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Is Geocaching Dead?


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No, the old timers i know, i'm one of them, don't cache much anymore because there's nothing interesting to find these days. I drive by unfound caches all the time, some i've actually parked within a couple of feet of. There are many within a few miles of my house, last i checked, over 500 within 50 miles. The vast majority are micros placed the same way, in parking lots and the such. Nope, not interested!

The old timers I know are happy as clams finding more new caches.

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As usual, opinions and experiences are all over the board based on multiple factors. Any 'solution' to one person's problem is a detriment or irrelevant to another's. It's enlightening to hear about others' experiences, and take them into consideration, but let's not make presumptions beyond our sphere of experience.

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No, the old timers i know, i'm one of them, don't cache much anymore because there's nothing interesting to find these days. I drive by unfound caches all the time, some i've actually parked within a couple of feet of. There are many within a few miles of my house, last i checked, over 500 within 50 miles. The vast majority are micros placed the same way, in parking lots and the such. Nope, not interested!

The old timers I know are happy as clams finding more new caches.

I consider myself an "old timer" as I started geocaching in 2003 and was very active until 2005. I evolved during that time from a cacher to a hiker and would enjoy a strenuous 15+ mile hike on Saturday followerd by a strenuous 15+ mile hike on Sunday picking up a couple caches along the way. Then a medical condition caused me to be unable to hike and for the most part, I stopped geocaching for 10 years. Something made me start again recently and I continue to enjoy the hobby even though I can't geocache like I did in 2005. For me to have any prejudice on what someone enjoys from the same hobby is absurd.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the more caches the better as long as they are properly placed and maintained as it should provide more caches for a varied set of cachers who enjoy more difficult caches, more easier caches, caches more remote, caches more urban or just more caches.

 

As for the original posters question, I don't think geocaching is dead for a majority of those that geocache. It might be slowing for a specific segment of those that target a specific sub-segment of the hobby and that can no longer enjoy that sub-segment.

 

Edited for spelling

Edited by Team DEMP
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Ah, Mudfrog--but the ones you just described are in boring places to you! The places you value are filled up with caches, aren't they? What if there were new caches in places you wanted to go?

 

I'm not Mudfrog, but while most caches that are close to me are boring for me, it is not true that the places and trails that I value are filled up with caches. I have more ideas for caches of the type I'd like to find than I can hide and maintain. As people even find space for numbers oriented cache series (10 and more separate caches) it's not too surprising that it is not hard to find an interesting walking or hiking route and hide a multi cache there which requires only a single free location for the final.

Edited by cezanne
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No, the old timers i know, i'm one of them, don't cache much anymore because there's nothing interesting to find these days. I drive by unfound caches all the time, some i've actually parked within a couple of feet of. There are many within a few miles of my house, last i checked, over 500 within 50 miles. The vast majority are micros placed the same way, in parking lots and the such. Nope, not interested!

 

I wish there was a way to limit alerts to certain cache sizes. I don't care to be FTF, but my son and I love knowing when a new regular or large cache appears within a reasonable distance. I still find bison tubes and nanos if I happen past them (I found 3 the other day while waiting for my car to be serviced), but they aren't exactly something that motivates me to get off of the sofa. I have a 7 year old and if there is no swag, he isn't interested.

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I have a 7 year old and if there is no swag, he isn't interested.

 

But then you need to know whether there is swag - the cache size will not tell you that.

 

Well there is at least a decent chance of swag in a regular and large. There is a very small chance in a small. There is no chance in micro, which is the size of 90% of all new caches seem to be.

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Ah, Mudfrog--but the ones you just described are in boring places to you! The places you value are filled up with caches, aren't they? What if there were new caches in places you wanted to go?

 

It would be great to see new caches that weren't just thrown out, not all micro in size, something remotely creative, and/or placed in an interesting location. Unfortunately, it's rare for caches like these to come along. But, as i'm sure you are trying to imply, my tastes are different from the new breed of cacher. Honestly, i do realize that this is my problem at this point in time.

 

But long term, this new caching style, pretty much a game for smiley count, is what i think will hurt geocaching. Playing this way is a lot of fun for people right now. But what i've seen many times is people coming in, getting excited, and then dropping out after finding only a few caches. My thinking is that a lot of these people never really get the chance to experience some of the more interesting things geocaching can offer. It's not hard to imagine that many of them get bored pretty quickly finding the same ole same ole.

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I have a 7 year old and if there is no swag, he isn't interested.

 

But then you need to know whether there is swag - the cache size will not tell you that.

 

Well there is at least a decent chance of swag in a regular and large. There is a very small chance in a small. There is no chance in micro, which is the size of 90% of all new caches seem to be.

 

I agree. And I've never seen a newly posted swag size cache hidden without swag inside.

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And I've never seen a newly posted swag size cache hidden without swag inside.

 

Apparently that depends on the region. Only about 1 in about 40-50 of such caches (yes, newly placed ones) I encounter contains swag and that includes regular sized ones with lots of space for swag.

Edited by cezanne
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And I've never seen a newly posted swag size cache hidden without swag inside.

 

Apparently that depends on the region. Only about 1 in about 40-50 of such caches (yes, newly placed ones) I encounter contains swag and that includes regular sized ones with lots of space for swag.

 

Interesting. I wonder why. But I'm glad to see that people are still hiding swag size, so at least those that like the cache part of geocaching can leave trackables and tradables in the new, empty, hopefully durable and watertight container.

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And I've never seen a newly posted swag size cache hidden without swag inside.

 

Apparently that depends on the region. Only about 1 in about 40-50 of such caches (yes, newly placed ones) I encounter contains swag and that includes regular sized ones with lots of space for swag.

 

All my hides are small or regular but I've never put swag in them. They're mostly bush caches rated T2.5 or higher and are often in kid-unfriendly places with the No Kids attribute set. No one has ever complained, but some of them do accumulate swag over time.

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And I've never seen a newly posted swag size cache hidden without swag inside.

 

Apparently that depends on the region. Only about 1 in about 40-50 of such caches (yes, newly placed ones) I encounter contains swag and that includes regular sized ones with lots of space for swag.

 

All my hides are small or regular but I've never put swag in them. They're mostly bush caches rated T2.5 or higher and are often in kid-unfriendly places with the No Kids attribute set. No one has ever complained, but some of them do accumulate swag over time.

 

We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

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We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

Quite the loaded sentence you dropped there. Why don't you elaborate on it with more than just a few words. Please write a paragraph on why swag caches are bad for geocaching.

Edited by fbingha
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We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

Please write a paragraph on why swag caches are bad for geocaching.

Why should she? Nothing was said there about it being bad for geocaching. My take on it is that people just filch the good stuff then leave junk in exchange.

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We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

Please write a paragraph on why swag caches are bad for geocaching.

Why should she? Nothing was said there about it being bad for geocaching. My take on it is that people just filch the good stuff then leave junk in exchange.

No. Narcissa has a history of casting such aspersions about certain geocacher "types" that she feels very strongly against. Before it was about traditional caches attracting the "riff-raff". Swag caches attract the wrong crowd, which is her "riff-raff" again. I'm sure you can find the post if you try hard enough.

 

I find it quite a bit twisted and am tired of her elitist attitude. My right to be.

 

My swag caches attract thank yous from finders that their child was able to trade something other than junk.

Edited by fbingha
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My swag caches attract thank yous from finders that their child was able to trade something other than junk.

 

So it appears that putting swag in these caches in your area is a good decision and seems to work - so continue to please this target audience. It depends a lot on the cache type and the area and what is common there and who caches there.

 

Putting swag in caches that are almost never visited by children (for example mine are simply not targeted to children - too long and/or too complex) and also not by adults with an interest in swag in caches does not seem to make much sense to me. Ultimately the swag only stays there and deteriorates over time and takes space away from trackables and crams the container (and makes it more likely that it does not get well closed). If the swag is not packaged into plastic bags, another issue is that it easily gets dirty when cachers like me arrive who typically have very dirty fingers when caching. A lot of swag is not really made to stay in cache containers at outdoor locations for years.

 

I only have swag size caches but very soon stopped to put swag into them. My target audience does not care at all about swag.

Edited by cezanne
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On the subtopic of swag...

 

~70% of my caches are large enough for swag (10 regulars and 17 small). I stocked all of them with swag, especially the regulars.

 

Some of the caches have swag matching the theme. E.g. a cache based on music from a specific period contains badges/pins of bands from that time. A baseball themed one has baseball cards. For these caches, often adult cachers seem to appreciate the swag.

 

For the others, I put swag with children in mind. I find that even caches which take a few hours are often done by families with children.

 

What I don't worry about much is maintaining the swag. When there is a maintenance issue, or when I'm doing routine maintenance, I'll check and top-up the swag. But I won't make a special effort.

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We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

Please write a paragraph on why swag caches are bad for geocaching.

Why should she? Nothing was said there about it being bad for geocaching. My take on it is that people just filch the good stuff then leave junk in exchange.

No. Narcissa has a history of casting such aspersions about certain geocacher "types" that she feels very strongly against. Before it was about traditional caches attracting the "riff-raff". Swag caches attract the wrong crowd, which is her "riff-raff" again. I'm sure you can find the post if you try hard enough.

 

I find it quite a bit twisted and am tired of her elitist attitude. My right to be.

 

My swag caches attract thank yous from finders that their child was able to trade something other than junk.

 

Same with mine. I get thank yous from people for a maintained cache with some clean swag. Amd I sometimes find a really cool item when I check our caches. I think people are more inclined to leave their good stuff when they happen upon a watertight maintained cache.

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We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

Quite the loaded sentence you dropped there. Why don't you elaborate on it with more than just a few words. Please write a paragraph on why swag caches are bad for geocaching.

 

I don't think narcissa was saying that caches that contain swag are bad, just the people that prefer finding them.

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I think people are more inclined to leave their good stuff when they happen upon a watertight maintained cache.

 

Of course. However do you go for a hike of say 20 km and 1000m elevation change equipped with a bag of swag?

I don't and the cachers I know don't either.

 

I also usually do not spend time at the container with looking at might be in there and rather rehide it properly quickly and then

head for the way still ahead of me. That also explains why there are quite a number of newer ammo box hiking caches which do not contain swag and

a number of older ones which still contain everything which has been placed into them at the start.

 

As it concerns me, I never have any trading stuff with me (also not when going for short caches) and I also have never managed to come to an

understanding whether there is a consensus at all what makes good stuff for everyone (probably this does not even exist).

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I would say that the 'cache' part of geocaching is dead. If caches could be virtual or a simply a tag, I bet 90% of them would be. No maintenance, set me and forget em are the preferred options these days.

 

I do not think so. Recently a cache has been hidden in my area where the cache hider turned the attention to an alternative game (without naming it) for a certain reason I'm not going to explain here as it is only of local relevance. The interesting part is that almost all finders of that cache wrote that the alternative is nothing for them - they explicitely stressed that they appreciate the physical part of geocaching.

 

In my experience there are far more cachers which appreciate containers which are larger than micro size and containers that are somehow special than there are cachers who care about swag in caches. Even when it comes to items gifted people craft themselves (e.g. with little beads or whatever) there are better suited places to have a look at such works and to appreciate them than during a hike when at least I'm not at all in the mode where I would like to look at such items.

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I think people are more inclined to leave their good stuff when they happen upon a watertight maintained cache.

 

Of course. However do you go for a hike of say 20 km and 1000m elevation change equipped with a bag of swag?

 

My bag of swag is about the size of half a sandwich and weighs less then a sandwich. I carry my handcrafted stuff - laminated shoe tags, a few wooden nickel geocoins, painted ceramic magnets. I purposely make my geoswag small and light. If I were going for just one or two caches on that 20km hike up a mountain I'd bring a couple of geocoins. Doesn't weigh much.

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.

 

I also usually do not spend time at the container with looking at might be in there and rather rehide it properly quickly and then

head for the way still ahead of me.

 

I spend on average 20 minutes looking at the cache and contents, choosing a piece of swag to leave, writing in the log if it isn't a scroll or sheet, taking photos.

Part of the reason I don't like group caching, everyone's in a rush. No savouring the moment.

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We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

Quite the loaded sentence you dropped there. Why don't you elaborate on it with more than just a few words. Please write a paragraph on why swag caches are bad for geocaching.

 

Swag caches aren't bad for caching. People looking for swag aren't the crowd we're particularly interested in attracting to a cache. If swag accumulates over time, as it will, that's fine, but we have no interest in stocking our caches with merchandise.

 

We believe in hiding caches that we would like to find and we don't care about swag, so no reason to participate in that aspect as hiders or finders.

 

Our preferred container is the smaller Lock n' Lock. Big enough for a nice logbook, small enough to hide well, doesn't attract much swag.

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We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

Please write a paragraph on why swag caches are bad for geocaching.

Why should she? Nothing was said there about it being bad for geocaching. My take on it is that people just filch the good stuff then leave junk in exchange.

No. Narcissa has a history of casting such aspersions about certain geocacher "types" that she feels very strongly against. Before it was about traditional caches attracting the "riff-raff". Swag caches attract the wrong crowd, which is her "riff-raff" again. I'm sure you can find the post if you try hard enough.

 

My swag caches attract thank yous from finders that their child was able to trade something other than junk.

 

I don't think swag hunters are riff-raff. It's just not an aspect of the game that is important to us, and not the crowd we're aiming for. It was the incessant swag criticism in the forum that really did it for me. If nobody's going to be happy with the swag anyway, why bother?

 

If your swag caches are appreciated by the people who find them, that's nice and I am sure it is good motivation to hide more. Not every cache has to be liked by every cacher. Cache owners are most successful when they learn to design caches that get the finders and feedback they enjoy.

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We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

Please write a paragraph on why swag caches are bad for geocaching.

Why should she? Nothing was said there about it being bad for geocaching. My take on it is that people just filch the good stuff then leave junk in exchange.

 

Yes, this, or they complain about the swag on offer. That's sort of understandable when the cache is old, but really needless on a new cache.

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I wouldn't say Geocaching is dead, but rather closer to a zero sum game.

 

Some long timers (Gen1) remember "how it was" and don't like "what geocaching has become". You see Gen1 become lass active. Gen1 stop contributing to the finding or placing of caches. Gen1 is eventually replace by Gen2. Geocaching is fresh and exciting. They contribute to the finding or placing of caches. But the games changes and Gen2 remember "how it was" and doesn't like "what geocaching has become". Gen2 gives way to Gen3 and the cycle continues.

 

Add in that as people become older, responsibilities change. Time commitments might drive a few people to become less active. But this is offset by people that as they get older have less responsibilities.

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I spend on average 20 minutes looking at the cache and contents, choosing a piece of swag to leave, writing in the log if it isn't a scroll or sheet, taking photos.

Part of the reason I don't like group caching, everyone's in a rush. No savouring the moment.

 

To be honest, when I'm outdoors I rather spend the spare time (if available, i.e. when tour length and/or weather does not force me to hurry) for enjoying the scenery and taking photos of the landscape.

I can look at handicrafted objects from my home or in someone else's home as well if I feel inclined to so. I'm not saying that your approach is not ok - just that I prefer to focus on the real outdoor part when I'm outdoor.

 

I know one (female) cacher from Vienna who apparently seems to enjoy painting stones and other objects and creating objects to leave in caches but most cachers I know do not seem to enjoy creating hand-made objects to leave in a cache. Another one created beated animals which she left in caches during the first few years.

 

I guess those who have never in their life enjoyed such tasks (like myself) will not get to enjoy them due to caching. That does not seem something that has changed over time - also in the early years those who enjoyed that part of geocaching and actively contributed always have been in the minority.

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We no longer bother with swag in new hides, regardless of size. Attracts the wrong crowd, quite frankly. And as you said, they accumulate swag anyway.

Quite the loaded sentence you dropped there. Why don't you elaborate on it with more than just a few words. Please write a paragraph on why swag caches are bad for geocaching.

 

I don't think narcissa was saying that caches that contain swag are bad, just the people that prefer finding them.

There's no point in continuing this but I made a generalization about what she said in that if something attracts the wrong crowd than the person that sees it that way also believes it is a bad thing.

 

I don't run down to Target and buy $20 worth of stuff for every cache I've put out. I just find this and that around the house and garage and put it in the cache. As L0ne.R says, I do find some interesting things in my caches when I check on them. Much more often in other hider's caches.

 

Regardless, the wrong crowd isn't coming to my caches because they think they are full of swag. I've not seen that happen here. It isn't just thieves and newbies that appreciate finding an unexpected trinket in a cache.

 

Is it not hilarious that this thread starts out about being about geocaching dying and now we are on about why swag is bad. The entire purpose of geocaching creation was to go find a container and trade something and that is now frowned upon.

 

I know this will rock your boat, but I also leave stuff in every cache that I find that it will fit in. Having only found 500 caches makes that a realistic option. It is my offering for the cache, it is my offering that the next person who finds the cache may smile. Maybe even someone will properly trade and even maybe they will pick up the habit.

 

Since we don't have the power to change the guidelines, the only way that I can try to improve the game is with every find and hide, which is how to keep geocaching from dying.

Edited by fbingha
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Is it not hilarious that this thread starts out about being about geocaching dying and now we are on about why swag is bad. The entire purpose of geocaching creation was to go find a container and trade something and that is now frowned upon.

 

I don't think it's frowned upon to leave swag in a geocache, and you can't go by what is posted here in the forums just for the sake of argument. :anibad:

 

I don't enjoy finding swag that looks like it came from a kids desk at the end of a school year, or happy meal toys from McD's, but geocaching is not a kids game for me anymore either. My kids are no longer interested in geocaching.

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Is it not hilarious that this thread starts out about being about geocaching dying and now we are on about why swag is bad.

 

I did not understand a single statement in this thread to mean that swag is bad.

 

The entire purpose of geocaching creation was to go find a container and trade something and that is now frowned upon.

 

I do not think that it is frowned upon. What seems to be true is however that a large number of cachers does not care about swag and actually most of them have never cared.

 

I started to geocache back in 2002 but swag never has been a reason for me to hide or to find a cache and swag never played a big role in the local community (which never included many

children). Swag would not be among the say 25 most important reasons which could a cache turn into something worthwhile for me.

 

In our local community of the early times the most important aspect of a cache was that it led to an interesting location or showed an interesting trail (I'd say that it was fulfilled by more than 90% of the caches). Swag, special hideouts, special containers and things like that did not

play much role. Meanwhile location plays a much smaller role (for some almost no role) while special containers, hideouts etc have become much more important when it comes to what the majority of local cachers appreciates and ranks among their favourites.

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I would say that the 'cache' part of geocaching is dead. If caches could be virtual or a simply a tag, I bet 90% of them would be. No maintenance, set me and forget em are the preferred options these days.

Based on the geocaches that are placed near me, I tend to agree. There is no 'cache' of items. The only item is a log sheet. Groundspeak has tried to keep the cache in geocaching by requiring a physical container, but there is no way that anyone could require/enforce that the container actually contains anything more than a log sheet.

 

The nature of geocaching has changed over time. At the start, it was played by people that had a passion for the technology of GPS. They had to know about things like 'datum's, and multiple coordinate systems. Today, no one needs to understand any of this. My wife has no clue about how any of this works, she just enters an address into the TomTom, and it gets her to where she wants to go.

 

At the beginning, it appears that 5 gallon buckets were the container of choice. Now, everything seems to be blinkey's and film canisters.

 

I wonder how many geocachers would switch to Waymarking, if the Waymarking web site was easier to use, and awarded smiley's.

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At the beginning, it appears that 5 gallon buckets were the container of choice. Now, everything seems to be blinkey's and film canisters.

 

I wonder how many geocachers would switch to Waymarking, if the Waymarking web site was easier to use, and awarded smiley's.

 

I just recently quit Waymarking after 8 years of doing it, and it's not because the site is hard to use. I thought it was quite easy.

There is also the grid system on the Waymarking site, and it's more about that than the numbers smiley's for a hard core Waymarker that plays it as a game.

 

I have came back to the soggy paper game because Waymarking is equally as lame as a powertrail of nanos stuck out in the open on a guardrail every 25 feet. :anitongue:

 

I'm going to help keep geocaching alive by leaving some nice containers in 2017. It's not a throwdown unless you log it as a find. :D

Edited by Manville Possum
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I wouldn't say Geocaching is dead, but rather closer to a zero sum game.

 

Some long timers (Gen1) remember "how it was" and don't like "what geocaching has become". You see Gen1 become lass active. Gen1 stop contributing to the finding or placing of caches. Gen1 is eventually replace by Gen2. Geocaching is fresh and exciting. They contribute to the finding or placing of caches. But the games changes and Gen2 remember "how it was" and doesn't like "what geocaching has become". Gen2 gives way to Gen3 and the cycle continues.

 

Add in that as people become older, responsibilities change. Time commitments might drive a few people to become less active. But this is offset by people that as they get older have less responsibilities.

What you're saying is what i believe. Only thing is, most Gen2s only get to experience certain aspects of geocaching. The freshness comes with the first few caches they find. After that, it doesn't take long for geocaching to become less thrilling to them because the majority of caches they're finding are basically the same.

 

No doubt most Gen1s began this same way too. Only thing was, they (basic members) had access to all but premium caches that were hidden. They got to see the variety that were published at the time. Their interest was longer kept and most didn't treat geocaching as a competition.

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Wow so people like putting out big empty containers. I didn't see that coming. I don't see how old swag is bad unless its something that makes a mess like bubbles or stamps. For me the worst part of any cache is the log book. I hate signing damp smelly logs or rolling them back up and carrying tweezers to get them out. If we could get rid of the log book by using QR codes, photos, or pass codes, we could truly have the biggest and best empty containers for people to find. :lol:

 

So I think geocaching is dying, but geofinding or gelogging is doing quite well.

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Back in 2003 when I cached with my younger daughters, ages 8 & 10 at the time, they really enjoyed finding the cache, reviewing the swag in the cache and trading swag. Fast forward to 2016/2017 and my now 21 & 23 yr old daughters, when they come with me, still enjoy finding the cache and checking and swapping the swag in the cache. I always have swag with me unless I'm specifically headed out to a small # of known micros.

 

Before a mega event in my area this past fall, one of my daughters and I specifically went to a series of caches that were placed in the mega event area the prior year and added swag to each container until it was full. At the mega event I checked 2 of the caches as I was passing by them and none of the swag I placed was still in the container as it was swapped out for different swag. So there is still a group of cachers that enjoy swag and I'd expect not having swag would make it less enjoyable.

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If we could get rid of the log book by using QR codes, photos, or pass codes, we could truly have the biggest and best empty containers for people to find. :lol:

 

Well, the alternative geocaching site already has those type of geocaches. Maybe it would work here also. Even if the cache has a QR code or pass word, it's nothing more than a Munzee in a container, and they would become powertrails if allowed here, so I'm sure it has already been considered.

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Is it not hilarious that this thread starts out about being about geocaching dying and now we are on about why swag is bad. The entire purpose of geocaching creation was to go find a container and trade something and that is now frowned upon.

 

I don't think it's frowned upon to leave swag in a geocache, and you can't go by what is posted here in the forums just for the sake of argument. :anibad:

 

I don't enjoy finding swag that looks like it came from a kids desk at the end of a school year, or happy meal toys from McD's, but geocaching is not a kids game for me anymore either. My kids are no longer interested in geocaching.

I know this, I am just playing along with the couple of posters who are digging at swag being pointless. Having swag in caches IS NOT one of the reasons that "geocaching is dying" so it doesn't belong in this thread.

 

The only negative to swag is the connotation that Groundspeak creates by referring to "treasure hunting" in their marketing materials.

 

What is geocaching? Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices.

That is not geocaching any longer, obviously.

Edited by fbingha
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Having swag in caches IS NOT one of the reasons that "geocaching is dying" so it doesn't belong in this thread.

 

The discussion about swag started because Lone.R thinks that the fact that more and more caches do not contain swag is a sign of that the cache part of geocaching is dying while others do not agree with this as I do not see swag as an integral component of geocaches.

 

The only negative to swag is the connotation that Groundspeak creates by referring to "treasure hunting" in their marketing materials.

 

The treasures for me are the wonderful experiences and the locations to which geocaching brings me and not toys or signature items which do not interest me at all. Neither the experiences nor the trinkets are treasures in the classical sense of the word, so everyone can choose which kind of treasures geocaching might have to offer.

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What is geocaching? Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices.

That is not geocaching any longer, obviously.

 

Here's a definition for geocache when you google: define geocache

 

ge·o·cacheˈjēōˌkaSH/noun
  • 1.(in the activity or pastime of geocaching) an item, typically a container holding a number of other items, that has been hidden at a location whose coordinates have been posted on the Internet.

