Dick's add - buried caches

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

... P.S. No "sky is falling" meant here...just a bummer that they let this sort of misinformation slip through.

Ah, but who "let this sort of misinformation slip through"?

 

Is it us geocachers who have failed to get the accurate message get out or is it up to the ad copy-writer or reporter who has never heard of geocaching to dig for the truth?

 

Hint: They're not going to!

[+Scout Shadow]

I like the paintball marker at the bottom of the add. That would definitely add a new element to caching.

 

I agree!! Think of the possibilities!!

 

1. Tired of that pesky local cacher who always breaks your caches?? Merely lie in wait for him...then teach him a lesson!! (Ghilie suit sold seperatly)

 

2. Ever wonder what might happen if the zombie apocalypse occured while you are in the woods caching?? Buy our Metal Detector/GPSr/ Paintball Marker combo and prepare yourself for all eventuallity's!!

 

3. Are you having trouble beating the local FTF hounds out to the cache when that new cache is published? Teach them a lesson when you get there first-or relieve your anger at them when you get there second!! It's a win-win situation!!

 

(The above views do not represent Geocaching, Groundspeak, Dick's Sporting Goods, Forum Members, Geocachers in general, or your average society memebers. They are merely the mindless late night ravings of myself and should be viewed as such.)

[GOF and Bacall]

... P.S. No "sky is falling" meant here...just a bummer that they let this sort of misinformation slip through.

Ah, but who "let this sort of misinformation slip through"?

 

Is it us geocachers who have failed to get the accurate message get out or is it up to the ad copy-writer or reporter who has never heard of geocaching to dig for the truth?

 

Hint: They're not going to!

 

Part of the problem is that it is getting harder to tell the difference between those two folks.

[+Frank Broughton]

Wow, laughably inaccurate. Groundspeak should contact them and offer to help them rewrite their standard geocaching text.

 

Are we really this petty? Dick's is a good store! So what they got the word wrong (but not really as pointed out above),

[+Castle Mischief]

Wow, laughably inaccurate. Groundspeak should contact them and offer to help them rewrite their standard geocaching text.

 

Are we really this petty? Dick's is a good store! So what they got the word wrong (but not really as pointed out above),

 

I don't see petty. I see people concerned for how their beloved hobby is being portrayed to the uneducated masses and how that portrayal might be interpreted by land owners and people that are responsible for giving permission for hides in parks and forests.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I wonder if cerberus1 lives near that very same lake? What a coincidence that would be, eh?

 

It looks like cerberus1 is in Northeast Pennsylvania, a good days drive to the lake in question (Cayuga Lake, one of the Finger Lakes).

[+Frank Broughton]

Wow, laughably inaccurate. Groundspeak should contact them and offer to help them rewrite their standard geocaching text.

 

Are we really this petty? Dick's is a good store! So what they got the word wrong (but not really as pointed out above),

 

I don't see petty. I see people concerned for how their beloved hobby is being portrayed to the uneducated masses and how that portrayal might be interpreted by land owners and people that are responsible for giving permission for hides in parks and forests.

 

Okay I repent for using & choosing the wrong word to describe my perceived view. I see the problem with the ad now that you described it that way. Thanks.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Frank Broughton

[Skippermark]

As uninformed as their ad might be, I dont think it's a big deal. Anyone that becomes interested due to their ad will end up here and will be able to clearly see the rules and how the hobby really works.

You think? My guess is that many cachers have never looked at the guidelines and have no idea what they say.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

Hello Robert,

 

Thank you for contacting Dick's Sporting Goods Customer Service.

 

Thank you for your comments they will be forwarded to the appropriate department.

 

We truly appreciate your time and we value your patronage.

 

Best Regards,

 

Erica

Customer Service

Dick's Sporting Goods

[+jellis]

As uninformed as their ad might be, I dont think it's a big deal. Anyone that becomes interested due to their ad will end up here and will be able to clearly see the rules and how the hobby really works. Besides, nobody is going to learn about the sport through a $349.99 AD and just buy it without doing a google search on "Geocaching" first.

 

It's not like they're gonna buy the GPS, stop off at a field on their way home and bury their loose pocket change...

