why do people lie about their numbers

[+Team Cotati]

A friend found almost 100 caches in one day during a trip to Palm Springs a few weeks ago for an Event. The really neat thing was also the amazing creativity of many of the caches placed by Wheeler Dealers.

 

So, it is not only possible to find many, many caches in a day, if you are in that area, you also get very entertained by the caches . . . yes, even the Micros.

 

Hi Miragee:

 

Since I promised to ask the next person who claimed some high numbers day, would you mind terribly asking your "friend" to post his achievment in here? Then I will ask him exactly how he did it. You know, since I promised that I would.

 

Me and my buds are really curious as to how this is done by caching individuals. I'm not saying that you don't know someone who did that, its just that we are really curious.

 

I recently heard that someone did 240 in a day. Later it was discovered that that wasn't actually true. But your "friend" seems to be claiming less than 1/2 that number so perhaps this will be proven to be a legitimate claim.

Edited December 10, 2007 by Team Cotati

[+TrailGators]

I found 100 caches in about 12 hours with my caching buddies RocketMan and Flagman in Palm Springs almost 3 years ago. It was a lot of fun. We hiked to most of them. You can read RocketMan's log to see a map of what we did and how we did it. The bottomline is that it was very well planned out and we never stopped moving.

[+Team Cotati]

I found 100 caches in about 12 hours with my caching buddies RocketMan and Flagman in Palm Springs almost 3 years ago. It was a lot of fun. We hiked to most of them. You can read RocketMan's log to see a map of what we did and how we did it. The bottomline is that it was very well planned out and we never stopped moving.

 

"We". Got it, marked it down, tee shirt on order.

 

This one at least seems believable.

Edited December 10, 2007 by Team Cotati

[+TrailGators]

I found 100 caches in about 12 hours with my caching buddies RocketMan and Flagman in Palm Springs almost 3 years ago. It was a lot of fun. We hiked to most of them. You can read RocketMan's log to see a map of what we did and how we did it. The bottomline is that it was very well planned out and we never stopped moving.

 

"We". Got it, marked it down, tee shirt on order.

We get T-Shirts?!

[+Team Cotati]

I found 100 caches in about 12 hours with my caching buddies RocketMan and Flagman in Palm Springs almost 3 years ago. It was a lot of fun. We hiked to most of them. You can read RocketMan's log to see a map of what we did and how we did it. The bottomline is that it was very well planned out and we never stopped moving.

 

"We". Got it, marked it down, tee shirt on order.

We get T-Shirts?!

 

Oh that's just for the top 10 qualifiers for "Top Single Day High Count Geocacher of 2007".

 

You won't believe what is in store for Numero Uno!!

 

Better get those entries in soon though, looks as though the competiton is going to be hot and heavy.

[+TrailGators]

I found 100 caches in about 12 hours with my caching buddies RocketMan and Flagman in Palm Springs almost 3 years ago. It was a lot of fun. We hiked to most of them. You can read RocketMan's log to see a map of what we did and how we did it. The bottomline is that it was very well planned out and we never stopped moving.

 

"We". Got it, marked it down, tee shirt on order.

We get T-Shirts?!

 

Oh that's just for the top 10 qualifiers for "Top Single Day High Count Geocacher of 2007".

 

You won't believe what is in store for Numero Uno!!

 

Better get those entries in soon though, looks as though the competiton is going to be hot and heavy.

Sorry but I'm never doing that again. We just wanted to see if we could do it and we did! I much prefer finding a handful. It took me a really long time to log all of those...

[+Team Cotati]

I found 100 caches in about 12 hours with my caching buddies RocketMan and Flagman in Palm Springs almost 3 years ago. It was a lot of fun. We hiked to most of them. You can read RocketMan's log to see a map of what we did and how we did it. The bottomline is that it was very well planned out and we never stopped moving.

 

"We". Got it, marked it down, tee shirt on order.

We get T-Shirts?!

 

Oh that's just for the top 10 qualifiers for "Top Single Day High Count Geocacher of 2007".

 

You won't believe what is in store for Numero Uno!!

 

Better get those entries in soon though, looks as though the competiton is going to be hot and heavy.

Sorry but I'm never doing that again. We just wanted to see if we could do it and we did! I much prefer finding a handful. It took me a really long time to log all of those...

 

I'm with you on that one dude!!

 

I mean, when you think about it, how many people climb to the top of Mt. Everest more than a time or two?

[+Team Cotati]

I found 100 caches in about 12 hours with my caching buddies RocketMan and Flagman in Palm Springs almost 3 years ago. It was a lot of fun. We hiked to most of them. You can read RocketMan's log to see a map of what we did and how we did it. The bottomline is that it was very well planned out and we never stopped moving.

 

"We". Got it, marked it down, tee shirt on order.

We get T-Shirts?!

 

Oh that's just for the top 10 qualifiers for "Top Single Day High Count Geocacher of 2007".

 

You won't believe what is in store for Numero Uno!!

 

Better get those entries in soon though, looks as though the competiton is going to be hot and heavy.

Sorry but I'm never doing that again. We just wanted to see if we could do it and we did! I much prefer finding a handful. It took me a really long time to log all of those...

