Who are the best Geocache HIDERS?

[+redwoodkestrel]

From the caches I've found, I'd have to say trailpuppy. I wish I'd had the chance to meet him - everything about his style is amazing, from his wicked puzzles to his incredible hides. I have really learned what it means to truly search for a cache because of some of his caches. Completing Nemesis is a rite of passage - not sure I'll ever do it. Or check out Dazed & Confused for an elegant puzzle.

 

We're lucky that there are folks who still maintain his caches, but so unfortunate that there will never be any new trailpuppy hides.

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

The Raven is the best hider of caches I have come across. The Raven's Labyrinth is easily the best cache I have done. I wish I lived closer to his caches.

[+GeoLobo]

ah, the "best"...

 

One person's idea of a great cache hide may not always be another person's idea of a great cache hide.

 

This falls along the same lines as who is the best geocacher. Some claim those with the most finds (50,000 +) are the top cachers, while others feel those with 1000+ finds and a statistical difficulty/terrian average of 3.0 or greater are more of a top cacher.

 

The beauty of geocaching, is you can play it any way you like and interpret the other players anyway you like.

Edited October 24, 2012 by GeoLobo

[+BAMBOOZLE]

We often see lists of people with numerous finds and all sorts of achievements for finding caches. I was curious who has the best creative finds? The hider should have a good amount of caches hidden, all with a considerable amount of favorites. Any suggestions?

 

We've cached around the U.S. quite a bit and a cacher called woodnut living in the Montgomery Alabama would win this hands down.....not even close.

[+jellis]

Though I love looking at the favorite points and reading the logs, some are not truthful. Like when I found an obvious buried cache and so many newbies posted praise on it as well as favorite points.

The cache owner disappeared and the cache eventually turned into a big hole in the ground.

I have a few caches, not saying they compare to those WA COs, but I get lots of praise but they don't place favorites on them. I don't ask them too either.

Edited October 25, 2012 by jellis

[+ottieolsen]

A few names from around the country instantly come to mind: WVTim, Goblindust, CacheMedics, The Raven, Dayspring and Doctor Dolittle

[+sholomar]

I like variety... as long as the CO uses containers that keep the contents dry and maintains their caches (more often than not this is not the case) I dont care if Im doing a power trail of easy to find ones, going to a unique location, etc.

 

I dislike having the coordinates purposely off... if its not in a 20 foot radius of GZ I usually move on. I will not search 30-50 feet or more away... trying to find a treasure with a faulty map.

Edited September 3, 2014 by sholomar

[+jellis]

goblindust has some really cool caches.

I love their caches and have nothing against them. But it's the location also. With so many out of area cachers visiting, of course many WA caches gets favorite points. If Raven or Tattletales put caches up in WA they would get a lot more favorite points then they do right now. But that doesn't make them any less great hiders just because their hides are placed in areas not as well visited. Questions like this sometimes just can't be answered.

[+Packanack]

In NJ among the best hiders are Harry Dolphin and Andy Bear in the puzzle category.They appear to have been mentored by some of the best of the NYC puzzle hiders.

[Mr.Yuck]

A few names from around the country instantly come to mind: WVTim, Goblindust, CacheMedics, The Raven, Dayspring and Doctor Dolittle

 

A lot of people will be able to find WV Tim caches near Geowoodstock next year. It's in Western Maryland, of course, but very close to his theatre of operations. I'm pretty sure he even has some over the border in Maryland too. Don't quote me on that.

[+LewisClan77]

I'll go with Tattletales. Lots of favorites points and one is on Groundspeaks list of the 7 most amazing caches in the world.

[+WarNinjas]

We have the best caches of course! But if not us I have to hand it to Tattletales! There's are always awesome and Jellis caches are always great as well! As for ours I am just kidding as Tattletales blows us out of the water with his crazy cool hides.

It was brought to our attention that we are in the top 30 of favorite points in California though in our few years of hiding caches. After about a year of caching we had a major house problem I have been working on in my spare time. I am getting close to getting it fixed and then we will be making more creative hides for sure! Love this game!

[+jwmoe1973]

I like variety... as long as the CO uses containers that keep the contents dry and maintains their caches (more often than not this is not the case) I dont care if Im doing a power trail of easy to find ones, going to a unique location, etc.