 

We all know you can't dig a hole or bury caches, but come one how many have we seen out there? Fake sprinkler heads. They didn't get in the ground by themselves. And pipes put in the ground. Some are real but no one can prove the were or weren't put there before.

Whether the article mentions buried, cachers will still do it or not. It is who ever complains about the ones who do (after they log the find).

[+briansnat]

CJ and I are both "discount point card" holders for Dick's.

Like others, we frequent the store to keep ammo and lower-end firearms in stock. Otherwise it'd probably end up as another Sports Authority, with only clothes, ski items and school-sports supplies.

 

E-mailed that we were sure that the Dick's chain never intended to promote ILLEGALLY buried caches and LITTERING, but "might" have had an ad man not doing proper research.

 

Got a reply yesterday. They stated that "another person" e-mailed also and they'll "look into it."

That's odd, there's a few here on this site alone who say they responded.

 

Don't know about the SA where you are but over this way they carry an inventory significantly larger and more diverse than you might imagine.

 

We don't have a Sports Authority nearby but we do have a Dick's store. It has, by far, the largest fishing department within 30 miles, and that includes the Cortland Line Factory store. Considering there is a 40 miles long lake that has three species of trout, landlocked salmon, largemouth and smallmouth bass (the smallmouth bass fishing has been featured on national weekend fishing shows at least a couple of times), as well as perch, pickerel, walleye, and northern pike. There used to be a really good flyfishing shop nearby but it had a fire and it's long gone. Dick's is about the only decent source for fishing (and hunting) supplies in the area.

 

I was speaking with a manager at the local Dicks and he told me that they are moving away from the outdoor gear and toward clothing. I looked at him and said "You mean like Sports Authority" and he said "Yes, that is what sells".

 

I don't know if he was referring to the Dicks here, or Dicks in general, but if that is the case it would be a loss. The world doesn't need another Sports Authority or Modells.

Edited December 10, 2009 by briansnat

[+sbell111]

We all know you can't dig a hole or bury caches, but come one how many have we seen out there? Fake sprinkler heads. They didn't get in the ground by themselves. And pipes put in the ground. Some are real but no one can prove the were or weren't put there before.

Whether the article mentions buried, cachers will still do it or not. It is who ever complains about the ones who do (after they log the find).

Hiding or finding a fake sprinkler head cache need not require digging.

[Skippermark]

I don't know if he was referring to the Dicks here, or Dicks in general, but if that is the case it would be a loss. The world doesn't need another Sports Authority or Modells.

Agreed. You only need a couple places to buy clothes. If they're all doing the same thing, some will close. I like Dick's for it's variety.

[+Team Cotati]

I truly wish that the majority of improperly placed caches were attributable to ideas that were planted by retail advertisements.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Team Cotati

[+bittsen]

I don't know if he was referring to the Dicks here, or Dicks in general, but if that is the case it would be a loss. The world doesn't need another Sports Authority or Modells.

Agreed. You only need a couple places to buy clothes. If they're all doing the same thing, some will close. I like Dick's for it's variety.

 

Variety is what would draw me in as well.

Here we had G.I. Joes (was simply "Joes" at the end) but it went out of business and was (I was told) by the same parent company that owns Dick's. We now have Dick's stores taking root where G.I. Joes used to be.

 

G.I. Joes used to have an automotive department as well as an extensive sporting department outside of the typical realm of team sports. Slowy over time they weeded down their automotive department, so I stopped going there for their good service and competetive prices on things automotive. They started stocking more shoes. I could buy shoes anywhere so I didn't go there for my shoes (they were overpriced anyhow).

One day I needed a new set of billiard balls. I had remembered 15 years earlier buying billiard balls at G.I. Joes so I went there. They didn't have them anymore so I walked over to Walmart where they had two different types.

I wanted some parts for my boat and remembered how I bought my first rubber raft at Joes... their boating department had been whittled down as well but they had tons of clothes.

 

Needless to say, I stopped going to G.I. Joes and eventually a lot of others did as well. And, G.I. Joes was reduced to bankruptcy.

I suspect that Dicks will eventually suffer the same fate if they stick to the business model they have been pushing. Selling clothes and shoes has a really high degree of profitability but the competetion is against them. I would love to have a place to buy moderately priced sporting goods but with Dick's going away from actual Sporting Goods all we are left with is REI and their outrageous pricing scheme and Walmart with their questionable quality and disgusting degree of competetiveness.

