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Why is it so hard for some to put them back the way they found them?


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Nothing upsets me more than reading cache logs or going on a cache maintenance trip only to find out that a cache is in plain sight or almost exposed when it was well hidden to begin with!

 

Why can't people hide them the way they find them? Is that too much to ask?

 

This kind of lazyness only hurts the game in the end.

 

 

82972_1100.jpg

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This didn't take long to get into name calling did it!!! I think some cachers don't rehide properly because they probally had trouble finding the cache and they are going to help the next finder by leaving it a bit exposed etc......Misguided, yes...good intentions,Yes New to the game probally the biggest problem... So PLEASE REHIDE AS FOUND..blah blah bla

 

Without your brain, a map is a piece of coloured paper, a compass is a glorified magnet, and a GPS is a waterproof battery case." " FSAR "

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Yeah, I think some people are doing other geocachers a favor by leaving the cache exposed. I've even read of incidents where the path to the cache was marked by flagging tape, or an arrow made of stones pointing th the cache was left by well meaning geocachers. They must think the rest of us are stupid.

 

I usually place a note on my cache page asking that it be re-hidden the way it was found, but have found several of my caches that had been moved for some reason.

 

"An appeaser is one who keeps feeding a crocodile-hoping it will eat him last" -Winston Churchill

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One of my caches was plundered due to this reason i believe. It was hidden quite cleverly in an area that gets alot of traffic from teenagers making out. I had instructed finders on the cache page to cover the container well when they were through, but one day it was found with all the stuff dumped out, and the container floating but somehow not floating away in the river.

 

I always cover a cache better then i found it, or at the least if its a 1 or something, put it where it was.

 

[Episkipos Enos Shenk, KSC]

[http://enos.deviantart.com]

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I try to re-hide cache according to its difficulty rating. If the cache is a 3 difficulty and I find it partially, or fully exposed, I'll make sure I conceal it very well. If it's a 1 difficulty, I'll assume the hider wanted it to be exposed.

 

"An appeaser is one who keeps feeding a crocodile-hoping it will eat him last" -Winston Churchill

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Yeah I think they are trying to make it easier for the next person. Some people like to make it 'harder' for the next person . I like to leave it 'fair' but totally hidden for the most part. I've dug a cache out from under three feet of snow (the previous cacher had found it, and buried it right back up again and left it totally hidden under logs but at least accessible afterwards.

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Perhaps context is needed here.

GEO, is this a cache that is hidden deep inside something, or one just covered with scraps of bark? Does putting it back require a lot of rehiding of the box? Are you following me...

 

Listen, everyone knows that if you live or work with other people, order becomes chaos. I used to be a caretaker at a facility, and I often wondered how cleanliness so quickly degenerated to messiness. I see a cache in the same way.

 

Take hypothetical cache "A". Maybe it is covered by four pieces of bark. Finder returns three pieces of park, forgets fourth. Squirrel runs over it, another falls off. Next finder finds it with only two pieces, replaces both. You get the picture.

 

Now if the cache is deep in a log for example, there is little excuse not to put it deep in log again.

 

Grrrrrrrrr...

jackbear

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I find that if you move the cache to a completely new location, say a few blocks away, then it is much harder for the next person to find! Makes the game more interesting for everone around me, and my percentage of "last finds before a cache was marked as missing" has soared tremendously!

 

Always good to get high marks!

 

(This comment was facetious and didactic, not to be taken seriously - Criminal!)

 

--majicman

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Here are the caches which have had their hide quickly 'spoiled':

 

'Boys Will Be Boys'

 

and

 

'Thank Heaven For Little Girls'

 

Read the logs from the beginning. You can almost tell where the degradation started...

 

As a rule of thumb, I don't use bark as a cover because it never gets put back properly from what I've seen (unless only one -easy- piece does the job).

 

To hide my caches, I seek hollow trees, deep logs or I camouflage the cache so that it blends with the surroundings. I also make magnetic caches for more urban environments.

 

82972_1100.jpg

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quote:
Originally posted by -=(GEO)=-:

 

Nothing upsets me more than reading cache logs or going on a cache maintenance trip only to find out that a cache is in plain sight or almost exposed when it was well hidden to begin with!

 

Why can't people hide them the way they find them? Is that too much to ask?

 

This kind of lazyness only hurts the game in the end.

 

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/82972_1100.jpg


 

My guess would be that these Cachers have never gone to the trouble of hiding a cache.

They have NO idea what is involved in hiding a cache or maintaining one. These are the

same people that post spoilers because THEY THINK it was too hard to find, I have had

this problem with new Geocachers.

 

#1 I send them an email telling them they are all not supposed to be easy, and request that

they remove the spoiler.

 

#2 If they do not correct spoiler within 24 hours I delete the entry.

 

icon_biggrin.gif

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I'm a relive newbie but on all of my caches I try and put it back better than how I found it if there is plenty of twigs nearby I will cover the cache with more twigs than it originally had. If it had shrub or grass I will add more without disturbing the ground cover to much

 

More to see, More to do

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I had an idea during a similar discussion just today, useful for caches that need to be rehidden exactly for their survival.

