Pointless Caches

[+stora]

Hi

 

Have you ever been to a cache and thought what was the point ?

 

I would like to hear your comments on 'pointless' caches you have found, before I choose a location to hide my first cache.

Edited March 28, 2005 by stora

[+-Phoenix-]

'pointless' is kinda objective, I guess you have to first decide whats the point, and if there is a concensus on what the point of geocaching is.

 

probably the most pointless caches are those that can be 'achieved' without any effort, not even moving from your keyboard.... but even then there are some that fit this description that are not quite as pointless as others take Anglemarken, can be achieved without budging from your seat, yet, strangely I would not rate this as pointless

[markandlynn]

Every cache has a point in the opinion of the hider. Just be aware of what makes a good hiding spot before placing your first cache by finding ten ish other caches. Just think what would you like to find? and place a cache to fulfill these criteria.

Try to hide as large a container as possible (sse the micros thread!!) but make it anti muggle beyond this and you can ignore this advice just be happy with your own judgement. We own good and not so good caches but are happy all of them fulfill their purpose.

woo hoo 500 pointless posts and 145 caches (must get out more)

Edited March 28, 2005 by markandlynn

[+McDeHack]

When you are covered in mud, bitten by bugs, scratched by brambles, stung by nettles, walked for miles. to find an empty tupper box laying near where it is supposed to be. You think to yourself. "This is pointless" But you carry on to find yet another 'pointless' cache. they are all pointless. But that is the Hobby.

[+Bill D (wwh)]

stora wrote:

Have you ever been to a cache and thought what was the point ?

I can honestly say that I haven't. I've done some superb ones, some pretty mundane ones and everything in between, but never one that I've thought pointless.

 

When hiding your first cache, you may want to bear in mind that for many, perhaps most, cachers the locations that caching takes them to are a very important part of it. An unusual location, a stunning view, a really nice walk, or just some out of the way and rather lovely spot that no-one would find without your local knowledge.

 

A good watertight container is very important. A box with an inch of water in it and a soggy logbook doesn't usually go down very well. Lock and lock type plastic containers and ammo boxes are perhaps the best choices.

 

A decent selection of trade items is important to some, not least of course to children. Be prepared for the quality of the contents to deteriorate if people "trade down".

 

And a hiding place that is unlikely to be found by accident, but which won't be too hard to find for an experienced cacher. As markandlynn said, by finding caches yourself you'll learn the sort of places that work well.

[+wildlifewriter]

Although I haven't logged it yet (and have no plans to), I can't help wondering what the point of THIS CACHE is.

 

It's at the back of a bungalow (of no particular architectural merit) which seems to belong to relatives of the cache owner. The cache owner himself lives in the USA, but it looks like any overseas family who are unfortunate enough to be related to him, will be getting a cache placed in their home sooner or later.

 

From the page, one might be forgiven for thinking that the point of this cache is the special location: "made famous the world over by naturalists for its enchanting fauna and flora,.." - except that IT is over five kilometers away.

 

The cache has a decent selection of swap items. (There weren't any when it was placed, but the first local cachers to visit have supplied some. Oh - and they supplied the box, as well.)

 

But... what's the point of it?

 

Your guess is as good as mine.

Edited March 29, 2005 by wildlifewriter

[+aRRKS]

Although I haven't logged it yet (and have no plans to), I can't help wondering what the point of THIS CACHE is.

...and when dropping off the TB he logged it as a find

[+Learned Gerbil]

At least his other cache in his nephew's back yard in Goa does have the merit that it increases the number of physical caches in the whole of India by more than 5%!

 

And he does seem to arrange for his relative ot maintai nthe cache - which means his looks like one of the few caches in India that is maintained - the rest seem to be left abandoned by tourists!

[+Flyfishermanbob]

Although I haven't logged it yet (and have no plans to), I can't help wondering what the point of THIS CACHE is.

 

But... what's the point of it?

 

Your guess is as good as mine. 

 

Shades of:-

 

For Mary

 

Seems The "Big Frog" wouldn't allow the owners to make it a "multi- virtual" ...so they ended up placing a physical cache in a location which had no bearing on the basic idea but could be maintained by relatives.

