Caching Team caching separately

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Big Matt and Shell
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Caching Team caching separately

Post by Big Matt and Shell » 11 October 10 2:42 pm

Shell and I are what I would call a caching team, she is my wife and we normally cache together when we can. Sometimes however, she or I may go away on a trip and cache while the other is at home.

My question is what do other “teams” do when one is away? I have noticed a few logs recently like, “Logging this one while my partner is in London logging a cache this means we have found two caches 12000 miles apart on the same day” or “we managed to find this before my wife found one on the same day in the US this is our record distance travelled in a single day”

We try not to cache separately in fact we have only done it once that I can remember when we first started I was in Melbourne for a last minute work trip and was going to miss a locally held CITO event so Shell went but I had actually found a cache that day. The owner of the CITO didn’t mind so we logged it. Shell was recently in Perth and I didn’t cache while she was over there finding caches until I flew over to join her and then we cached away. On the way home we found a cache near the airport as she dropped me off and then I cached when I landed in Sydney so Shell didn’t find any more caches for that trip.

Some of you may ask the reason for this behaviour. To me caching separately on opposite sides of the country or the world would be no different to me getting my family giving them all a GPS and sending them off in different directions and claiming the find for all caches found. It just doesn’t seem right in my mind.

Please don’t point fingers here, I just want to know if I’m off the mark here or do others do the same?

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Yurt
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by Yurt » 11 October 10 2:58 pm

We've only got one GPSr between us so it's not an issue. We are basically father and son with the occasional hanger-on. Locally I only cache with the boy or if I feel like chasing a FTF and he's at school. Otherwise when I'm interstate for work travel I pick up a few caches as part of my morning walks.

I agree with your sentiments. You could form a team of 10 supercachers who could be caching at a rate of 30 per day (each) and they could topple maccamob's record in just over a month but to what end?

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Team Wibble
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by Team Wibble » 11 October 10 3:50 pm

I can think of a very few occasions where Mr Wibble and I (Mrs Wibble) have cached separately on the same day. In fact, I can only think of one occasion, recently, when Mr Wibble was in another state for a conference and picked up a couple of caches using the iPhone, and I happened to grab a new cache near my work using the GPSr on the same day. There may be a couple of other examples.

I think it's okay to do this as long as you don't make a habit out of it. The odd occasion where one member of the team is away on a holiday or at a conference shouldn't mean that only one or the other team members are allowed to occupy themselves with their favourite pastime :mrgreen: .

If members of a team are frequently in separate locations and caching independently, well, they should be separate teams. But if very occasional opportunities to cache separately come up, I don't think that's a problem. I guess it all boils down to the spirit of the thing. Sending multiple members of a team out in different directions to grab as many caches as possible in a day is not in the spirit of geocaching. An intercontinental collective of cachers independently caching in their respective countries and adding to a massive single team total is not in the spirit of geocaching.

A couple who usually cache together and are unusually separated and happen to both find a cache on the same day and go "hey cool, we found caches in two separate states/on opposite sides of the world on the same day, how novel is that!" is still in the spirit of geocaching, in my opinion.

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Zalgariath
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by Zalgariath » 11 October 10 4:10 pm

As a single cacher I have often pondered how teams work. The Nowra Invasion I went on with Richary & Spindoc was first time I really cached properly in a 'Team' and it was great fun. But being the selfish control freak mongral that I am if I ever started caching with someone on a regular basis, Id get them to have their own account and log independantly. And as our Ad-hoc Invasion team all have our own logins there were no problems here.

On your point, It is perhaps a little more complicated with a Family vs a Team of unrelated adults. I believe if you have formed a non-family 'Team' who all log under the same account then the whole team (with perhaps the exception of geokiddies) should be present to claim a find, if they dont want that restriction then create indidual accounts. There are plenty of informal team like Servabo & Skyejam who find 90% of their caches together, but log idependantly.

Or, if it is a Family where there is a primary Cacher (eg Geodad) is the driving force then it doesnt really matter which other members are present as long as GeoDad is there. When the kids get old enough they can have their own accounts if they remain interested in treasure hunting hehe.

In your situation Matt I like the way you do it. With the complicated dynamic of 2 eager cachers I think deciding on those rare occasions when you cache separately who the "lead" is and logging finds in the manner you described is fine. Its when you get team members in different places, logging finds on the same day where the problem exists.

Id give family team that little bit of leaniance, but 'unrelated' teams... nope. You chose to form up, you cache together as a whole, or not at all. :D

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Hoojar
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by Hoojar » 11 October 10 4:19 pm

Zalgariath wrote: But being the selfish control freak mongral that I am if I ever started caching with someone on a regular basis, Id get them to have their own account and log independantly.
Funnily enough this is exactly what Chip and I decided to do. And my reasoning was pretty close to yours :evil: We each have our own account. Oh, and our Dog, Ding, is a travel bug. So we each log everything individually.

We are together for 99.9% of our finds. Even Ding is with us for the vast majority of our finds. On the rare occasion that we cache separately it is usually because one of us is away for work.

What we do, however, is sign the logs using one 'team' sticker, or on a micro we will often sign as HCD (Hoojar, Chip & Ding).

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Richary
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by Richary » 11 October 10 4:32 pm

I tend to agree with all those sentiments. Basically I personally have found all the caches I have claimed, or at least been present at the find on the few occasions I have gone out with other cachers for the day. None of my partners has ever been enthusiastic about it enough to want to go caching without me, though they are usually happy to tag along (they had better be) :mrgreen:

I personally wouldn't agree with a regular team continually claiming caches at the same time in different locations. If it's the occasional work trip then I don't really see a problem with it if you are both enthusiastic enough.

Then again, I also think you cache how you want to. If someone wants to have a team where they head out separately in all directions at the same time and all log the find as a team then while I might not agree with the way you are doing it, I can't stop you. And as a cache owner, if your name is in the logbook I can't delete the log (on GC anyway).

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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by WellsInc » 11 October 10 6:23 pm

We are a team (family) of four. Sometimes my hubby caches while he is out on a trip, and other times there is one less or one more kid with us. We could possibly take off in a couple of cars and cache a record but to us it is a family outing.
Wells Inc

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Black Bunny
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by Black Bunny » 11 October 10 6:37 pm

As half of Black Bunny, I wondered about the ethics of just what you wondered about, and in the end, I decided to get my own account (Just a cacher), so that the issue wouldn't crop up any more. It didn't feel quite right to be signing a log in the Flinders whilst my husband signed one in Canberra.
Also, I don't care as much about the numbers as Steve does - I just like my caches to interesting where possible.

Wendy

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GJMMelb
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by GJMMelb » 11 October 10 7:44 pm

We are in the same boat as Yurt - only one GPSr to our team of 3 so when GMelb goes interstate (about once a month) he does the caching (which HAS meant missing out chasing a FTF here lolol - oh well :roll: )

I (JMelb) have occasionally taken friends caching when Gary has been at work during the school holidays

You'll probably think this is hillarious and very corny but what we have done (when possible) is GMelb rings us when he is about to find the cache so MMelb and myself can experience the cache "virtually" :lol: :lol: :lol: It adds to the experience for him and makes for an interesting log which I can then do straight away lol

If we did have more than 1 GPSr then I would definately be tempted for the fun of a FTF chase on the same day as GMelb getting one interstate tho!!! :oops:

GJMMelb

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Alansee
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by Alansee » 11 October 10 9:16 pm

This is a question worth raising and discussing. Yes, a team of two or more people (and lets face it, a couple is a team of two) will find it easier to cache than a single cacher, and should it make any difference.

As far as I am concerned - none whatsoever! It has never concerned me that one of a couple logs a cache somewhere while the other logs one somewhere else on the same day - good luck to them! Nor has it ever been an issue to me that some cachers have two or more in a team. Some cachers are retired and some still work, some have children to look after, some live in small country towns.

It is all the same deal, it is about the enjoyment that you hopefully get from it, not the circumstances under which you cache.

Mind you - if you do log as a couple I reckon that your log numbers should be halved. Thirded if there are three, and so forth. :mrgreen: :-" :wink:

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Richary
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by Richary » 11 October 10 9:23 pm

Alansee wrote:Mind you - if you do log as a couple I reckon that your log numbers should be halved. Thirded if there are three, and so forth. :mrgreen: :-" :wink:
Dang, you mean I have to remember whether I was solo or in a couple, or taking an indeterminate number of kids along for the find! Some of the kids ones I would get 1/6 the credit.

But you can't quite use that logic. Anna may have made the find before me sometimes when we've been out, but I would have got it eventually. I WOULD, I WOULD, I WOULD. Even if it was one I had 2 goes at solo before. :^o

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tronador
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by tronador » 11 October 10 10:03 pm

Hoojar wrote: Oh, and our Dog, Ding, is a travel bug.
Now I've heard everything. I love it and almost fell off my chair laughing. :D :D :D :D :D

So which cache does this TB live in???? And do you have to catch him/her before you are able to log the find?
Now this gives me an idea, I wonder if anyone has ever turned their house into a cache!!!! :wink: :wink: :wink:

Looking forward to one meeting Ding!!!!!


Oh and as for teams ,I've never really thought about it. I'd assume that you would sign up as a team because you had chosen to basically cache together....

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the farmers 5
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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by the farmers 5 » 11 October 10 10:07 pm

Alansee wrote: It is all the same deal, it is about the enjoyment that you hopefully get from it, not the circumstances under which you cache.

. :mrgreen: :-" :wink:
Yeah....well stated . Its all about the quality not quantity. :D
I have done some caches by myself due to others working and have found some of the locations or brilliance of the hide are " that good " , that i have taken the clan back again later for a second look at site. :) :)
Do two trips to the goods gain two smileys anywhere ?? :lol: :lol: :lol:
So, its all about the quality. Not ticking off as many as possible on the lists by multiple team players.

i would hate to think others within a team are caching interstate and completing great cache sites you would miss out on ! :shock: :shock: :shock:

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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by JABs » 12 October 10 6:07 am

My only issue here is only when a team splits in two during a FTF hunt on several new caches. That is they take two cars and one heads in one direction while the other goes the opposite way this giving them the maxium chance to get all new caches at the same time.

While on many a family trip I will stay sitting in the car while my partner with a child or with out will head over and do a cache. Sometimes we send one of our kids out by them selfs. So there have been several caches where I have not been there when the cache was signed or even seen it.

I own a couple of caches that I have never seen. Take Blue Mountains Bookcrossing, my partner and Geokid 1 did the find before we adopted it and each time we do a maintenance run (about every 3 months) Wife always heads in there. So never seen it.

So while it is not about about setting records like FTFs or total number found in a day etc. If you are worried just add a simple note to the cache log for all to see. Go for it its your account and your game.

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Re: Caching Team caching separately

Post by Bewilderbeest » 12 October 10 7:48 am

Big Matt and Shell wrote:Shell and I are what I would call a caching team, she is my wife and we normally cache together when we can.
When Jaz got me into caching, we decided to go with separate accounts, as we knew we wouldnt always cache together. From memory, it was mainly so we wouldnt have any trouble remembering which of us had done particular caches!

Splitting accounts wouldnt really be an option with your number of finds. I'm okay with you guys caching separately, as I know some other couples have done. It doesnt stop me seeking the caches I want to do.

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