[HangingKayaker]

Does the rising cost of gas put a dent in your ability to go out caching? Personally, I try to find and area where I can park and wander in the bush for a couple of hours hunting caches. I'm trying to stay away from driving from cache to cache. As the wetaher gets nicer my bike comes out and I like getting into areas that a vehicle can't get to.

[knowschad]

Nope. Still the cheapest hobby that I know of. I do prefer to cache where I get to walk, rather than to drive from cache-to-cache, but it has nothing to do with gas prices.


In before the move. This is a geocaching topic.

[TheAlabamaRambler]

Between geocaching and regularly traveling to geocaching events all over the country gas was eating my budget up.

Rising gas prices these last few years prompted me to trade my 8mpg Custom Dualie Suburban for a 16mpg Tahoe and then trade that for a 24mpg HHR.
Of course by the time I bought the HHR my traveling had really slowed down and I could have afforded to keep the Suburban that I loved. Grrr.

[Sol seaker]

The more the gas prices go up, the more area I've cleared out around my house.
I guess I'm just going to have to move.












(just like this thread. IBTM)

[Harry Dolphin]

Naw. At $3.73 per gallon, it's still not having a major impact for me. $28 gas for a nice weekend of geocaching? I can deal with that. I was looking at the alternative for this weekend. I'd love to see Porgy and Bess on Broadway! Saturday matinee tickets are $150 per ticket. I've always wanted to see Porgy and Bess! But at $300 for two tickets, as opposed to $38 for two days of geocaching, I guess we'll go geocaching! The tickets for Jesus Christ Superstar are a bit cheaper, but still well over $250 for two.

[Michaelcycle]

A picture is worth, well you know...



Of course soon it will be time for:



Maybe this weekend!!

This post has been edited by Michaelcycle: 12 April 2012 - 07:28 PM

[bittsen]

Gas prices have affected my caching. Well, that and a lack of time.
I don't go after FTF's much anymore because it was costing way too much for gas.

[SwineFlew]

Yes, I really cut back on caching due to climbing gas prices. I quit the FTF game long time ago and rarely do them because I believe its a waste of gas to be the first to find.

[tttedzeins]

Our prices are US$6.40 per gallon. The only thing affecting my caching is the distance to the nearest cache, approximately 500 miles.
My next caching trip is hopefully going to be 25 days in Russia.

[A & J Tooling]

I'm spending an extra 100 bucks a month (gas) just for caching. A small price to pay for so much fun.

[Team Dennis]

Yes, it has. I'll still go 10-20 miles to find caches, but I'm going to be looking for areas that I can hike/bike all day and then turn around and head home.

[Planet]

We are over $4/Gallon now. Probably $4.09 average. It does cramp my driving style. I have to come straight home now and go straight there, no detoured scenic routes. But I will give up a whole lot of other things before I give up driving where I want to go.

[knowschad]

Planet, on 13 April 2012 - 07:56 AM, said:

We are over $4/Gallon now. Probably $4.09 average. It does cramp my driving style. I have to come straight home now and go straight there, no detoured scenic routes. But I will give up a whole lot of other things before I give up driving where I want to go.

We've actually been dropping... about 20 cents since its recent high of $3.80-something. It was down to $3.60-something last night. Yes, I consider myself fortunate.



Why is this geocaching thread still here? I just don't get the logic of thread moves around here.

[TheAlabamaRambler]

SwineFlew, on 12 April 2012 - 08:46 PM, said:

Yes, I really cut back on caching due to climbing gas prices. I quit the FTF game long time ago and rarely do them because I believe its a waste of gas to be the first to find.

How is being FTF more expensive than, say, 20th to find? Because if it's cheaper to wait a while I can do that.

[Ed_M]

Nope. I just cache wherever I already am.

Now, what it just did to the cost of getting my driveway redone... OUCH!

[knowschad]

TheAlabamaRambler, on 16 April 2012 - 11:57 AM, said:

SwineFlew, on 12 April 2012 - 08:46 PM, said:

Yes, I really cut back on caching due to climbing gas prices. I quit the FTF game long time ago and rarely do them because I believe its a waste of gas to be the first to find.

How is being FTF more expensive than, say, 20th to find? Because if it's cheaper to wait a while I can do that.

First To Fuel?

[GeoGeeBee]

TheAlabamaRambler, on 16 April 2012 - 11:57 AM, said:

SwineFlew, on 12 April 2012 - 08:46 PM, said:

Yes, I really cut back on caching due to climbing gas prices. I quit the FTF game long time ago and rarely do them because I believe its a waste of gas to be the first to find.

How is being FTF more expensive than, say, 20th to find? Because if it's cheaper to wait a while I can do that.

If you want to be FTF, then you rush out as soon as your email notifies you of the new cache. You make a special trip to wherever that cache is, find it, and then (probably) go back home.

Whereas, on a normal caching day, you plan a run that will yield a number of caches in the same area.

