Does more difficulty = cooler cache?

[+cheesepuppet]

I've just finished my first two caches, and I'm surprised at the stuff I'm finding. In one I found a moldy and wet half deck of cards (which we threw away, they were obviously damaged and gross and we were afraid they'd ruin the other paper items in the cache), and in the next one was a beer bottle and a "toy" with a razor blade. Um...

 

I think this hobby is very cool, and I'm definitely going to look for more, but I'm sort of bummed that there isn't something more interesting to find. I guess what I mean to say is that I don't feel like I'm finding things that are neat reflections of the people who left them (except for the chemistry answers in one next to a college, haha!), but just crap that people threw in. Know what I mean? Is this because the ones I'm looking for are 1/1? Are the higher difficulty caches more personal and interesting?

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Newer caches and caches set by long time cachers have more interesting stuff in my opinion, but we don't usually trade stuff so I don't pay that much attention.

 

That moss-covered bucket I hailed as a treasure,

For often at noon, when I returned from the field,

I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure.

 

Samuel Woodworth The Old Oaken Bucket

[+Team OUTSID4EVR]

Generally, the farther a cache is from a parking area, the better quality it will be. The contents do degrade over time, that's the First Law of Geocaching (Or maybe the second). Anyway, I have observed that the caches that the more committed cachers (not necessairily veterans) visit tend to be better quality.

 

I avoid 1/1 caches and others that are very close to a parking lot. They're not worth the drive.

[+briansnat]

As Outsid4evr said, cache contents tend to degrade over time. Since the 1/1's get more frequent visits, the contents degrade a lot faster than more remote caches.

 

I usually carry a "repair kit". Log books, pencils, Ziplocs and a variety of cache containers, along with a big bag of trade items. If I think the cache is a worthwhile one (meaning in an interesting place, not some drive and dump 50 feet from a parking lot), I'll fix up the cache for the owner.

 

After a while you'll get a feel for which geocachers place quality caches and take care of them and which ones tend to place duds.

 

"Au pays des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois"

[+wimseyguy]

I will agree with everything in Brian's post but have to disagree with outside4evr. I found 2 wonderful caches this morning that were 1/1's or maybe 1.5's, I have hiked in the woods for 2 hours to get to a 3.5 full of moldy crud.

I guess it depends on what your motivation for geocaching is. If it is to find cool stuff to trade you will be disappointed more ofter than not. Spend more time at yard sales and flea markets If you want to get outside more and see cool, scenic, and unusual places that you might not find on your own you will be constantly amazed.

 

Just have to wonder out loud what would happen if cheesepuppet mated with sockpuppet?

 

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes;

Nothing remains quite the same.

Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

[+cheesepuppet]

I wasn't expecting so much to get stuff, that wasn't my cool. More to see neat things that are reflections of the people who left them. Like I think the wooden nickel idea is a neat one, stuff like that. A moldy wet deck of Camel cigarette playing cards didn't strike me as original or reflective.

[+Caspian of CG]

I am just about to get started "caching." I am anxiously awaiting my Garmin Legend (ordered through amazon at a great price). So while I am waiting I have been regularly going over the discussion boards and learning the pitfalls as well as the etiquette of this excellent hobby. For me it will be less about what I find and more about the finding itself; like a game of hightech hide and seek. Although I am trying to think of what signature item I will place. Hurry up UPS PLZZZZZZZZ

[+Renegade Knight]

Would you settle for 'sort of'? The harder the cache or more remote the more likely it's well stocked. As for wet cards that probably has more to do with the cache container letting water in than the person who placed the cards.

 

=====================

Wherever you go there you are.

[+Team OUTSID4EVR]

quote:

---

Originally posted by wimseyguy:

I will agree with everything in Brian's post but have to disagree with outside4evr. I found 2 wonderful caches this morning that were 1/1's or maybe 1.5's, I have hiked in the woods for 2 hours to get to a 3.5 full o f moldy crud.

I guess it depends on what your motivation for geocaching is. If it is to find cool stuff to trade you will be disappointed more ofter than not. Spend more time at yard sales and flea markets If you want to get outside more and see cool, s c enic, and unusual places that you might not find on your own you will be constantly amazed.

---

 

Believe me, my motivation is to see cool places. I was referring to the contents for cheesepuppet's benefit. I avoid 1/1 caches because they are not thoughtfully hidden, nor are they in cool areas. The contents are not of interest to me personally. The containers also tend to leak because they're gladware (that's another thread entirely).

 

Yes, I have found moldy crud in more difficult caches, but generally the harder they are to find (difficult terrain, long hike, in the middle of nowhere, hard to locate), the better the cache contents are. The quality of the container usually follows the same rule.

[+Polgara]

When I first started caching, I was excited to see what was in the cache. Now when I cache, I love the hunt, the view and the animals I see more than the cache box. I've been lucky and have got to see some really cool animals including all kinds of snakes, turtles, a nest of wild baby kittens, a huge horned owl and a newborn fawn that was only about 1 foot high...now if only i could see a black bear (at a safe distance), now that would be awesome!

 

"The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator."

- Louis Pasteur

[+RobRee]

my kids take matchbox cars and mickieD toys, and we try to leave something of higher value. i like army surplus items and small survival/outdoors stuff to leave. BUT the items are not our reason for Geocaching.

