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Important - recommend a change to rating of caches


elfranko

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Hi there, we have been on a few caches now with the children, two girls ages 7 and 4 and a baby in a pushchair, and we have found them to be in a variety of locations. Unfortunately we just tried to do a multi-cache one now but couldn;t complete it because we found the links between clues too dangerous to complete - one involved walking on a major road without a path which we decided was too risky and had to walk all the way back to the car in order to drive to the next clue to find the cache in a location again that required a risky/dangerous walk in our view to reach.

 

So perhaps I may suggest that a cache could have a 3rd rating of risk factor or something along these lines for cachers with children. For professional walkers or adults only may find such risks okay to deal with, but at least it will provide those with children an indication that a particular cache requires walking on path-less roads, near cliffs etc

 

What do you think?

 

frank

 

Don't forget to take a GPS of where you parked the car!

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We have a hard enough time getting people to realize a terrain of '1' should only be used for handicapped accessible.

 

Our youngest has been caching since he was 1 year old. We did only easy caches with short walks then. Harder caches were left for when he was with the sitter or Grandma came to visit.

 

Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness

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I see your point. But the ratings system could get very complicated. For instance, I'd like to see a poison ivy rating and a bug rating. Also a crowd rating - I'd prefer not caching where there's other people. Certainly a briar rating is needed for caching in the South.

 

But if you stick to one-star terrain caches, you ~should~ have no problems with a stroller. A stroller should go anyplace that a wheelchair is able. If you find that the ratings aren't accurate, you should contact the cache owner about changing the rating.

 

I guess I'd just play it by ear. If there are two adults, one could stay with the kids while the other 'bags' the cache if the route isn't safe.

 

Or cache in more remote areas - obviously caching in urban areas has certain risks for all pedestrians. Have you seen the backpack child carriers? Seems better than a stroller. Also, check past issues of Backpacker Magazine for some good articles on backcountry travel with children.

 

Best Wishes,

Bob

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Most cache owners will post in the cache description if it's not suitable for children. With such young ones you might want to stick to the 1/1 caches if they are going to accompany you on the search.

 

If you have any doubts...contact the cache owner vis email for clairafication.

 

However with that being said. It would be nice if the added some way to mark a "Kid friendly" a "Handicap accessable" and a "Pet friendly" cache.

 

You might also want to post this in the "Geocaching.com Discussion" Fourm, since that is where it really belongs.

 

Happy caching. icon_smile.gif

 

El Diablo

 

Everything you do in life...will impact someone,for better or for worse.

http://www.geo-hikingstick.com

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I put a description of the parking, terrain, and dangers in the description of the cache. I don't feel a need to increase the complexity of the rating system, but some thoughtful descriptions would be nice. Most of the ones in our area seem to take that into account. Or after a few finds and complaints about approaches and so forth, the cache owner will add some information to clarify the approaches and other helpful information.

 

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. The rest go geocaching.

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The Texas Geocaching website has a handicapped accessibility generator called The Selector. You designate 'kid friendly - strollers, playgrounds, restrooms, etc.', 'poison plant alert', 'thorns', 'restricted hours' and many more choices. Check the boxes that apply to your cache, then click the button at the bottom to generate HTML code. You can copy and paste the code to your cache page.

This is becoming more popular (and thus, standardized) in many areas. If you include it on your caches, others may do the same.

 

Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness

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I have two multi-caches here in Florida. One has a difficulty of 4.5 and the other a 2. Both require stops along the road to look at clues (numbers on bridges or on benchmark disks). In both cases, I was very careful to have the waypoints at locations where it is possible to pull the car off the road to an established parking spot (even a gravel area), and then safely walk to the place where the clue can be found.

 

Actually I do not think it is responsible for someone to put waypoints at locations where (1) it is dangerous to pull off / on the highway due to heavy traffic, or (2) dangerous to walk because the shoulder is narrow.

 

However, Florida is well-known as one of the most dangerous places for pedestrians, so maybe I am over-sensitized to this issue.

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Some of the better caces in our area have been placed by "Dan & Janet" and they devised this rating sytem for all of their caches:

 

As parents of two young children, we scrutinize each Cache description to determine if it is suitable for young kids. To help other parents, we are now including a 'Child Suitability' rating on each of our Cache pages. This rating system is based on the abilities and behavior of the average 5 year old:

 

« 1 » This Cache hunt is totally KID FRIENDLY;

 

« 2 » Kids may require HELP on part or all of this hunt;

 

« 3 » Kids require HELP & close adult SUPERVISION on part or all of this hunt;

 

« 4 » Parts of this hunt are NOT SUITABLE for children;

 

« 5 » Children are STRONGLY DISCOURAGED from participating in this hunt.

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I think the cache pages should be required to contain all this information. Let me mention the excellent Hungarian geocaching web site at www.geocaching.hu (do not go there if you don't know Hungarian). This website contains info about all the caches in Hungary and for each cache, there is a list of questions the hider of the cache must answer with yes or no. These questions are:

 

- Is the location a historical monument/castle ruins/important building?

- does it offer a nice view, opportunity for taking photos?

- special location, sight?

- special coordinates or elevation?

- near a lake/river/creek/water?

- within a city or village?

- residential area within a few hundred meters?

- winter accessible?

- recommended in very hot weather?

- is the cache on a mountain/hill/peak?

- accessible by car within a few hundred meters?

- accessible by public transportation within a few hundred meters?

- can be reached in 30 minutes from the starting point?

- accessible for a family with a stroller?

- accessible with small children or grandparents/elderly people?

- nettle/thistle/possible damage to clothes/shoes?

- climbing rocks required? (don't carry a baby on your body)

- recommended for night caching/darkness?

- satellite reception possibly poor because of high rocks/dense woods?

- special size or shape of cache box? (for size of trade items)

- accessible by bicycle/bicycle can be left within sight?

- can be found without a GPSr?

 

And what's more, when you download cache data, you can filter by all the above listed properties.

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Clayjars Geocache Rating system

 

The Selector

 

Both of these are good for rating a cache. Problem is that many cachers don't use them. A cache that should be rated a 3 is given a 1 by the hider for various reasons.

 

I have kids too and only take them on a hunt when I know what the terrain is like and that it will be an easy hunt. As they get older I will haul them out for multis and such.

 

I use the map feature a lot to see if a cache area is kid friendly.

 

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

I have never been lost. Been awful confused for a few days, but never lost!

N61.12.041 W149.43.734

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I just tried it and the selector is very nice!

You guys should take credit for it by putting your name or a link on the bottom of the code.

I'm going to update all of my caches with the info. Thanks

 

quote:
Originally posted by Team GPSaxophone:

The Texas Geocaching website has a http://www.texasgeocaching.com/selector.asp called The Selector. You designate 'kid friendly - strollers, playgrounds, restrooms, etc.', 'poison plant alert', 'thorns', 'restricted hours' and many more choices. Check the boxes that apply to your cache, then click the button at the bottom to generate HTML code. You can copy and paste the code to your cache page.

This is becoming more popular (and thus, standardized) in many areas. If you include it on your caches, others may do the same.

 

Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness


 

Mickey

Max Entropy

More than just a name, a lifestyle.

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