 

I'm with you on that one dude!!

 

I mean, when you think about it, how many people climb to the top of Mt. Everest more than a time or two?

 

What does this: "...hit the three caching trails near the meeting site...", mean?

[+mtn-man]

KBI, the rest of us are frustrated, too. I'd like to discuss how it's possible to legitimately find 100 or 200 caches in a single day. I'm eager to answer any questions.

 

Meanwhile, your private conversation is going on. History teaches that this leads to threads being locked. This deprives others of the ability to discuss the subject at hand.

 

So, yeah, I wish you'd take it to PM's.

<moderator>

I would insist that you take it to Private Messages since you want to have a private conversation. That is the whole point of that forum tool.

</moderator>

[+The Leprechauns]

I recently heard that someone did 240 in a day. Later it was discovered that that wasn't actually true.

That 240 number is my claim in this thread (and many others since 2004 when the feat was accomplished). What is your basis for calling me a liar? I am happy to answer any questions.

 

Also, I have tracklogs, maps and numerous witnesses to back up the claim, not to mention a whole lot of log books and log scrolls.

[+KBI]

KBI, the rest of us are frustrated, too. I'd like to discuss how it's possible to legitimately find 100 or 200 caches in a single day. I'm eager to answer any questions.

 

Meanwhile, your private conversation is going on. History teaches that this leads to threads being locked. This deprives others of the ability to discuss the subject at hand.

 

So, yeah, I wish you'd take it to PM's.

<moderator>

I would insist that you take it to Private Messages since you want to have a private conversation. That is the whole point of that forum tool.

</moderator>

My apologies.

 

As I explained in my last post: I took a hopeful chance, and acted based on an optimistic yet mistaken assumption. I won't make that mistake again.

 

I have already moved the matter out of this thread.

[+mtn-man]

Why do some people lie about their numbers? Why do some people have teams and make it appear like it is just them? We were up near international falls geocaching and a cacher claimed to find 35 in one day. Due to the travel we were only able to find 8 in one day with no stops.

I don't care what any one says about the geocaching "Gods" being with you that day THERE IS NO WAY I'll repeat that THERE IS NO WAY some one can find 150 plus cahces in a single day PERIOD!!!

 

I guess there is a way you lie about them

11,000 plus finds

NO way

By the way, 100 caches in 11 hours and 6 minutes, including a sit-down stop for lunch. It was a fun day and many thanks again to JoGPS for showing me around Nashville. My goal that day was to see how long it would take to do 100 caches with someone driving me around so I could focus on the GPS. I could have kept going, but that wasn't the point for me that day. Yes way. Density is the key.

 

Edited to add this map from an old All Finds Query (I found more up there a month or so ago)...

 

Edited December 10, 2007 by mtn-man

[CoyoteRed]

KBI, the rest of us are frustrated, too. I'd like to discuss how it's possible to legitimately find 100 or 200 caches in a single day. I'm eager to answer any questions.

I want to make clear I'm not questioning you or the accomplishment you and CarleenP made. Nor am I questioning the tactics you used. Nor am I getting down on all folks who cache for goals. None of that.

 

I simply wanted to counter a statement made that seemed to indicate that such activities were completely harmless. Too many folks are so rabid about their numbers that they do forget decorum and focus only or mostly on the virtual world. I'm just wanting to point out that folks shouldn't focus so much on numbers to the exclusion of the rest of us. If they could do it without affecting the rest of us I doubt I would care.

 

...except for maybe that solo record. Now, that would be an accomplishment. No driver, no navigator, no guide, no pre-running, no teammates, nothing. No outside, local support what-so-ever.

[+Rattlebars]

...except for maybe that solo record. Now, that would be an accomplishment. No driver, no navigator, no guide, no pre-running, no teammates, nothing. No outside, local support what-so-ever.

 

That's been my thought throughout while reading this thread...... two eyes, two hands, two feet and even maybe two GPSr's on duty and that's all....

 

24 * 60 / 100 = 14.4 minutes per cache..... alone. no sleep, no food no....

 

I remain skeptical.

[+ChileHead]

Why do some people lie about their numbers? Why do some people have teams and make it appear like it is just them? We were up near international falls geocaching and a cacher claimed to find 35 in one day. Due to the travel we were only able to find 8 in one day with no stops.

I don't care what any one says about the geocaching "Gods" being with you that day THERE IS NO WAY I'll repeat that THERE IS NO WAY some one can find 150 plus cahces in a single day PERIOD!!!

 

I

 

You're wrong.

[+ChileHead]

I recently heard that someone did 240 in a day. Later it was discovered that that wasn't actually true.

That 240 number is my claim in this thread (and many others since 2004 when the feat was accomplished). What is your basis for calling me a liar? I am happy to answer any questions.

 

Also, I have tracklogs, maps and numerous witnesses to back up the claim, not to mention a whole lot of log books and log scrolls.

 

Well your 240 count is a bit tainted - Leprechauns have magical powers and you were able to distort space and time during that run.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Why do some people lie about their numbers? Why do some people have teams and make it appear like it is just them? We were up near international falls geocaching and a cacher claimed to find 35 in one day. Due to the travel we were only able to find 8 in one day with no stops.

