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What Irks you most?


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I am irked by not having enough time to go out an find caches.

 

Also, the small to nano's hidden in the woods where a much larger satisfying container could be placed.

 

When I started out in this sport/hobby I was planning on staying away from small to nano sizes, as it turns out that seems to the majority of what I have found so far. I am sure they have their place or they would not exist, but when you have them hid in places that a larger container would be better off, I leave the find frustrated.

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Micro in the woods with no hint available - especially when there is a series of caches in a 19 mile stretch and you have driven 2 hours to get there.

 

What's really fun is when you're looking for a film pot, the coordinates take you to an apparently random point in the woods where all you can see for hundreds of yards in all directions is trees covered with ivy, and the clue helpfully says "ivy covered tree".

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A LPC at some really dirty place (with a couple of throwdowns at the neighbouring lampposts). One meter distance to a wall of military installation with a "Trespassers will be shot dead" plaque and a CCTV camera. No container and logbook, just a small piece of wet paper full with "TFTC" logs in a cracked tic-tac plastic box. No parking. No hints. This hide should be the end of a 12km walk (described as a 1.2 km walk at the website) involving crossing of some bogs with 10 similar steps/spots where one has to count trees in woods and exhausting calculations (final coordinates should be 50 meters off). This walk should be preceded by a complex puzzle with a couple of mistakes in it translated from some unknown language into English with Google Translate.

 

This is how it could look like. You're welcome to add more ideas to this. One who decides to place such a geocache should certainly abandon it and don't reply to any logs and PMs.

Ooh! Sounds like a lot of fun! I'm planning a vacation around this one next summer! Who wants to join me?!

 

;)

 

I'll join you and since I've already solved the puzzle I'll post the solution here in case anyone else wants to find it.

 

Hopefully, that cache will get published before the end of August so we'll get a souvenir.

 

 

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I have to add this one... I am irked by other cachers that think it is a criminal act to help a CO out of an act of kindness by either replacing a container or freshening up the cache with a new log or the like.

 

Ok, you "help" out a cache owner by putting another container out. The next cacher or cachers come along and find your container. Then the cache owner checks and finds his cache right where it was supposed to be with none of the signatures of the more recent finds in it. He looks around some more and then finds the container you left. Hmmmm,,, looks to me like those more recent finders didn't find the real cache. Imo, you caused confusion and did more harm than good.

 

I've come across this situation more than once, and yes, it does irk me somewhat. <_<

Anything for a smiley i guess. :rolleyes:

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This topic has generated a lot of talk! I like geocaching for the adventure of each hunt. I expect each one to be different so nothing really throws me. But the one think that does irk me is people who do not log trackables (TBs, geocoins, etc.) Come on! If you are not going to be able to move it along (size, etc.) then do not pick it up!

 

One more thing . . . rules should be changed that a cache can not be hid until the owner has found at least 50 caches (or something like that). I have recently tried to find caches that the owner has found 3 caches. Seriously! One person had only found 1 cache and decided to hide one. It was, of course, on private property without permission! That cache was archieved (and lots of cachers upset - that FTF thing).

 

Enough! I love caching and am so thankful to everone who has ever hide a cache!

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I have to add this one... I am irked by other cachers that think it is a criminal act to help a CO out of an act of kindness by either replacing a container or freshening up the cache with a new log or the like.

I've never heard of anyone who considered throwdown caching to be criminal.

Annoying, maybe. But criminal? Holy carp! You cache with a tough crowd! :lol:

I have a few personal rules I apply to the aforementioned scenarios;

I will replace a cache, but I will only do so with the cache owner's explicit consent. When I do, I use the same container as the original, get detailed information regarding the hide, and post my efforts as a note, rather than a find. As to performing maintenance on another owner's cache? If the cache is what I consider to be a quality hide, I will go miles out of my way to help. But if it's a crappy cache, I won't go so far as to pull a scrap of paper out of my pocket to replace the log. My thinking is thus... There are hiders who either don't know what containers suck, and there are those who simply don't care about quality, and will place crappy containers just to save a few pennies. For those who don't know, being forced to do their own maintenance might educate them. For those who don't care, perhaps having to get off their butts and conduct maintenance might compel them to use quality containers.

 

Don't be a crappy cache enabler. B)

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1. Descriptions that are poems...because just, ugh. Not everyone thinks the same, and sometimes, deciphering these poems is problematic.

