1.5 million caches, 5 million cachers and counting!

[+Simply Paul]

As noted on Geocaching.com's front page, we're expected to hit 1.5 million active caches this weekend, with 5 million cachers (or at least accounts). It poses the questions- how many caches is too many, and is the average hide-rate really 0.3 caches (or less, if we include archived caches) per caching account? I assume the number of active cachers (and this depends on how we define active) is much smaller than 5m - or more, as the average team is more than one person?

 

We passed the 1 million cache mark last year I think, after 10 years of caching. To pass 1.5m just a year later suggests the game is still growing rapidly. With dodgy iPhone co-ords and ever more micros, some might say it's not growing for the best... Discuss

Edited August 26, 2011 by Simply Paul

[+Pharisee]

We passed the 1 million cache mark last year I think, after 10 years of caching. To pass 1.5m just a year later suggests the game is still growing rapidly. With dodgy iPhone co-ords and ever more micros, some might say it's not growing for the best... Discuss

 

We have done, Paul.... numerous times. The consensus has always been the same.... "If you don't like it, don't play it."

[+germanybert]

Ditto.... "Best" is a relative term. Who's opinion of best are we supposed to use, yours or mine? There is still a lot of Earth left.

Edited August 26, 2011 by GermanyBert

[+Hawkins2.5]

Growing = more caches = more choice

 

Yes there will be more bad but also more good caches too and that is very subjective. In fact, the person who introduced me to caching has quite a different caching style to ours. Guess we've just gotta get good at sniffing out the type we like best. I'm a newbie myself (only caching since March) and am glad that knowledge of the hobby has grown as otherwise I may never have discovered it.

[+Malpas Wanderer]

Feed to extreme one end and you will get a lot of (censored) out the other.

 

With almost 100k caches in the UK I can make suitable selection. It takes effort but enjoyable times via good caches are still to be had and the crass takes the pressure off those good caches.

 

Just enjoyed 6 days away and not a duff cache amongst them.

 

Its worrying to see a profusion of caches retracted before they are published though. What is that all about?

 

I don't think we will ever see the quality in every cache we desire, so adapt, and accept.

[Deceangi]

Its worrying to see a profusion of caches retracted before they are published though. What is that all about?

 

 

I've just looked at my Log numbers, in over 5 years as a Reviewer, with over 40,00 Published (actual Reviewed cache Number is a lot higher) I've Retracted just 35 in fact I've Retracted just one up to now this year.

 

I can't comment on my Colleagues figures, but would hope that they have a % rate similar or smaller than I have. Reviewers are Human, and we make mistakes. Just like every other Member of this community, So occasionally we have to retract a cache, to rectify a mistake we have made.

 

In the last 5 years not only has the workload increased by several thousand % (I personally see the sort of cache submission numbers per day, that I saw in a average week 5 years ago, now multiply that by the number of UK Reviewers to give you a idea of how big the workload has got). Also the actual workload per cache submission has increased by several thousand times. The Angst level has increase by possibly a hundred thousand times what it was five years ago. The number of caches needing to be reviewed 2 or 3 times before publication has hugely increased.

 

So it would be no surprise to me if the level of mistakes, has increased slightly. But personally I'd estimate that the number of Mistakes compared as a % of Published caches has possibly gone down. Due to the huge amount of consultation with each other the UK & Ireland Reviewers do each day.

 

The learning curve when I became a Reviewer was steep, the learning curve for those who have come on as Reviewers in the last 3 years has been steeper and getting steeper every month. Add in the huge daily workload they take on, is the equivalent of a weeks workload when I came on-board. So I think that to cope so well from the get-go, each one has coped amazingly well, and the UK and Ireland Geocaching communities, have been extremely lucky to get such dedicated individuals to say yes when conned into becoming asked to become a Reviewer.

