What does a geocache need to have for YOU to give it a favourite point?

[+Spudyr]

I just wanted to know what a favourite point deserving cache looks and functions like in all of your opinions!

[+bluesnote]

For me, personally, it has to be either a unique location, story, or container. I've found over 6000 caches and have about 120 favorite points I could award to other caches if I deem them worthy. There aren't many hides that fit that criteria where I live even though there is a plethora of caches/cachers.

[+Spudyr]

18 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

1. I'm not asked to give it a favorite point.

2. I enjoyed the experience of finding the cache or solving a puzzle.

3. I was brought to a great place. 

I DEFINITELY agree with you on the first one, one time when I found a cache, I was even asked in messages by the CO if I could favourite it... I don’t know what to think about that...

[+niraD]

Some of my Favorites are interesting places, whether those places are historic, scenic, or artistic. (I especially enjoy caches that draw attention to public art.)

 

Many of my Favorites presented an interesting challenge, whether the challenge is solving a puzzle, finding a well-camouflaged cache, or retrieving a cleverly placed container. (I especially enjoy on-site puzzles and caches with 4-star camouflage.)

 

Others have just been very enjoyable caches that stood out for some other reason.

[+barefootjeff]

I'll start by saying I'm blessed to have so many great caches around these parts. There are no LPCs (our lamp posts don't have covered nuts), car park caches of any type are rare and bushland hides are a lot more common than urban ones. As a result I have to be picky as to which caches get FPs as there are many that are worthy but I just don't have enough points to give out. So to get an FP from me, a cache has to be appealing on multiple levels. Unless it's a really amazing gadget cache, probably location is the main factor, not just at GZ but along the route to it as well. The cache also needs to be in reasonable condition; it doesn't have to be pristine but if it's half full of water and the logbook is a lump of pulp it probably won't get an FP regardless. The cache page itself is also a factor, if that lures me in then so much the better. It also has to have some meat to it, a P&G won't cut it but something that takes a full day or even multiple days to complete likely will.

 

A picture paints a thousand words so here's a collage of some of my top favourites:

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by barefootjeff

[+cerberus1]

1 hour ago, Spudyr said:

I just wanted to know what a favourite point deserving cache looks and functions like in all of your opinions!

 

Unique areas, or awesome views. For me the container is secondary to the location. We started when the hobby was the "language of location".

A decent walk away from parking is a plus, but some natural areas (earthcaches or virtuals mostly) close by may get one too.

But sometimes I'll give a FP "just because", and that could simply be a chance to get outta the house.    I hope that happens soon.

[+MNTA]

I gave a few this past few weeks:

 

1) 3 ft long "Texas" size Bison tube. - Container
2) Had to pour a gallon of water into a tube to float the cache out - Again container
3) dna tube on a stop sign next to a statue I never noticed before - Location
4) ammo can on top of a mountain - Location and the experience 4x4ing to the top

5) multi at the local veterans memorial - Location

 

[+IceColdUK]

Most of what’s been said above, plus the overall experience - good company, a good laugh, a happy memory - all quite possibly unrelated to the cache itself.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Location or the the journey to the location (sometimes the actual cache site is a bit of compromise, a bit away from the great view, but placed to survive).  Probably the #1 reason I don't give favorites for caches in enjoyable locations is poor container choice, typically coupled with poor maintenance. 

[+JL_HSTRE]

Either a location where I'm glad geocaching brought me, or some kind of creative container.

 

Caveat being that a cache in need of serious maintenance will usually not get a Favorite, even it everything about it would. I don't mean simply a full log or worn camo, but rather broken containers or soaked contents. I found a cache a few months ago that was an ammo can in a great location, but had somehow ended up full of water.

[+coachstahly]

I can't really add much to what everyone has said.  It just depends.  I've given a FP to a mundane cemetery hide on a film can because I met the owner of the land who donated the land to his church to use and got a historical background of the area.  I gave some FPs to caches in the Sandusky area recently because of the container and the set up of the cache and how well they were done.  I gave another FP to another cemetery cache because the time a small group of us were there, a light snow was falling and it had coated the ground, trees, and limbs with a pristine white blanket.  The cache itself wasn't anything special but the serenity and the company made it memorable.  