2. Bad hints...or no hints when there should be one (because the game is supposed to be fun, not super hard).

3. When cache creators delete logs and photos. I just think there should be more integrity to the game than that.

4. When a cache has traveled from its original coords...more specifically, when a cache in the woods that is supposed to be in a hole at the bottom of a tree (and the cache description confirms this) has now wandered to somewhere out in the open, leaving it even more vulnerable to the elements...and people have found it and just leave it there, even with a note! Isn't part of the game also maintaining the game? So, put it back where it belongs, leave a note that it moved, be sure to camo it again, right?

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When someone is FTF, but then they take an age to post their log online. Then I dash out, get to GZ, feel all excited that I'm going to be FTF; only to find the log is already signed.

 

What irks me? People who think they are entitled to be notified if they are not going to be FTF on a cache. Part of the FTF side game is not knowing if you are first and feeling the rush hit you when you find out you are. I cannot understand how such self-entitlement can motivate a person to think that they must be placated by an immediate FTF log, lest they actually be disappointed if they come in second.

 

So true!

 

I use various listing sites for my caching pleasures. I sign the log of caches I find, but don't make any online entries (just not my thing). I track all my finds and such in GSAK. I don't play the FTF part of the game, but I have found a few that had no other signatures in the log (normally posted on other sites). A few years ago, I found a cache listed on another site which at the time wasn't cross posted on GC.com. About a week later the CO published on this site, probably not more than 2 or 3 hours after it was published I received an email from the next to find upset that I didn't log it online in a timely manner! He said he wouldn't have bothered to run out and look for it if he had known I had already found it! He then proceeded to accused me of cheating (being with the CO when it was placed) as the date on my signature was the week prior! :/

 

You know, if you are not going to log your finds, most of us cache owners appreciate at least a simple note, ("found your cache, everything's good"), when someone finds our caches. You can delete it afterwards if you wish.

 

I could, but I won't. :)

 

May I then suggest at least a "thank you for placing the cache" email to the CO if you don't want to log online, don't you think they deserve at least that for taking the time and trouble to place the cache in the first place?

 

I honestly don't care if someone thanks me or not, but a found log or note lets me know that the cache is still there. I'm more concerned about the status of my cache than I am about someone elses bad manners.

 

 

I also do not care if someone found my cache and didn't log it.. mainly because I'd never know. As stated in other posts, sometimes CO's don't check the log for months or years or EVER (if it gets muggled). It's basically no harm no foul. As a CO, I'm also very lenient on people SIGNING the log. If someone posts the find, but says "I couldn't sign it because there were too many muggles around, but I saw it and found it," that's good enough for me. The beauty of this game is To Each Their Own. And at the end of the day, it's just a "game", and not even one where we "win" anything. For those leaving "thank yous", I appreciate it. But I didn't start hiding these things to stroke my own ego with appreciation. That may have come out wrong; I apologize if it sounds like I'm criticizing others. I don't mean to. But again, to each their own.

 

I am also more concerned with knowing if my caches are still ok, and there will be enough people logging about that where I don't have to worry about those who don't log at all.

 

But to stay on topic here, my irks are horrible hints with an evil hide. I believe a sliding scale is best. The harder the hide, the better the hint. There are people who love that extra "challenge" but frustration kicks in quick with me. The worst hints are the red-herring type like "Magnetic", when the hid is a piece of wood with magnets attached to a wooden fence (where the metal it's attached to is hidden). Argh.

Edited by agltbialik
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2. Bad hints...or no hints when there should be one (because the game is supposed to be fun, not super hard).

 

Although bad (useless) hints are a bit irksome, not posting a hint has it's place. Groundspeak provides difficulty ratings from 1 (easy) to 5 (super hard). Not all caches are supposed to be easy and some people actually enjoy the challenge of trying a find a super hard cache. Fortunately the difficulty ratings gives us an easy way for us to filter out those that we don't want to try to find.

 

 

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2. Bad hints...or no hints when there should be one (because the game is supposed to be fun, not super hard).

 

Although bad (useless) hints are a bit irksome, not posting a hint has it's place. Groundspeak provides difficulty ratings from 1 (easy) to 5 (super hard). Not all caches are supposed to be easy and some people actually enjoy the challenge of trying a find a super hard cache. Fortunately the difficulty ratings gives us an easy way for us to filter out those that we don't want to try to find.

