Questions From the Noobie

[+SnuggleTrumpet]

Hey Everyone!

 

I've been lurking the forums for the last four hours (yay for nothing to do at work) to try and get an idea of what to expect when I Geocache. I've only had one experience with Geocaching with my brother three years ago and wanted to get into it more for health and because I love to travel/discover new places. While I was on the forums, some things kept coming up that I'd like to get some insight on.

 

1. I've notice a lot of Geocache owner's talking about their Cache getting filled with junk... what's considered junk? I purchased a bunch of Chessex glitter dice to deposit into the Caches so I'm hoping I won't be adding to the junk.

 

2. I've looked at some Caches in my area and the comments sometimes mentions a full log book... is there a way I can help the situation if I paperclip a log sheet to the existing book to give it a little more time until it can be maintained or is that solely for the owner to take care of?

 

3. Please decipher this for me:

"most cachers go after 1.5/1.5 LPC's caches"

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

[+HHL]

[...]

3. Please decipher this for me:

"most cachers go after 1.5/1.5 LPC's caches"

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

That reads:

"[i suppose that] most cachers go after caches with a difficulty and a terrain rating of 1.5 (from five) and that are easy to find Lamp Post Caches"

 

 

Hans

Edited April 15, 2017 by HHL

[+SnuggleTrumpet]

[...]

3. Please decipher this for me:

"most cachers go after 1.5/1.5 LPC's caches"

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

That reads:

"[i suppose that] most cachers go after caches with a difficulty and a terrain rating of 1.5 (from five) and that are easy to find Lamp Post Caches"

 

 

Hans

 

Ahhh... that makes sense. Thanks.

[+GeePa]

1. I've notice a lot of Geocache owner's talking about their Cache getting filled with junk... what's considered junk? I purchased a bunch of Chessex glitter dice to deposit into the Caches so I'm hoping I won't be adding to the junk.

I wouldn't call that junk. You might want to put each in a small ziploc type baggie just to keep it clean and dry. I know a number of kids (and some adults) who would love to get one of those RPG dies.

 

2. I've looked at some Caches in my area and the comments sometimes mentions a full log book... is there a way I can help the situation if I paperclip a log sheet to the existing book to give it a little more time until it can be maintained or is that solely for the owner to take care of?

It is sad that cache owners can take a long time to address issues such as a full log book. I carry around a mini composition book like the picture below for notes but also so I can tear out a page to use as a makeshift log in case the cache log is full. I tear out a sheet sign it and try to place it together with the full log (or maybe soaked log). I don't use a paperclip or anything though. I also make a point in my online log to say I had to do so.

 

Edited April 15, 2017 by GeePa

[+SnuggleTrumpet]

1. I've notice a lot of Geocache owner's talking about their Cache getting filled with junk... what's considered junk? I purchased a bunch of Chessex glitter dice to deposit into the Caches so I'm hoping I won't be adding to the junk.

I wouldn't call that junk. You might want to put each in a small ziploc type baggie just to keep it clean and dry. I know a number of kids (and some adults) who would love to get one of those RPG dies.

 

2. I've looked at some Caches in my area and the comments sometimes mentions a full log book... is there a way I can help the situation if I paperclip a log sheet to the existing book to give it a little more time until it can be maintained or is that solely for the owner to take care of?

It is sad that cache owners can take a long time to address issues such as a full log book. I carry around a mini composition book like the picture below for notes but also so I can tear out a page to use as a makeshift log in case the cache log is full. I tear out a sheet sign it and try to place it together with the full log (or maybe soaked log). I don't use a paperclip or anything though. I also make a point in my online log to say I had to do so.

 

 

Thanks for the info... I just added a bunch of 2" x 3" ziplocks to my order. I can't wait to start hunting.

Edited April 15, 2017 by SnuggleTrumpet

[+cerberus1]

The few times we've noticed a full log, we've simply added a piece of paper (usually a Rite in Rain strip), just to bide some time until the CO can do maintenance him/herself.

If it's someone we know, we realize that maintenance will be soon, as most read cache logs.

