Time spent

[+DynamicDavisDuo]

I'm sure this is totally an individual choice and each person's mileage may vary, but I'm curious.  How much time do you usually spend at GZ before giving up and logging a DNF?  Had 3 dnf's today and was just about to quit when cache #4 produced in moments.  Gave me the encouragement to knock out 3 more for a 4 out of 7 kinda day ;-)

[+barefootjeff]

It all depends. If it's one I've spent half the day hiking to, I'm likely to hang around for an hour or two but much beyond that I'd probably walk away and come back another time with fresh eyes and maybe a hint from the CO or other finders. For more urban hides, if there are muggles blocking my approach I might try waiting them out if I can do that without looking suspicious, or walk off somewhere else for a bit and hope they'd gone by the time I returned, and if it's a tricky hide in public view I probably wouldn't spend more than a few minutes searching so as not to draw too much attention to myself - there are only so many times you can pretend to be checking phone messages or tie your shoelaces (which is a bit hard to pull off when barefoot). Generally, though, if it's one of a number I'm attempting that day and not of any particular importance (like needing a particular D/T combination for a challenge cache, for example), I usually wouldn't give it much more than fifteen minutes, maybe half an hour tops. Previous logs can also help in deciding how long to spend on it.

[+cerberus1]

We usually go for higher D/T these days, so "time spent" at GZ could be a while. 

Lower D/T caches we've made it a deal that after ten minutes or so, if we don't find it by the time I lit/finish a smoke (or similar in NS areas...) it's quittin' time, so maybe around twenty minutes.   

[+niraD]

I stop when I'm no longer having fun searching. I've searched as long as an hour before giving up and logging a DNF on a particular 4-star difficulty cache. But I've also logged DNFs after much less time searching, especially for caches with lower difficulty ratings.

[+hzoi]

On 10/15/2017 at 2:11 AM, niraD said:

I stop when I'm no longer having fun searching.

Same here.  Sometimes that's 20-30 minutes or more.  Sometimes it's five minutes.  Depends on how patient (or not) I'm feeling.

Last weekend I did an 8-mile round trip hike for a geo art series, and at the turn around point, I was ready to start heading back to the car.  Couldn't find the cache, and bagged it far earlier than I would have at, say, mile 1.

[+niraD]

1 hour ago, hzoi said:

Same here.  Sometimes that's 20-30 minutes or more.  Sometimes it's five minutes.  Depends on how patient (or not) I'm feeling.

Last weekend I did an 8-mile round trip hike for a geo art series, and at the turn around point, I was ready to start heading back to the car.  Couldn't find the cache, and bagged it far earlier than I would have at, say, mile 1.

For me, it also depends on who I'm with. Muggles don't have much patience for an extended search. For that matter, some geocachers don't have much patience for an extended search. But then again, I usually avoid going for high-difficulty caches when I'm with people like that.

[+hzoi]

6 minutes ago, niraD said:

For me, it also depends on who I'm with. Muggles don't have much patience for an extended search. For that matter, some geocachers don't have much patience for an extended search. But then again, I usually avoid going for high-difficulty caches when I'm with people like that.

That, too.  For someone who made her first find at a couple days old, the youngest member of hzoi can be remarkably impatient at times. 

[+justintim1999]

I'm stubborn so I'll tend to search awhile before giving up.   One time I went looking for a tough micro with a buddy of mine.  After 45 minutes of searching the ground on my hands and knees I looked up to find I was by myself.   Turns out after 10 minutes he went back to the car and to wait while I got it out of my system.    Search until your satisfied however long that takes.   

[+Furrhan]

I like to have a good root around. It really depends on the specific cache though, as well as on how good the hints are. For instance, one cache was tiny and located in a boulder field and the hint appeared to mean that it was near a rock. Very unhelpful. I gave up on that one pretty quick since there wasn't a lot of point in searching with my inaccurate GPS device and the falling light. In contrast, I've searched for one for a good half an hour or so because I knew I was in the right spot, the hint was clear and good and I was having fun. That one I gave up on because I decided to come back with fresh eyes after collecting the other caches I had bookmarked for the day if I had time since I didn't want to lose the light.

So it really depends on the cache and the circumstances. And time constraints.