Lifeline question

[SpiritsUp]

Pretty basic question I imagine - I see cachers write about getting a lifeline for difficult hides or to end their torture I guess. How (who) do you ask for one? Thanks!

[+WRASTRO]

Pretty basic question I imagine - I see cachers write about getting a lifeline for difficult hides or to end their torture I guess. How (who) do you ask for one? Thanks!

You spend time caching and getting to know other cachers by attending events and finding more caches. In truth it is a bit of the good ol' boys network. You can ask for help from those you know and those you have helped.

[+busterbabes]

Lifelines are usually the "phone a friend".

"Phone a friend" lists are usually located somewhere on your local goecachers websites.

[+Indotguy]

Guess I'm just old fashioned, but I consider it cheating to call someone for help if I can't find a cache. I just log a DO NOT FIND and come back and look again later.

[+Buggheart]

Guess I'm just old fashioned, but I consider it cheating to call someone for help if I can't find a cache. I just log a DO NOT FIND and come back and look again later.

 

I do as well. I had visited a difficult cache site 3 times and logged as DNF but then PM'd the owner to find out if I was on the right track and felt terrible about asking for advice. I'd feel like total crap if someone ended up telling me where it was or giving major hints. My mom and I cache together and separately and if we're together and I'm looking for something she's already found I make her keep quiet.

[+tozainamboku]

Guess I'm just old fashioned, but I consider it cheating to call someone for help if I can't find a cache. I just log a DO NOT FIND and come back and look again later.

 

I do as well. I had visited a difficult cache site 3 times and logged as DNF but then PM'd the owner to find out if I was on the right track and felt terrible about asking for advice. I'd feel like total crap if someone ended up telling me where it was or giving major hints. My mom and I cache together and separately and if we're together and I'm looking for something she's already found I make her keep quiet.

I don't consider it cheating. I do like to find the cache myself so I don't use phone-a-friends and often when I log a DNF will post explicitly that I don't want any hints. Some people will send you unsolicited hints when you log a DNF. But if a friend calls me to ask for a hint I give it. Of course when someone asks for a hint on a puzzle from me they may not get anything that really helps.

[+StarBrand]

Some cachers will give up after a short search and pull out the cell to ask other locals where to look. I find the practice a bit cheesy and wonder why it is fun to be told where to find it.

[+Renegade Knight]

Pretty basic question I imagine - I see cachers write about getting a lifeline for difficult hides or to end their torture I guess. How (who) do you ask for one? Thanks!

You spend time caching and getting to know other cachers by attending events and finding more caches. In truth it is a bit of the good ol' boys network. You can ask for help from those you know and those you have helped.

 

That sums it up. It's the phone a friend network. Sometimes it short circuits the intended cache experience that the owner set up. I think I'm up to about 3 phone calls. Two of those to the cache owner.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Guess I'm just old fashioned, but I consider it cheating to call someone for help if I can't find a cache. I just log a DO NOT FIND and come back and look again later.

 

I guess I'm just being practical. On my last three geocache outings I drove an average of 60 miles on each outing, which based on the MPG I get on my vehicle and todays current gas prices cost just over $11 for each outing. Each time I went in a specific direction where there was a cluster of caches to be found, thus maximizing the limited amount of time I spent to searching for caches rather than driving between caches. On each outing I had 1-2 caches I could not find. I could either A ) spend another $11 just to get back to the same area (which might be for at least a week or two) to find the cache another time, or B ) call a friend that I know had previously found the cache for a hint and spend the $11 in gas to go to a different area where I might find 7-8 caches instead of 1.

 

The average of 60 miles per outing and amount of time I had to spend geocaching is pretty typical for me since the nearest unfound cache is about 10 miles from home (as the crow flies). Once I get the three caches in that area all my unfound caches will be over 14 miles away.

 

It's a lot easier to ignore certain types of caches or make multiple search attempts on caches when one lives a very cache rich area.

Edited September 19, 2008 by NYPaddleCacher

[+markandsandy]

Guess I'm just old fashioned, but I consider it cheating to call someone for help if I can't find a cache. I just log a DO NOT FIND and come back and look again later.

 

I could either A ) spend another $11 just to get back to the same area (which might be for at least a week or two) to find the cache another time, or B ) call a friend that I know had previously found the cache for a hint and spend the $11 in gas to go to a different area where I might find 7-8 caches instead of 1.