 

There are so many factors that go into awarding a FP for each individual that I don't think you can really say it's just one or two things that will automatically earn a cache a FP.  I've found quite a few high FP total caches and while some were nice, they weren't FP worthy to me.  That doesn't mean they were "bad" caches.  It just means that I didn't enjoy them well enough to award my own FP.

[+humboldt flier]

10 hours ago, bluesnote said:

For me, personally, it has to be either a unique location, story, or container. I've found over 6000 caches and have about 120 favorite points I could award to other caches if I deem them worthy. There aren't many hides that fit that criteria where I live even though there is a plethora of caches/cachers.

Agreement

[+justintim1999]

Some are the container.  Others have to do with location.   Some are interesting things that happened along the journey. 

 

I've awarded 518 favorite points and I think I have one right now I can give.   For me all a cache needs is a log.    

[+fuzziebear3]

The whole package.   A failure in any part will mean that the favorite is not granted.

 

1.)  A place to park, in a reasonable distance.  This eliminates most side of road caches, as these annoy me.  A hike is fine, if a parking area is suggested.

2.)  A decent container.  Preferably large enough for trackables and trades.  Dry log.

3.)  A place I would like to visit.  Doesn't have to be spectacular, but shouldn't be unpleasant.

 

If something special happens along the way, that will get told as part of the story and can also help for the point.

 

 

[+PlantAKiss]

Interesting location, history, story. Creative camo. A cache where someone obviously put effort into it. Caches that can hold TBs or swag. I actually forget about favorite points because they didn't exist when I started caching so not something on my mind. 

[+Mockingbird559]

Or another thought...why would someone NEVER give a favorite, despite having found thousands of caches? Surely some of them must have been worthy.

[+Spudyr]

9 minutes ago, Mockingbird559 said:

Or another thought...why would someone NEVER give a favorite, despite having found thousands of caches? Surely some of them must have been worthy.

I agree! How could you go past a cache that someone has put HOURS into and not appreciate it? Maybe I should word this differently but I definitely agree with you!

[+Hügh]

57 minutes ago, Mockingbird559 said:

Or another thought...why would someone NEVER give a favorite, despite having found thousands of caches? Surely some of them must have been worthy.

 

I'm yet to give a single Favorite Point (out of ~6.5k finds.)

 

I suppose my reasoning—well—is the the title of this thread. I just can't decide what my criteria are. My solution? Just don't give any. Then, I won't ever have to ponder this dilemma. Deliberate ignorance, I suppose.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Hügh

[+niraD]

1 hour ago, Mockingbird559 said:

Or another thought...why would someone NEVER give a favorite, despite having found thousands of caches? Surely some of them must have been worthy.

Some people started geocaching before the Favorites system existed, and just never started using it once it was created.

 

I've also seen a few who are very selective about which caches they search for, to the point that most of the caches they find are worthy of a Favorite Point. Since they can give only 10% of their Finds a FP, they don't give any.

[+Goldenwattle]

Usually it's for an interesting location, whether it be geological, historic or something else I find interesting, or a fun, well made cache that has had thought go into it. I have given a favourite point for a good sized cache that stands out from the local micro rabble. I have also given a favourite point for the only cache on a long stretch of outback road. That one happened to be a horrible micro-sized mint tin, which normally I would never give a favourite point to. However it was the ONLY cache on that long stretch of road for a few hundred kms. I gave it a favourite point for existing.

[+Goldenwattle]

On 4/21/2021 at 2:49 PM, barefootjeff said:

car park caches

I like a cache in car parks at the beginning of the walk, as a guide to where to park.

[+barefootjeff]

22 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

I like a cache in car parks at the beginning of the walk, as a guide to where to park.

 

Isn't that what the Parking waypoint is for?

[+mustakorppi]

15 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Isn't that what the Parking waypoint is for?

Yes but that way you won't get a smiley for successfully parking your car.

[+Goldenwattle]

32 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Isn't that what the Parking waypoint is for?

