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Remember when you first started geocaching - What Frustrated You The Most?


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As a newbie my most frustrating thing was my lack of experience.

 

No duh. :P

 

On taking out newbies on their first cache hunt the top two things were:

 

How to follow the arrow. It's not so much that they thought the arrow would show them the cache, it was more about their questions and confusion concerning "How do I follow the arrow?" "Where am I going?" "What do I do now?"

 

My suggestion: Teach the use of the gps on the trail. 'You're in control, not the gps.' 'The gps points, you pick the path.'

 

The second was at the cache location. Pretty much the same thing. "What am I looking for?" This part really needs people to share their experience. "This is where it can be." "These are the types of things you need to look for."

Edited by BlueDeuce
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I am still fairly new to caching so not too much frustrates me yet. LOL However, the one thing I am still learning is all of the acronyms and terminology used in logs and here on the forums. I NEED A DICTIONARY! LOL

 

New one for me today - Sock Puppet grrr....

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Well I guess you can say Im still sorta kinda new I have just about 500 finds and still going! Caching is a lot of fun especially when you can get your friends in on it! But heres a few things that frustrated me when I started and still do and Im sure they will continue to frustrate me as well as many other cachers

 

~ When placing a cache, some people don't properly list what size container you are looking for. I can't tell you how many times I thought I was looking for a "small" and when I would find it, it should of been marked as a "micro" or vise versa. Its more frustrating when it's actually smaller than you thought because that could be why you have to DNF it because you were looking for something different

~When you are searching for new caches on the website and see one pop up, get all excited gear up and head on out. Get to GZ make the find and oh look someone already had found it. I totally understand that you may no be able to log it ASAP but it happened on a string of caches I went to look for a few months ago and every single one of them was found literally 13 hours before I had gotten there. REALLY?!?! Granted it was still fun to go and find them but the excitement of an FTF was totally gone. So my advice try to log them ASAP. Especially for the newer cachers who havent gotten FTF's yet

~ And then aside from all that I will have to agree with most about the GPS. It does get frustrating when it bounces all over the place. One minute it says 6ft the next it says 26 ft guess it all depends on the unit and area that you are in.

 

All in all I love caching! Its a new hobby that I am glad I found and can't wait to get more experienced!! :laughing:

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When I first started I had an eXplorist 200. No mapping. No hints. I was working a temporary job outside of Boston. The most frustrating part was getting to the cache area just by following the pointy thing! The streets around there make no sense! Especially having to exit on the right to make a left turn!! What's up with that? And generally they don't tell you until you're right on top of it. A Nuvi with the GSAK macro would have made things SOOOO much easier.

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For me it was my iPhone's lousy GPS. I'm not sure when it stopped working way before I discovered geocaching, but it could only locate me to the nearest cell tower and than would not pinpoint my location any further. So my location was anywhere from 10 ft to 1/4 mile from accurate. I basically had to rely on satellite images to find GZs so I could only do urban hides. Eventually I bought a garmin etrex and don't have that problem.

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We're not new anymore, but we have gotten some friends into caching. The problems they have encountered besides how to use the GPS is learning the difference between the cache types. Looking for a cache at the parking coordinates of a multi or at the fake coordinates for a mystery for instance. Often it seems that the D/T rating and the size of the cache goes unnoticed by a new cacher, so when at GZ (or trying to get there) they have no idea what they are looking for.

 

So for a complete newbie I think emphasis should be on cache type, waypoints, D/T, size, how to follow the arrow and GPS accuracy. Logging, trading and trackables would also be good subjects.

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We are fresh to the game, with 23 finds. So it's fresh in my mind what is frustrating!

 

-Learning how to use a GPS. I started with a Magellan that was just insane to try to use. I would walk down the street here in Ontario, Canada, and the little arrow would move down the street in Las Vegas. Needless to say that one made its only and only trip - back to the store! Now I have a Garmin Dakota 10 and i'm not turning back.

 

-Thinking too literally.

 

-Bushwhacking, hopping streams, getting really really really really muddy to get to a location only to find the cache on a nice little paved path. I agree it makes it a lot of fun but it gets frustrating when you didnt even know there would be a path there!

 

-We bypassed the 'my partner finds it before me' part by making it a competition. Currently it's 14-9 for me, but i have a feeling that will change this weekend!

 

-Looking in the perfect spot that a cache could be and not seeing it, so spending 25 minutes looking, and in a last ditch attempt going back to that first perfect spot, and there it is!

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Just started a few weeks ago, so still have frustration and haven't even bought a handheld GPS yet. Using my Nuvi 250, stops giving me distance at about 50 ft. Which is fine if there's a field with a tree in it. But not so much in the woods.

 

Website seems a little confusing in it's arrangement. I can find info, but not always where I would expect it.

