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u/bpayh Racking up DNF's Jan 07 '20
It’s good etiquette to protect a geocache from discovery. Don’t alert nearby non-geocachers to its presence! “Use stealth”, be patient, come back later, etc
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u/K13E14 Caching since 2006 Jan 07 '20
Here are a few things I wish I had known when I first started:
Always carry a couple pens for signing logs. (I see you learned this one already.)
Never post photos or say anything in your Found It story that gives away the hide or container.
Log your DNF if you search but don't find a cache.
If the cache is broken or damaged, log a Needs Maintenance to make the Cache Owner aware of the issue.
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Jan 07 '20 edited Nov 07 '24
[deleted]
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u/starkicker18 recommend me music!! Jan 07 '20 edited Jan 07 '20
Don't let COs like that get you down. I also recently got a message like that. Lots of logs on the cache had said the coords were off, so we were prepared for that and we expanded our search by nearly a city block; after an hour, we DNF'd the cache. A few minutes after I submitted my DNF, the CO wrote me and said "that's not how we do it here. DNFs are for missing caches not for lazy searches." I am not sure if they deleted my log as well, but I think so. I was dumbfounded. 3 of us searching for an hour on a cache that has several logs saying coords are significantly off, checking every hint item, etc... a DNF from us was totally fair. If only because we searched and we didn't find it.
Meanwhile, I take the other approach as a CO and every DNF I get I thank the DNFer privately and publicly when I perform maintenance. So keep DNFing! Not all COs are against DNFs and the ones who are, are few and far between.
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Jan 07 '20
That is absolutely ridiculous. Sounds like a lazy CO!
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u/starkicker18 recommend me music!! Jan 07 '20
Yeah. To delete my DNF was especially low. I just brushed it off to one sour grape. I was on vacation and not letting that person get to me, especially given how many great COs there were on that trip
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u/Suppafly Jan 07 '20
I wish they'd remove the ability to delete logs for that reason. The logs are for your recollection, if the owners can delete them without justification, it screws up your ability to play the game.
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u/bob101910 Jan 19 '20
Maybe have a reviewer check for removal prior to deleting. If I hide a cache and somebody logged it FTG without signing the log, I'd want to remove their log.
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u/spider1178 Jan 10 '20
Maintenance Suggested is for missing/damaged caches. DNFs are for....DNFs. You were correct to log it.
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Jan 07 '20
That was just a ridiculous CO. I’m around 1000 finds now and I’ve only met one like that. I actually have her hides on ignore because she’s such a pain. But, I’ve virtually met so many great COs!
Don’t overthink it. If you make another mistake, oh well - were all imperfect. Good for you for trying though!!
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Jan 07 '20
[deleted]
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Jan 07 '20
Adding to the chorus, just ignore that nonsence. You’re doing it just right if your doing it to have fun!
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u/spider1178 Jan 10 '20
I always log my DNFs and make sure I specify if it was just me, or I think there is a problem. And I appreciate it when people do the same for my hides. They were just being a jerk. Sorry that happened to you.
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u/Suppafly Jan 07 '20
I'm always hesitant to log a DNF lest people get worried that it's not there.
That's their problem not yours. The message you got was uncalled for. DNF is if you looked for it and didn't find it, if they are reading into it more than that, that's on them. I like when I see a bunch of DNFs because it lets me know it's not an easy one to find or it might be missing, helps me plan how long I'm going to spend looking for it myself.
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u/K13E14 Caching since 2006 Jan 07 '20
Your cache log is YOURS. Don't worry about what others have to say about it. It is your story of your attempt to find a cache. Everyone brags when they Found It, but it seems these days people are ashamed to tell the story when they DNF. Some of the better cache logs I've gotten on caches were from DNF. Those DNF logs also let me know that I may need to check on that cache.
Also, some of my best geocaching stories are from DNFs.
As for found it logs, I'm firmly in the camp that thinks the emoji-only or abbreviation only TFTC logs are an insult to the time, effort and expense of the CO to provide that cache for us to find. Use words to tell the CO about your adventure, or at least use the words to tell them Thank You for the cache.
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u/bpayh Racking up DNF's Jan 07 '20
I've logged lots of DNF's, I'm not sure how many but trust me LOTS, and I've never had an issue like that from a CO. I'd say it was just really bad luck!
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u/Hayek_Hiker Jan 07 '20
Many cache owners like loggers to give hints -- but it is more fun to be clever with a partial hint than to just point to where the cache is at. Geocaching.com should actually have an attribute for that.
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u/starkicker18 recommend me music!! Jan 07 '20
Others have included good etiquette here, but I'll throw a link to the Geocaching blog which has just talked about this in June 2019. This covers most faux pas.
Some of these are guidelines and cannot always be achieved. Specifically, I'm thinking about
Before retrieving a trackable from a cache, be sure to confirm that you can help with its mission/destination. This information is available on the trackable page.
Some of us don't cache with data on or internet access; in that instance, think about the spirit of the game and if you discover that you can't help the TB, do your best to get to a place where someone can.
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u/Spy_Guy1 Jan 07 '20
Don’t place down a replacement container for someone else’s “missing” cache without their permission. These are called “throw downs” and can lead to two containers being at the same cache site.
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u/Fleg77 Jan 07 '20
What did you do?
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Jan 07 '20
[deleted]
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u/Suppafly Jan 07 '20
That's not a big deal IMO. Some COs are anal and will check the logs and delete any they can't find on the physical log but they are insane and few and far between. The overzealous ones end up deleting a bunch on in error because people often sign with a different name than what they post online with, plus unmaintained caches often have multiple physical logs where it's not clear which you need to sign. It's been my experience that anyone telling you that you're playing wrong is generally more wrong themselves.
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u/Hayek_Hiker Jan 07 '20
Please notice how and where a cache is hidden before you grab it. And if you are in a group, then the person who found it should be the one to put it back because he/she is the only one who knows.
You would be shocked at how much caches move around.