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What kind of caching is this?

CacheMonkeez

By CacheMonkeez
in General geocaching topics

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CacheMonkeez

CacheMonkeez

Posted
Posted

What do you call it when you go to an area (out of your normal caching area) and search caches out with just a PQ and downloaded waypoints? When you get done with a cache, you look on your GPS for the next closest cache, then look up the description on your PDA. Then you repeat this process until you've had enough.

 

This caching process needs a name. Anybody have one? Anybody else do this?

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Mr. 0

+Mr. 0

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by hammack:

What do you call it when you go to an area (out of your normal caching area) and search caches out with just a PQ and downloaded waypoints? When you get done with a cache, you look on your GPS for the next closest cache, then look up the description on your PDA. Then you repeat this process until you've had enough.

 

This caching process needs a name. Anybody have one? Anybody else do this?

 

Spontaneous caching?

Whim caching?

Caching on a lark?

 

Mr. 0

 

"Remember that nature and the elements are neither your friend or your enemy - they are actually disinterested."

 

Department of the Army Field Manual FM 21-76 "Survival" Oct. 1970

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geo-jedi

+geo-jedi

Posted
Posted

Inefficient.

 

It is kinda fun but you might be slightly better off by reviewing some of the descriptions and logs before hand and maybe even mapping out a general order to go after the caches that seem worthwhile. It is especially important to make sure that the description doesn't say in BOLD CAPITALS that "THE CACHE IS NOT AT THIS LOCATION ... you must first solve ...."

 

But that is just the engineer in me. One can certainly have a blast doing what you say ...

 

Team Geo-Jedi, Searchers 4 Ground Truth

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2CacheSharks

+2CacheSharks

Posted
Posted

I'd call it risky. lol My husband and are both engineers and have better plans for geocaching than most building contractors have for building a building. Always have plan A and just in case......plan B. icon_biggrin.gif

 

We used to be directionally challenged, now we have a GPS, and are high-tech directionally challenged. At least now we know where we are when we are lost.

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Geofool

+Geofool

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by hammack:

What do you call it when you go to an area (out of your normal caching area) and search caches out with just a PQ and downloaded waypoints? When you get done with a cache, you look on your GPS for the next closest cache, then look up the description on your PDA. Then you repeat this process until you've had enough.

 

This caching process needs a name. Anybody have one? Anybody else do this?

 

How about "Xtreme Caching" or "eCaching"

 

********************************************

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

 

logo_small.jpg

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geo-jedi

+geo-jedi

Posted
Posted

quote:

____________________________

originally posted by TeamX40:

 

So Geo-Jedi, are you saying Hammack shouldn't just "use the force"?

____________________________

 

Not at all. Doing it that way can be fun (i.e., a blast). Unfortunately, you can end up doing lots of unnecessary driving and getting lots of DNF. I've done it that way myself. One of the funniest involved looking for a virtual whose coordinates were way off - by about a tenth of a mile. Several cachers had found the site and inserted correct coordinates. Unfortunately, none of the last five finders had included that information and the cache owner never updated the coords.

 

You might also find out that closest according to the GPSr is less than useful if the next cache is in a park on the OTHER side of the freeway. The next one to do may be a little bit further away as the crow flies but is really closer.

 

But I digress... The real point was to come up with a name for this kind of caching. From the world of computer science and operations research, there are computer algorithms that work like this.

 

So rather than just call this kind of caching "Inefficient" I offer two more names.

 

Nearest Neighbor Caching or

 

Greedy Geocaching

 

Team Geo-Jedi, Searchers 4 Ground Truth

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Team Shibby

+Team Shibby

Posted
Posted

quote:
as posted by Sam Lowrey

So, you do this without the printouts? I do it this way locally, but if I am going to a remote location, I want to have the printout.

 

I always take the cache pages with me. I prepare the night before by printing out the cache pages and the ones for the caches closest to them. I hit what I can until I feel like calling it a day.

 

What I am guilty of is not reading all the posts to get an idea of what I should expect when I get there. I just make sure that the last cacher found it.

 

Once I get a PDA I'll store the cache pages with the logs but for now I just print them out without the logs and take em along icon_rolleyes.gif

 

Kar

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Greenback

+Greenback

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by sledgehampster:

I have a GPS loaded with waypoints and a PDA loaded with PQ's. To try and be more efficient I purchased Delorme's Street Atlas 2004 Handhelp. With turn by turn street routing ON the PDA, less travel time = more caches per outing (in theory). It this bad?

 

Whatever makes it more fun for you. I have a friend who doesn't really enjoy himself unless he can study a map and figure out the best route to every cache.

