While I do not cache for numbers, it is sometimes cool to see how you are doing. Not as a comparison to anyone else but simply as a reflection. I have noticed lately several profiles that had a cool break down of the stats for that particular cacher and the other day I clicked on the link for a stat generator called Cache Stats. What I found was a very cool little program that reads a GPX of your finds, a pocket query that paid members can generate, and parses it to give you a lot of cool things. It will list each hundred level milestone, give you a break down of caches by year, find rates, most finds in a day, parse logs for a phrase such as FTF and cout your FTFs and a whole lot more. It can even allow you to specify a number of find goal and they date you wish to achieve it and then project how many finds per day you will need to get there. Here is a screen shot of the main program:

And a screen that lets you list your favorite caches in several categories:

It also exports the cool HTML code of the stats and even US and world maps for posting on your profile, or other web pages. This output is a bit too big for here, but you can see an example on my GC profile HERE.

As I said, its not about the numbers. But sometimes the numbers are fun to look at…

One of the big questions I have had over the past few years of hunting caches is “Why?”. I am sure you know what I mean. You see a new listing and rush out to find the cache. Only to get there and discover it is a film canister tucked inside a drain pipe on the lower level of the parking garage at the local mall, and you ask “Why?”. Or you see a series of caches all published at once, you quickly look at them and discover they are 10 micros hidden one every 528 feet along a popular jogging trail, and you ask “Why?”.

The biggest common thread I have found in these instances is that the hiders have very few finds. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that anyone should be allowed to hide a cache regardless of their number of finds. I just think that the fewer the finds, the harder it is to understand what makes a good hide. Following this thought pattern I got to thinking what if there was a place that had some great suggestions on location, hide techniques, containers, etc… Well guess what, I found one. Back in August this post was made on Jestcaching. If you are ready to make your first hide, or even if you have made a few but not gotten the response you hoped, I would suggest looking at this post and asking yourself the questions posed.

Remember, the hides you make are how you will be remembered by others in the game…