I don't care what any one says about the geocaching "Gods" being with you that day THERE IS NO WAY I'll repeat that THERE IS NO WAY some one can find 150 plus cahces in a single day PERIOD!!!

 

I guess there is a way you lie about them

11,000 plus finds

NO way

You are amazingly bull-headed in your nearly-mindless opinions. Before I tell you my own opinion on the matter, allow me to tell you that I am not at all into numbers, and the most caches I have ever found in one day is about seven or eight. In fact, since I primarily prefer to hunt only Terrain 4+ caches and really amazing/fun caches, I usually hunt only one or two caches per month nowadays. In fact, when it comes to finding any more than a handful of caches in one day, well, personally, that is soooo not fun for me that I would much rather sit down in a nice armchair with a nice big pair of vise-grip pliers and pull each of my toenails out, one by one, and then rub organic unrefined Himalayan sea salt in the wounds than go after more than seven caches in one day, and that would be only on a peak day! However, I happen to know MANY geocachers (including my wife and also a good friend) who regularly find from 50 to 100 caches per day, and I also know a good number of cachers (including some who are active on this forum) who have found 150 or more caches in one day. I personally think that those kinda antics are totally nutso (and perhaps evidence toward eventual long-term commitment for those persons in a residential behavioral healthcare ward ), but God bless the people who engage in them -- we each have our own paths to walk in this life!

 

My bottom line note to you is simply this: just because you, like me, may not wish to do such a feat, does NOT mean that the numerous people who say that they have found 150 or more caches in a day are lying. They may be obsessive-compulsive, they may be driven, they may be a bit psychotic, but they are hardly liars. Lighten up!

[+tabulator32]

I believe one of the reasons geocaching has maintained as well as it has is due to its "No rules; just right" attitude. I know that there are "Teams" that can be anything from a family group to a nation-wide assembly of corporate employees, each drawing their individual finds into a large pool of finds under one log in.

 

I'm not implying that every vast number of finds is done in this way, also, it is certainly not "cheating" when it DOES occur. That is the open nature of geocaching. You play the game the way you want.

 

I'm going to avoid some lengthy diatribe about how I play the game personally as it may be construed as me telling someone else how they should play and that is not my intention. As we seem to be discussing the correct way to play a game in which it has been deemed there should be more than one way to play, we're all simply projecting our personal playing ethics on each other.

[+simpjkee]

Why do some people lie about their numbers? Why do some people have teams and make it appear like it is just them? We were up near international falls geocaching and a cacher claimed to find 35 in one day. Due to the travel we were only able to find 8 in one day with no stops.

 

35 is not that hard. My record is 60 in one day and I've done over 35 on a number of occasions. A guy I know has gotten 100 in a day on two seperate occasions. Before, I used to think anything over 20 was out of the question. I bet I will break my record of 60 in a few weeks on a trip to a city near mine.

[+mtn-man]

You are amazingly bull-headed in your nearly-mindless opinions.

Down boy.

Respect: Respect the guidelines for forum usage, and site usage. Respect Groundspeak, its employees, volunteers, yourself, fellow community members, and guests on these boards. Whether a community member has one post or 5,000 posts, they deserve the same respect.

 

Personal Attacks and Flames will not be tolerated. If you want to praise or criticize, give examples as to why it is good or bad, general attacks on a person or idea will not be tolerated.

[+briansnat]

Me and my buds...

Astounding

[+Walt Jabsco]

...except for maybe that solo record. Now, that would be an accomplishment. No driver, no navigator, no guide, no pre-running, no teammates, nothing. No outside, local support what-so-ever.

 

That's been my thought throughout while reading this thread...... two eyes, two hands, two feet and even maybe two GPSr's on duty and that's all....

 

24 * 60 / 100 = 14.4 minutes per cache..... alone. no sleep, no food no....

 

I remain skeptical.

 

240 caches in 24 hours is 10 caches per hour, or 1 find every six minutes without stop with no dnf's for 24 hours straight covering a span of a minimum of 24 miles.

I'm not saying it couldn't possibly be done, only that the caches must not have been very challenging to find and dead-on coordinates for each, rare especially for 240 consecutive ones. Myself, I wouldn't find that fun, either trying to find that many in a day, or finding caches of that type. After about 4 in one day (if that many), I'm done and want something else to do.

But to each their own.

Edited December 10, 2007 by Walt Jabsco

[+MaplessInSeattle]

Wow, you guys certainly know how to make a newbie's find list seem insignificant. LOL

We don't even have 100 finds yet, and now I learn that people have done that many in one day!?!

[+sbell111]

Here's a radical thought. Since this topic comes up fairly frequently in here, you'd think that some of these cache hounds would have provided that info already. Perhaps they have and we have just missed it. If so, there's a fair chance that we'll get notified shortly.

I'm going to respond to your post in a way that assumes that you are not just being a troll, again.

 

Way back in 2002, BruceS was kind enough to explain his method. Here's his post:

Please forgive my verbosity of my reply.