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ZingerHead

+ZingerHead

Posted
Posted

If your GPS has autorouting, this can be a great method. But for those whose GPS doesn't autoroute (like my Vista, for instance) it makes a lot of sense to put a LITTLE planning into the day and plot the driving routes. That's how I plan my cache binges - plot routes for 20 caches, knowing full well I will NEVER finish all of 'em. 15 is my best day so far, including 170 miles of driving. Arrive at the first cache at first light, get home well after dark tired, bleeding, and sore. Now THAT's living!!! icon_biggrin.gif

BTW, what's with all the frogs in the emoticons library???

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Rusty & Libby

+Rusty & Libby

Posted
Posted

I miss the times when Libby & I used to just load the Mag315 with waypoints and head out. No printout, no PDA, no laptop, no maps, just pure fun. It was not efficient as far as hitting the most caches but it was a lot more adventurous not having any idea of what you would be looking for. We got burned a few times but never did we not have fun.

 

Now we are spoiled, everything is laid out in front of us, always updated. Maps to the nth degree, we find more caches and its still fun but once in a while its still nice to go commando icon_wink.gif

 

--------------------------------------------------

Friends don't let friends cache locationless!

 

Rusty & Libby's Geocache Page

Michigan Geocaching Organization

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Team Shibby

+Team Shibby

Posted
Posted

Caching with a Garmin V is great. It does make navigating from one cache to another so much easier. It definately saves on gas and wear and tear to the cache mobile as well.

 

I am one to appreciate parking coords though. Not just to make my life easier, but it would help me get to the cache the way the hider intended me to, otherwise I am routed as close to the cache as the road allows and this sometimes leads to bushwacking that is not necessary. It is also gives a little piece of mind to know I am parked in a legal spot, cause I hate leaving the car on the side of the road icon_wink.gif

 

Kar

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mtn-man

+mtn-man

Posted
Posted

I've called it paperless geocaching. I ended a meeting early today on the other side of town, powered up the GPS and there was a waypoint about 1.5 miles away. I was there a few minutes later logging my find.

 

I don't have to be out of town. It's just Geocaching to me. I met a local cacher on the trail once. He asked me what cache I was going for. I pointed to the GPS screen and said "that one!" icon_biggrin.gif

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NattyBooshka

+NattyBooshka

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by hammack:

What do you call it when you go to an area (out of your normal caching area) and search caches out with just a PQ and downloaded waypoints? When you get done with a cache, you look on your GPS for the next closest cache, then look up the description on your PDA. Then you repeat this process until you've had enough.

 

I guess that is pretty normal caching... We've done it minus the PDA and PQ... just load 500 waypoints in the Geko and off we go. We thought this would be a real challenge... no car parks, no clues, no previous logs... result 6/7 found. The one we missed was a virtual and we scribbled down all but one piece of information we needed icon_frown.gif

 

Proud to support the GAGB

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CacheMonkeez

CacheMonkeez

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The problems with this are:

1) You have to decide ahead of time which caches you'll visit in order to print out all the possible sheets. That means reading them all ahead of time and deciding. I'd rather wing it and decide when it's 1.1 miles away by reading it on my PDA.

2) You have to spend the upfront time of printing and reading.

3) You have to use up a bunch of paper. I've got the same info on my PDA - paperless. Then I take notes in a notebook or piece of paper as needed to keep track of my finds.

4) I generate the PQ right before I leave so I have up to date info. If you print out several days before you leave, you may have out of date info.

 

...but that's just my way of doing it.

 

quote:
I always take the cache pages with me. I prepare the night before by printing out the cache pages and the ones for the caches closest to them. I hit what I can until I feel like calling it a day.

 

Kar

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Marky

+Marky

Posted
Posted

I've reduced my prep time down to about 45 minutes for a day or two of caching. After I get my PQ, I spin it and then babel it over to MapSend and print out zoomed out maps of general areas I want to go. Usually, there are 10+ caches per page I print out. I might have 5 or so pages printed out. These pages let me plan out a route, depending on where I am and where I'm going. From there, I rely on the PQ that has been downloaded to the palm (I use GPXDOC, but there are lots of other ways to get the info to the palm). It has been working out pretty well. big_smile.gif

 

--Marky

"All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr"

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Team Shibby

+Team Shibby

Posted
Posted

quote:
as previously posted by hammack:

The problems with this are:

1) You have to decide ahead of time which caches you'll visit in order to print out all the possible sheets. That means reading them all ahead of time and deciding. I'd rather wing it and decide when it's 1.1 miles away by reading it on my PDA.

2) You have to spend the upfront time of printing and reading.

3) You have to use up a bunch of paper. I've got the same info on my PDA - paperless. Then I take notes in a notebook or piece of paper as needed to keep track of my finds.

4) I generate the PQ right before I leave so I have up to date info. If you print out several days before you leave, you may have out of date info.

 

...but that's just my way of doing it.

 

I would be doing it the same way you are, but I gotta get my grubby little mitts on a PDA first icon_wink.gif

 

Kar

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