Ratio of finds to didn't find

[+brodiebunch]

I have 5700 geocache finds as of yesterday and 620 geocaches not found. 

 

For about every ten geocaches found, there is one I do not find. 

 

Does anyone else think about that? 

 

Does everyone log the geocaches they do not find? 

 

Just wondering

[+arisoft]

I have 8062 finds and 902 not found logs.

 

Only some geocaches know how to log DNF. It seems that most geocachers are not very accurate about this matter.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I'm at 9300 finds and 1196 DNFs.

[+cerberus1]

37 minutes ago, brodiebunch said:

I have 5700 geocache finds as of yesterday and 620 geocaches not found. 

 

Does anyone else think about that? 

 

Does everyone log the geocaches they do not find? 

 

Had to look at my profile  (I don't keep track of "stats"), but I have 2,795  finds, and in "your logs"  have 348 did not finds.

That's in error, as "your logs" doesn't delete if you found it later, or went to one cache multiple times,  so each dnf is counted.

 

No.

We've logged every cache we did not find when on or about the final coordinates.  We don't log dnf if we're no where near GZ...

[+TriciaG]

686 finds, 94 DNFs,. So far I think my ratio is highest.

 

EDIT: Err, lowest. Most DNFs per find.

Edited August 17, 2020 by TriciaG

[+ecanderson]

We log all of our DNFs, and have 1,014 DNF against 13,609 finds.  Of course, some number of those finds were previously DNFs.

That said, we tend to put together a run of 30-35 at a time, and consider more than a net 1 or 2 DNFs a bad day - net meaning the total DNF vs. found DNF.   If we log two new DNFs but get two old ones off the list, that's a decent (break even) day.  Net -1 or better is a good day.

 

[+lee737]

We seem to run around the 1:12 DNF:find ratio.....  3850 finds, 306 DNf logs.

I always log DNFs, it's part of our day, and worth recording. If we didn't get to GZ but started to go for the cache, I'll log a note....

Edited August 17, 2020 by lee737

[+barefootjeff]

I have 142 DNFs from 1205 finds, so a ratio of about 1 to 8.5. Of those 142 DNFs, 88 subsequently became finds and of the remainder, a lot are still in play but I just haven't had the opportunity to go back for another attempt at redeeming them.

 

I'll log a DNF if I'm defeated by some aspect of the cache, whether it's the concealment that outsmarted me at GZ, its placement close to loitering muggles or terrain that got the better of me somewhere between where I set off with GPSr in hand and GZ. If I'm interrupted by something not cache-related or if it was my intention to complete the cache over multiple days then it's a note or nothing.

[+CAVinoGal]

Finds: 1948 (includes 30 lab caches, well, more like 6 but it counts for 30 finds!)

DNFs: 127  (I have since found 30 of those DNFs, some have been archived, some I may or may not ever find!)

 

I do log most of my DNFs - exceptions are if I am in a group, and another of the group is logging it.  I don't feel a need to log more than one DNF on the same search.  Sometimes I'll be the one to log the DNF, sometimes it's someone else.  I also tend not to log more than one DNF on a cache, even if I go back to it a  few times when others have found it in between; I've already got the blue frownie on the map to remind me!

[+fizzymagic]

My own stats are 10950/867.   A 10:1 ratio seems to be pretty normal.  I am the only person I know who has logged a DNF on an Earthcache.

[+barefootjeff]

3 minutes ago, fizzymagic said:

I am the only person I know who has logged a DNF on an Earthcache.

 

I did that in March on GC8K5D1, an 11-stage Earthcache, when I couldn't reach all the waypoints due to unexpectedly big seas. I returned a few months later when the sea was much calmer and completed it. I've also had a couple of DNFs on my own EC from people who misread the tide chart or were similarly defeated by big seas washing over GZ.

[+Goldenwattle]

11,080 find to 1132 DNFs, about the same ratio as others here.