 

It is with great hesitation that I am responding. If the topic were How does a person do this? Instead of What is wrong with this? My response would have been more forthcoming. If someone looks at my caching history they would find that I have several days with over 20 finds. Also they would find that in recent months most of my finds have been concentrated in 3 to 5 day “assaults” on an area. This is because I have exhausted most caches within 150 miles of my home thus if I am going to drive several hundred miles I am going to find few. (Currently there are 292 caches listed within 100 miles of my home coordinates and I have found all but about 20)

 

How do I do it?

To start with I am 44 married with four children ranging in ages 11-20 and live in the St. Louis area. I work as a project manager and travel for business usually 3 weeks out of every month. Thus I have “normal” family and work obligations.

 

Specifically how I do it:

I pick a general geographical area. I down load all caches for that area and all that might be along routes to and from that area (often several hundred caches in multiple states). I then upload all points to routing and mapping software (I use MapPoint). I start breaking cache groupings down to likely days worth of caches (20-30 usually). I then look for campgrounds near where I might end up for the day. I have MapPoint optimize the order of my stops and then route my driving. I then look at the routes and insure that MapPoint has not put me on the wrong sides of rivers etc. (sometimes it does). I then start looking at cache descriptions and remove any caches that don’t fit my criteria. I remove webcam , locationless, or multi caches that look like they may take several hours and I eliminate any that show several no finds in a row recently. I pay no attention to difficulty or terrain ratings except if they require special equipment… canoes, boats, etc. Wading streams and long hikes are no deterrent, in fact are preferred. I usually end up with a plan to do about 95% of all caches in an area. On a multi-day trip I plan on having a mix of urban, semi urban, and rural/remote caches. This country boy can only do about 2 days worth of urban/semi urban caching without getting back into the country. I then print out all cache sheets out in a reduced format. For rural/remote caches I will also print out topo maps from LostOutdoors.com. I make a file folder for each day with caches arranged in the order I plan on searching for them. I do this planning over several days prior to the trip. The day prior to the trip I check for any new caches along my routes or if there has been a status change of any of my planned caches, make any needed changes to my routes. I then print driving direction sheets for each day and file them with the cache sheets for each day. I upload all cache waypoints including parking locations and needed maps to my Vista.

 

On a typical caching day I get up between 5 and 5:30 and try to be on the road before 6 after a quick breakfast except for the first day of the trip when I want to be at first cache site by 6 or so. Thus last Thursday I got up at 3:45 and was on the road by 4:15. My first cache was 124 driving miles away and I got there a little after 6. This cache ended up being a no find. As some people have mentioned I walk a little faster than most people usually 4-5 mph. When I get bored with walking I will jog or run a bit. Things that slow me down are wildflowers and wildlife. I always stop to watch small animals, weasels, otters, and raccoons are the worst, I will watch them until they don’t want to be watched. In small towns I sometimes get slowed down when I stop and talk with the old guys sitting in their rocking chairs, I enjoy listening to them tell me about the local history and their life stories. The other thing that sometimes slows me down is when the rod I have in my leg gets to hurting but I usually just ignore that. (On my latest trip I got slowed down by other events see my logs http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=20680 and http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=411 I usually don’t eat during the day when I am caching but usually drink a lot of water and juices through out the day. I adjust my route as needed throughout the day, I always bring my laptop with me in my car. I usually do the last couple caches of the day using a flash light. Usually my caching ends between 8:30 and 9:30. I drive to where I am camping for the night, call my wife and check in for the day. I set up my tent if I need to usually in the dark and then make my dinner. I usually crawl into my sleeping bag somewhere around 11 so that I can do it all over again the next day. By this time I am tired but feeling great. At the end of 4 or 5 days I am usually pretty tired, legs and arms scratched up and feet blistered but I feel enriched with all the sights and sounds I have experienced in the previous days.

 

I have followed this routine on several caching trips including southern Illinois area, Kansas City area, southern Kentucky to Nashville area, southern Missouri and northern Arkansas area, northwestern Missouri and Omaha/Lincoln areas, and most recently southwestern Indiana and Indianapolis area. I have also found several caches in the Chicago area during business trips (usually there 2 or 3 trips a month). I have also found caches in Arizona, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Wisconsin on various other trips. I have put 23,000 miles on my vehicle since October.

 

Hope this explains how I do it. I don’t encourage others to do the same. It requires a certain type of personality and a very accepting and understanding spouse . One of the great things about geocaching is that an individual can do it how they want to fulfill their own needs and desires. As my title says I am an ATM. (a cash …oops a cache machine)

Here's a follow-up post:

My techniques have changed a little since I wrote the above mentioned posting. I now use pocket queries to get gpx files and load them into a palm instead of printing cache sheets. I also use the gpx files in combination with Watcher to do my pretrip planning and review instead of using online pages. These changes have allowed me to be a bit more flexible while on a caching trip. It is nice to have 500-1000 cache descriptions with you. I continue to carry my laptop with me on caching trips. Having all caches in the whole area mapped in MapPoint enhances this flexibility. However the key for me it to have my day planned out when I start, whether that planning took place prior to the trip or just the night before in my tent. My techniques continue to work for me. I still average around 30 finds a day when I am on a caching trip.