Can be, but not always supplied. It also can be information to those who don't know there is a walk starting from there. They go there for the cache and see how nice it might be to take a walk. Even if not that day, they might come back. They might never bother with the walk otherwise.

[+fizzymagic]

Any of the following:

• Great location + good container
• Challenge getting to GZ
• Good puzzle
• Spectacularly creative container

That's it for me.

[+Jayeffel]

For me a cache thatis bit more creative than most, or takes bit more effort (than I'd like also). Also serendipity come into play -- just like the cache for some reason. 

[+BOTOCH]

For me it could be the view from the area, or as some others have said creativity.  Found one last week that was a pvc pipe with another larger pvc pipe and the there was a screw at one end of the pipe and the inner pipe had like a maze cut into that had to be twisted and turned for it to come past the screw and sometimes you could pick the wrong route and have to put the pipe back in farther and start again at another point, but once the inner pipe came out far enough there was a bison tube, that obviously earned a favorite point from me.  Another one was a whole sign post in a park that looked like a deer crossing sign but was really the whole cache itself with a cut-out in the post.  Things like that do it for me.  

[+cerberus1]

14 hours ago, Hügh said:

I'm yet to give a single Favorite Point (out of ~6.5k finds.)

I suppose my reasoning—well—is the the title of this thread. I just can't decide what my criteria are. My solution? Just don't give any. Then, I won't ever have to ponder this dilemma. Deliberate ignorance, I suppose.

 

Yeah, I get that...  

Sometimes I wish I hadn't FP the caches we really liked earlier than 12/'10 (some long archived), and just didn't give any.     

[+jaysonC]

I've favorited my first find, as well as really unique/challenging finds. My first tree climb cache for example, or really novel hides. 

[+Pontiac_CZ]

A cache actually does not need to have much for me to give it a FP. OK, I think it should have a logbook. But I take giving FPs in such a selfish way - to build my Favorite List. Everybody does that, just some may not have yet noticed.

 

So it is simple: if something interesting (memorable) happened during the search or I met fine people, I give the cache a FP. The rule is - if I open any cache in my Favorite List and read my find log there, I will be able to clearly identify why it got a FP from me.

[+AllstarSS]

I don't have a set criteria, but here are some common characteristics. 

• Location - This is a big one! Oftentimes, the hide may not be anything special and I give a FP for just the location itself. Caches taking me to places I may not have known about is a big reason I continue playing this game. At a minimum, the location should be somewhere I feel I belong (not a sketchy area, etc.)
• Creative containers or concepts - not necessarily a must, but certainly gives them a leg up.
• Cache is well maintained. 
• Owner is not a jerk. I don't reward rudeness or pettiness. 
• There are also some times where I have to consider the CO's standards. I'm not going to give WVTim a favorite on every single gadget cache of his - only his best ones. 

 

As an aside, I will occasionally look through my favorites list and see if I remember the caches I gave favorites to. If I don't remember it after reading the cache page, logs, etc, I will often take the point away as it probably should not have been awarded in the first place. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by AllstarSS

[+FootyFan123]

My personal criteria is quite simple. Did I enjoy doing this cache. This includes all of the factors (getting to it, finding it, the actual container, the puzzle etc.)

[+The Snowdog]

While not etched in stone, my criteria are:

• A well-constructed and entertaining cache page
• A well-constructed and artistic cache container that obviously required some thought and work
• A safe, legal place to park
• A cache that is in an unquestionably public area (or set with permission of the property owner), and there's no doubt that it's OK to be there to look for it.

A have a good geo-friend who does incredible caches. His pages are epic. The containers are works of art. The puzzles (I do a lot of puzzles) are mind- bending but once solved you just have to laugh at how direct they actually were. Favorites, right? Nope - he invariably places them in non-public places, even in places where flat out no question about it trespassing is required. I would love to give him fave points, but no. Instead I send him photos of "No Trespassing" signs near the hide.

 

Another does amazing puzzles. You feel like a brainiac when you actually figure one out. They're set in public places, often the remote corners of parks (and so there is also a nice big public parking lot). But the containers are plain Jane pill bottles with a scrap of paper for the log. I sometimes give them faves anyway and tease the CO later.

