How many caches should you own?

June 22, 2011

I've been thinking about this for a while... How many caches can you make and have published before you can't manage them anymore. I've seen people online with over 100 and I always think about how they manage all of those caches! How many do you guys think is the limit???

3.1k · June 22, 2011

KingBoreas in MN has thousands. He maintains them as best he can with a routine schedule of maintenance and the kindness of cachers. As long as a cache owner can maintain a cache, it works. If it gets "sick", the "Needs Maintenance" or "Should be Archived" functions work great. (depending on circumstance, of course)

22k · June 22, 2011

490

9.1k · June 22, 2011

1

June 22, 2011

KingBoreas in MN has thousands. He maintains them as best he can with a routine schedule of maintenance and the kindness of cachers. As long as a cache owner can maintain a cache, it works. If it gets "sick", the "Needs Maintenance" or "Should be Archived" functions work great. (depending on circumstance, of course)

Yeah, but if you don't want to go around every day to manage your caches... And what about placement? Where can you place them if a lot of the spots near your home are taken? How far is too far?

7k · June 22, 2011

42

June 22, 2011

I think time is an important factor in this subject. If someone has a lot of time on their hands, they could probably maintain 100s of caches, if they don't have a lot of time, they may end up having more caches disabled for longer periods of time.

June 22, 2011

I think time is an important factor in this subject. If someone has a lot of time on their hands, they could probably maintain 100s of caches, if they don't have a lot of time, they may end up having more caches disabled for longer periods of time.

Let's say you have saturdays and sundays to check and some small periods of time on some weekdays.....

*I like being SPECIFIC*

June 22, 2011

I've been thinking about this for a while... How many caches can you make and have published before you can't manage them anymore. I've seen people online with over 100 and I always think about how they manage all of those caches! How many do you guys think is the limit???

There is a guy in our area who couldn't manage them when he had 20, and he still kept publishing new ones... I think he finally gave up after 44. At this point all you see is bunch of DNF or Needs Maintenace logs until someone askes for them to be archived. We've also seen folks that couldn't take care of the 3 (one just got archived for that very reason). At the same time we did come across a CO who has 303 caches to-date and seems to be taking care of them just fine.

If they (caches)are in decent shape, sturdy waterproof containers with lots of log-in space, well hidden from muggles and are not in questionable areas, you should be able to handle a lot of them without much toil. It's the poorly hidden bad quality and visible ones that'll have you running around all the time like a chicken with your head cut off. Also keep in mind all the emails you get each time someone finds your cache. Once you get tons of those in your in-box, it's hard to recognize "needs Maintenance" one.

Try and see what comes out. But please do not abandon them even if you feel "swamped" - there are usually many cacheres out there willing to "adopt" a few caches form you if you do not seem to be able to take care of them anymore. Worse comes to worse - archive them yourself, instead of just taking up a good spot for a more active CO. Good Luck!

Edited June 22, 2011 by CluelessnLuV

19k · June 22, 2011

KingBoreas in MN has thousands. He maintains them as best he can with a routine schedule of maintenance and the kindness of cachers. As long as a cache owner can maintain a cache, it works. If it gets "sick", the "Needs Maintenance" or "Should be Archived" functions work great. (depending on circumstance, of course)

Yeah, but if you don't want to go around every day to manage your caches... And what about placement? Where can you place them if a lot of the spots near your home are taken? How far is too far?

That depends upon too many factors to warrant an answer. If you don't have a driver's license, can't ride a bike, and don't have public transportation, the probably not very many and not too far. On the other hand, if you are retired and independently wealthy, that number might be very much higher.

(King Boreas does not have thousands of active hides, by the way, although I would say he has "a bunch". While they range all over Minnesota (and probably a few other states), by far the majority are well within his range of maintenance. )

3.1k · June 22, 2011

KingBoreas in MN has thousands. He maintains them as best he can with a routine schedule of maintenance and the kindness of cachers. As long as a cache owner can maintain a cache, it works. If it gets "sick", the "Needs Maintenance" or "Should be Archived" functions work great. (depending on circumstance, of course)

Yeah, but if you don't want to go around every day to manage your caches... And what about placement? Where can you place them if a lot of the spots near your home are taken? How far is too far?

Well, the crux of your question appears to be "should" own. There is nothing more than some guidelines and assumed best practices when it comes to cache ownership.

What is "responsible"? What is "manageable"? What is "right"?

Those answers all depend on who you ask.

The guidelines ask that you consider how you will take care of your caches. If you think you can, you can! But if you end up not taking care, then you can't. And someone will post a "Needs Maintenance" or "Needs Archived" log.

KB doesn't go around every day. He goes when he can to each of his caches. Some die in the fields before he can reach them. So be it, right?

