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eusty

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One of my caches never seems to be found, so I'm just asking if you could work out where it is and what to bring to get it (it has a special equipment attribute).

 

Sometimes you can get it without any equipment, but you get a cold hand!!

 

So should I make it more obvious? Or is it a case people don't check properly before getting to GZ and looking for it?

 

 

EDIT: A link would be handy!!

 

Edited by eusty
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Well you learn something every day.

 

We've been doing this silly sport for over 2 years and found over 1600 of the blighters but I never realised there was a 'special tool' attribute and I have never seen one before. Only looked because your post above mentioned it.

 

Maybe there are others like us who don't look at the cache attribute icons. Must get better at doing that.

 

But even without knowing a special tool is required, we may well have found the hiding place (I have ideas what it might be and what you might need to retrieve) and certainly the metal/magnet comment would push you in a particular direction - and we would have read that.

 

But most people who haven't found it don't seem to be suggesting that they found the hiding place but didn't have the right equipment on them to extract it. It seems they are just having trouble finding the hiding place.

Maybe they are just not reading the cache page, and there's probably nothing you can do about that.

 

If it were my cache and the DNF ratio was getting like that I would probably have to give a bit more away so fewer people went away without finding it.

 

But some cachers are happy setting tricky hides and accept there will be lots of DNFs, and some cachers love the challenge of a tricky one that's not been found very often.

 

No one seems to be complaining (and I love the log from the bloke who lost his taxi, wallet, money etc etc), and all the info is there to allow people to find a well checked on and maintained cache - there's no suggestion it's gone missing. So I would probably leave it as it is.

 

It does have a high difficulty rating after all, so no one should expect a quick c&d.

 

Edit to add: ...and the FTF only have 22 finds under their belt, well done them!

Edited by Lovejoy and Tinker
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Knowing you need equipment because you just told us and looking at the second hint I think I can guess what is needed but, although I do generally read the descriptions, I doubt I would notice the special equipment attribute so would probably arrive sans equipment and with no idea of what the hint meant, and some people don't even look at the hints because they are awfully good ;) in which case, if I am right on the equipment needed of course, even if they saw the attribute they wouldn't know what was required, unless I am completely wrong :rolleyes:

Edited by The Real Boudica.
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(although I'm puzzled by the apparent mis-spelling of the first word in the hint ... is there a subtle meaning there?).

Do you mean the first hint? There is,not a misspelling there.

 

Hint 2...I've changed that as I can't spell!

 

Edited by eusty
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One of my caches never seems to be found, so I'm just asking if you could work out where it is and what to bring to get it (it has a special equipment attribute).

 

Sometimes you can get it without any equipment, but you get a cold hand!!

 

So should I make it more obvious? Or is it a case people don't check properly before getting to GZ and looking for it?

 

EDIT: A link would be handy!!

I rarely study all the attributes prior to visiting a cache, so I probably wouldn't know about the special equipment requirement. And even if I did, I wouldn't know what special equipment to take. I'm guessing the second hint tells us what we need (and assumed it was just a spelling mistake and had no deeper meaning) but I wouldn't normally look at the hints before I even visit the cache, so I likely would arrive without the special equipment.

 

It sounds like it could be a fun cache, but it probably needs something a bit more obvious on the cache page so that people can come prepared.

 

Rgds, Andy

Edited by Amberel
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I don't often look at the attributes, so although I know there's a special tool required attribute I probably wouldn't have seen it.

 

When I read the first hint some people might think that the first two words were miss-spelled, although I realise they're not but I probably wouldn't be able to work out what they mean out in the field and I don't usually look at hints at home.

 

Seeing the line in the description about ferrous metal would lead me to think it was magnetic.

 

So in all likelyhood if I was just on a casual caching trip I probably wouldn't find it, but having read all the hints and looked up their meanings I might have more chance on a second visit.

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If you want the special tool attribute to be noticed then you might consider referring to it on the cache page. I wouldn't even looked at that unless you'd brought it to our attention and I guess very few of the visitors do either. (My experience is that quite often cachers don't even look at the cache page,just go for the co-ords. D'oh!).

 

I think in fairness you could add, "Check the attributes" to the listing and perhaps give a less obscure hint. I'm not stupid, but it really took some working out what you meant. Even now I have no idea what special tool to bring and I'm not exactly thick.

 

I suppose if you're really bothered that people aren't finding it, you could make it easier...

 

...or just allow it to be.

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As I don't read the hints until I've carried out quite an extensive search I might have missed the full implications of what tool was needed on site.

 

Depending on weight and reach I may have enough kit to fashion a device from what is carried on every major caching trip.

 

Fairly distant from me (over 100 miles) but it is caches of this quality that I mark up and use as a draw on which to base my excursions. Keep up the good work of placing novel caches and only change the text if you are worried about the attention long searches attracts. Sooner or later the ones capable of achieving the find will arrive and a few good logs often outweigh the negative DNF logs. :D

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There doesn't seem anything to solve. I'd turn up with no special equipment (having not noticed the attribute) and assume it was a well-disguised small micro that's hard to spot (judging from the difficulty level). It's clearly around ground level and easy of access, judging from the terrain.

