OpenCaching.com – Dartmoor Geocaching

OpenCaching.com

Brentorboxer — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 16:08:37 +0000

I am not registered with them but you can look anyway, Andrew_DNPA has 9 out went live yesterday 20th June the cache page says: Geocache placed by Dartmoor National Park Authority as part of the Active Summer exhibition at Princetown Visitor Centre.
I doubt it will catch on the other opencaching never did, shame really as they do not have reviewers!

Reply To: OpenCaching.com

dartymoor — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 06:35:40 +0000

opencaching.com does have reviewers – if you submit (and I have quite a few on there), there is a period of submission where your cache is peer reviewed, and if no negatives are posted it will be approved.

An interesting system.

Drawbacks:

1.Somebody with a grudge could consistently blackmark your caches.

2. Nobody uses it.

Of the caches I’ve had on there for over a year, I’ve had 3 or 4 finds. I put a cache out by Venford about 8 months ago and listed only there which has not yet had a single attempt.

I’m guessing DNPA have had GPSr’s donated by Garmin on the provision they place and promote caches much as the National Trust have done for a few years now.

I see nothing bad about doing this, and much good.

Reply To: OpenCaching.com

The Hamian Explorers — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:21:02 +0000

It also means that the DNPA are actively PRO-caching, so they may have something to say about the ban themselves!

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dartymoor — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 15:22:28 +0000

Just as a follow up to my previous post – the day after I mention my only-listed-on-opencaching.com cache has not been found, Plymbridge Runner finds it. Coincidence!

FTF after nine months for something a quarter of a mile from a car park. Bit different! Anyway, off-topic now.

Reply To: OpenCaching.com

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 22:23:19 +0000

Certainly no coincidence, Dartymoor highlighted the cache in a previous post; I visited Opencaching for the first time this morning and went out to find the cache in question. After a very short walk cache was found. As I have indicated in my log for that cache and my email to Dartymoor, I was not the first to find this cache, a previous visitor has written in pencil “Hello nice people, what is this”. I feel for sure that someone has just stumbled across the cache, and fortunately just added the remark and left it in place, but what if it was far more sinister than that simple explanation.
I have replaced this cache as best I could, but at least half of the tree that it is in is rotten and will blow down in strong winds.

Reply To: OpenCaching.com

dartymoor — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 05:36:35 +0000

Thanks for clearing that up, PR!

I agree the opencaching.com site is interesting, and good that they’ve not just copied either .org.uk or geocaching.com and some things are much easier (getting a gpx), but poking further you realise a lot of the deeper stuff isn’t there. I found it difficult to contact you through the site, for example – and ended up going to geocaching.com!

Garmin have certainly pushed it hard, and upgraded basecamp and many GPS’s to accomodate them. Opencaching caches appear differently on my Oregons – showing lots of different ratings, including one called “Awesomeness”… (Icky americanisms!)

But it’s a worthy site and one day there may be more users. I certainly keep an eye.

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finderman — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 09:51:00 +0000

My opinion of open caching is that it has jumped on the bandwagon just like munzee. Geocaching is successful because it is beyond just finding the box it’s the whole experience.
It’s about reading the logs before you visit. Writing your log after you visit. Uploading a photo. Finding a TB. Comparing stats. Checking visitor numbers. Geocaching is global. I know I could visit a cache in most of the worlds travel destinations. Can the same be said for open caching?

I will stay with geocaching because it gives me everything I need. It is a well oiled machine.

Why have blue nun when you can have champagne?

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Jaughan — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 13:16:56 +0000

I didn’t know about the opencaching.com site but all of these small sites suffer from the same problem- lack of critical mass. Too few caches, too few cachers, too little resources, too little anything. At least the opencaching.com seems to have some resources. But I am not at all sure I could cope with a caching ranking system which includes “awesomeness”. For me the list is a major thing but if I start dipping in and out of various sites the list goes to pot.

Reply To: OpenCaching.com

Dartmoor Dave — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 13:33:16 +0000

For the time being at least it is probably best to work together to make geocaching.com work better for everybody. I think all would agree that they have the best web site and functionality, and certainly the best critical mass by a very long way, although many would disagree with some of their policies and methods.

However, history proves that nothing is for ever – who would have dreamt that the IBM of the 60s and 70s would lose its way or Microsoft of the 80s and 90s a similar fate. And even Google is beginning to show a few cracks now!

Unfortunately these changes seem to be measured in decades and we are probably hoping for something quicker 🙂

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clownpunchers — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 13:59:57 +0000

Is opencaching free? I know geocaching.com is if you don’t go premium, but I never really understood why we should pay for the privilege of using their website.

It wouldn’t make a lot of sense in using OC I guess, as there is simply not enough people on there to make it work. Also, would OC be so quick to ban geocaches and make stupid rules? Or are they subject by the same powers that be?