Whats Your Goal When You Hide A Cache?

[+AJ of Dunbar]

When you hide a cache what do you want to do to the vistors? Let them have a nice find, trade some items? Make the cache as hard to find as possible? or something else?

 

Myself i am trying to make my newer ones as hard to find as possible.

 

just curious.

 

aj

[+flask]

depends on the cache. i have several things in mind, although not for every cache:

 

-a nice walk in a park

-a pretty view

-a fun piece of performance art

-a social experiment

-a quick little hunt to get your fix

-fun trades

-a sneaky hide you'll tear your hair out over

-a sick puzzle that will give you nightmares.

 

since not all of my caches have the same goals, people don't always know what to expect. i like that. keeps 'em off balance.

[+Teach2Learn]

I focus on making it creative and fun (usually by way of a theme and scenery), somewhat challenging, family friendly, and even slightly educational because I'm a teacher and can't help myself. Perhaps I'll try to make them tougher in the future as my hiding skills develop, but for now two to two and a half-star rated caches are my level.

[Pipanella]

depends on the cache. i have several things in mind, although not for every cache:

 

-a nice walk in a park

-a pretty view

-a fun piece of performance art

-a social experiment

-a quick little hunt to get your fix

-fun trades

-a sneaky hide you'll tear your hair out over

-a sick puzzle that will give you nightmares.

 

since not all of my caches have the same goals, people don't always know what to expect. i like that. keeps 'em off balance.

Those are all the things I like about different caches. It depends on the location mostly, as to what type of cache it ends up being.

Edited June 28, 2004 by Pipanella

[+Logscaler and Red]

For myself, I try and judge the people who will for the most part be looking for the cache.

 

For the locals I will try my best to at least get some very upset e-mails from them.

 

As for other caches, I try and locate them in areas of interest, be it a little known historical site or a location for a view.

 

logscaler.

[+Renegade Knight]

Whatever my muse demands of me.

 

Joint Venture at Crater Rings gets rave reviews but the concept was to pick a point on the map and have the first three finders set the hiding spot, provide the container and then some swag. It worked well and is no longer approvable on this site.

 

Parting Shot was my effort at an extremely difficult hide. It worked. Nobody found it, the area got torn up. I then emailed the few people who did log a DNF the hint they needed and archived it immediately after they logged it.

 

Epicenter is math puzzle cache. Not many find it. It's a 5 gallon bucket so the find is easy once you are in the zone.

 

Seismograph Station III is the clue to Epicenter but duplicates a very nasty hide I found called Grafitti Bridge.

 

Vector spawned more caches.

 

Besmirch was Twin Falls first lame cache. That town was cursed with nothing but quality caches. After the floodgates were opened I archived the cache.

 

A lame cache every now and then just to keep the locals active.

 

AO7734 was a Trashware repository for AO Hell disks.

 

Devils Coral is a nice hike in a scenic canyon.

 

The Two Trip UMC was designed so any cacher who isn't truly prepared has to make a second trip to log it.

 

A comparative study of Idaho Rock piles makes fun of rock pile caches, which we have a lot of.

 

Buffons politically correct webcam was poking fun at a thread in the forums. It had a sister cache that poked fun at the same thread.

 

Conspicuous Consumption was a lesson on an economic concept at the expense of one of Idaho's more well known rich family. It is no longer approvable on this site.

 

A vacation cache in my home town this summer where I arrange for the maintenance but will not disclose who. It will not be approvable on this site.

 

Floating around at the back of my mind is a truly nasty micro that will foill almost everyone who finds it with a false find until they go back after the light bulb turns on. A CSI based cache that is being fleshed out that may or may not be approvable on GC.com, , a concept called Trail of Tears, A night cache that I've just never got around to with a story/theme based on X-Files. A cache in Runes, and a short hike up the hill behind my house plus about a dozen others. I never know what idea will come to me and most percolate until all the pieces line up and suddenly it’s feasible to place it.

[Pipanella]

AO7734 was a Trashware repository for AO Hell disks.

 

Now I LIKE that idea. I think maybe we need one of those in our area. Sometimes the disc case is nice, though. LOL

[+CompuCash]

Ya - I have some really cool AOL disc cases -

 

I actually saw one of the freebee (ala local supermarket) disks in a cache the other day - arghh...

[+Webfoot]

Besmirch was Twin Falls first lame cache. That town was cursed with nothing but quality caches. After the floodgates were opened I archived the cache.

I had to read this one three times before I understood what you were saying. Good one.

 

I suppose I could look and figure it out from your profile, but are your caches all over Idaho, or in a specific area, such as Twin Falls as indicated in the quote? Yours look like some very interesting caches to hunt for.

[Black Mage]

One of the main things that look to do when I hide a cache (all 1 that I have hidden (soon to be two)) is that you can log it and trade without having to worry about other people. I can't say I like it when I find a cache but have to be very fast and sneaky with the trading and logging. I like to be able to sit and enjoy my find. Thusly, I hide my caches accordingly (I hope this makes sense).

[+Webfoot]

One of the main things that look to do when I hide a cache (all 1 that I have hidden (soon to be two)) is that you can log it and trade without having to worry about other people. I can't say I like it when I find a cache but have to be very fast and sneaky with the trading and logging. I like to be able to sit and enjoy my find. Thusly, I hide my caches accordingly (I hope this makes sense).

