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Friendly advice for new cachers...


FoxholeAtheist

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Read the page about placing your first cache BEFORE you get back from placing your first cache. Now I get to go back to the mountain, get an "averaged" GPS fix... write some stuff in the notebook..... *sigh*

 

Well, at least I found my first Benchmark while I was doing it. (MY3792.. top of Wachusett Mountain in Central MA)

 

Fox

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I rush out to try to find them. I'm anxious to send them a postive thankyou note.

 

But I'm getting much better at finding caches where the coordinates are way off. So I will take as long as it takes to find that cache and send the newbie corrected coordinates.

 

We've got quite a few new users in my area placing caches now and they are doing a great job and I appreciate that. Maybe they've read the pages that were suggested here and that is a great idea. But lets try to help the new ones out. I got lots of help when I started.

 

Never Squat With Yer Spurs On

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quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Snazz:

If you don't want the risk of doing a "bad" newbie cache, steer clear of the first few caches placed by a cacher until they've been sufficiently logged by others. icon_eek.gif


 

I know you're kidding but someone may take your advice seriously.

 

_______________________________

 

Mike

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quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Snazz:

If you don't want the risk of doing a "bad" newbie cache, steer clear of the first few caches placed by a cacher until they've been sufficiently logged by others. icon_eek.gif


 

I know you're kidding but someone may take your advice seriously.

 

_______________________________

 

Mike

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quote:
Originally posted by mikemtn:

I know you're kidding but someone may take your advice seriously.


 

I wouldn't worry about it. There are more than enough of us that run right out, rain or shine, daylight or not, to be the first to a new cache. No matter who placed it. icon_wink.gif

 

No postman jokes now. icon_biggrin.gif

 

... Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by, ...

 

unclerojelio

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quote:
Originally posted by mikemtn:

I know you're kidding but someone may take your advice seriously.


 

I wouldn't worry about it. There are more than enough of us that run right out, rain or shine, daylight or not, to be the first to a new cache. No matter who placed it. icon_wink.gif

 

No postman jokes now. icon_biggrin.gif

 

... Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by, ...

 

unclerojelio

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quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Snazz:

If you don't want the risk of doing a "bad" newbie cache, steer clear of the first few caches placed by a cacher until they've been sufficiently logged by others. icon_eek.gif


 

I've got 12 or so finds and 1 hide and still consider myself a newbie. However, it doesn't take long to realize the importance of good coordinates, an interesting location, poison ivy avoidance, a private hiding space, decent cache contents, etc. etc. etc..... I took a lot of time getting ready to place my 1st cache and feel it was placed successfully. The last thing I'd want is for people not to be able to find my cache because of poor coordinates or instructions.... icon_eek.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Snazz:

If you don't want the risk of doing a "bad" newbie cache, steer clear of the first few caches placed by a cacher until they've been sufficiently logged by others. icon_eek.gif


 

I've got 12 or so finds and 1 hide and still consider myself a newbie. However, it doesn't take long to realize the importance of good coordinates, an interesting location, poison ivy avoidance, a private hiding space, decent cache contents, etc. etc. etc..... I took a lot of time getting ready to place my 1st cache and feel it was placed successfully. The last thing I'd want is for people not to be able to find my cache because of poor coordinates or instructions.... icon_eek.gif

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I'm not sure why people have reacted so badly to my post. I'm simply suggesting that if a person is going to get into a huff over not being able to find a cache placed by a "newbie" that perhaps they should AVOID those caches. I also offer a crude method for avoiding those - Waiting until they have been logged by OTHER cachers first, to ensure that the co-ords or other information are not inaccurate.

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Perhaps I didn't make myself clear with my first post... I was hiding my first cache, and didn't read the page before doing so. Now I've read the page, and realize that I didn't do it right, so I've got to go back and do some things over before I post it to the site.

 

Glad to know that some of you out there are supportive of us Newbies. icon_smile.gif

 

Fox

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Perhaps I didn't make myself clear with my first post... I was hiding my first cache, and didn't read the page before doing so. Now I've read the page, and realize that I didn't do it right, so I've got to go back and do some things over before I post it to the site.

