What's with the takers?

[TabulaRasa_]

My husband and I had been Geocaching for a few months before we got our GPS (borrowed one first, actually, from my uncle), so we decided not to place any caches till we were familiar with how our system worked and comfortable with its accuracy.

 

The upshot is, we'd found more than 50 caches before we placed our first. In the past six weeks we've placed eight, and now I'm getting logs from all of the people who are finding our caches, and I can't help but notice how many of these people find hundreds of caches without placing a single one. That just doesn't seem fair.

 

We aren't wealthy, but we can certainly manage to put together nice, well-stocked caches, and place them in areas people may not be familiar with, although our area, the South Shore of Nova Scotia, is quite saturated. I don't see why people who have been enjoying the sport for years can't be bothered. Not even a micro!

 

What's with the takers? Isn't finding only half the game?

[+Miragee]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Some people are finders, some people are hiders, and some people enjoy doing both things.

 

I don't want to look for a cache placed by someone who just put out a cache because they thought they should, or because they felt pressured to do so. Caches should be placed by people who find a cool spot they want to share with fellow cachers. Also, some people just aren't in a position to hide and maintain a cache. Long-haul truckers and full-time RVer, for instance.

[+TrailGators]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Some people are finders, some people are hiders, and some people enjoy doing both things.

 

I don't want to look for a cache placed by someone who just put out a cache because they thought they should, or because they felt pressured to do so. Caches should be placed by people who find a cool spot they want to share with fellow cachers. Also, some people just aren't in a position to hide and maintain a cache. Long-haul truckers and full-time RVer, for instance.

I agree.

[+TMAACA]

While probably not the majority, I think some cachers hide caches under a different account than the one track their finds on.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Some people are finders, some people are hiders, and some people enjoy doing both things.

 

I don't want to look for a cache placed by someone who just put out a cache because they thought they should, or because they felt pressured to do so. Caches should be placed by people who find a cool spot they want to share with fellow cachers. Also, some people just aren't in a position to hide and maintain a cache. Long-haul truckers and full-time RVer, for instance.

Exactly! Some are meant to hide, and some, well, it would be best if they did not hide! And, in any case, in most regions in North America nowadays, there is such an over-abundance of geocaches that there is simply no need for more caches!

[+briansnat]

I'd rather that people who aren't interested in taking care of caches, not hide them.

[+cache_test_dummies]

My reasons for not hiding more caches are two-fold.

 

First, because of who I am, I stress over my caches. When someone logs a DNF, I feel like I need to run right out and check on the cache. I visit my caches when they don't get logged because I worry about them still being there. As much as I like the few caches I have hidden, I just wouldn't be comfortable having many more.

 

Secondly, I live in a very cache-rich area. I'm sure I could squeeze in a few more caches somewhere, but would I really be contributing in a meaningful way to the local community if I did so? There are some really great local cachers who do a superb job at hiding caches, and they seem to really enjoy doing it.

 

I asked a very similar question a few years back, and the responses I got made me understand that there are many ways to contribute to the geocaching community. As much as I wish I could be, I'll never be a great hider like so many out there. So I'll do the best I can to contribute in other ways, like by answering questions here in the forums, helping travel bugs along, doing on-site maintenance of caches when I find that they need a bit of help, and by supporting responsible geocaching in general.

[+BlueDeuce]

My husband and I had been Geocaching for a few months before we got our GPS (borrowed one first, actually, from my uncle), so we decided not to place any caches till we were familiar with how our system worked and comfortable with its accuracy.

 

The upshot is, we'd found more than 50 caches before we placed our first. In the past six weeks we've placed eight, and now I'm getting logs from all of the people who are finding our caches, and I can't help but notice how many of these people find hundreds of caches without placing a single one. That just doesn't seem fair.

 

We aren't wealthy, but we can certainly manage to put together nice, well-stocked caches, and place them in areas people may not be familiar with, although our area, the South Shore of Nova Scotia, is quite saturated. I don't see why people who have been enjoying the sport for years can't be bothered. Not even a micro!

 

What's with the takers? Isn't finding only half the game?

 

Geocaching is a community sport. I place caches to invite the community to find them.

 

I would never place some sort of obligation on the people I invited to pay me back.

 

I'd rather be invited with no strings attached.

[+StarBrand]

There are many ways to give back to this community. Holding events, setting up events, participating in CITO, leaving nice swag, repairing other's caches, leaving good logs, answering questions, holding classes, and for some - hiding good caches.

[+Trucker Lee]

I'd rather that people who aren't interested in taking care of caches, not hide them.

 

There are many ways to give back to this community. Holding events, setting up events, participating in CITO, leaving nice swag, repairing other's caches, leaving good logs, answering questions, holding classes, and for some - hiding good caches.

 

What these two said! Some folks may not have the knack to hiding a good cache, thus the LPC. (ducking ).

[+Harry Dolphin]

I hide caches that I'm proud of (for the most part). I mantain them. I wish that that were true of all geocachers. Enough said.

