First Hide-- How long did you wait?

[+Blue_Ranger]

Just got started in geocaching in January, made a few discoveries then, and quickly got tired of the knee-deep snow. Now that winter FINALLY ended, I've been making up for lost time. I've set a goal for 100 finds, at which point I'll celebrate by hiding my own first. Just wondering, how long did some of our other cachers wait before their own first hide?

BTW, today's activity got me to 35.

[+Ambrosia]

I'll respond even though I don't think that my story relates, as I started caching 13 years ago, when there were only about 3 caches within 10 miles.

 

We had been caching for a month and a half, and I had found 12 caches (although my husband had found almost 20) when my husband decided to place his first cache.

 

At the time, the more caches placed, the better, to feed the new cachers just starting to cache in our area.

[+Blue_Ranger]

Yes, I can see how 20 finds could even be considered a bit of a milestone, back when geocaches were still pretty scarce. Now? That's a couple cans of Red Bull and a well-chosen route, done in time for lunch! (Or it could be, I personally am not that hard core lol.)

[+Ambrosia]

Yeah, I obviously haven't gone crazy over the years, with only around 2,420 finds. I've averaged a half a cache a day. That's hard work.

[+redsox_mark]

For me it was about 9 months (and around 250 finds in that period).

[+SageTracey]

About 100 finds for me. I think you're very smart waiting to hide your first cache. Not only will you be certain that this is a hobby that you want to continue with, but you will also see a range of different hides. You will know what makes a good cache and what types of cache you like finding.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Yes, I can see how 20 finds could even be considered a bit of a milestone, back when geocaches were still pretty scarce. Now? That's a couple cans of Red Bull and a well-chosen route, done in time for lunch! (Or it could be, I personally am not that hard core lol.)

 

There are a lot of places (remember, this is a global game) where geocaches are still pretty scarce.

 

I started in 2007 and waited about 4 months before my first hide. That one lasted 5 1/2 years before some construction in the park where it was hidden eliminated the hiding spot.

 

 

Edited April 27, 2015 by NYPaddleCacher

[+coachstahly]

It was about 3 months and just over 100 finds. I had lots of people discouraging me from hiding a multi for my first cache, but it's still going.

[+DadOf6Furrballs]

Somewhere around 57 finds, and about a month into the game. It's still active.

[+J Grouchy]

Two days. About five finds under my belt.

It's at a Buddhist temple near my home and people seem to enjoy the location. Simple find...only had to replace it once because the original was muggled.

 

I don't really believe one should be required to have a certain number of finds before placing one. Common sense seems to dictate that Altoids tins and the like aren't good containers. If anything has changed, my hiding method has improved, but I'm proud of the fact that none of my caches are an LPC.

[+narcissa]

Two years. My area is well-populated with caches and my husband likes to hide caches, so I've never really felt it necessary to hide too many.

[+AustinMN]

Several years and over 450 finds.

 

I am only a casual cacher and I only hide the kinds of caches I like to find. I only have two hides, with two more in the works.

 

Austin

[+tomlinste]

I started placing caches of my own after only finding 5. Now I have 21 finds and 3 placed.

 

I realized after a few finds that I enjoyed visiting unique locations and the container itself could be fun. All of my caches have been well received one of them has 11 FP / 100% FP!

 

I don't think there's a magic number of finds or a specific amount of time that should pass before someone becomes qualified to place an enjoyable geocache.

[+niraD]

My first hide was published a little more than 2 months after I started, and I had 86 finds at the time. Of course, I had been planning it for weeks before it was published, so take those numbers with a grain of salt.

 

But I don't think the find count is really the right measure. It's more important to find a variety of caches, so you have some idea of what kinds of containers/hides work well, what kinds of caches you enjoy, and what kinds of caches you want to own and maintain for the long term.

 

Even the length of time you've been geocaching isn't that important. More than a month or two is good, just because it shows that you've remained interested beyond the first weekend. But more than that isn't really necessary.

[vagabond]

I hid my first one about 8 months after finding my first one, and it's still there although I did adopt it out.

[+The A-Team]

I hid my first one about 5 months after my first find. I'd have to check to see how many finds I had at that point, but I don't think that number really matters. I had played the game long enough that I was fairly confident I would keep playing long-term, and I felt I had found enough caches to know what makes a "good" cache. As long as a cacher feels they've satisfied those two criteria, then I'd say they can go ahead and start hiding.

[+WarNinjas]

We started hiding right away! I am thinking of archiving one of our caches out of many but it is now about 4 years later.

Edited April 28, 2015 by WarNinjas

[+captnemo]

I started caching in April 2002, found 3 caches and hid my first on 5/26/2002.

 

AT the time there were not many caches available. I remember a early forum post about how many hides should you place and the general feeling was one hide for 10 finds.

 

Both my first find and first hid are still active.

[+jwmoe1973]

How long to wait before hiding is subjective. It depends on the person playing the game. I've seen folks near me place a cache with less than 5 finds and never log on to the site or play again. The hidden cache quickly becomes nothing more than thrown litter. Other's have the good sense to know how to play the game and show some respect. It all depends.

[Luckless]

I didn't wait. I'd done a few caches previously. My first cache was pretty bad. It was in a small snow bank that collapsed after winter was over. I don't think you really need to wait. You can be just as bad waiting as not. I did obsess about my coordinates and did my best to see they were spot on. People did find it. I got better creating more interesting caches and have received many compliments on caches I have done since.

The things to remember is to be creative, be sure the coordinates are the best they can be and plan on maintaining it well.

[+Fugads]

I hid my first cache after only 6 weeks of being in the game, and a couple dozen finds. It is a pretty simple cache, but doesn't get found much since it is at the top of a difficult mountain climb (technical gear required). As I was getting into this hobby, I saw placing my own geocaches as a way of announcing my presence to the local community. Much more than simply posting find notes on caches you find, placing a geocache will get you some attention from the local geocachers and I was interested in getting to know some of the other local geocachers. My first caches (and really all my caches since then) were very much about the kind of geocaching I liked at the time. Any geocache I place I feel should be a reflection of me and what I like about the game, and I think as long as people do that they are in the right spirit. I made mistakes on some of my early caches, and have learned a lot since then, but that's all part of getting into a hobby. And people that have been geocaching a while should expect that from newer geocachers and forgive them for making mistakes. Better yet they should politely reach out to help those starting up avoid mistakes. A little outreach goes a long way.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Fugads

[+bflentje]

I hid my first cache within 45 days of starting back in 2005 and only had 40 finds at the time. That cache is still active today.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Two-and-a-half months and fifty finds. (Of course, that was almost eleven years ago, when there were not so many caches about.) Only 54 finds, but it is over a mile hike each way with some climb. And it is still there!

[+BCandMsKitty]

For us, our first hide was 20 days after starting caching. At the time we had 23 finds.

Our first hide has been archived because We hid it in a woodlot that I thought was part of a conservation area. After a while I found out the part of the woodlot where the cache was hidden was actually private property and I couldn't find out who the owner was to ask permission, so I archived it.

Length of time caching and/or number of finds only go so far. I've seen cachers with years of experience, and tons of finds still hide poor caches.