 

I dislike having the coordinates purposely off... if its not in a 20 foot radius of GZ I usually move on. I will not search 30-50 feet or more away... trying to find a treasure with a faulty map.

 

We've got one of those. Cache is not at posted coords. Go about 40 yards west and then start looking south. Same folks took a lot of prime cache real estate and quit the game over two years ago...

[+jwmoe1973]

West Michigan has SkipHerr. I've yet to find any of his hides. I used to work near his turf and don't any more. Wish I did. His hides are deviously hidden. I can't tell you more..., I haven't found them ;-) SkipHerr is somewhat of a SW MiGo legend. I hope to someday meet him.

 

Another more local favorite of mine is Team Eggeman. They have some rather clever multi/puzzle caches that are great for our Scouts to build problem solving and teamwork skills.

[+Harry Dolphin]

In NJ among the best hiders are Harry Dolphin and Andy Bear in the puzzle category.They appear to have been mentored by some of the best of the NYC puzzle hiders.

 

Why, thank you!!! You can blame my brother...

 

Sorry that we have not been able to do much hiking recently, so we have not found that other dolphin in the river. I do want to pose for a picture swimming in the river...

 

But, yes. I do have a list of Cache Owners who never let me down! Good caches, nice locations, good maintenance.

BrianSnat, treequest, TriforceTino & JSpeedy, Lati.dude, slukster, childofatom, addisonbr, magicman/sewjourner...

Any and all of their caches are great! This is for North Jersey/NYC.

[+nikcap]

In NJ among the best hiders are Harry Dolphin and Andy Bear in the puzzle category.They appear to have been mentored by some of the best of the NYC puzzle hiders.

 

Why, thank you!!! You can blame my brother...

 

Sorry that we have not been able to do much hiking recently, so we have not found that other dolphin in the river. I do want to pose for a picture swimming in the river...

 

But, yes. I do have a list of Cache Owners who never let me down! Good caches, nice locations, good maintenance.

BrianSnat, treequest, TriforceTino & JSpeedy, Lati.dude, slukster, childofatom, addisonbr, magicman/sewjourner...

Any and all of their caches are great! This is for North Jersey/NYC.

 

All good choices if you searching for a cache hider in Northern Jersey.

 

As you move further south down the state, there are a few others that a worth a nod of acknowledgement. This are the caches who's caches we often go out of the way to find.

ericles always puts a lot of time into hiding and placing his cache. Is excellent at maintenance (although his caches never need them), and always placed the largest sized cache that a location can support. He's pretty good with camo, and his cache pages are always well done, enjoyable and informative.

ArdentEnthusiast racks up the fav points from the locals. He's puts lot of time into his cache creations.

althechemyst hides crafty caches too. If were passing through the area and see one of his caches we;ll stop just to see what little trick he left for us.

stretchwell usually finds a good spot and places a nice container. I also enjoy his sense of humor.

BikeBill places caches near where I working in Buck County PA. His "wasted" more of my lunch hours. Always a nice mix of good container, history and humor.

mudwhore is another prolific cache hider that usually does something a little different or crafty.

4wheelin_fool I like his style. His puzzle are fun, and his hides are usually creative and well done. Again, he has a good mix of cache styles and placements. I once scared the beejesus out of myself looking for one of his caches and then spent the next 5 minutes cracking up double over.

[+Oxford Stone]

https://www.facebook.com/#!/GeocachingGoodies?fref=ts JJEF has about 100 caches out near Windsor, all home-made clever and witty field puzzles. (On the FB page don't be put off by the ladybird, scroll down to some of his wooden gizmos). He's found a way of embedding magnets in layers of wood so you suddenly have... a magnetic wooden box. When he brands numbers on the box and attaches a padlock, the fun begins. Not unique I know but the doorbell in box 1 to locate box 2, was hilarious. Too many pulleys and springs to mention.

[+Lieblweb]

 

I mean someone with like 100+ hides and over 20 favorites on almost all their hides. Not boring hides like LPC's...

 

Are they all maintained?

 

Anyone with that many hides can't possibly maintain them all.

 

I love creative hides also - but there's nothing more discouraging than a creative hide that's dirty, full logs, water infiltrated, etc.

 

Just sayin'.....

