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How to deal with "premium member only" caches when doing a hide?


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Hello everyone-

 

I started geocaching about four years ago, did it for a couple of months, and then fell out. I have recently taken it up again, with my very excited three year old as my partner. I am using a free account, as I just can't justify the cost of the premium membership right now.

 

After a few days out in the woods, we talked about it and decided to hide our own cache. We collected the container, materials, etc, and put it all together. Then we went out to a favorite park and chose a location that met all of the guidelines. We hid the cache, and were both very excited.

 

I went home and filled out the online form for the hide. When the reviewer got back to me, he explained that I was violating the .1 mile guideline because several stages of a multi-cache were closer than that to my hide location. He suggested that I complete that cache to find the location of all of the points. When I went to look at that cache, I found that the owner had set it to be available only to premium members. This means that I, with my free account, can't even see the cache at all when looking on the mapping application or other searches on geocaching.com.

 

This is really personally frustrating to me, since I now have to:

a) go through the effort of retrieving and re-hiding the cache (though I already have another idea)

B ) explain to my son why we can't hide our "treasure" where we wanted to and we have to go move it

 

My question is this:

If I can't even see the locations of some caches because I am not paying for a membership, how am I supposed to know if a location is a safe spot to hide a cache before I go to the trouble of going out, hiding it, and marking the spot? I would really like to take my son out and re-hide this but I don't want to waste a day doing it and then have to explain to him that we have to move it AGAIN if there are more caches that I can't see in the area.

 

Am I missing something here?

 

Thanks.

Edited by Leatherstocking
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You will have to go select a spot and get its coords first, regardless of membership level. Otherwise, you won't know exactly how close any caches are, known or not.

 

But I've tried a couple of things that worked well. First, I found all the caches in the area where I may hide mine, and did some distance measurements. I mentioned the possible location to other cacher friends who've found plenty, and spoke to the park manager, who maintains his own list of every cache in the park. They advised me whether mine may conflict with other hides.

 

I've also filled out the basic framework of my cache page, and asked the reviewer if it seemed OK for cache separation. I don't bother him all the time, but for a small park, it can save some trouble. And you don't need to be a Premium Member to do any of these ideas.

 

Good luck!

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Hello everyone-

 

I started geocaching about four years ago, did it for a couple of months, and then fell out. I have recently taken it up again, with my very excited three year old as my partner. I am using a free account, as I just can't justify the cost of the premium membership right now.

 

After a few days out in the woods, we talked about it and decided to hide our own cache. We collected the container, materials, etc, and put it all together. Then we went out to a favorite park and chose a location that met all of the guidelines. We hid the cache, and were both very excited.

 

I went home and filled out the online form for the hide. When the reviewer got back to me, he explained that I was violating the .1 mile guideline because several stages of a multi-cache were closer than that to my hide location. He suggested that I complete that cache to find the location of all of the points. When I went to look at that cache, I found that the owner had set it to be available only to premium members. This means that I, with my free account, can't even see the cache at all when looking on the mapping application or other searches on geocaching.com.

 

This is really personally frustrating to me, since I now have to:

a) go through the effort of retrieving and re-hiding the cache (though I already have another idea)

B ) explain to my son why we can't hide our "treasure" where we wanted to and we have to go move it

 

My question is this:

If I can't even see the locations of some caches because I am not paying for a membership, how am I supposed to know if a location is a safe spot to hide a cache before I go to the trouble of going out, hiding it, and marking the spot? I would really like to take my son out and re-hide this but I don't want to waste a day doing it and then have to explain to him that we have to move it AGAIN if there are more caches that I can't see in the area.

 

Am I missing something here?

 

Thanks.

Check out the knowledge book article on checking for saturation. As for those pesky multi's and mysteries, about the only way is to do them. Of course if they are PM and your not that is a bit more of a problem. In this particular case your choice is to play battleships with the reviewer until you find a suitable location or email the multi owner and explain you want to hide a cache but one of his stages interfere and would he be so kind as to help you out so you can place yours.

Edited by jholly
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Heres a suggestion....if you have an idea for a spot you'd like to place a cache, first check it out on the map with your basic membership to see if there are any obvious conflicts. If the spot seems to be free, get a set of coordinates (at this point you could even use Google Earth, probably...) and e-mail your reviewer asking if that spot is free of PMO caches as well. Your coordinates don't have to be precise at this point, just checking to see if there's anything else around. You could also be working on your cache listing at this time without submitting it for approval yet. If the reviewer says the area's clear, THEN you make your trek to the boonies to get your actual on-site GPS readings for coordinates and to plant your container. This way you haven't already invested a lot of time and effort in planting a cache that you now have to go out and retrieve.

 

To find out who your local reviewer is go to the cache listing page of some of your local caches and scroll down to the original Publish note. You should be able to e-mail them through GC.com.

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I do see now that if I had done the lat / long search it would have shown me at least the existence of the premium only multi-cache, but it still lists that as being far enough away that I should have been ok. Unfortunately, without the co-operation of the owner of that cache, I have no way of finding the points of it. I have found all of the other caches in that area, (that I can see) and I figured that we'd be safe there since both my GPS (iPhone 4S with the Groundspeak app) and the main site showed no other caches in the area.

 

It is just frustrating to me that the fact that I am not willing to pay Groundspeak for a membership means that I am at a disadvantage when trying to contribute, that's all.

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I do see now that if I had done the lat / long search it would have shown me at least the existence of the premium only multi-cache, but it still lists that as being far enough away that I should have been ok. Unfortunately, without the co-operation of the owner of that cache, I have no way of finding the points of it. I have found all of the other caches in that area, (that I can see) and I figured that we'd be safe there since both my GPS (iPhone 4S with the Groundspeak app) and the main site showed no other caches in the area.

 

It is just frustrating to me that the fact that I am not willing to pay Groundspeak for a membership means that I am at a disadvantage when trying to contribute, that's all.

Premium or not you don't see the stages of a multi or the final of a mystery. You just have to do them. Did you ask the owner of the multi for help? Or you can play battleships with the reviewer. You don't have to actually have the cache in place until you check the cache is active box. Or if you do it without the cache being there make sure you add a reviewer note that this is for testing only.

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Let me start this off by saying that maybe I got off on the wrong foot here. I was excited to hide the cache, and I did what I *thought* were all of the right things based off of my reading through the Kb articles and the first time "How To Hide A Geocache" section off of the Hide / Seek a cache section of Geocaching.com. I figured I was all set, and so I was upset when the reviewer told me that it was a bad location, and that I'd just have to do the multi, which I can't.

 

I don't know if I am a rarity in this situation or not, but might I make the suggestion (I don't know if the Groundspeak staff reads this or not) that the fact that Premium Member caches don't appear either on the mapping tool on the main site OR on the mobile app be included more prominently in the material to help beginners out? I think this might save some aggravation. Like I said, I used both the Google-maps based page on Geocaching.com and the iPhone app to confirm that there weren't any other caches in the area. Yes, had I done a lat / long search on the coordinates it would have shown the first stage of the multi as being nearby, but nowhere in the sections for beginners does it mention you ought to do this. That information is only (as far as I can tell, I might be missing something here) on the one KB page that was linked above.

 

Premium or not you don't see the stages of a multi or the final of a mystery. You just have to do them.

 

I totally understand that, and I actually really like the multi-stage / puzzle ones. They add an extra element of fun to the whole thing.

 

Just in case you missed it:

Check out the knowledge book article on checking for saturation.

 

Nope, I saw it when it was posted. :)

 

Again, sorry if I got off on the wrong foot, and thanks all of you for helping me. I'll just move the cache elsewhere.

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No, you did not get off on the wrong foot. We all have run into just the exact problem you mentioned. Step 3 of the checking saturation applies to your situation

What can you do about those caches which you can't "see" online?

 

If after Steps 1 and 2 you are still concerned about encountering the hidden parts of other caches, contact a reviewer with your cache coordinates for a saturation check. This should be done before placing the cache container.

 

*Create a cache listing.

*Ensure the listing is "Disabled" (uncheck the box next to "Yes, the cache is currently active" on the "Report a new Cache" form.)

*Add a Reviewer Note explaining that the cache is not in place and you would like a saturation check.

