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Is Geocaching a sport/hobby/game?

Turrry

By Turrry
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Turrry

Turrry

Posted
Posted

Many people refer to this as a sport, but I can't say that I agree with that...at least not yet. I would like to get input from members here as to what you view this as.

 

Even if you have over 1000 caches, I could see it being a game

 

Even if you are a hardcore hiker (I LOVE to backpack/hike and do it a LOT), I don't know that this "portion" of a hike could be a sport, EVEN if you consider hiking a sport...

 

I see it more as a hobby. This is something that I do when I get the chance, for fun, and I don't get too competitive with it (those who do could argue for the game designation).

 

so, vote, and give your opinions.

 

:o

 

EDIT: So...this site doesn't let you creat polls :ph34r: ...ok, then just post up what you think it is and maybe I'll keep a running tally, :)

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TeamFiestyMidgets

+TeamFiestyMidgets

Posted
Posted

Many people refer to this as a sport, but I can't say that I agree with that...at least not yet. I would like to get input from members here as to what you view this as.

 

Even if you have over 1000 caches, I could see it being a game

 

Even if you are a hardcore hiker (I LOVE to backpack/hike and do it a LOT), I don't know that this "portion" of a hike could be a sport, EVEN if you consider hiking a sport...

 

I see it more as a hobby. This is something that I do when I get the chance, for fun, and I don't get too competitive with it (those who do could argue for the game designation).

 

so, vote, and give your opinions.

 

:o

 

EDIT: So...this site doesn't let you creat polls :ph34r: ...ok, then just post up what you think it is and maybe I'll keep a running tally, :)

 

All I know is Curling is a sport....LOL (in the olympics none the less) and Shuffleboard! LOL So I am going with leaving it up to the individual to decide. I am sure you will find the die hard extreme geocachers would definately say sport and I would not disagree. But the park and grab people may still think it is a sport.

 

But let me go ahead and leave this as a help.... The websters dictionary defines SPORT as: an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

 

Under those terms I would say yes! But as in anything, fishing can be a sport to some and a leisurly activity to others....all in the eye of the beholder I suppose.

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Turrry

Turrry

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well, I don't know how much physical prowess fishing or geocaching takes honestly...but I see your point.

 

I DID find this in another thread that gives probably the best description of what this is...

Um, this isn't a religion?

 

But we look for guidance from an unseen force in the sky... we get on our knees to search for the truth... usually throwing in a prayer 'please be here'... We journal about our experiences... we gather to offer thanks to those who have sacrificed for us... There are books offering truth about it (at least for dummies)... snd we try to convince others to join... and talking about it can really annoy our non believing friends...

 

 

 

apparently it's not a sport, hobby, or game....it's a religion :ph34r:

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briansnat

+briansnat

Posted
Posted (edited)
It's not really a sport because in sports you have competition with winners and losers.

 

The presence of competetion is not what makes something a sport. Fishing, hunting, skiing and kayaking are sports and though they can be done competetively they are still sports if you are not competing, whereas checkers involves competetion but you really wouldn't call it a sport.

 

Also consider consider where you buy most of your geocaching equipment, in the sports section of the store.

 

Finally the dictionary definition seals it, geocaching is absolutely a sport:

 

From Merriam Webster online:

sport

Function: noun

Date: 15th century

1 a: a source of diversion : recreation b: sexual play c (1): physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2): a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in

 

From Dictionary.com:

sport  /spɔrt, spoʊrt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [spawrt, spohrt] –noun

 

1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

2. a particular form of this, esp. in the out of doors.

3. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.

 

 

Sport, hobby game, it's really all of those. The definitions overlap somewhat anyway.

Edited by briansnat
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KoosKoos

+KoosKoos

Posted
Posted

I tend to agree with these (mostly applicable definitions pasted):

 

Definitions of sport on the Web:

* an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition

 

Definitions of game on the Web:

* a contest with rules to determine a winner; "you need four people to play this game"

* a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours"

* an amusement or pastime; "they played word games"; "he thought of his painting as a game that filled his empty time"; "his life was all fun and games"

 

Definitions of hobby on the Web:

* avocation: an auxiliary activity

 

I'd go with hobby more than the others.

 

But as you can see, there's no definitive answer: :ph34r:

 

Definitions of geocaching on the Web:

* Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational ...

* A pastime in which objects are hidden at secret locations for participants to find using GPS positions posted on the Internet

* geocache - An item hidden in a specific location during geocaching; To participate in geocaching; To hide or seek a geocache

* a type of scavenger hunt for waterproof containers bearing treasure using the containers' exact geographic coordinates and Global Positioning System devices

* A high-tech version of hide-and-seek. Geocachers seek out hidden treasures utilizing GPS coordinates posted on the Internet by those hiding the ...

* A hobby with many similarties to letterboxing. The main differences are that the clues are given as GPS coordinates, and geocachers use the 'take an item, leave an item' system when finding a cache, instead of stamping in. See http://www.geocaching. ...

* This is a popular 'sport' among GPS owners. With information regarding position, scavenger hunters search for waterproof containers ...

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Turrry

Turrry

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Ok, the last post just made it even more confusing, LOL.

 

I don't know....I just don't consider something I can do at a leisurely pace, with my 5 year old and wife in tow...and can do while in the car...a SPORT....

 

I don't consider fishing a sport either though..

 

Just cause you buy it in the "sporting goods" section does not make it a sport...deer hunting is certainly not a sport IMO... :ph34r:

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Skippermark

Skippermark

Posted
Posted
The presence of competetion is not what makes something a sport. Fishing, hunting, skiing and kayaking are sports and though they can be done competetively they are still sports if you are not competing, whereas checkers involves competetion but you really wouldn't call it a sport.

Good points. I didn't think of that. Was thinking "traditional" sports like baseball, soccer, football. In that regard it could be a sport.

 

I got a laugh out of your checkers comment. I'd have to say that it is definitely not a sport. :ph34r:

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ki4byz

+ki4byz

Posted
Posted

It is what you wont it to be

I generally call it a game

But by my own definitions, it is a hobby

 

Game = something to do, that don’t cost much money

Hobby = something to do, that costs a bit of money

Sport = something to do, that costs a lot of money

 

And let’s not forget that there is 1 more category.

 

A way of life = we won’t go there, but you know if you fit into this category. More than 10,000 similes. And 10,000 forum posts

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Snoogans

+Snoogans

Posted
Posted

Geocaching is a RASH:

 

Recreation

Activity

Sport

Hobby

 

Second that! RA/S/H

 

And curse you for beating me to it! :o

 

I've gotten quite a few chuckles from non-cachers when describing our activity by using that!

 

I'm surprised this thread got to post #20 before RASH was mentioned.... :ph34r:

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flask

+flask

Posted
Posted

soccer is a game. it is also a sport.

 

cycling is a sport. it is also a hobby.

 

fishing is a recreational activity. it is also a sport, a hobby, and an obsession.

 

 

do we have to pick just one, or can we call it whatever fits at the moment?

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J-Way

+J-Way

Posted
Posted

do we have to pick just one, or can we call it whatever fits at the moment?

That's what I go with. I usually call it a game, or occasionally a recreational activity. Any activity can be called a "hobby", so that doesn't help a non-cacher understand what it is.
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CoyoteRed

CoyoteRed

Posted
Posted

It depends on how you geocache.

 

If you rush from cache to cache in an effort to find a certain number of caches in a time period, then it's a sport. You are in competition with yourself or another in an effort to "better" a certain number or reach a goal through physical and mental effort.

 

If you like hiding or finding evil hides, then you're pitting yourself against the finders or placers, respectively, in order thwart the others' efforts. If as a cache owner you like to see the purple faces, or as a finder you like to add your yellow face to a sea of purple faces. In this respect, it's a game.

 

If you like simply getting out and finding new places and enjoying the outside, then it's a hobby.

 

If you like dragging the family along, it's a recreational activity.

 

If you think, sleep, walk, talk geocaching, it's an obsession. (Get help.)

 

If, at certain times, you pray to Boeing for good constellation configurations or the hider used good coords, then it's a religion.

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Turrry

Turrry

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It depends on how you geocache.

 

If you rush from cache to cache in an effort to find a certain number of caches in a time period, then it's a sport. You are in competition with yourself or another in an effort to "better" a certain number or reach a goal through physical and mental effort.

 

If you like hiding or finding evil hides, then you're pitting yourself against the finders or placers, respectively, in order thwart the others' efforts. If as a cache owner you like to see the purple faces, or as a finder you like to add your yellow face to a sea of purple faces. In this respect, it's a game.

 

If you like simply getting out and finding new places and enjoying the outside, then it's a hobby.

 

If you like dragging the family along, it's a recreational activity.

 

If you think, sleep, walk, talk geocaching, it's an obsession. (Get help.)

