Hey all, I'm new! (And looking for tips//advice.)

[The_Bec]

Hello, everyone! My name is Becca, and I'm new to Geocaching! I've known what it was for a while, but I finally decided to take the plunge and check it out myself! I haven't found a cache, yet, but I'm itching to get out there!

 

While I have the technical idea of how to geocache, I'm sure there's a lot I still don't know or understand. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks for new Geocachers.

 

I'm also curious how you all meet each other and get together for some caching! I live in Greene County, NY, which is is fairly rural, and I have yet to locate a local group.

 

Any tips or advice would be great. Pleasure to meet you all, and I look forward to getting to know you!

[+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.

 

As far as getting together for some geocaching, I do most of my geocaching alone, or with newbies that I'm introducing to geocaching. When I've gotten together with other geocachers to find caches, it's been through local Facebook groups, or (pre-Facebook) through conversations in local forums.

 

I do attend local geocaching events, but those are generally about socializing, not about planning geocaching trips or anything like that.

[ohgood]

Hello, everyone! My name is Becca, and I'm new to Geocaching! I've known what it was for a while, but I finally decided to take the plunge and check it out myself! I haven't found a cache, yet, but I'm itching to get out there!

 

While I have the technical idea of how to geocache, I'm sure there's a lot I still don't know or understand. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks for new Geocachers.

 

I'm also curious how you all meet each other and get together for some caching! I live in Greene County, NY, which is is fairly rural, and I have yet to locate a local group.

 

Any tips or advice would be great. Pleasure to meet you all, and I look forward to getting to know you!

 

1 you do not need to pay Groundspeak or Garmin to geocache , smartphones work great OFFLINE, without paying anyone for a subscription.

 

2 avoid all caches called "micro" or "nano".

 

3 make sure someone has recently logged a FIND for caches you plan to go after.

 

4 take a friend with you

[+TeamRabbitRun]

Hiya, Becca! Welcome to the hobby.

 

I'm just down the road from you in Southern Ulster, in the New Paltz area. Couple o'miles!

 

There WAS a local club in Kingston - hunt for their Facebook page. Last time I looked at it, there wasn't much activity.

 

Down here, there's a decent community of local cachers.

 

Best thing I can tell you is to read the Help section of the website. Go through it and learn as much as you can.

 

In there, you'll find all kinds of details about how to play that unfortunately many new cachers don't learn. Your experience will be better if you know what your responsibilities are as a 'finder' - there's definitely a two-way relationship between hiders and seekers. Makes it much more rewarding.

 

Many cell-phone cachers (most new people start on cell-phones) don't know much about the website, either. Spend a lot of time just poking around there in addition to what's on your phone.

 

Learn about "Notifications", and register to get emails about Geocaching Events in as wide a circle around your home as you'd be willing to travel for a social event.

 

And, follow niraD and ohgood's advice!

 

I don't do MUCH caching in the winter, but in the spring the wife and I do venture forth. We'll be out there!

 

Feel free to reach out to us through the email link on my profile or the Message Center.

[The_Bec]

Well I'm really glad I asked for some advice. Definitely some things I didn't think of or know. Thank you! I knew I should ask the experts,

 

Why do I avoid micro and nano caches? I've seen quite a few micros around me, and most of them involve parking on the side of the road and a 3 minute jaunt to fetch and sign them. I would never make them the goal of a serious geo-caching venture, but they seemed like a convenient/as I'm passing by find.

[+TeamRabbitRun]

Well I'm really glad I asked for some advice. Definitely some things I didn't think of or know. Thank you! I knew I should ask the experts,

 

Why do I avoid micro and nano caches? I've seen quite a few micros around me, and most of them involve parking on the side of the road and a 3 minute jaunt to fetch and sign them. I would never make them the goal of a serious geo-caching venture, but they seemed like a convenient/as I'm passing by find.

 

Two things:

• 
   
  
• They're smaller, and therefore harder to find unless they're the really easy ones. Yes, "park-and-grabs" are usually easy and perfectly good targets, but consider a new player trying to find a 1.5-inch by half-inch camouflaged Bison tube hanging in an evergreen tree! As a beginner, do you want to be steered to that one or the lunchbox-sized Tupperware container under the rock next to that tree?
  
• Typically, the smaller containers are less satisfying. Smaller logbooks or logsheets or just paper strips and no room for fun stuff like SWAG and Trackables (read those Help files!). These days, it's easy to ONLY go after the little ones because they're just so prevalent, but as you start, make sure you don't limit yourself. TAKE those two-mile hikes for just one cache! ESPECIALLY in Greene County! The North Lake / South Lake area?
  

[The_Bec]

Well I'm really glad I asked for some advice. Definitely some things I didn't think of or know. Thank you! I knew I should ask the experts,

 

Why do I avoid micro and nano caches? I've seen quite a few micros around me, and most of them involve parking on the side of the road and a 3 minute jaunt to fetch and sign them. I would never make them the goal of a serious geo-caching venture, but they seemed like a convenient/as I'm passing by find.

 

Two things:

• 
   
  
• They're smaller, and therefore harder to find unless they're the really easy ones. Yes, "park-and-grabs" are usually easy and perfectly good targets, but consider a new player trying to find a 1.5-inch by half-inch camouflaged Bison tube hanging in an evergreen tree! As a beginner, do you want to be steered to that one or the lunchbox-sized Tupperware container under the rock next to that tree?
  
• Typically, the smaller containers are less satisfying. Smaller logbooks or logsheets or just paper strips and no room for fun stuff like SWAG and Trackables (read those Help files!). These days, it's easy to ONLY go after the little ones because they're just so prevalent, but as you start, make sure you don't limit yourself. TAKE those two-mile hikes for just one cache! ESPECIALLY in Greene County! The North Lake / South Lake area?
  

 

Definitely makes sense! And I'm about 5 minutes from North/South Lake. Caches are very saturated up here, so it's easy to go for a quick 2 mile hike and get a couple. (Or more than a couple!) Thankfully caches are everywhere in Greene county (and surrounding counties.)

[+niraD]

Why do I avoid micro and nano caches?

As TeamRabbitRun indicated, they're smaller and therefore they are harder to find.

 

Also, a lot of the "easy" micros with low difficulty ratings are rated that way because they're in "the usual place" that experienced geocachers have learned to search. But when you're new, and you don't know where "the usual places" are, and you might not even be sure what you're looking for, micros can be especially challenging.

 

Later, after you have a bit of experience, go ahead and give some of them a try. You might decide that you prefer larger caches that can hold trade items and/or trackables. Or you might decide that you enjoy the challenge of searching for a hard-to-find cache. (I especially enjoy searching for challenging camouflaged caches, but not everyone does.) Or you might decide that size doesn't really matter to you.

[+Manville Possum]

1 you do not need to pay Groundspeak or Garmin to geocache , smartphones work great OFFLINE, without paying anyone for a subscription.

 

2 avoid all caches called "micro" or "nano".

 

I can go along with 1 and 2. I enjoy geocaching alone for seldom logged caches.

[+SeattleWayne]

My advice is: make sure you log your Did Not Finds (DNFs). If you don't find it after a valiant search, it's okay.

 

Like most have said, nano caches can be challenging. Once you've found 25-50 and have figured out where typical hides generally are, you ought to move on to more challenging caches. You notice a lot of common hiding spots seem to trend which will summon your inner geo-senses.

 

Good luck.

[+L0ne.R]

Be nice to the good owners and write a thoughtful log about the experience of visiting their cache.

I get the feeling that you would write thoughtful logs.

Many beginners copycat what they see and write acronym-only logs, or cut n paste the same log to all the caches they searched that day.

[+BCandMsKitty]

Be nice to the good owners and write a thoughtful log about the experience of visiting their cache.

I get the feeling that you would write thoughtful logs.

Many beginners copycat what they see and write acronym-only logs, or cut n paste the same log to all the caches they searched that day.

 

+1

and log your DNFs

[ohgood]

1 you do not need to pay Groundspeak or Garmin to geocache , smartphones work great OFFLINE, without paying anyone for a subscription.

 

2 avoid all caches called "micro" or "nano".

 

I can go along with 1 and 2. I enjoy geocaching alone for seldom logged caches.

 

agreed. the distant/infrequent caches are usually the best. you're on the right track.

[+Gill & Tony]

1 you do not need to pay Groundspeak or Garmin to geocache , smartphones work great OFFLINE, without paying anyone for a subscription.

 

2 avoid all caches called "micro" or "nano".

 

I can go along with 1 and 2. I enjoy geocaching alone for seldom logged caches.

 

agreed. the distant/infrequent caches are usually the best. you're on the right track.

Actually, whichever cache types you prefer are best for you. When you have found enough, you will know your caching preferences.

[The_Bec]

Thank you, EVERYONE! I feel very honored that you all shared some tips with me. Geocaching is definitely one of those hobbies that seems straight forward enough (not to belittle the complexity of this past time AT ALL), but all the veterans tricks are absolute treasures to me right now. So, thank you again!

[+Goannas]

We joined several years ago but didn’t do much until a recent holiday. Geocaching added an extra dimension to the holiday and took us to places we wouldn’t have gone and taught us a lot of local history that wasn’t in the guide books.

I notice a few people have said to avoid micros but we’ve found a few relatively easily. As long as there’s a reason for them to take me to that spot, I don’t mind if they’re “log only”. We’ve discovered a lot of little roadside memorials that we’ve been driving past for years.

I agree with the advice to read the description, read the logs (look for subtle hints – they’ve helped us find a couple) and look at the photos. Know what size you’re looking for. We did 3 trips to one local cache before realising we were looking for something small when it was actually a regular cache.

We do have a GPS but mostly use a smartphone app and rarely have any problems with it.

Always carry a pen, just in case of a broken pencil or pen out of ink in the cache, or for the micros that a writing stick won’t fit in.

We’ve put together a little kit which contains a pen, small ziplock bags, replacement pencils, emergency logs (just some folded strips of paper), a torch, tweezers and dinosaur stickers which we’re using as our “trademark”.

Most of all: have fun!

[The_Bec]

We joined several years ago but didn’t do much until a recent holiday. Geocaching added an extra dimension to the holiday and took us to places we wouldn’t have gone and taught us a lot of local history that wasn’t in the guide books.

I notice a few people have said to avoid micros but we’ve found a few relatively easily. As long as there’s a reason for them to take me to that spot, I don’t mind if they’re “log only”. We’ve discovered a lot of little roadside memorials that we’ve been driving past for years.

I agree with the advice to read the description, read the logs (look for subtle hints – they’ve helped us find a couple) and look at the photos. Know what size you’re looking for. We did 3 trips to one local cache before realising we were looking for something small when it was actually a regular cache.

We do have a GPS but mostly use a smartphone app and rarely have any problems with it.

Always carry a pen, just in case of a broken pencil or pen out of ink in the cache, or for the micros that a writing stick won’t fit in.

We’ve put together a little kit which contains a pen, small ziplock bags, replacement pencils, emergency logs (just some folded strips of paper), a torch, tweezers and dinosaur stickers which we’re using as our “trademark”.

Most of all: have fun!

 

I'm only a few caches in and I love the ones that call my attention to local history. I love stopping at something I otherwise drive by countless times to find a cache, and learn something along the way. Hiking is always fun (and my first love, it was how I found GC!), but I'm an immense fan of the quick caches that teach me something new.

 

While I've only found 8 caches, only one of these has been regular sized, the rest have been small or micro. I've never had any trouble finding them. And whatever challenge they may pose from their wee size only adds to the game!

 

Thank you!

[+TeamRabbitRun]

 

<...>

 

I agree with the advice to read the description, read the logs (look for subtle hints – they’ve helped us find a couple) and look at the photos.

 

<...>

 

I always try to find a cache using ONLY the description and my geo-senses. That's what the CO intended.

 

If I get frustrated, then, and ONLY then to I turn to the encrypted hint.

 

If, after a while I STILL can't find it, I'll read a few logs.

 

I never look at photos in the field, because too often, pictures are spoilers. Early on, I looked at a picture of someone's little kid holding a cache, standing in front of a rock cliff with LOTS of tricky niches. The kid was posed, pointing at the VERY identifiable specific hidey-hole.

 

My point is, try to find the bloody thing the way it was intended to be found.

 

When you write your logs, DON'T GIVE ANYTHING AWAY!! Why would you do that? How disrespectful to the CO and the work he or she did!

 

Have you ever been in the process of telling a joke, only to have someone wander by and blurt out the punchline? Now you feel like an idiot, and everyone kinda wanders away.

 

"Hey that was a great joke! I would have thought it was funny if I had been allowed to hear it as a joke."

 

"Hey, that was a great cache! I would have really enjoyed finding it if someone hadn't given away the hiding place."

 

But, many people people only want the quick smiley. and don't care about the game as I choose to play it.

 

<sigh>

[ohgood]

 

<...>

 

I agree with the advice to read the description, read the logs (look for subtle hints – they’ve helped us find a couple) and look at the photos.

 

<...>

 

I always try to find a cache using ONLY the description and my geo-senses. That's what the CO intended.

 

If I get frustrated, then, and ONLY then to I turn to the encrypted hint.

 

If, after a while I STILL can't find it, I'll read a few logs.

 

I never look at photos in the field, because too often, pictures are spoilers. Early on, I looked at a picture of someone's little kid holding a cache, standing in front of a rock cliff with LOTS of tricky niches. The kid was posed, pointing at the VERY identifiable specific hidey-hole.

 

My point is, try to find the bloody thing the way it was intended to be found.

 

When you write your logs, DON'T GIVE ANYTHING AWAY!! Why would you do that? How disrespectful to the CO and the work he or she did!

 

Have you ever been in the process of telling a joke, only to have someone wander by and blurt out the punchline? Now you feel like an idiot, and everyone kinda wanders away.

 

"Hey that was a great joke! I would have thought it was funny if I had been allowed to hear it as a joke."

 

"Hey, that was a great cache! I would have really enjoyed finding it if someone hadn't given away the hiding place."

 

But, many people people only want the quick smiley. and don't care about the game as I choose to play it.

 

<sigh>

 

ways to get to and find a cache:

gps cords

well established trail right to it

messaging cache owner

phone a friend

unencrypted hints

pictures

 

none of them are spoilers in the sense that a punchline to a joke is..... because you have the choice to use them or not, but the punchline that is yelled as he walks by its not optional.

 

imagine being given a history puzzle to solve, instead of gps coordinates, yes, coordinates are a crutch or "spoiler" in the same way that a picture pointing to the cache is.

[+briansnat]

I'm also curious how you all meet each other and get together for some caching! I live in Greene County, NY, which is is fairly rural, and I have yet to locate a local group.

 

Check out the NY Capital Region Geocachers. They are active in the Catskills to southern ADKs. Good bunch of people. They appear to have shut down their website (at least I couldn't find it) but they have an active Facebook page.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Thank you, EVERYONE! I feel very honored that you all shared some tips with me. Geocaching is definitely one of those hobbies that seems straight forward enough (not to belittle the complexity of this past time AT ALL), but all the veterans tricks are absolute treasures to me right now. So, thank you again!

 

Welcome to the game. I'm not familiar with the local community in your area but live about 3 hours west. There is a fairly active group in the Syracuse area that has a FB group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/geocachingcny/) that has fairly frequent TOTT (Tools of The Trade) events that would be very good for someone just getting into the game. Although most of the people in the group are from the Syracuse area I know that there are a few from the capital district and there have been some discussions about caches in the area. It looks like the next TOTT event is March 16th (GC71987)

As you find more caches locally take note of the cache owners that seem to be making better hides (especially if they've been in the game for awhile) and don't be afraid to send a PM mentioning that you enjoyed their caches, and perhaps ask about local events. One of the things that drew me into the game was getting an welcoming email message from the owner of my first find attempt (after I posted a DNF log...it was actually missing).