Can I amend a cache listing if it is too difficult

[+GoblinCatcher]

Hi,

 

If I list a new cache, will I be able to amend it with more hints or possibly a bigger sized cache if no one can find it?

 

I am totally new to this.

[+Brooklyn51]

You can edit your cache page by going to the menu on the right side of your cache page under "Navigation" and clicking on "Edit Listing". You will be taken to the page as when you first submitted it for review. (it won't be reviewed again though) Make whatever changes you need to, be sure to click the 2 boxes near the bottom that states that you read the terms and the guidelines and you're good to go. The changes will happen immediately. To change your attributes, click on "Edit Attributes" instead.

[+GoblinCatcher]

You can edit your cache page by going to the menu on the right side of your cache page under "Navigation" and clicking on "Edit Listing". You will be taken to the page as when you first submitted it for review. (it won't be reviewed again though) Make whatever changes you need to, be sure to click the 2 boxes near the bottom that states that you read the terms and the guidelines and you're good to go. The changes will happen immediately. To change your attributes, click on "Edit Attributes" instead.

Thanks for that help. I will risk placing a nano cache then and if no one finds it I will add more clues, and if they still don't I will make the cache bigger then. My site is a bit overgrown for finding it so it is a careful balance between it being too hard to find, and it being picked up by dog walkers.

[Pup Patrol]

Hi,

 

If I list a new cache, will I be able to amend it with more hints or possibly a bigger sized cache if no one can find it?

 

I am totally new to this.

 

A valuable resource can be found by going to the Help Center:

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php

 

Help Center → Geocaching → Cache Ownership: A Long-Term Relationship

 

6.7. Managing Your Cache Listing

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=234

 

6.10. Editing a Published Listing: Minor Change

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=201

 

 

B.

[+GoblinCatcher]

Hi,

 

If I list a new cache, will I be able to amend it with more hints or possibly a bigger sized cache if no one can find it?

 

I am totally new to this.

 

A valuable resource can be found by going to the Help Center:

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php

 

Help Center → Geocaching → Cache Ownership: A Long-Term Relationship

 

6.7. Managing Your Cache Listing

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=234

 

6.10. Editing a Published Listing: Minor Change

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=201

 

 

B.

 

Many thanks

[+NYPaddleCacher]

You can edit your cache page by going to the menu on the right side of your cache page under "Navigation" and clicking on "Edit Listing". You will be taken to the page as when you first submitted it for review. (it won't be reviewed again though) Make whatever changes you need to, be sure to click the 2 boxes near the bottom that states that you read the terms and the guidelines and you're good to go. The changes will happen immediately. To change your attributes, click on "Edit Attributes" instead.

Thanks for that help. I will risk placing a nano cache then and if no one finds it I will add more clues, and if they still don't I will make the cache bigger then. My site is a bit overgrown for finding it so it is a careful balance between it being too hard to find, and it being picked up by dog walkers.

 

A few other things to think about...

 

From your profile I see that you've only found two caches (one by accident). While it's not required, it's often recommended that you find a few more caches to get a better idea of how they're hidden before placing your own. Although it's not difficult, cache ownership comes with responsibilities the require an understanding of the placement guidelines and how a cache should be maintained. You may have already been told this, but for the second multi-cache that you found, posting a "found it" log should not be done until you've found the final stage. Posting a "note" log after finding the first stage is *sometimes* done but usually only when there was something notable about finding a preliminary stage. Although, you did it sort of backwards I wouldn't worry about it since you only posted one found it log for the cache.

 

Nano caches are pretty common, and people manage to find them even when the hide is pretty difficult (for example, there's one in my area that is a black nano cache stuck on a black steam engine). However, because they have a magnet built into them, they're typically placed on something metal. While there are a lot of geocachers that like a challenging hide, they appreciate it when some amount of creativity is used. Tossing a nano cache into a dense thicket is going to produce a really difficult hide, but it's not very creative. Personally, I'd save that nano cache for some other location and hide something larger. Nano caches are notorious for requiring a lot of maintenance simply because the log sheet quickly fills up, or, if they're not closed correctly, the logbook soon becomes a soggy mess. Consider what the impact might be on a thickly overgrown site if the cache is "a needle in a haystack". Either people are just going to give up, or they're going to be persistent and you're likely going to end up with a thick brushy area that has been trampled down from people searching for it.