 

Can't figure out how to do certain things on the website.

 

Degraded, dirty swag

 

Unmaintained caches. (some people should stick to just a few and maintain them well)

 

caches in very public places. It takes me forever to find one and I've gotten some weird looks and comments.

 

Getting several DNF's in one day...

 

being overwhelmed with all the information. Who KNEW geocaching could be so complicated? But then, it is fun to learn and continuously be challenged.

 

Being just clueless what kind of GPS to buy. Being frustrated that the good ones are so darn expensive and have to order them online without really knowing much about them. Hard or impossible to find the newer ones in stores to try out.

 

spending a lot of time looking for a cache, and seeing later that several DNF's and cache is probably missing.

 

Being worried my TB's will go missing and worrying about which caches might be safer to put TB's in.

 

Nanos in general. Maybe I'll like them better later on. Maybe not.

 

Still having lots of fun, though!

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The most frustrating thing was driving over 100 miles just to get the only 2 caches that existed.

Once we found them, we would go home and wait for someone to hide one more.....

 

:(:D Tell me about, I drove about 70 miles round trip for my first 2. And being gullible and following the parking instructions, if I'd checked I could have saved about a 2 mile hike and parked a lot closer to the caches.

Live & Learn :D:cool:

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Nano and micros in dense tree cover woods were and are my biggest annoyance.

 

The GPS learning curve was annoying too. I never used one not even in my car. I started with my phone and it was evident that wasn't going to work for me in the long run as a main unit (for paperless it's great). Then came hours and days of comparing and contrasting units and then getting this little alien unit with like 5 buttons... Once that got cleared up the game was on.

 

And my last annoyance is lowballing on the terrain rating since I bring my mom out. It's hard to pick out caches for her knowing so many lowball that terrain rating.

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Just as true today as when I could count my finds with my shoes on: Bad co-ordinates. It's one thing when even a pricey GPSr bounces around. Quite another when several different units indicate the given GZ is 40-50 feet from the actual cache location.

 

Also, the amount of time and experience required to develop what you call geo-sense. Every time I think I've got the hang of it, somebody places one nearby that proves again that I don't have it yet.

 

Descriptions that say "typical (name of locality) hide". We like to travel and cache along the way. We're not familiar with local customs and don't want to offend, but we're not that culturally intuitive. In Arizona, typical might mean somewhere under a rock near a rattlesnake den. In North Carolina, it might be 20 feet the other side of the thorniest bushes you'll ever encounter. In Michigan it might be a bison tube hanging from an electric fence.

 

It's hard to say whether I've learned more from doing or from your entertaining YouTube videos. Keep them coming. They're the reason we had North Carolina near the top of our "must do" list last month during our Fall Meander. Got us a couple of HHH caches we did.

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We have only 6 finds and are perplexed by a few things. How do you conquer the apprehension of someone asking you what you are doing? Muggles are to be avoided, but wouldn't that be a good way to introduce people to geocaching? Trying to find a GPS unit that will fit our needs. Puzzles. Some make no sense to me.

 

edited to add.

Edited by debandrobin
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What frustrates me the most is not finding the cache! That was the case as a newbie, and it still is the case. I try to enjoy the journey and not let it get to me, but I don't like failing.

 

I particularly dislike NIH hides; especially micros in ivy covered trees with dense tree cover.

 

A couple of things that I recall initially frustrated me as a newbie (what aren't issues now).

 

1. Caches with a hint like "in the usual place". I remember the first time I saw one of those. I now know that (around here at least) the most "usual place" is in a tree.

 

2. Simple multi-cache coordinates: You know, the type of N 51 AB.CDE, where you get values of A-E from counting letters on a sign or something. The problem is I have a math background, so I looked at "AB" as "A times B".

 

3. I was initially too much a slave to the arrow; rather than looking at a map and the overall direction of a trail.

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I would have to say that folks who were not understanding or kind to noobs was what really frustrated me when we first started caching. Folks who were 'too good' to really talk to us. I've found that over time this seems to change, and especially where we live now, experienced cachers seem to be really nice to the new folks.

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The thing that frustrated me at first was getting that Funny Feeling when looking in bushes and flower gardens. :unsure: Walking and searching on any public property gives me that same funny feeling too. The feeling of “is someone watching me?” Maybe that’s the key to the GEO Cache obsession. I know how to mask what I am doing better now. Experience gives us confidence I think. ;)

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Looking at the gps every 10 seconds to make sure I was in the right spot, never realizing that caches are usually up to 25 feet away from that spot.

