What does PAF stand for?

[+MadCatLady]

Hi all,

 

I am fairly new to this geocaching malarky, and wondered if someone could shed a light on PAF for me!

 

I was recently viewing some logs on a cache that is causing me some super annoyance! I noticed a lot of people were writing "In the end I used PAF", or words to that effect.

 

I can't work out what it stands for, so hopig someone can help me!!

 

Ta!

[+Team GPSaxophone]

[+briansnat]

Phone a friend. It means the person called a previous finder for help with finding the cache.

[Pup Patrol]

It stands for "Phone a Friend". Comes from the old "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" television show, I suppose.

 

Good list of commonly used abbreviations found here:

 

http://geolex.locusprime.net/

[+Team GPSaxophone]

It stands for "Phone a Friend". Comes from the old "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" television show, I suppose.

 

Good list of commonly used abbreviations found here:

 

http://geolex.locusprime.net/

Hence the picture I posted.

[GOF and Bacall]

I don't know how they came up with those initials but I am pretty sure that it stands for "Help! I can't find this cache by myself".

[Pup Patrol]

It stands for "Phone a Friend". Comes from the old "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" television show, I suppose.

 

Good list of commonly used abbreviations found here:

 

http://geolex.locusprime.net/

Hence the picture I posted.

 

And you posted it while my reply was being posted. So I didn't see yours until after my reply had gone through.

[Pup Patrol]

I don't know how they came up with those initials but I am pretty sure that it stands for "Help! I can't find this cache by myself".

 

Ayup.

 

[LordShamrock]

My list isn't too populated yet with lots of finds. Since I've only been at this for a short while. I do wonder though does this actually come in handy?

 

What if the person found the cache back in 2004 or something and have since found 1,000 more caches?

I guess it's possible they'd rememeber. I know I would forget by that time.

[GOF and Bacall]

My list isn't too populated yet with lots of finds. Since I've only been at this for a short while. I do wonder though does this actually come in handy?

 

What if the person found the cache back in 2004 or something and have since found 1,000 more caches?

I guess it's possible they'd rememeber. I know I would forget by that time.

 

Usually a cache that is tough enough that you need a PAF is one that will stand out in someones memory.

[Pup Patrol]

My list isn't too populated yet with lots of finds. Since I've only been at this for a short while. I do wonder though does this actually come in handy?

 

What if the person found the cache back in 2004 or something and have since found 1,000 more caches?

I guess it's possible they'd rememeber. I know I would forget by that time.

 

The times I've seen it logged is because the hunters are calling someone they know to have found the cache recently.

[+StarBrand]

I don't know how they came up with those initials but I am pretty sure that it stands for "Help! I can't find this cache by myself".

In my experience, it means something more like "I looked for 2 minutes and I want to find 40 more today so just tell me where it is". YMMV

[GOF and Bacall]

I don't know how they came up with those initials but I am pretty sure that it stands for "Help! I can't find this cache by myself".

In my experience, it means something more like "I looked for 2 minutes and I want to find 40 more today so just tell me where it is". YMMV

 

Well, I didn't say what I thought of the practice. Did it once myself. Left a bad taste. Much more fun to actually find it. But that's me.

[+DadOf6Furrballs]

I think... we've only attempted a PAF once. After 45 minutes of inspecting every crack, inside every hole, scouring the top, the bottom, the sides, everywhere on that darn rock outcrop I went to try to call the cache owner in desperation. Fail... no cell service deep in the Black Hills of SD. Perseverance pays off though, we eventually found it, right where we looked a half dozen times over the previous hour. Must have been the change in lighting. Or something.

[+rav_bunneh]

And here I was thinking PAF stood for Park And Find. >.<!

[+StarBrand]

I think... we've only attempted a PAF once. After 45 minutes of inspecting every crack, inside every hole, scouring the top, the bottom, the sides, everywhere on that darn rock outcrop I went to try to call the cache owner in desperation. Fail... no cell service deep in the Black Hills of SD. Perseverance pays off though, we eventually found it, right where we looked a half dozen times over the previous hour. Must have been the change in lighting. Or something.

I think I've done that one!!

[+Dgwphotos]

I've used it a few times, but generally only when I've had repeated trouble with a cache. It helps to have lots of friends and know their phone numbers!

[+Don_J]

I don't know how they came up with those initials but I am pretty sure that it stands for "Help! I can't find this cache by myself".

In my experience, it means something more like "I looked for 2 minutes and I want to find 40 more today so just tell me where it is". YMMV

 

Well, I didn't say what I thought of the practice. Did it once myself. Left a bad taste. Much more fun to actually find it. But that's me.

 

Done it twice myself. I and a friend were working on a puzzle cache that showed that had photos of the view in four directions. We found the spot where the photos were taken and searched for about 45 minutes. We finally called the last finder and simply asked what we were looking for and on what side of the trail it was on. It still took another 10 minutes to find it.

 

The other time, the coords pointed into a dense stand of poison oak. We called the owner and she confirmed that she must have posted the wrong coords. It was in an ancient fence post about 30' away.

 

I usually get my hints at the monthly "Meet 'n Greet"

[+briansnat]

I don't know how they came up with those initials but I am pretty sure that it stands for "Help! I can't find this cache by myself".

In my experience, it means something more like "I looked for 2 minutes and I want to find 40 more today so just tell me where it is". YMMV

 

B.I.N.G.O. and Bingo is his name-oh.

[+Afterburned]

Only time I have used a paf it turned out to be missing! Bit of a relief, although a shame it had gone.

[RainbowKat]

I've used it a few times, but generally only when I've had repeated trouble with a cache. It helps to have lots of friends and know their phone numbers!

