New, any advice?

[+DarrenandSarah]

Hi there,

 

My partner and I started caching today, I read up about it back in October 2014 and thought it was interesting and then forgot about it until this week.

 

We went out today and found two that are close by to us, we live in Glasgow, Scotland, I was just wondering if anyone had any advice, tips, or anything for newbies.

[+L0ne.R]

Hi there,

 

My partner and I started caching today, I read up about it back in October 2014 and thought it was interesting and then forgot about it until this week.

 

We went out today and found two that are close by to us, we live in Glasgow, Scotland, I was just wondering if anyone had any advice, tips, or anything for newbies.

 

My first thought was to say....Write something meaningful in your log that addresses the cache. Then I looked at your cache finds and see that you've written some nice logs. You've started off well.

[+littleblkdog]

Welcome to the club. Some advice:

 

Get out and find some caches. This may sound dumb but it really is true. Caching is a greatly varied hobby and you won't know what you are missing if you don't try everything. Use the map and search functions to find some cool cache locations and then get out and find some caches.

 

Attend some local events. You will likely find people very welcoming and full on good advice on good caches and nice locations. If you don't have an event in the next two weeks, then host your own. People will come. All you need is a public place. Restaurants with patios, parks and such are great places for events.

 

Have fun, that is what geocaching is about.

[+Ma & Pa]

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice, tips, or anything for newbies.

 

Have fun, do it your way. Caching is great and caching friends are one of the best things about caching.

 

BUT Dont get obsessed

 

We have crossed over to islands in snowshoes 6 times over the last few weeks to hide and find caches.

Trips that should take 2 days, take over a week.

Minus 30 weather is not a déterrent tohiking 7 miles to graba a new series of caches.

We bore muggles (and other cachers and the forum)with all kinds of caching stories.

[+popokiiti]

Events are fun, social events where you can meet fellow cachers, and get tips face to face. Don't be shy, we all started as newbies ourselves. Feel free to ask any questions you have here - except for help in solving puzzles - and we will gladly help.

Welcome to caching and the forums!

[+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 (10ft). That applies both to your device, and to the cache owner’s device, so you may find the container 5-6m (16-20ft) 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.

 

Where would you hide something? Do you notice anything unusual? Is anything too new, too old, too organized (e.g., UPS: an Unnatural Pile of Sticks/Stones), too symmetrical, not quite the right color or shape, etc.? Don’t look only on the ground; the cache may be knee-level, waist-level, eye-level, or overhead. How might the container be secured in place? With magnets? With a hook? With string? With fishing line? With something else? Does anything move when you touch it? (Be careful when touching things though.)

 

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, and check out some geocaching videos on YouTube.

[+WarNinjas]

 

BUT Dont get obsessed

 

And where where you with this great advice when we started???? I think it is to late for us now!

[+Gill & Tony]

Welcome to the madhouse.

 

My advice

 

1. Have fun. Look for caches which you think you will enjoy. As said above, start with easy ones and move on to harder ones later.

 

2. Write about your experience. Your first two logs are great. Cache owners appreciate getting interesting logs and feedback. Mentioning the full log was really good.

 

3. Don't be afraid to log a DNF if you searched and couldn't find it, but don't log a DNF if you didn't search for whatever reason. If you want to write something when you couldn't search use a write note instead. DNF's aren't a bad thing, they help the CO by pointing out that the cache may be missing.

 

4. Did I already mention, have fun?

 

5. Look for an event cache near your home. Events are great places to meet other cachers and learn about the game.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Gill & Tony

[+DarrenandSarah]

My first thought was to say....Write something meaningful in your log that addresses the cache. Then I looked at your cache finds and see that you've written some nice logs. You've started off well.

 

One of us is a writer so I think that helps, I, Sarah, do all the writing And I did a lot of research over the last week before outright starting so I saw what people were saying in their logs.

 

Thanks so much for all the advice, will try not to get obsessed! I think we are going to look for all the caches in our city before we start going off into the country looking for them - although I'm looking forward to doing that so much!

[+Pinki24]

I find the best way to learn is to go out and do as many as you can.

And don't get disheartened when you have DNF's.

[+BCandMsKitty]

I disagree with Ma & Pa! ... Go ahead and get obsessed!

 

You will be in good company.

 

Whatever you do ... as well as post meaningful found it logs .... log your DNFs! They help other hunters, and the cache owners in ways you won't likely realize until you have some hides of your own.

 

Welcome, and happy caching.

[+SageTracey]

Enjoy the places that the caches take you to. The hunt is great fun but remember that the cache owner has brought you there for a reason.

 

I say this on day that I found my first international caches which took me to an area which I don't need to visit on my business trip - it was a real pleasure to wander around an attractive golf course area in Florida and to pick up some caches along the way.

[+msrubble]

Unless you are very familiar with the area, mark your starting point. That way you can find your way back to your car/the train/the bus/the trailhead if you get disoriented while concentrating on the search.

 

If your device has a backtrack function that leaves "breadcrumbs," that is also useful when you wonder, "Did we already try this alley?" or "Is this the way we came?"

[+WarNinjas]

I think we are going to look for all the caches in our city before we start going off into the country looking for them - although I'm looking forward to doing that so much!

I am in no way trying to discourage you from finding all your local caches right away but there are some challenge caches out there about a streak. To find at least one cache a day for say 100 day in a row or maybe even a year. I know right now you will probably think...whatever I am not worried about that but if you get obsessed later like some of us here you might decide you want to try it to qualify. It will be really hard to do if you have found all the caches near you to keep a streak going for a year or whatever your goal is.

I only say this because we learned of this within our first few days of caching as someone posted on a cache we had hidden. "thanks for placing this it really helps with the streak we are working on." Our streak is what keeps me interested in caching for some odd reason. I try to never find a cache close to home unless I am going for a FTF. I work all over the place far from home in all directions and only have a few days off every month. On those days off I usually travel to pick up my daughter out of town or bring her back home and we also plan trips to cache when she is here. There is usually only 1 or 2 days a month I am just around the house and pick up a local cache. Our streak is over 3 years and it is now starting to become more difficult.

I have found most cache types and many don't interest me as much anymore but keeping the streak alive does so it is what keeps the game fun for me.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

My first thought was to say....Write something meaningful in your log that addresses the cache. Then I looked at your cache finds and see that you've written some nice logs. You've started off well.

 

One of us is a writer so I think that helps, I, Sarah, do all the writing And I did a lot of research over the last week before outright starting so I saw what people were saying in their logs.

 

Thanks so much for all the advice, will try not to get obsessed! I think we are going to look for all the caches in our city before we start going off into the country looking for them - although I'm looking forward to doing that so much!

 

I'd suggest not trying to clear out an area before going on to the next. I don't know how big your city is, but if it's relatively small and you clear out most of the local caches you may find that you'll want to go caching for a few hours, but can't because you've found all ones close by. Mix it up by finding caches in different areas. You'll find hides from different cache owners, in different environment, and while you might not finds as many caches as you would if you stayed local, it will increase the breadth of your experience.

 

My favorite part of geocaching is going to places I've never visited before and finding a few caches. Some of those places are very far away.

 

After reading the previous post I wanted to make an edit. It's interesting that WarNinjas and I had the save advice but for completely different reasons. I have no interest in doing challenges (the fact that they're almost non-existent in my area may have something to do with it) or maintiaining a cache-a-day streak. I do very little geocaching locally and most of my finds over the past several years have been while I'm traveling.

Edited February 18, 2015 by NYPaddleCacher