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DNF Etiquette

Posted: 31 January 18 10:16 am
by itsonlybarney
I'm curious as to what everyone's etiquette is when it comes to logging DNFs as they cache:

[*]Search <10 min and did not find the physical cache;
[*]Search 10-20 min and did not find the physical cache;
[*]Search >20 min and did not find the physical cache;
[*]Search was interrupted by a muggle;
[*]Something else

I am aware that everyone plays the "game" differently but curious what you do.

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 31 January 18 11:03 am
by caughtatwork
If I searched and did not find I log a DNF.
If I did not search I do not log.

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 31 January 18 11:05 am
by Sol de Lune
<10 minutes - log a DNF as I didn't find it.
10-20 minutes - log a DNF as I didn't find it.
>20 minutes - log a DNF as I didn't find it.
Muggle came along - log a DNF with a comment in the log that a muggle came along. This indicates that the cache may not be actual missing.
Something else - if I didn't find it, it's should still be a DNF, but with a possible reason why in the log.

Have I always done this? No. In my early days of caching I didn't realise that it could help the CO to know that a cache could be actually missing. However these days I certainly log 99.9% of DNF's. If there were already more than say, 5 DNF's logged, maybe I wouldn't......but even that is few and far between these days.

The main thing is to log a DNF in case it is missing and it's just not a case of your cache blindness....the first DNF could be the first of many that tells the CO that there is problem.

Check this link for the list of most DNF's on Geocaching Australia:
http://geocaching.com.au/stats/cachers/ ... _not_finds

Check this link for the list of most DNF's on Geocaching Australia and Groundspeak combined:
http://geocaching.com.au/stats/cachers/ ... _not_finds

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 31 January 18 11:43 am
by Now_To_Morrow
If I start the search at all, whether unfound or muggled, I log a DNF. I love when people DNF my caches as it lets me know if something might be wrong with the cache, which is almost every time so far.

Sometimes I even write a note if I planned to find it but was interrupted before the search.

I often wonder if not logging a DNF is a pride thing, lazy thing, or an I'll be back thing. :-k

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 31 January 18 3:37 pm
by Tuena
Prior to looking for Locationless caches I was the 4th best in NSW & the 11th best in Australia for not finding GC & GCA caches. Still doing pretty well on GCA. Perhaps there could be some bling in reverse.

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 31 January 18 6:04 pm
by 2y'stassies
If we look for a cache and don't find it no matter how short or how long our search was we'll log a DNF.
The CO then gets an indication that there may be a problem.
We always try to check our caches when a DNF is logged.

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 31 January 18 6:35 pm
by J_&_J
We usually always log a DNF no matter how long we searched for the cache. If we never really got a chance to have a reasonable look, then we'll post a note describing why we didn't look.

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 31 January 18 7:46 pm
by Richary
Yes if I pull up and there are muggles around so I abort the search before getting to ground zero then I won't log a DNF (I may log a note depending on the circumstances). One reason is that often if I am looking for a cache to find and have a choice of a few in the area, I will more likely ignore one that has a list of DNF icons as the last logs rather than one I think I have more chance of finding, and often on the phone won't bother going in to look at the logs to see why they were DNFs. So a DNF where a reasonable search wasn't made is probably off putting to other cachers.

If I have had what I think is a reasonable look for a cache then got muggled out before I could look further I am more likely to log a DNF but will say why I stopped looking. Though I tend not to log repeat DNFs especially on really hard caches that stump many (including experienced) cachers and require multiple visits.

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 01 February 18 2:08 am
by Goldenwattle
I log nearly all my DNFs, often even repeat DNFs. (One of the rare reasons I don't, is if I am away from home and struggling with a slow internet ](*,). Then as midnight approaches and I finally manage to log my finds, I want bed more than to continue struggling with the internet to log DNFs.) I find it frustrating that so many people don't log DNFs. My personal theory is they lack the confidence to log DNFs, worrying that people will think them incompetent or something, as they couldn't find the cache. On a least a couple of occasions, I have been searching and failing to find a cache when other geocachers have appeared. I have been the only one to log a DNF. Now, if they don't and I know their caching name I will likely name them in my log and say they also searched unsuccessfully :twisted:.
I logged a DNF on a cache in NZ. It had had no logs for about six months, but before that was regularly found. I worked out that using the previous find rate there had likely been up to 20 DNFs not logged during that time. No-one wanted to be the first to log a DNF (back to my comment about some geocachers lacking the confidence to log caches). I broke the drought with my DNF and other DNFs followed very soon after, continuing to back up my lack of confidence theory. The cache owner sent me a message to thank me for my DNF as it let them know there was a problem.
As well as informing the CO the cache might be missing, it also gives an indication of how hard the cache might be to find and gives the CO the chance to adjust the difficulty rating to be more accurate.
Please log your DNFs :roll:!

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 01 February 18 3:41 pm
by itsonlybarney
Thanks for the informative discussion.

I have been hesitant logging a DNF because I know that I may not have had a proper look because I was disturbed/spooked and the cache may actually be there and don't want the CO going to look when I didn't find it because I was disturbed.

I will now log DNFs where I actually reach GZ and have a look whether I'm disturbed or not and put a clear reason why I didn't find it, whether I was disturbed, or searched for 30 minutes or what not.

Thanks.

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 01 February 18 9:26 pm
by Richary
itsonlybarney wrote:I will now log DNFs where I actually reach GZ and have a look whether I'm disturbed or not and put a clear reason why I didn't find it, whether I was disturbed, or searched for 30 minutes or what not.

Thanks.
That's the way to do it. If you started looking and then got disturbed, or you had a really good hunt - it gives the CO and future finders an idea what happened and why you may not have found it. Is it because there is a problem, or because chance happened to stop you looking properly.

Re: DNF Etiquette

Posted: 02 February 18 11:03 pm
by tronador
Time is not an indicator. If I cant find it and have searched, I'll log a DNF. No shame in it. In fact i get a little buzz being the only one to log a DNF in amongst a hoarde of founds....... cache blindness...lol
The one exception recently was a cache I found..... I could see it but just didn't want to retrieve it and compromise its position as a muggle was standing right in front of it, in a Melbourne laneway. Yep, just me and the muggle...... so I wrote a note.