 

As a general approach, the idea is to hide a container such that a geocacher, with lat/long coordinates in a GPS device, should be able to find it, but someone *not* looking for it won't stumble upon it. That typically means hiding so that it's out of sight and/or using natural camouflage to cover up the container. Hiding it such that it's not in the common "line of sight" of someone walking down a trail helps. If there's a wooden stump a few feet from the trail that becomes a beacon for a geocacher but someone walking down the trail is not going to give it a second look.

 

As I suggested, the more time you spend *finding* a variety of caches, the easier it will be for you to determine the best way to hide one.

[+GoblinCatcher]

You can edit your cache page by going to the menu on the right side of your cache page under "Navigation" and clicking on "Edit Listing". You will be taken to the page as when you first submitted it for review. (it won't be reviewed again though) Make whatever changes you need to, be sure to click the 2 boxes near the bottom that states that you read the terms and the guidelines and you're good to go. The changes will happen immediately. To change your attributes, click on "Edit Attributes" instead.

Thanks for that help. I will risk placing a nano cache then and if no one finds it I will add more clues, and if they still don't I will make the cache bigger then. My site is a bit overgrown for finding it so it is a careful balance between it being too hard to find, and it being picked up by dog walkers.

 

A few other things to think about...

 

From your profile I see that you've only found two caches (one by accident). While it's not required, it's often recommended that you find a few more caches to get a better idea of how they're hidden before placing your own. Although it's not difficult, cache ownership comes with responsibilities the require an understanding of the placement guidelines and how a cache should be maintained. You may have already been told this, but for the second multi-cache that you found, posting a "found it" log should not be done until you've found the final stage. Posting a "note" log after finding the first stage is *sometimes* done but usually only when there was something notable about finding a preliminary stage. Although, you did it sort of backwards I wouldn't worry about it since you only posted one found it log for the cache.

 

Nano caches are pretty common, and people manage to find them even when the hide is pretty difficult (for example, there's one in my area that is a black nano cache stuck on a black steam engine). However, because they have a magnet built into them, they're typically placed on something metal. While there are a lot of geocachers that like a challenging hide, they appreciate it when some amount of creativity is used. Tossing a nano cache into a dense thicket is going to produce a really difficult hide, but it's not very creative. Personally, I'd save that nano cache for some other location and hide something larger. Nano caches are notorious for requiring a lot of maintenance simply because the log sheet quickly fills up, or, if they're not closed correctly, the logbook soon becomes a soggy mess. Consider what the impact might be on a thickly overgrown site if the cache is "a needle in a haystack". Either people are just going to give up, or they're going to be persistent and you're likely going to end up with a thick brushy area that has been trampled down from people searching for it.

 

As a general approach, the idea is to hide a container such that a geocacher, with lat/long coordinates in a GPS device, should be able to find it, but someone *not* looking for it won't stumble upon it. That typically means hiding so that it's out of sight and/or using natural camouflage to cover up the container. Hiding it such that it's not in the common "line of sight" of someone walking down a trail helps. If there's a wooden stump a few feet from the trail that becomes a beacon for a geocacher but someone walking down the trail is not going to give it a second look.

 

As I suggested, the more time you spend *finding* a variety of caches, the easier it will be for you to determine the best way to hide one.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

This site is 1.8 miles from my house, so maintainance should be easy as it is on my usual dog walk. The nano cache will not get trampled on because it is hidden in a notch created by thick ivy stems on a tree.

It would be easily found if the seeker comes equipped with a compass due to the magnet. Should my listing say to bring a compass as special equipment needed?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

This site is 1.8 miles from my house, so maintainance should be easy as it is on my usual dog walk. The nano cache will not get trampled on because it is hidden in a notch created by thick ivy stems on a tree.

It would be easily found if the seeker comes equipped with a compass due to the magnet. Should my listing say to bring a compass as special equipment needed?