 

One other thing that must be noted, the high number of finds in a day will seldom be done in a cacher's home area... They occur in new areas.

Edited December 10, 2007 by sbell111

[+The Leprechauns]

Thanks for digging up that classic post, sbell. I was thinking of it myself while reading this thread. BruceS made his post at the end of my first month of geocaching, and it was a jawdropper for me. This thread talked about someone who could find THIRTY caches in a day. I was stunned, and even more so when BruceS showed up in the thread and explained how he did it. In an instant, geocaching for me was redefined from being an activity to do with my daughter at the parks near our house, to being a way to plan roadtrip adventures. A month later I planned my first roadtrip and found 19 caches in two days -- my best effort to date. As my techniques became more and more efficient and advanced, and as cache density increased, the daily numbers keep going up as well. I've now found more than 3000 caches in 28 states, and less than half my finds are in my home state.

 

As simpjkee observed above, when you are finding one or two caches per day, ten or twenty per day looks amazing. Once you learn how to find ten or twenty, then fifty or a hundred in a day is astounding. Do that enough and you can see how 240 in a single day is possible in a cache dense area that the finder has never visited before.

[+TrailGators]

Thanks for digging up that classic post, sbell. I was thinking of it myself while reading this thread. BruceS made his post at the end of my first month of geocaching, and it was a jawdropper for me. This thread talked about someone who could find THIRTY caches in a day. I was stunned, and even more so when BruceS showed up in the thread and explained how he did it. In an instant, geocaching for me was redefined from being an activity to do with my daughter at the parks near our house, to being a way to plan roadtrip adventures. A month later I planned my first roadtrip and found 19 caches in two days -- my best effort to date. As my techniques became more and more efficient and advanced, and as cache density increased, the daily numbers keep going up as well. I've now found more than 3000 caches in 28 states, and less than half my finds are in my home state.

 

As simpjkee observed above, when you are finding one or two caches per day, ten or twenty per day looks amazing. Once you learn how to find ten or twenty, then fifty or a hundred in a day is astounding. Do that enough and you can see how 240 in a single day is possible in a cache dense area that the finder has never visited before.

240 is still staggering to me because I know what it feels like to do 100. Doing 10/hour for 24 straight hours is definitely possible, but it would require that many of the caches be at Starbucks!

[+The Leprechauns]

That 24 hours of caching included a two-hour dinner break with a table full of Woodstock "Wagon Train" participants. It also included several stops for really bad convenience store coffee, an emergency potty break during a passing thunderstorm, several long stops for photo opportunities and hunts for extra-evil caches, and a handful of DNF's.

 

There were areas in Nashville, such as the Vanderbilt campus and some of the shopping "strips," where one could literally find four or five caches in ten minutes. That is how it's done.

[+ventura_kids]

240 in a day is much too hurried.

 

You should spread it out over the entire weekend.

In that way you could be "Casual Caching" rather than Power Caching.

240 in one day would be a bit of a rush, rush, hurry, hurry day.

 

Our normal days are now around 80 finds.

We only cache during the daylight hours, and always stop for a casual lunch.

[+tozainamboku]

240 in a day is much too hurried.

 

You should spread it out over the entire weekend.

In that way you could be "Casual Caching" rather than Power Caching.

240 in one day would be a bit of a rush, rush, hurry, hurry day.

 

Our normal days are now around 80 finds.

We only cache during the daylight hours, and always stop for a casual lunch.

Absolutely true. I cached with ventura_kids on 7/7/07 and we found 77 caches in 12 hours of casual caching stopping for lunch and even had a few DNFs. That was only one cache every 9 minutes and 21 seconds. No way you could find one cache every 6 minutes and keep it up for 24 hours.

[+The Leprechauns]

No way you could find one cache every 6 minutes and keep it up for 24 hours.

::: Adds another name to the "People who think I'm a liar" list :::

[+Walt Jabsco]

One way to silence the doubters and skeptics is to list the 240 you found in one day and let them see if they can do it.

You could hide a cache a little further past the last one, and call it "Leprechaun's Challenge" so they can see if they can best you and get 241

Edited December 11, 2007 by Walt Jabsco

[+fairyhoney]

One way to silence the doubters and skeptics is to list the 240 you found in one day and let them see if they can do it.

You could hide a cache a little further past the last one, and call it "Leprechaun's Challenge" so they can see if they can best you and get 241

 

[+sbell111]

One way to silence the doubters and skeptics is to list the 240 you found in one day and let them see if they can do it. ...

That cache list has already been made. All you have to do is pull up his profile.

You could hide a cache a little further past the last one, and call it "Leprechaun's Challenge" so they can see if they can best you and get 241

Unfortunately, that won't work because many of the 240 caches have been archived. Edited December 11, 2007 by sbell111

[+mtn-man]

No way you could find one cache every 6 minutes and keep it up for 24 hours.

::: Adds another name to the "People who think I'm a liar" list :::

Funny thing... none of the nay-sayers are willing to go look at logbooks to prove you wrong.