Edited March 29, 2005 by Flyfishermanbob

[+Simply Paul]

Every cache has a point - to be found and logged. That's their point. Thus a water-filled micro with a rotten log-page in the middle of a wood, with bad co-ords and a misleading (or absent) clue is about as pointless as caching gets. They'd have to be dadgum pretty woods to have me walk away from that one with a smile!

 

Obviously there are good caches and not so good caches. I've done plenty when I looked around and wondered why the setter wanted me to visit this spot as opposed to a million, other, better spots in a 0.1 mile radius. But hey, it's one more find for me, and I'm not complaining.

 

A dull location can be pepped up with some creative thought; a cunning puzzle, a clever bit of camouflage... But if you insist on picking a location with no obvious 'draw', and just stick a box there with no real thought on its contents, at least make sure the walk to it is nice!

 

Conversely, it's the hiders who make a game for everyone to play, so we shouldn't be too critical of anyone's effort, so long as it's not in a dangerous location or packed with lighters, pocket knifes and 'charlie'.

 

Reputations for good or not so good (I'm not going to say bad or pointless) caches are a good hint as to whose to visit when covering an area. A read of a few logs will usually tell you if you're going to be saying "Wow" or "Uhh".

 

SP

[+Flackadder]

Surely all caches have a point!! Even if it's only to visit them?

[+ttTom]

Agree that all caches have some kind of point - at least to the person who set them.

Caches I least enjoy are those right by the side of busy roads or in peoples gardens.

For me I prefer a decent walk and a bit of a hunt and a view or some historical interest or something other than a main road.... but each man for himself....

[+Brenin Tegeingl]

Surely all caches have a point!! Even if it's only to visit them?

How about a cache, placed without landowners permission. And were there is no legal access! After trying for a FTF, and finding out that there was no access, and after querying the cache owner, it turned out he'd walked through 2 closed gates, the first with "No Entry" clearly signed on it. On asking for permission he was refused on safty grounds.

 

Dave

[+Flackadder]

Surely all caches have a point!!  Even if it's only to visit them?

How about a cache, placed without landowners permission. And were there is no legal access! After trying for a FTF, and finding out that there was no access, and after querying the cache owner, it turned out he'd walked through 2 closed gates, the first with "No Entry" clearly signed on it. On asking for permission he was refused on safty grounds.

 

Dave

Even though that cache seems to have been incorrectly placed, there was still a point to it. To find it!!

[+Hi-Tek]

Surely all caches have a point!! Even if it's only to visit them?

Agreed, there are a limited number of 'good views' (remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder?) and/or places to hide a box in a wood and cover it with twigs.

 

It takes all sorts to add variety to this game of ours, let each devise their own, not all of us will like them and, if not, we can happily ignore them.

[+Chris n Maria]

Surely all caches have a point!!  Even if it's only to visit them?

How about a cache, placed without landowners permission. And were there is no legal access! After trying for a FTF, and finding out that there was no access, and after querying the cache owner, it turned out he'd walked through 2 closed gates, the first with "No Entry" clearly signed on it. On asking for permission he was refused on safty grounds.

 

Dave

Even though that cache seems to have been incorrectly placed, there was still a point to it. To find it!!

Sorry - Can't agree there.

 

I've always seen a cache as a way of saying "here is somewhere interesting/pretty/chaalenging/fun that I want to show you". I would rate a pointless cache as one that is only placed so that the setter can say they have placed it.

 

IMHO A micro stuck to the lampost outside my house would be completly pointless.

Chris

[+Jan and the Percey Boys]

I've always seen a cache as a way of saying "here is somewhere interesting/pretty/chaalenging/fun that I want to show you". I would rate a pointless cache as one that is only placed so that the setter can say they have placed it.

 

IMHO A micro stuck to the lampost outside my house would be completly pointless.

Chris

You make it sound as though where you live is

 

Dull, uninteresting, ugly, unchallenging and boring

 

Maybe you should move!

