Good morning everyone. The most found cache in Jamaica is 'Dunn's River Falls' GC18WG8. An Earthcache that was placed in January, 2008. It has 1,185 found logs, 5 DNFs and 332 favorite points. Most found cache in Puerto Rico is 'Cat/Dolphin/Giraffe' A traditional that was placed in November, 2010. It has 2,590 found logs, 122 DNFs, and 125 favorite points.
Happy International Earthcache weekend. Have you gone out and done an earthcache yet? Not me. We're still digging out from an unusually early snowstorm. I've never seen this much snow on the ground this early in October. I have been to two earthcaches over time that I never submitted answers for. I could complete one of those. Would that be right? Sandbagging for a souvenir that no one will see? This is a nice little segue into this week's blog
Last week I started looking at logging etiquette. This week is the conclusion to a podcast that The Geocaching Podcast did back on June 19th, show #568 titled Geocaching Deadly Sins: Logging Etiquette. Hosts Scott Berks (scottberks), Chad Courtney (TAZ427), and Jessie Brown (shortyknits) covered a list of logging faux pas. You can catch their live shows on Wednesday nights, 8:30pm central and the replays on YouTube. I'll be playing the 4th host and adding my personal view on some of the items that was covered on the show as both a finder and a cache owner.
1) Using too much space on the log sheets. For the most part, this is someone who has made a personalized stamp, but it's really big. These are ok if you're signing an actual book, but most caches have narrow strips of paper. A large stamp could hog up valuable space that five or more other cachers could have signed in. All this does is fill up the sheet faster and forcing the owner to do maintenance on his cache sooner than expected. Be thoughtful of other cachers and the cache owner. Stay within the allocated space for a signature and date you found it.
2) Found the zip tie/hanger but no container. Logging it as found. As mentioned last week, if you didn't sign it, you didn't find it. This is really up to the discretion of the cache owner. It's a clear indication that the cache needs some TLC from it's owner.
3a) Spoilers. This can come in the form of actual written spoilers "I found it inside the fake tree stump" is a clear giveaway. As an owner, some of us try to make unique hides. Either the container is tricky to open or it's hidden in such a way that will require some thinking. Saying it's in a fake tree stump just turned a difficulty 2.5 or 3 hide into a 1.5 at best. Some of the fun is trying to think like the cache owner. If I was him/her, how would I have hidden this?
3b) Another form of the spoiler is the picture. People like to take pictures of their caching adventures. Some will inadvertently take a picture of a recently found cache right at ground zero. If you can spot something distinguishable in the picture (a tree growing at an angle, a large rock, or a building in the background), you can narrow down your search area and the time it takes to locate the cache. That is one thing I'm very careful of doing. Although most of my pictures don't end up on my logs, I will walk away from ground zero and take a picture of the cache. I will also take a close up so that you can't see anything in the background. On the flipside, I will look at pictures for any clues or hints to speed up my search. I have found caches that way. Determining what level in the parkade to look judging by the angle of the buildings in the background.
4) The DNF. Some are embarrassed to log DNFs. Everyone else is finding it but me. I feel like a fool so I won't log it. I have to admit that I'm a little hesitant to log DNFs. If I know it's there and I can't find it, or didn't spend too much time searching, I'll leave a note saying I was there and couldn't find it. If I'm confident that it is missing, then I'll log the DNF. Too many DNFs could scare off future finders. I will look and see who logged the DNF. If they have very few finds, probably newbies and the cache is a little trickier for them to find. If it's seasoned veterans that are logging DNFs, then I'll have second thoughts about searching. If you're caching in a group, (let's say there is eight of you in the group), and you can't find one particular cache. Does everyone log the DNF or just have one person log it for the group? Seeing eight DNFs does look bad to anyone who might come searching. It also lowers the health score of that cache very quickly. On the flip side, not logging the DNF doesn't tell the owner that there could be an issue with that cache. If I come looking for a cache and the last log entry is a found log, then I'm going to think the cache is there. Meanwhile, there's really eight not logged DNFs and I'm wasting my time searching for something that no longer exists. Logging a DNF or a note is valuable to the owner and future searchers. Having everyone in a large group log the same DNF could be excessive.