 

When I first started I would continuously stare at the numbers while walking, not taking in any scenery or observing my surrounding. That's probably why I fell so many times :anicute:

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Trackables not being in the caches. When I first started, I didn't really realize that just because they were listed as being in the cache didn't mean they were actually still there. My hubby and I were very excited about the chance to go pick up a really cute travel bug from the first cache we attempted and were horribly disappointed when it wasn't there. It is still pretty disappointing, but at least I know to expect it now.

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My very biggest frustration is one I just encountered today and I'm still pretty mad. I went to find a regular sized cache with the intent of dropping off a fairly large travel bug. When I got there and found the cache it was a bloody key holder. I'm just glad my partner (12 year old grandson) wasn't along this time, that would have turned him off the whole thing for two or three weeks, maybe more. He hates being lied to as much as I do but he's more vindictive about it. I would have emailed the CO (politely asking if they had selected the wrong cache size in error and explaining the problems it caused me in hopes they would feel bad enough to fix it) but they have an unvalidated email address. Probably to stop emails from angry people complaining about their misrepresented cache.

 

We have only 6 finds and are perplexed by a few things. How do you conquer the apprehension of someone asking you what you are doing? Muggles are to be avoided, but wouldn't that be a good way to introduce people to geocaching?

 

This is a great lead in to my second biggest frustration. The whole "Stealth required" attitude. Do you want to look as suspicious as you possible can? Just try to not look suspicious, that'll get everyone's attention in the shortest possible amount of time. And you are right, it's a GREAT way to introduce people to geocaching.

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Still a noob (60 finds so far) but some of the things that I've found frustrating, in no particular order:

 

-Getting over the self-consciousness of poking around somewhere and thinking that someone must be watching , probably calling the cops...

 

-Too many micros and nanos. They're the prodominant size around here and if I had taken the advice of the experienced cachers on the forums ("stick with small or regular for your first few") I probably would never have gotten off the ground :) Regular size caches are more fun, wish they made up a higher percentage of the local population.

 

-Not knowing about LPC's. DNF'd a couple when I was first starting. Had no idea. Fencepost caps seemed like a no brainer, I caught onto them pretty quick, but I figured that those skirts had to be bolted down some kind of way :rolleyes: I was actually kind of excited when I found my first one.

 

-One thing I found REALLY frustrating early on was reading all the "Easy P&G", "Too Easy", etc. logs on caches that I couldn't find. Easy for you, maybe.... :P

 

-"Hints" that say "No Hint Needed". No, seriously, I do need the hint... :(

 

-Going back to a cache that you previously spent 30 minutes hunting for and spotting it practically before you get out of the car. Face palm :smile:

 

-Not enough decent public access lands around here. Probably why the proliferation of park & grab caches around here...all the woods are private land, posted, hunting clubs or otherwise unaccessible. Forget hiking trails and public access wilderness areas, all the pretty places are off-limits :mad:

Edited by Chief301
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Micro/nano caches hidden somewhere around rock covered ground with a bunch of bushes/foilage. About a thousand places to look and it's almost more a matter of luck whether you turn over the right rock or not. Maybe it'd be easier if I had a metal detector or maybe a big magnet I could wave over the ground to at least find the metal ones. :tired:

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Trying to figure out the gps and when I thought I did still having it wrong. Having to enter all information by hand. Took over a hour some days to load. Finding out that tree cover plays games with gps and cloudy days sometimes made things tough. At times thinking I've got to be near this one now just where is it. Looking in places that say there is it to come up empty. Then looking in a spot already looked to find it. Having started with such a basic gps that I wonder how I found the number of caches that I did.

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Some might say I'm still new, but I've been caching off and on for 6 years. Only about 200+ finds, though.

 

I'm frustrated by:

 

Ivy (and other plant) hides. Ivy's the worst.

 

Caches that have been apparently abandoned by their owner (judging from the lack of response to emails asking for help).

 

Along similar lines: caches that need maintenance and never get it in spite of numerous mentions in logs (abandoned?)

 

CO's who think they shouldn't give hints at all, ever. I admit there are certain caches for which this might be an appropriate attitude, but they are fewer than many CO's seem to think.

 

Lack of time to go caching (how do some of you spend all that time caching? I have a day job, folks!)

 

Lack of efficiency in finding. My best day out resulted in 5 finds, 1 DNF. How do people find 25, 50 or more in a day?

 

As others have said: lack of parking/trailhead info. There are a number of caches on a trail close to work that would require

me to drive 2 miles to an accessible trailhead and hike the 2 miles to the cache and back. Can't do that on a lunch hour!

(I need to get a bike, I guess!)

 

I don't mind cleverly hidden urban caches, as long as there is a useful hint or the CO is willing to provide help.

 

Those are what occur to me at the moment. Oh, one more: my often annoying blindness when it comes to finding a cache that is right in front of me.

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My first 100 or so 'finds' were found using a car gps set to 'pedestrian' mode.