 

If, at certain times, you pray to Boeing for good constellation configurations or the hider used good coords, then it's a religion.

 

 

Yup. Done ALL of those and I've only found 13 caches so far, lol...

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flask

+flask

Posted
Posted

 

If you rush from cache to cache in an effort to find a certain number of caches in a time period, then it's a sport. You are in competition with yourself or another in an effort to "better" a certain number or reach a goal through physical and mental effort.

 

 

i have to disagree. i think of it as a sport (just like i do cycling) whether or not i'm attempting to better anything. a sport does not necessarily involve competition with others or even oneself. i DO think of it as a more physical endeavor, though, so when i'm solving puzzles i tend to think of it as "hobby/recreation" and when i'm engaged in hiking, running, swimming, climbing, biking or so to get the cache, i'm thinking "sport". when i'm planning my next vacation or using geocaching for the purposes of doing touristy things, i think "recreational activity" and when i use it as a framework on which to hang a peregrination, i think of it as "prayer".

 

when i'm trying to explain the concept to other people, the terms i generally use are "game" and "sport".

 

"game" sounds nice and friendly.

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bittsen

+bittsen

Posted
Posted

Many people refer to this as a sport, but I can't say that I agree with that...at least not yet. I would like to get input from members here as to what you view this as.

 

Even if you have over 1000 caches, I could see it being a game

 

Even if you are a hardcore hiker (I LOVE to backpack/hike and do it a LOT), I don't know that this "portion" of a hike could be a sport, EVEN if you consider hiking a sport...

 

I see it more as a hobby. This is something that I do when I get the chance, for fun, and I don't get too competitive with it (those who do could argue for the game designation).

 

so, vote, and give your opinions.

 

:P

 

EDIT: So...this site doesn't let you creat polls :blink: ...ok, then just post up what you think it is and maybe I'll keep a running tally, :P

 

I have to call it a hobby. To be a sport infers that the most aggressive will be better but there are successful geocachers that are in wheelchairs who cache as good as anyone who is "able-bodied". Also, the lack of competition would further indicate a lack of a sport status.

It can only be a game if its done competetively amongst a group of individuals. I can see some treating it like a game but, again, since there isn't a Geocache Champion of the World, there is no overall game.

 

It must be a hobby for some but for others it is just an activity. Since your list only includes 3 possible choices, I will conclude the hobby status.

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Clan Riffster

Clan Riffster

Posted
Posted

I think it is whatever you make of it.

Some folks enjoy the competative aspects, which might more closely resemble a sport.

Some folks like just getting out and communing with nature, finding caches along the way. Probably not a sport for them.

Some folks can't hike more than 25' from their cars to grub for a film can in shrubbery. I wouldn't think that would qualify as a sport.

For me, the way I play, I think recreational activity fits the best.

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flask

+flask

Posted
Posted

 

To be a sport infers that the most aggressive will be better

 

no it doesn't. for starters, "infer" is a transitive verb, and they don't pay me enough to explain to you why "to be a sport" can't infer anything.

 

backpacking is a sport. it's mostly not a competitive sport, but it's a sport.

 

mountain biking is a sport. so is mountain bike racing. they're different, and yet oddly similar.

 

running is a sport, and yet running from muggers isn't.

 

as for wheelchair folks, don't even get me started on what's wrong with that. ever hear of wheelchair rugby?

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BBI Dragon

+BBI Dragon

Posted
Posted

IMO:

Geocaching is a GAME if you are casual to moderate with getting out to hunt.

Geocaching is a HOBBY if you are researching and constructing better than average hides.

Geocaching is a SPORT if you are a FTF hound, hunt very often and have gotten more than 25 finds in one day.

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flask

+flask

Posted
Posted

IMO:

Geocaching is a GAME if you are casual to moderate with getting out to hunt.

Geocaching is a HOBBY if you are researching and constructing better than average hides.

Geocaching is a SPORT if you are a FTF hound, hunt very often and have gotten more than 25 finds in one day.

 

baseball is a game. does that mean that pickup leagues can't call it a sport?

 

and it's only a hobby if i'm researching good hides? what if i'm birding at the same time? or Waymarking? benchmark hunting?

 

and if i play hard but i'm not a FTF hound, it's not a sport? what if i have to use my technical climbing skills? scuba? have to make a multi-day hike? what if i only hunt a few times a year, but i'm hardcore when i go? it's not a sport?

 

 

what's the point of setting artificial, arbitrary and just plain silly definitions?