 

Deci

[+Graculus]

Out of 17300 caches published in three years, I've retracted only 17. So it's not a big number at all. Looking at the logs on the last one I just hit the publish button by accident! The cache had permission problems so that's why it was retracted.

 

It is an expanding curve of new caches appearing. Back in August 2008 when I started, Deceangi went off to the Gathering in the Glens event leaving me, on my own to 'run the whole country'. I seem to recall I dealt with some 200 caches in the three day bank holiday weekend. Now I do that many in two weeks just in the Southern region!

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

Geocaching.com Knowledge Books

[+sTeamTraen]

To me the most amazing statistic is the 6.5 million new logs in the last 30 days. That's 2.5 per second on average, 24/7. Probably 8 or 10 per second on a Sunday evening.

 

Someone on Garmin's "Open"Caching.com forum commented the other day about how fast that site feels. I guess that when you've only had to accept 3,800 new logs since the site was launched 9 months ago - that's about one every 90 minutes - it's not too hard to provide fast performance.

[+Malpas Wanderer]

 

Its worrying to see a profusion of caches retracted before they are published though. What is that all about?

 

 

My comment was not meant to be critical of the reviewers and apologies if it seemed that way. Indeed I am greatly appreciative of the effort you put in for my/our benefit in enjoying the pastime.

 

In agreement with the reviewers comments until recently retractions have seemed very occasional.

 

Having notifications in force for a large part of the UK I have seen three or more retractions in the last two weeks, which is what prompted the question.

 

Since the OP was asking is the growth in geocaching for the best or in other words are standards declining.

 

In that respect my thoughts that prompted the comment was are submissions declining in such a manner that no trace of that submission can remain.

[+dfx]

I wonder where they get the "over 5 million geocachers" number from. The user account with ID 5,000,000 doesn't exist yet.

[+Amberel]

I wonder where they get the "over 5 million geocachers" number from. The user account with ID 5,000,000 doesn't exist yet.

There are, of course, several other geocache listing sites. However, I guess it would be true to say that the great majority of those who use the other sites also have a Groundspeak account, so the total would not be that much higher.

 

But we can't equate the number of Groundspeak accounts with the number of geocachers. Many of those accounts will belong to people who have stopped caching, many will be where people have signed up to look but never taken it up, and there will be some sock puppets. I've even got two accounts myself - I didn't give much thought to my original user name, but when I realised this was going to be a long term interest I wanted something better, and in those days you couldn't change names so I had to create a second one.

 

On the other hand, some accounts cover more than one active geocacher. My wife enjoys caching, but mostly as a holiday activity rather than every week, and she doesn't have a separate account.

 

Taking both factors into account I'd hazard a guess that the number of active cachers is about half the number of Groundspeak accounts.

 

Rgds, Andy

[+drsolly]

As noted on Geocaching.com's front page, we're expected to hit 1.5 million active caches this weekend, with 5 million cachers (or at least accounts). It poses the questions- how many caches is too many, and is the average hide-rate really 0.3 caches (or less, if we include archived caches) per caching account? I assume the number of active cachers (and this depends on how we define active) is much smaller than 5m - or more, as the average team is more than one person?

 

We passed the 1 million cache mark last year I think, after 10 years of caching. To pass 1.5m just a year later suggests the game is still growing rapidly. With dodgy iPhone co-ords and ever more micros, some might say it's not growing for the best... Discuss

 

Dodgy iphone coords ... I don't see any major reason why the gps on a smartphone would be much different from one in a dedicated GPS unit. The only difference I can imagine, would be that with possibly an inferior antenna, it might be working with fewer staellites, but then the yellow Etrex is also inferior (to the SIRFS chipset GPSes) at seeing satellites. And my little GPS unit, is tiny, and so the antenna in that must also be tiny. So I don't see smartphones as a big issue. As long as the apps work well, and the users know how to use them.

