To maintain or archive a cache
There have been a number of discussions on the forums recently about new cachers, archiving caches and the growth of the sport. In this editorial I suggest one option that can be used to ensure there are enough spots left to place caches for everyone.
I’ve had a couple of discussions with other geocachers recently about the increasing numbers of geocaches being placed in New Zealand, and what this means for current and new geocachers when it comes to placing new geocaches.
When I started caching there were probably only 20 geocaches in the South Island. I had an almost free reign to choose where I wanted to place new caches. As of today, there are 508 listed on geocaching.com and my home-town of Christchurch is swimming in caches!
Whilst New Zealand is a large country and there are plenty of opportunities to place caches, there are vast swathes of land that are private property and cannot be used for placing caches. This means that there will always be a certain limit to the number of caches than can be placed.
What does this mean for current geocachers?
The more caches that are placed by ‘older’ geocachers, the less opportunities will remain for the new geocachers coming onto the scene. But we cannot ask nor expect those that have been geocaching for longer to stop placing caches. But if we keep on as we are, it will become harder and harder for new geocachers to make a valuable contribution to geocaching in New Zealand.
What I intend to do
Naturally, we can’t stop people placing caches, nor would we want to. But I’ve come up with a plan that I think will achieve a good compromise and I want to share with you here what I intend to do.
Firstly, I’m reviewing all of my existing geocaches. with a view to archiving some of them. I’m actively archiving most of the caches that are further away from where I live, so as to free up potential spots for cachers that live closer to place their own caches and to maintain them. This should be done in consultation with other cachers, as they may identify caches that should remain.
I used to think that there was no reason for archiving a cache in a good location, but I had the realisation that because of the increasing density of caches, as soon as one cache is archived in an area, it is highly likely that someone will come along and place a new cache in that spot. This has the added benefit for ‘older’ cachers that they will have newer caches to hunt.
Secondly, I’m holding back from releasing newer caches. As much as I’d like to place many more, I’m trying to be very selective in those I release. In this way space will be left for newer cachers to come along and start placing.
In summary, I don’t think these techniques are a silver bullet to deal with the increasing number of geocaches and cache density in New Zealand. But I think they will play a useful role in making opportunities for new cachers to be able to make placements of their own and maintain their interest in caching.