We got it good here in NB
I have heard many cachers complain about different types of hides and wonder why we complain about something that we love and ultimately can do something about. I was on the Groundspeak forum today and they are brutal, glad many of them don’t live in NB. For the most part we have a very good and open discussion in our area. We communicate well and want the admiration and support of our peers and we try to put our best out there. We pat each other on the back but sometimes we have some complaints about somethings and that is natural and ok as long as we keep it civil. We must also be prepared for it and accept it as constructive and consider others opinion if the opinion is not way out in left field.
There are many different things to criticize like, places, containers and types of geocaches and many of us have complained about them when frustrated but we still get out and do it for the smiley.
There are complaints about sizes, some people don’t like nanos or micros but you can’t fit a regular or large in all places. So does that mean we shouldn’t hide caches in those places that can only handle a micro? I have had a difficult time finding a place for a TB when coming across a slew of smalls or micros but I am sure I could find a place if I tried, there are many TB hotels around. I personally enjoy the lamp post or flag pole caches and guardrail caches, as long as there is a place to park. I get many great logs on my shopping mall parking lot caches from out-of-towners or bored husbands, so they do have a place. How many of us have been out of town and got excited that there was a cache in the parking lot we were visiting. If you want to only find caches in the woods, shut up and go in the woods. I love going on the trails as well and it is even better with a friend or a dozen but geocaching is worldwide and there are many parking lots in it so I say fill-em.
Many people complain about the types of containers used but ultimately you are going to see a lot of 35mm containers out there because they are still plentiful and free. They are better than the butter/yogurt/ice cream containers that plagued the early days and they fit in many places. I have seen hundreds of different containers and many work fine depending on the spot. Usually newbies, who don’t have a lot of experience, tend to use something around the house that will not last the winter but many learn or in worse case scenarios quit after the repeated logs complaining about their choice. To me if the container is solid and dry I am happy with it but we will continue to see containers that may not stand the test of time. Not everyone is going to spend $20 to build a “fancy” container or have the imagination to do it so.
Now I want to move on to geocache types. I would have to say that puzzles get a bad rap sometimes. I am not a puzzle fan but I don’t hate them, they frustrate me sometimes but I can live with them. I have about 6 puzzles and I tried to make them easily solvable but not too easy either, they get much fewer finds than my traditionals. I would say 10 out the 20 closest caches to my house are puzzles that I haven’t solved or wont do at all, it bugs me but not bad enough to ignore them, I may get them someday. All the other types don’t seem to cause the havoc that puzzles do, sometimes the parts of a multi can get in the way but there are few of them around. I think my biggest pet peeve with puzzles is the fact that the final can be anywhere and if you haven’t solved it then you have know idea it could be 10 meters from where you are trying to hide a cache. The seed coordinates are supposed to be “close”, within 3kms of the final but that still doesn’t help much. There are many places and popular trails in the Moncton area that are full of puzzles but the map shows that the area has no caches, that could frustrate someone who is trying to hide a cache there thinking it is open. My seed coordinates are close to my finals to try and avoid that. Wherigo caches are even more frustrating for both a builder and a finder, they seem so inconsistent from machine to machine. My Dobson Trail Whereigo works perfect on everything but the Oregon it seems and I have no idea why.
To sum this up as I could probably come up a few other things that seem to cause trouble or controversy but I will leave those for you to fill in below in the comments ( I am not touching the number of finds topic ) . Remember these are just my opinions and I am not trying to create any controversy just conversation and awareness about somethings that bug people and maybe if we discuss it here it will make things easier out there.
My personal reflections on some of the topics you’ve touched…
Container types / sizes: I like the fact that caches come in all shapes and sizes. There’s something to be said about a well-hidden nano that you just can’t find, but come back to later and find it… Then there’s brilliant ones like Critter431’s White Trash (GC33103)…
Puzzle caches… I’m enjoying going through Ma & Pa’s Micro Logic series right now – always have a good 10+ puzzles solved that I haven’t found the cache yet. I agree that the posted coordinates should be close to the real ones. If I want to hide a cache, and I only have 390 finds, I have absolutely no way of knowing if there is another cache close to the location I pick, other than submit the listing and cross my fingers… I think the website should flag you if you’re submitting coordinates that already have a cache within 161m or whatever the minimum distance is.
I really enjoyed Ron568’s Mystery of Captain Kidd’s Pirate Map (GC19Q43). It’s like a puzzle and multi cache in one with the stages of the multi requiring orienteering skills rather than just following an arrow or a dot on a screen… I got frustrated and gave up a few times before I found it but the most difficult are often the most rewarding.
My 2 biggest pet peeves are 1. caches not being maintained due to the hider no longer involved in the hobby or having hidden so many they can’t maintain them, and 2. inaccurate coordinates…
That’s my 3 cents worth.
Oh, almost forgot another one that I personally don’t like one bit – caches in or very close to people’s yard. I don’t care if the cache owner lives there and they have no problems with people poking around their yard, it makes me very uncomfortable.
Back to inaccurate coordinates… Interesting fact I worked out the other day… If a cache is 20m from its posted coordinates, assuming you’re gradually searching farther away from GZ and it’s not in your line of site until you’re practically on top of it, you will cover approximately 1256 square metres of ground before you find it. Reality is you might even cover more than that because you might check some of the same spots twice.
Did you need to use pi to solve that? I have always want to use pi for something practical …lol
You can use Pi to solve this:
http://coord.info/GC25GMN
Yes, in fact, I did use pi, thanks for asking!! Just used 3.14 even though I know the first 15 digits, LOL!
Mmmmmm Pie.
I believe we do have it good. But to be objective I look forward someday soon to cache in another region (outside NB) and attend a function there, it would give me perspective. The Fredericton bunch is quite awesome so the bar is set high.
We have cached in different parts of Canada. Each has its own style of caching, kinds of containers, types of caches, etc. The same can be said for the many parts of the USA that we have visited, and for the UK and Ireland: they each have their own style.
The differences are based on the interests of the cachers, the terrain and the weather. For example there is a high concentration of puzzles in Ottawa, and caches in the southern states are often simply hidden in the long grasses.
I think NB compares favourably to all the places we have cached. Our caches are usually placed at a winter friendly height and in appropriate containers.
Cache series are placed to get us to the outdoors in all seasons. For example we look forward to trip to Fredericton this winter to do some snowshoeing to get the many series that they have. We loved re-discovering the Catamount trail doing Tetagouchers caches, and how can you not love having caches by Hillbilly Bob all along the Dobson.
We go to many events in NB and have a great time. We have been well received at events in Saint John and Freddy. The events are as good as any of the events we have attended in NS, PE, QC, ON and CA.
WE are very pleased with the caches in and around Moncton and appreciate the efforts of the cachers. We seem to have a bunch of new cachers around here and it has been great meeting them and doing their caches.
It is never a good idea to single people out, because you are leaving out so many others, but in the Moncton area we have high praise for the dog series by Belladan, the incredible challenges by Critter in the Sackville area, the interesting hides by Garn in Riverview, and the variety of locations chosen by cableguy. And how can I avoid mentioning the total dedication of people like Jim, Rev and Zor.
Caching in NB is great.
We’ve done a fair bit of caching in other NB cities, particularly in southern NB and you’re right, Ken; we DO have it good. Most of the communities have a good group of cachers who are welcoming and friendly to visitors, who show pride in the caching in their areas and who are more than willing to help out other cachers. In any group you will find different personalties, different likes and dislikes and different ways of caching but, overall, I think any or all of the sites and pages for caching in NB show that we are a pretty good bunch!