 

I've had endless debates and discussions on the exclusion of a hint and the difficulty rating of a cache. Personally, I think a cache can be a 5D and still have a hint, because the find, in and of itself, would still be impossible to find. The hint is just there for help if you're stuck, and could be completely ignored if you wish to have more of a challenge. I don't feel that a difficulty rating should lower because a hint is involved. It's like a video game - you can set the difficulty rating super high, but you can also use a cheat code. When you input the cheat code, the difficulty rating doesn't just lower down. A lot of people, obviously, feel otherwise.

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My biggest complaint is since I live in a rural area of the Midwestern USA sometimes you drive miles out of your way to find 1 cache only to get there and the cache is missing or hasn't been maintained!! People log maintenance needed and they are ignored!! Why hide caches and then not take care of them. Give them to somebody else that cares about geocaching or archive it!!

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I think I should differentiate between different levels of irkyness.

 

What annoys me:

- my own stupidity. Not being able to spot many easy caches is but the least of it. My main issue with myself is that I am not able to keep a good record of multi-step stations which I did not find and solved puzzles. Well, nobody can change that but me.

- too many similar caches too close together. As we say in Germany, our great Lord, he has a large zoological garden with very different animals. And everybody can enjoy caching the way (s)he likes. Some love puzzles (I do) others don't (look at this thread), some love the physical challenges of climbind trees, others don't. Some like the easy daily find of a magnetic film container, others are bored. But if one area is filled with trails or difficult or boring puzzles or T5 climbing gear caches, you just block the whole area for others.

(Re: film containers, a hint to Americans going to central Europe: "LPC" means something entirely different around here, namely "Lost Place Cache", a cache in or around an abandoned structure. These usually are of a somewhat higher quality if you are interested in them. It doesn't mean "lamp post" at all)

- drawing pictures on the map. Cute, you made an "M" for the name of your city with Unknowns. I think it's more silly than cute. Also, in my experience, these often tend to be "caches for the sake of placing a cache", i. e. not interesting at all.

 

What irks me:

- some types of logs. I do not expect everybody to write a long story for every find, and when I started I did not know what to write, what would be interesting or important. But especially rambling c&p logs which you find on all caches in your area, with hundreds (literally!) of smilies and overly abitious wording, which does not change in the least whatever you log (we have one cacher in the area who apparently "had in the end found this nice but doable hide, signed the logbook and moved on happily" even on earthcaches. Also people who only log about themselves "CoolGuy was here, yeah! You've been found by the greatest".

- too many people not logging DNFs. True, more often than not it's just me really being blind, but if they pile up, that could be an indication that something is amiss. Nothing as fun as looking for a 1/1 in an obvious location with an obvious hint, finding nothing, and later realizing that this cache used to be found almost daily until it stopped and nobody found it during six weeks - a timespan in which some must have tried it.

- strange owner reactions to DNF logs. I had two of them. In one I simply logged a DNF along the lines of "did not find it but had not too much time on my hands, will be back", getting a response "if you won't take the time don't play this game - you should only log DNF if you're sure it isn't there". The other was "I never had a DNF on this cache, you're ruining my statistics, I will delete it" (which did not happen btw).

 

What really shouldn't happen:

- blatant disregard of your environs. It's not only the 150 yards off the tracks in a protected area (which would be forbidden), it's drilling holes in perfectly healthy trees, it's finding a lot of rubbish in a place where most of it must come from fellow cachers, it's destruction of constructions to get to the cache, it's so much

- cheating. True, you're only cheating yourself when you log that one you did not find but were in the general area, but you also give a wrong feedback to the owner. I've seen too many found logs in places where there definitely wasn't a cache anymore. Also, somebody used a sockpuppet in the area to give himself a full matrix - I noticed a new 4.5/4.5 in the area, decided on a nice day to try it and have fun, and found a standard tube thrown behind the bushes in an area where you'd have been pressed hard to even see something approaching 4.5 terrain. That's when cheating starts to affect me.

- wrong assignments even of the most clear ratings, especially terrain 1. I've had half a mile of steep gravel paths rated as 1 - "well, you're in the mountains, we do it all the time". The worst offender was a T1, even with the "wheelchair accessible" tag, 10 feet into the woods more than 2 meters up a fence on an abandoned structure. I posted a "NM" log, asking to reassign the rating and remove the tag - the owner immediately responded with an "owner maintenance" to the effect of "well, if somebody else does not find this okay, (s)he can place it in a different site". I wrote to the owner and asked for the reason - "Well, Rollis (slightly derogatory term for wheelchair users in Germany) never go on a hunt alone anyway, so a friend can pick it and they can move up to 10 feet, so they're basically with the others."

- hiding important information in the "hints" section. I usually start with the challenge without a hint but am not above using it before frustration kicks in. Imagine the joy when you finally look at the hint after 30 minutes of searching and finding "Don't forget an UV lamp/2 meters of string" or "This cache is not available on weekends" or stuff like that. In my opinion that belongs in the cache description.

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I think I should differentiate between different levels of irkyness.

 

What annoys me:

- my own stupidity. Not being able to spot many easy caches is but the least of it. My main issue with myself is that I am not able to keep a good record of multi-step stations which I did not find and solved puzzles. Well, nobody can change that but me.

- too many similar caches too close together. As we say in Germany, our great Lord, he has a large zoological garden with very different animals. And everybody can enjoy caching the way (s)he likes. Some love puzzles (I do) others don't (look at this thread), some love the physical challenges of climbind trees, others don't. Some like the easy daily find of a magnetic film container, others are bored. But if one area is filled with trails or difficult or boring puzzles or T5 climbing gear caches, you just block the whole area for others.

(Re: film containers, a hint to Americans going to central Europe: "LPC" means something entirely different around here, namely "Lost Place Cache", a cache in or around an abandoned structure. These usually are of a somewhat higher quality if you are interested in them. It doesn't mean "lamp post" at all)

- drawing pictures on the map. Cute, you made an "M" for the name of your city with Unknowns. I think it's more silly than cute. Also, in my experience, these often tend to be "caches for the sake of placing a cache", i. e. not interesting at all.

 

What irks me:

- some types of logs. I do not expect everybody to write a long story for every find, and when I started I did not know what to write, what would be interesting or important. But especially rambling c&p logs which you find on all caches in your area, with hundreds (literally!) of smilies and overly abitious wording, which does not change in the least whatever you log (we have one cacher in the area who apparently "had in the end found this nice but doable hide, signed the logbook and moved on happily" even on earthcaches. Also people who only log about themselves "CoolGuy was here, yeah! You've been found by the greatest".

- too many people not logging DNFs. True, more often than not it's just me really being blind, but if they pile up, that could be an indication that something is amiss. Nothing as fun as looking for a 1/1 in an obvious location with an obvious hint, finding nothing, and later realizing that this cache used to be found almost daily until it stopped and nobody found it during six weeks - a timespan in which some must have tried it.

- strange owner reactions to DNF logs. I had two of them. In one I simply logged a DNF along the lines of "did not find it but had not too much time on my hands, will be back", getting a response "if you won't take the time don't play this game - you should only log DNF if you're sure it isn't there". The other was "I never had a DNF on this cache, you're ruining my statistics, I will delete it" (which did not happen btw).

 

What really shouldn't happen:

- blatant disregard of your environs. It's not only the 150 yards off the tracks in a protected area (which would be forbidden), it's drilling holes in perfectly healthy trees, it's finding a lot of rubbish in a place where most of it must come from fellow cachers, it's destruction of constructions to get to the cache, it's so much

- cheating. True, you're only cheating yourself when you log that one you did not find but were in the general area, but you also give a wrong feedback to the owner. I've seen too many found logs in places where there definitely wasn't a cache anymore. Also, somebody used a sockpuppet in the area to give himself a full matrix - I noticed a new 4.5/4.5 in the area, decided on a nice day to try it and have fun, and found a standard tube thrown behind the bushes in an area where you'd have been pressed hard to even see something approaching 4.5 terrain. That's when cheating starts to affect me.

- wrong assignments even of the most clear ratings, especially terrain 1. I've had half a mile of steep gravel paths rated as 1 - "well, you're in the mountains, we do it all the time". The worst offender was a T1, even with the "wheelchair accessible" tag, 10 feet into the woods more than 2 meters up a fence on an abandoned structure. I posted a "NM" log, asking to reassign the rating and remove the tag - the owner immediately responded with an "owner maintenance" to the effect of "well, if somebody else does not find this okay, (s)he can place it in a different site". I wrote to the owner and asked for the reason - "Well, Rollis (slightly derogatory term for wheelchair users in Germany) never go on a hunt alone anyway, so a friend can pick it and they can move up to 10 feet, so they're basically with the others."

- hiding important information in the "hints" section. I usually start with the challenge without a hint but am not above using it before frustration kicks in. Imagine the joy when you finally look at the hint after 30 minutes of searching and finding "Don't forget an UV lamp/2 meters of string" or "This cache is not available on weekends" or stuff like that. In my opinion that belongs in the cache description.

 

Wow, I didn't really read it but thats a lot of stuff irking you, maybe it's time to quit Geocaching, you might live longer.

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Oh, lest I forget (the "should not be done" category):

 

Inappropriate swag. I personally do not care about it at all and it seems generally less common over here to trade it, but some caches do have som stuff inside. Unfortunately sometimes it's food, alcohol, fire crackers...

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Wow, I didn't really read it but thats a lot of stuff irking you, maybe it's time to quit Geocaching, you might live longer.

 

That's why I separated it by differing levels - and maybe I am underestimating the value of "irking". But if in two years and 1500+ caches you can name 9 things only, I think you're well off. About living longer I probably should give up moderating an online forum, though ;)

 

OTOH, if you are irked by puzzles, you would have deterioring health in central to western Europe :)

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Snipped

 

Wow, I didn't really read it but thats a lot of stuff irking you, maybe it's time to quit Geocaching, you might live longer.

 

Maybe you should have read it then. You may have come to a different conclusion. There is some really silly stuff there. I'd be irked too.

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I'm still new, but after reading all of the posts (i'm procrastinating right now) i agree with some of the things that have been raised.

It really irks me when micro and nano caches are listed as small. As someone new at this, I've gone looking for a few caches that are highlighted as green because they are listed as small but they're really micros. In one case, the micro was in a piece of wood that, if hollowed out fully, would be a small container, but it only had room for the micro container.

I also don't like caches that are on, or very close to private property. There was one that seemed to be right in someone's front garden, well within what would be their private property. The name of the cache and the description suggested that it was in their garden and I felt quite uncomfortable. I cache using my smartphone so I thought it might have been slightly off, but i checked the logs and experienced cachers had the same issue and many just logged DNF and left.

I don't like TFTC logs either. I may not own any caches, but as someone who is still inexperienced and looks to the logs as extra help and, at times, suggestions that i'm on the right track, i like seeing more than just a few letters. Heck, I think I'd enjoy reading logs even if I wasn't looking for clues. I always log from my phone in the field and it's not that hard to write more than a few letters. Maybe it's because I like to read, but I've read some great logs that have made me laugh and I'd rather see more of those than log after log of TFTC. Interestingly enough, I found that there were more tiny logs and copy-paste logs when I started in my smaller hometown than here in the city, which I wasn't expecting.

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I understand those who don't like TFTC put in for a log but sometimes it just fits. I mean If you find a hide with little effort, in no place special and it appears it was just stuck there for numbers? What else is there to say?

 

I'm sorry I have things to do and time is always flying by. Giving a long log for a cache that is not in an interesting area or is not creative in the least needs a TFTC.

Edited by Bassbully
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I understand those who don't like TFTC put in for a log but sometimes it just fits. I mean If you find a hide with little effort, in no place special and it appears it was just stuck there for numbers? What else is there to say?

 

I'm sorry I have things to do and time is always flying by. Giving a long log for a cache that is not in an interesting area or is not creative in the least needs a TFTC.

When I'm faced with a cache so crappy that I honestly can't say a single positive thing about it, I just walk away. I don't need the smiley so bad that I would be willing to lie about it. TFTC translates literally to Thanks For The Cache. I am not thankful for a soggy log film can tossed into the shrubbery, next to a Burger King dumpster.

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I understand those who don't like TFTC put in for a log but sometimes it just fits. I mean If you find a hide with little effort, in no place special and it appears it was just stuck there for numbers? What else is there to say?

 

I'm sorry I have things to do and time is always flying by. Giving a long log for a cache that is not in an interesting area or is not creative in the least needs a TFTC.

 

I don't have a problem with that. If it is painfully obvious that the ONLY reason a particular cache is there is simply to be found, My log will be very short. I still stay away from TFTC, however.

