Useless Hints

[+ShaunEM]

Personally, I post a hint that will ensure the cacher looking at this hint will find the cache.It also allows someone to call it in the case of the cache being muggled.. that can happen!

 

There is a group of CO out there that like to ensure other cachers suffer.

 

These are the same people that place their caches in a VERY public place and post something like "use stealth".

 

Shaun

[+Sharks-N-Beans]

I came across this one:

 

Nothing needed to say to help out with this one, but I thot I would type in the hints section just to make it look like there is some help here.

 

[whofarted75]

"While reading this you were bit by 5 mosquitoes."

 

Yeah, very helpful! Thanks.

[whofarted75]

These are the same people that place their caches in a VERY public place and post something like "use stealth".

Yeah, I tried looking for 1 like that recently. It's in an commercial area. Contains only a trash can, a bench, and a sign. It is surrounded by 3 subdivision type roads and 1 side is off of a major road.

 

You might as well wear a sign that says call the police I'm very suspicious. LOL x)

[+FraenCache]

my recent "favourite" was:

 

"Trust your GPS"

 

NO WAY, dear owner! I only trust my sextant when I´m out for caches! *duh

[+frinklabs]

Approx 20m off the trail. There is something in the cache for the FTF

[+FunnyNose]

Here is a hint that from a cache I recently found

Could have been stated in one word.

 

What rolls down stairs alone or in pairs

Rolls over your neighbor's dog?

What's great for a snack and fits on your back?

It's Log Log Log

 

It's Log, Log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.

It's Log, Log, it's better than bad, it's good!

Everyone wants a log! You're gonna love it, Log!

Come on and get your log! Everyone needs a Log!"

[+redsox_mark]

Not totally useless, but of little use I find are hints which tell you about the container only, e.g. "purple box". Knowing what colour it is doesn't really help me much. I prefer a hint which helps narrow down the search area.

[+SwineFlew]

I see bad hints or no hints tear up the area when the cache is really MIA. I feel if its a super easy cache, a hint will let the cachers know its MIA.

[Mr.Yuck]

Here is a hint that from a cache I recently found

Could have been stated in one word.

 

What rolls down stairs alone or in pairs

Rolls over your neighbor's dog?

What's great for a snack and fits on your back?

It's Log Log Log

 

It's Log, Log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.

It's Log, Log, it's better than bad, it's good!

Everyone wants a log! You're gonna love it, Log!

Come on and get your log! Everyone needs a Log!"

 

Yeah, but then it wouldn't be a reference to the awesome Cartooon The Ren and Stimpy Show which ran on Nickelodeon from 1991-1996.

[+hzoi]

Here is a hint that from a cache I recently found

Could have been stated in one word.

 

What rolls down stairs alone or in pairs

Rolls over your neighbor's dog?

What's great for a snack and fits on your back?

It's Log Log Log

 

It's Log, Log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.

It's Log, Log, it's better than bad, it's good!

Everyone wants a log! You're gonna love it, Log!

Come on and get your log! Everyone needs a Log!"

 

Yeah, but then it wouldn't be a reference to the awesome Cartooon The Ren and Stimpy Show which ran on Nickelodeon from 1991-1996.

Not a useless hint. Might be a little long, but it ain't useless. (And, yes, a great reference.)

[+FunnyNose]

Here is a hint that from a cache I recently found

Could have been stated in one word.

 

What rolls down stairs alone or in pairs

Rolls over your neighbor's dog?

What's great for a snack and fits on your back?

It's Log Log Log

 

It's Log, Log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.

It's Log, Log, it's better than bad, it's good!

Everyone wants a log! You're gonna love it, Log!

Come on and get your log! Everyone needs a Log!"

 

Yeah, but then it wouldn't be a reference to the awesome Cartooon The Ren and Stimpy Show which ran on Nickelodeon from 1991-1996.

Not a useless hint. Might be a little long, but it ain't useless. (And, yes, a great reference.)

 

OK I went a little OT while it is not totally useless it does not meet the suggestion "Please keep your hints short, so decoding it on the trail is easier" as stated on the cache listing page.

[Mr.Yuck]

 

OK I went a little OT while it is not totally useless it does not meet the suggestion "Please keep your hints short, so decoding it on the trail is easier" as stated on the cache listing page.

 

Yes, that's quite long. I seriously doubt anyone decodes by hand in this paperless GPS unit/smartphone era, but I agree it's too long.

 

I can't remember what cache, but I have in fact used the short line from the commercial "all kids love log" as a hint. And I've seen 3 or 4 other people do it. As noted before the song starts, in this definitely off-topic YouTube link:

 

Ren and Stimpy Log Commercial

Edited November 6, 2012 by Mr.Yuck

[AZcachemeister]

I recently saw a 'hint' that congratulated the FTF.

And that is supposed to help me how?

[+NeverSummer]

Hunted a micro in the woods that had the hint "Nano". Posted a DNF on this one, and the area around GZ was full of snapped branches. Imagine what a better hint could do!

[+thelinnettbirds]

The only one we've come across so far was up a tree (yes, we knew that much) and the clue was "It's up there somewhere"...

 

TA.

[+niraD]

The description of a high-difficulty cache mentioned that it was hidden in plain sight, and asked finders to rehide it exactly as found to preserve the challenge for the next seeker. The hint was just a single word: camo.

 

Help me, Captain Obvious. You're my only hope.

[+humboldt flier]

Ahhhhhhhhh, Another thread bump.

 

I am in an area where there are many ecologically sensitive areas. Cachers in our region tend to wish that seekers do not damage sensitive areas thus we put in very specific and meaningful hints. To tear up the playground will cause us to lose more of the playground.

 

The sport should be in some measure about GEO-FINDING and not exclusively about GEO-MISERY. Garbage hints add to the GEO-MISERY and sometimes GEO-THRASHING of an area.

 

Tongue in cheek here:

 

CO's who dabble in the useless hint arena might benefit from a downhill ride on a thirty foot razor blade with a final drop into a pool of iodine. Behaviour / Behavior Modification 101.

 

(Do My True feelings show, or am I guilty of holding back).

 

 

On a serious note: Garbage Co-ords. and Garbage Hints >>>>>>>>>>>> Garbage, pure and simple.

[+vaetanone]

Useless hints should not be given. No hint is acceptable if the CO so desires. Some people do still decode by hand, especially new cachers and this very thing might discourage their future as cachers. When we first started, we used paper and decoded by hand because we did not know if we were going to be interested in putting in the money for this strange hobby. We did learn and invested in better equipment but when we need a hint and look and find something useless, it angers and disappoints us.

It seems that one thing the reviewers might do would be to notify COs to eliminate useless hints. I heard someone say that they submitted a cache and the reviewer would not publish it until the hint was useful or eliminated.

[+ATXTracker]

My favorite hint is one that doesn't really make sense until you're at GZ, and then i clicks in a helpful way.

[Mr.Yuck]

Useless hints should not be given. No hint is acceptable if the CO so desires. Some people do still decode by hand, especially new cachers and this very thing might discourage their future as cachers. When we first started, we used paper and decoded by hand because we did not know if we were going to be interested in putting in the money for this strange hobby. We did learn and invested in better equipment but when we need a hint and look and find something useless, it angers and disappoints us.

It seems that one thing the reviewers might do would be to notify COs to eliminate useless hints. I heard someone say that they submitted a cache and the reviewer would not publish it until the hint was useful or eliminated.

 

It has been shown that SOME reviewers use a standard note telling the hider their hint is useless, and to consider the instructions "if you don't have a hint, leave it blank". But they never hold up publication for this, it's just a suggestion to the hider. Also, I notice you haven't placed a cache in almost a year and a half. The new cache submission form (last few months) first asks you "DO YOU HAVE A HINT?" and then asks for it, if you say yes, you have one. I have to believe this new method will eliminate 99% of the "none" or "no hint needed" type useless hints. All of which are posted by people who know darn well they don't have a hint, they just previously had an insatiable urge to type something in a blank field, contrary to that blank field's instructions.

[+Lil Devil]

This post intentionally left blank.

[+Ma & Pa]

The new cache submission form (last few months) first asks you "DO YOU HAVE A HINT?" and then asks for it, if you say yes, you have one. I have to believe this new method will eliminate 99% of the "none" or "no hint needed" type useless hints.

 

For those who use the new form, which I hate.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Ma & Pa

[Mr.Yuck]

The new cache submission form (last few months) first asks you "DO YOU HAVE A HINT?" and then asks for it, if you say yes, you have one. I have to believe this new method will eliminate 99% of the "none" or "no hint needed" type useless hints.

 

For those who use the new form, which I hate.

 

I've only placed one cache with it, and I'm semi-retired from placing almost 10 years in, but I kind of liked it. I feel the average Joe Schmuck, who doesn't hang around these forums, is never going to know where to look for the old form though.

[+Ma & Pa]

Not useless hint but interesting

 

LOOK HIGH AND LOW BUT MOSTLY HIGH

[+hankpixie]

A good cache owner should make his hint relevant to the cache rating. I can be quite sarcastic in my hints and if you aren't thinking the same then you won't get the clue. I find a lot of the logs saying the hint didn't make sense, when in reality when you are thinking about it in the right sense it makes perfect sense....at least in my mind....maybe I'm all messed up!

[+vaetanone]

A good cache owner should make his hint relevant to the cache rating. I can be quite sarcastic in my hints and if you aren't thinking the same then you won't get the clue. I find a lot of the logs saying the hint didn't make sense, when in reality when you are thinking about it in the right sense it makes perfect sense....at least in my mind....maybe I'm all messed up!

 

When we say useless logs, we mean something like, "Yes,It is right there." or "no hint needed" or "there are two ways in". We realize that sometimes there are hints that are meaningful to the cachers in a particular area because they know the cacher who placed the hide OR the type of hide certain people place. Those, we have no problem with. Something like nano as the hint when the size designation should already tell one that information is another example.

[+dprovan]

Today I picked up a few caches, all by the same CO, and almost all the hints were such that they were entirely meaningless until you found the cache. For example, one hint was "Peter Parker", so, OK, Spiderman, but that didn't help me find the plastic spider that I would have recognized as a cache without the hint.

 

Another one was "This one won’t hang you up!" Does that mean it is or isn't a hanger? I've seen such hints used either way (and, in fact, more often used the opposite way than how this CO used it).

 

I know his heart's in the right place, and he's a nice guy, but his hints are useless!

[+KC2WI]

If I print out a cache description, I make sure that the hint is decrypted first. My GPSr shows the hint decrypted. At least I don't waste time decrypting useless hints.

[+J Grouchy]

I recently found a little nano cache where hint was "magnetic"...but it was in a tree.

[+niraD]

I recently found a little nano cache where hint was "magnetic"...but it was in a tree.

Sometimes "zntargvp" means that the cache itself is metal, and you can search for it with a magnet tied to a string.

[+redsox_mark]

I recently found a little nano cache where hint was "magnetic"...but it was in a tree.

Sometimes "zntargvp" means that the cache itself is metal, and you can search for it with a magnet tied to a string.

 

True, but I have seen it used in a deceptive way. E.g near GZ was a metal gate (and nothing else metal around) so one assumes it is attached to that.. but in fact it is a "magnetic" nano hidden in a hole in a nearby tree.

 

Sometimes there is a fine line between a clever hint and a deceptive one; but I dislike what I feel is a deceptive hint.

[+sparklefingers]

Here is a hint that from a cache I recently found

Could have been stated in one word.

 

What rolls down stairs alone or in pairs

Rolls over your neighbor's dog?

What's great for a snack and fits on your back?

It's Log Log Log

 

It's Log, Log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.

It's Log, Log, it's better than bad, it's good!