Others, we leave a Needs Maintenance log so they're aware.

 

Many times we've seen a "full log" post, to find later that that person (and sometimes a couple after...) just needed to flip the log over, or use the other side of pages in a notebook.

Should be common sense, but...

[JFowlerGreene]

Things that are considered Junk are:

-leaves or natural items

-tampons, pads, or sanitary products

-food

-homemade things (origami, foam cutouts, etc.) with few exceptions

-obscene things

-self promotions

-liquids

-things that should generally not be shared (chapstick, lipstick, etc.)

-Common sense: what would you not want to see when you open a cache?

 

I hope this list is useful!

[+niraD]

Things that are considered Junk are:

[...]

-homemade things (origami, foam cutouts, etc.) with few exceptions

This depends entirely on what the homemade things are. The only things I bother trading for are personal signature items left by other geocachers, many of which are homemade things.

 

It is important to consider the environment inside a geocache container though. Paper items (e.g., origami) should be protected from moisture. Delicate items should be protected from physical damage. Or better yet, make trade items that can stand up to a little moisture, heat, cold, rough handling, etc.

[+Furrhan]

1.) Junk is junk. Rubbish, food, tickets to shows or carnivals that have expired by the time the next person gets to the cache, cheap plastic trinkets like you'd get in Christmas Crackers/bonbons, broken things, etc. Basically anything that you wouldn't want to see in a cache or that you wouldn't want to trade for and anything that doesn't have any value. You should never put food or anything that might attract scavengers in a cache either, or anything perishable. Home made arts and crafts can be great though! There are threads on these forums with people sharing what they've made to put in caches. They should be decent arts and crafts though, something unique or creative that a person might not make or might not be capable of making for themself.

 

2.) Absolutely, you can help! You can put in another little pad if you have one, or a piece of paper from a pad or notebook, anything like that. I once tore a strip of paper from the A4 size pad I have in my geocaching kit to replace a full, tattered log in a small mint tin cache. That said, if you do add a new log, NEVER remove the old one. Always leave the old one in the cache for the cache owner to check as well as for anyone who's interested to look through. It's always fascinating to open a log book and see signatures that are ten years old or older!

 

3.) As has been said, that refers to the difficulty of the cache as well as to the type. LPC, or lamp post caches are generally frowned upon these days. They're located under the cover on the base of a lamp post and one simply has to lift the cover to find the cache. They're seen as lazy and not creative and they're also considered dangerous as you can easily access the live wires powering the street lamp under those covers. They're also risky as they're often in areas where it's easier for you to be caught while finding them and in today's political climate messing around with lamp posts like that can make people very suspicious of you.

 

As to the 1.5/1.5 part, that refers to the difficulty of the terrain as well as the difficulty of the hide itself. All caches on geocaching.com are rated on a 1 to 5 scale in terms of how difficult they are to access and how difficult the actual cache is to find once you're at the cache location. Caches with ratings of 1 or close to 1 are generally on flat ground, likely near roads and are probably larger size caches that will be easy enough to spot. Caches with ratings around 2.5-3 will probably require some hiking, perhaps a bit of uphill or downhill walking, and may require climbing a tree or solving a puzzle to open the cache. Caches with ratings of 4 or 5 will probably require long or difficult walks and may require specialised equipment or skills to access like diving equipment, boats, abseiling or rock climbing equipment. These caches may be micro or nano caches the size of your thumbnail that contain only a log or they may be very well disguised so that they blend in with their environment.

 

The ratings provide a handy guide to the cache difficulty but it's always best to read the cache description for all the information. Terrain and cache difficulty are rated separately too, so a cache with terrain rating of five that you need to abseil to reach may be a large tupperware container with a difficulty of 1. Conversely a cache with a terrain rating of 1 that's located along a city street might be really well disguised or might be a nano cache with a difficulty rating of 5 that you really have to hunt to find. Sometimes people misjudge the ratings when they list the cache too so, as I said, always thoroughly read the description before you set out.

 

I hope this helps but if there's anything that's not clear or if you have any more questions about anything please do feel free to ask!

 

Happy caching!