vb:literal>

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 22

Thread: What does "gas saver" mean?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Southern Maine
    Posts
    7

    Default What does "gas saver" mean?

    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?
    Why aren't they called trail head caches? Am I looking at this all wrong?

    ..TR

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Freeport, Maine
    Posts
    241

    Default

    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!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Bangor, ME
    Posts
    6,343

    Default

    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.

    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.
    Last edited by brdad; 04-28-2009 at 06:35 AM.
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,972

    Smile Another reason.....

    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 "
    Why not live life like it is your last day....instead of pretending to be a member of the Peter Pan Club and believing you will be around forever.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Bangor, ME
    Posts
    6,343

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Team2hunt View Post
    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 (GC1BY6Q) by Friend of Hirundo (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!
    Last edited by brdad; 04-28-2009 at 06:51 AM.
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,972

    Thumbs up well spoken....

    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.
    Why not live life like it is your last day....instead of pretending to be a member of the Peter Pan Club and believing you will be around forever.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    539

    Default

    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.
    I'd really rather not cache, but I am helpless in the grip of my compulsion!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Solon, Maine
    Posts
    5,965

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Gob-ler View Post
    It's not about the numbers at all, it is about caching.
    That's a matter of opinion...

    Quote Originally Posted by Gob-ler View Post
    Maybe I am alone in that feeling, but thats how I feel.
    Me too.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Auburn, Maine
    Posts
    635

    Default

    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) . 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.
    If you want to try cross country skiing, start with a small country

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    America
    Posts
    2,578

    Default

    I hate Nano's!
    I have no enemies, but I'm intensely disliked by my friends.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •