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What KIND of cacher am I? What kind are YOU?


Snoogans

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Okay,

 

Comments keep getting made to me (at local events and forums) and about me that I'm basically not caching or not so active......

 

It's time to determine a caching catagory for me and I was thinkin' others might want to find theirs.

 

Here's my geocaching activity:

 

Finding:

 

I add about 100 finds or so a year to my stats on average. Events and caches with GOOD word of mouth are a priority as well as any cache that is convenient to where I'm traveling. I DON'T cache willy nilly to improve my stats or out of any OC need to find what's hidden. I don't find any cache beneath consideration. I'll find any cache in any catagory or any style of hide so log as it's convenient for me to do so.

 

FTF is NOT my drug of choice, but it's nice when it happens. O0

 

I NEED to find a cache in new places. Any cache will do. Coloring my world map red is my only real caching goal. (Besides getting all the cache icons.) I wish my wife understood that. :D

 

Travel bugs:

 

I move about 500+ TB's a year on average. Discovering does not blow my skirt up but I'll do it occasionally. I like to move 'em, move 'em. TBs and New coin icons are the only stats that matter to me.

 

I own hundreds of TB's and coins.... About a third of my TB tags are unactivated and more than 2/3 are unreleased.

 

Hiding:

 

I add about 15 to my hide stats every year on average. I host quite a few events, not because I enjoy it so much, but because I want to give back to the community that hosts so many great events for me to attend. :D

 

I've got literally hundreds of half baked ideas for future caches in some stage of planning or material gathering ALWAYS. The Snoogstress is NOT amused but she does tryyy to understand. :anitongue:

 

I'm more of a hider than a finder with a hide to find ratio of greater than 1:10. I get far more pleasure from reading a find on one of my caches than I do finding most caches.

 

Forums:

 

Whether it's here or hgcs.org or some other cachin' site, I post on geocaching forums daily.

 

SO, what kind of cacher am I. I'm certainly NOT retired, or inactive. On the contrary, I'm VERY active, but I'm also NOT into what everyone else is into.... What catagory do I fit in? Please, help me find out.

 

Well, I guess we need to define the catagories first, so I maybe some othe folks should post about their cachin' activity so we can sort them into some catagories.......... ;);):D

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I add about 30 or 40 finds a year. Most of these are fairly easy, convenient to get after work on the way to something else caches. Even then, I'm somewhat picky -- I have yet to resort to an LPC. I don't have much time for the long hikes and involved multis that I'd prefer to do.

 

I also NEED to find a cache in new places. I take some care to find an interesting one -- something unique to the area. I especially like to hike in the mountains, since at home things are pretty flat.

 

Events: I went to one last fall after not going to one for several years.

 

TBs: I'll move them once in a while. I never know how long it will be until I can cache again, so I prefer to not risk holding one for too long. I have a few out there but I don't even know where they are, except the one that has gone to Switzerland and has been prevented -- almost actively, it seems -- from returning home for two years. I have a few unactivated ones I've had for years.

 

Hiding: Lots of ideas for caches, little time. The ones I have hidden are the kind I'd most like to find.

 

Forums: daily

 

I'm kind of more into Waymarking now. My caching time between errands usually means urban hides, and I just don't like stealthing. Waymarking gives me the caching fix without the paranoia.

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Good luck with categories! :anitongue:

 

Like you I have met cachers all over the country, quite a lot of them, and really can't think of any two who enjoy exactly the same things or cache the same way... stranger, friend or couple it appears that we all play a bit differently.

 

I know that there would be no way to categorize my caching behavior... it's different every trip out!

 

Numbers are no guide; some of the most respected cachers I know have relatively few finds. For years the webmaster who built and ran our Alabama Geocachers Association website hardly ever cached. He was one of the most respected and befriended fellows in the game in this area since 2002 and doesn't have 300 finds yet.

 

Reading your forum posts, seeing your hides and talking to you at several events tells me that you are one cool cacher... I can't imagine that anything someone might say would make you doubt that. But categorizing you? Can't be done!

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I disagree that caching activity can't be catagorized.

 

For example: People who post often and/or attend geocaching events often would belong to a subset of "Social Cachers." You and I belong to that subset T.A.R. ;)

 

Some people belong to the afore mentioned subset and ALSO the FTFr subset and so on until groupings of subsets become recognizable catagories.

 

At least I think it should work that way. :anitongue:

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I disagree that caching activity can't be catagorized.

 

For example: People who post often and/or attend geocaching events often would belong to a subset of "Social Cachers."