 

I was looking at this guys 25 stage multi and right in the middle of all the multi-paragraph logs was a log entry that consisted of "TFTC" and nothing more. That, in my opinion, is just plain wrong.

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I understand those who don't like TFTC put in for a log but sometimes it just fits. I mean If you find a hide with little effort, in no place special and it appears it was just stuck there for numbers? What else is there to say?

 

I'm sorry I have things to do and time is always flying by. Giving a long log for a cache that is not in an interesting area or is not creative in the least needs a TFTC.

When I'm faced with a cache so crappy that I honestly can't say a single positive thing about it, I just walk away. I don't need the smiley so bad that I would be willing to lie about it. TFTC translates literally to Thanks For The Cache. I am not thankful for a soggy log film can tossed into the shrubbery, next to a Burger King dumpster.

 

If I find it, I log it. If it as you describe, I also log a NM. There are plenty of caches where I arrive at GZ and don't even get out of the car or only get out long enough for my handheld to get a better fix and confirm that I don't want to look for that cache. If it's really deplorable, I'll post a DNF which the CO promptly deletes. Usually I just move on to the next one and add the cache to my ignore list when I get home. But, if I were to go behind the dumpster and find the cache, I'm logging it because that is what happened.

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I always log from my phone in the field and it's not that hard to write more than a few letters.

 

Same here. I almost always use my smartphone to record the visit as a field note or personal note. Then when I'm at a computer I flesh it out. Sometimes I log the visit at the site (example, if I'm FTF) and always leave at least a sentence and no acronyms and something that describes my visit to that particular cache. I agree that it's not that hard. If you can email or text message on your phone, you can write more then a few letters.

 

I understand those who don't like TFTC put in for a log but sometimes it just fits. I mean If you find a hide with little effort, in no place special and it appears it was just stuck there for numbers? What else is there to say?

 

I'm sorry I have things to do and time is always flying by. Giving a long log for a cache that is not in an interesting area or is not creative in the least needs a TFTC.

 

If I have nothing to say about the cache but it's a good-enough experience I would write "Thanks for the cache" not "TFTC", because I don't want my message to be interpreted as "I have nothing good to say so I'll say TFTC."

 

If the cache is a crappy experience I'm going to say something. For example:

  • A micro listed as small: "The film canister was filled with the logsheet, no room for swag so tnln" or "I filter out micro-sized caches because I enjoy the swag aspect of the game, so I was surprised to find a bison tube listed as a small."
  • A Gladware container for a book-theme cache: "The gladware container has developed a crack and the books are damp and moldy."

Edited by Löne R
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I'm new at this, but what irks me the most is when people write spoilers in their logs. Just a couple hours ago,I was checking a few caches I hadn't found, to see if there were any where the cache was muggled. One person gave very specific clues to the location

of a cache.

 

I mean, I have been doing this only a few weeks, but it seems obvious to me that one shouldn't give clues that the CO didn't provide.

 

Also, although this might fall more into the category of personal preference, I tend not to like caches where I am likely to get scratched or swatted in the face by a branch in order for me to find.

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I'm new at this, but what irks me the most is when people write spoilers in their logs. Just a couple hours ago,I was checking a few caches I hadn't found, to see if there were any where the cache was muggled. One person gave very specific clues to the location

of a cache.

 

I mean, I have been doing this only a few weeks, but it seems obvious to me that one shouldn't give clues that the CO didn't provide.

 

Also, although this might fall more into the category of personal preference, I tend not to like caches where I am likely to get scratched or swatted in the face by a branch in order for me to find.

Most people wouldn't post it online, at very least. Privately can be a bit different situation. As for that log you mention, the CO can either request it be deleted/ edited, or can simply delete it with explanation that it can be relogged minus the spoiler.

 

As for 'brushy' caches, many places that's the norm... wearing eye protection long sleeves/pants and gloves can help. Don't push and release suddenly, don't follow too close to people who might, and always look around for a less brushy approach to GZ, the CO likely did. Sometimes the cache predates the new growth however. Note that many of the plants like Poison Ivy and Sumac or Oak grow up after the fact as well.

