Geocaching One Day Record Guidelines

Cached · Post by **Cached** » 17 October 06 12:49 am

How is a designated driver that drives anything like a tourguide that can say - park over there walk up that track and look to the left of the third bush on the right its a little green can with bark stuck to it?

Sunshine Toledo · Post by **Sunshine Toledo** » 17 October 06 8:29 am

And it is probably in the next cache that you go to find. I'm a bit dodgy on the idea of having records too. As some have said, It's a hobby and if you want to keep your own records, well and good; but there is no comparison with what other people are doing as there is no award or trophy. Let's keep it simple and enjoyable AND we are all even and equal under the eyes of "I don't know who".

Spruce Mooses · Post by **Spruce Mooses** » 17 October 06 9:36 am

i only have 5c so here it is.

1. Adam and I are considered a team, a family, whatever. The majority of the caches we have found have been found by one member of the team. If i have a morning spare, I'll cache. If Adam is galavanting around the countryside, he'll cache. If my parents pick up and drop off travel bugs while overseas, all finds are still logged under the team name.

If i decide to start caching at 3am and Adam wants to join me after his sleep in at 11am then the finds i make before then would still count to our team total.
However if I went to Narre Warren and Adam went to Bendigo and we tried for the record that way, then that wouldn't be fair to count in the rules.

I don't believe all team members need to be present at each find, but the team does need to take only 1 route, so no going seperate ways. If people come and go from the team as the day goes on then so be it.

2. As much as going for the record would be fun and we've thought about it before, we'd do it our own way and to hell with rules and regulations. IT'S A HOBBY NOT A COMPETITIVE SPORT. Everyone caches differently and this is what makes the game what it is. Come on, how many different rules to Uno do you know. It can be about the numbers and it can be about racing for a ftf but they're all done under your own rules, not someone elses. Provided you are a responsible cacher, i don't beleive many other rules should count.

I'm all for people asking how you did it, but to shoot people down for not following these set rules is not cool. If i choose to take a helicopter to get 5/5 multi's and not the 3 day walk then so be it. I choose to cache in a copter (i wish) and provided no damage is done to the cache or the area then there should be no reprocussions.

Alright, thats my morning rant.

BTW. My Sprucemobile just died and went to car heaven. That nova went boldly where no other nova would go.

-Shelly

TeamTandoori · Post by **TeamTandoori** » 17 October 06 9:59 am

Good point Spruce Mooses Geocaching is a hobby that the records held are with in ones own teams ... thats why We like caching its non competitive.

crew 153 · Post by **crew 153** » 17 October 06 10:04 am

Spruce Mooses wrote:i only have 5c so here it is.
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-Shelly

Worth more than 5c, I reckon. Well said.

stickler · Post by **stickler** » 17 October 06 10:10 am

I can now see why most people/teams now have very high numbers! My team of 36 will do very well!!

Once again, there are NO records to be had, only personnal acheivements.

I am getting a little sick of hearing about SA records, QLD records and AUST records....etc.

rhinogeo · Post by **rhinogeo** » 17 October 06 10:35 am

To borrow a phrase from DJ, the drafting of rules or guidelines for the setting of records for one day finds is inevitably spiralling down the plug hole

As many have pointed out, geocaching is a hobby or pastime that has no hard or fast rules (other than those for placing of caches on gc.com, anarchy rules at GCA

) so claiming records for the most caches found and comparing them is like comparing apples and orangesWhen Facitman and I have our big days out, we only find physical caches, do not call helplines, and are both present at each find and log

Others are perfectly happy to have someone do all the calculations for them, pre-find caches, solve multis leaving only the final location to be visited, rack up heaps of finds on specific event caches, have tour guides driving them around, or have the members of their team vary during the day
After achieving a large number of finds in a day, some have been open about how they did it and what help they had or didn't have, others have said very little

I'll continue to play the game, hobby, or pastime the way I choose. If Facitman and I have another big day out, it's because we enjoy having a crazy day geocaching, visiting places previously unseen, and finding lunchboxes containing logbooks sans external assistance

IMHO this healthy debate, enjoyable as it is, will never result in a consensusYMMV

Facitman · Post by **Facitman** » 17 October 06 10:37 am

Ok I'm almost ready to put this one to bed. "You naughty naughty guidelines, now off to bed without any supper!".

I posted the original guidelines after prompting from Cached as the idea of a standard set of record guidelines had been mooted a few times. I thought I'd see how it flew and how different various views were on the topic. Not surprisingly there are many and varied views.

What has surprised me, a bit, is the number of people who seem to want to insist that no guidelines be developed. No one is forcing you to attempt a record so why do you care if others create a set of guidelines?

I doubt that we will come to a consensus so any future record attempts will invariable be according to the participants own "rules". and that's ok by me.

Thanks for the input, it good to see so many people willing to voice their opinions

zorgon · Post by **zorgon** » 17 October 06 10:42 am

Hi from across the ditch. Interesting discussion you are having.
It might be a little difficult to get consensus on what is fair as people people play the game many different ways

Perhaps another approach to the problem is to try and get some consensus about what is unacceptable to most then what "is acceptable" could just pop out by default.

