There comes a time in every geocachers journey where you start to explore the idea of hiding your own cache. After your initial first find, the first ten, twenty, maybe fifty finds – your numbers really start to find pace and you are hungry for more. You start to to hunt them down at every chance you can get.
It is often at this time, that your geo-sense really kicks in and the world around you starts to look completely different. It dawns on you how many possible hide locations you have in front of you and wonder how you never knew about this before. Your conversations with family and friends are suddenly filled with geo-this and geo-that and they start to wonder what in the geo-world you are talking about!
Now if the geo-bug really bites, a geocacher will start to consider hiding their very own cache. But where do you start? What do you need to consider? In Victoria we are very fortunate to have some passionate geocachers/reviewers that can guide you through the process. With the Mega only four days away and a special forum scheduled on the Sunday to “Meet the Reviewers”, I thought that it would be the perfect time to interview Bunjil aka Peter and Helen.
Thanks so much Bunjil for chatting with me, I am intrigued – how did you first get into Geocaching?
We started Geocaching back in April 2007 – and boy, there’ve been a lot of changes since then! We owned a hand held GPS (Garmin GPSMAP 62) and found out about Geocaching from Scouting friends. We were just heading to Tasmania for 1 month and decided to try it out. After printing reams of paper – one for each geocache (no paperless geocaching then and another era), we were taken to locations around Tasmania, not on our itinerary, that were really interesting, so we thought there must be something in this!
We found our first geocache while taking our dog to the kennels for our Tasmanian trip – ‘Mitchells Stop’ (GC277B) at Expedition Pass near Faraday/Castlemaine. It’s still available to be found.
Our First placement was made after we had accumulated well over 100 Finds and as a result of some ‘taps on the shoulder’ from other Bendigo Geocachers. So, on 23 August 2008 ‘theUMP’ published ‘Dry Run’ (GC1FGGG) and we were off and running as Cache Owners. This cache is still available too.
Tell us a little about how you became a reviewer?
Basically, as is described in the Help Centre article: Community Volunteer Reviewers. We were approached sometime in the second half of 2013. We were given our magic wand on 8th November 2013 and then the fun began – lots of on-the-job training and, we are still learning!
What makes a good hide?
There are a number of elements that can go into making a really good placement, but overall, it should provide an enjoyable/interesting experience for finders. There are a multitude of resources and information available on line to help cache owners put together an enjoyable placement. These are the links we suggest to intending Cache Owners:
– Ten Tips for a Tip-Top Geocache Container
– Geocaching Etiquette 201: Cache Ownership
– The 4 Most Common Geocache Hiding Mistakes
A Cache Owner (CO) who has experienced some good placements and has a variety of finds, will have a better idea as to what makes an interesting geocaching experience. Obviously, this will vary from Geocacher to Geocacher – what one person finds enjoyable, another may not.
Talking to other Geocachers (at Events) can be very useful for a budding Cache Owner as they go about designing and manufacturing their placement.
What are common mistakes you often see for new cache owners?
Overall, the understanding that Cache Ownership is a whole lot different to just finding caches: that they are undertaking an aspect of Geocaching that has both a lot of requirements, as well as ongoing responsibilities.
The number one mistake is failing to read the Guidelines and source out information in the Help Centre. There is a seven chapter section in the Help Centre titled: Hide a Cache, but unfortunately, very few budding Cache Owners take the time to read through it.
The second most common mistake is not understanding the technicalities and process of establishing accurate coordinates.
Who creates the guidelines for hiding caches, challenges, puzzles and events?
The Guidelines were first established in July 2002, prior to that it was ‘anything goes’. The first Guidelines were in regard to: No precedent, Off-Limits, Commercial, Virtual and Locationless Caches defined.
As the activity evolved, so did the Guidelines. Since July 2002 there have been 14 significant changes or additions to the guidelines. As well there have been ongoing minor adjustments, clarifications and corrections.
In 2015, in recognition of varying requirements around the world, a Regional Policies element was introduced.
In 2016 there was an embargo on Challenge caches for a year while the Challenge Cache requirements we redrawn and changed.
The Guidelines themselves are developed, managed and maintained by Geocaching HQ in Seattle, USA, based on input from the Geocaching Community through the Geocaching Forum and from Reviewers through the Reviewer Forum, as well as outcomes from the Appeal process. They are changed from time to time as the activity evolves and to meet the changing requirements of the activity. Changes are announced through the Community Forum as a ‘Release Note’ or ‘Update’, as well as in the Weekly Newsletter – Logbook.