Edited September 11, 2014 by Lieblweb

[+ottieolsen]

A few nationally known names that come to mind: WVTim, Goblindust, CacheMedics, Dayspring, woodnutt and Doctor Dolittle

[+ottieolsen]

 

I mean someone with like 100+ hides and over 20 favorites on almost all their hides. Not boring hides like LPC's...

 

Are they all maintained?

 

Anyone with that many hides can't possibly maintain them all.

 

I love creative hides also - but there's nothing more discouraging than a creative hide that's dirty, full logs, water infiltrated, etc.

 

Just sayin'.....

 

Why can't they all be maintained? We have over a 140 hides with around half having double-digit favorites. All are very well maintained!

[+AustinMN]

Anyone with that many hides can't possibly maintain them all.

 

I only have two hides, I am not retired, and still find this statement absurd.

 

Austin

[knowschad]

4wheelin_fool I like his style. His puzzle are fun, and his hides are usually creative and well done. Again, he has a good mix of cache styles and placements. I once scared the beejesus out of myself looking for one of his caches and then spent the next 5 minutes cracking up double over.

 

That name rings a bell...

[+Spenny!]

IN colorado we're lucky enough to have the crypto. Cryotosporidum-623

[+K13]

4wheelin_fool I like his style. His puzzle are fun, and his hides are usually creative and well done. Again, he has a good mix of cache styles and placements. I once scared the beejesus out of myself looking for one of his caches and then spent the next 5 minutes cracking up double over.

 

That name rings a bell...

 

I see what you did there, dog. Yuck, yuck, yuck,

[+jellis]

Don't forget Tattletales in the bay area who will be moving to Clovis

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=315674

 

http://centralvirginiageocaching.com/2013/10/10/sometimes-geocaching-makes-you-go-nuts-gc41d4c-geocache-of-the-week/

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?u=Tattletales

[+WarNinjas]

 

Anyone with that many hides can't possibly maintain them all.

 

 

We can. I work around 60 hours a week or so and we have out about 170 hides. After 4 years we just started to archive a few. Only a few and only one because maintenance was becoming a problem. The other ones I found better hides in the area so I archived a couple to make the new spot. If I knew one needed maintenance I would hit it this weekend.

[+Blue_Ranger]

In WNY the legendary -=GEO=- he moved out of the area some time ago but his caches still live on as they are excellent. Cayuga Crew hides some excellent caches around here as does the grumpy old fart GOF! (GOF I wish you did not archive Razor's Edge that was a great cache location!) How about some new caches grumpy old fart! haha

 

Inkman does a good job too!

 

I'm from WNY and not familiar with any of those names, at least not as CO's! Cayuga Crew seems to be FTF on a good 50% of the caches I look at though. There's a group near Letchworth State Park that do some really awesome caches, the specific names I can remember are paleoman52, snowman257, and KillerB. You see one of those names, you know it's not going to be easy, but it IS going to be good.

[+ottieolsen]

I'm going to nominate : http://www.geocachin...506dcf04bb&ds=2

 

He/she is amazing. Only 25 hides but look at the ribbons! Amazing hides.

 

All are disabled or archived. What happened?

 

What do you mean? Most were simply disabled for maintenance a week or so ago. Just a sign of a conscientious cache owner. Possibly in a hunting area, possibly simply doing maintenance.

 

Look at the ribbons? Their highest is only 12 favorites

[+wmpastor]

I'm going to nominate : http://www.geocachin...506dcf04bb&ds=2

 

He/she is amazing. Only 25 hides but look at the ribbons! Amazing hides.

 

All are disabled or archived. What happened?

 

What do you mean? Most were simply disabled for maintenance a week or so ago. Just a sign of a conscientious cache owner. Possibly in a hunting area, possibly simply doing maintenance.

 

Look at the ribbons? Their highest is only 12 favorites

 

198 found, 26 placed, dropped off the scene a couple of years ago after a 5.5 year run.

 

12 faves max, a few with 6-8, and the rest generally had 3 or 4.

 

Going by the numbers, we can say this cacher placed good hides - no ho-hum mundane hides. The consistency is good. But apparently none were truly great. So without a doubt this cacher made a positive contribution to the local scene, but to say he/she was one of the best in the country is going too far.

