+sbell111 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) In the surprisingly angsty 8 Habits thread, nonaeroterraqueous made an amusing post that included, among other things the suggestion that some of us are rather obsessive and opined that this trait may cause us to search for a cache until the cows come home. It made me think about how long I typically look for a cache, if I can't find it. In his post, he mentioned a 'seven minute rule' that I'm not familiar with, but is probably a good description of my habits. You see, I kinda want to find the cache fairly easily once I've made it to ground zero. I don't want to have to search forever for it. How long I search depends on several factors, such as my patience, the weather, and whether bugs are trying to chew on me. Sometimes, I search for thirty minutes or so and other times I'm only good for a few minutes. What are your habits? How long do you search for the cache once you've reached ground zero? EDITED to add that for the purposes of this thread, please assume that the final cache location is not offensive to you. Edited July 19, 2007 by sbell111 Quote Link to comment
+flask Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 depends on the cache. ten minutes to seven hours. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 depends on the cache. ten minutes to seven hours. Seven hours??? By then, I'd have needed two naps and a piece of pie. Quote Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 For the first try 30-45 minutes if we have the time. (Weather, light, you know.) Usually by then we want to go home and read the logs and think about it. Then we go home and its archived or disables. After thinking and reading logs it is usually found pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 It depends on how much time I have already put into the cache, but I don't like to give up. I would say 30 minutes is my typical maximum amount of time to search for the container. Quote Link to comment
+team moxiepup Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 As long as the bugs are behaving, and there is no pressing "call of nature", we'll usually look for about an hour. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 It depends on how much time I have already put into the cache, but I don't like to give up. I would say 30 minutes is my typical maximum amount of time to search for the container.I hadn't thought of that. I guess that I would typically look longer for a cache that it took me a long time to get to than one that was easily accessed. Of course, I kinda hate hikes that end with a difficult hide. (That was just an aside, please don't let it make the thread take an angsty turn.) Quote Link to comment
+Too Tall John Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) Yep, depends. I tend to look longer if I'm with someone. Probably because we goad each other on & nobody wants to say "Ok, I give up!" Max I've looked solo: 10 mins Max I've searched with others: somewhere between 1 and 2 hours Yes, I can be obsessive. Apparently not as obsessive as others. flask? 7 hours? Edited July 19, 2007 by Too Tall John Quote Link to comment
bogleman Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 In the woods and I walked a LONG way - until I find it or I feel that it's gone. Urban with heavy traffic, no cover or personal cache monkeys - 30 seconds. With cover & the monkeys 2 minutes or so. Quote Link to comment
+flask Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 depends on the cache. ten minutes to seven hours. Seven hours??? By then, I'd have needed two naps and a piece of pie. yeah, sadly. and i missed a barbecue, too. i left the house in the morning for a quick FTF before i'd had breakfast or even brushed my teeth. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 depends on the cache. ten minutes to seven hours. Seven hours??? By then, I'd have needed two naps and a piece of pie. yeah, sadly. and i missed a barbecue, too. i left the house in the morning for a quick FTF before i'd had breakfast or even brushed my teeth. Was it a long hike or a long multi or did you actually spent 7 hours looking for the container? Quote Link to comment
nonaeroterraqueous Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Hey, my name is in the OP! I think I've graduated to the ranks of the forum regulars! I find that the more DNFs I get the shorter the time I'm willing to look. Shortest search time ever: 15 seconds without a find before giving up. Longest: about an hour. Average: ten minutes before I give up. If I like the location, and I have a piece of pie with me, I'll gladly put in more time. You think I'm kidding? My favorite way to geocache is to have a picnic near a cache site. If I find it, then great. If not, then I'm still having my picnic. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) It depends on how much time I have already put into the cache, but I don't like to give up. I would say 30 minutes is my typical maximum amount of time to search for the container.I hadn't thought of that. I guess that I would typically look longer for a cache that it took me a long time to get to than one that was easily accessed.Of course, I kinda hate hikes that end with a difficult hide. I was in Maryland a month ago and I decided to drive over to Virginia to bag a cache. I had never found one in Virginia so I was kind of pumped up. Anyhow, I drove along the GW Parkway and noticed one that was only 0.3 miles down a trail in the woods. It's important to note that I live in California and we don't have "woods." So I never cache in woods. Also the woods along the Potomac river are pretty thick and the trees are easily 100-125' tall. So if you haven't guessed it already, my GPS didn't work for crap in those woods. I don't have one of those fancy smancy SirfStar ones. Anyhow, when I got close the GZ, there was another trail that crossed the trail I was on. My GPS pointed to the right so I headed that way. Then it pointed back where I was so I went that way. I'm not kidding but at one time or another my GPS pointed down each trail. I tried looking for clearings to get a bearing but that didn't work. After about 45 minutes, I just set my GPS down and let it settle for 10 minutes. Then I finally got a reading that pointed me diagonally off the trail about 150 feet. I was elated to finally find the cache. I thought for sure I was going to DNF it. Edited July 19, 2007 by TrailGators Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) It depends on a bunch of things. A needle in the haystack micro. 5 min on a good day. One I've prepped for I'll look as long as it takes. Especially if it's got a bunch of DNFs on it but I know it's there. Of those I especially like the FTF where I know the coordinate has been blown but the force has whispered in my ear that I can find it. 30 min for a full size if it has no otherwise inspiring thing about it. The bottom line is: When the fun stops, so does the hunt. Edit: I also use the Tree Musketeers Method in groups. Edited July 19, 2007 by Renegade Knight Quote Link to comment
+Harry Dolphin Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 It depends. As little as ten minutes. As long as two hours. Depends whether I'm having fun, and whether I've exhausted all possible search locations, and whether Bear sits down and watches me search for another half hour. Quote Link to comment
Neos2 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Mostly depends on the rating the cache owner gave it. If it's supposed to be a fairly simple, straight-forward hide, we usually don't look more than about 15 minutes (we say we have a "10-minute rule" but it's really 15 with us). If it's obviously challenging, we'll stay until we've run out of ideas and we're looking the same places we just looked. Foul weather, intimidating or unpleasant surroundings, or hunger cut the time. And sometimes all you need is to leave the area, take a break, and drink some cool water, and suddenly you just "know" where the cache had to be. Often we'll go find another cache or two and then swing back by the DNF if anything new to try has crossed our minds. The ones we don't find the first time usually get the best logs and are always the most fun to finally get! Quote Link to comment
+flask Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 depends on the cache. ten minutes to seven hours. Seven hours??? By then, I'd have needed two naps and a piece of pie. yeah, sadly. and i missed a barbecue, too. i left the house in the morning for a quick FTF before i'd had breakfast or even brushed my teeth. Was it a long hike or a long multi or did you actually spent 7 hours looking for the container? actually spent 7 hours looking for the container. Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Depends on the difficulty rating more or less. For a 1 star - certainly no more than 20 minutes or so. For a 2 or 3 star 45 minutes to an hour. 3.5+ 1 hour or more per attempt. I once made 5 trips at about 45 - 60 minutes each for a 4. Of course I once spent about 60 minutes each on 3 trips to a 2 also. Depends on how much I like the spot and how obsessed my wife becomes with finding it. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 depends on the cache. ten minutes to seven hours. Seven hours??? By then, I'd have needed two naps and a piece of pie. yeah, sadly. and i missed a barbecue, too. i left the house in the morning for a quick FTF before i'd had breakfast or even brushed my teeth. Was it a long hike or a long multi or did you actually spent 7 hours looking for the container? actually spent 7 hours looking for the container. Did it take so long because it hidden on a beach full of beautiful thong muggles? Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 30 mins is my usual limit, unless it's a hard cache that I knew ahead of time that I would have to put in extra time. I think the longest I've searched is about an hour. Quote Link to comment
+flask Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 depends on the cache. ten minutes to seven hours. Seven hours??? By then, I'd have needed two naps and a piece of pie. yeah, sadly. and i missed a barbecue, too. i left the house in the morning for a quick FTF before i'd had breakfast or even brushed my teeth. Was it a long hike or a long multi or did you actually spent 7 hours looking for the container? actually spent 7 hours looking for the container. Did it take so long because it hidden on a beach full of beautiful thong muggles? no, it took that long because i'm obsessive and stubborn. uh, and stupid. ...or maybe not so much. a lot of other cachers came by to try. most gave up and went home. not me. Quote Link to comment
