1 – Go equipped
Having just the right equipment makes for a great Geocaching experience. Spare batteries or a power bank are essential for a day’s intensive caching. Using a GPS puts a strain on mobile phones’ batteries, and there’s nothing more infuriating than coming to the end of the day or on a long series, only to have your phone or GPS die on you. If you are heading up onto the moors or into the mountains, suitable footwear and waterproofs are the absolute minimum. There are lots of articles about what to take available online and it’s well worth spending a little time preparing for an adventure. Check the weather, remember, in the UK, it’s not unusual to have 3 seasons in one day, being wet and miserable is the quickest way to put someone off caching. If you are heading away from the crowds, tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back and don’t forget to check in with them at the end of the day to let them know you reached your destination.
Carry extra logbooks and pencils. We all know that it’s the cache owner’s responsibility to keep caches maintained, but sometimes life gets in the way, and a log gets full or wet. Be kind and drop a new log in for them. Then send them a message to the cache owner informing that you have done some maintenance. If the cache is in a poor state, please don’t slap a “Needs Archiving” on straight away, a simple message to the cache owner or a “Needs some TLC” in your log is sufficient unless it’s obviously been neglected for some time.
2 – Geocaching is both a game and a business
Groundspeak, who manages Geocaching, is a business who make a modest profit. Groundspeak advertises on their Geocaching apps if you are not a premium member, but the advertising is minimal. They don’t get into big contracts to promote other people’s wares, so the money has to come from somewhere! Premium membership is their primary source of funds, and for less than 7p a day, it isn’t a bad deal for websites in 26 languages, geocaches in 191 countries, iPhone and Android Geocaching apps, adventure labs, and Where I Go all included in the price. Hours of fun for a few pence a day!
3 – Play Fair
Don’t be a geocaching tyrant; it’s a game played by lots of people, most of whom you will never meet. Whilst there is a set of rules, people’s interpretation of them may be different from yours. Always remember the cache belongs to the owner, and if they might say no photos of logs, signatures only, they are perfectly within their rights to delete your log if it doesn’t live up to the requirements set out on the geocaching page. If you don’t like this, then avoid that user’s caches and find another one of the more than three million caches worldwide. If you are a cache owner, please try to be understanding; people from all walks of life and all abilities cache. Not everyone is as perfect as you might like or speaks your language.
Reviewers are people too; they are volunteers and fit geocaching in around their lives. You may not agree with the politics, but on the whole, they try to be fair and follow the rules. Work with them to get caches published, check what is required before you submit a cache, and make sure it’s all there. It’s not the reviewer’s job to do the legwork for you. If a cache gets rejected and you don’t understand why, just ask them.
4 – Get Social meet other Cachers
Geocaching can be a bit of a solo adventure, but that’s part of the charm. There are lots of events where caches meet up and share their epic finds and amazing stories. There’s a wide range of events, like Cache In Trash Out, which could be a litter pick or working with an environmental group to remove an invasive species from an area, huge meets at gigs or mega events or alternatively casual meet ups for a meal or BBQ, which in our part of the Wales is known as a “Nosh ‘n’ Natter”. It’s a great way to meet new people and have some fun.
5- SWAG
Caching is a great way to get outdoors as a family, kids love the SWAG. It makes the finds more exciting and keeps them in the caching spirit. The golden (unwritten) rule about SWAG is that if you take something, leave something of equal or greater value. Kids and some adults live for finding treasure, and it’s even better if they can take a new toy home as a reminder of a great day out. If we want to pass the caching sport on to the next generation, we have to make sure they’re excited about it as well.
Here are some ideas for what to put in the SWAG bags:
• Small toys
• Key rings
• Souvenirs like woodies or path tags
• Trading cards (in a waterproof bag)
• Foreign coins
• Rain ponchos
• Benchys
Do not put in: Perishables e.g Sweets that go horrible quickly and mess up the cache, non family friendly items, fireworks, lighters, drugs, alcohol and any illegal materials, although if someone is considering placing any the above items in the ‘Do not put in. list, they really need to have a word with themselves.
Lastly it’s a game, have fun and help each other, it’s really not that difficult 🙂