Speaking to the "how far is too far?": How far do you want to travel to replace a logbook? Fix a baggie hole? Empty someone's excrement from your cache? It happens all the time. YOU get to be the judge of how far is too far.

For example, I have caches 1400 miles away. But I have an agreement with some kind friends back "home" in Oregon to take care of them. I have a cache 2 miles away from home. And I don't get to it every day to check logbook or placement. Most reviewers will ask if you can take care of it if they think there is an issue of a cache being too far from home.

6.7k · June 22, 2011

I think time is an important factor in this subject. If someone has a lot of time on their hands, they could probably maintain 100s of caches, if they don't have a lot of time, they may end up having more caches disabled for longer periods of time.

Let's say you have saturdays and sundays to check and some small periods of time on some weekdays.....

*I like being SPECIFIC*

You're asking for a specific answer to a subjective question. Some people can't even maintain 1 cache. Others have no problem with hundreds.

June 22, 2011

I think time is an important factor in this subject. If someone has a lot of time on their hands, they could probably maintain 100s of caches, if they don't have a lot of time, they may end up having more caches disabled for longer periods of time.

Let's say you have saturdays and sundays to check and some small periods of time on some weekdays.....

If you wanted to hide a lot of caches with that window of time I would suggest hiding them closer to your house so it doesn't take as long to get to them just incase they need help quick (for example somebody pees in your cache, which happened to me).

1.7k · June 22, 2011

I could write a whole two paragraph's about this subject. Long story short though... As many as you can maintain seems to be the perfect answer.

7.9k · June 22, 2011

'A cacher' should own no more than they feel comfortable maintaining properly.

There is no rule that says you need to place any.

I understand your desire to 'give back', and indeed in some areas you would be chided for not placing many.

A few really good caches are WAY BETTER than a bunch of below-par caches.

June 22, 2011

It definitely depends on the CO and of course maintenance is a major consideration. I personally like the 1% rule of thumb (1 cache for each 100 found), but I don't begrudge anyone who likes a different ratio.

6.1k · June 22, 2011

Many caches should never need maintenance. If they are hidden in a watertight container somewhere unlikely to be stumbled upon, in a defined place where a cacher can easily rehide it, and with a large logbook, and incurs no negative karma from the great frog sprit, it should be ok. Also the hider must be wise enough to realize when to disable it if there is a problem. There is no percieved set limit that could be applied.. A quick archival followed by an eventual visit after any issues surface, is what I suspect many mega hiders do.

Edited June 22, 2011 by 4wheelin_fool

5.7k · June 22, 2011

I've been thinking about this for a while... How many caches can you make and have published before you can't manage them anymore. I've seen people online with over 100 and I always think about how they manage all of those caches! How many do you guys think is the limit???

How many should you be allowed to find? :anitongue:

6k · June 22, 2011

42

Also the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything

June 22, 2011

a good water tight container,that is well placed,will need very little maintance for years, usually.

19k · June 22, 2011

Hey, Ambient Skater... This is yet another repeating question that really needs to be added to the schedule.

5k · June 22, 2011

122

June 22, 2011

i will have so many as i have good ideas for

38.2k · June 22, 2011

The limit would be whatever a person can maintain. For some people that is 1. For others it could be 1,000

June 22, 2011

42

Also the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything

Ya know, I've heard that before. But it really is just the answer for 12 x 3.5.

7k · June 22, 2011

42

Also the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything

Ya know, I've heard that before. But it really is just the answer for 12 x 3.5.

No, it's the square root of 1764.

June 22, 2011

42

That was gonna be my answer; glad I read before writing it!

2.1k · June 22, 2011

AS many caches as one can maintain.

Personally we are aiming for between 2 and 5 percent of our finds. With no more then 5% active. Right now we are at that as I've recently adopted 6 caches, but they are at the stage of their lives where they need checking on once a year (in the spring after the melt).

June 22, 2011

The limit would be whatever a person can maintain. For some people that is 1. For others it could be 1,000

Absolutely. Although, I'd have to say that for some people that number is 0. I have encountered a couple caches that are the ONLY cache owned by a CO, and they've had some problem or another that has been documented (sometimes for years) and the CO hasn't addressed them.

There's one local cacher near me that owns easily several hundred caches. I'm annoyed that a large proportion of them are the powertrail/minitrail sort spaced every 0.1mi along the road taking up space that could be used for more creative hides. But I give the cacher props for taking care of every single one of them. If there's a problem, it's disabled quickly until the cacher can check on it. Some are fixed and some are archived. All with a pretty quick turnaround. Even though I don't like that type of hide, I really appreciate that the CO maintains them well.

June 22, 2011

AS many caches as one can maintain.

