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Sharing a user name


QClan

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When we started caching, I signed DH and I up under one user name. I figured we'd be doing most of our caching together and be dragging along whatever children we had.

 

We do cache together much of the time, although lately we've also cached alone.

 

I've been reading back posts on the forums here, to make sure I'm following caching ettiquette while hunting and hiding caches, and have seen a few references to "team" cachers.

 

The references all seemed unfavorable, implying the team was caching just for numbers or that the team wasn't being fully honest. And I've seen comments that "if you don't sign the log, don't log it as found".

 

That's really how we feel. No log, no find. But husband and I both logged finds yesterday. We each searched on our lunch break. We were too far apart to hunt together.

 

Is this considered wrong? It seems odd to me to each have our own user name and log two finds when we're hunting together. But I don't want to be seen as lying or trying to mislead. We like seeing our numbers go up, but we geocache because it's fun and a challenge.

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People do it both ways, but if your lunch-break caches will often diverge, I'd register for a second account. One of you can keep the old one, and the other one can go back and relog the finds on the new account for the days the logs were signed, and then move forward from there. Unless it's been locked (and it probably hasn't been), you can even go back and log that first archived cache for the day you found it.

Edited by Dame Deco
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As long as one of you is signing the log, that's fine.

You'd probably get twenty different answers asking a hundred people.

If you're having fun, then what does everyone else need to know?

We regard ourselves as a team.

When CJ is in another State, I won't cache just because that's how I choose to play.

She does have her own account, but it's mainly for geocoins.

Our finds are on one account.

You're a family. Kids may play too. Would anyone think you'd need six accounts?

Keep the one if you feel fine with it. All responses are, afterall, just opinions.

Edited by cerberus1
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Just mention you were caching separately in the online log and you'll be fine.

CJ does, placing a "- CJ" at the bottom of her logs.

I don't, because most recognize our writings are entirely different (I'm often too wordy, she says).

 

I think it's in case the big divorce hits, it's just a simple gsak move and all her logs will be magically transferred to her new account. :laughing:

Edited by cerberus1
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The only problem with account like that is logging 366 day challenges, Fizzy challenges, etc.--if both weren't at each cache. For caching streaks (100 days, a year), it makes a difference if an account logs it as a find when both people didn't cache every day.

Please provide a link.

I couldn't find one that said both members of the same account needed to be present or had to cache together to qualify.

The "rules" that I saw stated that all separate accounts needed to fill each requirement if working as a team.

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They don't, no link needed, there's no such rule. And so poor souls with single accounts and no one to continue a streak when they are sick or stuck far from a cache can't complete a challenge while those with 2 cachers on one account just skate on by. I didn't mean to apply that it was a rule, or even that it SHOULD be a rule. But it's funny to see all of the F vs. DNF threads with nobody considering the fact that challenges are completed by teams with a distinct advantage over single cachers. Where are the caching purists in those cases?

Edited by Dame Deco
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They don't, no link needed, there's no such rule. And so poor souls with single accounts and no one to continue a streak when they are sick or stuck far from a cache can't complete a challenge while those with 2 cachers on one account just skate on by. I didn't mean to apply that it was a rule, or even that it SHOULD be a rule. But it's funny to see all of the F vs. DNF threads with nobody considering the fact that challenges are completed by teams with a distinct advantage over single cachers. Where are the caching purists in those cases?

Maybe this is just another reason to get rid of challenge caches.

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I've seen this done 3 ways..

  1. 1 shared account
  2. 2 separate accounts
  3. Hybrid - 1 shared account for when you finds caches together, 2 separate accounts for those you find on your own.

 

In that 3rd one I've seen it used two ways as well. Either use the separate acconts for solo finds only or, what I've seen more often, someone will log under both the team and their own account and the other will just log under their own.

 

You just have to decide what you are comfortable with and what works best for you.

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We have 1 account because my wife has only been with me for about 15 of the 264 caches "we've" found. If she suddenly wanted to do it more often, we would probably have her start a separate account and add the logs she was present for and then it would become a challenge between us for numbers.

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We have a 2-person team at the moment. (The third member is en route.)

 

Almost all of our finds are either together or just mine. I sign our logs "Christian & Kelly (hzoi)" or "Christian (half of hzoi)." For the ten or so Kelly got without me, she logged as "Kelly (half of hzoi)." So for us it's really not much of an issue.

 

If the two of you cache apart often enough that you're worried about statistics and challenges and whatnot, you may feel it's in your best interest to have an account for each of you. Or, you know, not. Either way, it will likely not affect how I sleep at night. :anibad:

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I know some couples that usually cache together but occasionally solo. Sometimes different days off, one half of the team is sick, one gets out of work in time to chase a FTF but the other doesn't, etc. I don't see anything wrong with it. And if you don't care about going back to find each other's solo finds and don't care about the seperate stats then no point in a separate account.

 

One local caching duo (friends, not a couple) have a shared account and two individual accounts.

 

Another option would be two trackables (like nametags). Dip/Visit the appropriate TB(s) for each Find.

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Interesting to see some of the responses in this thread. I have a non-caching spouse who would never want an account, so this is all foreign to me. :P She has been to about 25 of my 2,500 some finds. I don't know, if I had a spouse who liked caching, and we were finding caches separately during lunch hour, I would want to have separate accounts, but maybe that's just me. Then again, Qclan pretty much has that team name sound about it. :huh:

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It's not the end of the world, but I wouldn't do it.

 

With one (shameful) exception, I have actually been at every cache I have logged as found.

My wife had her own account before we were married. But (if that were not the case) I would absolutely insist she get her own account to log her finds.

 

There are probably no cases where she found a cache I didn't, but it would be skin-crawling weird to have a cache on my found list that I never went to.