Makes sense to me. Probably one of the reasons why I don't like Urban Micros. I don't think I'm stealthy enough.

 

I prefer those at least half mile hikes into the woods to find a cache.

[+AJ of Dunbar]

Probably one of the reasons why I don't like Urban Micros. I don't think I'm stealthy enough.

 

I prefer those at least half mile hikes into the woods to find a cache.

I dont care for urban caches, but i still attempt some of them. I have only hidden 1 urban micro which most of the visitors have been stopped by the 'parks grounds keeper'. i just had a new micro approved its a .75 mile walk on a gravel road, no cars allowed. a half mile hike throug the woods. and two by boat only.

 

aj

[Tahosa and Sons]

Back country mulits that have a 4 x 4 or better rating. And in CO the scenery goes with the cache. Make them mentally and physically challenging.

Quality over quantity any day of the week.

[+Gizmo & Brazin]

I try and hide in area parks that encourage families to visit. I think we have some great parks and like to get as many people out and enjoying them as possible. That's another reason I try for ammo can size hides and always leave lots of great goodies for the kids.

[+archaeor]

I know I'm wandering off-topic a bit, but . . . those AOL discs they send you?? After receiving one every couple of weeks or so, I finally crossed out my name and address on one with a 'sharpie', and wrote "Return to Sender" on it and put it back in my mailbox.

 

The next day, it was gone, and I haven't received another one since!! (and that was months, ago)!

 

I've also been known to save up all of the 'Business-Reply-Mail' envelopes that come with every junk-mail I've received, and stuff them way full with the other 'junk-mail' from other companies, and send them back. You know, they pay for the "Business Return" postage! If everyone who received junk-mail did this, then it wouldn't be profitable for these junk-mail companies to send them out . . . it would cost them too much (double) in postage!!

 

Back on topic, though, I try to provide a 'unique' hide, and dabble in "alternative" camouflage techniques and themes, in order to provide a bit of a challenge to find it, and yet, not make it so hard to find that not every cacher couldn't have fun trying to find it, anyway. (sorry about the beer).

 

Rick

 

:edit: grammar and beer

Edited June 28, 2004 by archaeor

[+briansnat]

My goals are (usually) to bring people on a nice hike in an area I found to be interesting, often with a viewpoint, or historic site near the end or along the way. In NJ we have a lot of great hiking trails it seems 80 percent of the hikers use about 20 percent of the trails. I use caches to show people the other 80 percent. These types account for about 3/4 of my hides.

 

Since those caches don't get logged frequently, I also place a few lame roadside ones around just so I have logs to read. Even with those I try to make sure they have some redeeming quality, for example a cache on a guardrail next to a pretty pond.

 

My final goal is to provide the finder with a dry logbook and and a box full of interesting or useful items to sort through if they choose to trade.

Edited June 28, 2004 by briansnat

[+ZackJones]

My goal for my first, and only so far, cache GCJRPC is for folks to find it. It's a multi-cache that starts off like a virtual cache which leads you to a micro which finally leads you to the actual cache. It's been in place about a week now and so far the folks who have done it seem to enjoy it. If someone takes the time and effort to search for a cache that I have placed I really want them to be able to find it.

 

If they happen to bring along a TB and drop it off that's even better

 

Zack

[CoyoteRed]

When you hide a cache what do you want to do to the vistors?

Entertain them.

[+Eye Cacher]

I think that it's important to remember that this is supposed to be fun, and we want to PROMOTE geocaching, not sour people on it! Having said that, a challenging find can be very satisfying. Personally, I love a good puzzle cache that makes you think. However, simply hiding a cache really well (especially in the forest where you lose your signal and aren't given good hints) is extremely frustrating, and leads to destructive behavior!

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

 

Myself i am trying to make my newer ones as hard to find as possible.

I hope you rate them accordinly. I honestly don't know why anyone would want to make it hard to find. I figure if I had them work their butts off to access a cache I certainly want them to be able to find it.

 

Then again, caches which are difficult are seldom found anyhow. I've gotten away from that.

[+AJ of Dunbar]

my latest attempt at a real hard micro has had mixed results. only 2 people have searched so far. one looked for over an hour, and dint find. one found it right off the bat. it seems like its one youd see right off the bat, or not see it at all.

 

but id prefere to look for a harder one rather then a short hike in the woods, to look in a tree stump and find a not so well hidden/camoed tupperwear container.

 

Its always interesting to see who will go the extra mile to look for a harder cache/micro rather then the "park and find' caches that are the majority around here.

 

aj

[+Bear and Ting]

I've not read to the end of this post and cannot speak for others, but our goals vary depending on our audience. For example, when we hid "Pixie Princess's Secret Treasure", we had first time cachers and kids in mind with both the cache items and with its location. It was the same with "Bear's Woodland Treasures". However, with "Fortville's little secret", we made it more challenging, both in description/clues and in the cache container itself.

 

I have two new caches I will be hiding shortly and I hope to make them challenging as well.

 

Good luck,

 

Bear & Ting

[+ShowStop]

When you hide a cache what do you want to do to the vistors?

Entertain them.

I gotta make a note to get out and visit a CoyoteRed cache so I can watch them perform a Broadway show for me.