 

That said, I owe a lot of caches favorite points and am slowly but surely going through logs and awarding them as appropriate. 

 

I rarely give an urban cache a favorite point. A mag key holder on an electrical box behind a strip mall? Better hope security doesn't catch you back there. Also, I find a lot of actual keys looking for those. Skirt lifter in a parking lot? I usually skip those unless it says "with permission" on the cache page. I cache to have fun, not to try to dodge the mall security car or get arrested. In a nice big drainage tunnel? City ordinances usually say that if you go in there, you're trespassing and if caught you'll get a nice big fine. On the wrong side of a fence? Not a chance. Caches like that really damage our reputation with law enforcement and I don't like that one little bit. So that was a bit of a rant but there you go. Give me good caches in a park or on a hiking trail or in a public wildlife preserve any day and you'll get favorite points in return.

Edited April 27, 2021 by The Snowdog

[+Wet_Ground]

I usually give fave point that make me bushwhack a little ways, and even better if it wading required. Other than that creative containers, bringing me to an awesome spot that I would other wise not know about, a well researched story in the cache page (epically if it is about a historical location in which the cache is placed). Also the comments left on my owned caches by the CO's of the cache I'm finding may make me more generous or less, in both my log and fave points. 

[+dadoskawina]

Maybe I start from other side. The caches that will not receive any FP from me:
- caches belonging to power trail,

- biltema / angel caches,

- bonus caches (unless the bonus container is exceptional itself).

 

As there are too many such caches in my neighborhood, I've a flood of spare FP to give, so I'm likely to spend it over any container that is larger than micro.

If the cache is a letterbox or contain find certificate, the chance to get FP increases dramatically.

And in general all aspects counts: interesting location, original listing, correct attributes, well maintained container, etc.

[+G0ldNugget]

23 hours ago, dadoskawina said:

Maybe I start from other side. The caches that will not receive any FP from me:
- caches belonging to power trail,

- biltema / angel caches,

- bonus caches (unless the bonus container is exceptional itself).

 

I had to look up Biltema Angel caches as I had never heard this term before. Heres a brief explanation:

 

"What are Biltema Angel Caches?

More and more often one reads that a geocache is a biltema cache. But what exactly is a Biltema Cache? The Biltema Caches, which are also called fishing caches or Sweden caches, are geoaches that hang at a certain height. Often these boxes are mounted higher than 5 meters or even at a height of 10 meters. These can be taken down with a fishing rod...

...These hinges are several conical, extendable rods which can be extended to a length of up to 15 meters. A hook or magnet is then attached to the tip of such a fishing rod in order to fish the can at this height.

https://www.geo-discount.ch/blog/was-sind-biltema-angel-caches/

[+Spudyr]

On 4/27/2021 at 9:29 AM, G0ldNugget said:

 

I had to look up Biltema Angel caches as I had never heard this term before. Heres a brief explanation:

 

"What are Biltema Angel Caches?

More and more often one reads that a geocache is a biltema cache. But what exactly is a Biltema Cache? The Biltema Caches, which are also called fishing caches or Sweden caches, are geoaches that hang at a certain height. Often these boxes are mounted higher than 5 meters or even at a height of 10 meters. These can be taken down with a fishing rod...

...These hinges are several conical, extendable rods which can be extended to a length of up to 15 meters. A hook or magnet is then attached to the tip of such a fishing rod in order to fish the can at this height.

https://www.geo-discount.ch/blog/was-sind-biltema-angel-caches/

Woah! That’s interesting... thanks for finding out what it was!

[+Ragnemalm]

On 4/27/2021 at 6:29 PM, G0ldNugget said:

 

I had to look up Biltema Angel caches as I had never heard this term before. Heres a brief explanation:

 

"What are Biltema Angel Caches?

More and more often one reads that a geocache is a biltema cache. But what exactly is a Biltema Cache? The Biltema Caches, which are also called fishing caches or Sweden caches, are geoaches that hang at a certain height. Often these boxes are mounted higher than 5 meters or even at a height of 10 meters. These can be taken down with a fishing rod...