 

Happy caching

Doug 7rxc

Edited by 7rxc
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(Re: film containers, a hint to Americans going to central Europe: "LPC" means something entirely different around here, namely "Lost Place Cache", a cache in or around an abandoned structure. These usually are of a somewhat higher quality if you are interested in them. It doesn't mean "lamp post" at all)

 

Agreeing with the most, but I usually decipher the use of "LPC" as german abbr. for "Leit-Planken-Cache" (= guard rail cache), so it could mean essentially the same as "crappy, unthoughtful hidden film canister at a bad location".

 

BTW, it irks me to read long forum topics instead of going out caching. ;)

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When people thank the Power Trail owner for a cache we planted (and put some work into it - swag size, real Lock & Lock, LBH with a handcarved block of one of the headstone symbols and a write-up that includes history about the cemetery). And our cemetery cache is not on the rail trail power trail - it's about 3/4 of a mile away. There are several logs on our cache that thank the PT owners.

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Oh, lest I forget (the "should not be done" category):

 

Inappropriate swag. I personally do not care about it at all and it seems generally less common over here to trade it, but some caches do have som stuff inside. Unfortunately sometimes it's food, alcohol, fire crackers...

 

If it's small stuff I just take it away and dispose of it. I did once find an ammo can that had at least half a dozen bars of really smelly soap in it. I didn't take those away because it was a fair hike back to the car and I didn't want my backpack to stink of the nasty soap.

 

I do wonder what sort of person leaves a condom in a geocache - I mean who would trust their contraceptive needs to something placed by persons unknown and sitting in a container in unknown conditions for an unknown amount of time? So on that basis I'd wonder even more at someone who took a condom for reasons other than to throw it away.

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I got a good one..

 

Those who find oodles of caches but don't give back by hiding <and maintaining> their own.

You just hit my nerve....right on...cachers with 6 or 8 thousand caches and 5 or maybe 17 hides.

They are just like leeches.

Hiding caches isn't the only way to "give back".

 

I'll take dozens of these "leeches" rather than one person who hides lame unmaintained caches because he feels pressured to "give back".

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I got a good one..

 

Those who find oodles of caches but don't give back by hiding <and maintaining> their own.

 

You just hit my nerve....right on...cachers with 6 or 8 thousand caches and 5 or maybe 17 hides.

They are just like leeches.

 

You'd love me then, 2100 finds and one hide (which was an event eight years ago).

 

I'd rather not hide anything than pick a spot that isn't really very good, dump a cache there and not maintain it just because someone on the interweb thought I should act a certain way.

 

Maintaining a cache is a lot more of a commitment than finding a cache. Not everybody is able or willing to commit to looking after a cache for an extended time, especially in high muggle areas. And given how vocal I am about getting weary of film pots I'm not going to just chuck a film pot behind a post to tick a box.

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When you ask an owner of an establishment if you can place a cache on their property, they agree, just to find that someone has placed a thoughtless August souvenir cache nearby that didn't have any thought to it that was published just as you were going to submit it.

Edited by MisterE250
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To me the worst thing that has happened to geocaching is Phone-A-Friend. The game is not even close to being the same since Phone-A-Friend.

Because stats are kept and pats on the back are given for finding the hard ones I believe that GC should add to the [Found] button in the drop down menu, one that says [Found using extra help]. Then that level 5 you are claiming to have found all on your own is added only as a level 1. I think PAF is effecting the effort hiders are willing to take to make a hard to find cache. What is the point in making a fake limb on a fake tree in a fake forest in a fake country if the leading cache finders in your State just tell everyone who calls them exactly where your hide is and how it is hidden? The older cachers went to a lot of trouble to make hides interesting and challenging but the new cachers are just dropping 35MM in the leaves for hides and logging finds as TFTC, what is the point in anything else. And who can blame them for lame hides if difficulty level means absolutely nothing anymore.

Almost everyone wants to see some value to their effort and especially if it is voluntary. Finders may just not post that they called someone so they still get that level 5 diff on their stats but give them the option to come clean. Geocaching is a game/sport where you find things using a GPS, not by calling someone and being told to look under the rock left of the oak tree.

So what irks me? PAF. Both those using it and those being one of them. (the hider has already told you what they wanted you to know and set the diff level based on that.)

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To me the worst thing that has happened to geocaching is Phone-A-Friend. The game is not even close to being the same since Phone-A-Friend.

