Do you guys look at the hints?

March 24, 2009

Hi I was wondering how many of you guys look at the hint that is provided? I would like to hear your opinions on this subject. Some people think that a hint they left is for you to read and some people think that it is cheating because some of the hints tell you exactly where to find the cache. So what do you guys do?

1.4k · March 24, 2009

I first try to find it without the hint, but then yes I will use it. Would not go out without it that's for sure.

Scubasonic

March 24, 2009

We try to do it w/o the hint.

If we can't find it then look at the hint.

March 24, 2009

First thing I look at. I need all the help I can get :laughing:

March 24, 2009

Opps double posted :laughing:

Edited March 24, 2009 by Y2KOTA

March 24, 2009

I use it about half the time. At times I still need more help :lol:

Triple post, Yea I need the hints, as you can see I need all the help I can get :laughing:

Edited March 24, 2009 by Y2KOTA

March 24, 2009

anything on the cache page or in the logs make it part of the cache. So yes.

5.2k · March 24, 2009

Usually I'll look for a few minutes, and if I can't find it I'll look at the hint.

However if I pull up and it's Muggle Central, then I'll probably look at the hint before I get out of the car.

March 24, 2009

Always.

March 24, 2009

We always look at the hints. We cache with our 7yr old, so we want to make sure we have all the info so we all have fun. :laughing:

March 24, 2009

It depends. Sometimes I will read the hint if someone else is driving and I am not. Sometimes if I am there I won't read the hint unless I need it. Every cache is different. I DON'T believe that it is cheating in any way.

StaticTank

38.2k · March 24, 2009

I give it about 15 minutes and if I'm skunked, then I look at the hint.

1.3k · March 24, 2009

When I give really explicit hints, I hope that people WILL look at them. It's not cheating at all to look at it, usually I give a good hint if I'm afraid there might be muggles who'd be suspicious of someone looking for a long time, or if I'm concerned that people might get frustrated with the search and possibly tear up the area.

Personally, when I'm hunting, I'll look at the hint after a few minutes of searching and not finding.

March 24, 2009

We always look at the hint. If the CO didn't want you to have or use the inforamtion in the hint, he wouldn't have put it there, right?

Of course, there are times when the hint only seems to make things harder, especially if it is a vague one open to interpretation...in that case, the hint may actually hinder the search.

March 24, 2009

Ditto! I wouldn't go out without it.

18.9k · March 24, 2009

I usually give it 10 - 15 minutes before looking at the hint. I figure it is there to give me little clue.

March 24, 2009

seconded.

1.3k · March 24, 2009

I always look at the hints

10.1k · March 24, 2009

I decrypt them when I print out the cache page. Usually look at the hint on the walk to the cache.

1.5k · March 24, 2009

Depends on a few things. Who the hider is, what size container, how tired I'm getting. If it's a micro, I've got no problem starting with the hint. But regular caches I'll usually last 5 minutes or so before I give in. If I know the hider is intentionally trying to stump me (as opposed to non-cachers) then the hint is read sooner than usual.

March 24, 2009

Try not to now, only after I have looked for 15 or so I do, very rare now though :-)

March 24, 2009

+1

9.2k · March 24, 2009

They give hints to find caches? :laughing:

Rarely use 'em these days.

Like Lil Devil, if it's muggle central, and looking for too long may compromise the hide, I'll decrypt.

If I've looked for 20 to 30 minutes, decrypt.

If the cache is 'obviously' not in the right place, or found out in the open, I'll decrypt so I can put the cache back in the correct place.

March 24, 2009

As I mentioned in a recent log after I nearly DNFd a very obvious hide, my suckage quotient is pretty high so, if the cache isn't an ammo can hidden under a large obvious pile of sticks, I usually end up using the hint.

March 24, 2009

I try to avoid the hints until I've made a good effort to find the cache without them.

Unfortunately I have the bad habit of looking at the first page of cache info stored on my handheld, aiming to just see the short description but often it's so short that I inadvertently see something like:

H: base of cedar...

And then I feel a bit chagrined - I'm getting good at not letting on to the kids though that I have some extra info, which usually gets convereted into "hey, why don't you try looking around that cedar while I look over by this stump" :laughing:

For small/regular caches I usually don't need the hints but for micros I almost always wind up going to the hint (LPC's exceptec).

It's always interesting to see the different approaches to hints. I tend to prefer hints that are more engimatic than direct. "Think magnet" or "some roots run deep" are more fun than "in root ball at E end of log across trail" at least to me. Being told exactly where the cache is kind of kills the point of hunting.

rtreit

March 24, 2009

I look at the hint if I am stumped, it's dark or it's muggle day in mugglesville!

Usually this means 50% of the time, and the rest of the time is just pure luck!