[+cerberus1]

I'm going to nominate : http://www.geocachin...506dcf04bb&ds=2

 

He/she is amazing. Only 25 hides but look at the ribbons! Amazing hides.

 

All are disabled or archived. What happened?

 

What do you mean? Most were simply disabled for maintenance a week or so ago. Just a sign of a conscientious cache owner. Possibly in a hunting area, possibly simply doing maintenance.

Look at the ribbons? Their highest is only 12 favorites

You do realize that favorites didn't come out until Dec 2010 right?

Favorites weren't even out a year from that initial post

Probably half the favorites we gave were for very popular (now archived) hides, as they were our favorites.

- Most were archived years before favorites came out, and ours is the only one listed.

 

I haven't considered favorites in some time.

I think it was around the end of '11 and saw my first pmo lpc with over a dozen favorites.

- standard hide with a pill bottle.

The closest hide for the "10+ favorites" souvi for the road trip is a "fill the pipe with water and watch the film can pop up" cache.

Nothing special, old hat really, but has 25 favorites.

[+L0ne.R]

In NJ among the best hiders are Harry Dolphin and Andy Bear in the puzzle category.They appear to have been mentored by some of the best of the NYC puzzle hiders.

 

Why, thank you!!! You can blame my brother...

 

Sorry that we have not been able to do much hiking recently, so we have not found that other dolphin in the river. I do want to pose for a picture swimming in the river...

 

But, yes. I do have a list of Cache Owners who never let me down! Good caches, nice locations, good maintenance.

BrianSnat, treequest, TriforceTino & JSpeedy, Lati.dude, slukster, childofatom, addisonbr, magicman/sewjourner...

Any and all of their caches are great! This is for North Jersey/NYC.

 

All good choices if you searching for a cache hider in Northern Jersey.

 

As you move further south down the state, there are a few others that a worth a nod of acknowledgement. This are the caches who's caches we often go out of the way to find.

ericles always puts a lot of time into hiding and placing his cache. Is excellent at maintenance (although his caches never need them), and always placed the largest sized cache that a location can support. He's pretty good with camo, and his cache pages are always well done, enjoyable and informative.

ArdentEnthusiast racks up the fav points from the locals. He's puts lot of time into his cache creations.

althechemyst hides crafty caches too. If were passing through the area and see one of his caches we;ll stop just to see what little trick he left for us.

stretchwell usually finds a good spot and places a nice container. I also enjoy his sense of humor.

BikeBill places caches near where I working in Buck County PA. His "wasted" more of my lunch hours. Always a nice mix of good container, history and humor.

mudwhore is another prolific cache hider that usually does something a little different or crafty.

4wheelin_fool I like his style. His puzzle are fun, and his hides are usually creative and well done. Again, he has a good mix of cache styles and placements. I once scared the beejesus out of myself looking for one of his caches and then spent the next 5 minutes cracking up double over.

 

I wish there was some software/app/add-on/site that could find these types of good cache hiders in the city/town/county we visit. Sometimes I luck out and find a couple of great caches by a cache hider then try a search for more of their hides. When I'm out in the field it's not possible with the GC app. Maybe the app could have a feature that will show a cache owner's other caches.

[+t.v.wildfire]

Great question, but that would be a very difficult list to assemble. First, "favorites" are a very new feature. Some of the most creative hiders that I have known stopped hiding long before that feature was initiated. Also, "best" is a very subjective term. Does "best" mean the most effective "in your face" urban hide, or does "best" mean the most stunning hike to the summit of a gorgeous mountain with an ammo can as the final? There are undoubtedly some that would consider those that hid the E.T. Trail and the sequel series to be "best hiders".

 

With all that said, I am the best geocache hider ever. Ask my mom.

 

What's your Mom's number?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I'm going to nominate : http://www.geocachin...506dcf04bb&ds=2

 

He/she is amazing. Only 25 hides but look at the ribbons! Amazing hides.

 

All are disabled or archived. What happened?

 

What do you mean? Most were simply disabled for maintenance a week or so ago. Just a sign of a conscientious cache owner. Possibly in a hunting area, possibly simply doing maintenance.