[+Team Cotati]

Why do some people lie about their numbers? Why do some people have teams and make it appear like it is just them? We were up near international falls geocaching and a cacher claimed to find 35 in one day. Due to the travel we were only able to find 8 in one day with no stops.

 

Though we've never accomplished that 35 milestone, I certainly do think that it is realistic and believable.

Even if not using between 3 and 20 finders, CB radios, cell phones, between 2 and 14 drivers of a like number of vehicles, towing porta potties, bar-b-que grills, navigators, signing the container and not the logbook, at an 'event' where special 'cache trails' have been established for that 'event', having visited the locations in advance.......

 

There could possibly be additional qualifiers, I just can't think of any right now.

 

35? The Team could to that I think. It wouldn't be 'easy' but we could do it.

 

As to the reasons why? Now that right there is the real mystery.........ain't it.

 

I do suppose that you could personally visit every claimed cache and verify that they signed the logbooks. Why you'd want to do that though is beyond me.

 

My advice would be to not worry too much about it and just enjoy your caching adventures and do as we do, just chuckle everonceinawhile.

 

Lying? No, I don't think so. Not being totally contextual and fothcoming............absolutely.

Edited December 12, 2007 by Team Cotati

[+sbell111]

I used to frequently cache during my lunch hour. A quick check of my logs revealed that during three consequtive lunch-time cache runs, I found ten caches and DNFd two, I found eleven and DNFd three, and found eight and DNF'd two.

 

Given that this many caches could be found during a lunch hour in my home area, alone, with no real preparation, and no outside support (such as a DD), I have no problem believing that with a bit of planning and a partner (and a target rich environment), the 24-hour record could be pushed to around 300.

[+scuba dude]

No way you could find one cache every 6 minutes and keep it up for 24 hours.

::: Adds another name to the "People who think I'm a liar" list :::

 

Well you might as well add my name to list too. The ability of one person to find one cache every 6 minutes without stopping for 24 hours MAY be physically possible, but not on this planet. I have been to some very cache dense locals, and it is impossible to line everything up in perfect harmony. 100 would be really stretching it hard. It sometimes takes 6 minutes just to find the cache once you get to GZ.

 

Yes, I have looked at your page. And I realize that for you, this is all about the numbers. And yes, I see that you have 240 listed in your finds for 4 July 2004. But that's just numbers on a computer screen. I have no way to verify any of it.

 

do I care if you really found that many? No. Thats not how I play the game. I prefer hikes through nature to micro skirtlifter power grabs.

Edited December 12, 2007 by scuba dude

[+The Leprechauns]

Welcome to geocaching, and to the forums, scuba dude. I forgive you for your naivete, and for your doubting comments.

 

When you say I'm "all about the numbers," you couldn't be more wrong. When you looked at my profile and find list, did you notice the more than 300 caches I've found that are rated terrain 3 or higher? Or that my "average" cache find is about 400 miles from home, because I like traveling? There are hundreds of caches nearby that I haven't bothered finding, but I'd rather drive to explore a new area than to return for the fifth time to the same local parks to find the new batch of caches. I could go on and on.

 

For *one* day, several years ago, I tried to cache purely for numbers. It was fun. I don't need to do it again, except maybe to see how many I can find solo without any support. Apart from that day, I can count my 50+ find days on one hand. I know that I *could* find 50+ any time I wanted to. Usually, I get tired of it after 30 or 40 park and grabs, and I'll spend the rest of the day hiking in a park. So much for numbers.

 

I am open-minded enough to enjoy pretty much any type of cache, and to respect others who may have different tastes and preferences. I also accept the fact that not everyone is that open-minded.

 

My offer still stands: I will send the maps and tracklogs for my 24 hour cache run to anyone who asks for them. Haven't had any takers on that offer since summer 2004.

[+sbell111]

Perhaps some posters should concentrate less on personalizing this thread.

 

Lep is a stand-up guy and I have no doubt that he logged 240 caches that day. He was caching in a cache dense area with several other highly motivated cachers.

 

There are a number of things that will help a cacher get a very high number of finds on a single day:

• A target rich environment. (Typically, this means caching in a city that you have not visited before)
  
• Proper planning to efficiently route the target caches. (I like MapPoint or S&T for this)
  
• Motivation to get out there and have fun hurrying to find a bunch of caches (The frantic pace has to be part of the fun)
  
• Other cachers with similar goals (Four eyes are better than two, Twelve are better than four)
  
• Munchies and drinks packed along, so you don't have to stop for them (I favor jerky, trail mix, and bottled water)
  
• Planned pottie stops. (In my family, we call this the 'amusement park' rule. If one person has to tinkle, we all tinkle)
  
• A designated driver. (While this is not absolutely necessary, it helps to have someone who is familiar with the local roads and it allows you to not fumble with parking issues, since this person will not be logging the caches and can stay with the vehicle)
  

[+sbell111]

... My offer still stands: I will send the maps and tracklogs for my 24 hour cache run to anyone who asks for them. Haven't had any takers on that offer since summer 2004.

I suspect that back then people were wanting that information so they could try to duplicate your efforts, not to verify your finds. Unfortunately, so many of those old caches are gone now that your planning would be useless.