[+Pazifik]

I can see a reason: Currently, there are e.g. 3.651 (!) enabled caches in Nova Scotia and 39.322 caches spread all over your home country. I guess, that should be sufficient for a pretty busy cacher-life up to the age of 120 and above

 

I can see no need and no sense in "forced overequipping" every km² of this planet and so do obviously many more. Above all, it's not primarily a question of "have to", it's a question of skill indeed. Nobody is forced searching for boxes, but i personally wish that some (few) cachers never started hiding their boxes . And if boxes like that were just a few miles away, even though I wouldn't pay them a visit. Not every single location (including mine, of course) is worth a Pulitzer-price, but sometimes the riddles themselves are reason enough saddling one's horse. And when times go by, you will develop a very accurate feeling for "worthy" caches. And luckily, the meaning of worthy is at least as widespread as our cacher-hearts, so that all attitudes can co-exist easily beside each other. And as mentioned above, you will be busy the rest of your lifetime just seeking for the ones already existing. And hopefully, you'll be satisfied by doing so

 

On the other hand i appreciate very much the attitude of cachers to contribute to the community whatever they do, examples have been mentioned enough above. In your case, it seems to be hiding caches as well, that's pretty fine. Northern America and Central Europe are not really suffering from "cachelessness" at all. On the contrary, it seems to become more and more difficult to find 100 km² without our boxes And a box that has been hidden just to be hidden, had better been unhidden If i weren't absolutely sure that a location has to be canned in any case to provide a "wow" for my fellow cachers, or to dedicate anything special to a special person, my last idea would be "boxing around"

 

I don't actually know, how many active account holders there are on this planet currently, but i am truly sure that there are enough to let everybody participate in our sport like they want to do without being angry with or forcing them to participate in a specific manner.

 

Greetinx from the green heart of Europe

Edited October 15, 2007 by Pazifik

[+Anonymous']

I hid a couple caches that took a bit of work a few years ago. I wasn't able to maintain them as much as I could so I archived them. Caching has changed so much since then and now when I want to hide what I call a "quality" cache I can't because of cache spam.

[+TrailGators]

Nobody is forced searching for boxes, but i personally wish that some (few) cachers never started hiding their boxes

I agree. This is often what happens when people just quickly toss caches out there because they are trying to maintain some ridiculous find/hide ratio. People should take their time and hide something special when they have time to do it. Geocaching is supposed to be fun and low pressure.

[+meralgia]

I don't think I've read anything that has implied that you're ever "supposed to" place a cache. It's good that you had quite a few under your belt before attempting to place one, in any case.

 

I think there are four main reasons that people don't place them:

1) A Good Reason:

When I started, there weren't many PNG's between my mother and myself; most of the caches are in wooded areas and you have to drive quite a while to do a series.

 

2) Creativity

If I hide a cache on the playground equipment, I have to ensure that they're either too hard for little fingers to extract or in a spot where they wouldn't normally see them. There is a high risk of muggling in these situations, so it is more difficult than it seems to find a "good" spot.

 

3) Cost

My husband commented, just last week, that he "just filled" the gas tank. There is an obligation, of sorts, to make sure they are still there after one or two DNFs. We all know the frustration of trying to find something that doesn't exist.

 

4)Time and/or Energy

These are often in short supply for me. I hold two jobs, have a seven-year-old, and enjoy hobbies that don't involve geocaching (gasp! - how can that be??).

 

I'd say that if you have all of the above, go for it. If not, don't feel badly about leaving it to those who do.

Edited October 15, 2007 by meralgia

[nonaeroterraqueous]

We aren't wealthy, but we can certainly manage to put together nice, well-stocked caches, and place them in areas people may not be familiar with, although our area, the South Shore of Nova Scotia, is quite saturated. I don't see why people who have been enjoying the sport for years can't be bothered. Not even a micro!

 

(emphasis added)

 

Sounds like you just answered your own question.

 

My reasons for not hiding more caches are two-fold.

 

First, because of who I am, I stress over my caches....

 

Secondly, I live in a very cache-rich area....

 

My apollogies for cutting out so much of this well-written post. I just wanted to say that it summarizes my feelings exactly.

[+Bamboogirl]

Interesting idea - how not placing caches implies one is not being 'fair' to the game.

 

I'm still pretty much a newb at this. Love the game and the new places I've seen. Have gotten a pretty good feel for what's a good hide and what's not.

 

So far, I've got 2 out there that I've completely stressed over - good camo, good swag, spots worth visiting, etc. Next project is a micro that's got some camo I've never even seen on any of the boards.

 

What I will not do is toss caches out "just because". There's enough poor-quality hides our there to gag a maggot. I love the idea of placing a really great cache. But unless I can come up with something different and well worth someone's time to go find, it's just not going to happen.

[+egami]

The way I look at it even with a hefty ratio of seekers to hiders there seems to be some semblance of balance. And, personally, if people aren't going to maintain caches, place interesting caches and such...better that they just be seekers and not hiders.

 

Me personally, been in the middle of job change in move in the past year. I have a handful I am getting ready to place in my area, but even then...I'll only place what I am willing to manage well and that isn't as many as I've seen on some peoples profiles.