*Email your local reviewer with the GC Code of the cache. To find your local reviewer, check for a recent Published log on a nearby cache. Follow the link of the reviewer's name to their profile, where you can email them through the site.

 

You already have the cache page, you just need to try a different place. Do email the cache owner and give him the information on where you want to hide and ask if he has a suggestion on where you can move your cache to be out of conflict. The other choice is to work with the reviewer to find a suitable. Although the reviewer has the coordinates of the stages they will not give them out. We all have this problem, your not unique.

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I don't know if I am a rarity in this situation or not, but might I make the suggestion (I don't know if the Groundspeak staff reads this or not) that the fact that Premium Member caches don't appear either on the mapping tool on the main site OR on the mobile app be included more prominently in the material to help beginners out?

 

They do appear on the maps actually - but you need to scroll out a bit to get them to a bigger scale - they're then orange dots. You can't get them precisely but you can get an idea about how many there are and their rough locations.

 

Of course, this doesn't solve the pesky multi issue. For that I reckon you're better off talking to a reviewer. I'm fortunate in that in general I don't have many of either around here, but I can imagine it must be a right pain, especially for the 3 year old.

 

Good luck and all.

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Premium member or not, you will run into this same situation with multi-caches and puzzle caches. If you haven't solved those, then you might run into the same saturation issues.

 

Check out the Knowledge Books articles:

 

4.7. Saturation Guideline: Hidden, Virtual and Additional Waypoints

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=232

 

4.8. Checking for Cache Saturation

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=199

 

Lots of Basic Members have hidden caches in areas where there are PMO Caches. Working with your Reviewer should be helpful in getting your cache placement published.

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We had a similar issue with our first hide. We were all excited, placed the container and then found out that we were too near to a mystery cache that had its published coordinates as being a few kilometres away.

 

Fortunately our reviewer told us which cache we were conflicting with. We solved the puzzle, found the cache and moved our cache an appropriate distance away.

 

If your reviewer could tell you the GC code of the caches you are having proximity issues with, you might be able to hook up with a PM in your area and find them together.

 

PS... We ended up moving our cache to a much nicer spot so it turned out to be for the best anyway :D

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I do see now that if I had done the lat / long search it would have shown me at least the existence of the premium only multi-cache, but it still lists that as being far enough away that I should have been ok. Unfortunately, without the co-operation of the owner of that cache, I have no way of finding the points of it. I have found all of the other caches in that area, (that I can see) and I figured that we'd be safe there since both my GPS (iPhone 4S with the Groundspeak app) and the main site showed no other caches in the area.

 

It is just frustrating to me that the fact that I am not willing to pay Groundspeak for a membership means that I am at a disadvantage when trying to contribute, that's all.

No one else has asked so I will... WHY are you unwilling to pay Groundspeak for a membership ?

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I do see now that if I had done the lat / long search it would have shown me at least the existence of the premium only multi-cache, but it still lists that as being far enough away that I should have been ok. Unfortunately, without the co-operation of the owner of that cache, I have no way of finding the points of it. I have found all of the other caches in that area, (that I can see) and I figured that we'd be safe there since both my GPS (iPhone 4S with the Groundspeak app) and the main site showed no other caches in the area.

 

It is just frustrating to me that the fact that I am not willing to pay Groundspeak for a membership means that I am at a disadvantage when trying to contribute, that's all.

No one else has asked so I will... WHY are you unwilling to pay Groundspeak for a membership ?

There are some questions that should not be asked, and this is one of them. In my opinion it is none of your business.

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My question is this:

If I can't even see the locations of some caches because I am not paying for a membership, how am I supposed to know if a location is a safe spot to hide a cache before I go to the trouble of going out, hiding it, and marking the spot? I would really like to take my son out and re-hide this but I don't want to waste a day doing it and then have to explain to him that we have to move it AGAIN if there are more caches that I can't see in the area.

 

It is frustrating and one of the reasons many have asked that MoC just be removed altogether.

 

Barring that, in your situation, the only thing you really can do is what others have said is to find a spot and send the coords to the Reviewer with a note not only asking if it is available but to reserve it for you for a reasonable amount of time while you get the cache placed (generally a day or two). If it is not, the reviewer at her/his discretion, may be able to nudge you to a better spot, however don't expect much as this is a way to strong arm more legitimate hidden coords such as puzzles and multi's.

 

Unless you choose to become a premium member, it is a minor inconvenience you will have to endure for the time being.

 

Good luck with re-hiding.

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Unless you choose to become a premium member, it is a minor inconvenience you will have to endure for the time being.

 

As before, all you need to do is zoom out on the map to get an approximate location (tbh I'm pretty certain I could find some PM caches if I really put my mind to it based on their approx location). If you need to double check you can mention that to the reviewer - but you might find it's saturated or that there are obvious spots which are available.

 

The bigger problem is the stages of multis really.

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My question is this:

If I can't even see the locations of some caches because I am not paying for a membership, how am I supposed to know if a location is a safe spot to hide a cache before I go to the trouble of going out, hiding it, and marking the spot? I would really like to take my son out and re-hide this but I don't want to waste a day doing it and then have to explain to him that we have to move it AGAIN if there are more caches that I can't see in the area.

 

Am I missing something here?

Even being a premium member isn't going to show you all stages of a multi, and that is what it seems you ran into. Granted you would be able to do that particular cache if you knew where to start and was able to see it, but still that may not totally solve your dilemma.

 

What I suggest is that you decide on a spot, contact your reviewer via email and ask if that spot is clear. If they say it is then you are good to go and you haven't wasted anything but a few minutes.

 

Eventually Groundspeak is going to have a location checker for new submissions but as far as I know it hasn't been implemented yet.

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It is just frustrating to me that the fact that I am not willing to pay Groundspeak for a membership means that I am at a disadvantage when trying to contribute, that's all.

 

Well that's usually the way it works, if you don't want to pay you get the watered down version of the site, if it is so frustrating then pay the $30 and enjoy the game with less frustration.

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Hello everyone-

 

I started geocaching about four years ago, did it for a couple of months, and then fell out. I have recently taken it up again, with my very excited three year old as my partner. I am using a free account, as I just can't justify the cost of the premium membership right now.

 

After a few days out in the woods, we talked about it and decided to hide our own cache. We collected the container, materials, etc, and put it all together. Then we went out to a favorite park and chose a location that met all of the guidelines. We hid the cache, and were both very excited.

 

I went home and filled out the online form for the hide. When the reviewer got back to me, he explained that I was violating the .1 mile guideline because several stages of a multi-cache were closer than that to my hide location. He suggested that I complete that cache to find the location of all of the points. When I went to look at that cache, I found that the owner had set it to be available only to premium members. This means that I, with my free account, can't even see the cache at all when looking on the mapping application or other searches on geocaching.com.

 

This is really personally frustrating to me, since I now have to:

a) go through the effort of retrieving and re-hiding the cache (though I already have another idea)

B ) explain to my son why we can't hide our "treasure" where we wanted to and we have to go move it

 

My question is this:

If I can't even see the locations of some caches because I am not paying for a membership, how am I supposed to know if a location is a safe spot to hide a cache before I go to the trouble of going out, hiding it, and marking the spot? I would really like to take my son out and re-hide this but I don't want to waste a day doing it and then have to explain to him that we have to move it AGAIN if there are more caches that I can't see in the area.

 

Am I missing something here?

 

Thanks.

 

It's kinda like this you go out and buy a Mercedes 320 Series, and then complain about not having the features of the Mercedes 560 if you want more features buy the 560 or don't complain and be happy with what you have after all it is FREE.

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Just do the multi and plot the coords. You can find the first stage with trial and error use of searching for the nearest cache by changing and adjusting the waypoints.

 

He can't - it's a premium member only multi and he's not a premium member (or, from the OP, I'd judge in a position to become one).

 

PMO caches show up on nearest cache searches and will display the distance down to feet. If he experiments, he can figure out where the first stage is.

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It is just frustrating to me that the fact that I am not willing to pay Groundspeak for a membership means that I am at a disadvantage when trying to contribute, that's all.

 

Well that's usually the way it works, if you don't want to pay you get the watered down version of the site, if it is so frustrating then pay the $30 and enjoy the game with less frustration.

 

Great way to encourage a cache owner though, isn't it?

 

I'm fortunate - not so many caches where I am maybe and I know that I'll talk to my local reviewer before I place caches to double check a couple of things anyway. But I guess not everyone would think of that to start with or have as much space to place caches in.

 

And, for the record, sometimes it isn't a case of not *wanting* to pay.

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Just do the multi and plot the coords. You can find the first stage with trial and error use of searching for the nearest cache by changing and adjusting the waypoints.

 

He can't - it's a premium member only multi and he's not a premium member (or, from the OP, I'd judge in a position to become one).

 

PMO caches show up on nearest cache searches and will display the distance down to feet. If he experiments, he can figure out where the first stage is.

 

Absolutely - although I guess it's likely to be one of the stages though. Which is where the reviewer comes in of course.

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I didn't quite get why you can't do this multi? Terrain too high or something like that?

 

I remember how annyoying it was when my first cache was rejected due to proximity. It's part of the game, though and you just have to get used to it. Best thing to do is to do as many of

the puzzles and multis in the area you want to place a cache. Less surprises this way. Like others have said, you can email your reviewer the proposed coords ahead of time, to save you the frustration of placing the cache and having to retrieve it.

 

As for not wanting to buy a premium membership, for me, personally, I wouldn't put myself through all that extra frustration to save $30/year.

 

Other options I see:

 

Email the CO of the multi.

 

If this doesn't work, you can email someone who recently found the multi. They will hopefully be at least be willing to give you the starting coords/info. If they're really nice (and organized), they may be willing to tell you where the stages are.

 

Ask an experienced cacher in your area to suggest a spot that may be free.

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I realize that not everyone may not have the financial means to pay for a premium membership. But on the other hand most cachers are using a GPS or a smart phone that range in cost from $100 - $400 . The cost of a premium membership to my way of thinking is well worth the price of $30-$40. This to me is a small sum to pay for such an enjoyable past time. The site and what it offers is well worth the price.

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I realize that not everyone may not have the financial means to pay for a premium membership. But on the other hand most cachers are using a GPS or a smart phone that range in cost from $100 - $400 . The cost of a premium membership to my way of thinking is well worth the price of $30-$40. This to me is a small sum to pay for such an enjoyable past time. The site and what it offers is well worth the price.

 

Not sure how this applies. I don't think the OP ever stated they couldn't afford a PM, just that they couldn't justify one.

Edited by baloo&bd
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It is just frustrating to me that the fact that I am not willing to pay Groundspeak for a membership means that I am at a disadvantage when trying to contribute, that's all.

 

If you do not pay for First Class and sit in coach then don't complain that you are not being served champagne. You seem to be able to justify everything else, gas, car, GPS, but can not justify $30 for a membership that unlocks a ton of things that can make your caching experience memorable?

 

Regarding multi hides. I have been on both sides of that situation. I had an individual upset at me that they wanted me to remove a leg of a very complicated multi so they could place a micro in the woods.

 

This might be a good time to explain to your son that life sometimes throws you a curve ball and you find another spot to hide a cache.

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I realize that not everyone may not have the financial means to pay for a premium membership. But on the other hand most cachers are using a GPS or a smart phone that range in cost from $100 - $400 . The cost of a premium membership to my way of thinking is well worth the price of $30-$40. This to me is a small sum to pay for such an enjoyable past time. The site and what it offers is well worth the price.

 

Fwiw I have neither a GPS or a smart phone and find caches. I'm not doing so bad - and sometimes get to borrow one if I think I'll need it for a specific cache.

 

I'm sure there are other reasons why people don't feel they can pay for stuff. I don't want to bore people with mine fwiw.

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Since I cannot get any answers from the people who hide them, what is the purpose of making a cache premium memeber only? Is it a scam to make geocachers spend more money or just an ego trip? I probaqbly won't come back to this forum but if you have any constructive input feel free to e-mail me.

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Since I cannot get any answers from the people who hide them, what is the purpose of making a cache premium memeber only? Is it a scam to make geocachers spend more money or just an ego trip?

 

It's a combination of ego and security theater, probably more of the later. Which in a way is kind of puzzling in itself because even if it really did offer any security most MoC's are very pedestrian and often simply LPC's. In an older thread, Jeremy stated PM sales were never an intention of MoC's.