5) Not signing the log sheet. Not everyone plays the same way. Some people do find the caches, log them online, but don't sign the log sheet. These people could be mistaken for armchair loggers. I have actually witnessed this. While in North Dakota back in June, I ended up at a couple of caches along the Enchanted Highway with a family from Wisconsin that was returning from a vacation. Their three kids would bolt from the van to see who can be the first one in their group to find it. A personal race with bragging rights at the end. At one of the caches, they arrived ahead of me. I got to watch the mad dash. I decided to hang back, take pictures and let the kids have their fun. They did find it. It was an ammo can that was cleverly hidden. They took pictures and began to place it back. "Don't you sign the log book?" I asked. They don't. This gave me a different perspective to playing this game. They were finding the caches and had the containers in their hands. They were having fun. Would you want to be the stick in the mud cache owner and delete their log because they didn't sign the book? As a cache owner, you wouldn't know this. How many cache owners actually compare the paper log to the online log?
6) The online log. As a cache owner, I'd like to read a good log. The TFTCs, the emoticons, or other simple, one worded logs say nothing. However, I also don't need to know that you were on your way to Grandma's house and decided to take the shortcut through the woods, where you met up with the big, bad wolf who was really chasing the three little pigs. TMI. Too Much Information. This is where I was actually part of the podcast. Shortyknits had put out on social media the topic and was looking for feedback prior to the show. My comment was read on air. All three hosts thought about it and all agreed with my comment. What I had said was: It's my log. I can write whatever I want. As long as I don't use profanity, be abusive/threatening, or give spoilers, I can write what ever I want. It can be song lyrics (I have done that), a poem (done that too, albeit a very short poem), interesting facts (just like what starts my blogs, done that), or a dad joke (not yet, but don't be surprised if you see this in one of my logs: A weasel walks into a bar. The bartender says "Hey, I've never served a weasel before. What can I get you?" "Pop" goes the weasel.)
There are a few other points that the show's hosts discussed, but these are the ones that I wanted to comment on. That wraps up my look at logging etiquette. There is proper etiquette, but how one interprets or plays the game will vary. We all don't play the same way. Until next week, have fun, be safe, hug your geo-pets (hug your loved ones after the pets), enjoy life, and most of all, be happy. Peace out.
Happy International Earthcache weekend. Have you gone out and done an earthcache yet? Not me. We're still digging out from an unusually early snowstorm. I've never seen this much snow on the ground this early in October. I have been to two earthcaches over time that I never submitted answers for. I could complete one of those. Would that be right? Sandbagging for a souvenir that no one will see? This is a nice little segue into this week's blog
Last week I started looking at logging etiquette. This week is the conclusion to a podcast that The Geocaching Podcast did back on June 19th, show #568 titled Geocaching Deadly Sins: Logging Etiquette. Hosts Scott Berks (scottberks), Chad Courtney (TAZ427), and Jessie Brown (shortyknits) covered a list of logging faux pas. You can catch their live shows on Wednesday nights, 8:30pm central and the replays on YouTube. I'll be playing the 4th host and adding my personal view on some of the items that was covered on the show as both a finder and a cache owner.
1) Using too much space on the log sheets. For the most part, this is someone who has made a personalized stamp, but it's really big. These are ok if you're signing an actual book, but most caches have narrow strips of paper. A large stamp could hog up valuable space that five or more other cachers could have signed in. All this does is fill up the sheet faster and forcing the owner to do maintenance on his cache sooner than expected. Be thoughtful of other cachers and the cache owner. Stay within the allocated space for a signature and date you found it.
(not much space on this log sheet for a stamp)
2) Found the zip tie/hanger but no container. Logging it as found. As mentioned last week, if you didn't sign it, you didn't find it. This is really up to the discretion of the cache owner. It's a clear indication that the cache needs some TLC from it's owner.
(this one was missing, all that remained was a magnet. I replaced the container and log sheet)
3a) Spoilers. This can come in the form of actual written spoilers "I found it inside the fake tree stump" is a clear giveaway. As an owner, some of us try to make unique hides. Either the container is tricky to open or it's hidden in such a way that will require some thinking. Saying it's in a fake tree stump just turned a difficulty 2.5 or 3 hide into a 1.5 at best. Some of the fun is trying to think like the cache owner. If I was him/her, how would I have hidden this?
