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How soon is too soon to start hiding caches?


CowtownJohn

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And a min of 100 finds (not hard to do)

 

Tough luck if for instance you're living in the northern part of Chile. There are less than 50 visitable caches in a 1.500 miles radius... At that rate, no new caches could pop up there...

 

I agree with most : it's a matter of common sence and with a big international game you're bound to have people entering and leaving the game after having tried it, hiding or seeking.

My first cache that I hide was when I had less than 50 finds (38 I believe) and now I have 15, all of them active and running well.

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I think anyone who wants to should be able to make a hide. It is not rocket science and I have seen great hides by relative newcomers and lame ones by ultra experienced ones. If folks want to be guarenteed a quality hide they should look only for hides that are favorited a lot. For the most part, to use a coloquialism, you plays the game you takes your chances.

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I agree with the OP that folks should have some finds before hiding a cache. That gives them some idea of what works and what doesn't. BUT, I don't believe there should be a rule. As someone else stated, "you can't teach smarts."

I've seen MANY hides that say in the write-up, "passed this spot and thought it needed a cache." I learned the hard way that one should scout a location before placing a cache. It may look nice when you drive by that one time, but it may turn out to be 'the party spot' for the local teens. It may be where the homeless guy lives, it may be the nearby homeowner has two dogs that just weren't outside when you place the cache.

New caches keep the hobby fresh. But some effort on the part of the cache hider would save everyone a lot of grief.

Edited by JoesBar
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Can anyone tell me how long it takes a new cache yo publish after you submit it ? And for the record I only have found 22 caches and just started last week :)

 

It usually takes just a few days. However, the reviewers have lives too. There may be times when it will take longer.

 

And sometimes just a few hours.

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If i had a nickel for every cache placed beyond a no trespassing sign. . . . .

 

Unfortunately, matters seem to be made worse by containers like this.

 

That would be great if it only had the GS logo on it. Anyhow, once I see a sign like that I abort my search and head home. I'm guessing with that cache, you'd be able to identify all the people in your community who don't care about those signs...

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I had only found 20 when I first hid a geocache, I did my research and am totally committed to geocaching, If there is a problem with any of my caches, I act within hours not days or weeks, that being said I would not hide a cache that I cannot get to within an hour or so to maintain without being more experienced.

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I currently have two hides, but only 16 finds. I attribute this to my location having very few caches with a less-than-active community. ( I'm also 17 and gas is expensive at a cashier's salary :P ) However, both of my hides have positive reviews and I believe I did a good job making them. In the few finds I've logged, I've visited a variety of different cache types and have learned a lot about the game. I also understand how seriously the community takes cache quality, so I did my homework! I suggest that a test be made that the user must pass before being allowed to hide caches. It might show 4 different cache examples, and ask the user to pick the one which is not a quality cache according to GS guidelines.

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I agree and disagree at the same time. We started geocaching and my daughter wanted to hide one right away. We did our homework and placed some. They have all had good reviews so far and are still active. I think it depends on the person more then the number of caches found. Like they said you cant fix stupid. Someone could have had many finds and still place a cache that sux. I think sometimes the new members might have a original idea that could be fun that might burn out after finding many film cans in a lamp post. But I also agree that experience helps when placing. We are being more selective now of the caches we place and making them even funner if possible. But to limit people would make for less around and I like to have them around. If they are bad hides that will show up soon.

-WarNinjas

I'm in the agree/disagree boat with you. I have not hid any caches, and don't really intend on doing so until I find a lot more, but when I do, I want to look at the caches I've found and why I like the ones I like, decide what made them really fun, and then try to emulate that.

 

People shouldn't be discouraged just because they're new, but perhaps being discouraged when you're... um... polite word... too excited and distracted... that would be good.

 

I think it depends on the education of the person. For example I did my first hide after only having about 10 finds but none of my finds were easy P&G's for example. Also, I do ALOT of reading especially when I start a new hobby. I must have read the knowledge books beginning to end a couple times plus reading on the forums and observing other people logs. Would I recommend placing a hide after only 10 finds. No Probably not, and I might have been a bit premature but I feel it was a quality hide, albeit an easy find. I used a lock n lock, I averaged my coordinates, I picked a good location, and I keep an eye on it in case of any maintenance issues. Like I say, I think it depends on the individual. I'm a fast learner and I pick up on things quite easily, some people take a little longer to pick up on some things.

 

Bottom line is don't rush into hiding a cache just because you're excited to do so. Be sure you have a full understanding of the rules and the common practice do's and don't of placing a cache. Most importantly use a good container and plan on maintaining for the long haul!

+1!

 

Whenever I decide to place a cache, I want to make sure I can take good care of it. I think the next important thing after a good spot and so forth, is the maintenance. I don't want to hide a cache somewhere I'm too out of shape to get to when I need to check on it. There's one on a hike I've done a couple of times that's pretty mellow, but it seems the cache "container" is all beat to crap from the elements and it seems that it's been that way a long time. I'll probably go find it, but I don't know if I'm going to sign the log. I'll take a picture, because I heard there were a lot of spiders in it and... well, spiders scare me :( I might poke around to see if I can retreive the log without being too traumatized :laughing: But I would hate a cache that I owned to fall into that kind of shape. Poor cache.