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leatherstocking on 14 November 2011 - 07:46 AM

 

Hello everyone-

 

I started geocaching about four years ago, did it for a couple of months, and then fell out. I have recently taken it up again, with my very excited three year old as my partner. I am using a free account, as I just can't justify the cost of the premium membership right now.

 

Well that's usually the way it works, if you don't want to pay you get the watered down version of the site, if it is so frustrating then pay the $30 and enjoy the game with less frustration.

 

THAT'S nice; people respond really well to being mocked! The OP said they can't justify the cost of the PM fee right now, not that they just don't feel like it. Just because they have a GPSr doesn't mean they're rolling in dough! To some people, $30 is a lot!

 

Personally, my GPSr is probably about 8 yrs old; if something happens to it, I'm gonna be SOL, because I can't afford another one. When I bought it, I happened to have a better-paying job than I do now. I drive a 10 yr old truck & most of the caches I find are when I'm on my way somewhere. I rarely spend the gas to go out specifically to cache.

 

TO THE OP: I hope some of the suggestions here are helpful & that you are able to get your cache hidden in a great location!

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Since I cannot get any answers from the people who hide them, what is the purpose of making a cache premium memeber only? Is it a scam to make geocachers spend more money or just an ego trip? I probaqbly won't come back to this forum but if you have any constructive input feel free to e-mail me.
There are a number of reasons listed here:

http://cacheopedia.com/wiki/Premium_Member_Only_cache

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Since I cannot get any answers from the people who hide them, what is the purpose of making a cache premium memeber only? Is it a scam to make geocachers spend more money or just an ego trip? I probaqbly won't come back to this forum but if you have any constructive input feel free to e-mail me.

PM is a right. As paid members we have benefits and we show we help support the game. We paid the price to also hide caches to be found by PM cachers if we chose. Mine are not just throw downs to put a cache out. Plus I can audit them if I wish. But at the same time I don't prevent non PM from logging mine in.

 

When I became a member I didn't sign up just to place a cache. I have been seeing newbies do this now. With little or no finds and place one and in most cases around my area they have been placed with coordinates 100ft off, on private property without permission, on school grounds or forgotten because they got bored of the game and the cache never gets maintain. I'm not saying PM members don't do the same thing but having more experience gives you a better feel on how caches are hid and the pitfalls and fun of owning one.

My first caches were ones I adopted from another cacher and didn't have to worry about .1 rule. Once I got the feel for owning them I started placing my own. And I am still learning.

My advise to new hiders is always read the guidelines (which changes often), if you have questions ask here, your local reviewer or go to some events and talk with other cachers.

For the OP as some mentioned by others, contact your local reviewers with coordinates of locations you wish to place and see if any area available. Some reviewers are even nice enough to give suggestions near where you chose that would be open.

 

Now all this is IMO

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Since I cannot get any answers from the people who hide them, what is the purpose of making a cache premium memeber only? Is it a scam to make geocachers spend more money or just an ego trip? I probaqbly won't come back to this forum but if you have any constructive input feel free to e-mail me.
There are a number of reasons listed here:

http://cacheopedia.com/wiki/Premium_Member_Only_cache

I like that. Even the first listed in Reasons for PMO Caches

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My question is what does a person they are a parent and have a premium membership and have some children that go caching and finding with them? Are you supposed to shell out $30.00/ member of the family? That kind of takes the sport away not too mention $$$ out of your pocket. There ought to be a way to pay for a monthly premium account at a fraction of the cost so NP members can log in there finds. Remember this sport originated as a fun go outside and find a cache. I am not against premium membership fees.

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My question is what does a person they are a parent and have a premium membership and have some children that go caching and finding with them? Are you supposed to shell out $30.00/ member of the family? That kind of takes the sport away not too mention $$$ out of your pocket. There ought to be a way to pay for a monthly premium account at a fraction of the cost so NP members can log in there finds. Remember this sport originated as a fun go outside and find a cache. I am not against premium membership fees.

 

Basic members CAN log PM caches... Use the Beta Maps, locate the one you need to log, click on the orangey-red dot that shows for basic members. When the information balloon opens, just look at the lower right for the LOG Visit. Attempting to go further will open the Sorry PMO page.