 

Glad to know that some of you out there are supportive of us Newbies. icon_smile.gif

 

Fox

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quote:
Originally posted by FoxholeAtheist:

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear with my first post... I was hiding my first cache, and didn't read the page before doing so. Now I've read the page, and realize that I didn't do it right, so I've got to go back and do some things over before I post it to the site.

 

Glad to know that some of you out there are supportive of us Newbies. icon_smile.gif

 

Fox


 

Just a suggestion. Do a goto and see how close your GPSr brings you to your cache. The coords you listed may be as close as it gets. Averaging is just that an average. The coords you took may be close enough and will save alot of time. I prefer to leave my GPSr sitting for a while at the cache site rather than average. It seems to work for me. No one has complained about my coords being off yet anyway. Just my 2 cents.

 

ENJOY THE OUTDOORS

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quote:
Originally posted by FoxholeAtheist:

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear with my first post... I was hiding my first cache, and didn't read the page before doing so. Now I've read the page, and realize that I didn't do it right, so I've got to go back and do some things over before I post it to the site.

 

Glad to know that some of you out there are supportive of us Newbies. icon_smile.gif

 

Fox


 

Just a suggestion. Do a goto and see how close your GPSr brings you to your cache. The coords you listed may be as close as it gets. Averaging is just that an average. The coords you took may be close enough and will save alot of time. I prefer to leave my GPSr sitting for a while at the cache site rather than average. It seems to work for me. No one has complained about my coords being off yet anyway. Just my 2 cents.

 

ENJOY THE OUTDOORS

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Thanks for the advice, Mule. What I'll probably do is go back to the cache, see how close I get with the existing way point, and then try a few methods to get a more exact waypoint, without deleting the first one. I was in a little bit of a hurry when placing this cache, since I was trying to get to the top of the mountain in time to take some sunset photos. (This mountain is 2006 feet...not a REAL mountain per se..) In addition to getting an accurate fix, I also need to write the coordinates on the lid (why do we do this, btw?) and put a welcome greeting in the cache. I'm also gonna rethink my placement. I think the path to the top of the mountain is interesting enough to be a cache location, but I might try re-hiding it near a scenic view or something. There are a few path branchings on the mountain also, and I would like to get an idea of what someone would see as they were trying to find it, so as to give a good idea of what they'll need to look for.

 

On a related note, how do I tell what difficulty level to assign the cache? You don't have to use any special gear or anything to get to it, and it's a well marked path, but you do have to clamber up some relatively steep rocks to get there. I was thinking about calling it a "3", and let people who go looking for it advise me on adjusting that up or down depending on their opinions. Sound good?

 

Fox

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I'm a newbie too, and one of the biggest issues I've encountered in my first 25 finds is the great variety of opinions on difficulty ratings. One person's 1/1 is another person's 3/3 and vice versa. There are lots of threads discussing this issue.

 

When I place my first cache, I will definitely try to follow the Geocache Rating System, and I wish everybody did.

 

From your description of the hike to the cache, a 3 sounds pretty good for terrain rating depending on the length of the hike and overall elevation change. It sounds like a great spot! Good luck with it.

 

PS I agree with you, it always puzzled me that people write the coordinates on the cover of the cache. At that point, you have found it and you don't need the coords anymore! This is in the same category as the printed sign on the drive-up ATM at my bank that says "special assistance available for blind customers."

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Next time, instead of getting married, I think I'll just find a woman I don't like and buy her a house."

 

[This message was edited by The Leprechauns on July 11, 2002 at 08:05 PM.]

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From another newbie....

 

Remember, there are at least 360 ways to reach any given cache, some are just easier then others.......

 

 

....and not all of them will be obvious to everyone.

 

____________________________________________________________

It's not about the mistakes we make, it's about what we learn from them....

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I'm not sure that averaging does much good. Here is why.

 

My GPS reads the satalites in the sky at the time I take a point or average. They give about the same information as they just did a second ago. So waiting 5 minutes and averaging 400 points or so might pick up 5' of random atmospheric error. But it's reading about the same constelation the entire time.

