On the trail code for identifying fellow geocachers

[+Albany Canucks]

So you're on the hunt, looking for a geocache. Some other people are wandering in the area, or you come across some other people heading for the exact location you just left ... but are they geocachers like yourself, or muggles? Is there any secret code we geocachers can use to find out? Is there any convention about this? Naturally if they are muggles, you don't want to give anything away, but if they are fellow geocachers, it might be a nice opportunity to have a chat about the hobby or share war stories. Peering at a GPS could be a tell-tale giveaway, but in most cases geocachers will do everything they can to cover up the evidence when others are around, so you'll usually not see the signs. So to come back to the question: if you suspect others in the neighbourhood of GZ (or even on a trail towards it) of possibly being geocachers, is there anything you can say to find out, without giving away the game to non-geocachers?

 

I've had it twice now that I've run across other people that could have been fellow geocachers, and I would have loved to have had something to say that would have helped me find out, without looking or sounding stupid.

[GOF and Bacall]

Check out this thread.

[+Scubasonic]

So you're on the hunt, looking for a geocache. Some other people are wandering in the area, or you come across some other people heading for the exact location you just left ... but are they geocachers like yourself, or muggles? Is there any secret code we geocachers can use to find out? Is there any convention about this? Naturally if they are muggles, you don't want to give anything away, but if they are fellow geocachers, it might be a nice opportunity to have a chat about the hobby or share war stories. Peering at a GPS could be a tell-tale giveaway, but in most cases geocachers will do everything they can to cover up the evidence when others are around, so you'll usually not see the signs. So to come back to the question: if you suspect others in the neighbourhood of GZ (or even on a trail towards it) of possibly being geocachers, is there anything you can say to find out, without giving away the game to non-geocachers?

 

I've had it twice now that I've run across other people that could have been fellow geocachers, and I would have loved to have had something to say that would have helped me find out, without looking or sounding stupid.

 

Gosh lets just not over think this......I just ask them "If they are Geocaching"

 

Scubasonic

[GOF and Bacall]

So you're on the hunt, looking for a geocache. Some other people are wandering in the area, or you come across some other people heading for the exact location you just left ... but are they geocachers like yourself, or muggles? Is there any secret code we geocachers can use to find out? Is there any convention about this? Naturally if they are muggles, you don't want to give anything away, but if they are fellow geocachers, it might be a nice opportunity to have a chat about the hobby or share war stories. Peering at a GPS could be a tell-tale giveaway, but in most cases geocachers will do everything they can to cover up the evidence when others are around, so you'll usually not see the signs. So to come back to the question: if you suspect others in the neighbourhood of GZ (or even on a trail towards it) of possibly being geocachers, is there anything you can say to find out, without giving away the game to non-geocachers?

 

I've had it twice now that I've run across other people that could have been fellow geocachers, and I would have loved to have had something to say that would have helped me find out, without looking or sounding stupid.

 

Gosh lets just not over think this......I just ask them "If they are Geocaching"

 

Scubasonic

 

Way too simple an answer.

[+Cache O'Plenty]

If they are very near the cache in question, wave your GPS and ask "Did you find it?".

[GOF and Bacall]

Or hide behind a nearby tree and yell out "GEO_POLICE! DROP THE CACHE AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

[+EscapeFromFlatland]

There was a guardrail cache at a pull-out on a highway through Oregon's coastal range that I was going to get. Got to the area, already a car in the pullout with a woman squatting near the guardrail.

I pull up and shout out "did you find the geocache?" only to realize she was peeing...

 

Needless to say I quickly pulled back onto the highway.

[BCProspectors]

Peering at a GPS could be a tell-tale giveaway, but in most cases geocachers will do everything they can to cover up the evidence when others are around, so you'll usually not see the signs.

Geocachers may try to hide the signs that they're geocaching, but we can usually spot them anyways. It's extremely difficult to completely hide the fact you are geocaching from another geocacher, especially if you're standing near the location of a cache.

[+thecaswellfamily]

There was a guardrail cache at a pull-out on a highway through Oregon's coastal range that I was going to get. Got to the area, already a car in the pullout with a woman squatting near the guardrail.

I pull up and shout out "did you find the geocache?" only to realize she was peeing...

 

Needless to say I quickly pulled back onto the highway.

 

I could SOOOO see us doing something like that!

[+brslk]

There was a guardrail cache at a pull-out on a highway through Oregon's coastal range that I was going to get. Got to the area, already a car in the pullout with a woman squatting near the guardrail.

I pull up and shout out "did you find the geocache?" only to realize she was peeing...

 

Needless to say I quickly pulled back onto the highway.

 

I could SOOOO see us doing something like that!

 

The 'peeing' or the 'seeing and fleeing'?

 

[+cw1710]

It is usually easy to tell even without seeing the GPSr because the geocacher will usually look suspicious and the muggle will look like they are supposed to be there because they aren't trying to be sneaky.

[+Albany Canucks]

I like the suggestion just to say hello and ask "Are you geocaching?" But what do you say next if the answer is "Huh?" or "What is that?" How much do you say or give away? And do you let them watch if they want to see you hunt for the cache? Trying to learn good geocaching etiquette here!

Edited September 5, 2010 by Albany Canucks

[+J the Goat]

Or hide behind a nearby tree and yell out "GEO_POLICE! DROP THE CACHE AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

 

My favorite. I'm gonna try it.