Cache Turn-offs?

5.9k · January 3, 2003

What sort of features do you not like to see, or, what will make you skip over a cache?

If you're looking at a potential cache, what would cause you to put it on the back-burner for another time?

1.5k · January 3, 2003

unless the riddles involve collecting the majority of the numbers from field locations (such as benchmarks, signs, etc). I dislike caches in which all the math is contained in the cache description, and there is no footwork to do aside from going to the final cache location.

As an aside, for those of you who go hunting math riddle caches which involve the address of historical buildings, be careful not to instead write down the year of construction, as the year is often featured more prominently than the street address Not that I've ever done that. Nope. Didn't spend two hours circling a park two miles from the correct location. No sir.

5k · January 3, 2003

Only this:

Jamie

January 3, 2003

I generally try to avoid ones that state that they are on private property, or not clear who owns the property (this applys more when its near a house or a fairly busy road). But as you can probaly tell I have very few under my belt.

Wyatt W.

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

5.9k · January 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by phantom4099:
I generally try to avoid ones that state that they are on private property, or not clear who owns the property (this applys more when its near a house or a fairly busy road). But as you can probaly tell I have very few under my belt.

Wyatt W.

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

Yeah, forgot about that one. I think one of the local caches near me is in somebody's yard. Nothing wrong with that but how often do you find yourself looking for a cache in completely the wrong place? That's why I have never looked for it. I do not want to mistakenly wander into the wrong yard, get attacked by a dog or something, shoot attacking something, try to explain to police why I feltthe need to shoot something in its own yard, have gun and carry permit taken away....

January 3, 2003

High difficulty/terrain ratings. I love to do them, but usually hike alone. I'll tackle them when I can find a partner to go with me.

24.7k · January 3, 2003

The only caches I won't do are the ones that require equipment outside my areas of skill or interest.

Scuba caches are out, so are rock climbing caches. Eventually 4x4 caches (with rock crawling) might be in.

Other than that the only real turn off is a skunks.

Wherever you go there you are.

January 3, 2003

If I can't get a first finders ona virtual I tend to put them off aswell. There is a local cache in my area that is listed on private property. (but it was the cache owners business) I was kinda reluctant to hit it. I wouldn't of gone if I wasn't with another geocacher that really wanted the number. I ran in an ran out as quick as I could. I didn't want to stick around.

January 3, 2003

The caches that turn us off are the ones that have really flashy web (cache) pages that sound like they swallowed and encyclopedia and when you get to the cache, its a 1 gallon plastic jar, thrown in the middle of a sagebrush, and the actual cache site has nothing to do with the webpage or theme.

Very disappointing

Cachin's a bit sweeter when you've got an Isha!

3.1k · January 3, 2003

I probably won't do a 5 star terrain, unless it's just because you need a boat. I'll do most anything else. Backyards are an issue, though. I have no intention of doing this one or its sister. There were more complaint logs, but they've been deleted. Until they're archived, I'll never be able to clear my first page of Nearest Caches .

Is the poll not working? I can't view results.

Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann, und ich hab' auch im Blut

1.6k · January 3, 2003

Depends if we're out on a trip. We'll skip logic or advanced math ones. We'll also skip tedious fill-in-the-blanks multis.

Locally, we'll hunt just about anything, unless there is something we have to buy like a special map or something.

CR

1.6k · January 3, 2003

I will not hunt a multi part cache unless its all contained in one park because I usually don't have enough time to hunt more than one.

I only do virtuals if I happen to be there anyway, but even then, I have been to two virtuals in the past two weeks and haven't logged either, as I don't have some widget of information needed for "full credit". (IMHO, the whole VC issue needs to be finely dealt with as there seems to be a lot of them that really smell. "Find a skate park" comes to mind, we have 3 in Omaha, which would you like?)

I don't do math caches for the same reason I don't do multi's, just don't have the time.

I am becoming a bigger fan of microcaches as they tend to be trickier and I don't like trading as much as I used to.

By appointment to the Court of HRM Queen Mikki I.

January 3, 2003

quote:
I will not hunt a multi part cache unless its all contained in one park because I usually don't have enough time to hunt more than one.