[+Team Cotati]

Why do some people lie about their numbers? Why do some people have teams and make it appear like it is just them? We were up near international falls geocaching and a cacher claimed to find 35 in one day. Due to the travel we were only able to find 8 in one day with no stops.

 

For example:

 

One of those guys who are into this game more for the social aspects than the physical, you know, "Hi I'm Fred, I don't cache much any more but I can wolf down a rack of ribs, 4-5 ears of corn and a 6-pack of Bud....in 1/2 hour with the best of 'em". Yeah one of those guys, without too much difficulty could get 20 or so of their best buds organized for a really BIG caching run.

 

So the chief caching organizer, i.e. the CCO, creates an account named oh let's say 'Team 200'. Then, preferrably though not required, on the same day each member of Team 200, after careful planning of course, goes out and grabs 10 caches in one hour.

 

They then dutifully log their finds under the Team 200 account.

 

Now decision time arrives. The CCO can choose to come in here and boast about 'his' stupenduous achievement of finding 200 cashes in one hour and then sit back and watch people rant and rail for the next week about the impossibility of it OR he can choose to come in here and boast that he, acting as CCO organized 19 of his closest caching buds to go out and find 10 caches in one hour, perhaps on the same day but not necessarily in the same state or country for that matter and post to this new account named Team 200 and as such lay claim to having set the new one hour record for a team of 20 individuals, posting together. I suppose there must be a trophy lying around for "Best Geocaching Organizer 2007" or some such, who knows.

 

In the end though, it really doesn't matter for as sure as the sun is likely to rise tomorrow morning, not even geocachers have yet managed to alter the laws of physics........though mightily they do try.

 

And we get to sit back and just grin as we marvel at the wonder of it all.

Edited December 12, 2007 by Team Cotati

[+Walt Jabsco]

Just to stir things up a little more...

This question only applies to a power hunting trip, not to family or friends killing an afternoon.

Should a person really claim one as a personal find if you're in a group and someone else locates it? After all, you didn't really find it, you were just standing there or looking somewhere else when it was located. Like say I was together with Leprechaun one day, and he located 80 of the caches and I found 10. Just because I was there, I didn't really find 90. In all probability, I would have had several dnf's of the ones he did find.

(In reality, my attention span would have wandered off after about 5 finds). Now if you're logging as a team, it wouldn't matter, because it is a team find, but it's not a personal one.

Again, this only applies to "numbers matter" people, going for a record type situation.

 

Oh, and Leprechaun, I only find your single day record incredulous, not unbelievable. There's a difference. Don't put me in the liar column just yet.

[+robert]

Just to stir things up a little more...

This question only applies to a power hunting trip, not to family or friends killing an afternoon.

Should a person really claim one as a personal find if you're in a group and someone else locates it? After all, you didn't really find it, you were just standing there or looking somewhere else when it was located. Like say I was together with Leprechaun one day, and he located 80 of the caches and I found 10. Just because I was there, I didn't really find 90. In all probability, I would have had several dnf's of the ones he did find.

(In reality, my attention span would have wandered off after about 5 finds). Now if you're logging as a team, it wouldn't matter, because it is a team find, but it's not a personal one.

Again, this only applies to "numbers matter" people, going for a record type situation.

When caching with friends, there is a way to do it so everyone has a chance to find it. We usually just keep looking as if we haven't spotted it, eventually wandering away from GZ and sitting down.

 

Of course if you're on some sort of daily record binge, this won't work as speed is key. But at least everyone gets to 'find' the cache!

 

[+sbell111]

...

This question only applies to a power hunting trip, not to family or friends killing an afternoon.

Should a person really claim one as a personal find if you're in a group and someone else locates it? After all, you didn't really find it, you were just standing there or looking somewhere else when it was located. ...

Many people use the Three Musketeers method whether they are casually caching with friends or trying to break some kind of record. Personally, I prefer it because I gain no fun from either waiting around until the slowest member finds a cache or struggling to find a cache while my friends wait around for me.

[+Team Cotati]

Just to stir things up a little more...

This question only applies to a power hunting trip, not to family or friends killing an afternoon.

Should a person really claim one as a personal find if you're in a group and someone else locates it? After all, you didn't really find it, you were just standing there or looking somewhere else when it was located. Like say I was together with Leprechaun one day, and he located 80 of the caches and I found 10. Just because I was there, I didn't really find 90. In all probability, I would have had several dnf's of the ones he did find.

(In reality, my attention span would have wandered off after about 5 finds). Now if you're logging as a team, it wouldn't matter, because it is a team find, but it's not a personal one.

Again, this only applies to "numbers matter" people, going for a record type situation.

 

Oh, and Leprechaun, I only find your single day record incredulous, not unbelievable. There's a difference. Don't put me in the liar column just yet.

 

"Should a person really claim one as a personal find if you're in a group and someone else locates it?"

 

Yes.

[vagabond]

[

Well you might as well add my name to list too. The ability of one person to find one cache every 6 minutes without stopping for 24 hours MAY be physically possible, but not on this planet.

