Legitimate Geocacher?

[+The Leprechauns]

I think one becomes a mature geocacher once they stop comparing their own find count to anyone else's. A thousand hiking caches are different than a thousand parking lot caches or a thousand puzzle caches. Any comparison of numbers is a pointless apples and oranges exercise. So stop looking in awe at the mega-finder with 10,000 finds, for you will be there yourself someday, and you know you are no better than anyone else. Stop scoffing at the "clueless" newbie with "only" 100 finds, for you were just there yourself a short time ago, when you were filled with a sense of wonder and excitement that you may have since lost. You may have been better then than now.

 

Learn to take delight in your own experiences outdoors, numbered however you wish. When you are happy doing just that, you're there.

[+Crafty Turtle]

2 1/2 months, 24 finds, 1 hide...

 

I am a newbie.

Question answered.

[+Tobias & Petronella]

I have helped build a deck but I'm not a carpenter.

I've had a small plane under my control for 15 minutes but I'm not a pilot.

I've cook meatloaf but I'm not a chef.

I've hit a tennis ball with a racket but I'm not a tennis player

 

Just because you have done something a few times does not mean that you can claim any level of expertise in that field or claim any title other that a person that has tried it.

 

In the world of geocaching, there is no degree, or standard to go by. As The Leprechauns sort-of said, one person did 100 LPC's and another did 100 4/4 in the same length of time, who is the better cacher? The LPC person needs to use stealth and timing, and the 4/4 person doesn't, but the 4/4 person does need to be in better health and have patience while looking.

 

My own personal standard is this:

You are a newbie until you have done both of these, been caching for at least one year and have over 500 finds.

 

This shows a level of commitment and a degree of experience.

Edited November 2, 2009 by Tobias & Petronella

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I think one becomes a mature geocacher once they stop comparing their own find count to anyone else's. A thousand hiking caches are different than a thousand parking lot caches or a thousand puzzle caches. Any comparison of numbers is a pointless apples and oranges exercise. So stop looking in awe at the mega-finder with 10,000 finds, for you will be there yourself someday, and you know you are no better than anyone else. Stop scoffing at the "clueless" newbie with "only" 100 finds, for you were just there yourself a short time ago, when you were filled with a sense of wonder and excitement that you may have since lost. You may have been better then than now.

 

Learn to take delight in your own experiences outdoors, numbered however you wish. When you are happy doing just that, you're there.

Leprechaun profundity!

[+The Leprechauns]

Thank you TAR.

 

I thought your answer of "1" was also profound, especially for its brevity.

 

The problem with my posts is that they're so long, people tend to fall asleep before learning anything from them.

[Tahosa and Sons]

I'll always be a newbie, for my mind is still in the developmental stages of looking for a place to hide a new one. When you get old you can get cranky, so I'm staying young and still having fun. One cache at a time, and then its another new adventure.

[+flask]

 

My own personal standard is this:

You are a newbie until you have done both of these, been caching for at least one year and have over 500 finds.

 

This shows a level of commitment and a degree of experience.

 

well, all right.

 

i'll pick an arbitrary number as long as we're relegating other people to substandard status:

 

you're a greenhorn unless you've been caching since 2002. period. no exceptions.

 

all of you newbies get off of my lawn.

[+Castle Mischief]

My own personal standard is this:

You are a newbie until you have done both of these, been caching for at least one year and have over 500 finds.

 

This shows a level of commitment and a degree of experience.

 

Oh, good grief.

[+Renegade Knight]

At what point are you not a newbie anymore? 100, 200, 300,400, or 500 caches?

 

noob? Some folks never get past that. Some are grizziled vetrans the moment they decide to particpate nad some are just jaded regardless.

 

So it depends, but if you tell me your a cacher I'll believe you and I won't worry about the degree of n00b in your system.

Edited November 2, 2009 by Renegade Knight

[+Chrysalides]

you're a greenhorn unless you've been caching since 2002. period. no exceptions.

Darn... now I have to wait till next April 1st before someone can sell me some seniority.

[+The Jay Team]

Don't know.

Some still act like I'm a newbie with about 300 finds, 8 hides, caches found in 4 states and over a distance of over 3000 miles. I have found caches in 100 degree heat and at temps below 40 degrees. I have found the majority of my caches in the dark but have done day runs as well. I have gotten stung by nettles and climbed to get a cache and fallen 6 feet. I have climbed down a treacherous small canyon and almost broke my leg and I have suffered a dozen or so allergic reactions. And I am still questioned as being a "real" cacher by some. Oh well.

 

I feel I have surpassed my initiation though.