 

Look at the ribbons? Their highest is only 12 favorites

 

The raw number for favorites isn't always a good measure of cache quality. In order to accumulate a high number of favorite points a cache has to be found a lot. Caches located in areas where there aren't a lot of other geocachers aren't going to get as many favorite points as cache located in areas with a large number of geocachers.

[+ottieolsen]

I'm going to nominate : http://www.geocachin...506dcf04bb&ds=2

 

He/she is amazing. Only 25 hides but look at the ribbons! Amazing hides.

 

All are disabled or archived. What happened?

 

What do you mean? Most were simply disabled for maintenance a week or so ago. Just a sign of a conscientious cache owner. Possibly in a hunting area, possibly simply doing maintenance.

 

Look at the ribbons? Their highest is only 12 favorites

 

The raw number for favorites isn't always a good measure of cache quality. In order to accumulate a high number of favorite points a cache has to be found a lot. Caches located in areas where there aren't a lot of other geocachers aren't going to get as many favorite points as cache located in areas with a large number of geocachers.

 

I'm well aware of this. Percentage and the Wilson score are much better. My comment was simply a response to "look at all the blue ribbons"

[knowschad]

4wheelin_fool I like his style. His puzzle are fun, and his hides are usually creative and well done. Again, he has a good mix of cache styles and placements. I once scared the beejesus out of myself looking for one of his caches and then spent the next 5 minutes cracking up double over.

 

That name rings a bell...

 

I see what you did there, dog. Yuck, yuck, yuck,

 

Same to ya, puritan!

[+SwineFlew]

4wheelin_fool I like his style. His puzzle are fun, and his hides are usually creative and well done. Again, he has a good mix of cache styles and placements. I once scared the beejesus out of myself looking for one of his caches and then spent the next 5 minutes cracking up double over.

 

That name rings a bell...

 

I see what you did there, dog. Yuck, yuck, yuck,

 

Same to ya, puritan!

Gotta keep this thread pure!

[+hzoi]

I'd definitely second die Helden in Germany and Woodnutt in Alabama.

 

In El Paso, C3Geo has some great, creative hides, including some fun metal sculptures.

[+SwineFlew]

 

In El Paso, C3Geo has some great, creative hides, including some fun metal sculptures.

He doesnt get many fav. I blame it on the location of where he lives. I had cache in El Paso and I never felt comfortable there. All the houses got bars over the windows and things like that. I am sure crime is higher there due to being a boarder city of Mexico.

 

Plus, its out of the way city as well. Far way from many major cities.

 

High fav caches is due to where most cachers are able to be there or live there.

 

In other words, I feel its very unfair for someone that is putting out really awesome caches and not getting enough credit for it because of the location he/she is living in.

[+KatnissRue]

All of Ottieolsen's hides are excellent.

 

Profile: Link

[+SwineFlew]

All of Ottieolsen's hides are excellent.

 

Profile: Link

Not really... being so close to GC30 is kinda cheating the system. Dont get me wrong... I am sure they are excellent caches, but hes placing them very close to an infamous throwdown and thats kinda lame.

 

Try how WVtim does it... he turns his area into a hot spot for geocachers. All on his own without help of some oldie. That stand out in my book.

Edited July 21, 2015 by SwineFlew

[+NYPaddleCacher]

All of Ottieolsen's hides are excellent.

 

Profile: Link

Not really... being so close to GC30 is kinda cheating the system. Dont get me wrong... I am sure they are excellent caches, but hes placing them very close to an infamous throwdown and thats kinda lame.

 

Try how WVtim does it... he turns his area into a hot spot for geocachers. All on his own without help of some oldie. That stand out in my book.

 

Feeling a bit cranky today swiney? From what I could see only 1 of their 145 hides was close to Mingo, and from the listings it looks like that try to put a little creativity into most of their hides. Maybe they're not up to WVtim standards but it's not their fault that they live in central Kansas.

[+KatnissRue]

All of Ottieolsen's hides are excellent.

 

Profile: Link

Not really... being so close to GC30 is kinda cheating the system. Dont get me wrong... I am sure they are excellent caches, but hes placing them very close to an infamous throwdown and thats kinda lame.

 

Try how WVtim does it... he turns his area into a hot spot for geocachers. All on his own without help of some oldie. That stand out in my book.