 

Now were I to come back several hours later or at night with a different constelation maybe it would make a difference.

 

My friend set a cache during the day. I found it at night with the coordinates being about 25' off (over the edge of a cliff). Every time he was there to check on it in the day he was dead on. At night, he was off the same 25' I was.

 

I've read posts by people who if they really need an average do it for 24 hours.

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quote:
Originally posted by The Leprechauns:

PS I agree with you, it always puzzled me that people write the coordinates on the cover of the cache. At that point, you have found it and you don't need the coords anymore! This is in the same category as the printed sign on the drive-up ATM at my bank that says "special assistance available for blind customers."


 

I can think of one reason. I've seen a number of posts of "rescued" caches found in the hands of non-cachers, or (at least once) in a park ranger's hut. If the recogniser/rescuer wants to re-hide the cache, it's dead handy to have the co-ordinates written on it. icon_wink.gif

 

evilrooster

-the email of the species is deadlier than the mail-

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quote:
Originally posted by The Leprechauns:

PS I agree with you, it always puzzled me that people write the coordinates on the cover of the cache. At that point, you have found it and you don't need the coords anymore! This is in the same category as the printed sign on the drive-up ATM at my bank that says "special assistance available for blind customers."


 

I can think of one reason. I've seen a number of posts of "rescued" caches found in the hands of non-cachers, or (at least once) in a park ranger's hut. If the recogniser/rescuer wants to re-hide the cache, it's dead handy to have the co-ordinates written on it. icon_wink.gif

 

evilrooster

-the email of the species is deadlier than the mail-

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Thank you all for the advice, but especially for the geocaching rating system page. The question/answer section was kind of neat, but the "results" page was what I really needed. After looking at the descriptions of each level, I decided that it was a difficulty 2, terrain 3. It only takes a couple of adults in average shape 30 minutes (huffing, puffing minutes) to get from the parking area to the summit, and the cache is about halfway from one to the other. Path is pretty obvious, but quite rocky. I wouldn't try to take a bike up it, but some people with better biking skills than sense might go for it. icon_biggrin.gif

 

Fox

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Thank you all for the advice, but especially for the geocaching rating system page. The question/answer section was kind of neat, but the "results" page was what I really needed. After looking at the descriptions of each level, I decided that it was a difficulty 2, terrain 3. It only takes a couple of adults in average shape 30 minutes (huffing, puffing minutes) to get from the parking area to the summit, and the cache is about halfway from one to the other. Path is pretty obvious, but quite rocky. I wouldn't try to take a bike up it, but some people with better biking skills than sense might go for it. icon_biggrin.gif

 

Fox

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quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Snazz:

If you don't want the risk of doing a "bad" newbie cache, steer clear of the first few caches placed by a cacher until they've been sufficiently logged by others. icon_eek.gif


 

If we all used that method, no cache would ever be found. What is the thrill? The hunt or the find? I certainly havent gotten rich off anything I have found in a cache.

 

Team BPACH..We dont know where we are going, but we know where we are.

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quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Snazz:

If you don't want the risk of doing a "bad" newbie cache, steer clear of the first few caches placed by a cacher until they've been sufficiently logged by others. icon_eek.gif


 

If we all used that method, no cache would ever be found. What is the thrill? The hunt or the find? I certainly havent gotten rich off anything I have found in a cache.

 

Team BPACH..We dont know where we are going, but we know where we are.

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quote:

Originally posted by BPACH:

If we all used that method, no cache would ever be found. What is the thrill? The hunt or the find? I certainly havent gotten rich off anything I have found in a cache.


 

You are, of course, totally correct! My advice was only to those who do not want to take the risk of having inaccurate co-ords or other newbie-associated issues. I sincerely hope that you (and everyone else), by some weird leap of reading, did not think that I was suggesting that ALL cachers avoid newbie caches. I don't see how my meaning could have possibly been misunderstood, since my suggesting included waiting for OTHER CACHERS, without newbie issues, visit and log the cache first! icon_rolleyes.gif

 

snazzsig.jpg

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quote:

Originally posted by BPACH:

If we all used that method, no cache would ever be found. What is the thrill? The hunt or the find? I certainly havent gotten rich off anything I have found in a cache.