I hear yea, I won't hit a muti that requires traveling if I'm already out of town. But I will if it is in my area. Now I never log a cache twice and I despise people that go and log their own caches as finds but I usuall will log a mulit twice if it requires more than 5 miles of travel. (one for each leg that requires travel) But I really enjoy Multi's that are in the same park.

1.4k · January 3, 2003

Generally, I hunt all caches. The few local caches I've pretty much decided NOT to do all involve tedious searching for clues, such as looking for a clue on a particular brick when there are thousands of bricks in the area. I don't mind other difficult "puzzles" that I can work on in the comfort of my home, but wasting the few precious hours I can get away to cache trying to locate some obscure clue is a turn-off.

Often, longer multis and longer hikes sort of get put on the back burner due to time constraints or having my kids along with me, but I get around to doing them eventually. Often, they end up being some of my favorites.

1.4k · January 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Cwlutterloh:
Now I never log a cache twice and I despise people that go and log their own caches as finds but I usuall will log a mulit twice if it requires more than 5 miles of travel. (one for each leg that requires travel) But I really enjoy Multi's that are in the same park.

I never log a cache twice, unless something has changed on the cache (moved, additional stages, etc.), and the owner specifically states on the cache page that it's OK to log a second find. I have never logged my own cache as a find, even in the cases of the the locationless, moving, and event caches I've created (with the exception of a couple of caches I adopted AFTER I had found them). I personally do not think it's appropriate to post multiple finds on a multi-cache, even if it does require long-distance travel, unless the cache page specifically states to do this.

January 3, 2003

The only thing we avoid are virtuals

January 3, 2003

Child care centers/childrens private schools. We actually have a couple of these in my area.

I've driven by 2 of them and I just kept on going. Both had a fenced in yard. Am I really supposed to go through the gate and wander around in the back. Oh yeah, I can just see myself in the back of a squad car after that.

While it might be a great class project, I'm not going to participate.

1.1k · January 3, 2003

I try to avoid the locationless and virtuals...But I do feel a need sometimes to do the virtuals just to get them off my list, but they are a low priority. Locationless, i will only do if I just happened across one that I knew about and if I had my video camera with me (which is not that often).

As for Multis, The 3 closest ones that I haven't done yet to where I live are Multi's, but I am saving them for the warmer weather when I know I can enjoy them a lot more.

The thing I don't like about micros is that you can't really put much into them, but they are a nice challenge to find usually.

I do like the challenging ones and those that take some thought!

http://ca.geocities.com/rsab2100/pond.html

January 3, 2003

I don't like caches that are hidden along interstate highways. There was a local cacher (who has since moved) whose specailty was to hide caches that required you to pull over on the interstate. I was never wild about those, just doesn't seem safe to me. I think most of them are archived now.

Just about everything else is fair game.

January 3, 2003

are the ones that are archived. I hate it when that happens!

January 3, 2003

but that isn't really true.

There is one cache in my area I keep putting off, so I guess I should logic out why.

It is in a nature park and you walk along and read signs then figure out the code from some of the letters. .. this goes on for a few stages. ...

.zoom .... to late, already lost me for some reason.

Could be not being in the woods with the ammos (oh I forgot it's animals, we've grown past that other thread),

or that it is where frequent travlers will need to be avoided,

Could be the idea of standing in an active walking trail complete with strollers and jogging soccer moms, working out a code on a sign, (hummmmm, the soccer mom parts sounds ok, I should rethink this)

Could be that it is a few feet outside a new neighboor hood.

I dauh know, can someone tell me why I don't want to do that cache?????

Could be I'm all wet and it is nothing like I think, but I still keep avoiding it.

But someday I will have to gather up my courage and get over this thing.

...life is tough, ....isn't it!

-wink!-

** The worst suggestion of a life time may be the catalyst to the best idea of the century, don't fail to listen to suggestions.

5.3k · January 3, 2003

My least favorite is tedious "needle-in-a-haystack searches.&quot Like fake rocks in a field of rocks, for example. No way to find it but to turn over every rock. There are some in my area that really like this kind of cache, though, so who am I to complain?

