Phone a Friend

[SammyClaws]

I would like to hear other peoples opinions on the practice of “phone a friend”. We have been contacted twice by a cacher who wanted clues to a well hidden micro and a clue about a puzzle. The way the question was put, it seemed that this was a pretty common practice – at least for this individual. Both times they were not our caches. The first time we let him(them) know it was not on the ground. The last time we suggested contacting the owner.

I have read logs where people mention phoning a friend or getting help in the field. I think its good they acknowledge getting help. I personally read hints and past logs as part of the hunt, but have not asked anyone else for help. As a cache owner – how do you feel about others giving help on your cache? I realize that everyone plays differently, some for numbers, some for experience. I wonder where other people draw the line?

[Lostby7]

I have had a cell phone now for just over a month…..I barely know how to use it much how to enter in someones phone number….Actually, I’d not phone a friend. Granted this is also why I have so many bloody DNFs. I may ask when I get home though if it’s something that REALLY bothers me….but even then i usually only ask for the vaguest of hints…like that blasted Jefferson cache which I looked for about 4 times now and still haven’t found….I have asked for a very vague hint (which hasn’t helped) gerrrr…..

[rogheff]

I once got a phone call from a cacher who was at the site of one of my more difficult hides. The cache was hidden next to a brick wall – on the ground. I had him measure from a corner, put his nose against the wall, and then told him he was standing on it. It still took him a while to find.

Sometimes the Phone a Friend is really needed. Some cachers (brkster) have all the patience in the world and want no hints. They’ll come back over and over and over. While other cachers (many of us) have no patience an will start tearing the place apart if they can’t find a cache. Better to phone a friend than to damage the place.

I don’t mind the phone a friend on my caches. I expect it on many. I’m not the cache police – play the game how ever you want.

[Trekkin and Birdin]

We have asked for extra hints from one particular cacher in our area, because his hides are well known to be really tough. We always make a couple different trips on our own, with really extensive hunts before we ask for help. Funny thing is, his hints are pretty cryptic, anyway, but in two instances, the act of asking for the help had him check and discover the cache had gone missing. (No wonder we couldn’t find it!)

Most of them we have done without help, but there were those 3-4 that really had us confounded. We’ve had others phone us from the cache site, and a few folks have emailed for help. Interestingly, every one of these was the same guy’s hides! LOL

I have not made any of our hides terribly difficult. The work comes in getting to them. Three of the five are decent hikes, and the other two cemetery hides are so obscure, finding them in the first place is a challenge. I enjoy a tricky and clever hide, but not so tricky that a bit of work and lateral thinking can’t find it. No one has contacted us for clues so far, which was our intent. But I guess if they made an effort in the first place and came up empty-handed, it would be fine with me.

[Ray]

Where are we getting the phone numbers from? 😯

[Jay Mills]

I have never phoned a friend not that I wouldn’t if I was able to. I have though emailed people for a nudge from time to time and I am comfortable with that so why not phone a friend and save a trip home and back to GZ if possible. Especially considering the high cost of energy (fuel) and the increasing need to travel distances to get to a cache I have no problem personally with the practice. At the risk of sounding like an activist – which I am not – we speak often about the environmental impact of trampling an area around a cache but give little thought on how our behavior impacts the larger environment vis-a-vis repeated cache mobile trips to the same GZ. Just something to consider IMHO. Play the game as you wish and do what is personally comfortable is my position.

[EnergySaver]

on phone a friend … I think it’s pretty common and I don’t have a problem with it … I assume in most cases people are using it as a last resort instead of giving up (or after giving up) … I think I’ve used it twice (an ecoranger cache … twice for the same caches, on two seperate visit attempts … issssh)

I too was wondering where people are getting the cell phone numbers … the original poster of this question seems to be surprised to have even gotten the call, which would really be a suprise if you never gave anyone your cell number. I only have the cell number of two cachers … which I’ve acquired for non-phone-a-friend purposes.

[Team Deejay]

After an ill-fated caching trip where we had two groups miss each other at the meeting point, we now have a “You must provide your cell phone number to the other team members” rule for group caching trips. This way, you have a way to contact folks if you are running late, lost, changing starting point due to the initial target coming up missing, etc. This has the added benefits of “phone-a-friend”, social contacts, and ease of putting together THE NEXT caching trip.

I would say that most phone a friends happen at the point of giving up. 70% of the time, the result is that you find the cache isn’t there anymore, 20% you find you are completely at the wrong place (copied the coordinates wrong, solved the puzzle wrong, etc.), and 10% of the time, you discover just how bad of a geocacher you are.

[bandits]

We have only used phone-a-friend on two occasions. Once, the container was missing, the other, well . . . we were just idiots! We would rather DNF than ask for a hint because we will inevitable look like dorks because the cache was in plain sight. Anyway, we don’t have an issue with folks calling us for hints if they must, and we will gladly offer assistance so they do not have to use up all of the gas to come back multiple times. We think the practice is far better than a tour guide telling you where everything is located.

[Thraxman]

My caches (one regular and one virtual) were hidden to be found. I truly hope that anyone who hunts them finds them. So If someone can’t find one, I certainly don’t care if they call for help. I would much rather they call than destroy the area trying to find it.

And, consider this. Using the phone-a-friend feature is hardly any more shady than caching in a group with one or more members who have already found a cache. Indeed, just about any time a group hunts a cache, only one person truly “finds” the cache. The others in the group are on a free ride once it is found. So which is worse? Caching in a group, or getting a few extra clues on the phone? (My answer: Neither. Everyone enjoys playing differently, and that is just fine!)

[Trekkin and Birdin]

We would rather DNF than ask for a hint because we will inevitable look like dorks because the cache was in plain sight.

See, cause we’re already dorks, this isn’t a problem for us! 🙄

[3 Hawks]

@Trekkin’ and Birdin’ wrote:

We would rather DNF than ask for a hint because we will inevitable look like dorks because the cache was in plain sight.

See, cause we’re already dorks, this isn’t a problem for us! 🙄

Speak for yourself!! I’m a caching stud. 😉

I don’t own a celll phone. I took my wife’s celll phone with me once but I ended up locking it and my keys in the car while out at the Bong Rec Area. OK…maybe I’m a stupid caching stud. 🙁

However, I have phoned a “friend” once but I had to use another cacher’s phone. I only felt guilty for a second or two and then I moved on. Life’s too short to get your undies in a bundle over an issue such as PAF.

[kbraband]

Wow, this topic brings back memories of the first year of geocaching in Wisconsin (2001) because I called a couple of geocachers that year — including jthorson, I think — when I was somewhere out in the woods and couldn’t find a cache. There were only about a dozen Wisconsin geocachers at that time, so we all pretty much knew each other even if we hadn’t met in person. I haven’t made a field call since then, but like thraxman said, I don’t see any harm in asking for help.

[shine_like_a_star]

@Trudy & the beast wrote:

Where are we getting the phone numbers from? 😯

That’s what I was wondering.

But no, I have never called anyone, nor has anyone called me. I did email Mandrew to verify some coords for this multi-trip, multi-month multi GCPK20. I have had a few people email me for help, almost exclusively newer caches who haven’t seen a nano before. 😈

[Commander Bob]

@Thraxman wrote:

… Using the phone-a-friend feature is hardly any more shady than caching in a group with one or more members who have already found a cache. Indeed, just about any time a group hunts a cache, only one person truly “finds” the cache. The others in the group are on a free ride once it is found…

Two words….Finder’s Tree!

~CB

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