[+eigengott]

our area, the South Shore of Nova Scotia, is quite saturated

 

So what's the complaint?

[+wimseyguy]

There are many ways to give back to this community. Holding events, setting up events, participating in CITO, leaving nice swag, repairing other's caches, leaving good logs, answering questions, holding classes, and for some - hiding good caches.

Dingdingdingding-we have a winner!

 

I've even had a few ready to go for a few months, but haven't been in the mood to seek out a good spot.

I've also got a puzzle page created for one of them.

[+Kealia]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Some people are finders, some people are hiders, and some people enjoy doing both things.

 

I don't want to look for a cache placed by someone who just put out a cache because they thought they should, or because they felt pressured to do so. Caches should be placed by people who find a cool spot they want to share with fellow cachers. Also, some people just aren't in a position to hide and maintain a cache. Long-haul truckers and full-time RVer, for instance.

 

There are many ways to give back to this community. Holding events, setting up events, participating in CITO, leaving nice swag, repairing other's caches, leaving good logs, answering questions, holding classes, and for some - hiding good caches.

 

These are the same responses that I would have typed as well.

 

How's this for consensus so far?

[+Shop99er]

There are many ways to give back to this community. Holding events, setting up events, participating in CITO, leaving nice swag, repairing other's caches, leaving good logs, answering questions, holding classes, and for some - hiding good caches.

Dingdingdingding-we have a winner!

 

I've even had a few ready to go for a few months, but haven't been in the mood to seek out a good spot.

I've also got a puzzle page created for one of them.

 

Awful nice of you to say exactly what I was gonna.....

[+keithlemons]

My husband and I had been Geocaching for a few months before we got our GPS (borrowed one first, actually, from my uncle), so we decided not to place any caches till we were familiar with how our system worked and comfortable with its accuracy.

 

The upshot is, we'd found more than 50 caches before we placed our first. In the past six weeks we've placed eight, and now I'm getting logs from all of the people who are finding our caches, and I can't help but notice how many of these people find hundreds of caches without placing a single one. That just doesn't seem fair.

 

We aren't wealthy, but we can certainly manage to put together nice, well-stocked caches, and place them in areas people may not be familiar with, although our area, the South Shore of Nova Scotia, is quite saturated. I don't see why people who have been enjoying the sport for years can't be bothered. Not even a micro!

 

What's with the takers? Isn't finding only half the game?

[+Snoogans]

I'd rather that people who aren't interested in taking care of caches, not hide them.

 

Yep. What he said.

 

You DA MAN Brian!

[+Bushlight]

Some are hiders and some are finders.

[+Snoogans]

I hid a couple caches that took a bit of work a few years ago. I wasn't able to maintain them as much as I could so I archived them. Caching has changed so much since then and now when I want to hide what I call a "quality" cache I can't because of cache spam.

 

 

 

That's the funniest thing I've read in the forums in months. Do you actually believe that last part or do you just have an ax to grind?

 

Personally, I haven't seen a lamp post, dumpster, or guardrail cache, which many folks (not me) consider spam keep any "quality" hides from being hidden within .1 of a mile.

 

[+Snoogans]

Some are hiders and some are finders.

 

Hider here with a greater than 1:10 ratio. I love finders. They find what I hide. They give me logs and I take 'em.

 

 

BTW- GREAT POST Starbrand.

[Phatfish16]

I have to admit that I placed my first 5 caches out of the internal feeling that I wasn't personally contributing to geocaching. I only had about 100 finds or so when I hid my first. But now that I'm nearly at 200 finds, I've only hid 6. 5 of which were a series of caches. Those 5 started as just 1 hide so that i didn't feel so guilty. Then I thought, "Hey, I jog along this path everyday, might as well share my path with others." I then added 4 more to that first and turned it into a series. I feel that I should hide more, even have about 8 or more cache containers ready and able to be hid out there...but I haven't found a spot suitable or worthwhile.

 

This is just my 2 cents, but I'm sure others may feel that need to hide a cache simply as a guilt trip...internally probably. But there's absolutely no reason that someone needs to hide a cache. If people get interested in the hide, the sociological aspect of the game might intrigue them enough to hide their own. I know that before my first hide I thought, "I could do this." Then I hide one. Now that I've got a few out there, which may not be choice hides, I feel comfortable enough to wait on great locations.

[+Team Cotati]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Some people are finders, some people are hiders, and some people enjoy doing both things.

 

I don't want to look for a cache placed by someone who just put out a cache because they thought they should, or because they felt pressured to do so. Caches should be placed by people who find a cool spot they want to share with fellow cachers. Also, some people just aren't in a position to hide and maintain a cache. Long-haul truckers and full-time RVer, for instance.

 

Shudda...chudda...whudda.

Say there, where do you get one of those "thought they should/pressured to" geocache detectors? Is that a standard feature in those Garmins? Or have I missed an important Pocket Query filtering update? How about Merchant Marines?

 

And oh btw, I am of the opinion that every geocacher who can properly maintain a cache, ought to place at least one. It just seems like the right thing to do. Just so long as it is not a micro.

Edited October 21, 2007 by Team Cotati