[+The Jester]

1 hour ago, fizzymagic said:

My own stats are 10950/867.   A 10:1 ratio seems to be pretty normal.  I am the only person I know who has logged a DNF on an Earthcache.

I also logged a DNF on a EC when traveling.  The directions would have sent us backwards on our route - which we didn't have time for - so we were unable to answer all the questions (we should have read the page earlier, but we don't know our detailed route and/or timing until we take it).

 

9392 finds, 922 DNF's (of which 309 have been archived), I don't know how many we have since 'cleared', but I know that I have 82 'active' DNF's in Washington State (home) and others scattered across the US (and other countries, of which Jamaica 'hurts' the worst - two near the boat and DNF'd both!).

 

 

[+Goldenwattle]

12 minutes ago, The Jester said:

9392 finds, 922 DNF's (of which 309 have been archived)

I wouldn't know how to easily find how many of my finds have been archived.

[+The Jester]

1 minute ago, Goldenwattle said:

I wouldn't know how to easily find how many of my finds have been archived.

I keep a GSAK database of DNF's caches that have been archived.  Which reminded me that the Found database also shows those that I DNF'd at some point - a very surprising 309!  I never would have thought my 'cleared' DNF's matched my archived DNF's.

[+on4bam]

1 minute ago, Goldenwattle said:

I wouldn't know how to easily find how many of my finds have been archived.

The My Finds PQ

 

475 DNF's out of 10434 finds. 145 DNF's were later found. 199 DNFs are now archived (Only for Belgium, no record on DNFs elsewhere)

[+Goldenwattle]

30 minutes ago, on4bam said:

The My Finds PQ

 

475 DNF's out of 10434 finds. 145 DNF's were later found. 199 DNFs are now archived (Only for Belgium, no record on DNFs elsewhere)

A pocket query won't cover the whole world, and only loads 1000 caches.

[+fizzymagic]

2 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

A pocket query won't cover the whole world, and only loads 1000 caches.

Um, no.

 

The My Finds PQ returns all your cache finds, along with the current status of all the caches you have found.  It only includes your logs, though.

[+on4bam]

5 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

A pocket query won't cover the whole world, and only loads 1000 caches.

The Myfinds PQ has ALL your finds, no limit on distance or amount of caches

 

[+Goldenwattle]

8 minutes ago, on4bam said:

The Myfinds PQ has ALL your finds, no limit on distance or amount of caches

 

My query reset the 10,000 I put in to 750Kms, so that's its limit. Anyway, I can't see archived caches there; only disabled caches.

[+Goldenwattle]

13 minutes ago, on4bam said:

The Myfinds PQ has ALL your finds, no limit on distance or amount of caches

 

I want to count my archived finds, not all finds. Then there is that 750km limit which my query changes down to if I set a bigger distance than that.

[+on4bam]

3 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

My query reset the 10,000 I put in to 750Kms, so that's its limit. Anyway, I can't see archived caches there; only disabled caches.

That's because you're creating a PQ and not using the special MyFinds PQ at the bottom of the PQ page.

[+Goldenwattle]

Where is that; I can't find it? I even did a search for 'MyFinds PQ', but nothing came up. I searched 'Your Pocket Queries' & 'New Pocket Query'.

[+on4bam]

3 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Where is that; I can't find it? I even did a search for 'MyFinds PQ', but nothing came up. I searched 'Your Pocket Queries' & 'New Pocket Query'.

Right here (bottom of the PQ page)

As I ran it yesterday there's no tick box.

 

[+Goldenwattle]

5 minutes ago, on4bam said:

Right here (bottom of the PQ page)

As I ran it yesterday there's no tick box.

 

Thank you. I didn't know about that, but how do I count the archived caches, without manually going through over 500 pages. (I'm not doing that). I was wanting to know the number of archived caches I have found.

[+on4bam]

2 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Thank you. I didn't know about that, but how do I count the archived caches, without manually going through over 500 pages. (I'm not doing that). I was wanting to know the number of archived caches I have found.

