LETS LOG BENCHMARKS TOO!

[gil_jen]

Why is it that we can't get Benchmarks logged as finds when they are just as hard, if not harder, to find than a geocache? Seems to me that we should receive credit for finding them too!

[BRTango]

Why is it that we can't get Benchmarks logged as finds when they are just as hard, if not harder, to find than a geocache? Seems to me that we should receive credit for finding them too!

 

They are aren't they? I've logged 3 benchmarks... they show up in my profile as found.

[Dinoprophet]

Why is it that we can't get Benchmarks logged as finds when they are just as hard, if not harder, to find than a geocache? Seems to me that we should receive credit for finding them too!

 

They are aren't they? I've logged 3 benchmarks... they show up in my profile as found.

They don't count in the total, though.

[+MountainRacer]

Same reason as waymarks, probably. No log, no cache. I can see the reasoning behind that.

[+trainlove]

1. There is no 'owner' of benchmarks, so there is no necessity of you actually finding it or you to log it.

2. Your counts are for geocaches. Geocaches are defined as a container with at minimum a logbook (well Earth and remaining Virtuals excluded). A benchmark does not have a container. Nobody following you can 'prove' that you ever were there.

3. Can't think of anything right now, I'm in the middle of something else and my timie is limited so I'll let others add their 2¢.

 

But it's good enough that benchmark numbers show up in your profile.

[+intolerable]

Who would 'own' them and do stuff like watch the listings to see that people actually found them? I've seen plenty of benchmarks logged with pictures of what people thought was the benchmark but really only a reference marker, or with no pictures at all.

[+intolerable]

1. There is no 'owner' of benchmarks, so there is no necessity of you actually finding it or you to log it.

2. Your counts are for geocaches. Geocaches are defined as a container with at minimum a logbook (well Earth and remaining Virtuals excluded). A benchmark does not have a container. Nobody following you can 'prove' that you ever were there.

3. Can't think of anything right now, I'm in the middle of something else and my timie is limited so I'll let others add their 2¢.

 

But it's good enough that benchmark numbers show up in your profile.

 

See what I get for starting a post and getting up half way through a sentence to get some coffee?

[+ThirstyMick]

Why is it that we can't get Benchmarks logged as finds when they are just as hard, if not harder, to find than a geocache? Seems to me that we should receive credit for finding them too!

 

They're not caches, so they don't increment your geocaching find count. But it sure is nice of Groundspeak to list them for us, and allow us to log them (they do show up in your profile as found benchmarks!) on their site

[+ChileHead]

Because that's the right thing.

[+JDandDD]

Because geocaching is a worldwide activity and all other cache types are available anywhere in the world. Benchmarks are only USA (other countries benchmarks are in Waymarking only) so this would be unfair to any other country.

 

JD

[+sweetlife]

I hear if you sign the benchmark with a sharpie, then you can log it

 

Barry of sweetlife

[+trainlove]

I hear if you sign the benchmark with a sharpie, then you can log it

But only from a prison cell. It's a federal crime to deface federal property.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Would be nice. I've found 772 benchmarks so far. But they are not caches!

They are an alternate GPS usage search, that TPTB were kind enough to set up for us. They can be a lot more challenging to find. It can be very rewarding to find one that no one has seen for seventy years! (I've found a couple of those.) But they are not caches! They can also serve as a public service to NGS to let that agency know that the benchmark is still in good condition. (Should only be done by hunters who know what they're doing.)

No cache owner owns a benchmark. No one to delete a wrong log for a benchmark. (And I've seen benchmarks with over a hundred incorrectly logged finds.)

They are not caches. They are a fun, and challenging, alternative. Thanks Jeremy!

[+Glenn]

Why is it that we can't get Benchmarks logged as finds when they are just as hard, if not harder, to find than a geocache? Seems to me that we should receive credit for finding them too!

 

You can "receive credit" for finding benchmarks them at the USA Benchmark category on Waymarking.com.

 

Then use Ranger Fox's Statbar Modifier to display both your geocaching and Waymarking stats!

 

Like this...

This is a static version of the Ranger Fox stat bar that I use.

I had to convert the stat bar to a static image due to forum restrictions on dynamic images.