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To my way of thinking, the ethics of the hide are every bit as important as the "when" of the hide and, in general, can only be learned by doing a lot of caching before putting your first owned cache out there. By ethics, I mean: 1) Be concerned for the SAFETY of the cache seeker. Be sure SAFE parking (off street/off road)is available. Don't make a hide in a dark place or hole into which the seeker cannot see and must blindly stick his/her hand into. You don't know what critters will be in that hole. 2) Be concerned for the IMPRESSION that a cache seeker will make. Be careful about placing your hide near a school yard or a playground. Be careful about placing hides in residential neighborhoods even if you have permission from a home owner. His/her neighbors might not appreciate the cache seeker traipsing around and snooping in their neck of the woods. Don't place a hide where a business owner might object and hassle cache seekers. Get his/her permission to make the hide in the first place. 3) Don't make your hide so far from your home that you can't easily go to it to perform necessary maintenance. These are just a few things that the would-be cache hider should consider, to my way of thinking.

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I've only been geocaching for a year. Love it.

 

Couldn't find my a** from my elbow when I started. Now I can spot a "geocachers path" or the place you know it will be from 50 metres.

 

Bought/put together/planned my first two potential caches after 6 months and 100 caches. Due to procrastination only placed the first one on New Years eve, which was found loads and well received on new years day.

 

The bit of advice I appreciated the most is that you should place a geocache somewhere interesting, a place that you'd go to if you knew about, even if there wasn't a cache there. Mine is in a beautiful little park that not many people know about. So I'm glad people have found the park because of my cache.

 

What I dislike is boring caches placed in the arse end of the world like concrete car parks or somewhere covered in litter and used nappies.

 

And for the record, modern smart phones eg iPhone 4S or a Samsung Galaxy II work great as GPS's. The ability to search for a cache on a whim, wherever you are is wonderful.

 

My favourite is when you take a long, hard hike up a mountain and stop to have your sandwiches, and think "ooh, I wonder if there's a geocache up here", and there is!

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100 finds and AFTER you have a REAL GPS. [smartphones are not real gps's so do your potential seekers a favor by NOT taking coord readings with a phone!]

 

You can hide a cache perfectly well with a phone, you just have to be a bit more careful and get an app to average coordinates. There is no need to run out and spend $100s on a dedicated device. I hid a bunch of caches with a phone before I got my GPS and they're just fine. On the flip side, I once hid a cache using my Garmin 62s that was almost 100 feet off (apparently it was cranky and hadn't warmed up yet).

 

Yes, smart phones have real GPS receivers in them now (this is a common misconception that just won't go away).

 

Better advice would have been "do your potential seekers a favor and average your coordinates over a 5-10 minute period, minimum, so that you obtain accurate coordinates!"

I am doing all my caching and hiding with a Belchberry. It doesn't matter if you have the office-issue BB or a $500 Garmin, LEARN TO USE GOOGLE EARTH! Verify your coordinates at home before you publish! The only coordinate problem I have had with my hides is the last waypoint in the BB was not the last place I looked when finding a place to hide.. Lots of folks went to the wrong Cottonwood tree! That was user malfunction, not a GPSr problem.

 

JW

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Oh look first post noob! (I guess I'll out my lurking for a bit)

 

no i haven't placed any caches yet

I think I found my 27th cache today (found around 15 with some other friends before I got an account)

I have had account for about 2 months now.

I have a real GPS, I travel for a living (of my 27 i have 5 states)

I think I'll stick with this for a bit

 

So I have some questions . . .

 

some posters seem to think they don't want new people to hide a cache because they will get bored with caching and not maintain it. what's an acceptable response time for maintenance?

I live in CO and think a good location is important for a hide, but that location may be up in the mountains. What if I can't get to that part of the mountains in winter months? is that a bad hide?

should I hide one closer to where I live so I could get around to it in say a week or two?

 

I know the only way to learn the difficulty ratings is to start finding harder caches and see what they look like but can I get some kinda scale as to the difficulty ratings? what if you had to climb a tree say 10 feet in the air? is that more of a terrain rating? what if you had a fake brick you had to pick out of a wall?

 

okay I have more questions but this will suffice as my first post.

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i would dissagree with mostly everyone it is really a case by case situation i only have 47 total finds and 2 hidden all ready, with several more on the way. one of my caches even has 5 fav points (relatively high for my area). i will admit the first cache i hid was off around 30ish feet but i quickly reposted the coords and all was good.

 

some people are finders and others are hiders

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I'm probably going to get somebody wound up with this, but I have to ask... When should newer cachers start hiding? Now I'm in no way trying to discourage anyone; new hides keep this game going. But when I go after a hide with the coords way off, and the CO writes and says "thats what we came up with" or someone puts a cache somewhere that has a sign saying "City Property, No Trespassing", thats pretty annoying, besides that's trouble I don't need.

 

I think less experienced folks should have at least 75-100 finds. That gives them a good range to look at and see what makes a good hide or a bad one. I didn't do my first one until I had 150. The two CO's have a combined total of 13. One cache is disabled until the coords are fixed.

 

I realize this will probably get me bad looks and unkind words, but it's frustrating to put in time and effort for a lot of nothing.

 

At least 50 then allowed one. after 100 they can plant as many as they like.

 

Which reminds me...

 

Why is it that so many first time hiders try to come up with some elaborate puzzle/multi with a gazillion stages for their first hide instead of a basic traditional cache?

 

A simple traditional cache for the first hide would give new cache owners and idea of what cache ownership is all about. There are lots of potential areas for mistakes ranging from leaky containers, coordinates that might not be the most accurate, inappropriate D/T ratings, the use of attributes, dealing with the FTF game, and all sorts of maintenance issues, etc. that are all compounded as a cache becomes more complex.

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