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Finding VS Placing a hide


Flatouts

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This is Mrs Flatout here...I was just curious as to how many of our fellow geocachers enjoy "the find" VS "the hide" better? My husband and I have, as of today, 192 finds (not that numbers matter to us) and 8 hides. Although we have extremely enjoyed the journey that has led us to the hides, I myself am finding that I'm becoming even more addicted to placing a "Creative" hide and even more excited over when they are found. Is there anyone else out there who feels the same way?

 

If this is a topic that has already been discussed in this forum, then I apologize for duplicating it and please provide me a link to it.

Edited by Flatouts
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Howdy Mrs. Flatouts,

 

You must not come to the forums often. Most of the skeletons around here are from dead horses. Seems we like to rehash topics over and over and over again. That's ok though, as it gives us a chance to review our opinions and possibly up date them as we gain more experience. I know I have changed my mind on some topics as I have gained experience.

 

To answer your question, I do enjoy hiding more that seeking caches. It takes way more time though, and the commitment is ongoing with the maintenance involved. The fun though goes on and on as each new log comes in. The more effort you put into it at the beginning the better the logs you'll get. The better the logs you get the more fun it is being a cache owner.

 

Go out and hide some caches and have fun.

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No disrespect intended here, but, if you think hiding is easier than finding you are not hiding to your potential. By making yourself hide one for every ten you find you are feeling a need to hide now. I'd rather see people hide a few inspired caches and not just drop a micro in a (shrub, lamp post, whatever) to maintain a ratio. I've seen it a couple of time. Someone who is capable of(and has) hiding great caches drops a bunch of crappy caches just to get their hide count up. If your hides are all great caches the cool, but I think the ratios are a bad idea in general.

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I have around 42-43 finds (I can never remember exact amount) and currently just 1 hide. I love hunting for good sized caches (I'm not a fan of micros but will look for them if they seem to be in an alright spot) but I also greatly enjoyed the one I hid (fairly easy for others to find but I intend to get a bit harder). Each time I get an email about someone finding it I'm eager to open it and read what they said.

 

The excitement of finding a new container and wondering what swag might be in it is great.

The work, preperation and thought that goes into placing a cache leads to the excitement of others finding your cache. :unsure:

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I like both, but when it comes to placing a cache, cache maintance becomes an issue. I think I have around 65 active cache at this time, this is all I want to maintain. The added issue for me is that I move 3 years ago, so now half of my caches are about 90 miles from home, I still go the area on a regular basis but it takes longer to maintain those caches.

 

As far as finding caches, agian it is cache maintance, if I see a cache on the GSAK list in which the most recent logs are DNFs, I am not going to look for it and it does not get downloaded into my GPS

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No disrespect intended here, but, if you think hiding is easier than finding you are not hiding to your potential.

No offence taken - but my to-do list of local caches is now full of 4.5's and 5's....

 

(Also - if you check my profile you'll see that I've never just dropped a micro in a hedge, and I never will)

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No disrespect intended here, but, if you think hiding is easier than finding you are not hiding to your potential.

No offence taken - but my to-do list of local caches is now full of 4.5's and 5's....

 

(Also - if you check my profile you'll see that I've never just dropped a micro in a hedge, and I never will)

 

Cool, so many take things personal around here.

 

Glad to hear you take care in your hides. So many who think they are giving back to caching by maintaining a ratio just toss film cans out the car window any old place.

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I love putting together and finding new places for hides. My wife can spend days putting together some theme caches with me. Reading the finders logs and making return visits to check on them is always a thrill. But when we travel - breaking the trip up by doing some caching turns long trips into something to look forward to.

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No disrespect intended here, but, if you think hiding is easier than finding you are not hiding to your potential.

No offence taken - but my to-do list of local caches is now full of 4.5's and 5's....

 

(Also - if you check my profile you'll see that I've never just dropped a micro in a hedge, and I never will)

 

Cool, so many take things personal around here.

 

Glad to hear you take care in your hides. So many who think they are giving back to caching by maintaining a ratio just toss film cans out the car window any old place.

