So many caches, so few hiding places

[+Buckleberry]

I don't know about anyone else but I have become slightly obsessed with making my own cache containers and have quite a few lined up at the moment. I love thinking up unusual cache's and really enjoy making them but locally to me, potential hiding locations are becoming few and far between for anything other than urban micro's or nano's.

 

I'm in no hurry whatsoever to hide and list them but am struggling to find any new, more rural locations for them locally.

 

Has anyone else suffered from a lack of hiding places for their caches?

[+keehotee]

I don't know about anyone else but I have become slightly obsessed with making my own cache containers and have quite a few lined up at the moment. I love thinking up unusual cache's and really enjoy making them but locally to me, potential hiding locations are becoming few and far between for anything other than urban micro's or nano's.

 

I'm in no hurry whatsoever to hide and list them but am struggling to find any new, more rural locations for them locally.

 

Has anyone else suffered from a lack of hiding places for their caches?

 

No lack of hiding places around here (Bristol/South West) - but the problem with putting any amount of effort into a hide nowadays is that unless there's a line of a dozen film pots leading up to it, after the initial rush you just won't get the visitors.

People seem very reluctant to walk for half an hour for a single smiley if they could spend that half an hour getting a dozen drive-by smilies instead.

[+Amberel]

Has anyone else suffered from a lack of hiding places for their caches?

I live near Heathrow, and yes, it can be difficult to find decent places - I'm not at all a fan of caches behind telephone switch boxes, etc.

 

Difficult, but not impossible.

 

Where are you?

 

And to kehotee, it is possible to get into a frame of mind where a small number of finders for your caches is not a big deal. I list caches on other sites where the numbers of logs can sometimes be very low. You learn not to fret about it . And the average quality of the logs is higher than for a string of film pots.

 

Rgds, Andy

[+keehotee]

 

And to kehotee, it is possible to get into a frame of mind where a small number of finders for your caches is not a big deal. I list caches on other sites where the numbers of logs can sometimes be very low. You learn not to fret about it . And the average quality of the logs is higher than for a string of film pots.

 

Rgds, Andy

 

I know - already promised myself to move my existing hides over, and any new caches are going on "another" site...this one's sadly turning into predominantly a listing site for film pots and trails

[+The Blorenges]

 

And to kehotee, it is possible to get into a frame of mind where a small number of finders for your caches is not a big deal. I list caches on other sites where the numbers of logs can sometimes be very low. You learn not to fret about it . And the average quality of the logs is higher than for a string of film pots.

 

Rgds, Andy

 

I know - already promised myself to move my existing hides over, and any new caches are going on "another" site...this one's sadly turning into predominantly a listing site for film pots and trails

 

You do realise that there are also film pots and trails on the Other site, don't you?

 

MrsB

[+Amberel]

You do realise that there are also film pots and trails on the Other site, don't you?

 

MrsB

It wasn't my intention to promote other sites, my reference to them was merely to explain that they teach a cache setter patience. However, your bold O means what I assume it means, then from the Midlands down, the number of caches is:

 

Large 11

Regular 73

Small 121

Micro 36

Virtual 37

 

These numbers are obviously very low indeed compared to Groundspeak caches, and furthermore the distribution is heavily biassed towards the West Country. It would be much more work to count the Groundspeak caches in the same area, but subjectively it feels that the Other site has a comparatively higher proportion of small and upwards caches. Also subjectively, and from the POV of the cacher with the second highest find count, the average (not every one, but the average) quality of those caches is substantially higher than those listed on Groundspeak. I haven't come across any trails, and the very few micros I've done have had some thought and imagination put into them. I'm sure that if the numbers on the Other site ever reach Groundspeak proportions that is likely to change, but just at the moment it is more like caching as I imagine it used to be.

 

Rgds, Andy

[+Buckleberry]

Where are you?

 

I'm in Wickford, Essex. There are plenty of nearby caches including two of my own but as you'll see from any mapping system, woodland is scarce...

[+Mojorizn1965]

Corpus Christi, Tx has quite a few, but there are still PLENTY of hiding spots.

[+Amberel]

Where are you?

 

I'm in Wickford, Essex. There are plenty of nearby caches including two of my own but as you'll see from any mapping system, woodland is scarce...

It's not an area I know at all, I'm afraid, but I've just hauled up an OS map of the area and there seem to be several small patches of woodland in or very near the town. Of course, I can't tell if they are private or otherwise unavailable. A bit further out I can see several large areas, including Barleylands, Norsey Woods, Forty Acre, Meepshole Wood and large areas each side of the railway to the West, areas round the Hanningfield Reservoir to the North, Wat Tyler Country Park plus a load of marshes to the South, West Wood, Pound Wood and Great Wood to the South East and and Hockley Woods to the East. Then there's the Crouch Estuary. Again, maybe some of these are unavailable, but they might be worth investigating.

