View Full Version : What does "gas saver" mean?



88seriesiii
04-27-2009, 11:32 PM
At the risk of sounding like a total "newbie".. (ok I am, I've still found less than 100 GC's), What does a "gas saver" cache mean? I've seen many around trail heads, and have found several, but I dont feel like I've saved any gas driving to them? :confused:
Why aren't they called trail head caches? Am I looking at this all wrong?

..TR

Trick or Treat
04-28-2009, 01:27 AM
It means there is more than one cache in the area. So you'd park, find one cache around the trailhead and then find atleast one more on the trail, sometimes more than one. It's a twofor, or threefor...you get the idea!

brdad
04-28-2009, 06:00 AM
I'm sure to get a few hate mails for this, but they've been slowing down lately. :)

Gas Saver caches have been incorrectly named. You are correct, they don't save you any gas at all. They should have been named Number Jumper caches! They give you a chance to get a 'quick' extra cache next to the road when the original cache hider thought he'd give you some exercise and make you walk 600 feet or more into the woods to see that unique location, instead of showing you that guardrail at the trail head. :rolleyes:

Quick stats - Maine has 21 Gas Saver caches, one is archived.
14 - micro
7 - small

3 - 1* difficulty
14 - 1.5* difficulty
3 - 2* difficulty
1 - 4.5* difficulty

2 - 1* terrain
18 - 1.5* terrain
1 - 2* terrain

And in case you find the 4.5 difficulty suspicious for a Gas Saver cache, you are correct. It is incorrectly rated. The Difficulty was increased because it is a long drive to the location, not because the actual cache is hard to find. :( To make matters worse, it appears it could be missing and the cache placer lives out of state. :(:confused::(

Team2hunt
04-28-2009, 06:13 AM
Before there were child waypoints on the cache page. One of the first reasons for a gas saver, was due to the lack of parking or trail head coordinates posted on the page. A cache could be placed where you should park and then at the trail head. Knowing where to park would save you gas, because you would not get lost looking for where to start.

Thus the name......" Gas saver "

brdad
04-28-2009, 06:43 AM
Before there were child waypoints on the cache page. One of the first reasons for a gas saver, was due to the lack of parking or trail head coordinates posted on the page. A cache could be placed where you should park and then at the trail head. Knowing where to park would save you gas, because you would not get lost looking for where to start.

Thus the name......" Gas saver "

This is one of the pet peeves I have with Gas Savers. If the Gas Saver cache is placed by the person who placed the other cache(s) down the trail, I don't have a problem with it. A great example of this is HIRUNDO - GAS SAVER (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5be41161-674e-470c-a0c4-6dc3a19bcd37) (GC1BY6Q) by Friend of Hirundo (http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?id=506328) (1/1.5).

However, I have seen several Gas Saver caches which were placed by people other than those who placed the caches up the trail. I'm sure it bothers me more than many, but I think if a cache placer wanted to give parking coords, he would have done so. If I had a cache I purposely wanted cachers to work to find the trail head, I would be upset if a Gas Saver cache was placed there.

Also, before there were child waypoints on a cache page, multicaches were still an option. But, multis don't help with the numbers as much. ;) I have a multi that uses stages to locate the parking and trail points just to keep people on track. I could have made them all separate caches. But that's just not my style!

Team2hunt
04-28-2009, 05:20 PM
I too enjoy the planning it sometimes takes to find the parking and trail head for a cache. A true purist would agree and I think you do Brdad.

Easiest solution would be to exclude them from GSAK and you would never even know they were there.

Gob-ler
04-28-2009, 05:20 PM
At the risk of getting flamed, i think the OP's question should be answered simply without the ensuing opinion/rant being added.

For some time I have been quiet, but now I will say that the thread should not be hijacked.

It happens way to often here.

I think a new thread should be started for the rant portion and leave the opinion of how Dave thinks Geocaching should be to that thread and that thread alone.

Maybe I am alone in that feeling, but thats how I feel.

Oh yes, a gas saver is a gas saver when you can get one or more caches in a particular place in a single trip. It's not about the numbers at all, it is about caching.

WhereRWe?
04-28-2009, 07:26 PM
It's not about the numbers at all, it is about caching.

That's a matter of opinion...



Maybe I am alone in that feeling, but thats how I feel.


Me too.

pjpreb
04-28-2009, 07:38 PM
Well having spent a summer in a walking cast I found a new appreciation for guardrail caches (GRC's) and light post caches (LPC's) as that was all that I was able to do. :) Last weekend I was fortunate to be able to do a 33 stage multi in Central Park, New York which took us 7 hours and 12 miles (GC17MX1) :eek:. I am grateful for the spectrum of cache terrain and ability. I think all caches (including gas saver, LPC's and GRC's) have their place in this activity/sport/hobby and people are free to take what they like and leave the rest.

Ekidokai
04-28-2009, 08:08 PM
I hate Nano's!

brdad
04-28-2009, 08:23 PM
Forgive me for giving my opinion of what a Gas Saver cache is. I thought that was the topic.

If anyone is wondering what I think a cache should be, read my Anatomy of a Great Cache Hide (http://www.geocachingmaine.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1564) article.