 

Then I'd give it a quick look before consulting the hint. That may or may not mean anything to me, depending on what I see at the site. Perhaps if it was a special trip I'd have looked at the hint beforehand and worked out what it means but that's unlikely.

Depending on how much time I had available and how much cover I have I might give it another half hour or so and then forget it. Highly likely to be a DNF. If I spotted the cache but couldn't access the log book without the special tool I'd DNF it.

 

If you want more people to log it I'd suggest mentioning the special equipment in big letters at the start of the description, and then giving a hint as to where to look.

Otherwise it's a caching challenge, and to reduce frustration I'd mention this at the start. At the moment it looks a bit too obscure to be enjoyable for the casual cacher, and isn't presented as a challenge to attract someone who's up for it.

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Thanks for the comments, I've added a little bit more tot he description making it a bit more obvious. It isn't just a case of turning up to look and you may need some equipment. :)

I'm pretty sure I know exactly how the cache is hidden, but that's only because of this thread, not because of the cache page. I'm not sure the change makes it any clearer.

 

"The cache container is attached to ferrous metal (think magnet!), so you many need to being something along." If what I think is correct, you don't need to bring something along because it is ferrous, but for a quite different reason. As that other reason still isn't really very obvious from the cache page, quite a few people are still going to arrive without it.

 

Rgds, Andy

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The trouble is I don't really want to put something like "bring a magnet on a string to fish out the cache from under the water" as it makes it too obvious!

 

It's also near some metal railings so a 'magnetic' clue could confuse things even more, or maybe it does anyway!

 

Also you don't have to use a magnet depending on how the stream is. The first finders saw it and reached down and got it out of the water. But the water level/visibility has changed quite a bit during the winter, and I guess it will be easier in the summer again.

 

I'm open to ideas on how to word it though :)

 

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The trouble is I don't really want to put something like "bring a magnet on a string to fish out the cache from under the water" as it makes it too obvious!

 

It's also near some metal railings so a 'magnetic' clue could confuse things even more, or maybe it does anyway!

 

Also you don't have to use a magnet depending on how the stream is. The first finders saw it and reached down and got it out of the water. But the water level/visibility has changed quite a bit during the winter, and I guess it will be easier in the summer again.

 

I'm open to ideas on how to word it though :)

As you already mentioned "think magnet!" in the description, and there are metal railings near, I suspect I'd spend all my time checking the railings and cursing your hint for being too obscure!

I think you have some excellent wording where you say "Sometimes you can get it without any equipment, but you get a cold hand!!". That would make me think, and with the "coarse or fly" hint I'd guess that it was in the water. At the same time it doesn't actually give it away.

I'll put the cache on my list now...

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Sounds good..

 

"The cache container is attached to ferrous metal (think magnet!). Sometimes you can get it without any equipment, but you'll get a cold hand in winter!!"

 

With the two clues then it should be obvious :)

 

I thought the first clue was really good...but nobody has mentioned it!! :(

 

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"The cache container is attached to ferrous metal (think magnet!)...."

 

 

This would still lead me to think that the container is attached to a fence/post/some other metal object. It might be better to say "there is a piece of ferrous metal attached to the cache" or something along those lines.

 

Agreed. Perhaps just say "the cache is ferrous" (or add "container" if you fancy)? This would suggest to me that I have to provide the means of attraction.

 

OK, strictly speaking you might have a plastic container attached to a ferrous object, and the combination can then be attracted by a finder-supplied magnet; but that detail is all discovered after the find and thus less relevant to the hunt. At the outset, "the cache container is attached to ferrous metal" still sounds predominantly like a magnetic container attached to metal, and is probably the reason for some railing-DNFs that have missed the intended point.

 

I would make a point of doing this cache if local, as it's clearly a bit different. I always target individual caches beforehand and rarely wander opportunistically along to the next Traditional, so noticing the cache page difficulty/attributes etc would not be a problem for me.

 

I don't tend to read Traditional hints before hunting the cache though (more likely to with Puzzles if they are not forthcoming). Although I understand both hints reading them at home with the help of the internet, in the field I wouldn't have access to the meaning of the first hint; but the similar spelling and context at GZ would probably confirm what is intended. The low terrain rating and lack of "wading may be required" attribute would mean I'd probably leave my waders in the car (but yes, they would be in the car, just in case!).

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I read the cache page before reading the rest of this thread and I knew what was required to get the cache. I see from the rest of the posts that changes have been made - I don't know what it was like before but as it stands now I think it's pretty obvious. If people choose not to read all the information then they are going to have trouble sometimes, I always read the cache page in case there is this kind of extra information to be gained.

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