 

do we HAVE to call it one thing or another, or can we just play the game without pigeonholing the exact nature of it?

 

i went geocaching last month. i lived out of my car for fifteen days at a stretch. i hiked, biked, waded, ran. i found hundreds of caches.

 

was i playing a sport?

 

some days i didn't find a lot of caches, but took pictures and collected things, which i turned into art/craft projects.

 

was that a game or a hobby?

 

it can't be a hobby, because i wasn't researching new hides.

 

pfft. call it what you want. it's not dependent on how you play, just what you want to call it.

 

think of it this way:

 

Q: do you have any hobbies?

A: yes, i hunt mushrooms, bake bread, ride bikes, and i geocache.

 

Q: what games do you like to play?

A: baseball, monopoly, tomb raider, and geocaching.

 

Q: do you play any sports?

A: yes, triathlon, golf, flag football, geocaching.

 

are any of those out of place? no? call it what you want. don't set goofy and artificial definitions.

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duck_hunt

+duck_hunt

Posted
Posted

Well, here in Tennessee, a law exists stating that playing "games" in cemeteries are prohibited. Therefore, caches in cemeteries are no longer published. In my opinion, the graveyard setting offers a chance to learn about Tennessee's past. For example, we found a person who was buried in 1816- the oldest I've ever seen. Though the law REALLY means (in a nutshell) to not play football in a cemetery as it is a place of veneration, many here still call geocaching a "game," and it is treated as such. I refer to geocaching as a hobby.

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geodarts

+geodarts

Posted
Posted

Caching might be more a sport for first to find mavens or people trying to boost their ranks on the numbers list. But its hard to compare it to a real sport (like darts), so I tend to put it in the hobby category. The recreational activity approach works. But my wife thinks its too frivolous already, so I would not use the term "game" around her.

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TheAlabamaRambler

+TheAlabamaRambler

Posted
Posted

IMO:

Geocaching is a GAME if you are casual to moderate with getting out to hunt.

Geocaching is a HOBBY if you are researching and constructing better than average hides.

Geocaching is a SPORT if you are a FTF hound, hunt very often and have gotten more than 25 finds in one day.

All of those apply to me, yet to me it's a game. I tell folks that I play a game called geocaching...

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Turrry

Turrry

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

think of it this way:

 

Q: do you have any hobbies?

A: yes, i hunt mushrooms, bake bread, ride bikes, and i geocache.

 

Q: what games do you like to play?

A: baseball, monopoly, tomb raider, and geocaching.

 

Q: do you play any sports?

A: yes, triathlon, golf, flag football, geocaching.

 

are any of those out of place? no? call it what you want. don't set goofy and artificial definitions.

 

1. How does one "hunt" mushrooms....

 

2. People still play tomb raider?...and geocaching seems a bit out of place in that list IMO

 

3. flag football....really?

 

I'm not sure if you arbitrarily picked these, or if these actually describe you, but if they do, you are the weirdest guy I've ever met, lol. :D

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flask

+flask

Posted
Posted

 

 

1. How does one "hunt" mushrooms....

 

2. People still play tomb raider?...and geocaching seems a bit out of place in that list IMO

 

3. flag football....really?

 

I'm not sure if you arbitrarily picked these, or if these actually describe you, but if they do, you are the weirdest guy I've ever met, lol. :D

 

just examples.

 

one hunts mushrooms the way one hunts other wild foods. if i like you i might bring you some of my black trumpets, but i will not tell you where the patch is.

 

truth?

 

hobbies?

 

yes, i hunt mushrooms, bake bread, study old english, and ride bikes.

 

games i like?

 

assorted computer and board games. sheepshead, dominoes. although i haven't played in a while, i am a vicious pokemon player.

 

sports?

 

i am a two-time champion road bike time trialist, and a two-time state champion cross-country mountain biker. i dabble in cyclocross, 'coz it's sick. i ski cross-country and downhill, and i hold the all-time record for "most consecutive last place finishes" in a well-known local weekly running series. in a triathlon i'm a reasonably good swimmer, but a sucky runner, so i don't place all that well. i own two kayaks and a whitewater raft.

 

in my spare time i make art and music; i am a classically trained composer and precious little singer-songwriter.

 

i have been struck by lightning, run over by a dodge durango, fallen off a forty foot a-frame extension ladder, and i've been transported by ambulance so much i've lost count.