Whilst Reviewers are there to assist and guide Cache Owners through the various requirements and publish their cache; a gate keeper so to speak, it is expected that a Cache Owner will have some knowledge and understanding of the requirements.
If a proposed cache has an unusual aspect or there is a query as regards the requirements, a Cache Owner can submit the Cache Page for review with the word ‘QUERY’ in the cache title and include their query or concern in a Reviewer Note log. This facilitates the cache being looked at by a number of Reviewers as well as Geocaching HQ, if there is a contentious aspect to the cache.
What advice would you give a ‘new geocacher’ who has recently discovered the game and is interested in hiding their first geocache?
First of all, don’t be scared off by the requirements – we have all had to place our first cache at some time or another and as a whole, it is a great learning process. However, we would suggest they need to grasp a clear understanding of the activity. This is best done by attending a few Events and talking with other Geocachers. They might even find a helpful Cache Owner who is willing to guide/mentor them.
Then they need to develop ideas for their placement and run through a check list to ensure that it meets the requirements. There is a comprehensive list on our Profile page – DETAILED CHECKLIST: CACHE PLACEMENT, but there are other simpler ones around.
Once they submit their cache for review, keep an eye out for Notification Emails from Geocaching HQ and be sure to respond to all the Reviewer’s enquiries by Reviewer Note log (on the cache page). Hopefully the cache can then be published and they are on their way to experience the joy and pleasure of cache ownership.
What are the expectations of a new cache owner once a cache is published?
Whilst it is impossible to keep a cache in the pristine condition it was when it was published, a Cache Owner should be making ‘regular’ visits to ensure the cache is in good condition and is placed as it should be. The ‘regular’ will depend on the nature of the cache, where it is located and how many visitors it is getting. Obviously, the more complicated the cache, the smaller the log capacity along with the nature of the placement, will all dictate a requirement for more frequent checks.
A Cache owner should have an understanding of the maintenance requirements and regime along with the need to monitor the various logs placed on their cache. Responding promptly where there is an issue indicated and, if they cannot attend to it within a few days, disabling the cache until the issue can be addressed.
Once a cache is published, there is still a job for the reviewers, tell us a little about that?
Ideally, if a Cache Owner lived up to their responsibilities, there wouldn’t be anything for a Reviewer to do once a cache is published!
However, we don’t live in a perfect world, so, as an ongoing function, reviewers are provided with cache listings where it would seem there is an issue with a cache or where a CO has not responded as expected.
This generally occurs when there are a series of Did Not Find logs (DNF) or a Needs Maintenance log has been placed on the cache by a finder. As a general rule, if there is no CO action within 3 weeks of either receiving an email from Geocaching HQ, or the placement of the Needs Maintenance log, Reviewer intervention will follow. This can vary from Disabling the cache to sending a reminder to the CO and, if there is no action, eventually end in the De-listing (Archiving) the cache.
If there is a need for Reviewer intervention, Cache Owners should be aware of the Guideline that advises; “Cache owners who do not maintain their existing caches in a timely manner may temporarily or permanently lose the right to list new caches on Geocaching.com.”
Thanks so much for such comprehensive answers – this is great. But one final question – do you still cache and how do you pick which ones to collect as you would see so many published.
Yes, we continue to geocache under our geocaching account ‘Phetlern’.
Dealing with the large number of caches that pass through the review queue as we do, unless a cache is particularly outstanding or there are issues, we don’t generally remember much about the caches we handle.
There are a number of protocols provided by Geocaching HQ that Reviewers undertake to follow which includes aspects regarding the finding of caches. For us this means:
- When we place a cache we arrange for another Reviewer to check and publish.
- We do not chase First To Finds (FTF) but have found the occasional one that has stood waiting for some time and we happened to be in the area, generally with other Geocachers.
- We allow a period of time to elapse before attempting to solve a Mystery/Puzzle cache.
Thanks so much Bunjil that is sure to give many newbie geocachers something to think about! I remember when I met you at my first Mega in St Arnaud and heard you speak at the ‘Meet the Review session’ and I was in awe of the amazing job you both do. I had only just started publishing my own first cache or two and remembered how invaluable your advice was. So for those that are new to our community and are considering your first hide, I highly recommend attending the session at the Whittlesea Mega and learn more tips and tricks from Bunjil.
– heymissjo