 

How about taking a picture of the hidden cache as it's supposed to be hidden and including that photo (or polaroid) in the cache itself!

 

We all know that rehiding is like the "conversation game" (where the whispered message is totally perverted after passing around a group)... That way instead of hiding based on the previous visitor's hide, it can be hidden based upon the owners placement.

 

This would also overcome wind and rain (or animal) disturbances.

 

(Believe it or not, I did a search and didn't come up with this idea already having been discussed!)

 

Watcha' think? Pros? Any cons? The worst I can see is everyone ignores the photo or the "cost" in time of getting one developed if not a polaroid (returning to the cache immediately after placing it).

 

Randy

 

PS: I usually re-hide as found, but err to the side of the difficulty rating just to hedge my bet and "do no wrong"! {grin}

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quote:
Originally posted by Cachetrotters:

Perhaps it's genetic for some. Those may be the same ones who drop their drawers and socks and leave them lay where they hit the floor. icon_biggrin.gif


 

...that's called efficiency! It's productivity-enhancing... The only problem is when you put them back on the next day you're facing the wrong direction!

 

{grin}

 

Randy

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quote:
RJFerret wrote:

 

How about taking a picture of the hidden cache as it's supposed to be hidden and including that photo (or polaroid) in the cache itself!


 

Sounds like a good idea! Of course some people would ignore it, but even then it might get it back to the right place when the next finders come along, and put a stop to the Chinese Whispers.

 

Edit: I don't know if you say Chinese Whispers in the States - I mean the conversation game.

 

Bill

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Hey GEO! We understand your frustration. It has happened to us many times. As another geocacher said regarding the cover: First it's four then three then two... We found BOYS and the re-hide was shoulder length. Those darn armpit tannin stains. Thanks GEO.

 

We recently found two caches out in the open. We searched for cover items on the rehide. I've read the logs. You better remove the leaky bubbles. - same as we've found in ours. Took a two dollar item - left leaky 10 cent bubbles. You know, the same cachers rehid THE GREAT ESCAPE before your last visit, no cover needed. ( I'll have to hook up with you there ) Another point to consider - we have come across during the last year cachers that find but do not log in the book or on the cache page. So the list widens. I think that it all boils down to experience. With newbes there is a learning curve. We've all been there. They will grow too. We will hook up with you soon.

 

Geonavigating since 1991

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I always place specific instructions in the log so the cache can be replaced properly. The photo idea mentioned in this thread is a good one. I also try to choose a hiding method that can't be easily messed up. Bark and sticks aren't good camoflage IMHO for the reasons previously stated.

 

As for newbies, we were all newbies at one time. The strange thing is that some newbies now learn slower than two years ago when I started. Cache owners can help educate new people by leaving information in the cache description. Most of mine are very clear on the point that I want the cache re-hidden so it is not exposed. "Concealed is good, exposed is bad!"

 

I also avoid placing caches in highly traveled areas. The farther they are from geomuggles, the better for their survival.

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I think if every one would follow or motto ..Treat every cache ...like it's yours.. this would be a mute point. Trying to do 12 caches in a day makes you hurry to much and forget some of the basics of hidding and careing for some one elses cache.

 

Treat every CACHE you find..... .like it's Yours !!!

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quote:
Originally posted by C&S Huffers:

I think if every one would follow or motto ..Treat every cache ...like it's yours.. this would be a mute point. Trying to do 12 caches in a day makes you hurry to much and forget some of the basics of hidding and careing for some one elses cache.


 

I don't agree it would be a moot point ... do we want someone who routinely places junky "dump and run" caches to treat our 'masterpieces' the way they treat their own placements?

 

People need to rehide caches to match their difficulty rating. The main point of this thread is that some people are careless in rehiding caches, but it is also the case (though far less often) that caches are rehidden much better than the cache owner desired. That rarest of commodities, common sense, is the key.

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Just yesturday I went to check a multi leg easter hunt I place last week, two cachers had problems with it, one could not finnish it. I get ther and Two of the pastic easter eggs I had hiden out of 6 where missing, One could have be found by a non cacher but the other could not have been. Not knowing the problem I had no replacement eggs. So I just shortend to course.

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Why is it so hard for some to put them back the way they found them?

 

Well, why not ask them?

 

Frankly, I ALWAYS cover up the cache afterwards. I find six or seven sticks and line them up neatly on top of the cache. I find this helps "camoflauge" the cache. Then, to be sure people aren't attracted to the site, I rake out the immediate area around the cache. Finally, I cut off or tie back any branches or brambles that might obscure the cache site, so anyone looking can clearly see there's nothing there!

 

Then I can leave the cache, confident I have done my part for geocaching.

 

X is for X, and X marks the spot, On the rug in the parlor, The sand in the lot, Where once you were standing, And now you are not.

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