MnGCA

NeverSummer · Geocacher Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 97

There is a thread going on the geocaching.com site that is discussing the placement of caches. Some of it is, well, what it is, but there was a good section of thoughts about placing caches and maintaining their listings that came up:

"1. Why would I bring someone here?
2. Can I get permissions?
3. What is the best spot in this location to hide a cache?
4. What is the best container for that spot?
5. Who am I hiding it from?
6. What will this area look like in 6 months?
7. Can the cache last at least 3 months without being detected by muggles?
8. When it IS detected by muggles, do they have good reason to suspect it's a bomb or trash?

After answering these questions, go get permissions, make your cache to suit the spot (instead of using a cache you already have out of convenience) and make a good cache page.
Come back and ask your self all these question again and add 2 more:

9. Have I accurately rated the difficulty of this cache for a "novice" cacher, while in the worst seasonal situation it will be hunted?
10. Have I accurately rated the terrain for the worst-case scenario seasonally, or otherwise?
11. Have I chosen applicable attributes to guide seekers in planning for their hunt?
12. Can I easily do a little better?
13. Is this ready to be published?"

I think the real key here is to think about actual and seasonally affected difficulty/terrain levels, as well as the question "Who am I hiding this from?"

I've been encountering many caches lately that have D/T ratings that are really not accurate given the season or conditions. Also, the idea of hiding a cache should ask who you are trying to hide it from. Are you hiding it from me, the cache seeker? Or are you hiding it from muggles? (or both)

For hiding from a cache seeker, up the difficulty for a cache in the woods. From muggles? Give a hint or description to make sure the cache is located with minimal damage to the surrounding area.

Nothing is more frustrating than a micro in the woods with a 1.5/2 and a hint that says, "tree". If that is the case on the D/T, cachers should have very little difficulty getting a name on logbook.

Anywhoo, discuss. I just thought it would be something very helpful to make MN caches stand out as some of the best created, hidden and most enjoyable. With an organized group like we have here, there is a great opportunity to improve on what we do![url][/url]

Hal-oween · Geocacher Joined: 10 Mar 2009 Posts: 164

Great list. I would like to add steps to check and double check your coordinates out in the field and then again before you publish. It is so annoying to go for a newly published cache where the owner expects the first finders to refine the coordinates for them.

Moe the Sleaze · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:20 pm Post subject:

0. Does this location (and my hiding technique) follow the guidelines and local geocaching policies.
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Pear Head · Last edited by Pear Head on Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:51 pm; edited 1 time in total

While I don't disagree with what you've said above, it's also frustrating as a cache owner to have someone dress you down because you rated a cache the way you think it should be rated, only to have someone not find it.

.

Sometimes you find them right away, sometimes you don't. I've certainly DNFed caches that were rated as easy, and I'll admit that I have expressed frustration on cache logs at times, but at the same time it seems like there's a limit.
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RonGerth · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:37 pm Post subject:

The ones that kill me are the ones that are rated as a 2/2 and you think "cool, I can take the boys with me on this one (7 and 8 now, happened a lot when they were 4 and 5)" only to get there and find yourself about 200' short of the cache and you can see the swamp and tall grass between you and it. I hit a few of those down in the cities and thought I could walk around the swamp only to find out you couldn't. At least once I emailed the cache owner thinking that I had hit the back way in and that there must be an easier way to get there only to be told that you have to park where I did and go for it. Turns out they had placed it during the winter when you could just walk in across the frozen ground....

I do not mind a cache like that but do want to be warned about it with either a higher terrain rating or a note laying out some of the details so that I know that it is not as kid friendly as a person might think a 2/2 is. OTOH, I was out doing a series of caches in a big park (WMA sort of a deal) down there and had a cache pop up on my unit that I had not looked at so I went over and got it. I waded across a swamp that was knee deep for the most part (thought that if I followed the deer tail that deer would be smart enough to keep their feet dry so I could follow in their foot steps and do the same, boy was I wrong, deer must not mind wet feet) for a few hundred feet and when I got the cache and logged the find I found out it was listed as a 3/5. Ammo box sitting out in the open by a stump. That kind of messes with the rating system too....

andrewmcc · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 29 Jul 2007 Posts: 985

I think some people think that Difficulty and Terrain are related. I believe that they are totally separate.
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NeverSummer · Geocacher Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 97

swfan · Geocacher Joined: 23 Feb 2008 Posts: 105

Pear Head

NeverSummer · Geocacher Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 97

I'd agree, yes. But Ambrosia and I also talked out how you can cover these seasonal differences in the description. Many caches don't offer that context, and are rated for the season they were hidden in, and do not address the possibility of leaves growing or snow falling.

Also, it is worth mentioning (so those that may not know this) that cache owners can update and change D/T ratings after a cache has been published. Sometimes, if the owner wants to maintain their listing in that way, it is very helpful when searching for a cache...or deciding to leave it for another day.

Pear Head · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:49 pm Post subject:

RudeRat · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 719

Dyslexic me wishes it was T/D not D/T. It’s the simple things that make life so difficult some times. I try to do the best I can, but it’s not a perfect world.
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Pear Head · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:04 pm Post subject:

bflentje · Geocacher Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 3673

Poorly rated caches are the worst. On top of that, cachers that are either too lazy to rehide the cache the way they found it or just as bad, a cacher that thinks he is clever by rehiding it "better" to the point of blowing the ratings.

BTW, if I own a cache with a 3.5 star terrain rating and you find a way to get the cache down from 16' up in a tree, can you please put the damn thing back where you found it??? Some people.

ST11 · Geocacher Joined: 04 Jul 2009 Posts: 153

Keep in mind the entire ratings configuration is just a guess. A 1.5 for one person is a 3.5 for another. It's a best guess only.
Also caches all have legs and they tend to move somehow. I go out and try a spring cache maintenance and end up DNFing half my own hides!

It's common for me to get responses from cachers that the terrain is rated to easy then the next person says it's rated to hard.

All you can do is your best (and try to be winter friendly Wink

)