 

I couldn't agree more with what is being discussed here. When the Mr and I decide on "the hide" we take time to get "creative" and we spend time in searching for an area that we feel is enjoyable in the journey of getting there. We have found several P&G's in parking lots and behind buildings and such and tho they can up your numbers with ease, we know from what little experience that we do have, that we want our "own caches" to be more than just another number/smiley. We hope that those who do choose to hunt them not only find them to be fun and "creative" but they also enjoy the journey of getting there as well as the surroundings in which they are placed. Of the 8 we have already placed, some are big enough for swag and some are just a log but the container they are in we feel are pretty cool. :unsure: So no, you won't find any of our hides to be a film canister or Tupperware container just tossed out the car window. :unsure: We want you to get out of your car and do a wee bit of walking. :laughing::laughing: And as always, we almost always make sure that there is no need what so ever to have to destroy the surroundings they are placed. Just the same as when we go on a hunt, we are careful and respectful enough not to leave any traces that we were there. :laughing:

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This is Mrs Flatout here...I was just curious as to how many of our fellow geocachers enjoy "the find" VS "the hide" better? My husband and I have, as of today, 192 finds (not that numbers matter to us) and 8 hides. Although we have extremely enjoyed the journey that has led us to the hides, I myself am finding that I'm becoming even more addicted to placing a "Creative" hide and even more excited over when they are found. Is there anyone else out there who feels the same way?

 

If this is a topic that has already been discussed in this forum, then I apologize for duplicating it and please provide me a link to it.

When I first started caching, I had no idea I would turn into a "hider," but I did. I would find a cool place, or an interesting trail, and want to bring cachers to that location.

 

And . . . as I told a friend one day, when you are hiding caches, you don't get any DNFs . . . :unsure:

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I enjoy both, but if someone told me I had to choose either hiding or finding for the rest of my life, I'd have to go with hiding.

 

Despite what one poster here said, hiding isn't all that easy unless you're dumping film canisters indiscriminately.

 

All of you people would fit right in if you came to my area. People put an amazing amount of effort into their hides and seem to enjoy it as much or more. It is so refreshing to hear people say these things.

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I haven't hidden any yet, so I like the find better. :unsure:

 

However, I have some interesting thoughts for hides that I'm working on. I don't think I'd ever want more than say, 10, though because of having to take care of them.

 

Speaking of that, how often is someone supposed to maintain a cache, visit it etc.?

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I haven't hidden any yet, so I like the find better. :laughing:

 

However, I have some interesting thoughts for hides that I'm working on. I don't think I'd ever want more than say, 10, though because of having to take care of them.

 

Speaking of that, how often is someone supposed to maintain a cache, visit it etc.?

Many of my caches are on infrequently-visited trails, so I don't have a lot of cache maintenance to do. If someone looks for one of my caches and either can't find it, or reports a problem, I try to get there as soon as I can.

 

Just for "fun," I hiked to this one the other day. :unsure: Along the way, I performed maintenance on a few other caches along the trails.

 

We also have a nice community of cachers here who will take care of minor maintenance if they find a cache in need. :laughing:

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I haven't hidden any yet, so I like the find better. :unsure:

 

However, I have some interesting thoughts for hides that I'm working on. I don't think I'd ever want more than say, 10, though because of having to take care of them.

 

Speaking of that, how often is someone supposed to maintain a cache, visit it etc.?

 

I've got 20 hides now and maintaining them hasn't been much trouble. Most of them are pretty close to home, where I work, between my son's school/daycare so i don't have to go too far out of the way. All of my hides are with .3 of a mile from available parking but I would guess that generally, the further away from parking the less frequently you'd have to maintain it. There have been several other threads recently about how often one should maintain a cache, especially in the "new geocachers" forum.

 

I have also noticed that as I have to travel further and further away from home to find many caches in one outing I can extend my range of where I might place a cache. I've I'm going to be driving 20 miles in a general direction to go look for caches it's usually not too much trouble to maintain a cache along in between.