 

Micros - I'm not anti-micros. For me, the fun is in navigating to the cache location, overcoming obstacles in my way, falling over, getting stuck, dealing with cows, and then, finally, finding the container. For me, a 35mm is just as much fun as a huge ammo box (except I can't leave a torch in a 35mm, and I can't leave a hard drive in a small tupperware container, but that's just tough on other finders, not me).

 

Of course, for kids, and some other people, a 35mm is no fun. So I'm just speaking for myself here.

 

A benefit of more people joining the game, is more caches for me to go find. More circuits, more night caches, more puzzles. And it's a plus if people who don't really get interested but just find a few and then decide it's not for them, don't hide caches. Because an utter newbie is less likely to do a good hide.

 

Also, it means that more often, I meet people out on the trail, which is always fun, especially if you can sneak up behind them and say loudly "I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"

[+Simply Paul]

The site's now showing 1,502,716 active caches. At this rate of growth, the land surface of the Earth will be covered (1 per 0.1 miles) with caches by 2024.

[+drsolly]

The site's now showing 1,502,716 active caches. At this rate of growth, the land surface of the Earth will be covered (1 per 0.1 miles) with caches by 2024.

 

Not a problem. You can have an indefinite number of Challenges at the same spot, for example, Amersham Station.

[+Malpas Wanderer]

 

Its worrying to see a profusion of caches retracted before they are published though. What is that all about?

 

 

Not too long for another one to appear.

 

For GC33FYC: KZ's 200th celebration series no1 (Not Published) (Traditional Cache)

Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom

14.8mi NE (23.9km NE)

dalesmanX retracted KZ's 200th celebration series no1 (Not Published) (Traditional Cache) at 9/11/2011

 

Log Date: 9/11/2011

Listing retracted. Email to Owner

 

 

Still wondering why.

[+Simply Paul]

Still wondering why.

Because the wrong button got pressed, I imagine?

[+BaseOverApex]

I've never seen a dodgy iPhone cache (I have only 225 finds at the moment), but I have a cache hidden in France which got a DNF log on it because the cacher had no bars on his iPhone!

 

Where can I see some stats about the number of TBs and coins in circulation?

[+GAZ]

I wonder where they get the "over 5 million geocachers" number from. The user account with ID 5,000,000 doesn't exist yet.

 

It does now!!! korhoen10 is the username

[+GAZ]

I wonder where they get the "over 5 million geocachers" number from. The user account with ID 5,000,000 doesn't exist yet.

 

It does now!!! korhoen10 is the username

 

Had another deek and it's over 5,026,000 now!

[+NattyBooshka]

I wonder where they get the "over 5 million geocachers" number from. The user account with ID 5,000,000 doesn't exist yet.

 

It does now!!! korhoen10 is the username

 

Had another deek and it's over 5,026,000 now!

How many are active though? Woolworths had millions of customers but nobody shopped there! I'd guess that less than half are active.

[+Bobbinz]

How many are active though? Woolworths had millions of customers but nobody shopped there! I'd guess that less than half are active.

 

I had a quick play earlier and there is no user 1, and if you look at the pages from 1 to 10 most of the cacher, I would not call active. Form 10 I tried adding zeros and most of them aren't active either! I would guess that less than half were actually out finding caches or a regular basis. Be interesting to find out though you then get into the problem of defining 'active' though!

[+NattyBooshka]

How many are active though? Woolworths had millions of customers but nobody shopped there! I'd guess that less than half are active.

 

I had a quick play earlier and there is no user 1, and if you look at the pages from 1 to 10 most of the cacher, I would not call active. Form 10 I tried adding zeros and most of them aren't active either! I would guess that less than half were actually out finding caches or a regular basis. Be interesting to find out though you then get into the problem of defining 'active' though!

I'm a case in point... Even if you defined active as "found a cache in the last3 years" my account shows that I'm not, but I'm out about twice a week on average. The number if currently active players is impossible to work out, so the claim of 5 million players is ridiculous. They mean accounts... My mate is in a team of 5 that appear as 1 for GS purposes.