I fail to see the connection. He has more than the hides near Mingo, you know. Some in Hutchinson and some near the Colorado border. One of his was a homemade wooden tractor with a lock on it. You had to figure out the combination from clues on the tractor itself. Then there's one that's a miniature doghouse. A puzzle you have to follow a treasure map to. And many more.

[+ottieolsen]

All of Ottieolsen's hides are excellent.

 

Profile: Link

Not really... being so close to GC30 is kinda cheating the system. Dont get me wrong... I am sure they are excellent caches, but hes placing them very close to an infamous throwdown and thats kinda lame.

 

Try how WVtim does it... he turns his area into a hot spot for geocachers. All on his own without help of some oldie. That stand out in my book.

 

WVTim also has the benefit of being near the East coast with a much much higher population then Western Kansas

Edited July 21, 2015 by ottieolsen

[+ottieolsen]

All of Ottieolsen's hides are excellent.

 

Profile: Link

Not really... being so close to GC30 is kinda cheating the system. Dont get me wrong... I am sure they are excellent caches, but hes placing them very close to an infamous throwdown and thats kinda lame.

 

Try how WVtim does it... he turns his area into a hot spot for geocachers. All on his own without help of some oldie. That stand out in my book.

 

Trust me, we are well aware of the fact that Mingo has helped us get finds. However, no matter what we would hide, we will never be out of Mingo's shadow. But you could at least find a few of our caches before forming an opinion on their quality (or lack of). I think you might be impressed with their quality and the time/cost it took to build some of them. Especially (GC5DTQA,GC5XV4F and GC5AH78) Besides, We reside in Western Kansas so its not like we went out of our way just to hide them by Mingo.

Edited July 21, 2015 by ottieolsen

[+Animaljk]

I have found several of Ottieolsen caches. They are very creative and not just around Mingo. He puts a lot of thought into each one. I have not been many places outside central and western Kansas caches, however, his hides are leading the way here. He has to be my favorite cache hider.

Edited July 21, 2015 by Animaljk

[+Animaljk]

All of Ottieolsen's hides are excellent.

 

Profile: Link

Not really... being so close to GC30 is kinda cheating the system. Dont get me wrong... I am sure they are excellent caches, but hes placing them very close to an infamous throwdown and thats kinda lame.

 

Try how WVtim does it... he turns his area into a hot spot for geocachers. All on his own without help of some oldie. That stand out in my book.

 

WVTim also has the benefit of being near the East coast with a much much higher population then Western Kansas

[+NYPaddleCacher]

All of Ottieolsen's hides are excellent.

 

Profile: Link

Not really... being so close to GC30 is kinda cheating the system. Dont get me wrong... I am sure they are excellent caches, but hes placing them very close to an infamous throwdown and thats kinda lame.

 

Try how WVtim does it... he turns his area into a hot spot for geocachers. All on his own without help of some oldie. That stand out in my book.

 

WVTim also has the benefit of being near the East coast with a much much higher population then Western Kansas

 

Yet, according to project-gc Kansas has twice as many geocaches as West Virginia.

[+hzoi]

 

In El Paso, C3Geo has some great, creative hides, including some fun metal sculptures.

He doesnt get many fav. I blame it on the location of where he lives. I had cache in El Paso and I never felt comfortable there. All the houses got bars over the windows and things like that. I am sure crime is higher there due to being a boarder city of Mexico.

 

While C3Geo is good, I was crediting him/her/them with some hides that are actually collaborations between Ganggreen1 and Rockdawg350. Those have been out longer, so more faves.

 

I feel relatively safe in El Paso. We were worried about how it would be living so close to Juarez, but it's really not bad at all. Heck, I feel safer than I did in our house that was 3 blocks from the Alabama governor's mansion. (Unlike in our Montgomery neighborhood, which got a little shooty on weekend nights, I think the only gunshots I've heard in El Paso were when I was caching near shooting ranges.)

[+PlantAKiss]

<quote>the cache itself being nothing more than a piece of carp</quote>

 

I'm really surprised that got past the Reviewer. Or maybe a piece of rotting fish meat is the best camo ever.

[+K13]

Some of my most enjoyable caches were placed by drives, the cacher who owns Drives Cache Closet. Awesome cache page write-ups on his Famous People Series (not a trail, this series is themed and scattered over Northeast Texas).