Because stats are kept and pats on the back are given for finding the hard ones I believe that GC should add to the [Found] button in the drop down menu, one that says [Found using extra help]. Then that level 5 you are claiming to have found all on your own is added only as a level 1. I think PAF is effecting the effort hiders are willing to take to make a hard to find cache. What is the point in making a fake limb on a fake tree in a fake forest in a fake country if the leading cache finders in your State just tell everyone who calls them exactly where your hide is and how it is hidden? The older cachers went to a lot of trouble to make hides interesting and challenging but the new cachers are just dropping 35MM in the leaves for hides and logging finds as TFTC, what is the point in anything else. And who can blame them for lame hides if difficulty level means absolutely nothing anymore.

Almost everyone wants to see some value to their effort and especially if it is voluntary. Finders may just not post that they called someone so they still get that level 5 diff on their stats but give them the option to come clean. Geocaching is a game/sport where you find things using a GPS, not by calling someone and being told to look under the rock left of the oak tree.

So what irks me? PAF. Both those using it and those being one of them. (the hider has already told you what they wanted you to know and set the diff level based on that.)

 

Nobody forces you to PAF and people are already free to comment on how they called someone for help along the way. People who don't volunteer the information in their log aren't going to suddenly volunteer it because there's an option to say they had some help.

 

Mobile phones existed before geocaching so PAF has always been an option.

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I have to say that nothing really irks me - I go out, I have fun with my kids. If we find a cache we log it and try to add a little bit about the journey there, if we don't we log a DNF and look at it as a challenge for next time. We don't get the chance to go a lot, but we enjoy every minute of the time we do. It's even more enjoyable because I don't really worry about how others play. ;-)

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Taking time to place a cache that is unique (theme, location, swag, etc), only to have the cacher complain about some aspect of it (coordinates were off, couldn't find it, took me longer than I wanted, etc). A CO's only reward for placing the cache is the appreciation of those who find it. When all they can do is whine, it is a real downer.

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Taking time to place a cache that is unique (theme, location, swag, etc), only to have the cacher complain about some aspect of it (coordinates were off, couldn't find it, took me longer than I wanted, etc). A CO's only reward for placing the cache is the appreciation of those who find it. When all they can do is whine, it is a real downer.

 

I got a log today on a tough multi of mine where the finder said I should be shot. The final is in a swampy spot and he got all muddy/wet trying to reach GZ.

 

It's a 5 star cache, buddy. What did you expect?

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I understand those who don't like TFTC put in for a log but sometimes it just fits. I mean If you find a hide with little effort, in no place special and it appears it was just stuck there for numbers? What else is there to say?

 

I'm sorry I have things to do and time is always flying by. Giving a long log for a cache that is not in an interesting area or is not creative in the least needs a TFTC.

When I'm faced with a cache so crappy that I honestly can't say a single positive thing about it, I just walk away. I don't need the smiley so bad that I would be willing to lie about it. TFTC translates literally to Thanks For The Cache. I am not thankful for a soggy log film can tossed into the shrubbery, next to a Burger King dumpster.

 

If I find it, I log it. If it as you describe, I also log a NM. There are plenty of caches where I arrive at GZ and don't even get out of the car or only get out long enough for my handheld to get a better fix and confirm that I don't want to look for that cache. If it's really deplorable, I'll post a DNF which the CO promptly deletes. Usually I just move on to the next one and add the cache to my ignore list when I get home. But, if I were to go behind the dumpster and find the cache, I'm logging it because that is what happened.

 

Ach, What do I know? But I will tell people what I think, Did some very nice caches in interesting parks. Headed out for some solved mystery caches. Ah! There are some caches near the highway... Well, not my part of the state. I'm not used to hundreds of stores and shopping centers just off a major highway... Pulled into the shopping center. Hmm... Large parts abandoned. Empty stores. Road flooded (hasn't rained in a fair while.) Parked at a 'for rent' podiatry center. Walked across an empty parking lot. Across a dried stream bed (between abandoned parking lots) that could use a major CITO event. "Let your inner beauty shine." Beauty?!? There is no beauty anywhere nearby! Interesting hollow stump on a tree... Nope. Not there. Ah! A Mason jar (with rusted lid) under a lamp post skirt! I will log my finds, and tell you what I think. "Why? Why? Why would you bring me here?!?!?"

The response from the CO was: "There's no pleasing some people." AARGH!

Why? Why would anyone hide a cache here???

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