Player Integrity

[+R&T4SURE]

Lately I have noticed the tendency, by players, toward compromising the integrity of found caches. I find caches wilt lids left off, contents plundered or spilled out, containers tossed on the ground or in the brush rather than reset into place as found, etc. I'm not talking about nonplayers (Muggles), I'm talking about geocachers acting carelessly and not respecting the game.

Lets take care to maintain the integrity of each cache we find by:

* Making sure its well secured before you reset it carefully back into its proper hiding spot.

* Replace filled log sheets with blank sheets.

* Empty out any water, dirt, vegitation, or other foreign matter.

* Only take something if you have another item of equal interest or value to exchange.

Taking a few extra minutes to maintain the integrity of each cache we find will serve to ehhance the game for ourselves and others.

[+jenkamus]

I agree! I carry around a bunch of blank logs and cache maintenance items to add to caches that need them and we always try to leave the cache in better condition (and hide sometimes) then when we found it.

 

I don't know if people are in a hurry for the next find or just lazy but it's sad to see some of these caches strewn about, especially in urban settings, the rural one's i've found seem to be taken care of better.

[+Castle Mischief]

And you know it's other cachers and not non-cachers or animals... how?

[+9Key]

And you know it's other cachers and not non-cachers or animals... how?

Good question

[Mushtang]

And you know it's other cachers and not non-cachers or animals... how?

Exactly!

 

I once found a cache in a park, and put it back just like I'd found it. 3 days later the next cacher logged a find but said that the cache was found out in the open and looked like it had been sitting out, "about 3 days". What a jerk! Like you can tell how long it's been sitting out. He could have just said, "Mushtang obviously didn't put the cache back after he signed the log" and it would have been the same.

[+StarBrand]

Wind, rain, snow, animals, time heat and cold all conspire to change the nature of hides. Just a fact. Of course the occasional cache finder does something to accelerate the process but I don't see any trends or widespread problems. One of my hides back in 2002 was regularly out of place - I never did figure out exactly why but I eventually archived it due to how frequently it was "found in the open".

[+narcissa]

I think it's very rare that a cacher would leave a cache open with the contents spilled out. Chances are, if that has occurred, it's due to animals, muggles, or the elements.

 

It's more common for cachers to be just a little careless - not taking the time to replace the camouflage, leaving a corner of a baggy sticking out so water gets in, not securing the cache. But even then, it's hard to know for sure what happened.

[+briansnat]

Lately? I've been seeing this for about 8 1/2 years. Sometimes it's due to animals, sometimes it's the elements, sometimes it's a lousy container, sometimes it's non geocachers and once in a while I'm sure it's

due to geocachers.

 

Heck, over the weekend I found a very well hidden cache of mine (so well hidden that I haven't been able to find it since I hid it in 2002) nearly 900 feet from its original hiding spot. A hiker had found it sitting in the open on the summit of the mountain and e-emailed me to let me know.

 

Being a .50 cal ammo box I can probably rule the elements (that was 900 feet uphill). Maybe it was a bear, but there was no visible evidence of that. I doubt any other animal could drag it that far over some very rough terrain. That leaves geocachers and non geocachers. The last cacher to find it was a few weeks ago and he is a long time cacher who I'm friendly with and I doubt he would have done it. Yet it was extremely well hidden, on rugged terrain, where I doubt many non geocachers would have a reason to venture. So how it got where it did is a mystery.

[+Harry Dolphin]

And you know it's other cachers and not non-cachers or animals... how?

Exactly!

 

I once found a cache in a park, and put it back just like I'd found it. 3 days later the next cacher logged a find but said that the cache was found out in the open and looked like it had been sitting out, "about 3 days". What a jerk! Like you can tell how long it's been sitting out. He could have just said, "Mushtang obviously didn't put the cache back after he signed the log" and it would have been the same.

 

Oh! You're the one! And here, I've been blaming one of the bears. Probably Amparo Oso. Did you chew the hole in the bottom too???

[+terrkan78]

While doing maintenance I found the first stage of my "pirate treasure" cache out in the open, lid off. I expected to find that the final was missing or messed up, too (since the first stage contains an easy-to-follow "pirate map" to the final and it's only a short walk), but the final was fine - which made me doubt that it was muggles who tossed the first stage out in the open.

 

I can't imagine a geocaching adult leaving the first stage like I found it, but I got to thinking, what if geocaching parents had asked their kid to put it back while the parents went to the car (ie. little sis was crying and mom/dad needed to deal with that)? I could see a kid tossing it on the ground. In fact, I wouldn't trust my own kids to put a geocache back properly. It pains me to think that an adult would knowingly leave the container that way, and it's much more palatable for me to think it was just a kid who doesn't know any better yet (or who does know better but didn't feel like it that day--having kids, I can understand that one). Just a thought.

[+doingitoldschool]

Lately I have noticed the tendency, by players, toward compromising the integrity of found caches. I find caches wilt lids left off, contents plundered or spilled out, containers tossed on the ground or in the brush rather than reset into place as found, etc. I'm not talking about nonplayers (Muggles), I'm talking about geocachers acting carelessly and not respecting the game.

Lets take care to maintain the integrity of each cache we find by:

* Making sure its well secured before you reset it carefully back into its proper hiding spot.

* Replace filled log sheets with blank sheets.

* Empty out any water, dirt, vegitation, or other foreign matter.

* Only take something if you have another item of equal interest or value to exchange.

Taking a few extra minutes to maintain the integrity of each cache we find will serve to ehhance the game for ourselves and others.

 

Preaching to the choir, friend.

[+Atropos3]

Not to be cynical...but I figure if a cacher is really inconsiderate enough to trash a cache a forum message admonishing them to do the right thing will probably be about as effective as those after-school anti-drug commercials on teenagers.

[+Castle Mischief]

Not to be cynical...but I figure if a cacher is really inconsiderate enough to trash a cache a forum message admonishing them to do the right thing will probably be about as effective as those after-school anti-drug commercials on teenagers.

 

Are you kidding? if it weren't for Scott Baio and the American Broadcasting System, I never would have kicked the habit back in the second grade.

[+simpjkee]

* Replace filled log sheets with blank sheets.

 

IMO, you should not take old log sheets. Those are property of the owner. I would not be happy if some cacher jacked my log sheet and trashed it (which recently happened to me). If you take it upon yourself to "help me" by jacking my log sheet, it is your responsibility to make sure I get my log back, because I will ask for it.

 

IMO, the appropriate thing to do is notify the owner that the log sheet needs changed. And then the appropriate thing to have happen is the owner replacing the log.

[+Hakali]

Lately I have noticed the tendency, by players, toward compromising the integrity of found caches.

 

I'm not convinced it's players. I've seen articles online where some of the more, shall we say "testosterone poisoned" writers, encourage people to purposefully move or destroy geocaches. Written by and for the kind of people who like to screw up other people's fun.

 

It's also worth taking a look through the logs for a cache to see if there are any known hostiles in the area; one nice GeoBead cache in my area was situated next to a hostile who knew it was there but who clearly had been watching too much "24". As it went missing a mere week or two after the hostile had a nice rant at me I have my suspicions where it went.

[+WHO-DEY]

and the owners could take a few minutes as well...we know the guys/gals that do not take care of placed caches, especially full logs and wet micros around me...gets old.