The stat bars by Ranger Fox update just like the Geocaching stat bar does plus you can add your Waymarking stats.

[+trainlove]

You can "receive credit" for finding benchmarks them at the USA Benchmark category on Waymarking.com.

I thought that category was only for benchmarks that do not appear in the geocaching.com database, or the NGS database of archived datasheets. Some of the kinds of benchmarks that do not appear on geocaching.com are:

1. on the front stoop of most libraries that were built before 1950,

2. a corner of nearly any road bridge,

3. at any water monitoring station. But that last one there is a kind of database, or at least a way to find the coordinates for any water monitoring station in the USA and perhaps Canada. Somewhere in my profile, or a link within a link, I mention the web site to find that.

[+BruceS]

You can "receive credit" for finding benchmarks them at the USA Benchmark category on Waymarking.com.

I thought that category was only for benchmarks that do not appear in the geocaching.com database, or the NGS database of archived datasheets. Some of the kinds of benchmarks that do not appear on geocaching.com are:

1. on the front stoop of most libraries that were built before 1950,

2. a corner of nearly any road bridge,

3. at any water monitoring station. But that last one there is a kind of database, or at least a way to find the coordinates for any water monitoring station in the USA and perhaps Canada. Somewhere in my profile, or a link within a link, I mention the web site to find that.

 

That category is not restricted in the way you state, marks which are on the NGS database are allowed as are those in the geocaching.com database.

 

Your 1-3 don't apply. The category description identifies what is allowed.

[+trainlove]

Your 1-3 don't apply. The category description identifies what is allowed.

Really, I've seen at least 100 benchmark disks that are not in the geocaching.com database, and are at sites like I mention.

The category River Guages and USA Benchmarks say you're wrong and these can be logged.

I just never use the really tiring Waymarking.com ho-hum.

[+BruceS]

Your 1-3 don't apply. The category description identifies what is allowed.

Really, I've seen at least 100 benchmark disks that are not in the geocaching.com database, and are at sites like I mention.

The category River Guages and USA Benchmarks say you're wrong and these can be logged.

I just never use the really tiring Waymarking.com ho-hum.

 

Wrong choice of words on my part. These can be submitted if they are official survey marks, but not restricted to this type is what I meant. The ones listed on the NGS also can also be submitted (whether or not they are in the geocaching database)

[AZcachemeister]

So those who are interested (and want to jump through the hoops) can create a waymark and get double-credit for benchmarks that are listed on Geocaching.com?

 

I just checked, and this indeed seems to be the case.

 

I guess it's no worse than logging a find on your own cache...but it don't seem right to me.

[Neos2]

So those who are interested (and want to jump through the hoops) can create a waymark and get double-credit for benchmarks that are listed on Geocaching.com?

 

I just checked, and this indeed seems to be the case.

 

I guess it's no worse than logging a find on your own cache...but it don't seem right to me.

And just where would you be getting this "double credit"?

 

Waymarks don't 'count' on GC. You can probably get 'credit' for finding all kinds of things on this website or that, what difference does that make? Would you be upset to know that a kid could go to an EarthCache and also get a patch for visiting the park it was in and finish qualifying for a scout merit badge and get extra credit from his teacher at school for making a report on the experience, too?

 

I guess you'd be really perturbed to know that you can go to one place and 'get credit" for any number of different kinds of waymarks, then. (One site might fall into several waymark categories).

[AZcachemeister]

 

I guess it's no worse than logging a find on your own cache...but it don't seem right to me.

And just where would you be getting this "double credit"?

 

Waymarks don't 'count' on GC. You can probably get 'credit' for finding all kinds of things on this website or that, what difference does that make? Would you be upset to know that a kid could go to an EarthCache and also get a patch for visiting the park it was in and finish qualifying for a scout merit badge and get extra credit from his teacher at school for making a report on the experience, too?

 

I guess you'd be really perturbed to know that you can go to one place and 'get credit" for any number of different kinds of waymarks, then. (One site might fall into several waymark categories).

 

Credit for the waymark.

Credit for the Benchmark.

One object, two 'points' scored.

 

Of course there might also be a few three-way cross-listed caches out there...three finds for the price of one! whoopee!

 

Yes, they are on different sites. BUT, we have been told the sites might maybe could possibly be merged sometime in the foreseeable not too distant possible future.