 

Rgds, Andy

[+The Chaos Crew]

 

I know - already promised myself to move my existing hides over, and any new caches are going on "another" site...this one's sadly turning into predominantly a listing site for film pots and trails

 

But not all of us use it that way - I very rarely go after micros unless they are in a very purty spot (I did one “sidetracked” micro early in my ‘career’, found a film canister wedged in a car park, thought ‘what was the point in that?’ and have pretty much avoided them since)

 

I for one would be more than happy to walk for half an hour for a single smiley , and it’s sad that you will be removing your caches from consideration from people like myself who appreciate a well placed, decent sized cache and aren’t all that fussed about racking up points on the trail….

 

Back on topic – OP I recommend using the Google Maps and Google Earth displays to show all the caches around your area, and see if you can find a nice spot of woodland or a pretty lake or something that nobody has yet snapped up. Good luck.

[+keehotee]

 

I know - already promised myself to move my existing hides over, and any new caches are going on "another" site...this one's sadly turning into predominantly a listing site for film pots and trails

 

I for one would be more than happy to walk for half an hour for a single smiley , and it’s sad that you will be removing your caches from consideration from people like myself who appreciate a well placed, decent sized cache and aren’t all that fussed about racking up points on the trail….

 

 

But I'm not removing them - they'll still be there to be found. But if, as you say, you appreciate well placed, decent sized caches, you'll find there are other listing sites besides this one.....

[+currykev]

Has anyone else suffered from a lack of hiding places for their caches?

I live near Heathrow, and yes, it can be difficult to find decent places - I'm not at all a fan of caches behind telephone switch boxes, etc.

 

Difficult, but not impossible.

 

Where are you?

 

And to kehotee, it is possible to get into a frame of mind where a small number of finders for your caches is not a big deal. I list caches on other sites where the numbers of logs can sometimes be very low. You learn not to fret about it . And the average quality of the logs is higher than for a string of film pots.

 

Rgds, Andy

 

I sometimes long for a day where only a small number of finders find one or two of mine.

[+Buckleberry]

Where are you?

 

I'm in Wickford, Essex. There are plenty of nearby caches including two of my own but as you'll see from any mapping system, woodland is scarce...

It's not an area I know at all, I'm afraid, but I've just hauled up an OS map of the area and there seem to be several small patches of woodland in or very near the town. Of course, I can't tell if they are private or otherwise unavailable. A bit further out I can see several large areas, including Barleylands, Norsey Woods, Forty Acre, Meepshole Wood and large areas each side of the railway to the West, areas round the Hanningfield Reservoir to the North, Wat Tyler Country Park plus a load of marshes to the South, West Wood, Pound Wood and Great Wood to the South East and and Hockley Woods to the East. Then there's the Crouch Estuary. Again, maybe some of these are unavailable, but they might be worth investigating.

 

Rgds, Andy

 

Thanks Andy. There are lots of caches already at some of those places and I'm mindful of saturation but I will investigate further. I'd like to try somewhere a bit closer to home. As you said, there are a few places very close to me but lots are private and a couple that aren't are a bit too muggle/hoodie heavy.

 

I'll keep surveying but I suppose ultimately it's down to me to make sure the caches aren't found by non-believers!

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Edited April 23, 2010 by Buckleberry

[Puppy Socks]

 

Thanks Andy. There are lots of caches already at some of those places and I'm mindful of saturation but I will investigate further. I'd like to try somewhere a bit closer to home. As you said, there are a few places very close to me but lots are private and a couple that aren't are a bit too muggle/hoodie heavy.

 

I'll keep surveying but I suppose ultimately it's down to me to make sure the caches aren't found by non-believers!

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

There is no hard and fast rule that means you have to put a cache in your back yard

 

Years ago there was a movement called Close To Home caches where you would leave your contact details in the cache for local cachers to get to know each other. Each cache would be placed very close to your home to assist meeting/or knowledge of where individual cachers were.

 

Nowadays that's covered by more events na get togethers, so there's no need to restrict yourself to cache areas in your immediate vicinity. You just need to show the reviewer that you are close enough to maintain your caches adequately, so you can place your caches further afield and enjoy a better variety of scenery.

 

Good luck finding the perfect spot, it's great to get happy logs and to share great places with other cachers

[+Palujia]

Luckily we live in the Cotswolds so lots of lovely places still to put out caches. Am in process of researching my first "hide" and will have no difficulty in finding just the right spot. Being new to caching we are still exited at finding ANY sort of cache and the nanos and micros are a challenge which we are relishing at the moment. The dogs love the country walks for the more out of the way caches but trying to get the one in the Buttercross in the middle of Witney without getting "muggled" is, at the moment, just as much fun.

Maybe when we have logged lots of caches we will get bored with the little ones but at present

Geronimo !!

 

Palujia

PS our first will be a standard size tupperware type - being "camo'd" as we speak