Don't think you can (maybe project-gc?) but I move archived not found caches from my Belgian database to the archived database (GSAK of course). That way I can always go back there and check. Caches I DNF'd in other countries are not kept because except for the Netherlands there's little chance we will revisit.

 

[+Harry Dolphin]

4 hours ago, fizzymagic said:

I am the only person I know who has logged a DNF on an Earthcache.

 

We DNFed am Earthcache in Nova Scotia that had a T rating of 1.  It was a half mile hike.  My sister was recuperating from an operation and could not walk that far.  The T rating was changed to 2.

[+lee737]

5 hours ago, fizzymagic said:

My own stats are 10950/867.   A 10:1 ratio seems to be pretty normal.  I am the only person I know who has logged a DNF on an Earthcache.

We DNFd an EC in our earlier days - we couldn't find the required sign....

[+NYPaddleCacher]

5 hours ago, The Jester said:

I also logged a DNF on a EC when traveling.  The directions would have sent us backwards on our route - which we didn't have time for - so we were unable to answer all the questions (we should have read the page earlier, but we don't know our detailed route and/or timing until we take it).

 

9392 finds, 922 DNF's (of which 309 have been archived), I don't know how many we have since 'cleared', but I know that I have 82 'active' DNF's in Washington State (home) and others scattered across the US (and other countries, of which Jamaica 'hurts' the worst - two near the boat and DNF'd both!).

 

 

The DNF that hurts the most for me was one at a bridge that crosses the Mara river in the southern part of Kenya.  The Mara river is somewhat well known for the water buffalo migration and the crocs that sit and wait and feed on the buffalo trying to cross.   Equally as dangerous are the hippos in the river.  When we stopped at the bridge for a bathroom break I went for the cache but was stopped by an armed guard that wouldn't let me got another 25' or so onto the bridge without an escort.  He said that he'd go with me on our way back out of Masai Mara game preserve but we didn't stop at the bridge on the way back. 

 

The cache has gone missing a few times.  I suspect this guy has something to do with it.

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by NYPaddleCacher

[+Aprilscherzen]

15 hours ago, TriciaG said:

686 finds, 94 DNFs,. So far I think my ratio is highest.

 

EDIT: Err, lowest. Most DNFs per find.

 

We have 128 finds and 42 DNFs

[+niraD]

7 hours ago, fizzymagic said:

I am the only person I know who has logged a DNF on an Earthcache.

I logged a DNF on an Earthcache that I visited in 2014. We couldn't find all the required information before the rest of the group was ready to move on.

[+TmdAndGG]

Our ratio is 1,965 Finds to 168 DNFs. Although our DNF count isn't exactly accurate, so I wouldn't compare it to anyone else.

[+Goldenwattle]

3 hours ago, lee737 said:

We DNFd an EC in our earlier days - we couldn't find the required sign....

I have DNFed  an Earthcache in Sydney when I couldn't find the rock face. Turns out the coordinates were 30 metres out and the rock face wasn't that obvious, with often objects covering it. There were photographs of what to look for I discovered later when on my computer, but I use a GPS, so didn't see the photographs.  Others have mentioned it, I mentioned it and logged a NM. The CO has corrected nothing and after three NMs I would have expected some action, but no, nothing. They could get on Google maps and take a better set of coordinates and update them, without needing to get out of their armchair.

Sorry about the whinge.

[+SamLowrey]

I tend only to DNF if I'm pretty sure it isn't there.  And usually I reach the end of my patience before my satisfaction that it isn't there.  To me, a DNF is a bit of an onus on the CO that they need to go out to verify it is there.  I have one cache that seems to attract lots of first timers and those with single-digit finds (it is near an attraction for families.)  I get a lot of DNFs.  And it makes me worry it is actually gone.  Given that it seems to attract first timers, it also worries me it may be muggled.  I went out and verified it twice before after a DNF and after the latest spate I just waited for someone else to find it. 

[+niraD]

7 minutes ago, SamLowrey said:

To me, a DNF is a bit of an onus on the CO that they need to go out to verify it is there. 