 

what about me? i post often but will avoid events. i will dive off of a trail to avoid meeting cachers i don't know. double if i know them but don't like them.

 

what subset of social-ness do you put me into?

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Each of us cache for different reasons and as long as we're happy and having fun, that's really all that matters.

 

I cache differently depending on my mood, but overall, I like to see new places and meet other cachers. Some of my greatest memories are of caching with (at the time) unknown cachers in a different state who later go on to become good friends.

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What this thread will demonstrate is that everybody is different. That's why the sport needs a variety of options from PNG micros to super multi puzzle caches like This one

 

Myself: I've been logging about 400 a year since starting in late 2002.

 

I enjoy events and attend as often as I can work them in the schedule. The social aspect is part of the game.

 

We are retired and traveling a lot and I do much of my caching while traveling. So I am having a great time coloring in the county, state and country maps. Only about a third of my finds are in my home state. About half of those are more than 50 miles from home.

 

I cache alone, with my husband tagging along on trips, and with others when I find the opportunity. I've taken multi-day trips by myself to add counties and dates to my stats.

 

I prefer a hike back in the woods regular sized cache but I look for micros if they are right where I happen to be. I avoid looking for high difficulty micros because I usually can't find them.

 

I love Travel Bugs. I have a bunch of them. I usually grab them if I think I can help them along. I personalize all of mine, give them back stories and cute names (I have yet to decide what I will do when I grow up).

 

I check into the forums now and then, often at long intervals. I have several other compulsive interests to keep up with and my petition for 36 hours days hasn't been approved so time is limited.

 

And don't try to tell a lifelong birder that it's Not About The Numbers.

 

Enjoy and be tolerant of the parts of the activity you don't do.

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Okay,

 

Comments keep getting made to me (at local events and forums) and about me that I'm basically not caching or not so active......

 

It's time to determine a caching catagory for me and I was thinkin' others might want to find theirs.

 

Here's my geocaching activity:

 

Finding:

 

I add about 100 finds or so a year to my stats on average. Events and caches with GOOD word of mouth are a priority as well as any cache that is convenient to where I'm traveling. I DON'T cache willy nilly to improve my stats or out of any OC need to find what's hidden. I don't find any cache beneath consideration. I'll find any cache in any catagory or any style of hide so log as it's convenient for me to do so.

 

FTF is NOT my drug of choice, but it's nice when it happens. O0

 

I NEED to find a cache in new places. Any cache will do. Coloring my world map red is my only real caching goal. (Besides getting all the cache icons.) I wish my wife understood that. :D

 

Travel bugs:

 

I move about 500+ TB's a year on average. Discovering does not blow my skirt up but I'll do it occasionally. I like to move 'em, move 'em. TBs and New coin icons are the only stats that matter to me.

 

I own hundreds of TB's and coins.... About a third of my TB tags are unactivated and more than 2/3 are unreleased.

 

Hiding:

 

I add about 15 to my hide stats every year on average. I host quite a few events, not because I enjoy it so much, but because I want to give back to the community that hosts so many great events for me to attend. :D

 

I've got literally hundreds of half baked ideas for future caches in some stage of planning or material gathering ALWAYS. The Snoogstress is NOT amused but she does tryyy to understand. ;)

 

I'm more of a hider than a finder with a hide to find ratio of greater than 1:10. I get far more pleasure from reading a find on one of my caches than I do finding most caches.

 

Forums:

 

Whether it's here or hgcs.org or some other cachin' site, I post on geocaching forums daily.

 

SO, what kind of cacher am I. I'm certainly NOT retired, or inactive. On the contrary, I'm VERY active, but I'm also NOT into what everyone else is into.... What catagory do I fit in? Please, help me find out.

 

Well, I guess we need to define the catagories first, so I maybe some othe folks should post about their cachin' activity so we can sort them into some catagories.......... ;):D:anitongue:

 

You are definitely in the catagory of "happy cacher". It would appear that you are satisfied with the way you do it and that should work just fine for the rest of us! :D

 

I have a long list of those caches I'll get to...as soon as I'm no longer distracted with Waymarking which I find that I enjoy alot more than going after the next PNG. I am working on figuring out how to do my first hide and have a bunch of ideas.

 

Most of all I have to do all of it while working for this guy who just insists that I accomplish what he pays me for. Besides all of that, its just too danged hot to do anything outdoors after about eight in the morning or before nine at night. I'll probably get pretty active this fall.

