Maintain Your Caches - Please!

[+The VanDucks]

We've had a couple of caches on our "watchlist" for quite a while that we DNF'd after lengthy searches, with many additional DNF's logged after ours. I don't understand why the cache owners don't bother to check on them. Even if the CO is somehow prevented from physically checking on his cache, it's easy to just sit at the computer and temporarily disable a cache with a log notation that you are going to visit it soon.

 

I suspect that in many cases a geocacher has placed more caches than he can reasonably maintain. It seems to me that placing caches does imply a responsibility to keep them running and to replace logs, check on the placement after a couple of DNF's, make sure the surrounding conditions haven't changed since the placement was made, maybe add some new swag occasionally, etc.

 

What's your opinion, and if you choose NOT to maintain your caches, why is that?

[knowschad]

We've had a couple of caches on our "watchlist" for quite a while that we DNF'd after lengthy searches, with many additional DNF's logged after ours. I don't understand why the cache owners don't bother to check on them. Even if the CO is somehow prevented from physically checking on his cache, it's easy to just sit at the computer and temporarily disable a cache with a log notation that you are going to visit it soon.

 

I suspect that in many cases a geocacher has placed more caches than he can reasonably maintain. It seems to me that placing caches does imply a responsibility to keep them running and to replace logs, check on the placement after a couple of DNF's, make sure the surrounding conditions haven't changed since the placement was made, maybe add some new swag occasionally, etc.

 

What's your opinion, and if you choose NOT to maintain your caches, why is that?

Are you sure these cache owners are still active? Did you check their profiles to see when the last time they were online, and if they are still caching?

[+narcissa]

Sometimes, people get distracted with other things in their life and stop paying attention to their caches. It sucks, but there's not much you can do about it. If you really think a cache needs attention, post a "Needs Maintenance." Eventually, the local reviewer will take action if there's no response from the owner.

[hoosier guy]

Posting a "Needs Maintainence" log is a good idea. You might shoot them an email as well. Maybe they haven't logged on lately to see what has been going on.

[+NeecesandNephews]

It seems to be a "fact of life" in the game. Sometimes its just impossible to know what went wrong, where, or when. Life gets in the way!!

 

I would note, in the town I live in, there are a small number of caches to start with. If you do a quick search, you will see that a good number of them are "self'supporting." Owners have not logged on in some time.

 

I recently posted a NM on a cache that had been logged "DNF" quite a few times. The Owner took this as the last straw, (had more or less quit playing some time ago) and archived his listings. Even the ones that were fully functional.

 

There are several I am keeping an eye on, trying to head off the dreaded NM post.

 

What is starting to bother me even more is... a little further away from me, an Owner has several caches with outstanding NM's logged on them, some are months old, and I recieved notice he had placed a couple new ones!!

 

I am not much for suggesting new Guidelines, but I think it should be a rule that if you have caches that have outstanding NM's posted on them you should not be allowed to list new ones.

[+dfx]

Posting a "Needs Maintainence" log is a good idea. You might shoot them an email as well. Maybe they haven't logged on lately to see what has been going on.

agreed, that's what i do. some cachers have hundreds of caches out there, and you can imagine how many emails they get per day. a couple of consecutive DNFs on a single cache won't stand out then. or maybe they have email filters set up or whatever.

 

if they still don't respond to a "needs maintenance" log, chances are they're not active any more or simply don't care. the next step would be to post a "needs to be archived" log, but be careful with that, some reviewers are very quick to respond to such logs and will promptly archive the cache within a few days or even hours only. so only do that when you're 100% certain that the cache has been abandoned by its owner. personally i wait at least 2-3 months before i do that.

[+narcissa]

There's a local cacher here who has been sick all winter, and hasn't been able to do maintenance on his caches. We found out he was sick when it came up on our local forum.

 

Geocaching depends on cooperation between players. Sometimes, that means resisting the urge to get annoyed or frustrated with other geocachers. There is life beyond geocaching, and a little bit of understanding goes a long way. You never know when you'll be the one unable to reach the computer.

