[Az-Geocaching] Special equipment

[Terry Hernlund]

Replies inline...

> Terrain and Difficulty are often used as filtering
> tools. There's no way I'd take my daughter to a cache
> rated as a 4 or higher terrain. Maybe you have the
> time and inclination to read throughthe descriptions
> of, what, is AZ over 1000 caches yet? But I certainly
> don't.
>

Are you saying that you go out for 1000 caches at a time?

> If the ratings are consistent, and people stop
> branching off on their own, then it becomes a lot
> easier to search for caches.  When people do their own
> thing and there is no consistency, finding appropriate
> caches to go after is more work than fun.
>

Agreed, but doesn't speak to my point.

> Think of it this way, would you get upset if you went
> to a four step multi-stage, that said you needed to
> bring a calculator, with a 1/2 rating and discovered
> the last stage required you to do calculus? Sure, the
> special equipment requirement was specified but the
> level of skill operating that equipment wasn't and the
> fact that the equipment was needed anyway, means it
> should be listed as a 5.
>

I was talking about terrain (which unless I'm mistaken is what the thread
was talking about), not difficulty.  The cache you describe would no doubt
be a 5 difficulty, but could very easily be a 1 terrain.

Moot anyway.  I think you misunderstand me.  I'm not knocking the rating
system, I'm simply saying that as difficulty AND terrain rating rise, you
really ought to be reading the description.  If you don't read the
description on a 5-rated cache, you'll likely get as much enjoymentout of it
as research you put in.  None.


-T.
[General Bracket]