When is a find really a find?
The question here is a philosophical one of how you choose to play the game. There are no formal rules so it is up to you make your own. One rule that many geocachers think is the first commandment of geocaching is that you must sign the log to claim a find. In our opinion there is one instance when you can still claim a find without signing the log. This is the case when you have have posted a DNF, the owner verifies the cache is not there and sends an email saying something like "it is all about the journey" and tells you that it is OK to claim a find. This is a rare occurrence and it depends on the hide and the geocache owner, but it occassionally happens.
The main reason we are writing this post is not for the first commandment of geocaching. It is even deeper. It involves claiming a find when another geocacher tells you what to look for. An example of this is a puzzle or a deviously camouflaged container. You go there several times and just can't find the cache. You email the owner and are told that they do not wish to give you a hint, but "Good Luck". You either "phone a friend", email someone that found the cache previously or hound somebody at a local event to tell you what to look for or how to solve the puzzle. You head out the next day, sign the log and claim a find. You have to ask yourself some questions. Did I play the game fairly? Did I respect the wishes of the hider? Many geocachers do not realize the number of hours that go into a devious hide or a difficult puzzle. The effort to make the game fun for others on these caches is not the same as for a quick park and grab. Why should the effort put forth by the finder be the same as for a park and grab? If you do not wish to put the effort into difficult caches, do the easy ones. No one will disrespect you for doing so. If you can't solve a puzzle or are just curious as to what that devious hide is then it is okay to ask a friend about the hide. The right thing to do in this case is to write a note saying that you visited the cache, but not to claim it as a find. The community will respect you much more for doing this than for one extra cache in your statistics. One other reason to resist the temptation to ask another finder of a cache on how to do it is that you will feel a much higher sense of accomplishment. We can remember a really difficult puzzle cache. Others had found it, but we were determined to solve it on our own. We spent weeks working on it. I even had dreams of it. In fact I had looked at the graphics so many times that I had it memorized. You might say we are obsessed, but this puzzle literally took us 100's of hours to solve. We finally found it. It was one of our most memorable finds.
Some things to think about:
1. You can't find them all.
2. Play the game the way you wish, but respect the wishes of others and the community as a whole.
3. Don't worry about your statistics.
4. Hiders of difficult caches put a lot of effort into the cache.
5. Select the type of caches that you like to do.
AND
Most of all
Have FUN!
That is what it is all about.
The main reason we are writing this post is not for the first commandment of geocaching. It is even deeper. It involves claiming a find when another geocacher tells you what to look for. An example of this is a puzzle or a deviously camouflaged container. You go there several times and just can't find the cache. You email the owner and are told that they do not wish to give you a hint, but "Good Luck". You either "phone a friend", email someone that found the cache previously or hound somebody at a local event to tell you what to look for or how to solve the puzzle. You head out the next day, sign the log and claim a find. You have to ask yourself some questions. Did I play the game fairly? Did I respect the wishes of the hider? Many geocachers do not realize the number of hours that go into a devious hide or a difficult puzzle. The effort to make the game fun for others on these caches is not the same as for a quick park and grab. Why should the effort put forth by the finder be the same as for a park and grab? If you do not wish to put the effort into difficult caches, do the easy ones. No one will disrespect you for doing so. If you can't solve a puzzle or are just curious as to what that devious hide is then it is okay to ask a friend about the hide. The right thing to do in this case is to write a note saying that you visited the cache, but not to claim it as a find. The community will respect you much more for doing this than for one extra cache in your statistics. One other reason to resist the temptation to ask another finder of a cache on how to do it is that you will feel a much higher sense of accomplishment. We can remember a really difficult puzzle cache. Others had found it, but we were determined to solve it on our own. We spent weeks working on it. I even had dreams of it. In fact I had looked at the graphics so many times that I had it memorized. You might say we are obsessed, but this puzzle literally took us 100's of hours to solve. We finally found it. It was one of our most memorable finds.
Some things to think about:
1. You can't find them all.
2. Play the game the way you wish, but respect the wishes of others and the community as a whole.
3. Don't worry about your statistics.
4. Hiders of difficult caches put a lot of effort into the cache.
5. Select the type of caches that you like to do.
AND
Most of all
Have FUN!
That is what it is all about.
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