[+Fianccetto]

There's a cache near us with a few DNFs so I went out and checked it was still there. It is, but needs a clean, dry container and log book. It seems to have been muggled too, I've mailed the CO to say I'd be happy to adopt it but had no response. It turns out they live over 1000 miles away and have several other caches in the UK and almost all of them have been archived. I think it's sad for all the people who have visited the cache in the past for it to be archived, its a great hiding spot and I'd love the excuse to walk that way regularly. I am not, however going to start maintaining it unless I can adopt it. There are plenty of caches I come across in remote places with busy (local) owners who can't drop off a notebook or new box at a week's notice but who do try to look after their caches and stay active. I don't mind helping them out. I do mind prolonging the agony of a cache in its death throes!

[+KJcachers]

or how about the cache owner thats placed hundreds of caches and whenever a "Needs Maintenance" gets logged they just archive it? I know one of those guys and try to avoid his caches now.

[+GeoGeeBee]

There's a cache near us with a few DNFs so I went out and checked it was still there. It is, but needs a clean, dry container and log book. It seems to have been muggled too, I've mailed the CO to say I'd be happy to adopt it but had no response. It turns out they live over 1000 miles away and have several other caches in the UK and almost all of them have been archived. I think it's sad for all the people who have visited the cache in the past for it to be archived, its a great hiding spot and I'd love the excuse to walk that way regularly. I am not, however going to start maintaining it unless I can adopt it. There are plenty of caches I come across in remote places with busy (local) owners who can't drop off a notebook or new box at a week's notice but who do try to look after their caches and stay active. I don't mind helping them out. I do mind prolonging the agony of a cache in its death throes!

 

Post an NA and then place your own cache there after it's archived.

 

This will have no effect on the people who have visited that cache in the past. They'll still have their memories, and the cache page will still exist with their logs (although it won't show up in searches).

 

If the cache owner is 1000 miles away and doesn't maintain the cache, it should be archived.

[knowschad]

There's a cache near us with a few DNFs so I went out and checked it was still there. It is, but needs a clean, dry container and log book. It seems to have been muggled too, I've mailed the CO to say I'd be happy to adopt it but had no response. It turns out they live over 1000 miles away and have several other caches in the UK and almost all of them have been archived. I think it's sad for all the people who have visited the cache in the past for it to be archived, its a great hiding spot and I'd love the excuse to walk that way regularly. I am not, however going to start maintaining it unless I can adopt it. There are plenty of caches I come across in remote places with busy (local) owners who can't drop off a notebook or new box at a week's notice but who do try to look after their caches and stay active. I don't mind helping them out. I do mind prolonging the agony of a cache in its death throes!

I agree with GeoGeeBee... this is a situation that calls for Needs Archived logs. Keep in mind that it is still the reviewer that will be making the call, not you. All you are doing is notifying the reviewer.

[+briansnat]

What's your opinion, and if you choose NOT to maintain your caches, why is that?

 

Time. In the spring and fall my weekends are taken up with coaching soccer and weekdays are taken up by work (well they were until I was recently laid off). If a cache of mine needs maintenance during soccer season I sometimes have to put it off until the season ends, particularly if it is one that takes a long time to get to.

[+KJcachers]

What's your opinion, and if you choose NOT to maintain your caches, why is that?

 

Time. In the spring and fall my weekends are taken up with coaching soccer and weekdays are taken up by work (well they were until I was recently laid off). If a cache of mine needs maintenance during soccer season I sometimes have to put it off until the season ends, particularly if it is one that takes a long time to get to.

 

Do you disable them until you can get to them or just leave them alone?

[+sbell111]

I completely agree with the OP. If you cannot maintain your caches, archive them.

[+bittsen]

If I get two consecutive DNFs on a cache by two cachers who were not caching together, I go check the cache. If I'm informed something is wrong with one of my caches, i head out within days and fix it.

I made a pact with myself that if I had "issues" with my cache in the first 3 months the cache would be rethought. I don't want to be a source of geolitter. So far, so good.

 

Some caches could be candiates for community maintenance but most are not. An Ape Cache, for instance, yes. Any LPC, no.

If I come across a cache that inspires me to write a NM on it I will put it on my watchlist and if not maintained within 2 months (based on logs or observation) I will log a SBA. I think it's fair. So far only two have ended up that way.