Edited by CrippledBlindSquirrel
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You can label me "out there and having FUN".

 

I don't know what my annual find count is, but I'm happy with it.

I find a lot of caches on some days, fewer on others, and none on many.

Sometimes I cache alone, sometimes not.

 

Never cared about FTF's-I might have 10 out of over 5000 finds. And I didn't target any of them.

 

I like events, and attend as many as my work schedule allows me too. I'm a five time Geowoodstocker, and disappointed that I cannot return to the MWGB this weekend.

 

I don't care that much about trackables any more, but will grab one if I can help with its mission and I am in the mood. I used to be an icon ho, and do want to find a Wherigo so I have all of the cache icons, but the coins are out of control.

 

I read these and the local forums daily, and post when I feel like it. I'll always be sure to keep my post count below my find count cuz that's just how I like to play. :anitongue:

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Call me a Paleocacher.

 

When I started, most caches around here were out in the desert, on mountaintops, along hiking trails or at the end of rugged mining roads. A map of nearest caches would have been doughnut-shaped, with the hole representing town. I liked it that way.

 

As the much-discussed trends took hold, I tried some of the new-style caches, but didn't enjoy them very much and didn't get any sort of thrill from incrementing the find counter, so I just stopped doing them for the most part. I have lately gotten into chasing some first-to-finds, mostly just to tweak the FTF fiends. But the core of my caching involves challenging hikes (and/or mountain-bike rides).

 

I don't bear any particular ill-will toward those who are driving the trends in Geocaching, though I am concerned that they will unintentionally make Paleocaching more difficult in the future by influencing protocols for cache approval and archival.

Edited by Mule Ears
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Finding:

 

I'm two shy of 500 finds since my first find in January 2007. If I'm lucky I get out twice a week although now that I've found all but 1 cache within 10 miles and all but 7 within 15 caching after work during the week is becoming less of an option unless something new pops up.

 

Almost all of my geocaching is done alone but I really have enjoyed caching with others and would like to do it more often.

 

FTF:

 

If a cache has not yet been found it'll usually move at the top of my list of caches to be found and if I have the opportunity to go for it shortly after it's posted I'll give it a shot. If I don't get FTF it doesn't bother me in the least and there's always the increased possibility I'll run into another geocacher while I'm out there.

 

Where I cache:

 

I also really like adding new places where I have found a cache. I've been known to take a 10 mile detour to cross a state line and search for a cache to fill in another spot in the US state map with red. I've currently found caches in 11 states (in four of those I've only found one cache) and 5 countries (3 continents). In a couple of weeks I'll be traveling through four new ones.

 

Puzzle caches:

 

I like them. 70 of my finds are puzzle caches and I've got 20 or so others that I have solved, including several in places that I may never visit, including "Key to the Cryptonomicon". That one took over a month to solve and I'm only one of less than 10 people that have solved it.

 

Travel bugs:

 

I'll grab a TB/Coin if I know I am going to be traveling in the near future or if I find one in a cache that is found infrequently. I like taking TBs on trips to interesting places. I took four with me to Africa, dipped them in a cache in Zimbabwe, took some photos and brought them back home.

 

Events:

 

I've only been to one but enjoyed it. The next GeoWoodstock is a strong possibility for me, especially considering it's going to be in Nashville and I'd have the opportunity to actually find Cryptonomicon.

 

Hiding:

 

I've own 23 caches but 8 of those were adopted. I really enjoy hiding them but don't want to extend myself maintaining them. I really like creating "concept" caches where the name, description, hiding area, and container all follow a theme. I haven't yet hidden a cache that could be classified as "evil" or "extreme" but I will probably start placing some more difficult caches in the future. I believe that there is a place for caches specifically targeted for new cachers as well as caches that will challenges experienced geocaches.

 

Forums:

 

I read them every day. That' partially due to the fact that I don't get to spend as much time as I would like actually out geocaching and also that I have been an active participant in online forums in a variety of topics since 1985.

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what subset of social-ness do you put me into?

 

Anti- ?

 

Now that right there is funny (even it it's not true :anitongue: ) In a galaxy far, far away, a long, long time ago I once spent the day geocaching in the deep dark woods of north Florida with Snoogans and Cudjo and he was very social (Snoogans not Cudjo, Cudjo was a little yippie and feisty).

 

But I stray from the topic at hand. I'd classify Snoog as an ecletic, discerning (but social) cacher with an undefinable quality and flair.

 

I would define myself as someone who now actually cacher more when I travel than when I'm home. I love to cache and get out of the hotel when I'm in a new city, state or country.

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Geocaching is my hobby of choice. I needed something to get me out of the apartment on weekends. I took up hiking for several years. I've hiked most of the trails in New Jersey, so I started following that white-blazed trail Ten years later, and a thousand miles on the AT, I gave up backpacking. It's too far to drive to Virginia for a week backpacking! And Mount Madison, NH broke my spirit.

And, then I discovered geocaching! 1600 caches and four years later, it still gets me out of the apartment, and brings me to all sorts of great places (and some not so great. Oh, well.)

You can classify me as an "Obsessive/Compulsive Geocacher."

Rhode Island is on the way to Maine, isn't it? Five days helping my sister with the Maine DeLorme, 22 pages, 1000 miles, and 103 caches found, and 498 miles from home. Half hour to get through Douanes Canadiennes to get from Calais to St Stephen, and forty-five minutes to get back through Homeland Security. Coloring in New Brunswick and Canada on the map? Priceless.

Took a week vacation to get the A.P.E. Cache in Maryland, picking up Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia. Went to Connecticut for the GPS Adventure Maze.

We have twenty-four hides, most of which we are very proud of, and most of which have a great view.

I'll answer to Obsessive/Compulsive.

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I've only been caching since Feb and i have over 500 finds.

 

Events: I go to everyone i can make. I love the trips out caching after parties as well.

 

TBs: I love taking them and moving them around i have quite a few and i have coins in circulation as well i only keep two of my favorites.

 

Hiding: I have almost a 1:10 hide to find ratio. I love creating different series of caches. It get people who find them more involved

 

Forums: I try daily

 

I love this sport. I have done a few 8pm to 1:30 am runs and love the numbers but i alos love the views when i have the time to hike up a nice tall hill. Micros upset me when i find 20 of them and no regulars in one day. But otherwise i don't mid them as long as there is a cache along the way to put stuff in.

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Classify me as a non-competetive itsnotaboutthenumbers out for the adeventure kind of hiker that uses geocaching as an excuse to get out. Five years and just made it to 300 finds and most of the DNFs were just as fun.
I'm the same way. I've tried other styles that get higher numbers but I always revert back to being me and just enjoying getting out with my fellow cachers fun new adventures. If I find one cache or twenty on my adventure, it doesn't really matter to me. :laughing:
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And don't try to tell a lifelong birder that it's Not About The Numbers.

 

Neva: If it was about The Numbers I wouldn't of adopted a certain cache a few years ago.

Now that I'm in AZ I do hope you can make it down here this winter.

 

Actually I'm just me and cache just for something to do before I slip into the stage of agnosia. And caching will help us from reaching that stage by keeping us alert and active. That is why I like to hide the more difficult caches because it keeps me going. And going to events and reading the forums is all part of the game.

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I call myself a neocacher.

 

The cacher formerly known as Geek-Qualizer (Still can't think of him as TFP) coined the term "Casual Cacher" for himself where I posted this discussion on our local forum...

 

You, he, and I all cache at near the same speed. Casual seems about right for a start.

 

You answer the same questions over and over again with patience to the tune of nearly 30k posts and you also have over 1,100 pictures posted to your gallery. Considerate would be the term there....

 

I'd call you a Casual-Considerate-Social Cacher. :laughing:

 

I'd call the cacher formerly known as GQ that too. :wub:

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Eh, why try to slot yourself into a category? You find geocaches, you're a geocacher. Whether you found 2 or 2000, doesn't matter, whether you've got more events or posts under your belt than cache finds, it doesn't matter. We're cachers. All of us. Maybe we go about claiming that title in different ways, but it still fits.

 

Why try to pigeon-hole everyone into a different group?

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Why try to pigeon-hole everyone into a different group?

For the sake of discussion. I think its interesting to see how people categorize themselves.

 

Far as ol' 9key goes, I pretty much just like to hide caches. I'll find a cache if its near where I work or live, or if its near where one of my caches while I'm doing maintainence.

 

I visit here and the Texas forums pretty much every day as I enjoy seeing what the current hub bub is.

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I definitely see caching traits in different people. Each person has a different mix of these basic traits (there are more traits but you get the idea):

 

Urban cachers - if you enjoy wandering city streets and parking lots and finding caches with muggles around.

Numbers cachers - If the number of caches in an area effects your decision to cache in one place versus another. If you stay out really late trying to get more caches. You know who you are...

Hiking/Biking/Off-Roading cachers - if you enjoy nature and scenery while hiking, biking or off-roading

Puzzle cachers - if you enjoy solving puzzles

Social cachers - if you enjoy events and hanging out with other cachers.

Loner cachers - if you prefer caching by yourself.

Edited by TrailGators
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DocDitto, you got it right. But I'll go ahead and categorize myself anyway. :D I'll put myself in the "Overqualified Aging Noob" list. Through my work as a field biologist, I started doing something very similar to this game of geocaching back in 1984. Didn't realize someone had made it fun until this summer! Nope, didn't have a GPS back then. But someone had placed a whole bunch of survey points (a.k.a. re-bar posts pounded into the ground) all along the South Platte and Platte Rivers from the Continental Divide to Grand Island, Nebraska. And I got to find them by eyes, hands, and feet. Fed lots of ticks that way. Then we "upgraded" to the old Trimble backpack, about 1993. Great! as if I wasn't carrying enough &%#* around looking for these things, now I got this heavy back-pack and the goofy-looking antenna over my head! Sometime about 1995 or so, we were actually allowed to see, touch and use the venerable PLGR, military issue, hand-held GPS (programmed to function even through the heaviest satellite "outages"). Much better than the Trimble, but the user interface was as friendly as a Missouri Mule! :D How did this happen, you might ask?? I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help you! :D Used this brick until Katrina compelled us to move to the 21st century, when our office bought a couple of GPSMAP 76es, and I got a Vista. Got started in the "official" geocaching game when our state parks started a contest to encourage visits to the parks/allow geocaching. I was fairly sure I could do this, and its a great way to spend time with the family, and hopefully teach our 1-yr-old to appreciate the outdoors. All this is a good reminder for me that "numbers don't matter", because, well, there's been a few beers between then and now, and I don't even want to think about numbers. All I'm concerned with is getting JBnW together on a tour of the countryside "looking for tupperware"! But I am looking forward to becoming more of a "placer" rather than a "finder"! (Patience, grasshopper!)

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I like to hide caches most of all.

I like to find caches of all types just not to many puzzle ones.

I like to host events and help out as much as possible on others.

I like to promote geocaching to new people to get them hooked as i am.

I like to take kids out geocaching especially the ones that require hiking.

Most of all I hate logging my finds I have not kept track for the last five years except for the last 6 months and when I move a TB or I had something interesting to post. I have 1 or 2 hundred caches I have not logged lately and It looks like I am not going to worry about logging them. So many cachers I new years ago were in it just for the numbers so it just turned me off on logging them because to me logging them is not important and taking time to enjoy the caches and the surroundings are more important for me and my kids.

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...

Numbers cachers - If the number of caches in an area effects your decision to cache in one place versus another. If you stay out really late trying to get more caches. You know who you are...

 

 

I don't think either of those attributes makes one a numbers cacher. Wanting to find more caches just may mean that you like to find geocaches and going to an area which has lots of caches or staying out late just means you're spending more time searching for caches and hopefully finding different kinds of hides in many different and interesting locations.

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Snoogans,

 

You're asking a community that cant even agree if cache size should be rated by containment or external dimensions.

Do you honestly expect them to be able to come up with a sociological definition? :)

 

Heck, I'm a Goth, but when somebody labels me as such I will typically get offended. Most people including self proclaimed Goths, don't know what Goth is. According to modern attempts even people that dress up just for renaissance fairs could be considered goth. :blink:

Now for some real guffaws, the original definition. The punk subculture of vampire emulators. By that definition one could be a dirty little street urchin wanna be vampire 13 year old that listens to Alien Sex Fiend or a 50 year old multimillionaire that puts in fangs when he/she beds his/her significant other and enjoys Billy Idol or even Blondie.

 

I'm not saying don't use labels. Labels are good they bring order to chaos, but don't let others label you until you have a good clue as to what your label is, especially in a community rife with individuals that use flawed logic ad nauseam to prove their opinions are fact.

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I definitely see caching traits in different people. Each person has a different mix of these basic traits (there are more traits but you get the idea):

 

Urban cachers - if you enjoy wandering city streets and parking lots and finding caches with muggles around.

Numbers cachers - If the number of caches in an area effects your decision to cache in one place versus another. If you stay out really late trying to get more caches. You know who you are...

Hiking/Biking/Off-Roading cachers - if you enjoy nature and scenery while hiking, biking or off-roading

Puzzle cachers - if you enjoy solving puzzles

Social cachers - if you enjoy events and hanging out with other cachers.

Loner cachers - if you prefer caching by yourself.

 

Let me apply the "TrailGators Cacher Classification System" or Tra-C-ClasSy to myself for a second.

I ... would be a Loner-Offroad-Numbers-Cacher, or a 'LONC'.

I choose my areas to hunt to preferably wooded areas where I can cycle based on cache density. My second option is hiking. Only upon failure of those two I revert back to Car-Assisted-Caching as a last resort.

I usually pack my bike in the car and drive into the area and then cycle. I live in an area where the cache density is high, so a 3 hr tour by bike, once a week quickly results into about 14 finds.

I like good caches of all sizes and found that I have to kiss a lot of frogs (micros) to find a princess (couldn't care less for a prince ;-) ) or a good one. *

My finds are distributed 30% US 68% Germany and 2% other countries. Snce I travel a lot across the pond I usually take a handful of TBs/ Coins back and forth. Hardly ever discover.

Events? Been to two, would like to go to one in NJ (been trying to catch the beer and burger event for months!), but prefer to meet people while caching in their natural habitat.

 

Thore

* Tiny often empty Park: Somerset NJ; SELBSTTHERAPIE; Lamington Ledges to name but a few.

 

May I suggest to add two more categories?

Icon cachers - If you collect coin icons in your profile and go out of your way to 'discover' them in a cahe or an event

Armchair Cachers (restricted class) - If you enjoy caching from home Phew luckily I erased that one ;-) ... just kidding, no offense

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I haven't read all of the posts. But, if you are "not active" enough, what does that make me?

 

I have been a Geocacher for 8 years.

My best year was 2005 when I bagged 20 caches.

My worst years were 2006 and 2007, tied at 3 caches...in a year!

I currently have 52 caches, as of 2 days ago.

I'm working on hiding my first cache.

Never done an event cache.

I pretty much only do caches that are convenient, unless my die-hard caching friend is here and she gets me out more (see 2005 above). She shows up for a week vacation and I say "What shall we do?". She says "Let's go caching!" :blink:

I look, and post, in the forums about every 2-3 years.

 

But, I enjoy it when I do it, so I'm happy with it. When I get access to an ATV in Arizona this winter, I plan to bag my best year ever! Now that gas prices are dropping again, I might even brave a few longer distance ones in Wyoming.

 

So, I'm not an addicted cacher, but I'm a happy cacher. :)

------------------

Okay...now I've read them all!

By the TrailGators system (sorta), I am mostly an Anti-Social, Loner, mostly Urban, very Casual, Happy Cacher!

I don't look forward to meeting people, but I don't dive off the trail to avoid them either. I have always been a shy sort, but since I turned 14, at least I can now look someone in the eyes and actually talk to them! If I ever get a chance to talk about rocks, there's no shutting me up!

Edited by Snow Birds
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I don't want to stereotype myself.

 

Although I am a heavy forum lurker. I cache when, how and where I want. I have never cached with a group of other cachers. I have a hard time at events, I tend to sit back and observe and let others talk.

 

wow :blink: I don't want this too sound like a personal ad, SWM-GC'er looking for like minded GC'er for long brutal hikes through prickers and then a quckie @ Wally World

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Finding:

Given enough free time, we will try to find just about anything. With limited time we tend to go for clusters of caches in parks and on trails as a way to see more of the area and get a bunch. I usually skip caches that are at fast food restaurants and near dumpsters. Dean will go for them if we are close but not if I am with him.

 

FTF:

It can be fun but we don't always have the time to go for them so we don't even watch for new caches to pop up. Almost had a few Sunday but we ran out of time to do the 6 mile hike.

 

Where I cache:

EVERYWHERE I CAN! I travel so my goal is to find one in every state. Then, once I've found one, I try to find as many as possible. We set a goal of someday having at least 50 finds in every state.

 

Puzzle caches:

Dean solves them before road trips, I usually skip them on my trips. Unless I hear good things about it, then we will go for it.

 

Travel bugs:

I love to move them across the country when possible.

 

Events:

Oh YEAH! If possible, I will be there. I once drove 50 miles in a Delaware snow storm and associated traffic to attend one when out of town. :)

I love throwing them and attending them. Just never have enough time....

 

Hiding:

Fun but not my focus. Hiding means maintaining. We aren't home enough to do a ton of maintenance. Dean loves coming up with creative ones and we like hiding puzzles and multi caches. But only if we think we can maintain the cache.

 

Forums:

I should post more often. I read them a ton but lurk more than anything.