 

 

or C ) Log the DNF and spend the $11 in gas to go to a different area where you might find 7-8 caches instead of 1.

 

Nobody says you have to go back and find it.

[+johnling]

Phone a friend can be good. On two occasions it was good I did. On the first one I noticed evidence of what appeared to be a cache chopped up. It was the second stage of a multi and was supposed to be in the pine tree I was looking around. Finally I decided it was not there and called a friend. A few days earlier we had a series of severe storms go through. It wasd tied to a branch and must have come down in the high winds with the branched banging and scraping around. When they mowed in the park it was chopped to bits. I was able to send the owner a note and he had it back up in short order. The second was also in a park off of a trail. Same thing, I noticed an empty container and wet paper close by. Muggle or whatever. If I had logged a DNF or just decided to come back another time the caches would have been down for an extended period of time.

 

Don't always look at it as cheating, you may be helping out the owner.

[SpiritsUp]

These are really helpful points. I never want to get extra help for a cache in my home area - well, I'd want to, but my pride, y'know? One local cache I must have visited 10 times before I finally found it (no, I didn't DNF each time).

But I've been traveling sometime and the hide is maddening, gave it my best shot, but I'll probably never be back, so sometimes I might like to break down and get help just to get it out of my head.

Thanks, all!

Edited September 19, 2008 by SpiritsUp

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Guess I'm just old fashioned, but I consider it cheating to call someone for help if I can't find a cache. I just log a DO NOT FIND and come back and look again later.

 

I could either A ) spend another $11 just to get back to the same area (which might be for at least a week or two) to find the cache another time, or B ) call a friend that I know had previously found the cache for a hint and spend the $11 in gas to go to a different area where I might find 7-8 caches instead of 1.

 

 

or C ) Log the DNF and spend the $11 in gas to go to a different area where you might find 7-8 caches instead of 1.

 

Nobody says you have to go back and find it.

 

Nobody says I have to go caching at all, but I do, and I play the game in a manner that makes most sense to me. If that means asking a friend for a hint in a spot I may have driven a half and hour to get to a place to park, then hiked another 1/2 mile into woods then that's what I'll do.

 

I also have DNFd on other caches closer to home (and posted a log each time) but didn't use a phone a friend. That's because I'm far more likely going to be able to visit the spot in the near future.

[+WatchDog2020]

Guess I'm just old fashioned, but I consider it cheating to call someone for help if I can't find a cache. I just log a DO NOT FIND and come back and look again later.

 

I could either A ) spend another $11 just to get back to the same area (which might be for at least a week or two) to find the cache another time, or B ) call a friend that I know had previously found the cache for a hint and spend the $11 in gas to go to a different area where I might find 7-8 caches instead of 1.

 

 

or C ) Log the DNF and spend the $11 in gas to go to a different area where you might find 7-8 caches instead of 1.

 

Nobody says you have to go back and find it.

 

Nobody says I have to go caching at all, but I do, and I play the game in a manner that makes most sense to me. If that means asking a friend for a hint in a spot I may have driven a half and hour to get to a place to park, then hiked another 1/2 mile into woods then that's what I'll do.

 

I also have DNFd on other caches closer to home (and posted a log each time) but didn't use a phone a friend. That's because I'm far more likely going to be able to visit the spot in the near future.

 

30 miles away hummmm - I'll be your Phone a friend

[+blb9556]

Well if it takes you 3 hours each way to hike to the cache then a phone a friend is helpful!

[+HarleyPiper]

Guess I'm just old fashioned, but I consider it cheating to call someone for help if I can't find a cache. I just log a DO NOT FIND and come back and look again later.

 

I could either A ) spend another $11 just to get back to the same area (which might be for at least a week or two) to find the cache another time, or B ) call a friend that I know had previously found the cache for a hint and spend the $11 in gas to go to a different area where I might find 7-8 caches instead of 1.

 

 

or C ) Log the DNF and spend the $11 in gas to go to a different area where you might find 7-8 caches instead of 1.

 

Nobody says you have to go back and find it.

 

Nobody says I have to go caching at all, but I do, and I play the game in a manner that makes most sense to me. If that means asking a friend for a hint in a spot I may have driven a half and hour to get to a place to park, then hiked another 1/2 mile into woods then that's what I'll do.

 

I also have DNFd on other caches closer to home (and posted a log each time) but didn't use a phone a friend. That's because I'm far more likely going to be able to visit the spot in the near future.