 

If you aren't going to maintain your caches, don't place them. If you don't think your micro spew warrants maintenance, don't toss it out the window. I've seen way too many micros that get ONE NM log and then they are archived. It makes me think, what's the point of placing it?

[+briansnat]

What's your opinion, and if you choose NOT to maintain your caches, why is that?

 

Time. In the spring and fall my weekends are taken up with coaching soccer and weekdays are taken up by work (well they were until I was recently laid off). If a cache of mine needs maintenance during soccer season I sometimes have to put it off until the season ends, particularly if it is one that takes a long time to get to.

 

Do you disable them until you can get to them or just leave them alone?

 

Depends on the issue. If its a full logbook or damp contents, probably not. If appears that it might be missing, then yes.

[POLE POSITION]

I know what you're talking about, and I hate it! We had a cache in our area that was apparently destroyed by an ice storm, but know one knows since the owner never responded to anything. Several local geocachers finally managed to get the local reviewer to archive it.

[+t4e]

What's your opinion, and if you choose NOT to maintain your caches, why is that?

 

Time. In the spring and fall my weekends are taken up with coaching soccer and weekdays are taken up by work (well they were until I was recently laid off). If a cache of mine needs maintenance during soccer season I sometimes have to put it off until the season ends, particularly if it is one that takes a long time to get to.

 

Do you disable them until you can get to them or just leave them alone?

 

i did with one of mine when i figured i couldn't make it there within a week

 

i would hate to see logs from disappointed cachers

[+StarBrand]

It depends a little on the cache and the area but I never worry about a single DNF and there aren't too many of my caches that get attention at 2 DNF in a row. After a 3rd - it is definitely time to schedule a visit but that may take as long as 3 or 4 weeks. Of course it all depends a little on the experience of the cachers making the logs and the text of the DNF as well. I disable the cache where appropriate and if i can't get there within 3 or 4 weeks.

[hoosier guy]

What's your opinion, and if you choose NOT to maintain your caches, why is that?

 

Time. In the spring and fall my weekends are taken up with coaching soccer and weekdays are taken up by work (well they were until I was recently laid off). If a cache of mine needs maintenance during soccer season I sometimes have to put it off until the season ends, particularly if it is one that takes a long time to get to.

 

Do you disable them until you can get to them or just leave them alone?

 

i did with one of mine when i figured i couldn't make it there within a week

 

i would hate to see logs from disappointed cachers

[/quote

 

Thanks to the COs who do their best to do the same!

[+L0ne.R]

or how about the cache owner thats placed hundreds of caches and whenever a "Needs Maintenance" gets logged they just archive it? I know one of those guys and try to avoid his caches now.

 

And then don't pick it up. They just let it rot in the woods.

[+L0ne.R]

What is starting to bother me even more is... a little further away from me, an Owner has several caches with outstanding NM's logged on them, some are months old, and I recieved notice he had placed a couple new ones!!

 

I am not much for suggesting new Guidelines, but I think it should be a rule that if you have caches that have outstanding NM's posted on them you should not be allowed to list new ones.

 

I agree.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Here's a classic NM log:

March 1 by N00b (11 found)

 

I was right on top of ground zero, unfortunately I was also on top of a big snow pile. I think you need to dig out your cache.

 

Yes! He posted Needs Maintenance for that!

 

CO responded with: It's the North East, and it happens to snow. Come by when it melts or wear gloves. Thanks!

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

The value of the SBA log is vastly under-rated.

 

Proper use of the SBA will keep unmaintained caches to a minimum.

[+geodarts]

or how about the cache owner thats placed hundreds of caches and whenever a "Needs Maintenance" gets logged they just archive it? I know one of those guys and try to avoid his caches now.

 

And then don't pick it up. They just let it rot in the woods.

 

Not necessarily. I have archived several caches that have needed maintenance (albeit before they got the NM tag). When I first placed some of these caches, they were the only ones in that area. I had no problems in loading the dog in the car and heading out towards a trailhead in that particular section of the open space. Several years later, I find that many of these caches have served their purpose. They helped introduced certain areas to caching. Most of the current cachers have found them so they may be visited only once or twice a year. There are now other caches in that area. I have a harder time getting to that area of the county -- maybe I am getting older, my dog certainly is, but these days I tend to hike the trails closer to home.