Does anyone have any stats on how much fuel they have saved finding Gas Saver caches?

Mapachi
04-28-2009, 08:51 PM
Forgive me for giving my opinion of what a Gas Saver cache is. I thought that was the topic.

If anyone is wondering what I think a cache should be, read my Anatomy of a Great Cache Hide (http://www.geocachingmaine.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1564) article.

Does anyone have any stats on how much fuel they have saved finding Gas Saver caches?
Don't cha' use Gas to get to the Gas Saver? Wouldn't the ones you hike to be the REAL gas saver?......just sayin'

dubord207
04-29-2009, 06:17 AM
Yikes....This was a very easy question and there was a quick and accurate initial response. Maybe I should post the question on the Maine Trial Lawyers site where trivia like this is debated daily!

And who cares if some don't care for this type of cache. While I have my favorites, I can honestly say I like them all and being critical of any particular type of cache is likely to create negativity in the caching community. My "pet peeve" is when an opinion is expressed that suggests a type of cache, the way one caches, why you cache, etc. is "better" or more "pure" then the way another cacher might do it. It's a GAME, and we all do it the way we like to do it.

Some of the responses to this simple inquiry should have been the subject of a different thread. How about one that is called "Pet Peeve caches?" Or "Caches I don't care for?" Or "How we used to cache in the good old days?"

robt
04-29-2009, 01:38 PM
Yikes....This was a very easy question and there was a quick and accurate initial response. Maybe I should post the question on the Maine Trial Lawyers site where trivia like this is debated daily!

And who cares if some don't care for this type of cache. While I have my favorites, I can honestly say I like them all and being critical of any particular type of cache is likely to create negativity in the caching community. My "pet peeve" is when an opinion is expressed that suggests a type of cache, the way one caches, why you cache, etc. is "better" or more "pure" then the way another cacher might do it. It's a GAME, and we all do it the way we like to do it.

Some of the responses to this simple inquiry should have been the subject of a different thread. How about one that is called "Pet Peeve caches?" Or "Caches I don't care for?" Or "How we used to cache in the good old days?"

Dubord,

When I here alot of negative about a chace type I usually find a way to put out a really cool cache that uses that in the cache. :) The example I did was back when people were complaining about Walmart lamp post caches I put up Be your own GPS puzzle cache wiht the posted coordinates as a wall mart Lamp post with out a cache. :D:D:D:D

Mapachi
04-30-2009, 07:26 AM
Dubord,

When I here alot of negative about a chace type I usually find a way to put out a really cool cache that uses that in the cache. :) The example I did was back when people were complaining about Walmart lamp post caches I put up Be your own GPS puzzle cache wiht the posted coordinates as a wall mart Lamp post with out a cache. :D:D:D:D
Like a cache hidden in a fake "Doggie Do Do" in the bushes next to a rest stop?!.......I had that idea but nixed it! I might have called it "Nasty Nano". Or "Dog Gone Cache"!

brdad
04-30-2009, 09:24 AM
Dubord,

When I here alot of negative about a chace type I usually find a way to put out a really cool cache that uses that in the cache. :) The example I did was back when people were complaining about Walmart lamp post caches I put up Be your own GPS puzzle cache wiht the posted coordinates as a wall mart Lamp post with out a cache. :D:D:D:D

This is what I like to see. Don't do what's been done, step it up a notch! People, especially us Mainers are much more resourceful than they think they are!

WhereRWe?
04-30-2009, 11:41 AM
This is what I like to see. Don't do what's been done, step it up a notch! People, especially us Mainers are much more resourceful than they think they are!

I like a lot of Laughing Terry's caches which are like that: LPCs or GRCs, but with a unique twist that make them hard to find or otherwise interesting. :D:D

88seriesiii
04-30-2009, 11:16 PM
Thanks everyone for the replies.. It has been some interesting reading and it certainly provided a wealth of answers to my question... Cache on!

Sudonim
05-04-2009, 01:06 PM
Not all GRC's are created equal!
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=168ab855-2933-47e7-ab78-ed5deb4b1261&log=y&decrypt=y
IMO the first GRC was most likely a fun hide. They just got done so much that the surprise of the find is gone for many. A cache with a twist is welcome in any setting.

EvilHomer
05-05-2009, 09:02 AM
I hate Nano's!


Hmmmm..... Ekidokai Honorary NANO cache. Im on it! : )

addisonbr
05-13-2009, 03:51 PM
Well having spent a summer in a walking cast I found a new appreciation for guardrail caches (GRC's) and light post caches (LPC's) as that was all that I was able to do. :) Last weekend I was fortunate to be able to do a 33 stage multi in Central Park, New York which took us 7 hours and 12 miles (GC17MX1) :eek:.
I've got the logbook in my hand right now, and yours says "4/18 pjpreb - Ski Fast!"

...Is that how you ended up in a cast? :D

pjpreb
05-13-2009, 06:42 PM
I've got the logbook in my hand right now, and yours says "4/18 pjpreb - Ski Fast!"

...Is that how you ended up in a cast? :D

ahh if it were only that cool of a story... I foolishly thought I could train and run in a 5K and got a stress fracture instead. I've learned to leave the running to young folks and when there is a bear chasing me :eek: