totally helpless in the world of caches

October 27, 2008

Hallo friends,

last week we started this game and went to 4 places with our new gps. But we didn`t even found 1 . So we went home very disapointed and we don`t know what have to do in a better way. We hope to get help here. Please give us a hint.

October 27, 2008

Slow down and smell the flowers :santa: What difficulty level are you looking for? You need to look for something not in place.

October 27, 2008

From one newbie to another, take your time. How much time did you spend searching? At a certain cache we sat for almost a half an hour due to muggle traffic before I actually spotted the thing. Ones in high traffic areas are typically a bit tougher as they have to be hidden a bit better to avoid being muggled (from what I've seen anyway) but really taking your time when starting out is key. You can't expect to find it in 30 seconds or it wouldn't be fun now would it? :santa:

9.2k · October 27, 2008

Start off with Traditional, Regular size caches. Leave the micros 'till you get the hang of it.

October 28, 2008

The other posts were correct, due take your time at the cache location...Think, where would you hide the container (Remember the size of the container and what it is makes a big difference in your search patten). Start at GZ and looking at every thing/place that might hide a container. The hider of the container can be very tricky and sneaky...look for something that does not belong or looks like it shouldn't be there...Some hiders use a lot of PVC, camo paint, hooks attached to containers and hang in trees, and so on...That takes up a lot of my time , thinking of new ways to hide caches....I luv to hide caches...just as much as looking for them....So, all you need is fun time and enjoyable experience. Get about 200 to 500 cache finds and then come back to the forums and tell us your caching experiences. There are no secrets, just grind it out and above all enjoy and have fun...We all have many, many DNFs...and we all started at the beginning, 1 cache at a time....Good luck

Edited October 28, 2008 by Wild Thing 73

2.3k · October 28, 2008

And if you have a Magellan GPS, know that firmware issues can have you hundreds of feet away from the cache without your knowing it. I'd turn your GPS off and on while near the cache unless you have really poor satellite coverage.

October 28, 2008

Like Wild Thing 73 said - think to yourself: "Where would I hide this?". Sometimes it helps me to just sit there and glance around. Sooner or later something pops out as an obvious place.

There are two main groups of cache hides - Urban Hides and Rural Hides. The hide styles and the find styles are different for each:

Urban hides (usually nano, micro or small caches):

Favorite hide locations:

Metal railings, drain pipes, garbage dumpsters, ATM machines, under stairs, back of signs, benches, and sometimes in bushes or trees.

Strategy

Railings, drain pipes, dumpsters, ATM machines, signs, stairs, benches, or anything else made of metal: Carefully run your hands along all surfaces you can't see. Many times someone has stuck a magnetic nano or micro out of sight but within easy reach.

Bushes and trees: Look for something out of place. A rock or piece of wood that doesn't belong, something hanging from a branch, something attached to the trunk, something under leaf litter under a branch, or something with a color that doesn't occur often in foliage. Look for right angles or straight lines - they usually don't occur in nature.

Rural hides (usually small or regular, but many times micros and the occasional nano):

Favorite hide locations:

Under logs, in tree boles, at crook in branches, under a piece of bark, hanging in a tree, attached to the trunk, under a rock, inside a rotten piece of deadfall, under a bush, etc.

Strategy

Look for an obvious place, like a large tree bole or a cavity in the trunk of the tree at eye level or below. Nanos could be used by not using the magnet but simply shoving it into a small nook or cranny in a tree or log. Roll smaller logs over and look for cavities. Look in the ends too. Look for smaller caches in cavities in the bark. Look up or at eye level for hanging caches. Look for a parallel pile of sticks neatly stacked - this is a dead giveaway that is almost a guarantee that there's a cache underneath! Sit there, if necessary, and just glance around the area. Consider what the hider thought when viewing the area and pick the most likely hiding spot. Again, look for straight lines and right angles. Sometimes you can be looking right at a well-camouflaged ammo box and not see it until you notice the perfect right angle of a corner or lid. Changing your search strategy according to the cache size is also helpful. For nanos or micros, stand closer to a tree or bush while you search. Take more time searching. For small or regular, stand back a few paces. Sometimes a cache isn't visible if you're too close. Until you have more experience, maybe avoid rural "micro" caches, as these may end up being a frustrating "needle in a haystack" experience for you. Almost every rural cache I couldn't find was one of these.

Most important - HAVE FUN!!! Don't feel pressured to find every cache you hunt for. The fun of the game for many is the search itself, and the chance to visit a new area, get fresh air and exercise. If you walk away without a find, you've still achieved four of the five goals

Edited October 28, 2008 by Kohavis

18.9k · October 28, 2008

The biggest mistake most new Geocachers make is to only look within 10 feet or so of where the coordinates lead you.

Keep in mind the average small handheld unit has a general accuracy around 20 to 25 feet. Both finder and hider experience upwards of that error. It becomes not uncommon to have to look within a 40 foot radius to find the actual cache loaction. Many are found much closer but you do have to expand that search radius quite often.

October 28, 2008

A few more suggestions I didn't notice in any of the replies was

1. Look at the cache name, sometimes there is a clue in the name

2. Don't be afraid to look at or decrypt the hints

3. Sometimes reviewing past logs may also help

Edited October 28, 2008 by TandemCachers

October 29, 2008

So I'm not the only one

I bought GPS PDA yesterday (second hand) and I decided to start geocaching (tho' I've been interested more than a year), I just forgot some fundamental things before I left. Story went like this:

1. I charged the PDA for about 25%

2. It was already 7.30 pm

3. I put the cachemate and GPS Tuner into the PDA

4. I forgot to take pencil with me

5. When I arrived to the right location, I was totally out of clues, it was very dark, I tried to use the hint (didn't help me in that darkness)

6. I searched 20 minutes for that cache but I didn't find it

7. I decided to leave...

Next time I remember to go earlier, take everything I need with me, and so on... But it was nice place and I was just running so it wasn't a waste of time.

I'm going to buy eTrex Legend HCx this week if I have money, I just bought the PDA because I wanted to get rid of my old dvd boxsets and traded those for the PDA.

October 29, 2008

Don't think it was mentioned yet - Look at the pictures on the listing. Lots of them show the cache container and GZ landmarks.

October 30, 2008

You'll quickly learn how important this one is :yikes:

I was out on a short cache run and my pen ran out. I had no spare in the car and had to make a quick run to Staples and buy a handful. Now I have two in my backpack and several in the car.

October 30, 2008

For me, it was like this: I wanted to do some geocaching, but I didn't have a gps. So I used the maps to get me in the general area. I then asked myself "Where would I put it?" In a log, under a log, up a tree, under a pile of rocks in a rock? Sometmes you can be all over gz and if you're looking at the base of the tree and the cache is in a knothole at the Y of the tree, you're not gonna see it. You gotta look at the big picture. And always remember to ask "Where would I put it?"

October 30, 2008

I would think that you should read the GPSr manual thoroughly, and just keep on caching. I'm not sure the forum will help you that much. Just keep loading those caches in you your GPS receiver and keep on caching. This caching thing isn't just a walk in the park, well maybe sometimes.....It is you that has to keep on trying....The forum is great for a specific question, but it cannot teach you to find a particular cache. You can visit "geocaching.com and start there....I may have some information on my "profile page" that could be of help. You just need to work hard in playing this game/sport....The rewards are great. Happy caching

November 1, 2008

What on earth are you talking about trainlove? I have owned several Magellan GPS's and I have found hundreds of caches.

It has never taken me "hundreds of feet away" from a co-ordinate that I entered.

Edited November 1, 2008 by High IQ

2.3k · November 1, 2008

It hasn't hindered my 2100+ finds either, but read my web page http://ray.jerome.jobs.googlepages.com/gpshints for the well known rubberbanding effect.

November 1, 2008

ALWAYS read all the logs. Sometimes people leave hints that they don't mean to.

Look up the location on Google Earth. If you're just new to a GPS you might not have it on the right settings or there could just be satellite issues. You can just copy and paste the coords into google earth and take a look at the area.

To be honest - I started off finding micros because I live in a city. I did have a lot of DNF's. Don't give up on caching! If you posted a few that are nearby you, we could look through the pages to see if there are any hints that you might miss!

Ie. if the hint is "A Canadian Clothing Line" or something, it would be in the Roots!

November 3, 2008

When I went for my first cache, I picked on where based on the name/map/and description I knew which parking lot it was in.... and the GPS was taking me about a quarter of a mile from it! Turns out I was set on the wrong Datum!

Make sure you have your settings right! All this type of information is on the Getting Started section of the site.

November 3, 2008

You should have said..."we went home totally determined to learn how to geocache..#1. just start at the beginning...One cache at a time and work from there....Premium membership with all the bells and whistles. GSAK, CacheMate....With these programs you will have lots of fun and enjoyment. Happy Trails

November 5, 2008

I'm also new at this and have discovered that I over think things. If it's a 1/1 it's not going to be 15 feet off the trail in blackberry vines. Also, sometimes it's just not there.

My very first find was a Traditional Cache, Regular Size, Rated 1.5/2 hidden in the woods next to a park near where I live. Someone had found it the day before so I knew it was there. My wife and I went there and took our time because we knew that the cache was not going to go anywhere. It took us 10 min. to find what we felt was ground zero (GZ). After reading the hints, we knew it was either in or near a stump. So we just looked for a stump then took our time since nobody else was around.

Our next 4 finds we had to go back a couple of times to find them.

My best advice is:

Look for caches that have been found by someone else in the past few days.

Read the hints and other peoples logs. After all, we are learning something new.

Take your time when looking. Alot of people in this game are very good at hidding things.

Start with the easy caches like 1/1 or 1/1.5

Remember that most people want you to find their caches, but don't want Muggles to find them.

Make sure you know how to use your GPSr.

Go geocaching with a friend if you can. It really makes it less stressful and more fun.

