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What happen to "Old School" Caches & Travel Bugs


SaidCache

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I have been caching for 12 years now and I remember when caches where bigger then a 35mm film container. A "old school" cache is where you had a least a .15 walk/hike on a trail, the cache was big enough (ammo can) for alot of swag, and was worth the walk/hike. Now a days (myself included) the urban caches have taken over and it is seems how many we can hide within the (.10 distance away) it used to be .15 away. These micro have no room for swag and they are put out to quickly increase your stats. When did this change happen? When I hide a micro cache and a "old school" cache it is amazing how many more finds the micro gets compared to the "old school" cache. Even the patterns of the cacher have changed.

 

Also I remember when owning a travel bug and releasing it was a big deal, now a days if you relaese one it will become MIA in a few short months. Cachers have changed also, I used to travel several miles to cache that I already found that had a travel bug in it and it was race to get it before anyone else to retrieve. This new option of "discovering" a trackable has taken the fun out travel bugs, cachers get there stats and that famous trackable icon on there profile but they do nothing to help the travel bug in its goal.

 

Geocaching has changed and my thought it is slowly getting away from the foundation that it was created several years ago, dont get me wrong change is good. But where are the Geocaching values that used to be in place?

 

Saidcache

Iowa

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I have had a 4 foot, by 1 foot, by 1 foot ammo cna chained to a tree. The chain was cut and it was stolen. We(Me and another cacher) put out a 55gallon drum, with 220 pounds of sand, in them iddle of nowhere, and put a bison tube on the screwtop. The cities largest micro. Probably one of the biggest things with micros is that they are cheaper to buy, cheaper to replace, and less likely to get muggled. But they also encourage lazy, no thought hides-which in my opinion it doesn't make a difference if it's a bison tube, or ammo can. If I pick a random stop sign, is there any reason why an ammo can at the base makes a better cache than a bison tube nailed to the pole? Same experience, no camo or nothing. I've seen crappy regular and large containers, and crappy micros. I've seen great large containers, and amazing micro's. In a hockey puck near a hockey arena? In a plastic bell pepper near a greenhouse? In a SAW themed cache? These are good uses for micro's.

 

As for the TB's? Well being in the game a couple years I have released 3. One for one race, which went missing before it got to it's second cache, found in another country, lost, found, and lost again. . Had a cute elephant on it. 2 for another race, with a random keychain, which are logged regularly. I am sure that TB's and coins have gone missing when they first became part of the game-it's just that now since there are more that can go missing, there are more that do. Statistically, very basic.

Edited by T.D.M.22
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Hi SaidCache - nice to see an old timer still around.

 

Re micro over regular containers, you might answer that from your own experience. Your early hides, 2005 and earlier, were nearly all regulars, and now you're placing almost entirely micros. Why? If you can answer that for your own hides, it's apt to apply to others who hide in your area. The price of larger containers, ammo cans and lock & locks of size, is definitely an issue for many hiders. Some locations will support micros better than larger containers.

 

Re trackables, they've been fragile all along. Worse now, because of the sheer numbers of novices likely to not recognize them. But not really that much change from the beginning, as far as I can see. TBs have always been grabbed by novices & never logged.

 

The single biggest change to geocaching is the use of smartphones - it means the the entry requirements now apply to a very large segment of the population. For the first 6 or so years, the entry requirement was ownership of a handheld recreational gps - a much smaller segment of the population, though auto gps units were already altering that as early as 2005. But the gps enabled smartphones have really changed the game.

Edited by Isonzo Karst
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Geocaching has changed and my thought it is slowly getting away from the foundation that it was created several years ago, dont get me wrong change is good. But where are the Geocaching values that used to be in place?

 

Saidcache

Iowa

 

I wouldn't say that its gotten 'away' from its foundation. It's just become more popular.

With popularity.... there are more caches being hidden. Cache saturation .... All the good hiking, biking, natural & remote areas are already taken up with caches. So, it's moved into the urban areas and the containers have evolved to fit their hiding spots.

 

Back in 2002 (under username Janster), I found 2 caches and had to drive 30+ minutes to find them (closest to home). So...it never caught on. Two+ years ago, we started again...and we've been lovin it ever since.