March 24, 2009

I agree! :lol:

March 25, 2009

I'm usually caching with an 8 and a 10 year old, so I at least take the hints along. But usually I give them to the kids to decode while we're driving to the cache ... makes them feel more involved. And we still may end up hunting around for awhile.

24.7k · March 25, 2009

Urban Micro = Read the hint before I even get out of the car.

Anything else I'll look until I'm stumped. Then read the hint.

March 25, 2009

I almost always use the hint.

March 25, 2009

I try not to. But I don't try very hard :laughing:

March 25, 2009

When I'm caching solo, I try not to unless I'm stumped, but when with the kids, the 14yo tends to do it as soon as he looks at the page, then blurts it out :laughing:

14.3k · March 25, 2009

This is what I do too except I will give the urban micro 5 minutes.

March 25, 2009

Same as above.

March 25, 2009

I always read the hint. I need all the help I can get and prefer finding each cache I set out for rather than not and get frustrated.

1.5k · March 25, 2009

When we are caching the other yooper has control of the GPS, I get the palm....you betcha I read the hint! .....sometimes I even make the find before him.....

5k · March 26, 2009

It all depends on the situation. When on the trail and in a remote area, my practice is to get to GZ and look for the cache. If I have no success, I'll double check the D/T rating and cache description. Still no luck, I'll read the hint. No go, I'll read the past logs for spoilers or possible problems.

Urban caches with no muggles, same MO.

If I do pull up in a high activity area when a single male lurking in the bushes or behind the big transformer box is likely to seem suspicious, I'll read the hint before getting out of the car. If it tells me to go lurk in the bushes, I'll hit the blinker, check the mirrors, and drive on to the next one.

March 26, 2009

I read them but when I actually go cache I usually forget them. I'll search awhile and then look the hint up on my phone, unless geodroid stored it, then i check while im looking.

March 26, 2009

I cache with my wife and 13 year old daughter. We don't solve them until we get to the GZ. The little one likes to solve the puzzle and I like to sit and rest without looking like I need to sit and rest.

1.2k · March 26, 2009

Typically, I try not to look at a hint unless I am out looking for the cache and feeling absolutely unable to find the cache. Use a PDA and/or Oregon unit...so, those hints that say "Email for a Hint" or "Yeah, right, like I am going to do that..." are absolutely useless...and usually offer up more frustration...

The hint doesn't not have to tell me right where to look...I actually prefer something that just gives a small hint...and still lets me do some thinking...just gives me a glimpse into how the owner might have been thinking at the time...

Of course, nothing is worse than "Under a Rock" amongst a field of rocks...

Every once and while, I will check a hint on a puzzle if I am stuck...to see if it would help solve the puzzle...many times it is about the hide location...so nothing really gained or lost...once in a while (if very familiar with an area) one can "brute force" a puzzle or multi with a location hint...but it has been rare in my own personal caching experience...However, it does not bother me if someone finds one of my caches that way...more power to them!!!

March 26, 2009

It's the kids (age 6 and 10) job to find caches. If after some time they don't find anything I give them hints but when possible I break the hint up in smaller hints and just give them part of a hint.

For some of the smaller hints I print the decrypted hint and have them manually decode them.

March 26, 2009

If it's anything urban or sketchy I look before I even attempt it. Same goes with a high terrain rating so I know what I'm getting myself into. If I'm in the woods doing something straight forward I generally don't have to look until I'm stumped or I suspect very bad coordinates or am getting a bad signal. There is no shame in looking at hints or reading logs and I wouldn't leave home without em. I have been disappointed by the spoilers a few times but I guess that just goes with the territory.

What irks me is when people provide no hint at all. While it may seem obvious for the CO (they know where and what it is!) it may not be that way for everyone else. Coordinates could be way off, bad GPS reception, nature takes over, etc. and without a hint it can make a cache impossible to find.

March 26, 2009

We almost always read the hint. Once in a great while it actually helps!

Tony

March 27, 2009

We cache as a couple. One of us does the computer work and the other knows only what they are told. When i do the computer part of the caching day, I look at the hint but don't tell him and vice versa. We try to do it without the hints, but sometimes they really help when you're in the middle of a saw palmetto patch and the rain clouds are moving in. This method seems to work for us. Hope that answered your question!

March 27, 2009

I try to find the cache first, without the hint. If it is anything less than a Difficulty 3 and I am not able to find it after 15 or 20 minutes, it is time for the hint. Usually the hit doesn't help though nearly as much as the past found it logs.

1.6k · March 27, 2009

whet gets me is

1. Hints that only really make sense after you've found the cache: CO showing how clever s/he is

2. Hints that are (deliberately or not) misleading. I did one recently where the hint said "waist high" I spent 30 minutes looking waist high, only to find the cache on the ground under a BUSH that was waist high. I'm sure i would have found it sooner without the hint.

Do you guys look at the hints?

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