant farmer in a Landrover at the far end of the field at one point, we didn't see another human soul.

 

But still, caching to me isn't all about a nice long walk. It can be the excitement of seeing a new cache pop up in your area and knowing that you can dash out at lunchtime from work and bag it - possibly being FTF. One of these opportunities recently got me a lovely FTF pin badge. Even these short dashes can introduce an area you didn't know existed.

 

I can't think of a single cache I've absolutely *hated* - OK, some of them were very quick and fade from memory quickly. But you simply don't know how good/bad a cache is until you get there - and for that reason I don't really filter caches by type. I'm not *that* keen on micros - but then I tend to leave my glasses in the car But I do recall some memorable ones - particular one above the Cat & Fiddle in biting wind & snow - my fingers nearly dropped off signing the log.

[+Sensei TSKC]

 

BTW though, two other people who found the same cache a while ago both emailed me to say that they had had a similar experience with security, so it wasn't just us. It's a shame, as it could potentially be a good location.

We did that cache esterda and we too were confronted by a security guard. He actually told us about your encounter and the fact that the cache had since been removed!

 

BTW we were signing the log at the time he told us this and we returned it right under his nose. Must admit though, there was a lot of rubbish strewn about and not particularily the best cache.

 

Oss!

[+ryme-intrinseca]

 

BTW though, two other people who found the same cache a while ago both emailed me to say that they had had a similar experience with security, so it wasn't just us. It's a shame, as it could potentially be a good location.

We did that cache esterda and we too were confronted by a security guard. He actually told us about your encounter and the fact that the cache had since been removed!

 

BTW we were signing the log at the time he told us this and we returned it right under his nose. Must admit though, there was a lot of rubbish strewn about and not particularily the best cache.

 

Oss!

 

I think we did a lot of the same caches actually, I'm just logging my finds, and your name is on most of them! I have also been laughing at some of the logs written by one of your fellow cachers for yesterday!

 

At least you actually found this one though, well done, we had to give up before we'd located it. I'd love to know exactly where it was hidden!

[+John Stead]

The day when supply outstrips demand and the FTF cachers can't even be bothered dashing out anymore is when the problems begin. I've just started caching again after a long break and it's great to see oodles of good caches from new cachers (new to me) in my neck of the woods which has got my interest again and will keep me busy for a while.

 

Seasider

 

Good to see you are around again John - welcome back, I look forward to seeing lots of logs from you!

[+Alibags]

What really annoyed me was that the security guard, aside from speaking to us as if we were about five years old, seemed to genuinely feel that it was our personal fault that the cache was here.

 

I am sorry you had such a negative experience. I dealt with the same security guard at that cache, or at least his mate, and he was courteous and friendly, although adamant that the cache was no longer there as the treasure hunter from the day before (yourself) had removed it. He seemed genuinely interested in geocaching and asked me about it, and I explained that if the cache has been placed without permission that this was probably as the result of an error, and we would take it seriously and get it removed from the website. He did not seem to be a jobsworth at all, and was more concerned with H&S issues, such as us getting damanged by debris left by drug users (none of which i saw, so I guess they cleared it up).

 

The cache was just another urban micro. Not dreadful, not brilliant. I too liked the statue. I dare say a more discreet replacement could be placed away from shopping centre property, perhaps as an offset. This location will never support a brilliant top 10 in the country cache, but urban micros have their place too! I enjoyed numbers run in Basingstoke, even though none of the caches were particularly spectacular. None are in my top 10 worst ever caches list either!!

[+Team Sieni]

Just read this thread and had a look at the cache in question (the one where quite a few logs report being told by security guards that they shouldn't be there) and see it's now been temp disabled.

 

Hats off to the guards for doing their job properly, I say. Not a job I'd fancy.

 

Incidentally, what is it about drug users' needles? They always seem to be present in every bad cache location.

[+Team Sieni]

I can honestly say our attitude to geocaching has greatly changed this year, this time last year we were off screeching around the North East, Northumberland and North Yorkshire grabbing anything and everything we could, so as to build up our numbers.

 

This last weekend the sun shone all weekend and we never went out to look for a single cache, we did a few jobs around the house and garden and had a lazy weekend with family then went to the North East get together last night for a drink and a natter.

 

We have 92 caches within a 20 mile radius of home that we will get around to eventually.

 

I don't want to cause any arguments with anyone about any types of caches (remember it's only a game) if you want to do micros do micros if you want to do walks do walks, if you want to doo 10,000 caches in one day do it, what ever rocks your boat.

 

Very like how we go about caching.

 

We sometimes route walks away from caches so as not to exhaust an area and to leave some for our next visit. If and when we ever finish Mole's Hill View series will be a sad day.

 

There's one in a park just up 5 min up the road from us. But for some reason I don't feel at all motivated to go & look. Been to that park enough times over the years. Walk past it most days.

 

A couple of years ago I solved some mathematical puzzle caches but when I found the locations weren't anywhere we were keen on going, never got around to going out for them. I've not been much interested in puzzle caches since. Which is odd, seeing as I and the other half of Team Sieni are fans of various kinds of puzzle (cryptic crosswords, New Scientist enigma, sudoku, kakuru, all that stuff)

 

Conversely I have sometimes wondered about having a bash at a mega-caching day and hoovering up a load in central London. The recent Helen in Mustardland threads reminded me of this. We've discussed this and thought we might start up an alter ego account for it, if we ever got around to doing it ... which we almost certainly won't.

 

(Usual disclaimer that others may differ)

Edited May 1, 2007 by Team Sieni