 

That seems to be the new, not so back door... it works.

Now back to the topic...

 

Doug 7rxc

Edited by 7rxc
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My question is what does a person they are a parent and have a premium membership and have some children that go caching and finding with them? Are you supposed to shell out $30.00/ member of the family? That kind of takes the sport away not too mention $$$ out of your pocket. There ought to be a way to pay for a monthly premium account at a fraction of the cost so NP members can log in there finds. Remember this sport originated as a fun go outside and find a cache. I am not against premium membership fees.

 

Every member of your family can log a find even if they don't have a premium membership. It is Groundspeak sanctioned. The only thing a premium member only cache prevents a non premium member from doing is view the cache page. If family members find a cache with you have them go to this page.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?WP=GCNJVY

 

Replace the GCNJVY with the cache code of the cache they want to log.

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Since I cannot get any answers from the people who hide them, what is the purpose of making a cache premium memeber only? Is it a scam to make geocachers spend more money or just an ego trip? I probaqbly won't come back to this forum but if you have any constructive input feel free to e-mail me.
There are a number of reasons listed here:

http://cacheopedia.com/wiki/Premium_Member_Only_cache

I like that. Even the first listed in Reasons for PMO Caches

 

I like that too. That lists every possible reason someone might restrict their caches to premium members only. I might totally disagree with like 25% of them, but it lists every possible reason. :P

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My question is what does a person they are a parent and have a premium membership and have some children that go caching and finding with them? Are you supposed to shell out $30.00/ member of the family? That kind of takes the sport away not too mention $$$ out of your pocket. There ought to be a way to pay for a monthly premium account at a fraction of the cost so NP members can log in there finds. Remember this sport originated as a fun go outside and find a cache. I am not against premium membership fees.

 

Every member of your family can log a find even if they don't have a premium membership. It is Groundspeak sanctioned. The only thing a premium member only cache prevents a non premium member from doing is view the cache page. If family members find a cache with you have them go to this page.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?WP=GCNJVY

 

Replace the GCNJVY with the cache code of the cache they want to log.

 

That works fine, but a bit easier might be geocaching.com express logger. Input the GC number and click log.

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My question is what does a person they are a parent and have a premium membership and have some children that go caching and finding with them? Are you supposed to shell out $30.00/ member of the family? That kind of takes the sport away not too mention $$$ out of your pocket. There ought to be a way to pay for a monthly premium account at a fraction of the cost so NP members can log in there finds. Remember this sport originated as a fun go outside and find a cache. I am not against premium membership fees.

 

Every member of your family can log a find even if they don't have a premium membership. It is Groundspeak sanctioned. The only thing a premium member only cache prevents a non premium member from doing is view the cache page. If family members find a cache with you have them go to this page.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?WP=GCNJVY

 

Replace the GCNJVY with the cache code of the cache they want to log.

 

That works fine, but a bit easier might be geocaching.com express logger. Input the GC number and click log.

 

You actually meant to type your link as GeocachingAdmin.com I'm sure. :) Express logger is interesting. Surely would work for a basic member to log an MOC, but I see it's intended purpose is probably actually copy and paste logging of multiple caches.

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Make friends with a Premium Member in your area.

Then ask them to either go caching with you to the multi, or just to give you the starter. There is no shame in not being Premium Member.

 

You are allowed to log your find on the PMO cache, even if you are not a PMO.

Then you will know where to avoid for your hide.

 

There is always trouble when there is a multi or puzzle in the area, it is hard to know where you can place a cache without being too close to a stage. My understanding is that Groundspeak is working on a tool to help with that. In the meantime, you just have to go back and forth with your reviewer a few times.

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I do see now that if I had done the lat / long search it would have shown me at least the existence of the premium only multi-cache, but it still lists that as being far enough away that I should have been ok. Unfortunately, without the co-operation of the owner of that cache, I have no way of finding the points of it. I have found all of the other caches in that area, (that I can see) and I figured that we'd be safe there since both my GPS (iPhone 4S with the Groundspeak app) and the main site showed no other caches in the area.