January 3, 2003

quote:
I probably won't do a 5 star terrain, unless it's just because you need a boat. I'll do most anything else. Backyards are an issue, though. I have no intention of doing this one or its sister. There were more complaint logs, but they've been deleted. Until they're archived, I'll never be able to clear my first page of Nearest Caches .

I've seen several caches with the "Cache should be archived" symbol in the logs along with a large number of no finds yet the cache is still active. Is anything really being done with this because it doesn't seem to have any effect?

Now where did I park my car???????

January 3, 2003

Caches that use the metric system-I'm a silly old American and I was thinking abouts girls that day in class when the metric system came up.

5.7k · January 3, 2003

I won't do "needle-in-a-bush-of-poison-oak" caches. Fortunately, only forman hides those kind, and I think his wife won't let him do it anymore.

--Marky

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

January 3, 2003

Though I

Mickey

Max Entropy

More than just a name, a lifestyle.

January 3, 2003

Though I will give puzzle caches a try, I won't get obsessive with them unless they are particularly fun.

When it turrns into am algebra final, I pack it up. Been there...

Virtuals have to have the potential to be interesting or entertaining. Any fool can turn any historical plaque into a virtual and they do. I want it to be worth my time in entertainment value.

I'm so lucky that I live in a cache-dense area so that I can pick out the caches that look like fun.

Mickey

Max Entropy

More than just a name, a lifestyle.

1.1k · January 3, 2003

Traditional caches I do not like to do are as follows:

Ones located in a big city...Although I live fairly close to a big city, I try to avoid any caches near the downtown area

Caches where you have to pay a fee or admission to get in...why do people bother doing these...obviously by the logged finds, they just ain't popular. ie, something is wrong when there have been only 4 finds in over 4 months. If they must feel a need to place these, then should give an entrance where you don't need to pay to get in (ie, you can enter some conservation areas from side trails, insteadof the main entrances) and a parking location that does NOT have no parking signs...this has happened to me before...cache was hidden in a conservation area, coordinates said where to park (however, there were no parking signs everywhere), so I had to go to the main entrance...cache owner failed to indicate that there was a fee to get in.

I enjoy caches that are located in nature the most.

http://ca.geocities.com/rsab2100/pond.html

January 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Jamie Z:
Only this: http://www.geocaching.com/images/cache_types/4.gif

Jamie

AMEN!!!

"...Not all those who wander are lost..."

2.7k · January 3, 2003

I'll pretty much do all caches, unless they require significant technical climbing skills, white water stuff, or similar. I'm not a rock climber, but will do a tough scramble as long it doesn't require rope.

I avoid locationless caches like the plaque!!!!

I will also avoid multi-stage virtual caches.

January 4, 2003

only ones i won't go to are locationless caches. just my personal decision, but i absolutely don't like 'em. otherwise i like a variety of challenges. makes the game forever new. harry

January 4, 2003

I did one the other day that is located smack dab in the middle of downtown Boston. Even on a cold, gray day there were tons of people nearby. Getting on my hands and knees to pull an ammo box from under a rock was not what I wanted to be doing there. In fact, I got very uncomfortable with it and was going to leave, but I was with a first time cacher who was too excited to walk away, so we stuck with it. Although I enjoyed finding a cache in the city and appreciate the ingenuity of the cache placer, it made me squirm to think I was giving away the location to any number of passers-by who could have come by later to plunder it.

2.6k · January 4, 2003

I just got back from 3 days in the LA area and I just loaded the gps with waypoints, and the PDA with the querry pages and I generally hunt them all.

But, it's quite frustrating to get to an area where 3 out of 4 caches require more information than is available on the page itself.

A local had placed a series of caches that needed information from other web pages, or photos from the site itself.

If I was a local, I'd hunt them but I just wasn't able to go after them without internet access... my fault for not researching.

I think there is only one multi that I gave up half way because it seemed pointless. It was set up as a tour of a city and it just kept criss crossing oposite sides of town and there was no conection. About the 4th of 6 I just said "forget it".

george

Pedal until your legs cramp up and then pedal some more.

January 25, 2003

Quote:

Ones located in a big city...Although I live fairly close to a big city, I try to avoid any caches near the downtown area

Caches where you have to pay a fee or admission to get in...