 

Great answer! That's what makes geocaching popular with such a variety of people. And anyone that tries to press their perception of "cheating" on any other cacher just needs to remember the rules. You can find them in the Geocaching.com FAQ's:

 

What are the rules in Geocaching?

1. If you take something from the cache, leave something of equal or greater value.

2. Write about your find in the cache logbook.

3. Log your experience at www.geocaching.

 

Hmmm... There doesn't appear to be anything about who you can or can't ask, or whether you log or don't log DNF's... Just go have fun!!!

[+WRASTRO]

Yep, one of the best things about this game is that everyone is right about the best way for them to play at any given moment. Keep having fun and let others play the way that works best for them at that moment - as long as it isn't causing adverse affects on other cachers. PAF could do this but I would expect that would be a rare result.

[+MacKenziePuppy]

I suppose phone a friend is a good way to start meeting your fellow geocachers; it gives you an extra reason to be sociable.

 

That said, we don't know any other cachers in our area yet, so it does us no good.

[sdarken]

That said, we don't know any other cachers in our area yet, so it does us no good.

 

Attending events is a good way to meet other cachers. Also if you need help with a cache, send the owner an email. That's a good way to may the initial contact. You'll find other cachers are generally pretty helpful and you'll get to know them fairly quickly. Once you know them a bit you can ask if they mind if you call them for help occasionally.

 

When I call people that I dont know too well I usually start the phonecall "Is this the geocaching-help line?" People sometimes dont recognize my real name and I find that as soon as I say "geocaching" the person at the other end usually quickly figures out who I am and realizes that I'm not calling to sell anything.

 

As others have said, I generally save those phone calls for when I'm in remote locations that aren't easy to return to though if the fun runs out at a cache I'm not usually reluctant to call one of better geocaching friends to get some help so that I dont have to come back. (Yes, I do have to go back - it's the obsession that makes me).

[+gypsy1965]

On one cache we went back 5 times , after several emails and one phone call the cache owner came out met me and found the cache to be missing......they were great , very helpful and nice to meet....so i say it doesnt hurt to get in contact with them. Happy caching!!!!!!

[+Wild Thing 73]

hm mm, "phone a friend" Great idea. I don't have "friends" that I can call, so I guess I'll keep doing it the old fashion way, which seems to work for me. Now If I drive 30-40 miles one way to search for 3-4 caches and I find all but one and those are the only caches in that area....The one can't find goes on my ignore list. I agree the the other cacher.....High fuel prices with long drives does not make some caches "cost effective" and therefore ignorable. I will also add that I prefer to find all my caches by just me. That's way it has been....not say that I haven't had some help, from time to time.....It is all part of this wonderful game we have selected to pursue..Happy Trails

[Mr.Yuck]

This is an interesting topic, that I must ponder very deeply. I've grown, over 5+ years, to be one of the most obnoxious old-schooler geocachers around. But yet I was introduced to "phone-a-friend" very early in my geocaching career. I suppose it's not so bad, as long as the seeker is just looking for a little "nudge", as opposed to someone telling them a total spoiler, something like "Stand with your back to this tree facing west, and take 10 steps forward".

 

And I'd say the people that still call me are just looking for a nudge, and are never told any real major spoiler information. One just called me a few weeks ago. The cache was placed by a newbie. No one knows the newbie, no one has the newbies phone number, right?

 

But I am pretty much subscribing to the theory these days that only the cache owner should be giving hints or advice on their caches. An example from these forums is that it seems to be almost universally unanimous that it's bad ettiquette to ask here for help on someone's puzzle cache.

Edited September 27, 2008 by TheWhiteUrkel

[+thechildren]

As a newbie, I think I could appreciate a nudge or two early on in my geocaching experience. Often others will leave comments such as "true to this cacher's style", which doesn't help me if I've never encountered their caches before. Just learning how to look is a help. That said, I really don't want any extra help, unless I'm pretty sure I should be right on top of an "easy" find. Maybe it's been muggled or blown away, so I'll most likely just contact the owner of the cache.

[+popokiiti]

After multiple trips to locate a magnetic micro on machinery (A locomotive plus long trailer) we bit the bullet and emailed another cacher for a hint. Even with that it was tricky, but did narrow the search to the loco and one side of it..............found it after some hunting, it was well hidden.

Hints or nudges are just fine in my book! They help this less experienced cacher avoid frustration...but I will log my DNFs in case my not finding the cache is because it has gone AWOL.