 

'Typically a container holding a number of other items' should be replaced with 'typically a container holding a logsheet'.

Edited by L0ne.R
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I've never liked the "treasure hunt" terminology. I wish they'd adopted "scavenger hunt" as the theme. That's the activity, and 'treasure' (be it swag or experience) is the bonus that most everyone looks forward to. And scavenger hunts almost always have some form of puzzle or task involved in order find success. Geocaching is, IMO, much more a scavenger hunt activity than a treasure hunt.

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What is geocaching? Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices.

That is not geocaching any longer, obviously.

 

Here's a definition for geocache when you google: define geocache

 

ge·o·cacheˈjēōˌkaSH/noun
  • 1.(in the activity or pastime of geocaching) an item, typically a container holding a number of other items, that has been hidden at a location whose coordinates have been posted on the Internet.

 

'Typically a container holding a number of other items' should be replaced with 'typically a container holding a logsheet'.

I took what I quoted directly from the Geocaching 101 link on www.geocaching.com, which was the point. Groundspeak should stop referring to treasure hunt and use scavenger hunt.

 

I think they don't because they like to plant that idea in the heads of possible new customers.

Edited by fbingha
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What is geocaching? Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices.

That is not geocaching any longer, obviously.

Here's a definition for geocache when you google: define geocache

 

ge·o·cacheˈjēōˌkaSH/noun
  • 1.(in the activity or pastime of geocaching) an item, typically a container holding a number of other items, that has been hidden at a location whose coordinates have been posted on the Internet.

 

'Typically a container holding a number of other items' should be replaced with 'typically a container holding a logsheet'.

 

To expand even more, I think 'typically' can be problematic. I think it would be better read "A container of some form holding at least a log sheet or record book, that has been hidden at a location..etc...; additionally, 'geocache' may be used to refer to a form of virtual task which must be carried out at the designated coordinates." The latter, enh, just an attempt to connect non-physical variant definition unique to the listing service.

 

ETA: If we're being precise, "...whose coordinates have been posted on the internet" is inaccurate. Better might be, "...the location of which must be determined by following instructions and/or GPS coordinates, posted on the internet." ph34r.gif

Edited by thebruce0
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Going back to the original post:

 

but the last few years, finding caches has generally been a disappointment. Most of the time the caches are mouldy, smelly boxes of tat, the kind of stuff you'd normally throw away.

 

Is this not true for most areas?

 

My observation is the people still geocaching are those that treat it like a game and go for numbers/stats/grid-filling.

A mouldy smelly box of tat is A-OK because ultimately it's not about the condition of the cache, but that there is something there that can be logged.

The hiders that are left, are mostly those that plant tens, hundreds, even 1000s of caches. They take up whole trails, roadsides, parks.They hide so many they have to plant junk containers because even $1 per container would break the bank. They need to encourage others to throwdown when one of their caches go missing or needs repair. Or they do nothing, let the box go to junk; if no one throws down a cache and someone logs an NA, they let the reviewer archive their cache (too much work to do it themselves- or maybe it's an odd form of silent protest). And those finders who are left playing the game, love them for it.

Some see prolific hides and finds as a sign of a flourishing game.

Some see prolific junk as a sign of a dying pastime.

Edited by L0ne.R
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Groundspeak should stop referring to treasure hunt and use scavenger hunt.

 

That is the term they use for their Waymarking site already. :anibad:

 

I have always considered it (Geocaching) "high-tech hide-and-seek". The "treasure hunt" phrase is (IMHO) purely marketing to trick more muggles into buying membership or the app. While "scavenger hunt" sort-of works, I usually consider that phrase to mean guessing where you might find some arbitrary object and searching for it. No, I think "Hide-and-Seek" fits better.

 

Back On Topic:

 

I don't think Geocaching is "dead", I think it has moved. The "Gen1" folks are still out in the forests searching for containers of the quality they (and I) like. The "Gen2" folks are running around parking lots, lifting skirts. And the "Gen3" folks are just jumping out of (almost) moving cars every 528 ft to grab a guardrail.

 

I have NO data to backup my suppositions, it's just they way I think.

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