 

It is just frustrating to me that the fact that I am not willing to pay Groundspeak for a membership means that I am at a disadvantage when trying to contribute, that's all.

No one else has asked so I will... WHY are you unwilling to pay Groundspeak for a membership ?

There are some questions that should not be asked, and this is one of them. In my opinion it is none of your business.

 

AMEN to JHolly!!

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Hello everyone-

 

I started geocaching about four years ago, did it for a couple of months, and then fell out. I have recently taken it up again, with my very excited three year old as my partner. I am using a free account, as I just can't justify the cost of the premium membership right now.

 

After a few days out in the woods, we talked about it and decided to hide our own cache. We collected the container, materials, etc, and put it all together. Then we went out to a favorite park and chose a location that met all of the guidelines. We hid the cache, and were both very excited.

 

I went home and filled out the online form for the hide. When the reviewer got back to me, he explained that I was violating the .1 mile guideline because several stages of a multi-cache were closer than that to my hide location. He suggested that I complete that cache to find the location of all of the points. When I went to look at that cache, I found that the owner had set it to be available only to premium members. This means that I, with my free account, can't even see the cache at all when looking on the mapping application or other searches on geocaching.com.

 

This is really personally frustrating to me, since I now have to:

a) go through the effort of retrieving and re-hiding the cache (though I already have another idea)

B ) explain to my son why we can't hide our "treasure" where we wanted to and we have to go move it

 

My question is this:

If I can't even see the locations of some caches because I am not paying for a membership, how am I supposed to know if a location is a safe spot to hide a cache before I go to the trouble of going out, hiding it, and marking the spot? I would really like to take my son out and re-hide this but I don't want to waste a day doing it and then have to explain to him that we have to move it AGAIN if there are more caches that I can't see in the area.

 

Am I missing something here?

 

Thanks.

 

Mate,

 

I'm a premium member, I choose to be as I think Groundspeak deserve some recompense for all our enjoyment, but I'm lucky that I can afford this without a worry. Maybe in a few years you'll be able to justify premium membership, maybe you won't, kids are expensive :huh:

 

Anyway, my point is that, even with premium membership I still get stuffed when trying to pace a cache. I dunno where the last stage of a multicache is or, even worse, where the co-ordinates of an unpublished cache are.

 

My advice would be simply to take it on the chin and place the cache somewhere else.

 

I hope you have lots of happy cache hunting with your son :D:)

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Hello everyone-

 

I started geocaching about four years ago, did it for a couple of months, and then fell out. I have recently taken it up again, with my very excited three year old as my partner. I am using a free account, as I just can't justify the cost of the premium membership right now.

 

After a few days out in the woods, we talked about it and decided to hide our own cache. We collected the container, materials, etc, and put it all together. Then we went out to a favorite park and chose a location that met all of the guidelines. We hid the cache, and were both very excited.

 

I went home and filled out the online form for the hide. When the reviewer got back to me, he explained that I was violating the .1 mile guideline because several stages of a multi-cache were closer than that to my hide location. He suggested that I complete that cache to find the location of all of the points. When I went to look at that cache, I found that the owner had set it to be available only to premium members. This means that I, with my free account, can't even see the cache at all when looking on the mapping application or other searches on geocaching.com.

 

This is really personally frustrating to me, since I now have to:

a) go through the effort of retrieving and re-hiding the cache (though I already have another idea)

B ) explain to my son why we can't hide our "treasure" where we wanted to and we have to go move it

 

My question is this:

If I can't even see the locations of some caches because I am not paying for a membership, how am I supposed to know if a location is a safe spot to hide a cache before I go to the trouble of going out, hiding it, and marking the spot? I would really like to take my son out and re-hide this but I don't want to waste a day doing it and then have to explain to him that we have to move it AGAIN if there are more caches that I can't see in the area.

 

Am I missing something here?

 

Thanks.

 

I would try to work with the Reviewer in your area. They generally love to help . I would also try working with other cache owners, especially the one that has the PM cache. They should be more than willing to help if you explain the situation.

 

And also, take what you read here with a grain of salt. The Forums can seem pretty "edgy" sometimes. If you are caching for free because of financial reasons, I can spot you the Membership. (not prying into your business, just offering) Send me a private message.

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