 

You are, of course, totally correct! My advice was only to those who do not want to take the risk of having inaccurate co-ords or other newbie-associated issues. I sincerely hope that you (and everyone else), by some weird leap of reading, did not think that I was suggesting that ALL cachers avoid newbie caches. I don't see how my meaning could have possibly been misunderstood, since my suggesting included waiting for OTHER CACHERS, without newbie issues, visit and log the cache first! icon_rolleyes.gif

 

snazzsig.jpg

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quote:
Originally posted by The Leprechauns:

When I place my first cache, I will definitely try to follow the http://www.clayjar.com/gcrs, and I wish everybody did.

 


 

I agree completely. One persons preception of 'easy' or 'difficult' can vary widely from one person to the next. If everyone used a standard way to calculate difficulty you'd know exactly what you were getting into when searching at a designated difficulty level.

 

I haven't logged too many finds yet bit I'd almost disagree with some of the difficulty ratings I've came across. Of course a difficulty rating of a cache placed in late fall could easily be rated lower than the exact location rated in summer. Some don't calculate in the vegitation growth that happens in the spring/summer that is non-existent in the fall/winter. I'd venture to say that some caches should note a possible level change for different seasons.

 

Chip

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quote:
Some advice for cachers..

 

If you don't want the risk of doing a "bad" newbie cache, steer clear of the first few caches placed by a cacher until they've been sufficiently logged by others.


 

Hmmmmm.... I guess I am a newbie, only found two, and already hid two. Nobody has complained about the two I hid. Perhaps I should pull them until I have the time to get more experience. Please excuse a newbie's enthuseism.

 

The two I hid (The El Paso Tin Mines Cache, and The Mighty Rio Grande Cache) seem to be popular out here.

 

This may be good advice... guess I should have waited before making up the other two caches sitting in my garage.

 

Unfortunately, gaining more experience will have to wait till the fall. We are too busy making electricity to sell to granola-land right now. What little time I do have is needed for other jobs... like new floors in my jeep.

 

Mike. KD9KC

El Paso, Texas.

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Mike I hid caches when I first started too. I really screwed up the coordinates on one of them but people never complained. In fact they were super supportive. It was back when there were less than 1000 caches hidden total. Now we have almost that many in Oregon.

 

So keep hiding, keep finding and let those with opinions have their opinions. I really appreciate any cacher that hides one. As far as I'm concerned the only "bad" cache is one I just can't find. Then I hate it, until I locate the darn thing.

 

I whined here locally about a very small microcache hidden in the forest. I went nuts looking for that thing. But the second time I went for it I approached it from a different angle and there it was!

 

So I like it now icon_smile.gif

 

Never Squat With Yer Spurs On

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Mike I hid caches when I first started too. I really screwed up the coordinates on one of them but people never complained. In fact they were super supportive. It was back when there were less than 1000 caches hidden total. Now we have almost that many in Oregon.

 

So keep hiding, keep finding and let those with opinions have their opinions. I really appreciate any cacher that hides one. As far as I'm concerned the only "bad" cache is one I just can't find. Then I hate it, until I locate the darn thing.

 

I whined here locally about a very small microcache hidden in the forest. I went nuts looking for that thing. But the second time I went for it I approached it from a different angle and there it was!

 

So I like it now icon_smile.gif

 

Never Squat With Yer Spurs On

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Ive only been Caching for about 3 months but I really got bit by the bug and have found several caches. Im making mistakes along the way and have asked some questions. so far everyone has been very helpful. Ive hidden one cache and have had good responses. My newest cache is on hold because of my "newbie" screw up, (i lost my travelbug activation code).. Its irritating but its also a learning experience. Just saying that everyone makes mistakes and from what ive seen, most here accept that. Sure hope that people wouldnt avoid my cache just because i am a newbie. I appreciate any feedback if and when i do make mistakes so that i can learn from and correct them! Dont forget, we were all newbies at one time.

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