3b) Another form of the spoiler is the picture. People like to take pictures of their caching adventures. Some will inadvertently take a picture of a recently found cache right at ground zero. If you can spot something distinguishable in the picture (a tree growing at an angle, a large rock, or a building in the background), you can narrow down your search area and the time it takes to locate the cache. That is one thing I'm very careful of doing. Although most of my pictures don't end up on my logs, I will walk away from ground zero and take a picture of the cache. I will also take a close up so that you can't see anything in the background. On the flipside, I will look at pictures for any clues or hints to speed up my search. I have found caches that way. Determining what level in the parkade to look judging by the angle of the buildings in the background.
(Obviously this one is magnetic and on a park bench. But which park bench?)
4) The DNF. Some are embarrassed to log DNFs. Everyone else is finding it but me. I feel like a fool so I won't log it. I have to admit that I'm a little hesitant to log DNFs. If I know it's there and I can't find it, or didn't spend too much time searching, I'll leave a note saying I was there and couldn't find it. If I'm confident that it is missing, then I'll log the DNF. Too many DNFs could scare off future finders. I will look and see who logged the DNF. If they have very few finds, probably newbies and the cache is a little trickier for them to find. If it's seasoned veterans that are logging DNFs, then I'll have second thoughts about searching. If you're caching in a group, (let's say there is eight of you in the group), and you can't find one particular cache. Does everyone log the DNF or just have one person log it for the group? Seeing eight DNFs does look bad to anyone who might come searching. It also lowers the health score of that cache very quickly. On the flip side, not logging the DNF doesn't tell the owner that there could be an issue with that cache. If I come looking for a cache and the last log entry is a found log, then I'm going to think the cache is there. Meanwhile, there's really eight not logged DNFs and I'm wasting my time searching for something that no longer exists. Logging a DNF or a note is valuable to the owner and future searchers. Having everyone in a large group log the same DNF could be excessive.
(If I was looking at this picture for a hint, I'd use the soccer goal in the background to line up with ground zero)
5) Not signing the log sheet. Not everyone plays the same way. Some people do find the caches, log them online, but don't sign the log sheet. These people could be mistaken for armchair loggers. I have actually witnessed this. While in North Dakota back in June, I ended up at a couple of caches along the Enchanted Highway with a family from Wisconsin that was returning from a vacation. Their three kids would bolt from the van to see who can be the first one in their group to find it. A personal race with bragging rights at the end. At one of the caches, they arrived ahead of me. I got to watch the mad dash. I decided to hang back, take pictures and let the kids have their fun. They did find it. It was an ammo can that was cleverly hidden. They took pictures and began to place it back. "Don't you sign the log book?" I asked. They don't. This gave me a different perspective to playing this game. They were finding the caches and had the containers in their hands. They were having fun. Would you want to be the stick in the mud cache owner and delete their log because they didn't sign the book? As a cache owner, you wouldn't know this. How many cache owners actually compare the paper log to the online log?
(doing maintenance on one of my caches and seeing the names of everyone who has found it)
6) The online log. As a cache owner, I'd like to read a good log. The TFTCs, the emoticons, or other simple, one worded logs say nothing. However, I also don't need to know that you were on your way to Grandma's house and decided to take the shortcut through the woods, where you met up with the big, bad wolf who was really chasing the three little pigs. TMI. Too Much Information. This is where I was actually part of the podcast. Shortyknits had put out on social media the topic and was looking for feedback prior to the show. My comment was read on air. All three hosts thought about it and all agreed with my comment. What I had said was: It's my log. I can write whatever I want. As long as I don't use profanity, be abusive/threatening, or give spoilers, I can write what ever I want. It can be song lyrics (I have done that), a poem (done that too, albeit a very short poem), interesting facts (just like what starts my blogs, done that), or a dad joke (not yet, but don't be surprised if you see this in one of my logs: A weasel walks into a bar. The bartender says "Hey, I've never served a weasel before. What can I get you?" "Pop" goes the weasel.)
There are a few other points that the show's hosts discussed, but these are the ones that I wanted to comment on. That wraps up my look at logging etiquette. There is proper etiquette, but how one interprets or plays the game will vary. We all don't play the same way. Until next week, have fun, be safe, hug your geo-pets (hug your loved ones after the pets), enjoy life, and most of all, be happy. Peace out.
(she doesn't do selfies very well)
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