Caching Etiquette

For all your general chit chat, caching or not.
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FelixII
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Caching Etiquette

Post by FelixII » 17 October 12 9:57 pm

Hmm, Is it just us or do you think it would be POLITE, even NICE to introduce yourselves to other cachers if you came across them whilst on the hunt rather than hmmm say oh can you put the cache back whilst we RACE on to another cache! [-X

I think there is haste and then there is HASTE :-"

We have only been caching near on 20months and made 100's of geo friends by stopping and introducting ourselves. Also by emailing lot's of newbie cachers. Seems others are more about the numbers or SOMETHING :roll:

Tuena
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Re: Caching Etiquette

Post by Tuena » 18 October 12 10:27 am

I've embarrassed myself a few times by ass-u-me' ing that people appearing out of the blue near a cache are cachers.

I've met few geocachers in the wild (excluding those I met when the Megas were on). Generally have a yarn. No point hurrying to my next DNF.

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Just a cacher
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Re: Caching Etiquette

Post by Just a cacher » 18 October 12 11:27 am

I think it would be both polite AND nice to have a little chat with cachers if I met them, but it isn't always easy to know if the people you are seeing are cachers or not.

Some people cache BECAUSE it's a solitary sort of occupation, I've heard, so not everyone wants to talk.

In my experience there is often an impromptu 'event' at FTF hunts....

Just smile politely, and follow it up with conversation if the other people look receptive. Do make sure they are geocachers, though, as mentioned above.

Wendy

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Re: Caching Etiquette

Post by belken » 18 October 12 11:40 am

We like the solitary/seceretive nature of caching. However we would not be impolite. If we saw people at GZ we would more than likely not approach and even take pleasure in getting the cache, signing it, and putting it back without you knowing we had been there. That is what caching is to us.

In the situation you describe I would be a bit concerned as I think whoever pulls the cache out should put it back. Even between us which ever one of us pulls it out puts it back.

But then the nature of caching has changed a fair bit.

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Re: Caching Etiquette

Post by belken » 18 October 12 12:02 pm

Although, thinking about it as I was hanging the washing on the line it would depend on who rolled up at GZ. We used to take pleasure in taunting Chwiliwr when he was too slow at getting out of bed. And if we returned to WA and beat him again we would probably show him where the loser could sign their name and rubbish him for a week. 8)

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spatialriq
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Re: Caching Etiquette

Post by spatialriq » 18 October 12 2:18 pm

I'm always up for a chat, even mistakenly started taking to a muggle once :D

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Yurt
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Re: Caching Etiquette

Post by Yurt » 18 October 12 2:39 pm

Once interstate I was out in the evening doing a quick run of caches. I came to a park and right about where the GPS said GZ was there were two people (a man and a woman - early 30s maybe) holding an iphone walking in circles and looking quizzically at the grass below their feet. I said - "looking for the cache, huh?" and they sort of acknowledged me and kept on pacing around. I said "sometimes the coords are out - my bet is that it's under that bridge over there" indicating a small footbridge some 7 or 8 metres away. They pretty much ignored me and kept walking around. I went to the bridge, found the cache in a few seconds, signed and replaced it and walked back past them, saying "good luck!" and they ignored me completely!

For all I know they are still there.

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pjmpjm
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Re: Caching Etiquette -- Yurt's Story

Post by pjmpjm » 18 October 12 9:15 pm

Yurt wrote: Once interstate I was out in the evening doing a quick run of caches. I came to a park and right about where the GPS said GZ was there were two people (a man and a woman - early 30s maybe) holding an iphone walking in circles and looking quizzically at the grass below their feet. I said - "looking for the cache, huh?" and they sort of acknowledged me and kept on pacing around. I said "sometimes the coords are out - my bet is that it's under that bridge over there" indicating a small footbridge some 7 or 8 metres away. They pretty much ignored me and kept walking around. I went to the bridge, found the cache in a few seconds, signed and replaced it and walked back past them, saying "good luck!" and they ignored me completely! For all I know they are still there.
One of the better geocaching stories that you'll hear. Thanks, Yurt.

A twist on this -- and it's happened to moi -- is that you introduce yourself, and give your caching name, and find out that the other person isn't really a geocacher! :oops:

But of course . . . it's good form to introduce yourself to other, unknown geocachers and to have a bit of a chat. It needn't be long, and then you can excuse yourself because you have other caches to find. I realise that some people are naturally shy. I was once this way, when young, but more or less forced myself to become social. Now everyone thinks I'm naturally social . . . \:D/

A good topic . . . =D>

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akkatracker
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Re: Caching Etiquette

Post by akkatracker » 18 October 12 9:31 pm

Some of these stories are quite humorous.
Ironically pjmpjm was the first cacher that I'd ever had a full blown search with...

Another story:
To a flashmob in Sydney we were a bit early, about 20 minutes before everyone else. We'd already met some people that we knew and when we came back they were gone.
So we spent a few minutes or so trying to find this event.
We see a likely target (not going to mention usernames :oops: ) and start calling his name for short periods at a time and then walking round the fountain.
Anyways turns out this guy was the person who we thought it was etc. etc.

Keep the stories coming having a good laugh

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pjmpjm
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Re: Caching Etiquette -- First Meetings

Post by pjmpjm » 18 October 12 9:39 pm

akkatracker wrote: Some of these stories are quite humorous. Ironically pjmpjm was the first cacher that I'd ever had a full blown search with...
Yep! I well remember that day and that Calypso62 multi! We met while searching for WP1.

And there are in fact several geocachers I'm now friends with . . . whom I first met by accident while geocaching.

I only just realised this . . .

Once again, thanks for a great discussion thread.

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Re: Caching Etiquette -- First Meetings

Post by canary » 18 October 12 9:51 pm

pjmpjm wrote:
akkatracker wrote: Some of these stories are quite humorous. Ironically pjmpjm was the first cacher that I'd ever had a full blown search with...
Yep! I well remember that day and that Calypso62 multi! We met while searching for WP1.

And there are in fact several geocachers I'm now friends with . . . whom I first met by accident while geocaching.

I only just realised this . . .

Once again, thanks for a great discussion thread.
Yes, a rock wall in Katoomba wasn't it?

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pjmpjm
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Re: Caching Etiquette -- First Meetings

Post by pjmpjm » 19 October 12 1:20 am

canary wrote:
pjmpjm wrote:
akkatracker wrote: Some of these stories are quite humorous. Ironically pjmpjm was the first cacher that I'd ever had a full blown search with...
Yep! I well remember that day and that Calypso62 multi! We met while searching for WP1.

And there are in fact several geocachers I'm now friends with . . . whom I first met by accident while geocaching.

I only just realised this . . .

Once again, thanks for a great discussion thread.
Yes, a rock wall in Katoomba wasn't it?
Indeed it was. And a very wet and rainy rock wall too! I was thinking of Canary/Team Canary when I wrote those words!

Toriaz
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Re: Caching Etiquette

Post by Toriaz » 19 October 12 8:45 am

You were also the first cacher I met accidentally, at the Norman Lindsay gallery in Faulconbridge :D .

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pjmpjm
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Re: Caching Etiquette -- Another Meeting

Post by pjmpjm » 19 October 12 10:30 am

Toriaz wrote:You were also the first cacher I met accidentally, at the Norman Lindsay gallery in Faulconbridge :D .
That's right. You're another geocacher I was thinking of when I wrote my comments! Still remember the children helping me with 'The Magic Pudding' that day . . .

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