+bwmick Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Yep, depends. I tend to look longer if I'm with someone. Probably because we goad each other on & nobody wants to say "Ok, I give up!" MOst of my caching is solo while traveling so 5-10 minutes is all I am able to give up to a hunt. (most 4 hour trips now take 7-8 hours, oh well ) When I cache with others caching is usually the reason for going out and we are willing to spent more time at gz. besides it so much fun when you spot it right away to watch you friends look, and look, and look some more before they ask if you've seen it yet. bwmick Quote Link to comment
Clan Riffster Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 The longest I've spent on a single hunt was 5 hours. That was actual searching time, and does not include the 4 hour round trip drive to ground zero. It was a DNF. Other times I've quit within a couple seconds of starting my hunt. Other times, I see where my arrow is pointing, and just drive on by, heading to the next cache. It all depends on how much fun I'm having at the time. This can be impacted by many factors, including the location and my current attitude. Quote Link to comment
+mousekakat Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 If I like the location, and I have a piece of pie with me, I'll gladly put in more time. You think I'm kidding? My favorite way to geocache is to have a picnic near a cache site. If I find it, then great. If not, then I'm still having my picnic. You're on a roll, mentioned in the OP and quoted We like to picnic by caches, too... somehow or another food just tastes better after you've done a little hike and search, especially if it's a successful search! Longest we've looked is about an hour. Shortest is a lot shorter, especially if kidlets are tired and the man eating skeeters are hungry! Quote Link to comment
+Rockin Roddy Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 As long as it takes! Never hunted more than a few hours, but have done the drive-by and the walk away before! Quote Link to comment
+lake_wannabees Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 My caching time depends on hubby. If he's with me (actually sitting in the car with the air conditioner running while I'm in the woods), 10 minutes for a cache. If he's sitting at home not understanding why I'm out traipsing in the woods, 10 minutes for each cache. If he's busy somewhere and not even thinking about my caching, I'll go for 20 minutes unless I'm with some other cachers and then the game is on till one of us finds it. Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 The bottom line is: When the fun stops, so does the hunt. I agree completely, RK. If I'm scrambling on boulders in the mountains looking for the cache I will probably stay longer than looking for a micro outside a sewer treatment plant. Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 The bottom line is: When the fun stops, so does the hunt. Actually this quote from RK sums it up much better for me as well. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 The bottom line is: When the fun stops, so does the hunt. I agree completely, RK. If I'm scrambling on boulders in the mountains looking for the cache I will probably stay longer than looking for a micro outside a sewer treatment plant. For the purposes of this thread, how about we assume that we are at a cache location that isn't offensive to us. That way, we can keep the thread non-angsty. Quote Link to comment
+Shakedown.dave Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I usually spend about a half hour searching until I give up. Then I will go home, read the logs, and hopefully know where it is after that. Quote Link to comment
+CurmudgeonlyGal Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 While I don't have a specific max/min time frame, it's safe to say I'm incredibly impatient most of the time, and generally won't spend much time looking for a cache. Generally. I have, w/o a doubt, spent HOURS trying to find a cache in densely wooded areas (poor signal, waist high ferns, logs, trees, all in one spot) but probably nothing like flask's 7 hr marathon. A fried and I eventually got to the point where we'd decide just how long we were going to look for a cache either before we got out of the car, or just as we reached GZ and had time to assess the area (Each length of time was decided on independent of other caches we were seeking on the same trip). That seemed to work out really well for both of us, otherwise neither of us would give up, or cry 'Uncle' for fear that the other wasn't ready to head back so we didn't want them to feel like they were obligated to leave when we were ready to go. I am with RK though - as long as it's fun and the determination is there... why quit? michelle Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 The bottom line is: When the fun stops, so does the hunt. I agree completely, RK. If I'm scrambling on boulders in the mountains looking for the cache I will probably stay longer than looking for a micro outside a sewer treatment plant. For the purposes of this thread, how about we assume that we are at a cache location that isn't offensive to us. That way, we can keep the thread non-angsty. The answer is still the same. When it is no longer fun to keep looking. The "fun" will last longer depending on location and hide style. Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 While I don't have a specific max/min time frame, it's safe to say I'm incredibly impatient most of the time, and generally won't spend much time looking for a cache. <snip> I am with RK though - as long as it's fun and the determination is there... why quit? I agree. Sometimes, depending on the cache location, I have tremendous perseverance, and I'll look for a long time, while still having fun. Other times, I'll only look for a few minutes. Sometimes it is the cache location that contributes to the fun wearing off quickly -- barking dogs, busy street, cache hidden in sticky bushes, etc. Other times, its just me . . . Quote Link to comment