 

Although nano caches have a magnet and hide-a-key containers or adding a magnet to a small container is quite common I don't think I've ever heard of anyone using a compass to try and find a magnetic container. I suspect that you'd have to get close enough to see it before the compass arrow pointed toward the container. If someone happened to be standing south of the cache the probably wouldn't be any negligible compass arrow movement whatsoever. I have found a few caches stuck in ivy vines but they're typically a bit bigger (the smallest I've seen was a bison tube). That kind of spot would work well using a camo painted waterproof matchstick container (many larger big box sporting goods stores will have them in the camping section and they're only about a dollar or two). Also keep in mind that typical GPS accuracy is about 15-20 feet. Even when you're standing at a location which you're GPS is telling you is exactly at the coordinates published for the cache, you could be up to 30 feet away from the cache (since the cache owners GPS may also be 15-20 feet off). Trying to find a magnetic container using a compass in such a large area is not going to be easy.

[+GoblinCatcher]

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

This site is 1.8 miles from my house, so maintainance should be easy as it is on my usual dog walk. The nano cache will not get trampled on because it is hidden in a notch created by thick ivy stems on a tree.

It would be easily found if the seeker comes equipped with a compass due to the magnet. Should my listing say to bring a compass as special equipment needed?

 

Although nano caches have a magnet and hide-a-key containers or adding a magnet to a small container is quite common I don't think I've ever heard of anyone using a compass to try and find a magnetic container. I suspect that you'd have to get close enough to see it before the compass arrow pointed toward the container. If someone happened to be standing south of the cache the probably wouldn't be any negligible compass arrow movement whatsoever. I have found a few caches stuck in ivy vines but they're typically a bit bigger (the smallest I've seen was a bison tube). That kind of spot would work well using a camo painted waterproof matchstick container (many larger big box sporting goods stores will have them in the camping section and they're only about a dollar or two). Also keep in mind that typical GPS accuracy is about 15-20 feet. Even when you're standing at a location which you're GPS is telling you is exactly at the coordinates published for the cache, you could be up to 30 feet away from the cache (since the cache owners GPS may also be 15-20 feet off). Trying to find a magnetic container using a compass in such a large area is not going to be easy.

But if you have identified the tree for instance correctly, and know it is in the ivy for instance of a place the clues you decode could say to look. Simply scanning up and down the ivy with a compass would easily locate it, don't you think?

[+Brooklyn51]

But if you have identified the tree for instance correctly, and know it is in the ivy for instance of a place the clues you decode could say to look. Simply scanning up and down the ivy with a compass would easily locate it, don't you think?

 

I would guess that it's very unlikely to work as you might think. The magnetic field from a nano's magnet would be very small and very local. Someone would have to pass the compass directly over the nano and if one needs to be that close to the container in order to see an effect on a compass, it would probably be easier to just look with one's eyes. I have to agree with NYPaddler. Try a slightly larger container for the ivy and save the nano for a magnetic surface.

[+GoblinCatcher]

But if you have identified the tree for instance correctly, and know it is in the ivy for instance of a place the clues you decode could say to look. Simply scanning up and down the ivy with a compass would easily locate it, don't you think?

 

I would guess that it's very unlikely to work as you might think. The magnetic field from a nano's magnet would be very small and very local. Someone would have to pass the compass directly over the nano and if one needs to be that close to the container in order to see an effect on a compass, it would probably be easier to just look with one's eyes. I have to agree with NYPaddler. Try a slightly larger container for the ivy and save the nano for a magnetic surface.

OK

[+Brooklyn51]

kudos for thinking outside the box though.

[+niraD]

Although nano caches have a magnet and hide-a-key containers or adding a magnet to a small container is quite common I don't think I've ever heard of anyone using a compass to try and find a magnetic container.

I've found one like that. The hint told you very specifically where to search (within a radius of a couple feet), but it was still a needle-in-a-haystack hide. The cache description told you to bring a compass. If you moved the compass over the bed of rocks, then you could figure out which rock contained the blinker. Otherwise, you had to check dozens of rocks. Without the hint, you'd have to check hundreds of rocks. With a compass and spot-on coordinates, it was fun. The hint would help anyone who wasn't confident of their GZ. But if the cache description hadn't told us to bring a compass, then it would have been a lot less fun.

[+ngrrfan]

A nano in/on a vine, on a tree. Rate it as a 5, or at least a 4+ and don't worry about it. Nobody said that all caches were supposed to have a neon sign pointing to where they are hidden.

 

If it were mine, and I have one semi-similiar, it would be a 4 and the description would state that if I told you more about it then it wouldn't be rated as high.

Do tell people that they are looking for a micro using the size chart.