Newbies planting caches

[gotta run]

@Lostby7 wrote:

Here’s one I looked for last week…. GC1F45B

That same one has been on my radar as it’s (relatively) nearby. Doesn’t seem to be any interest at all in checking on it. Undoubtedly bad or mis-entered coordinates. 😡

On the Left Side of the Road...

[JimandLinda]

In regard to cache #GC1F45B, I got a good chuckle just reading the text! “… a wire nut container raped in duck tape”. I certainly don’t want to reach in that one.
I believe we found 50 or so before hiding our first one. My only advice is, when you place a cache, imagine 3 feet of snow on the ground. Placing a film canister under a rock on a dead end is not very winter-friendly! I know we have attributes for these, but some cachers disregard the icons for them. Do a little homework, ask other cachers for advice, ask the reviewer. They have a tough job as volunteers.
New cachers are always welcome, and they will learn from there mistakes just as we have! Unfortunately. learning curves vary from cacher to cacher!

[marc_54140]

@JimandLinda wrote:

Unfortunately. learning curves vary from cacher to cacher!

For some of these cachers, they are standing so far off the the side, the Bell curve can not measure them! 😯

[Cosmic Mudkips]

On the flip side of this discussion, what about veteran cachers who have hidden hundreds of caches? How do they/you keep up with them all?
I’m thinking that in spring there’d be quite a few needing maintenance, especially the ones that are hard to get to in winter.

[stokstad]

I have run into this type of thing before as well. I am no expert cacher or anything as I only just broke 50 finds. This one here:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=df3c96d3-d91e-472b-add4-a187259e97ea

Really made me mad I would have been first to find and it would have been my first first to find but the kids coordinates are 200′ off. By the time i was about ready to give up another person had showed up and he ended up finding first. Too bad to because the kid put together a nice cache in a good spot with lots of good swag. The kid hasn’t responded to the numerous logs about the coordinates being off or I’m sure the numerous messages he has received.

I think age has something to do with some of this. He might feel like he did something wrong so instead of correcting it he trys to avoid the situation.

I personally feel that it doesn’t matter how many finds you have it matters how much you really like Geocaching. I am a newb with only 54 finds and I have 5 hides my first happening only after about ten finds. I feel they have all been pretty well liked. I will also correct things if they go wrong and read all the logs. I had to actually stop myself from checking on a cache after one DNF lol. But its all a matter of whether or not you are really into the sport.

[gotta run]

@Cosmic Mudkips wrote:

On the flip side of this discussion, what about veteran cachers who have hidden hundreds of caches? How do they/you keep up with them all?

Ask this guy:

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/Default.aspx?guid=3434ebbf-7b30-42c0-a876-24249b7c495e

On the Left Side of the Road...

[stokstad]

I just did one of his caches yesterday. lol It needs maintenance as it had a bunch of water in it and the log was damp. Wonder if he will even notice the log that I put about that. Probably not.

[gotta run]

My intent is not to disparage here, I’m more amazed at how someone can place 1800 caches. It’s gotta be a full time job. We have a hard time keeping up with just 90.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[stokstad]

I didn’t think you were I don’t see how it is humanly possibly to even read the log emails from that many caches….. It is amazing. Just think of the money invested in that even if he was using cheap $1 containers that would be a ton.

[marc_54140]

@stokstad wrote:

I didn’t think you were I don’t see how it is humanly possibly to even read the log emails from that many caches….. It is amazing. Just think of the money invested in that even if he was using cheap $1 containers that would be a ton.

Even though he has some ammo boxes out there, most seem to be butter or yogurt containers. Cheap and not water tight, and disposable. I also understand if there are a couple of DNFs he archives the cache. So he really does not have 1800 active ones.

A couple of years ago the reviewer(s) put a 100 miles radius restriction on his planting new caches. He promptly went out and planted a 100 mile radius of new caches!

Have you read his profile page? Do so. Has an interesting comment about numbers.

[zuma]

@stokstad wrote:

I just did one of his caches yesterday. lol It needs maintenance as it had a bunch of water in it and the log was damp. Wonder if he will even notice the log that I put about that. Probably not.

Those who know me know that I am no defender of King Boreas, but I must say that in my experience, he does respond to mentions in logs that caches need maintenance. He does hope that others will help with maintenance, but he does schedule “maintenance runs” and keeps a list of which ones need help.

I have about 260 caches out, with maybe about 200 of those still active, and maybe 100 of those being ammo boxes. And yes, I do take the time to maintain them, and appreciate it when friends help out, though I enjoy doing it myself. Uncle Fun recently replaced one for me, which is great.

The Groundspeak expectation is that if you place a cache, you maintain it yourself, and it is the owner’s responsibility to keep their caches in good shape. KB has a bit of an unrealistic expectation that folks will maintain his caches for him. I have certainly fixed some up for him, replaced things and the like as I go, but most people do not cache with the intent of fixing problem caches.

So, IMHO people should only place as many caches as they can reasonably maintain. I am kind of my limit now, but I cannot resist the urge to put out more. Plus, I just placed a new one yesterday, and talked to the store manager at Gander Mtn about putting one in the woods behind their store, so it is hard to resist the urge.

As far as costs go, I just went down and bought 5 ammo cans at $6 a pop, and I usually put nice swag in mine, so there is a small expense. But I dont mind. It is still cheaper than golf.

zuma

[Trekkin and Birdin]

I will also say that whatever else can be said about KB, he does usually respond, as zuma said. Which is kind of amazing. He also allowed me to remotely log a Diabetes tag for Columbia Heights, where he lives and where I grew up (and where my diabetic dad still lives), which was nice. I think we’ve always found any of the ones of his we’ve hunted, too, so no complaints about that!

We have slowed down on placing more, and hope to concentrate most of any future efforts to a couple favorite forest areas. I know “cache saturation” is frowned upon, but it makes it much easier to do good maintenance if we can go to an area, walk the trails and take care of business in one trip. Kind of the same as “park once, hit three” when out caching.

[gotta run]

How about on yet another flip side of this topic….by what point should a cacher have placed some caches? Granted, some like hiding more than finding, but what of the IDs that have over 1000 caches and no hides?

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Johnny Cache]

@gotta run wrote:

How about on yet another flip side of this topic….by what point should a cacher have placed some caches? Granted, some like hiding more than finding, but what of the IDs that have over 1000 caches and no hides?

I haven’t found the perfect guard rail yet. 😆

[Lostby7]

@Johnny Cache wrote:

@gotta run wrote:

How about on yet another flip side of this topic….by what point should a cacher have placed some caches? Granted, some like hiding more than finding, but what of the IDs that have over 1000 caches and no hides?

I haven’t found the perfect guard rail yet. 😆

LOL…keep looking; it’s out there.

[Author]

Posts