 

i can tell a passacaglia from a chaconne, i know how to use a semi-colon and can identify the song of a brown thrasher. i distrust government and yet am on a first-name basis with several members of the legislature. i never identify myself when i go to vote; they know who i am. i pick up hitchhikers and carry a bag of clean, dry socks in case somebody needs them.

 

during the months of may and october i leave my home and go on peregrination, which is like pilgrimage without a fixed destination. i wander aimlessly for four weeks, stopping at fixed intervals for prayer. while on the road i go to church wherever i happen to be, and i try to get there early enough to sing in the choir. i can carry either of the inner voices and i read well, which makes me a utility singer.

 

i'm right handed, left eye dominant, and ambipedal. i am a natural redhead. i wear bifocals and have poor depth perception. when i get a haircut, it's usually a buzz cut. i do not own a hairbrush or a comb.

 

i've read all of shakespeare, but my favorite play is cyrano de bergerac, which i read in french. i like tom waits, laurie anderson, and the north texas wind symphony.

 

i have brain damage and often don't know where i am. i have trouble remembering nouns. i have twice been in long-term relationships with people i met through the personals. i pioneered the sports of the potato-peeling biathlon and the eleven-legged race and have received an award for "most uncontrollable laughter".

 

even with all that, i'm probably still not the weirdest person you've ever met.

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Turrry

Turrry

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

 

1. How does one "hunt" mushrooms....

 

2. People still play tomb raider?...and geocaching seems a bit out of place in that list IMO

 

3. flag football....really?

 

I'm not sure if you arbitrarily picked these, or if these actually describe you, but if they do, you are the weirdest guy I've ever met, lol. :P

 

just examples.

 

one hunts mushrooms the way one hunts other wild foods. if i like you i might bring you some of my black trumpets, but i will not tell you where the patch is.

 

truth?

 

hobbies?

 

yes, i hunt mushrooms, bake bread, study old english, and ride bikes.

 

games i like?

 

assorted computer and board games. sheepshead, dominoes. although i haven't played in a while, i am a vicious pokemon player.

 

sports?

 

i am a two-time champion road bike time trialist, and a two-time state champion cross-country mountain biker. i dabble in cyclocross, 'coz it's sick. i ski cross-country and downhill, and i hold the all-time record for "most consecutive last place finishes" in a well-known local weekly running series. in a triathlon i'm a reasonably good swimmer, but a sucky runner, so i don't place all that well. i own two kayaks and a whitewater raft.

 

in my spare time i make art and music; i am a classically trained composer and precious little singer-songwriter.

 

i have been struck by lightning, run over by a dodge durango, fallen off a forty foot a-frame extension ladder, and i've been transported by ambulance so much i've lost count.

 

i can tell a passacaglia from a chaconne, i know how to use a semi-colon and can identify the song of a brown thrasher. i distrust government and yet am on a first-name basis with several members of the legislature. i never identify myself when i go to vote; they know who i am. i pick up hitchhikers and carry a bag of clean, dry socks in case somebody needs them.

 

during the months of may and october i leave my home and go on peregrination, which is like pilgrimage without a fixed destination. i wander aimlessly for four weeks, stopping at fixed intervals for prayer. while on the road i go to church wherever i happen to be, and i try to get there early enough to sing in the choir. i can carry either of the inner voices and i read well, which makes me a utility singer.

 

i'm right handed, left eye dominant, and ambipedal. i am a natural redhead. i wear bifocals and have poor depth perception. when i get a haircut, it's usually a buzz cut. i do not own a hairbrush or a comb.

 

i've read all of shakespeare, but my favorite play is cyrano de bergerac, which i read in french. i like tom waits, laurie anderson, and the north texas wind symphony.

 

i have brain damage and often don't know where i am. i have trouble remembering nouns. i have twice been in long-term relationships with people i met through the personals. i pioneered the sports of the potato-peeling biathlon and the eleven-legged race and have received an award for "most uncontrollable laughter".

 

even with all that, i'm probably still not the weirdest person you've ever met.

 

 

Wow...uh, ok. No, you take the cake. I promise.

 

BTW, you didnt tell me your favorite color, lol.

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Woodstramp

+Woodstramp

Posted
Posted (edited)

sport/hobby/game?

 

Don't know.

 

Folks use it to suit their needs. My need for use is simply to let it take me places I've never seen. Working a creative cache is fun too but to go to a new place is the main reason. Through geocaching I've found more interesting stuff/places locally than I would have never seen without caching.

 

IMO, Geocaching.com's slogan should be "Geocaching-The World's Best Local Tour Guide".

Edited by Woodstramp
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