Principle #5
"I keep my environmental impact as small as possible."
the hind
Writing a good hint doesn't seem to be that easy - many a time I've been in the middle of nowhere and after an unsuccessful search I wanted to decode the hint. And then the display on my Oregon says: "Do you really need this?" Despite all the natural idyll around me, I usually only feel like this afterwards: ...
So that your hints are as helpful as possible, I would like to give a few tips here.
Why a hint at all?
A hint should of course help the searcher and save frustration if he doesn't find what he is looking for despite a long search. But in my opinion the hint has even more important functions:
A hint can curb mindless digging, dismantling, and other destruction, thereby protecting nature . Anyone who has ever looked for a film canister in the forest will know what it usually looks like after just a few finds. A hint could have prevented that many times.
At muggle locations, a hint can be helpful to avoid conspicuous searches . So a cacher does not have to examine every square inch extensively and unnecessarily draw the attention of muggles.
What does a good hint contain?
It usually describes or circumscribes the hiding place or camouflage and thus gives aclear indication of where or how to find the cache . In this way, the cacher knows what to focus on in the further search.
A good hint is short : not every cacher has a device that supports paperless caching. Many cachers print out the listing including the hint and laboriously decrypt it by hand on site. If then in the hint the history of the origin of this cache is reported over four lines, it's just annoying.
For example, many cachers think it's great if the hint is more or less easily encrypted, coming along as something "lyrical" or formulated in some other nebulous way. Example: "Had the dogs" or "Sometimes he sees water flowing" On the home PC, you often don't know what to do with it, but on site it is clear what is meant.
What belongs not into a good hint?
In no case belongs in the hint Advice on a necessary tool , because the cacher will bite his butt when he learns on site that he should have brought a wrench...
Also References to certain times or activities that should be avoided don't belong there, because if the cacher reads this, he has certainly done exactly that before. Such information (tools, opening hours, certain paths that should not be used) belong into the listing .
In a hint, sentences like "Whoever reads this is stupid!", "Do you really need that?" or "Nope, way too easy" don't lose anything, because that subliminally conveys the message of being a complete idiot. If you don't want to give a hint, you should simply leave the field blank.
The note "see spoiler image" is also included useless, because you usually don't have that with you due to the technology.
Basically, a good hint should ultimately result in "one visit, one found-it". As our Ruhrcacher wrote so beautifully: "Whether you read [the hint] or come back is a matter of your own masochism. Whether you show it off or let the cachers come back falls under the sadism of the owner..." Giving a meaningful hint is not a sign of weakness, but of helpfulness.
Remember: we hide our caches primarily from muggles, not from other cachers!