 

So if someone leaves the top of the container loose on one of "my" ridges and the cache needs maintenance as a result, I will go up and replace it at least once. If a cache further away develops problems, I will archive the cache and make a final trip to get the container.

 

Not all caches need to be maintained in perpetuity. There are lots of reasons to archive a cache that needs maintenance, just as there are reasons to maintain a particular cache. And not all caches that are archived are left to rot in the woods.

Edited March 17, 2010 by Erickson

[+Wooden Cyclist]

A CO in SW MI had quite a few NM logs on his hides because of his faulty containers. He posted an apology saying that his wife was ill so he didn't have the time to do maintenance. But today he logged an FTF 20 miles from his home and had a new cache published. Guess he has his priorities.

[+Fianccetto]

Thanks to the OP and the replies to my comments about the local cache. I posted a NA, the owners got in touch immediately. (They had very good reasons for not being able to respond straight away, but 4 days is still pretty quick). Now we've adopted it and hoping to liaise with the park rangers to place more. Result!

[+ngrrfan]

There's a cache near us with a few DNFs so I went out and checked it was still there. It is, but needs a clean, dry container and log book. It seems to have been muggled too, I've mailed the CO to say I'd be happy to adopt it but had no response. It turns out they live over 1000 miles away and have several other caches in the UK and almost all of them have been archived. I think it's sad for all the people who have visited the cache in the past for it to be archived, its a great hiding spot and I'd love the excuse to walk that way regularly. I am not, however going to start maintaining it unless I can adopt it. There are plenty of caches I come across in remote places with busy (local) owners who can't drop off a notebook or new box at a week's notice but who do try to look after their caches and stay active. I don't mind helping them out. I do mind prolonging the agony of a cache in its death throes!

In my area I had the same situation arise. I offered to adopt but never heard from the COs. Finally the cache was archived and I jumped on the spot since it was a very good spot.

 

So don't bemoan the archiving of a cache, think of it as an opportunity for you to put your own cache there.

[+Keith Watson]

What bothers be is the other side. People who posts logs indicating a cache is missing, needs maintenance, or needs to be archived simply because they cannot find it. A cache in our area experienced this.

 

DNF - Searched around for a bit and pulled the hint. Ok, we know exactly where it is. Nope, not there. If the hint is accurate, we're pretty sure the cache is gone.

 

DNF - Based on the hint, it's gone.

 

Needs Archived - Can we do something about this please? Please verify the cache is still there or archive it if you are no longer interested in maintaining it.

 

Found - I guess the cache was hibernating for the winter, but it was there! TFTC

[+Ike 13]

You're Welcome (I maintain my caches).

 

I'm 100 miles from home this week for work and I was doing a little caching. I saw a cache that hasn't been found since November and has been confirmed missing by other cachers. Plus the CO hadn't logged in since mid-October. I posted a NA log. I felt bad, but the owner logged on a couple hours later, apologized for the poor maintenence, disabled the cache, and is hoping to get out to fix it shortly. In the end I felt good because either way the cache is getting attention.

[+Mother Wolf]

We have a great reviewer here in our area. There was a CO I contacted about a cache that she had removed for some maintenance then didnt replace it or write a note of her attention. She never responded. I posted a NM log on the page, she deleted it. Other cachers as posted NM or notes asking whats up with this cache, which were also deleted. After about 3 months I contacted the reviewer, explained the situation & that CO hadnt signed on in months now & the cache hadnt been replaced.. He contacted her & she told him she would replace it ASAP. (He emailed this info) After another 2 months still nothing. This was a prime location in an isolated restricted area that was hoping to place a cache for a multi state historical series. I contacted the reviewer again about archiving it. He finally agreed enough time had passed for the CO to tend to it or at least post up something. It was A & another cache was placed there for the series.

[+Tequila]

or how about the cache owner thats placed hundreds of caches and whenever a "Needs Maintenance" gets logged they just archive it? I know one of those guys and try to avoid his caches now.

 

And then don't pick it up. They just let it rot in the woods.

 

We have a local area cacher who does that. Archives and doesn't bother to pick them up.

 

He has also been known to archive a bunch of his caches in a snit when Groundspeak does something he doesn't like. Never really understood the point in that.