Zoom in on the google map on thats on the cache page to show you the area a little better.

Take your time when looking. I know that I listed it before but it's that important.

I've been doing this for only 5 1/2 weeks and so far my wife and I have found 60 caches and 3 of them have been FTF's.

November 5, 2008

I am rather new to it too. I bought a garmin at Walmart and thought It was going to take me right to where it was at. Nah..... I ended up playing with some of the features and found that actually putting the coordinates in and not just uploading them into the GPS works better. Now I get really close to where the cache is.

Another piece of advice is that sometimes people make the coordinates in their caches be for the parking areas. I have been stumped on quite a few of those.

Just keep trying and if you know someone who geocaches, try to go wiht them on a few hunts. You might get the hang of it.

November 7, 2008

Hi All

I am a on again off again geocacher with not much luck finding them. I have found 2 in about 2 years.

that would be about one every 365 days. Wow ask me if i am interested in geocaching.I am not a quitter and will not let that dumb gps rule me.

Enough rambling.

How often should you inatilize the gps? I don't think mine get me close enough. I look a fair amount of time but still no luck

Have a great geo day

dman2

November 8, 2008

A wise individual told me to look for whats out of place. a pile of rocks, a piece of old log near a live tree, and scan area as you get near coords.I'm only a tadpole but i'm swimming with the toads. the fifty ft circle is good idea as i found out after 5 trips to a did not find cache. and i've been off 400 ft with the gps toying w/ me saying "5 more ft and your there. tboyla

November 8, 2008

Yes that is a good rule of thumb and generally works, but the creativity of cachers is extreme. you might discover a old piece of wood that appears to be used to tighten up a barb wire fence. look close and there has been a hole drilled in the bottom and a micro inserted. is there a bolt on a cattle guard or fence that looks out of place? might be a log inside that there bolt. you could be moving rocks to get to the cache stop and smell the roses one of those rocks you just moved might actually have a hole drilled in the bottom side. rock faces with cracks and crevices are great hidey holes a small natural looking rock in front hides it well. of course using desert contrasting paint on the cache helps even more. is there a sprinkler head under a bush? and the bush is in the middle of no where?

So yes geocaching can be frustrating but look at the fun of discovering them..

November 8, 2008

Its important to realize that we all have days like that and even a cache with a difficulty of 1 can seem like a 4 or 5 to the right/wrong person, regardless of their caching experience.

November 9, 2008

:blink: Hi! Just wanting to add my 2 cent's worth of advice - I am not great at finding caches and must remember to look within the radius of the waypoint - my magellan is accurate within feet and not bang on. I'm kind of a newbie as well but am more encouraged after having ten successful caches now.

Keep on caching . . .

November 9, 2008

The other night my wife and I went looking for 10 caches.

It started raining really hard. We kept on caching.

We only found only 3 out of the 10. The hardest one was a 3/1 do to muggles, most were 1/1.5 . At night in the rain there are no muggles to worry about, so we could search out in the open. Wrote a DNF on 2 of them and one of the owners wrote back that they cheched and it is still right there where they left it.

Everyone has a bad day or night.

November 10, 2008

Hook up with a group of local cachers. There is an area here in the forums that shows groups by state or country. They are always ready and willing to help a newbie. Experience is the best teacher. Do a ride along or use them for hints.

November 11, 2008

Here is a hint that I only realized after doing this for a few weeks. Change the map view on the webpage to satellite, then zoom in on the location. You'll be able to see the exact tree, lightpost, building, whatever that the cache is located at. Of course this won't work if you're going to cache in the woods, but if the cache is more out in the open, this will help. The FTF on one of my caches actually said he found my cache based on the satellite pic and didn't even have his GSP with him when he found it. I've actually estimated the coords on some of my caches based on the satellite pic, and when I checked them out, they were very accurate. I actually used the coords that I estimated on one of my caches and several finders have told me that the coords are right on.

Use the satellite pic and see if you do a little better next time out.

deb3day

November 15, 2008

get into the head of the hider.. send him/her emails.. attend events.. find out about people by meeting other peeps.

November 15, 2008

One thing to check, based on my personal experience, is to make sure your GPS does not have the "lock on road" feature turned on. If it has this feature, and it is turned on, your GPS will only point you to the nearest road. I discovered this when I got a new Garmin 60Csx after using a Magellan SportTrak Map for years. All of a sudden, I couldn't find a single cache, and discovered that I had that feature and it was the default setting.

December 4, 2008

I have only been at it for a month and I am amazed at the different ways of hiding things. There was one inparticular close to my parents house that totally gave me fits. The kids and I looked in the location on about 5 different occasions and never found it. It was a micro and my mind was locked on a small cylinder of some kind. I noticed holes in the fence post, reflectors on post, and so on, just toughed anything. Out of despiration, I asked the owner for a hint. He said look for the red reflector (which I saw on every trip). I went back and he had driven nails in the post and it was held on with magnets. The back of the reflector was modified to hold the log. From my short experiences, look and feel everything. Thanks - Spree

totally helpless in the world of caches

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