+Durbabe Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Edit: I also use the Tree Musketeers Method in groups. What's that? Quote Link to comment
+Hoosier Ranger Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 A few weeks ago I solved a very good puzzle cache in a little over an hour, then had the coordinates confirmed. When I arrived at the site it turned out to be an abandoned business. The location of the micro was surrounded by several large garbage bags, poison ivy, and a rusty 55 gallon drum intended to hold garbage As Renegad Knight observed: "When the fun stops, so does the hunt." In this case, the fun stopped in about seven seconds! I usually don't spend more than about 30 minutes looking, but that may depend on the difficulty and the area to search. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 The bottom line is: When the fun stops, so does the hunt.I agree completely, RK. If I'm scrambling on boulders in the mountains looking for the cache I will probably stay longer than looking for a micro outside a sewer treatment plant. For the purposes of this thread, how about we assume that we are at a cache location that isn't offensive to us. That way, we can keep the thread non-angsty.The answer is still the same. When it is no longer fun to keep looking. The "fun" will last longer depending on location and hide style. That post wasn't specifically for you. I just didn't want the thread to take the left turn that most do. I think you will agree that it's for the best. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) Edit: I also use the Tree Musketeers Method in groups. What's that? 'One for all and all for one'? I assume that it means that one person makes the find and everybody logs, rather than sitting around and waiting for everybody to find it. Edited July 19, 2007 by sbell111 Quote Link to comment
+Team GeoBlast Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 The bottom line is: When the fun stops, so does the hunt.I agree completely, RK. If I'm scrambling on boulders in the mountains looking for the cache I will probably stay longer than looking for a micro outside a sewer treatment plant. For the purposes of this thread, how about we assume that we are at a cache location that isn't offensive to us. That way, we can keep the thread non-angsty.The answer is still the same. When it is no longer fun to keep looking. The "fun" will last longer depending on location and hide style. That post wasn't specifically for you. I just didn't want the thread to take the left turn that most do. I think you will agree that it's for the best. Thanks for your efforts in keeping the angst out. My situation is different living on an island. In one search, I'd say my limit is an hour but in sum, never. I have less than 200 to go before I find them all. Quote Link to comment
+Bamboogirl Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 It depends on how interesting the clues and logs are. This in turn correlates to an annoyance factor in NOT being able to locate it, despite knowing it's there. The greater the annoyance factor, the longer we will search. This also depends on how many colorful ways we can say bad things about the cache owner while searching. This finally spirals into insanity and crawling around on the ground feeling blindly under stumps and wet rocks. The most time we spent looking was about 90 minutes in a creek bed full of fallen logs and hidey holes. The worst part was when my husband pulled it out of it's hiding spot that was where we had already looked 3 times and was where we had piled up the daypack, GPS and other hiking stuff. Have not had to spend anything like 7 hours searching for something, but I could easily see us doing 2 - 3 if the above applies. Quote Link to comment
+Vinny & Sue Team Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I am speaking here only for myself, and not for Sue, who is the other half of our team... Depending upon the cache (I am one of those selective elitists who decides not to even bother with over 60% of caches after I arrive near ground zero and have a chance to evaluate the setting and the related fun/legality/sanity quotients), I will spend anywhere from three minutes to ten hours in seeking a cache; in general, any time window over 45 minutes is usually reserved only for caches with a Terrain rating of 4 or higher (which are my preference, anyway.) In one case, a famed 5/5 cache named Devil's Hole in NNJ, Sue and I spent a total of 6 hours on the first weekend completing the stages and then trying to reach the final stage (this is the extreme one), and then returned a month later (yes, we drove from MD to NNJ to do it...), this time with the right gear, to spend another 1.5 hours (most of the time was consumed in setting up the safety gear) finishing the task and logging the find; our total time spent in scoring a find, excluding the driving time for the 232 mile trip one way, was about 7.5 hours. And, here is another example of how long some people will spend in hunting a cache, this time using one of our own Psycho caches: The FTF team, known as Team Psycho, which found our extremely difficult 5/5 rated Psycho Urban Cache #13 -- Impossible! - Give Up Now![/b, consisted of eight people and it took this team of eight persons over 20 hours per person across three weekends to finally complete the task and sign the log. The next team to score a find (just last month, in fact) on this cache consisted of five persons and it took them a total of two attempts across two weekends, totaling 15 hours per person, before they reached the top of the pier and successfully signed the logbook. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Edit: I also use the Tree Musketeers Method in groups. What's that? 'One for all and all for one'? I assume that it means that one person makes the find and everybody logs, rather than sitting around and waiting for everybody to find it. That's exaclty it. The Huckle Buckle Beanstalk method, (never even heard of this unitl caching). Is where one finds it, wanders off and lets others find it in turn until the last person has found it. Some groups like this method. When people who don't normally cache together get to gether how the group finds the cache is one of the questions that should be ironed out. Otherwise you may do your End Zone dance yelingl "Ha, Found it suckers, Who's Da Man...Who's Da Man!" and they are all looking at you like you are daft, with no appreciation for your prowess because they thought you would let them find it... I've been caching long enough to where I know dang well someone else gets to gloat next time so have your fun while you can. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 Edit: I also use the Tree Musketeers Method in groups.What's that?'One for all and all for one'? I assume that it means that one person makes the find and everybody logs, rather than sitting around and waiting for everybody to find it. That's exaclty it.The Huckle Buckle Beanstalk method, (never even heard of this unitl caching). Is where one finds it, wanders off and lets others find it in turn until the last person has found it. Some groups like this method. When people who don't normally cache together get to gether how the group finds the cache is one of the questions that should be ironed out. Otherwise you may do your End Zone dance yelingl "Ha, Found it suckers, Who's Da Man...Who's Da Man!" and they are all looking at you like you are daft, with no appreciation for your prowess because they thought you would let them find it... I've been caching long enough to where I know dang well someone else gets to gloat next time so have your fun while you can. I also prefer the Three Musketeers method. Your post got me thinking of someone who uses the other method, but can't find the darn thing. I'd hate to find the cache in a few minutes but wait around for seven hours while the other dude searched. (Who am I fooling? I almost never find the box first.) Quote Link to comment
+CurmudgeonlyGal Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I also prefer the Three Musketeers method. Your post got me thinking of someone who uses the other method, but can't find the darn thing. I'd hate to find the cache in a few minutes but wait around for seven hours while the other dude searched. (Who am I fooling? I almost never find the box first.) Have you met TravisL? After some time off, he is once again arranging entire events around group-speed-caching just so he can up his find count using the "one for all" method. michelle Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 Have you met TravisL? No. He doesn't live in one of my regular stomping grounds. Quote Link to comment
vagabond Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) In the surprisingly angsty 8 Habits thread, nonaeroterraqueous made an amusing post that included, among other things the suggestion that some of us are rather obsessive and opined that this trait may cause us to search for a cache until the cows come home. It made me think about how long I typically look for a cache, if I can't find it. In his post, he mentioned a 'seven minute rule' that I'm not familiar with, but is probably a good description of my habits. You see, I kinda want to find the cache fairly easily once I've made it to ground zero. I don't want to have to search forever for it. How long I search depends on several factors, such as my patience, the weather, and whether bugs are trying to chew on me. Sometimes, I search for thirty minutes or so and other times I'm only good for a few minutes. What are your habits? How long do you search for the cache once you've reached ground zero? EDITED to add that for the purposes of this thread, please assume that the final cache location is not offensive to you. I believe these cachers were the originators of the 7 minute rule Edited July 19, 2007 by vagabond Quote Link to comment