 

I guess one could say you are no longer a newbie when you feel you are no longer a newbie

 

Found 300 cashes, hid eight and have close to 2,000 posts.....Get on cachin' and less time chattin'. lol

[+KBI]

Stop scoffing at the "clueless" newbie with "only" 100 finds, for you were just there yourself a short time ago, when you were filled with a sense of wonder and excitement that you may have since lost. You may have been better then than now.

You got dat right.

 

Experience can work against you in this hobby.

 

Hiders are forever innovationg, and fresh eyes are sometimes better -- and faster -- at spotting hides that are different from what the experienced hider has come to expect.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

you're a greenhorn unless you've been caching since 2002. period. no exceptions.

Darn... now I have to wait till next April 1st before someone can sell me some seniority.

I can't help you with seniority, greenhorn, but I CAN make you a legitimate geocacher by getting those puny numbers up! I pretty much quit logging caches online a few years ago, so there are ~2k caches out there with my signature on the cache log but no online log. If you act right now in the next ten minutes I can offer you a limited Power-of-Attorney authorizing you to use my signature to log those caches online for the incredible one-time low-low price of $1999.95! That's less than one dollar per cache! But wait! There's more! If you act right now I will double your order! Get TWO caches for the price of one! For that same $1999.95 plus shipping and handling I will swear that we're a team, that you were with me on all my finds and I signed for both of us! That's 2500 more caches for the same low price! But you must act now, I can only offer this great deal for the next ten minutes so hurry and get your credit card ready, call now 1-800-BIG-CACHE that's 1-800-BIG-CACHE with your VISA, Mastercard or Discovery and get all 4500 caches for only $1999.95 plus a low one-time shipping and handling fee of just $100. Act now. You could be a legitimate geocacher, the envy of your friends and an online hero, in just minutes! Be a legend in your own mind! Have big numbers now! Have cachers all over the world claim to know you and want to cache with you! Big numbers give you the legitimacy that every cacher deserves. Don't miss out, call now, 1-800-BIG-CACHE.

[+Chrysalides]

I can't help you with seniority, greenhorn, but I CAN make you a legitimate geocacher by getting those puny numbers up!

If at least 5% of those finds are FTFs, we have a deal!

 

(edit : who are you calling greenhorn, you greenhorn? )

Edited November 3, 2009 by Chrysalides

[+Harry Dolphin]

I've seen too many tree-day wonders to accept '1' as the correct answer. One find, three hides - all take-out food containers. (Including the one hidden under a twenty-pound rock. That one lasted two weeks, surprisingly.) Nope. That's not a geocacher. Fifteen finds, kept the travel bug after quitting. Nope. That's not a geocacher.

You're a geocacher when you understand what geocaching is about, including the responsibilities.

[+Sol seaker]

 

My own personal standard is this:

You are a newbie until you have done both of these, been caching for at least one year and have over 500 finds.

 

This shows a level of commitment and a degree of experience.

 

well, all right.

 

i'll pick an arbitrary number as long as we're relegating other people to substandard status:

 

you're a greenhorn unless you've been caching since 2002. period. no exceptions.

 

all of you newbies get off of my lawn.

 

well then I suspect that a great deal of us will be newbies all of our lives now. Missed our chance in 2002.

 

Hey, I KNOW someone who has been caching since 2002. Does that count? Does it rub off?

[+Chrysalides]

How about you're a legitimate geocacher when you're so full of the spirit of geocaching it leaks out of your ears?

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

How about you're a legitimate geocacher when you're so full of the spirit of geocaching it leaks out of your ears?

 

Whazzamatter? You got an ear infarction?

[bradly22]

I say after you find your first one, you're no longer "new to the game"

[+Jeep_Dog]

Nonnullus isto ligitimus cum uno invinio, plerum istic mamzeris post millesimus conpertus…

 

 

"Some are legitimate after one find, most are bastards after a thousand finds..."

 

Edited November 3, 2009 by Jeep_Dog

[+sbell111]

You are all newbies.

[+GeoGeeBee]

You We are all newbies.

 

There, I fixed it for you.

 

Keeping a "beginner's mind" is a good thing!

[GOF and Bacall]

I say after you find your first one, you're no longer "new to the game"

 

Yeah? Says you, newbie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+Jeep_Dog]

Some still act like I'm a newbie with about 300 finds, 8 hides, caches found in 4 states and over a distance of over 3000 miles. I have found caches .... I have found the majority of my caches ... I have gotten stung by .... I have climbed .... And I am still questioned as being a "real" cacher by some. Oh well.

 

 

 

I'm probably still a newbie to some (or most). More importantly, I could care a less.

 

Nonnullus isto ligitimus cum uno invinio, plerum istic mamzeris post millesimus conpertus.

Edited November 3, 2009 by Jeep_Dog

[+sbell111]

You are all newbies.

 

You We are all newbies.

 

There, I fixed it for you.

 

Keeping a "beginner's mind" is a good thing!

It needed no 'fixing'.