...These hinges are several conical, extendable rods which can be extended to a length of up to 15 meters. A hook or magnet is then attached to the tip of such a fishing rod in order to fish the can at this height.

https://www.geo-discount.ch/blog/was-sind-biltema-angel-caches/

 

I am a swede but I never heard the term "Biltema cache" on "fishing caches". I tend to refer to them as fishing caches, down-fishing or "Motala-style caches", since they are common there while we tend to climb the trees here in my town.

 

So this is typical for Sweden? I didn't know.

 

[+Lostboy1966]

Hide unto others as you would find yourself is what I go by. Natch, this can be interpreted differently by everyone that plays the game.

[+G0ldNugget]

 

Quote

I just wanted to know what a favourite point deserving cache looks and functions like in all of your opinions!

 

What deserves a favorite varies with each player and situation. For me, the secret sauce is 'surprise and delight' and this is what I try to deliver in some form with all my hides.

[+CAVinoGal]

We are on a week long getaway, caching in new territory for us.  Of the 9 caches (plus one Adventure Lab) we found yesterday, I awarded 4 fav points, a big day for me!

• One was named the same as one of my husband's hides, but much more elaborate, and very well done.  Favorite because of the name, construction, maintenance record (CO is on the spot responsive to reports of things not working)  It already had over 350 fav points and we added more.
• One was a puzzle called "When in Rome..." and involved Roman numerology; it took 4 of us to puzzle it out, and then the final was a mile and half away, an unexpected trek, and an ammo can at the end with perfect coordinates.  Favorite for the adventure and the way the puzzle was put together.
• One was placed by the state Fire Marshall, stocked full of useful swag (mini flashlights, hand sanitizers, carabiners, keychains, etc) in a very interesting location, well hidden, and we were the first to find the newly replaced and restocked container.  We also found the old container he'd thought had been muggled, still intact withmost of the swag still there and in good shape.  We had an enjoyable messaging session back and forth.  Since hubby is a retired firefighter, this cache was especially apropos.  Favorite for the whole package.
• One was unremarkable except for the backstory; hidden at a church where the COs met and married and had other connections to the church.  Kind of mirrored our history (met and married at the same church, involved in  he music ministry, etc), and we found it on our 41st wedding anniversary.  Favorite for all the coincidences, but there was nothing special about the container or the hide itself.

What makes a cache special for me will not always apply to someone else.

Edited May 11, 2021 by CAVinoGal
Clarification & typo corrections

[+Oxford Stone]

2 reasons for a FP even on an ordinary cache:

• Landmark caches, eg the fairly ordinary but well-executed multi that completed my 5th calendar loop on Sunday. 
• A pivotal point in a day out, eg the picnic stop - to give a FP to a trail of say 20 caches rather than automatically awarding a FP to "Powertrail #1" at the base of the gatepost in the car park, as many seem to do

Don't get me started on fishing rod caches, one or two were fun but now they're everywhere....

 

Some common reasons where the cache earns my FP:

• Audacious urban hides 
• Tree climbs
• Ammo boxes
• Field puzzles
• Boat needed
• Avenged DNF (or found after several minutes) when it was simply really well hidden, as opposed to badly placed / maintained

[+Ragnemalm]

On 4/21/2021 at 5:39 AM, Spudyr said:

I just wanted to know what a favourite point deserving cache looks and functions like in all of your opinions!

 

Top 10% likeable in my view, for any reason:

 

- Could be a nice place

- Could be an historically interesting place

- Could be a nice field puzzle

- Could be a nice container

- Could be a good physical challenge

- Could be a good mystery

- Could be some other fun or commendable idea

 

but it is never

 

- FPs as "thank you", they are recommendations

- Randomly placed along a PT (If I would take a PT - which I don't - I would spot the best for possible FPs)

- An ALC (because I don't like the concept)

- The "new" kind of challenges (but I might give one to the "old style")

 

It does not have to be unique! If a cache must be unique for me to give FPs, then I will give fewer and fewer even to very good ones. I get one in ten, so I give one in ten.

[+mraudrey]

After finding 20 preform soda bottles in a row on the trails, sometimes all it takes is that one ammo can.