+wavector Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 It depends upon the Difficulty rating assigned to the cache. If the Difficulty rating is quite high I will keep searching if I cannot find it and will even revisit the site to search again the next time I am in the area, I enjoy the challenge of finding well hidden caches, especially if the challenge is in the Hide and not the Terrain. I like to see some of the ingenious ways that people hide caches. I don't see many answers reflecting the Difficulty level and the estimated search times for each level. Caches rated 3 or 4 stars for Difficulty are supposed to take a long time to find, hours as opposed to minutes and if I m searching comfortably for a 4 star cache I will keep looking as long as I able to at the time. We picnic near caches as well and I think it is a very common practice. The cache hunt provides a backdrop to the picnic or vice-versa. I have a cache (Archived for now) that was rated 4/1, it was very accessible yet very hard to find and this was one of the DNF logs left on the cache. We were determined we were going to find this cache so we searched diligently for close to an hour in the hot sun. We'll email the cache owner for a clue - not that we will be back in the area for a very long time - but to satisfy our curiousity. Thanks for taking us to this pretty lake - we did enjoy a picnic lunch before heading farther down the road. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 In the surprisingly angsty 8 Habits thread, nonaeroterraqueous made an amusing post that included, among other things the suggestion that some of us are rather obsessive and opined that this trait may cause us to search for a cache until the cows come home. It made me think about how long I typically look for a cache, if I can't find it. In his post, he mentioned a 'seven minute rule' that I'm not familiar with, but is probably a good description of my habits. You see, I kinda want to find the cache fairly easily once I've made it to ground zero. I don't want to have to search forever for it. How long I search depends on several factors, such as my patience, the weather, and whether bugs are trying to chew on me. Sometimes, I search for thirty minutes or so and other times I'm only good for a few minutes. What are your habits? How long do you search for the cache once you've reached ground zero? EDITED to add that for the purposes of this thread, please assume that the final cache location is not offensive to you. I believe these cachers were the originators of the 7 minute rule noobs Quote Link to comment
+whistler & co. Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Wow...some of you are REALLY patient! If we don't find it quickly (less than 1/2 hour), we're done. Then I go home, reread the logs for hints, check out the maps again, look for clues in gallery pics, and try to weasel/bribe hints from people. If a cache is close to home (less than 25 miles), it's not too bad, because we can go back relatively quickly for another try but if it's far...grrrr! Quote Link to comment
+tozainamboku Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) In the surprisingly angsty 8 Habits thread, nonaeroterraqueous made an amusing post that included, among other things the suggestion that some of us are rather obsessive and opined that this trait may cause us to search for a cache until the cows come home. It made me think about how long I typically look for a cache, if I can't find it. In his post, he mentioned a 'seven minute rule' that I'm not familiar with, but is probably a good description of my habits. You see, I kinda want to find the cache fairly easily once I've made it to ground zero. I don't want to have to search forever for it. How long I search depends on several factors, such as my patience, the weather, and whether bugs are trying to chew on me. Sometimes, I search for thirty minutes or so and other times I'm only good for a few minutes. What are your habits? How long do you search for the cache once you've reached ground zero? EDITED to add that for the purposes of this thread, please assume that the final cache location is not offensive to you. I believe these cachers were the originators of the 7 minute rule noobs I went caching with the on 7/7/07. We found 77 caches. The 7 minute rule was enforced and we had 7 DNFs. Of these only one cache was actually missing (coincidentally, it was nonaeroterraqueous's). The other six were either found by other cachers on the same day or were there when the owner checked on them later. When I cache on my own they amount of time depends on a lot of things. First, do I have to be somewhere else at some time. I'll abort the search because I've run out of time. Next, how comfortable do I feel looking around the area. I'll spend more time searching in a nice area with few muggles around than looking in bushes full of trash in a McDonalds parking lot. If the cache gets lots of DNFs but I'm pretty sure its there, I'll spend more time. But if there are lot of DNFs recently with no find and earlier finders had an easy time I may only give a cursory search since I'll assume the cache is missing. (However, sometimes the cache was just hidden better by a previous finder). If the hint seems to be a spoiler and I can't find the cache I'll often give up. (Sometimes it turns out that the hint wasn't such a spoiler afterwards and I was looking in the wrong place). Edited July 19, 2007 by tozainamboku Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I've been thinking about this. Sometimes when I'm looking for a cache I get distracted. There is a fish in the river, we try to set a rock skipping record. We try to see who can throw a rock the farthest. An abandoned car needs to holes poked in the sheet metal with lead. Something needs explored. Something shiny is down the ravine...Sometimes the last thing I'm worried about is actually looking for the cache. Quote Link to comment
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