 

</rant>

[+artist2c]

I think everyone is running out of things to talk about.

 

Perhaps Congress needs to render an opinion... it seems to have kicked to that level.

[+Too Tall John]

Added my 2 cents to the pile on the Dick's website.

 

I guess I've been under a rock, when the heck did Garmin come out with the Dakota?!

 

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

CJ and I are both "discount point card" holders for Dick's.

Like others, we frequent the store to keep ammo and lower-end firearms in stock. Otherwise it'd probably end up as another Sports Authority, with only clothes, ski items and school-sports supplies.

 

E-mailed that we were sure that the Dick's chain never intended to promote ILLEGALLY buried caches and LITTERING, but "might" have had an ad man not doing proper research.

 

Got a reply yesterday. They stated that "another person" e-mailed also and they'll "look into it."

That's odd, there's a few here on this site alone who say they responded.

 

Don't know about the SA where you are but over this way they carry an inventory significantly larger and more diverse than you might imagine.

 

We don't have a Sports Authority nearby but we do have a Dick's store. It has, by far, the largest fishing department within 30 miles, and that includes the Cortland Line Factory store. Considering there is a 40 miles long lake that has three species of trout, landlocked salmon, largemouth and smallmouth bass (the smallmouth bass fishing has been featured on national weekend fishing shows at least a couple of times), as well as perch, pickerel, walleye, and northern pike. There used to be a really good flyfishing shop nearby but it had a fire and it's long gone. Dick's is about the only decent source for fishing (and hunting) supplies in the area.

 

I was speaking with a manager at the local Dicks and he told me that they are moving away from the outdoor gear and toward clothing. I looked at him and said "You mean like Sports Authority" and he said "Yes, that is what sells".

 

I don't know if he was referring to the Dicks here, or Dicks in general, but if that is the case it would be a loss. The world doesn't need another Sports Authority or Modells.

 

Dicks has never been half the outdoors store Galyans was which is why I wonder why they bought out and closed Galyans, not like they were really competing with them.

[+djk_wff]

There's not enough room in my caching vehicles for a shovel ...

 

[Mushtang]

I wish someone would edit the title of this thread to fix the misspelled word already. It bugs me every time I see it.

[+scvmeat]

OK...so, I must not be thinking, but just to save anyone else the trouble...Dick's website is NOT, I repeat, IS NOT www.dicks.com.

 

 

I realized it right after I hit "enter." Glad I wasn't at work!!!

 

www.disksportinggoods.com

 

[+joukkusisu]

The ad reminds of a bunch of magazine articles that came out around the start of geocaching. I found these doing a project, using a keyword search of "geocaching" in the database, Academic Search Premier, limiting the results to magazines. Just about every article that introduced geocaching to their readers mentions buried treasure or that the caches are buried. Egads! These were magazines, like Time, Forbes, US News and World Report.

[Starbreaker]

It's funny because the rules strictly forbid burying caches.

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

It's funny because the rules strictly forbid burying caches.

 

Not 100% If you can convince GC that you have explicit permission, ie you are the land owner, and you have a good enough reason why the cache must be buried instead of left out and covered they will consider the request to list it.

I imagine it will take a mighty good reason to get it approved but it could be done.

[Starbreaker]

I've seen some in the ground covered with leaves and sticks. I guess it mostly means those that are 6 feet under or something.

[+Dgwphotos]

I like the paintball marker at the bottom of the add. That would definitely add a new element to caching.

 

It is NOT a paintball marker. It's an airsoft gun.

[+Dgwphotos]

I think it's a case of if you say that it's a treasure hunt, people automatically think of buried treasure. I doubt we we will ever be able to loose that perception. Personally, when I explain it, I aways try to make sure that it's clear that caches are not buried.

[+Too Tall John]

I think it's a case of if you say that it's a treasure hunt, people automatically think of buried treasure. I doubt we we will ever be able to loose that perception. Personally, when I explain it, I aways try to make sure that it's clear that caches are not buried.

Don't call it a treasure hunt, call it a scavenger hunt.