 

Jen

:blink:

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CJ and I are almost opposites , so I guess we kinda compliment each other in all areas, as in caching.

Playing since July '04, with 1838 finds and 25 hides.

I'm not big on micros (doesn't bother CJ in the least), but we DO have a few out. It's all that was allowed in approval. Yeah, we're one of the few who ask.

 

Neither of us has much time now, but CJ will run for a FTF like her pants are on fire if time allows. Doesn't matter what or where, usually up to 3 in terrain.

I'll go if it fits, but normally go for longer hikes and/or higher terrain ratings 3+. Prefer the "+" end.

 

We like to cache together. Most times that's no longer possible. Like on a FTF run, she'll head anywhere.

More the loner, I'll shy away from the public eye and hit game lands, state parks and forests.

 

We'll both "attempt" puzzles (she's a lot better than I), but don't usually search them out.

A lot younger, she knows how to find info needed to eventually solve. I'm a dyslexic old fart who's lucky to be able to figure how to write this post. If it takes math, I'm out.

 

CJ has her own profile page (CJ (part of cerberus1) ) just for all the coins she owns/logs. She also has a T.B. on her motorcycle.

I could care less. One T.B. I had ended up grabbed from a creep within months and kept. I own two coins.

 

If it's on a Friday or Saturday, we might attend an event when time allows. We're night-shifters, so Sunday events are out.

Since we both work for Crayola, we'll usually bring something for the attending kids.

CJ will join right in with whatever's going on. I'm rarely in event pics and standing towards the back, looking for a "designated" area to have a smoke.

 

CJ normally doesn't hit the forums. Maybe once in awhile in the T.B/coin areas.

I'm a regular lurker, posting when something interests me, not just chit-chat.

 

Not sure what category we'd fit into.

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If I were able to identify a category that would describe me, it would change soon anyway. I am closing in on the 1000 finds milestone. Unfortunately I'll miss by about 2 weeks my goal of hitting 1000 before my 1 year geocaching anniversary .

 

Anyway, I am looking forward to seeking caches that I enjoy and ignoring the boring ones.

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I add about 30 or 40 finds a year. Most of these are fairly easy, convenient to get after work on the way to something else caches. Even then, I'm somewhat picky -- I have yet to resort to an LPC. I don't have much time for the long hikes and involved multis that I'd prefer to do.

 

I also NEED to find a cache in new places. I take some care to find an interesting one -- something unique to the area. I especially like to hike in the mountains, since at home things are pretty flat.

 

Events: I went to one last fall after not going to one for several years.

 

TBs: I'll move them once in a while. I never know how long it will be until I can cache again, so I prefer to not risk holding one for too long. I have a few out there but I don't even know where they are, except the one that has gone to Switzerland and has been prevented -- almost actively, it seems -- from returning home for two years. I have a few unactivated ones I've had for years.

 

Hiding: Lots of ideas for caches, little time. The ones I have hidden are the kind I'd most like to find.

 

Forums: daily

 

I'm kind of more into Waymarking now. My caching time between errands usually means urban hides, and I just don't like stealthing. Waymarking gives me the caching fix without the paranoia.

 

You might want to try Letterboxing. I enjoy it.

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Okay,

 

Comments keep getting made to me (at local events and forums) and about me that I'm basically not caching or not so active......

 

It's time to determine a caching catagory for me and I was thinkin' others might want to find theirs.

 

Here's my geocaching activity:

 

Finding:

 

I add about 100 finds or so a year to my stats on average. Events and caches with GOOD word of mouth are a priority as well as any cache that is convenient to where I'm traveling. I DON'T cache willy nilly to improve my stats or out of any OC need to find what's hidden. I don't find any cache beneath consideration. I'll find any cache in any catagory or any style of hide so log as it's convenient for me to do so.

 

FTF is NOT my drug of choice, but it's nice when it happens. O0

 

I NEED to find a cache in new places. Any cache will do. Coloring my world map red is my only real caching goal. (Besides getting all the cache icons.) I wish my wife understood that. :)

 

Travel bugs:

 

I move about 500+ TB's a year on average. Discovering does not blow my skirt up but I'll do it occasionally. I like to move 'em, move 'em. TBs and New coin icons are the only stats that matter to me.

 

I own hundreds of TB's and coins.... About a third of my TB tags are unactivated and more than 2/3 are unreleased.