Personally we are aiming for between 2 and 5 percent of our finds. With no more then 5% active. Right now we are at that as I've recently adopted 6 caches, but they are at the stage of their lives where they need checking on once a year (in the spring after the melt).

That's probably fair.

A cache owner who places caches in good hiding spots with good containers can probably handle more caches since there's less maintenance to do. Put out crappy hides that need work all the time and you won't be able to keep up with the needs of even a few.

1.2k · June 22, 2011

I currently have around 30 active caches. Most of those have never needed maintenance. I've had to replace one twice, and another two once. I have upgraded camo on one of my first ones and that one has also needed a new oring. For the most part I have chosen good quality containers in good areas. This has led to almost no issues. I will do a maintenance run a couple times a year and visit each cache once a year, but since no one has issues my job is easy.

2.8k · June 22, 2011

I think a cacher should never own more than N caches.

N is the number of good cache containers they have, good cache ideas they have, or the amount of caches they can reasonably maintain - whichever of those three numbers is LOWEST.

A non-variable number would be impossible to give. A family, a single adult with a fulltime job, and a retired couple can all maintain different amounts of caches. Some cachers simply have more ideas for hides than others. Some cachers can afford (money and/or time) to acquire/make more good cache containers than others.

June 22, 2011

42

Agreed,

No question about it... :laughing:

6.7k · June 22, 2011

42

Agreed,

No question about it...

Yup. Maintaining 42 geocaches only requires one towel.

1.7k · June 22, 2011

42

Wrong! you can fit a lot of caches on 42 roads.

How many roads must a man walk down?

42, to maintain his caches.

Makes sense but doesn't answer the OP.

My answer is "As many as it takes."

How many roads must a woman walk down?

None, she'll get a man to do it for her.

June 22, 2011

42

Wrong! you can fit a lot of caches on 42 roads.

How many roads must a man walk down?

42, to maintain his caches.

Makes sense but doesn't answer the OP.

My answer is "As many as it takes."

How many roads must a woman walk down?

None, she'll get a man to do it for her.

42 meaning the answer to all of life's questions... :blink:

June 22, 2011

42

Wrong! you can fit a lot of caches on 42 roads.

How many roads must a man walk down?

42, to maintain his caches.

Makes sense but doesn't answer the OP.

My answer is "As many as it takes."

How many roads must a woman walk down?

None, she'll get a man to do it for her.

42 meaning the answer to all of life's questions...

... The questions of life, the universe and everything...

June 22, 2011

42

Wrong! you can fit a lot of caches on 42 roads.

How many roads must a man walk down?

42, to maintain his caches.

Makes sense but doesn't answer the OP.

My answer is "As many as it takes."

How many roads must a woman walk down?

None, she'll get a man to do it for her.

42 meaning the answer to all of life's questions...

... The questions of life, the universe and everything...

Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy.

June 22, 2011

My honest answer is that I don't think you should have a cache if you can't be bothered to read it's logs... however many it takes to get you there...

June 22, 2011

My honest answer is that I don't think you should have a cache if you can't be bothered to read it's logs... however many it takes to get you there...

You're the first one to say that... I guess you have a point...

1.7k · June 23, 2011

My honest answer is that I don't think you should have a cache if you can't be bothered to read it's logs... however many it takes to get you there...

Exactly!

As many as it takes.

To hide them all, to read them all, and to maintain them all.

7.7k · June 23, 2011

42

No. The answer is "a suffusion of yellow".

June 23, 2011

To hide them all, to read them all, and to maintain them all.

One cache to hide them all, one cache to read them, one cache to maintain them all, and in the geopile find them!

June 23, 2011

How many caches should you have? The same rule as they have in Saudi Arabia for 'how many wives should you have' : IE, as many as you can take care of properly .

June 23, 2011

How many caches should you have? The same rule as they have in Saudi Arabia for 'how many wives should you have' : IE, as many as you can take care of properly .

I got the idea.. Thanks for the help I got from everyone!!! :anitongue:

July 6, 2011

It definitely depends on the CO and of course maintenance is a major consideration. I personally like the 1% rule of thumb (1 cache for each 100 found), but I don't begrudge anyone who likes a different ratio.

Fully support this approach although I peronally see that limit at 1,5% (2900 founds/41 active hides)

The important factor is that you build up your own caches over time and not deploy a lot of those at the same time.

You might see an increased maintenance during the first several weeks (maybe you picked an imappropriate location) and when the first logbook is full.

My experience is that maintenance decreases significantly after the first year as the found count drops at that time.

18.9k · July 6, 2011

When I was stuck at home early this year with a leg infection for a few months - the answer was zero. Thank god for some very kind hearted folks out there.

Now that I am fully mobile again, I can care for all 160+ of mine and am planning a few new ones.

How many caches should you own?

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