 

When you gain popularity, you gain multiple levels of human intelligence both good & bad.

The good 'foundations' are still within - they're just hidden deeply within and overshadowed by the 'badness'. Nobody gets 'trained' on how to do this hobby. So, those good foundations aren't being passed along....

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We had an event a couple months ago and we were asked to give a caching story, explain what we like about caching, best hides, worst hides etc. I decided to open my mouth and mention that I don't like LPC hides. Mainly because there is no thought behind going into a parking lot and sticking a micro under a lamp skirt. Same for guard rail caches. What great experience am I getting from going to one lamp post in a Walmart parking lot to another? Nothing at all. I understand that for numbers or new cachers these are good things (if permission was given to hide them there). But, I would rather hike for a good cache.

 

I was chastised on FB for my comments. Guess everyone has their own opinions on what is a good cache an what isn't. I myself prefer something that is a challenge and brings me to something new and exciting. Micros in parking lots??? No, that really doesn't do it. I think the newer group of cachers have lost their creativity.

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I agree. Every time I have a nice walk in the woods to a well-hidden ammo can I get all nostalgic. I just wish cachers followed BrianSnat's advice which went something like this: If the geocache is the only reason you're in a location you need to find a better location." Parking lot caches are... disappointing. I also agree with the post above that with increased popularity and increased access you're going to see a much wider range of "geocaching values."

 

I saw a cache the other day where a newbie logged his second find (on the same cache). The log said "This time I really found it. My last found log was just because I wanted to get the souvenir for the 31 Days of Geocaching in August but I didn't really find it. Today I did." Wretched.

 

But then I remember that plenty of cachers are finding wonderful locations with creative hides and maybe even a fun puzzle to get there. I still have lots of fun but these days some less than stellar caches and cachers are in the mix. It was bound to happen.

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The P&G caches are nice when you're trying to pick up a county and only passing through an area or can't stray far from your intended route of travel. In Oregon I would get those on my way to and from hiking trails. On the trail is where the good caches would be.

And that tends to be true in Iowa as well. Get away from P&G locations and the quality of caches improves.

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In addition to the proliferation of micro caches, I've noticed that logs have gotten shorter. Logs for caches used to be at least a couple sentences and include a story about finding the cache or something you saw on the way to it. Nowadays, people don't even have completed sentences, or words for that matter. "Found it. TFTC." I can almost understand that for the in-cache logbook. Almost. But not for the on-line log.

I'll admit that, for micros, all I'll log is "TNLNSLT" (Took Nothing, Left Nothing, Signed Log Thing), but for regular caches I'll add "Thanks for hiding a real cache." to the end of my log.

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I am sorry to hear the Midwest has been discouraging in geocaching. I too can't get excited about the quick grabs. I have 2 caches and spent days coming up with the ideas. I have 2 others that are just as detailed, but my heart isn't in it to place them, because of: the lost travel bugs, lack of travel bugs in caches, and the trash in the caches. My 1st TB (TB3G72W) was hand painted by my wife. We really wanted to see it get to Scotland and back.

 

Our area of Central Coastal California, has few if any decent challenging geocaches. Hence my low numbers. Quick grabs don't interest me. I like the multi caches and challenging caches. A challenging cache in this area tend to be a cache with coordinates that are 200 feet away.

 

Wishing and hoping things improve.

 

Bass Trout Master

Edited by BassTroutMaster
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SaidCache, I found my first cache in October 2001. I remember when the approvers wouldn't let you put a micro in the woods - they'd ask why you weren't putting a real cache in that spot, or if there wasn't a spot nearby that could hide a regular cache. And what really frosts me is when the hider of the micro in the woods has to gloat and brag about what a tough hide it is. Hello! You hid a thimble in a place where a bus might be overlooked, and you're proud of making it "tough"?? That doesn't take any skill or talent or ability at all. Why not step up your game and hide a real cache?

 

A couple other things:

 

I remember when you weren't allowed to put caches under any vehicle bridges.

 

I remember when you weren't allowed to create a power trail.

 

I do not think allowing these things has improved geocaching.

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