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It's not the end of the world, but I wouldn't do it.

 

With one (shameful) exception, I have actually been at every cache I have logged as found.

My wife had her own account before we were married. But (if that were not the case) I would absolutely insist she get her own account to log her finds.

 

There are probably no cases where she found a cache I didn't, but it would be skin-crawling weird to have a cache on my found list that I never went to.

Obsessive Cache Disorder

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It's not the end of the world, but I wouldn't do it.

 

With one (shameful) exception, I have actually been at every cache I have logged as found.

My wife had her own account before we were married. But (if that were not the case) I would absolutely insist she get her own account to log her finds.

 

There are probably no cases where she found a cache I didn't, but it would be skin-crawling weird to have a cache on my found list that I never went to.

Obsessive Cache Disorder

 

I hope that is a good thing? B)

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I've seen this done 3 ways..

  1. 1 shared account
  2. 2 separate accounts
  3. Hybrid - 1 shared account for when you finds caches together, 2 separate accounts for those you find on your own.

In that 3rd one I've seen it used two ways as well. Either use the separate acconts for solo finds only or, what I've seen more often, someone will log under both the team and their own account and the other will just log under their own.

In addition to those permutations, I know families who use their shared account only for hides. Even when they sign logs using only their team name (e.g., on micro-caches with limited log space), they post all their online logs using their individual accounts.

 

Oh, and I don't see any problem with shared accounts being used to log finds as described in the original post.

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Hi all

 

I came to the game for the adventure..... finding remote places that geocaching would take me to.

Now that my wife and I know geocaching a little better... she has her own account and has hidden her own caches. Some of these caches, I have logged because I had to go and find them (without help). Because everyone in Europe are desperate to be FTF I do not log the find until others get the chance to claim that right. (am I being naive)

 

There are teams of 10 or so people that are logging 10 or 20 different finds in different Countries on the same day! Meaning that 90% of those cachers do not have any knowledge of that particular cache !!!

 

I also find that some cachers are sticking 'multiple stickers' to my logbooks, so that friends and family can claim....another find !

 

I truly thought that "the whole point of the game was to take yourself (up into the hills) and find new places, discover the 'Treasure' and have a bit of an adventure.

 

The person that introduced me to Geocaching has given the sport up because he feels his fellow country men are spoiling the game.

 

The truth is, that it also leaves me a little sad.

Edited by fascinationyacht
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We have a single account and most of our finds are done together, about 80%. Mrs. Terratin accounts for almost 11% and I the remaining 9%.

 

The only "issue" we're having, is that Mrs. Terratin travels a bit more than me. This usually means we make arrangements upfront who's going to cache and when; mostly because we don't want Mrs. Terratin to find a cache relatively far from home, then me finding one near our home location and the next day Mrs. Terratin finds another cache far away again. In practice this "rule" means Mrs. Terratin goes caching and I simply don't. (And when I tag along it usually means I'm out exploring most of the day and finding a couple of caches, while Mrs. Terratin is sitting in an office, so that's great "compensation".)

 

The real "problem" with having a single account is when Mrs. Terratin visits a country we have not found a cache yet and I cannot accompany her. In this case we upfront decide how likely it is if we visit that particular country together some day; when we think we will, Mrs. Terratin happily picks up a cache (or two), but when we think it's highly unlikely we'll ever visit that country together, she doesn't.

 

We do discuss separate accounts every now and then, but always end up wondering what the point is. Two accounts would mean (almost) twice as many logs to write and two most likely identical find logs on a single cache doesn't really add anything. In fact I think having separate accounts would only lead to more discussion: where would we draw the line if we both found a cache? What if I stay in the car and Mrs. Terratin hops out to pick up a roadside cache? Or why should I also climb up that tree when Mrs. Terratin already done that? Etc...

So, no thanks, one account is just fine for us!

 

Cheers,

 

Mr. Terratin

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We, too, like many of the couples here, cache together with one team name. I have cached solo a little bit when my wife hasn't been along on the trip, but for the most part, we have visited most of the caches in our list together. We find it much more fun that way and that's kind of the bottom line anyway, isn't it? You should cache the way it makes the most sense to you and is the most fun. It's a non-competitive game in which the only one keeping score is you.

 

The only "issue" we're having, is that Mrs. Terratin travels a bit more than me. This usually means we make arrangements upfront who's going to cache and when; mostly because we don't want Mrs. Terratin to find a cache relatively far from home, then me finding one near our home location and the next day Mrs. Terratin finds another cache far away again. In practice this "rule" means Mrs. Terratin goes caching and I simply don't.

 

I wouldn't have any problems with it if you both did pick up caches on the same day hundreds of miles apart and I'm guessing few of us would, although you might want to mention that fact in your log. :)

 

The real "problem" with having a single account is when Mrs. Terratin visits a country we have not found a cache yet and I cannot accompany her. In this case we upfront decide how likely it is if we visit that particular country together some day; when we think we will, Mrs. Terratin happily picks up a cache (or two), but when we think it's highly unlikely we'll ever visit that country together, she doesn't.

 

That's interesting because we would have done it the other way around. If there was little or no chance that the other would visit, it would be a good opportunity to pick up a few "exotic" caches.

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Now that my wife and I know geocaching a little better... she has her own account and has hidden her own caches. Some of these caches, I have logged because I had to go and find them (without help). Because everyone in Europe are desperate to be FTF I do not log the find until others get the chance to claim that right. (am I being naive)

 

I guess it depends on the situation.

 

It sounds like she gave you the coordinates and had you go find it before she published the cache. That sounds like "beta testing," and I would agree with not claiming FTF on it.

 

If you had no idea she was hiding new caches until you saw the notification email, that puts you on the same playing field as everyone else, and that would be different.

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