 

the whole event from preparation to find really gets the kids going. they love to plot out waypoints of cool animals, and flowers/trees etc. we carry National audobon society field guides to identify species, and the kids log new "finds." we love hikes in the 1-2 mile range for the kids (5 and 7 years old.)

 

i like brians idea of a repair kit of sorts. ziplocks, and stash items to bring up the value of a deteriorated cache.

 

it is funny though how a box of soggy baseball card will make my son smile.

 

robbie

 

A family that Geocaches together... eventually gets wet.

 

required reading

My first bible

[+chubby forest monkey]

Hi Cheesepuppet, welcome to geocaching in Oregon! There are alot of really cool caches in this great state, regardless of their rating. Sounds like you are looking for a good experience, and I suggest you read the logs! If most of the logs of a 1/1 cache say something like...good hunt, thanks, TNLN....it's probably a boring cache in a mundane location. If many of the logs say..Wow, beautiful spot, I never knew, one of my favorites, etc..., then it is a place worth checking out!

 

-see you on the trail!

 

Forget bananas, gimme some cheese!

[+cheesepuppet]

Ah, tips for decoding cache comments, thanks!

[+fly46]

I guess you have to ask yourself what the point of GeoCaching is for you.

 

For me, I did it because I needed an excuse to go out and take a walk. In that instance, I wanted to go after the ones that are labeled 1/1 because I know it is an easy walk. For instance, my first Cache was .9 miles down a paved walking path.

 

I really wasn't that excited about what was in the box (Although I did get a wheres george dollar in it), I just wanted the thrill of the hunt. If you want a better treasure hunt to pick from, I would say read the descriptions and see what the people say about what they left and what they took.

[BassoonPilot]

quote:

---

Originally posted by OUTSID4EVR:

... The contents are not of interest to me personally. The containers also tend to leak because they're gladware (that's another thread entirely).

---

 

Bah, humbug! Like you, I've also seen many a tupperware or gladware container with moisture inside ... but I've also come across a good number of ammo boxes wet inside because of faulty gaskets or because they weren't closed properly. Why, just this morning I found a cache that was a DECON container that had a couple of ounces of water inside, undoubtedly because a finder failed to snap the lid on tightly. Thank God for ziplock bags!

 

Back on topic ... a higher number of terrain stars will usually present more of a challenge and will often bring one to a well selected site, but don't rely on the "difficulty" stars without reading the cache description ... you could be looking for a supremely hidden cache with lots of goodies inside. Or you could be looking for the tiny tube that erasers for mechanical pencils were sold in that now contains nothing but a scrap of paper ... each example would be "cool" to someone.

 

Incidently, I also say "bah, humbug" to the notion that longer and more challenging hikes usually end at "quality cache containers" (which I take to mean "ammo boxes.") From my experience, that's a myth ... 7 of the 10 longest and most challenging caches I've done ended at tupperware (or worse) plastic containers. Most of them were rarely sought, rarely found, and remained in good-to-excellent condition.

 

[This message was edited by BassoonPilot on June 10, 2003 at 12:56 PM.]

[+evergreenhiker!]

quote:

---

Originally posted by BassoonPilot:

quote:

---

Originally posted by OUTSID4EVR:

... The contents are not of interest to me personally. The containers also tend to leak because they're gladware (that's another thread entirely).

---

 

Bah, humbug! Like you, I've also seen many a tupperware or gladware container with moisture inside ... but I've also come across a good number of ammo boxes wet inside because of faulty gaskets or because they weren't closed properly. Why, just this morning I found a cache that was a DECON container that had a couple of ounces of water inside, undoubtedly because a finder failed to snap the lid on tightly. Thank God for ziplock bags!

 

Back on topic ... a higher number of terrain stars will usually present more of a challenge and will often bring one to a well selected site, but don't rely on the "difficulty" stars without reading the cache description ... you could be looking for a supremely hidden cache with lots of goodies inside. Or you could be looking for the tiny tube that erasers for mechanical pencils were sold in that now contains nothing but a scrap of paper ... each example would be "cool" to someone.

 

Incidently, I also say "bah, humbug" to the notion that longer and more challenging hikes usually end at "quality cache containers" (which I take to mean "ammo boxes.") From my experience, that's a myth ... 7 of the 10 longest and most challenging caches I've done ended at tupperware (or worse) plastic containers. Most of them were rarely sought, rarely found, and remained in good-to-excellent condition.

 

[This message was edited by BassoonPilot on June 10, 2003 at 12:56 PM.]

---

All my extreme outdoor boxes will be ammo boxes...tupperware just doesn't cut it in the long run. My last cache planted:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=73113

Is a more difficult one and I've put in some good, new stuff still in their packages including an emergency stove with fuel. I found a ten dollar Starbucks card for the first finder in a cache out by Index. That box was an ammo one as well. My 399th and 400th Finds were on a snowshoe to a couple boxes up on Little Bessemer back of North Bend. Those were tupperware, but the guy put quality stuff in it.

[+Rattlingcrew]

I suppose we all place caches for different reasons. I try to place mine in scenic or historic areas in an effort to share these cool spots with others. I must be wrong though, I put the same type stuff in all of them, near or far. For me it is the hide, the log and getting you there to share. Most of mine are fairly close to the road, I have a few that will really get you puffing for air though. Glen

 

The Rattling Crew in the plain white wrapper.