Everyone wants a log! You're gonna love it, Log!

Come on and get your log! Everyone needs a Log!"

 

gah now that song is stuck in my head.... better find some ren and stimpy on youtube. :/

[+ArtieD]

Not so much a useless hint per se, but annoying as he does it for virtually every hint, and many are quite verbose...

 

Dnuof evah uoy kao eloh nip a,

Dnuos dna efas si kees uoy tahw.

[thebobfiles]

"Sit and think on it, or stand and observe?"

 

uhhh...so, do I look on the bench? do I stand on the bench? Do I stare at the bench? Do I ignore the giant bench that is the main focus of the area completely? What is this supposed to mean??

 

Maybe you all have some idea...but it sure seems useless to me. :/ Maybe it's my newbie-ness?

[+agltbialik]

This one pissed me off greatly lately: "Magnetic"

 

And when I found the cache, it was a piece of wood with magnets glued to it, attached to a WOODEN FENCE that had a couple of metal washers glued to it so that the piece of wood could be magnitized to it. Meanwhile, at GZ there was a metal fence on the opposite side of the alley, and a few metallic lamp posts. ugh.

[+MountainWoods]

Just ran into another one recently. The hint was the usual "It's all in the name" followed by other stuff that consisted of the CO's personal likes of the area! (In the hint, for pete's sake.)

 

But the name of the cache was a play on words about the general locale where the cache was placed. Duh. One could see that from the map view. The hint did nothing to help locate the cache or give any useful information.

 

I don't know why reviewers allow hints of "You don't need a hint." or "It's in the name" or a slew of other meaningless rubber stamp hints. Seems like they should ask the CO to clear the hint rather than put in such useless drivel.

[+Anansi Joy]

Today's helpful hint: Keep Looking! Try Everything!

 

 

Awesome. It hadn't occurred to me to try things.

[+redants]

The best of the worst- "The cache is hidden where it is hidden."

 

WHY

THE

(Bad words follow)

AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH

 

 

 

 

[+Heimdall5008]

I my area I have often encountered caches with the hint "tree" when the cache location was in the middle of the woods. Where else would I look?

 

Actually I didn't need the hint, but tree is one of the words you recognize in ROT13 on the first glance.

[+geodarts]

Using the hint box to write:

 

Not a hint, but with the last three letters in the GC code this cache was assigned, I was tempted to make it a very "interesting" puzzle

[+4thnoel]

I looked for one in a patch of trees and the hint said "the leaning tree" They were all leaning.

[+briansnat]

Saw one recently that said "Typical location".

[7rxc]

I looked for one in a patch of trees and the hint said "the leaning tree" They were all leaning.

Funny, but... was there one upright tree that you could lean on?

 

Doug 7rxc

[+davetherocketguy]

The best of the worst- "The cache is hidden where it is hidden."

 

WHY

THE

(Bad words follow)

AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH

 

 

 

 

 

LOLOL

 

For those that want some more bad hints here are some ideas (I haven't seen any caches with these hints but feel free to copy):

 

- It's right where I put it.

 

- Earth

 

- Here

 

- There

 

lol

[+Walts Hunting]

I put out a couple of ammo cans and used "Come on, it's an ammocan" as a hint.

Personally I've got better things to do "like hunt caches" than worry about poor hints.

[+TriciaG]

Personally I've got better things to do "like hunt caches" than worry about poor hints.

Then don't put ANYTHING in the hint. Don't even put "come on, it's an ammocan." Lame hint problem solved.

[+J Grouchy]

I found one a few weeks ago where the hint was "a prison of brick walls."

Problem is, it wasn't really a hint. You only know what the hint means once the cache is found, since the cache is an ammo box in a two foot wide and one foot deep hole lined by bricks.

Edited August 10, 2013 by J Grouchy

[DannyCaffeine]

"In the ferns"

 

There were 1000's of ferns

[+Corp Of Discovery]

This one's been popping up on some caches:

 

Say NO to the LPC invasion!

 

"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." ~John Ruskin~