Question about how quickly a "new" person should place a cache

[+bradtal]

Hello All-

 

I have noticed quite a few posts that go along the line of, "I found my first cache yesterday and plan on hidding a cache tonight...etc, etc"

 

Almost always, everyone here replies, "Wait until you have a few caches under your belt before hiding a cache. Learn what to do before you hide them, etc, etc"

 

My question is... Should the "Powers-to-be" (Jeremy, Erik, etc) not allow new caches to be hidden if the user has less than X number of found caches? X could be 5 or 10, for example...

 

I know this might upset some people, but I think it could improve the "quality" of caches. For example, we keep hearing of caches hidden in parks that look like PVC bombs, etc. With a few cache finds under their belts, they would know where are good places to hide and where not to hide. Is a Glad trashbag a good cache container, should I put chocolate in the cache, etc...

 

What are your thoughts?

 

Brad

 

Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.

[+dwmurphy]

There are some people who seem to have more fun hiding caches than seeking them. If you check some stats you might see "Hidden 115/Found 12"

 

As long as "the guidelines are met" for placing the cache, Go for it!

 

I'm not Lost, my GPS says I'm right here....no over here......no over here.

[+sbell111]

Are you expecting people to respond to both of these threads?

[+bradtal]

quote:

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Originally posted by sbell111:

Are you expecting people to respond to both of these threads?

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I tried to delete this thread, but it wouldn't let me. Any hints?

 

Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.

[+sbell111]

You may be able to get TPTB to kill it. Otherwise, perhaps people will go over to the 'General' forum and find it there.

[+Polgara]

A very good friend of mine and experienced geocacher suggested that very thing ( to wait a bit and find some caches first) before running out and just planting one. And I 'm glad he was honest with me about that, and I think he's right. With the few caches I have found, I understand why he told me that, I'm glad he encouraged me 'to get a feel' for what makes a good cache, and what makes a not so good cache. I have a few places picked out to plant some caches, but here again, a quick lesson i'm learning in scoping out my locations has been that just because I think its a great place for a cache, doesn't mean the environment is right for hiding it. Happy Caching!

 

True-North

[+welch]

quote:

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Originally posted by bradtal:

My question is... Should the "Powers-to-be" (Jeremy, Erik, etc) not allow new caches to be hidden if the user has less than __X__ number of found caches? __X__ could be 5 or 10, for example...

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No, this would be vastly difficult to set up and give only marginal returns. If cacher A has to find X caches before placing cache 1 they may just find a bunch of easy ones just to get past it(or not even find them, just log fake finds). And that assuming there are X within A's area. There are whole contries in which the total ammount of caches is

 

And theres no gurantee that after cacher A has found X caches they will have a feel. Just because none (I hope)of the X caches were strapped to a bridge or on private property or any of the other non-good places, doesn't mean 'A' won't think its a good idea.

 

I think a better (and maybe easier to enforce?)idea might be to find some way to require new users to read the guidelines/faqs and maybe an "good cache container" thread. It seems like some people don't read the guidelines till their cache gets turned down

 

ps- Non-cachers think everything looks like a bomb, not just PVC

 

[+briansnat]

I placed my first cache after my 1st find. The only thing I learned since was that I didn't need to put so much thought and effort into the contents and placement of the cache (well I did learn about the virtues of ammo boxes later too).

 

My 1st cache is still one of my better ones.

 

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away. -Barry Goldwater

[superjaded]

I placed my first geocache a couple days after I first used a GPS and before I had ever found one. I placed mine, people find it, everything is cool. I don't see what the big deal is. Just follow the guidelines, use a little common sense and get those geocaches out there!

[+BASSETSLAVE]

I placed my first cache after my 12th find. I read the forums, followed the guidelines, asked questions about finding and hiding to one of our local cachers, did my research and tried to make it as interesting as possible to the cacher. In anotherwords if you think you are ready to hide a cache "Gooooooooooooooo For It and don't look back".

 

BASSETSLAVE

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If you have the nose of a basset there is no cache that you can not find and you are never lost.

[+Prime Suspect]

This discussion is already going on in another thread.