Quote:

ones in very public places..... Although I enjoyed finding a cache in the city and appreciate the ingenuity of the cache placer, it made me squirm to think I was giving away the location....

We have several caches which we plan to do eventually but haven't tried yet. Mainly for the reasons given above, Or because we have limited time to go caching and we think they will take too much of our time. We have done several which required long hikes though so that is NOT the issue.

High difficulty of terrain is the only real stopper for us old fuddy duddys though if it's 4 or 5 at least.

$1000 Bill geocaching is living in a 30 foot circle

January 25, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Jamie Z:
Only this: http://www.geocaching.com/images/cache_types/4.gif

Jamie

Although I absolutely agree that many virtuals are VERY lame (as are many regular caches, for that matter), some virtuals are very interesting. This virtual is among our most enjoyable cache experiences. Is something like this still a turn off to those of you that don't hunt virtuals?

Alchemist2000

January 25, 2003

I know that people see a great place while on vacation and want to turn others on to the area. BUT... think of the locals that have been going to these places and can recite more about the area than they (I) care to admit. Like how many Dunkin Donuts you pass on the way to it. Other than that, all the other virts, and math. I think I'll toss a curve when I fix my 2-part multi for the spring by using an obscure datum, like Rome 1940-Sardinia Island for the second leg

January 25, 2003

I won't hunt caches where the hider didn't put even a minimum of effort. This includes caches in styrofoam cups, ziplockbags or acknowledged poor coordinates, usually in combination. I don't have a hard and fast rule, but you quickly get a feel for a hastily conceived, poorly thought out drive and dump that seems more like litter than a cache. Usually these are in really ugly areas too, like the cacher didn't want to go out of their way to find somewhere nice or interesting.

January 25, 2003

So I only do locationless. Or virts if I can guess where they are.

Yes I have finds, yes I have hides and yes I'm a charter member. My wife will not let me use our account on the forums...don't know why.

January 25, 2003

I haven't found many caches, only 3 so far, all of which i enjoyed a nice walk and a great view upon finding the cache. I guess caches where you drive past a landmark or a figure or something and then have to email the owner of the cache with a list of answers to "twenty questions" turn me off. Its like homework, followed by a pop quiz...niether of which I was ever fond of.

True-North

4.5k · January 25, 2003

Multis or puzzle caches are my favorites. There are times when i have put these on the back burner though. When we drive a hundred miles one way and want to find more than just a couple of caches. Just dont have enough time to do them. On these day trips i try to find caches with descriptions that sound more interesting, usually single and maybe 2 or 3 stage caches that dont look to be too time consuming. This way we usually come up finding around 10 or so and it seems to make the longer trips more worth it. On the other hand, we've found some great caches that have made the trip very worth it all by themselves!

Shoot, guess i like em all!!!

9.2k · January 26, 2003

Multi-caches where you don't know how may stages there are, or which stage have caches and which have coordinates only. There's a huge difference in searching for a container, and searching for a little piece of metal with a number stamped on it. It's a whole different mind-set.

Also, "unknown" cache types, in general. We had one local unknown cache, that I had loaded in my GPS. I was in the area, and decided to look for it, even though I didn't have the cache page with me. Gave up after 20 or 30 minutes. Turns out it was a web-cam cache! The description has since been fixed.

And finally, "the cache by the creek". There's a lot of 'em down here. Most of our park greenspace only exists because there's a creek running through it. The park maintenance crews tend to leave the areas along the creek undisturbed. And I'm as guilty as anyone. The last cache I put out was so close to a creek that I considered attaching a line to it so it wouldn't fall in. But there are so many of them, that when I deciding what caches to go after, I'm more inclined to go for those that aren't near creeks.

3k · January 26, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by jonboy:
I won't hunt caches where the hider didn't put even a minimum of effort. ... I don't have a hard and fast rule, but you quickly get a feel for a hastily conceived, poorly thought out drive and dump that seems more like litter than a cache. Usually these are in really ugly areas too, like the cacher didn't want to go out of their way to find somewhere nice or interesting.

Wow, that's really amazing. Jonboy accurately described my new Truth in Advertising cache hours before it was approved!

Cache Turn-offs?

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