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I enjoy hiding a good bit as well. Rather than trying to maintain any sort of a ratio though, I just try to make sure my next hide is as good or better than my last hide. Any time I think of a location that I think others would really want to see, and there isn't a cache there, that's my signal that it's time to put one there.

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I enjoy hiding a good bit as well. Rather than trying to maintain any sort of a ratio though, I just try to make sure my next hide is as good or better than my last hide. Any time I think of a location that I think others would really want to see, and there isn't a cache there, that's my signal that it's time to put one there.

 

BINGO!!!!! :)

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I enjoy both, but if someone told me I had to choose either hiding or finding for the rest of my life, I'd have to go with hiding.

 

Despite what one poster here said, hiding isn't all that easy unless you're dumping film canisters indiscriminately.

 

I am with briansnat. If I had to choose I would find. I really enjoy hiding, and as others have said I am always trying to do a better hide than the previous hide. That being said, there is no way I could do twenty quality hides a weekend, so, if I had to choose, I would be a finder only.

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Well I have to say !HIDE I have a lot of fun finding but Hiding Rules !!

I have over 100+ hides and have a lot of fun with them !! I have tried to do better as I go along ! :ph34r:

Some times I might do as much as 400miles to maintain them in a weekend. ;)

But it is worth it. :P Me and another cacher have started a series of Just -A -Can series of caches . B)

I have went from a 35mm first hide to custom ammo cans now!! ;)

The original Just - A -Can ! d14c2ef2-4576-4690-9075-7e52763bd469.jpg Ammo cans rule !!

the last one we done a how to video at

:) We are even thing of doing a series of Just A Cans to give away a cross the USA ? :P

As they say One mans trash is another mans Cool Cache !! LOL ! ;):laughing:B)B)B)B)

 

HIDE AND HAVE FUN B)B)

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I am definitely a finder. Though when I place a cache I put a lot of thought in to it and want to make sure it is done right. Because of that, finders have really enjoyed my caches. IFor me though, I would much rather find caches than hide. Both are awesome though

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Been caching for about two years now. So far i've found 53 and hid 10 (two adopted). My first cache i hid was a multi in a graveyard, and that was my first ever mistake (so far). My first other few hides were guardrail-type caches, i just didn't want to hid mine like everyone else has, so i hid them below the guardrail. This became a great hide, GCY8DP. Now, i got four that are actually in the woods, one that's been there for a year or so, the other three are new, one's a Mystery cache.

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I prefer to hide.

 

In fact I prefer to hide nicely-stocked ammo cans in interesting places.

 

My first ten or so hides were $9. ammo-box-style dry boxes from Academy Sports and I set $5. as the average value of a trinket I wanted to put in my caches - the box, the trinkets, the FTF prize and the gas to scout a location ran an average of $80. per cache.

 

People loved them! Great reviews! Everybody enjoyed my caches! Then they traded the $25. fishing reel for a WheresGeorge dollar, or took the $9. geocoin and left a Thai quarter.

 

Restocking caches cost about $300. a year. I hid two geocoin caches. Lost a total of 34 coins. I do not believe that muggles found them. :huh:

 

I wanted to get more folks to hide nice caches, so for years I gave away such stocked caches as door or game prizes at events, maybe 30 of them at $30 to $50 each. My logic was that this would be an example of how nice caches should be stocked, and that when they were hidden it would give me that many more nice caches to go find.

 

Most of them never got hidden. Almost no one followed the example of investing in nice trade items.

 

I thought about it, considered hiding less expensive caches, buying dollar-store trinkets; I just can't bring myself to do it - if someone finds one of my caches I want them to enjoy and remember it. So, until and unless my financial condition improves (broke my neck, retired on Disability now, this as good as it gets!) I will forgo hiding traditional caches.

 

So I hid a few micros.

 

Amazing! The logs are just as good! Folks love them! A $2. key holder or bison tube and folks enjoy them just as much as if I had spent $50.

 

I learned that it really IS all about the WHERE! Take geocachers to an interesting place and they don't care WHAT you hide!

 

So that leaves me with the stark realization when asked "Why don't you hide more?" that the only answer, unfortunately, is laziness. :)

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