How to get hints and help?

[+gear02]

I tried to introduce my girlfriend to caching today but I'm not very experienced either. We managed to find a few but frustratingly failed at 3 other ones. Where can I get help and hints beyond the ones listed in on the page description, hints, and logs from others? Is there a forum to ask questions?

[jholly]

I tried to introduce my girlfriend to caching today but I'm not very experienced either. We managed to find a few but frustratingly failed at 3 other ones. Where can I get help and hints beyond the ones listed in on the page description, hints, and logs from others? Is there a forum to ask questions?

The cache owner is the best source.

[+uxorious]

If you are looking for general hints and tips, this forum should help. If you are looking for hints and tips for specific caches ask the cache owner.

[+Chief301]

You don't always find them all. You have 14 finds and only 3 DNF's, I'd call that a pretty good average. I've been caching for two years and if I go 14 for 17 I consider it a good day

 

There's always a possibility that the caches were missing. Check the recent logs....are they being found regularly or is there a string of DNF's?

 

Or, it may just be that they're tricky and you haven't quite figured out what you're looking for yet. Some of them are devious. Forget about them for awhile, go out and find a bunch of others, then come back and try again. I'd be willing to bet that you will come across a new type of cache one day and go "AHA!" when you suddenly realize where that other one must have been.

 

You may want to check out the Cool Cache Containersthread for some ideas of how caches can be hidden and camouflaged. It might give you some ideas of where to look.

[+niraD]

A common recommendation for beginners is to stick with small size, regular size, and large size caches. Until you're more experienced, avoid micro size caches, some of which are smaller than most beginners can imagine (sometimes called "nanos"). Save those for later, after you have some experience.

 

Also, stick with caches that have a difficulty rating of no more than 2 stars . Save the more difficult ones for later. You may also want to choose caches with easy terrain ratings. (The difficulty rating tells you how hard it is to find the cache once you get there. The terrain rating tells you how hard it is to get there.) And it is often best to start with traditional caches, which will be at the published coordinates. Multi-caches or mystery/puzzle caches or other cache types can require more work just to figure out where the container is located.

 

Under ideal conditions, a consumer GPSr will be accurate to about 3m (10'). That applies both to your device, and to the cache owner’s device, so you may find the container 15-20' from ground zero under ideal conditions. Under less than ideal conditions, both GPSr readings can be much less accurate. Once you get within that distance of ground zero, put your device away and look around for places where a container could be hidden.

 

Go ahead and read the cache's additional hints (if provided), and read the past logs and look at any photos in the cache's image gallery. They may help you understand what you're looking for, and how/where it may be hidden. It may also help to look at some of the cache containers available online. For example, check out the cache containers sold by Groundspeak. Also, take a look at the Pictures - Cool Cache Containers (CCC's) thread in the forums.

[TheDoctorPH]

everyone else gave the info your looking for so i'll just say this.

 

dont give up. nothing feels better than avenging a DNF.