 

Out of the mouths of babes

 

I haven't done it, my personal best is 59 in about 6 hours.

Like others have said when its all planned out it is possible

[+scuba dude]

Welcome to geocaching, and to the forums, scuba dude. I forgive you for your naivete, and for your doubting comments.

 

When you say I'm "all about the numbers," you couldn't be more wrong. When you looked at my profile and find list, did you notice the more than 300 caches I've found that are rated terrain 3 or higher? Or that my "average" cache find is about 400 miles from home, because I like traveling? There are hundreds of caches nearby that I haven't bothered finding, but I'd rather drive to explore a new area than to return for the fifth time to the same local parks to find the new batch of caches. I could go on and on.

 

For *one* day, several years ago, I tried to cache purely for numbers. It was fun. I don't need to do it again, except maybe to see how many I can find solo without any support. Apart from that day, I can count my 50+ find days on one hand. I know that I *could* find 50+ any time I wanted to. Usually, I get tired of it after 30 or 40 park and grabs, and I'll spend the rest of the day hiking in a park. So much for numbers.

 

I am open-minded enough to enjoy pretty much any type of cache, and to respect others who may have different tastes and preferences. I also accept the fact that not everyone is that open-minded.

 

My offer still stands: I will send the maps and tracklogs for my 24 hour cache run to anyone who asks for them. Haven't had any takers on that offer since summer 2004.

 

Thank you for the words of welcome. As to my comment about being "about the numbers" I based that off your page. Since you had every type and category of find broken down and listed, it shows that you feel very strongly about the numbers aspect of the game.

 

To each thier own, and game on.

[+sbell111]

Thank you for the words of welcome. As to my comment about being "about the numbers" I based that off your page. Since you had every type and category of find broken down and listed, it shows that you feel very strongly about the numbers aspect of the game.

 

To each thier own, and game on.

Lots of people use itsnotaboutthenumbers.com to create stats and attach those stats to their profile page. I can see how this might give the impression that a cacher is stats-compulsive, but it's not necessarily true.

 

(BTW, I think I just broke the main site when I tried to pull up Lep's profile)

[+Team Cotati]

Welcome to geocaching, and to the forums, scuba dude. I forgive you for your naivete, and for your doubting comments.

 

When you say I'm "all about the numbers," you couldn't be more wrong. When you looked at my profile and find list, did you notice the more than 300 caches I've found that are rated terrain 3 or higher? Or that my "average" cache find is about 400 miles from home, because I like traveling? There are hundreds of caches nearby that I haven't bothered finding, but I'd rather drive to explore a new area than to return for the fifth time to the same local parks to find the new batch of caches. I could go on and on.

 

For *one* day, several years ago, I tried to cache purely for numbers. It was fun. I don't need to do it again, except maybe to see how many I can find solo without any support. Apart from that day, I can count my 50+ find days on one hand. I know that I *could* find 50+ any time I wanted to. Usually, I get tired of it after 30 or 40 park and grabs, and I'll spend the rest of the day hiking in a park. So much for numbers.

 

I am open-minded enough to enjoy pretty much any type of cache, and to respect others who may have different tastes and preferences. I also accept the fact that not everyone is that open-minded.

 

My offer still stands: I will send the maps and tracklogs for my 24 hour cache run to anyone who asks for them. Haven't had any takers on that offer since summer 2004.

 

Thank you for the words of welcome. As to my comment about being "about the numbers" I based that off your page. Since you had every type and category of find broken down and listed, it shows that you feel very strongly about the numbers aspect of the game.

 

To each thier own, and game on.

 

I know what you mean. There are a few others in here who fall into the same category. One day numbers are next to meaningless and the next they are quoting theirs left and right. Go figure, eh? I figure that it depends upon what is either expedient at the moment or the most dismissive.

Edited December 12, 2007 by Team Cotati

[+tozainamboku]

To each thier own, and game on.

Exactly. Everyone is entitled to participate in geocaching for whatever reasons they like. For most people, geocaching is probably just one of many hobbies and activities the can chose from. The can be very happy finding one or two cache in an afternoon. Better if these caches take them to some place interesting, perhaps combining the geocaching with a hike or a casual drive. A few people however have chosen to be active geocachers. They'll go find geocaches whenever they get a chance. But even here some people enjoy different aspects. Some plan weekend trips to find one remote high-terrain cache, others plan each outing to find as many caches as possible. Some are motivated by the little number next to their names in the online logs. For others this isn't so important. There are some like The Leprechauns who enjoys different aspects of the game at different times. Sometimes its that one tough cache that takes a weekend trip to get, other times its a day spent with friends or family casually finding caches, and once in a while Lep likes to see how many cache he can find in 24 hours. A person like this is likely to also keep good records of the caches they have found. There are a number of tools and websites that allow you to crunch this data and get statisitics. What is the average difficulty of caches you found? What is the average distance you travel to find caches? What is most consecutive days you've cache? What is the most consecutive days you didn't find a cache? Just because some is interested in these numbers doesn't make their geocaching less valid than someone elses. Nor does it mean that they view other people's reasons for geocaching as any less valid then theirs.

Edited December 12, 2007 by tozainamboku