 

Bob

[+Chris n Maria]

You make it sound as though where you live is

Dull, uninteresting, ugly, unchallenging and boring

Maybe you should move!

 

Bob

Maybe

[+littlejim]

IMHO A micro stuck to the lampost outside my house would be completly pointless

To me, it's whether it's a challenge (again - to me) or not. I think it would be quite a challenge hunting for a cache in full view of everybody on a lamppost!

[+stora]

Some good views on this, I'll take them all onboard when I place my 1st cache.

[+Snosrap]

This is surely the worst in Britain! It probably ticks all the boxes - micro, nothing of interest in the area, drive-by etc etc.

 

(Could I be accused of 'Cache Promotion' by saying this??)

[+Sensei TSKC]

(Could I be accused of 'Cache Promotion' by saying this??)  

Yes!

 

But not by me cos I'm too nice!

[+esandman]

I can't agree that a cache placed for easy access is necessarily a pointless cache. Sometimes I'm after a quick cache dash to drop-off or collect a TB.

 

If I'm looking for a good walk, I'll compile a route of caches and walk between them; or just look on the map for caches that are out in the countryside. Many of the dullest locations can be driven to... or you could park further away, and plan a good walk to get to them.

 

e.g. Cache sandman2, then take the footpath out to the river Stort, follow that up to Milton's Paradise Lost and Found. Nice walk along the river!

 

(Disclamer - I placed a cache close to my house, on the edge of a housing estate. The purpose of this particular cache is to hold TB's and give an alternative to the Stansted TB hotel for those in Bishop's Stortford. Check out the 33 logged visits to Sandman2)

 

Andy.

[Sparticus]

This is surely the worst in Britain! It probably ticks all the boxes - micro, nothing of interest in the area, drive-by etc etc.

 

(Could I be accused of 'Cache Promotion' by saying this??)

When looking at OS maps a few years ago I heard on the radio about this place as it only had a power pole in the 1square kilometer box.

 

I admit to thinking that this was an interesting piece of information.

 

I MUST be the most boring cacher in britain.

[+Simply Paul]

I'm with you Sparti - I remember Mark and Lard talking about this location a couple of years ago and even looked it up on the net at the time. This was BC (Before Caching) and I've not thought of it since, but now I do, it seems a perfect spot for a cache to me. But am I boring, or just strange and twisted? Answers on a postcard to...

 

SP

[+steviep]

This  is surely the worst in Britain!  It probably ticks all the boxes - micro, nothing of interest in the area, drive-by etc etc.

 

(Could I be accused of 'Cache Promotion' by saying this??)  

When looking at OS maps a few years ago I heard on the radio about this place as it only had a power pole in the 1square kilometer box.

 

I admit to thinking that this was an interesting piece of information.

 

I MUST be the most boring cacher in britain.

I did this cache on 15th march, and even my log is boring.

(I did e-mail owner thanking him for setting it )

 

so I claim

 

I MUST be the most boring cacher in britain.

[+Capt Slog]

The "most boring cache in Britain", brilliant!! That does have some interest because of the uniqueness of the loacation.

 

I don't think that easy access makes it a pointless cache, not all cachers are super-fit-can-walk-twenty-miles-with-Bergen, there are a lot of young families out there too.

 

I think "pointless" is when there is nothing about the cache site that would make me want to go there again, or walk along the same path in order to get to it. We've found so many places near to where we live that we didn't know about, despite living in the area for more than 40 years, and a lot of these are places which we will return to, to see them at another time of year.

[Ben Pid]

Clicky!

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1600225.stm

 

I think this is a quality idea for a cache. lol - great find and love the page too!

Edited April 18, 2005 by Ben Pid

[+Alibags]

At least his other cache in his nephew's back yard in Goa does have the merit that it increases the number of physical caches in the whole of India by more than 5%!

As it happens, I have just done this cache and another one in a relatives garden also in Goa. I greatly enjoyed both of them. They were just as challenging to find, I assure you, as a Goan garden is not really quite the same thing as an english one. I would not really wish to stick my hand in any holes in the base of trees in the indian jungle, thank you very much!