 

I was wondering what kind of crazy cache owners publish their phone numbers! LOL "dude it's 3am no I'm not going to tell you where the cache is goodnight!"

[+Afterburned]

I've used it a few times, but generally only when I've had repeated trouble with a cache. It helps to have lots of friends and know their phone numbers!

 

I was wondering what kind of crazy cache owners publish their phone numbers! LOL "dude it's 3am no I'm not going to tell you where the cache is goodnight!"

 

With a smartphone you can email from the website, not instant but sometimes gets a quick response (especially if CO is a reviewer!) EOF has not caught on as well as PAF though...

Most CO's don't publish their numbers, but after a while you meet, offer to assist or get such offers and numbers are swapped. Keep hold of the numbers, you never know when they will be needed!

 

One more thing, a text is often more polite than a phone call if you don't know them so well, especially at night.

[+Don_J]

I've used it a few times, but generally only when I've had repeated trouble with a cache. It helps to have lots of friends and know their phone numbers!

 

I was wondering what kind of crazy cache owners publish their phone numbers! LOL "dude it's 3am no I'm not going to tell you where the cache is goodnight!"

 

We don't publish our phone numbers. In most cases we have spent hundreds of miles on the trail together. We also see each other at the monthly "Meet 'n Greet". We have become friends and have exchanged phone numbers. While almost all of the long term cachers in this area have my cell #, almost none will call, except to clarify the next hike.

 

Although, I did miss a call from a friend last week, who was atop a local peak and needed a little help. He persevered and found the cache anyway.

[+Don_J]

 

One more thing, a text is often more polite than a phone call if you don't know them so well, especially at night.

 

I can not think of putting someone into my cell if I don't know them, and I could not conceive of calling, or even texting someone that I don't know. I am very confident that the friends that I have provided my number to have not passed it out to anyone. Just as I wouldn't do the same without explicit permission. This isn't Facebook.

[+DanOCan]

I've done the phone-a-friend thing a couple times. Once it helped. The other time my friend actually left work, came to the park and watched me and another cacher look for another 45 minutes, laughing at us the whole time.

 

Mental note: Get better friends...

[+DanOCan]

I was wondering what kind of crazy cache owners publish their phone numbers! LOL "dude it's 3am no I'm not going to tell you where the cache is goodnight!"

 

I've done it. Before I had the ability to check email on my phone I used to leave my cell number in the logbook of my cache hides so if there was a problem I could be contacted in a hurry if there was an issue. Now that email is likely to reach me just as fast I don't do it as much.

 

My cell number has been published numerous times on our local forums when setting up caching trips or hikes. It's published on my Facebook page so my friends can have easy access to it if they forgot to put it in their contacts.

 

Never had a problem with anyone abusing it.

[+Afterburned]

 

One more thing, a text is often more polite than a phone call if you don't know them so well, especially at night.

 

I can not think of putting someone into my cell if I don't know them, and I could not conceive of calling, or even texting someone that I don't know. I am very confident that the friends that I have provided my number to have not passed it out to anyone. Just as I wouldn't do the same without explicit permission. This isn't Facebook.

 

No kidding, but the operative words were SO WELL, no way would I share numbers or call someone without permission!

[+ngrrfan]

I've used PAF and TAF several times. In no instance did I want to know exactly where the hide was, I wanted a hint or guidance so I'd search in a more specific area.

 

And when people call me... I'll give hints only. I won't tell them to look under the only rock in middle of the parking lot.

[+kunarion]

What if the person found the cache back in 2004 or something and have since found 1,000 more caches?

I did PAF once, while hunting a list of caches in a county park with a friend. And you're right, the PAF person didn't quite remember, except that what he did remember had changed (the real plants at the spot had changed and the plastic "tree" on the container, part of the hint, had melted).

 

It's advisable to contact the Cache Owner (via email), although that means getting that cache at a later date. But prolific COs don't always remember the correct info, either.

 

I've tagged along with some "Power Cachers", who are connected. They look in a spot for a couple of minutes, then they're on the phone, signing the log, and on their way. Caches that would take me, say, a hundred million years, are breezed through, and I have to hop in my car quick, or I'm left in the dust. That's an interesting way to cache, but hectic. It also spoils the chance to noodle-out the location of a clever hide (actually think it over, hunt, try another idea again someday), which I enjoy, but many people don't.

Edited March 17, 2011 by kunarion

[+Dgwphotos]

I've used it a few times, but generally only when I've had repeated trouble with a cache. It helps to have lots of friends and know their phone numbers!

 

I was wondering what kind of crazy cache owners publish their phone numbers! LOL "dude it's 3am no I'm not going to tell you where the cache is goodnight!"

 

We don't publish our phone numbers. In most cases we have spent hundreds of miles on the trail together. We also see each other at the monthly "Meet 'n Greet". We have become friends and have exchanged phone numbers. While almost all of the long term cachers in this area have my cell #, almost none will call, except to clarify the next hike.

 

Although, I did miss a call from a friend last week, who was atop a local peak and needed a little help. He persevered and found the cache anyway.

 

They don't. Most of the numbers I have because I know the person on Facebook.

[+ScooterDawg]

Wow, I'm glad I read forums like this. My guess as to what PAF stood for was *way* off! I was thinking it meant Plea due to Abject Failure...

[+Brooklyn51]

Once upon a time, after reading it in a log by a previous cacher, we thought PAF meant Poke And Feel and that was how we found that particular cache, by poking around in the deep cracks of its hiding place, so then we were sure. Later, we came across another cache that had a PAF entry but no cracks and we had to come up with a new theory.