 

Hiding:

 

I add about 15 to my hide stats every year on average. I host quite a few events, not because I enjoy it so much, but because I want to give back to the community that hosts so many great events for me to attend. ;)

 

I've got literally hundreds of half baked ideas for future caches in some stage of planning or material gathering ALWAYS. The Snoogstress is NOT amused but she does tryyy to understand. :lol:

 

I'm more of a hider than a finder with a hide to find ratio of greater than 1:10. I get far more pleasure from reading a find on one of my caches than I do finding most caches.

 

Forums:

 

Whether it's here or hgcs.org or some other cachin' site, I post on geocaching forums daily.

 

SO, what kind of cacher am I. I'm certainly NOT retired, or inactive. On the contrary, I'm VERY active, but I'm also NOT into what everyone else is into.... What catagory do I fit in? Please, help me find out.

 

Well, I guess we need to define the catagories first, so I maybe some othe folks should post about their cachin' activity so we can sort them into some catagories.......... ;);):)

 

Luckless MD resident geopsych is in;

 

By stuudying and carefully evaluating your statement I can safely say that you are a "people cacher". Well maybe we need a better term, but it most accurately defines your caching technique. You attend events because you love the people, you send out lots and lots of TBs because you love hearing from the people. You are in it largely for the people you meet. You cache to find caches, but even more so - people. Your hides and finds are basically to support the game so you can have lots of opportunities to meet people.

You also like traveling.

My diagnosis: You are a traveling people cacher--- That will be 5 cents

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Okay,

 

Comments keep getting made to me (at local events and forums) and about me that I'm basically not caching or not so active......

 

It's time to determine a caching catagory for me and I was thinkin' others might want to find theirs.

 

Here's my geocaching activity:

 

Finding:

 

I add about 100 finds or so a year to my stats on average. Events and caches with GOOD word of mouth are a priority as well as any cache that is convenient to where I'm traveling. I DON'T cache willy nilly to improve my stats or out of any OC need to find what's hidden. I don't find any cache beneath consideration. I'll find any cache in any catagory or any style of hide so log as it's convenient for me to do so.

 

FTF is NOT my drug of choice, but it's nice when it happens. O0

 

I NEED to find a cache in new places. Any cache will do. Coloring my world map red is my only real caching goal. (Besides getting all the cache icons.) I wish my wife understood that. ;)

 

Travel bugs:

 

I move about 500+ TB's a year on average. Discovering does not blow my skirt up but I'll do it occasionally. I like to move 'em, move 'em. TBs and New coin icons are the only stats that matter to me.

 

I own hundreds of TB's and coins.... About a third of my TB tags are unactivated and more than 2/3 are unreleased.

 

Hiding:

 

I add about 15 to my hide stats every year on average. I host quite a few events, not because I enjoy it so much, but because I want to give back to the community that hosts so many great events for me to attend. :)

 

I've got literally hundreds of half baked ideas for future caches in some stage of planning or material gathering ALWAYS. The Snoogstress is NOT amused but she does tryyy to understand. :lol:

 

I'm more of a hider than a finder with a hide to find ratio of greater than 1:10. I get far more pleasure from reading a find on one of my caches than I do finding most caches.

 

Forums:

 

Whether it's here or hgcs.org or some other cachin' site, I post on geocaching forums daily.

 

SO, what kind of cacher am I. I'm certainly NOT retired, or inactive. On the contrary, I'm VERY active, but I'm also NOT into what everyone else is into.... What catagory do I fit in? Please, help me find out.

 

Well, I guess we need to define the catagories first, so I maybe some othe folks should post about their cachin' activity so we can sort them into some catagories.......... ;);):)

 

I don't know what kind of a cacher you should be categorized but I have decided that you're no longer qualified to have such a strong opinion about geocaching in these forums.. ;)

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Garden Variety Geocachers here.

 

We add 200-300 per year to our caching tallies.

 

We have 10 actives caches that we take good care of.

If new geocacher (say under 50 finds, cannot find one our caches and posts that it may be missing) we generally ignore the posting-chalking it up to beginners luck (or lack of). However if a more seasoned geocacher makes the same claim, their posting will have a lot more weight and will usually warrant a cache maintenance visit.

 

Micros in the woods, LPC's and rock wall caches are our least preferred.

 

This 1/4 of our grouping has been to three events total.

It sounds like a good idea at first but then I will usually end skipping an event. Our personality types are more on the shy/reserved side among strangers. The Mega event is being held nearby in July, I think I will go but who knows.

 

We are getting into color shadings too, this spring we should have a find every state and DC.

 

I think we have met maybe a dozen geocachers out and about.

 

So Garden Variety geocachers is a good status type for us.

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