Examples of "unacceptable" might be:
*Not physically signing and dating the log
* All cachers in the group (who want a smilie) not signing the log
* Signing the outside of a cache container
* "Pre-finding" or scouting
etc etc

My family and I are popping over for the Melbourne Cup next month and will also be having a go a "numbers run" while in town. I particularly enjoy the very detailed planning that goes into this type of trip away from home but when it comes down to the actual caching side of it we will simply be doing what we always do - Mum, Dad and 8 & 9 year olds out for some fun hunting caches

just for a bit longer than normal

Zytheran · Post by **Zytheran** » 17 October 06 12:47 pm

Oh dear , here we go, reinventing the wheel...

Other "sports" have already done the the hard yards here so we should really look at their solutions and steal the good bits. The 2 sports closest to caching would be orienteering and rogaining so people, if they cared, should read up on their rules. (Oh, and take up orienteering and rogaining, hint,hint)

There are little things like all team members stay within 20m, no external support in rogaining. Orienteering has classes and many types of events including some fun sledge events, family events, summer series urban style.

Another aspect that can solve many issues is to have classes of record.
So A class might be team of 2, no assist, entire team within 20m at all time and all the really hard rules.
Class B might have some rules relaxed to allow for kids being there part time, another team assisting.
Class C might be multi-team allowed, only one to sign. etc

An open class/category might be anything goes.

This would avoid many of the arguments. The rules lawyers can worry about the A class based on other real sports and the rest of us can have some sort of record with more of a fun theme. If the aim is to have fun actually having some sort of guidelines so everyone has a level playing field will give fun to those teams who care.

Some people will enjoy the constraints of rules and see it as a challenge to achieve something given the constraints whilst others don't really care.

The other aspect to consider is that is and never will be a standard for hiding with any real objectivity which makes it all a bit moot.

Some people run/cycle/surf profesionally, some amatuer and some just for fun, some have rules , some don't. That is the model we should use.

Yes, caching is about having fun but some people enjoy competing with others and should be catered for.

EcoTeam · Post by **EcoTeam** » 17 October 06 1:17 pm

I have never understood this "most caches in a day" thing.
I'm all for contests, they are fun, but in this case there is virtually no correlation between any two attempts iny any way which makes the results all but meaningless. Add in the fact that you have to cache over 24hours rules out the majority of teams for various reasons.

So let me propose a new solution (if it hasn't been proposed before):
What if we set up a special group of caches in each area (state, city, region, whatever) that were specifically designed for "record attempts". Not a huge number either, something that could be typically completed in daylight hours by an average team, say a dozen caches, two dozen at most maybe.

This would be just like caches set up specifically for events, but in this case they stay as permanent caches. I would also imagine that these caches would be "off limits" for those that intend to compete in the contest one day, otherwise those that don't want to play can do them as normal caches.

Also, different "types" of "record cache sets" could be set up (again in each area), for different skill levels. e.g. "Traditionals only", "Puzzle caches", "adventure caches", "urban caches" etc

This would have the advantages of:
- A consistent set of caches that everyone went for so the results would be meaningful
- Teams can compare attempts, e.g I got stuck at this cache or that point etc
- A wider variety of teams could "play", in fact almost anyone who has a day to spare can participate.

Comments?

EcoDave

The Garner Family · Post by **The Garner Family** » 17 October 06 2:06 pm

EcoTeam wrote:So let me propose a new solution

Sounds like a good idea... but its not going to stop people trying to do more caches in a day then the last person did.

Mr Walker · Post by **Mr Walker** » 17 October 06 2:12 pm

Im fairly "lazy-fair" about this. The only scenario I would be really unhappy with is a team where say 4 members split up, went to all different caches, and then claimed the total as a team effort. If you wanted to apply some law of averaging to this, it could still be possible.
As a mostly lone cacher, in an area very sparsely cachelated, i have learned to look to other rewards. EG trying to get out of a rainwater tank which was really quite easy to get into, walking kilometres across salt bush country with only kangaroos for company, scaling shaley, rocky and grassy slopes, sans ropes, support or medical back up, and particularly trying to get caches down out of a variety of trees which are always, always, always, at least a few cms out of even the most extended reach. Heck for many of the caches there was not even any mobile phone coverage to ask for clues (or seek medical assistance.) Perhaps the quality of such caches is why I remain addicted.

zactyl · Post by **zactyl** » 17 October 06 2:27 pm

EcoTeam wrote:Comments?
EcoDave

Sounds like a brilliant idea!

stickler · Post by **stickler** » 17 October 06 2:33 pm

Agree with Walker's comments...

"The only scenario I would be really unhappy with is a team where say 4 members split up, went to all different caches, and then claimed the total as a team effort."

It sounds like people have and will continue to 'get their numbers' by any means possible, so the numbers and 'so called' records are meaningless to anyone else.

But I do like a difficulty * terrain 'factor' if done solo with no help from others etc.

Geocaching Australia

Geocaching One Day Record Guidelines

Records

Its all about numbers (NOT)!