How many finds untul Un-noob'd

[+admo1972]

So far I have 17 finds (15 excluding events), and am only now starting to feel somewhat like a "regular" Of course, some of the people I have met have hundreds (and in one case 7,000 or so). So what is "your" magic number until you are no longer new?

 

In my opinion, I would say 20, as long as the finds are somewhat varied. A bunch of 1/1 is fine to start, with perhaps a few 3.5/3's or so, and a few micros and multies.

[+Arndtwe]

there is no "magic" number. you are no longer a noob when you feel that you are no longer a noob. no find limit could possibly determine that.

[bomb280]

Honestly I still feel like a noob and I have 168 finds. I guess it's because I see so many who have very few finds or lots of finds (300 or more). I think the reason for this is because some people get into caching and stick with it and some people get into it and get 30 or 40 finds and get burned out. I am going out of town in a couple of weeks and I plan on getting past the 200 mark. I think that is my goal to NOT feel like a noob.

[+Semper Questio]

I've been doing this for over 3 year and I'm coming up on my 1600th find milestone and there are still times I feel like a complete noob. Especially after I have multiple DNF's on a 1/1 urban micro and then get a major hint leading to a major DUH! moment.

 

Noobishness ain't a matter of finds, it's a matter of how you feel about your own experiences.

[+Miragee]

Well, sometimes I still feel like a newbie. There are certain kinds of caches I just cannot find -- cammoed M&M tube in a tree or bison tube hanging in a bush, for example -- and even after using GSAK for more than two years, I'm still finding out about new things that program can do.

 

Maybe that is what is cool about the game. Although there are some things that get repeated, and might get boring, there is always something that makes even veterans feel like a newbie again.

[+ThirstyMick]

I've already met you at half of the events I've been to; that makes you at least a familiar face!

 

I think for me at least it was probably around the point when I started hating the first cache I ever placed.. it's under PKs name but I made the (needlessly complicated but altogether stupid) puzzle; I'm pushing for archival..heh... not that I don't like puzzles; but I prefer the more clever ones and the location..well, kinda sucks. But I was so proud of it a year ago; I guess it shows some kind of learning has happened...

[+The Leprechauns]

For me, I stopped feeling like a newbie when I felt confident enough to answer questions, to explain geocaching to other people, to hide good caches, and to do other things to give back to the geocaching community. It had very little to do with my find count. There are plenty of people with hundreds of finds who still don't get it, and people with low find counts whose knowledge and experience I respect greatly. The most extreme example is a helpful geocacher who started right when I did, in summer 2002, and has a mere 47 finds to my 2375. Yet when he tells me something or gives an opinion, I listen very carefully because he is almost always right.

[crawil]

I think it's the same question as when do you really become an adult? At 18 years? 21 years? How many of us make stupid, immature, childish decisions well into our 20's, 30's and 40's (and beyond). It's all a state of mind.

[+StarBrand]

I think that has really shifted over time. When I got started, 50 to 100 finds seemed like a huge number and the mark of a seasoned cacher. Then as cache density increased, I started thinking more like 200. Now I think find count tells me little. Length of time since started, types of caches they go after, number of hides, geographical areas they have cached in, number of events, attitude, and many other small elements really define the point at which I don't consider them a beginner anmore. For some it comes quickly, others - it takes time and more finds.

[+T F T C]

I think it's 313.

[+BlueDeuce]

490!

[+TrailGators]

490!

491!

[MelN2LilMen]

Well, we've only done 4, so we are definately still newbies. However, we are the smartest, coolest type of newbies possible.