For many of us, a DNF is just a statement of fact: we searched for the cache, but Did Not Find the cache.

[+on4bam]

34 minutes ago, niraD said:

For many of us, a DNF is just a statement of fact: we searched for the cache, but Did Not Find the cache.

 

In fact, that's what a DNF is saying and that's how we log one too. We don't even consider what the effect is on CHS.

[+baer2006]

29 minutes ago, SamLowrey said:

I tend only to DNF if I'm pretty sure it isn't there.  And usually I reach the end of my patience before my satisfaction that it isn't there.  To me, a DNF is a bit of an onus on the CO that they need to go out to verify it is there.

I could just as well cross-post my answer in the "What irks you most?" thread, because it does irk me when somebody thinks a (single) DNF should trigger CO action and/or only logs a DNF when they are "pretty sure" (whatever this means) that the cache isn't there.

As others have said, with a DNF I just document the fact that I didn't find the cache. Nothing more, nothing less. Usually I have no idea, if the cache is gone or if I'm just blind (or something in between, like still there but not where it was originally placed). If an owner gets nervous after every DNF on their cache, it's in my view their problem. When I get a DNF on one of my caches, I can judge pretty well if the cache is likely gone (because the hide is easy, there is a spoiler pic, etc.) or not. If in doubt, I just contact the DNF logger and ask them where they searched.

If I'm really quite certain that a cache I DNF'd is gone (because of hint/spoiler, or because I'm like 5th DNF in a row on a D1 hide), I just add an NM.

 

Anyway, to come back to the original topic ... I have 812 DNFs at ~19.5K finds. I have no idea how many of the DNF'd caches I found later. Also, I log a DNF for every try - my record for DNF's for a single cache is 3. Not that high, and only caused by my limited patience - after repeated DNF's I ask the CO and/or previous finders for a really fool-proof hint .

[+SamLowrey]

As a seeker, when I see a DNF I usually skip it.  I'm talking about if I'm on the road and trying to find some along the way.  How much do I want to go out of my way for one that likely isn't there?  And a DNF seems to be a pretty good indication that it isn't from the times I've tried.  Depends on other factors so it is a sliding scale.  If it is a box in the woods and I want to go out hiking anyway, why not see if it is there or in need of help.  But ones along the highway and in in high muggle areas? Nah.

Edited August 18, 2020 by SamLowrey

[+on4bam]

38 minutes ago, SamLowrey said:

As a seeker, when I see a DNF I usually skip it.

 

If we would have done the same we'd have missed out on a very nice multi last Saturday.

Previous cacher DNF'd because he "couldn't read anything" at WP2. We decided to give that cache a try anyway and found that the letters we needed to count were not on the object but hidden inside part of the object. The WP was in a perfect state and we moved to the 3rd WP,  again uniquely crafted and then on to the cache which also was special.

We have DNF'd caches multiple times too, one was where I had put my bag on the ground before starting to look for the cache. At least 15 minutes later I gave up, logged a DNF and asked the CO if the cache was still there as the previous time we didn't find anything either. The spoiler show a few small young trees and it seems the picture was a few years old so we didn't recognize anything. When we later returned (3rd time) we found the cache within seconds, it was at the exact spot where I had put my bag and where I didn't notice the thin piece of wood covered in leaves. The cache was buried underneath it.

A DNF can be as simple as that. It doesn't mean the cache or WP is gone, just that you didn't find it. The next one may even log "easy find"

 

[+dprovan]

12 hours ago, fizzymagic said:

I am the only person I know who has logged a DNF on an Earthcache.

I've logged DNFs on a couple EarthCaches, but I think most people wouldn't have considered them DNFs because why I couldn't answer the questions had to do with my own decisions. If my answers were rejected, that would be an obvious DNF.

 

More embarrassing are my DNFs on Virtuals. Most of those were because of closures and such, but one really was because my answers were rejected, so I had to go back to GZ and figure out what I'd missed. Nothing major: I'd just managed to overlooked an alien invasion.