 

Like I said, 'I guess it's no worse than logging a find on your own cache', or logging a find when you go back again to drop a TB, or logging fifteen finds attendeds to account for the fourteen temporary caches put out at the event.

 

I really didn't want to stir up a Waymarking controversy, but the possibility that ONE object/site/location can be listed and/or found under several categories just illustrates why I think Waymarking is an inferior substitute for virtual caches.

 

Nonetheless, if that is what people want to do to get their jollies then they are more than welcome to it.

 

It does not affect me in the least.

 

To stay on-topic, I'll reiterate what has been said: Your benchmark recoveries are clearly listed on your profile page, and those of us who care will be appropriately impressed by the number there.

[+J-Way]

By using the word "credit" you're implying that cache finds are worth something. Can I sell mine? Are all finds equal, or is a 5/5 find worth more than a 1/1? What about a rare 5/4.5 or 1.5/4.5?

 

People get "credit" on multiple sites for caches that are cross-listed. I've gotten "credit" for FOUR different caches (combined locationless and traditional on multiple sites) using the same picture from the same visit to the same location.

 

Groundspeak has long established that the Find count is only for personal tracking purposes. There are no official contests or "top ten" lists. If you find a benchmark, then you can log it on Geocaching.com to show it as found and add the icon to your profile. The same benchmark can be added to your (different!) account at Waymarking.com as a find. You might even be able to claim it as a find on some other websites (maybe as a terracaching.com locationless cache). If they ever do combine the finds from GC.com and WM.com into a single find total, can you even imagine the level of whinyness from people who never participated in Waymarking? I hope they never combine the sites; there's enough bellyaching as it is.

 

Back On Topic, I like the fact that TPTB include Benchmark finds on profile pages, and I also like the fact that they aren't added to the find total. I personally think that Events and Mega Events should also NOT be included in the find total. Even better, have a dual total: physical caches and non-physical caches (events, virts, ECs, and benchmarks), but that's a different topic for a different thread.

[+Cache O'Plenty]

Slippery slope here. Imagine the number of times you'd have to take English 101 for EACH degree you may have. Once for that AA and again for that BS. We could apply that logic to lots of stuff. How about you just find that same cache several times. Sign the log each time and take a different credit for each signature.

 

Multiple credit is appropriate. But it should only be counted once in the total. You can't take credit for English 101 multiple times just because it was a requirement for four different degrees.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Cache O'Plenty

[AZcachemeister]

By using the word "credit" you're implying that cache finds are worth something. Can I sell mine? Are all finds equal, or is a 5/5 find worth more than a 1/1? What about a rare 5/4.5 or 1.5/4.5?

 

People get "credit" on multiple sites for caches that are cross-listed. I've gotten "credit" for FOUR different caches (combined locationless and traditional on multiple sites) using the same picture from the same visit to the same location.

 

Groundspeak has long established that the Find count is only for personal tracking purposes. There are no official contests or "top ten" lists. If you find a benchmark, then you can log it on Geocaching.com to show it as found and add the icon to your profile. The same benchmark can be added to your (different!) account at Waymarking.com as a find. You might even be able to claim it as a find on some other websites (maybe as a terracaching.com locationless cache). If they ever do combine the finds from GC.com and WM.com into a single find total, can you even imagine the level of whinyness from people who never participated in Waymarking? I hope they never combine the sites; there's enough bellyaching as it is.

 

Back On Topic, I like the fact that TPTB include Benchmark finds on profile pages, and I also like the fact that they aren't added to the find total. I personally think that Events and Mega Events should also NOT be included in the find total. Even better, have a dual total: physical caches and non-physical caches (events, virts, ECs, and benchmarks), but that's a different topic for a different thread.

 

OOPS!

 

My bad, let's substitute the word 'recognition' for the word 'credit'...OK?

I was using the wrong term due to the widespread use of it, not because I believe anyone's finds are really worth anything.

 

I wouldn't mind if player's Waymarking totals were added to their overall stats on their page.

I would not like it if a zero were displayed on my own page, though!

Many of us will never get an Ape Cache icon, and that is OK, but we don't have to see Ape Caches=0 (even thought we know it's there).