Logging a find

[+Packfan12]

If you are unable to open a cache can you count it as a find.

[+randco]

Easy Steps to Geocaching

1. Register for a free Basic Membership.

2. Click "Hide & Seek a Cache."

3. Enter your postal code and click "search."

4. Choose any geocache from the list and click on its name.

5. Enter the coordinates of the geocache into your GPS Device.

6. Use your GPS device to assist you in finding the hidden geocache.

7. Sign the logbook and return the geocache to its original location.

8. Share your geocaching stories and photos online.

 

You might be able to log it as Found it if you took a picture and emailed it to the cache owner.

 

Maybe I am a little hard-core. If I don't sign the log it's a DNF. If I search for the cache and don't find it I log a DNF.

 

Just curious, why couldn't you get the container open?

Edited August 17, 2010 by randco

[+geodarts]

If you are unable to open a cache can you count it as a find.

 

It depends on the situation. If you cannot open a cache because it is high up in a tree and you are afraid of heights, then that is one thing. But it is another situation, if you cannot open a cache because it is rusted shut, you have no proper tools, the owner has ignored three different needs maintenance logs, and to force it open with a rock or by jumping up and down on it would damage the container further.

 

If you had a cache of mine in hand and there was some reason you could not open it, I would not care if you logged it as a find but I would like you to tell me why you could not open it so I could be prepared for whatever maintenance is needed.

Edited August 17, 2010 by mulvaney

[+Harry Dolphin]

Technically, if you haven't signed the log, you should not log the cache as a find, unless there's a very good reason. (The heretics here, of course, will disagree with that.) "Rusted shut" deserves an NM, not a 'Found'. "Forgot to bring the combination to the padlock" is a DNF.

Fess up. Why couldn't you open the cache? I found a PVC pipe cache with a stuck lid. Banged that sucker against the rocks a number of times to get it open!!

[+Packfan12]

The cache states that you are not supposed to open from the bottom, but you could see that several people have tried and several people have had difficulty opening the lid. It had previously just rained and it was a plastic container i didn't have gloves to get a better grip on the cache.

[+Team MacKenzie]

And of course, blonde is no excuse for not being able to open a cache.

 

This past weekend I found a cache and then tried armwrestling with the lid for at least 5 minutes, I was on my way back to the van to get out the vice grips (it was only a couple hundred feet away, no big deal) when I discovered it was a push and turn pill bottle!! What do I know, I don't do drugs...

 

If I hadn't been able to open the container, I would have logged a DNF because I couldn't sign the log.

 

Similiarly I have a cache on my 'Bring a Friend for help' list that I can see, I have pics of it. But I can't reach it, I'm not climbing on the old crumbly foundation wall to get it. Heck I fall down enough while on the ground, sure not going up there to get a smilie....that's what friends are for....

[+Dragery]

I had a container once that was an M&M's round tin, it fell out of it hiding spot (magnetic, hid under a storage container in a parking lot) and had been run over a few times. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get open, I tried my keys, then went back to my car for a screwdriver, it was done for. I logged it as a find, and then immediately a needs maintenance. To me, that's the same scenario as finding a log that's too wet to sign. Forces beyond your control stopped you from physically signing the log, but in MY opinion, it was still a find, AND the owner still got word that maintenance was required, and replaced the container a couple weeks later.

 

On a separate occasion, there was a cache that was a PVC pipe screwed to a pole, in order to retrieve the cache you had to cover the hole at the bottom and fill the tube with water until the container bobbed up at the top. I went and tried filling it up twice and the container did not pop up, I tried sticking something down there just incase it was wedged at the bottom, and tried filling it up again. Nothing. I left and logged a NM, and did NOT log a find. The owner shot me an email thanking me very much for the heads up, and told me to log it as a find. Turns out someone had stolen the actual container.

 

These are just 2 random situations I've encountered. As a cache owner tho, if someone found my physical container, and were for some reason unable to physically open the container, I wouldn't have a problem if they logged it as a find so long as they made me aware of the problem I needed to correct. The way I see it, they found my cache, and are helping me maintain it, so them claiming it as a find is a favor for reporting the maintenance. However, this would NOT apply if the container was missing, or they were unable to retrieve the cache.

[+jaydeadheader]

i found a cache

 

magnetic keyholder, it was smashed and had spiders living in it (no log)

 

I put a calling card in each cache i visit,so i put one in and we logged on that

 

if its broken, fix it

[+Team Cotati]

If you are unable to open a cache can you count it as a find.

 

Of course.

[+vw_k]

I'd recommend e-mailing the cache owner. Tell them what is wrong with the cache and ask if they would mind you logging it.

[+briansnat]

As you've seen there is no cut and dry answer. For some caches, opening it is a deliberate part of the challenge. For example there may be a lock where you need to solve a puzzle to obtain the combination. For those most people will tell you that you need to sign the log.

 

As far as encountering a container that is rusted or frozen shut, or the lid is screwed on too tight, it's a bit more fuzzy. Purists will tell you that you must sign the log no matter what. Unless you do that it is not a find. Others will say that you found the cache, so why not log it as a find? In the end it is between you and the cache owner. If he is OK with your found it log, then go ahead and log it.