Sure didnt work very well in the woods. But it did teach me to search.

 

I can still remember the joy of finding the first lamp post hide or magnetic key box,

that was pretty cool. Nowadays when I find one and the first thought is 'Lame' I try

to remember back to when I first started out and the joy of finding those things. I

can only hope it is the same to new cachers.

 

What frustrated me the most was some of the more experienced cachers who had to put

there 2 cents worth on cache listing pages. Most of it of course was after they logged

a smiley, yup we all know a few of those peeps.

 

This hobby is different for each and everyone of us, but we do share some of the same things.

Get outside and play.

 

Have fun, be safe and happy hunting

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My wife wandering 100 feet away from ground zero because she doesn't believe the GPS unit. We made several attempts at one cache, which I eventually found, and it was very near GZ from both my iphone and her GC (maybe within 5 feet). But she would wander across the street and down the parking lot. She still does if its not immediately visible. She has a slight aversion to sticking her head into foliage to make a find.

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The most frustrating thing to me is still frustrating me after 160 finds. I know that isn't a lot but the only way to solve it is probably buy a new GPS. Anyway the most frustrating thing to me is using my Garmin eTrex Venture HC and bending over with it in a pocket and hearing beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep and then to find the cache and realize that I just found 20 others without knowing it aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

<_<

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Oh, just thought of another one...micro caches hidden on or around big machinery! Railroad cars (not in service of course, talking about static museum pieces). So dadgum many places to look! And in my work experience I'm actually fairly familiar with the layout and construction of railcars...you'd think that would give me a little advantage but it doesn't.... :rolleyes:

 

Also a couple of rural life type museums where they have a yard or shed full of old tractors, plows, harvesters, etc. "You are looking for a magnetic key box". Arrrrrrrgh! :P

Edited by Chief301
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Oh, and thank you, Groundspeak Forums, for automatically editing my choice of language. I do not ordinarily use the word "dadgum". In fact, I believe that when I hide my first cache I will name it "My First Dadgum Cache" in honor of this moment. :D

Edited by Chief301
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My most frustrating thing early on was when I would post on the forums,

There was someone who would often write in and discount everything I said because

 

I ONLY had 300 caches, then again when

 

I ONLY had 500 caches, and again when

 

I ONLY had 600 caches.

 

So how many caches does it take to know anything?

 

Or does anyone ever know anything?

 

I have no idea what that was about but I found it very frustrating.

 

I haven't gotten that lately, I'm sure I'll get it after this post though.

 

This is the other really annoying thing. Give me a break people, so what I have only X many finds, does that mean im an inbred ignoramus that cant count to ten without my fingers? This is by far the most frustrating thing for a "n00b" in the forums. Besides the stereotypical saying.... "if you dont like a rule, (which is actually just a guideline) play a different game.

 

Thanks for "politely" telling me you dont want me here, you are not interested in how I play YOUR game, and you couldnt care less to help a n00b out.

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I remember walking around a huge lamp post, around and around, scratching my head - I just don't get it! That was a DNF until later, some muggle saw me at another site and told me "those things lift up". Ding!!! I high tailed it back to that lamp post to find that cache!!

 

The ones that kill me now are in blackberry bushes! Ouch.

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The thing that was most frustrating at first was not knowing what the cache containers looked like. After doing some searches on the internet, seeing some of the container topics and pictures in the forums, I got better. What frustrates me now and will again in the future, is giving an honest effort and not finding the cache. The next person to look after I did finds it right away. That really frustrates me.

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My most frustrating thing early on was when I would post on the forums,

There was someone who would often write in and discount everything I said because

 

I ONLY had 300 caches, then again when

 

I ONLY had 500 caches, and again when

 

I ONLY had 600 caches.

 

So how many caches does it take to know anything?

 

Or does anyone ever know anything?

 

I have no idea what that was about but I found it very frustrating.

 

I haven't gotten that lately, I'm sure I'll get it after this post though.

 

This is the other really annoying thing. Give me a break people, so what I have only X many finds, does that mean im an inbred ignoramus that cant count to ten without my fingers? This is by far the most frustrating thing for a "n00b" in the forums. Besides the stereotypical saying.... "if you dont like a rule, (which is actually just a guideline) play a different game.

 

Thanks for "politely" telling me you dont want me here, you are not interested in how I play YOUR game, and you couldnt care less to help a n00b out.

If you have a question, just send me a email if you don't want to post in these forums. I will try to be helpful, too many are just hateful. Heck, from your comment about "inbred ignoramus that cant count to ten without my fingers", we may be kin.

 

BTW: I am a PM, but I still hate PMO caches in public Parks and bad coordinates.

Edited by Manville Possum Hunters
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