 

I have 1543 DNFs vs 8351 finds, so nearly 1 in 5. Higher than I expected. Last time this came up, I thought it was closer to 10% last time this came up. Are we just looking at raw numbers? My DNF count includes more than one DNF for some caches as well as caches I DNFed and later found.

[+fizzymagic]

11 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Thank you. I didn't know about that, but how do I count the archived caches, without manually going through over 500 pages. (I'm not doing that). I was wanting to know the number of archived caches I have found.

 

GSAK will do that for you and it's free.

[+on4bam]

1 hour ago, fizzymagic said:

 

GSAK will do that for you and it's free.

 

The only problem is that DNFs that were not found before being archived can't be looked up. That's why I keep archived caches for Belgium in a separate database.

[+barefootjeff]

5 hours ago, SamLowrey said:

As a seeker, when I see a DNF I usually skip it.  I'm talking about if I'm on the road and trying to find some along the way.  How much do I want to go out of my way for one that likely isn't there?  And a DNF seems to be a pretty good indication that it isn't from the times I've tried.  Depends on other factors so it is a sliding scale.  If it is a box in the woods and I want to go out hiking anyway, why not see if it is there or in need of help.  But ones along the highway and in in high muggle areas? Nah.

 

For something like 90% of the DNFs I've logged, the cache is still there, it's just me having a Blind Freddy moment. This is pretty typical of my DNFs, the second of three on that day:

 

 

If I really think the CO needs to go check on the cache, I'll log an NM. That's the log type for doing that, a DNF should be about the unsuccessful attempted find, not the cache.

[+The Jester]

7 hours ago, SamLowrey said:

As a seeker, when I see a DNF I usually skip it.  I'm talking about if I'm on the road and trying to find some along the way.  How much do I want to go out of my way for one that likely isn't there?  And a DNF seems to be a pretty good indication that it isn't from the times I've tried.  Depends on other factors so it is a sliding scale.  If it is a box in the woods and I want to go out hiking anyway, why not see if it is there or in need of help.  But ones along the highway and in in high muggle areas? Nah.

I don't judge a cache because there is a DNF log on it (or even multiple), I'll look at the content of the DNF log(s) before making a decision.  A log saying "too many people around to make a safe search" has no bearing on whether the cache is there or not.

[+ecanderson]

8 hours ago, SamLowrey said:

As a seeker, when I see a DNF I usually skip it. 

Even the best eyes miss one that's there, but you really need to look at the history of finds and DNFs against the experience of the cachers making those logs.  Two different 10K cachers DNFing a 1.5 cache counts for more than two 10 find cachers doing the same thing.

 

[+fizzymagic]

On 8/18/2020 at 2:15 PM, on4bam said:

 

The only problem is that DNFs that were not found before being archived can't be looked up. That's why I keep archived caches for Belgium in a separate database.

 

Ah.  Moving the goalposts.  Cute.

 

The question I answered was whether you can determine the number of caches that you found that were subsequently archived.

 

As it happens, the determination of the number of caches that you DNFed and were archived before you found them is trivial.  But you stick with your database!

Edited August 20, 2020 by fizzymagic

[+Pontiac_CZ]

My ratio is about 11:1 - currently 3075 finds (including a couple of labs) and 271 DNFs.

[+JL_HSTRE]

Just over 6000 Finds with 770 DNFs.

 

Did Not Search (muggle activity, couldn't get to GZ, etc) gets a Note from me, not a DNF.

[+P4nD0r4]

I don't look at how many DNFs I have because of my play style. I log a DNF if I don't find it but I go back and look again at least one more time sometimes twice. If I find it after logging a DNF, I don't delete the DNF log.

[Darwin473]

On 8/18/2020 at 4:11 PM, Goldenwattle said:

11,080 find to 1132 DNFs, about the same ratio as others here.

 

I'm right behind you, with 19 finds and 4 dnf's.