So in terms of GPC (Gallons Per Cache), being FTF costs more.

[SwineFlew]

GeoGeeBee, on 17 April 2012 - 07:10 AM, said:

TheAlabamaRambler, on 16 April 2012 - 11:57 AM, said:

SwineFlew, on 12 April 2012 - 08:46 PM, said:

Yes, I really cut back on caching due to climbing gas prices. I quit the FTF game long time ago and rarely do them because I believe its a waste of gas to be the first to find.

How is being FTF more expensive than, say, 20th to find? Because if it's cheaper to wait a while I can do that.

If you want to be FTF, then you rush out as soon as your email notifies you of the new cache. You make a special trip to wherever that cache is, find it, and then (probably) go back home.

Whereas, on a normal caching day, you plan a run that will yield a number of caches in the same area.

So in terms of GPC (Gallons Per Cache), being FTF costs more.

Thank you.

[popokiiti]

Gas was $1.32 a litre here today. Yesterday, it was $1.23. Prices are going up and down - down a cent at a time, then a big jump back to where it was or higher still. It seems as if we've been having a gas war locally for a while. I fill up where I am a member and get 5 cents a litre back at the end of the year. Enough for half a tank, better than nothing. For less than $10 more I can fill with premium, and if all driving is the same, I get an extra week between fills. My friend has a smaller vehicle, but with all the school runs and after school activities, she's at the gas station a lot.

[tttedzeins]

How much would you pay for 64.4 litres of diesel




1/3 of a tank

This post has been edited by tttedzeins: 20 April 2012 - 10:42 PM

[aminalguy]

Having two little kids, deployment, and working on houses have cramped our geocaching style more than gas prices. With the kiddos, we really need to have a place where we can walk between a bunch of them. Before we bought our house in WA, we kicked up our caching because there were a lot of places like that in the Tacoma/Fort Lewis area. I haven't looked at how many are up here in Alaska, but this town is small enough that you could comfortably walk just about anywhere from the house we're working on buying, so I imagine we will pick up caching much more over the summer.

[The Cheeseheads]

Tossing this off-topic Off Topic thread to the correct forum.

[JesandTodd]

Nope. But I've only been living here a year and still have tons and tons of caches within 50 miles.

Gas was $4.59 last I fueled up, but I use super premium gas. I think for the cheap gas it's about 4.09.

[akkatracker]

tttedzeins, on 20 April 2012 - 10:41 PM, said:

How much would you pay for 64.4 litres of diesel




1/3 of a tank

Wow that's quite a bit
Here in Oz we pay about $1.60 a litre for diesel
And about $1.50 for Unleaded 98

Gas prices don't affect the caching as the company pays for gas

[The_Incredibles_]

Nope. The limiting factor for me right now is time.

[Scubasonic]

knowschad, on 12 April 2012 - 02:18 PM, said:

Nope. Still the cheapest hobby that I know of. I do prefer to cache where I get to walk, rather than to drive from cache-to-cache, but it has nothing to do with gas prices.


In before the move. This is a geocaching topic.

+1 yep what can you do cheaper just get someone to go with me and split the gas at the end of the day

[zack_black]

Gas prices go up - always have - always will.

Why is this a surprise to anyone?

[Mr.Yuck]

zack_black, on 21 April 2012 - 06:22 PM, said:

Gas prices go up - always have - always will.

Why is this a surprise to anyone?

I don't want to break out with a history of gas prices, but no, they don't always go up. They are near the all-time high of July 2008. And it wouldn't have been an all-time high if they didn't go down between then and now.

Hasn't affected me too much yet, and Gas actually went down about 4 cents a gallon in Western NY State last week. I'm looking at $4.04-$4.10 a gallon range.

EDIT: I just saw Mr. Dolphin's post. Not bad, $3.73. In my experience, New Jersey has always had the lowest gas prices in what Groundspeak defines as The Mid-Atlantic Region.

This post has been edited by Mr.Yuck: 22 April 2012 - 05:04 AM

[tttedzeins]

akkatracker, on 21 April 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

tttedzeins, on 20 April 2012 - 10:41 PM, said:

How much would you pay for 64.4 litres of diesel


1/3 of a tank

Wow that's quite a bit
Here in Oz we pay about $1.60 a litre for diesel
And about $1.50 for Unleaded 98

Gas prices don't affect the caching as the company pays for gas

Kings Creek Station, NT

[power69]

HangingKayaker, on 12 April 2012 - 02:05 PM, said:

Does the rising cost of gas put a dent in your ability to go out caching? Personally, I try to find and area where I can park and wander in the bush for a couple of hours hunting caches. I'm trying to stay away from driving from cache to cache. As the wetaher gets nicer my bike comes out and I like getting into areas that a vehicle can't get to.

being bike only, i don't buy gas[unless someones taking me caching with them]
i've pretty much cached out the bikable caches around here.
no interest in caches that take 4 hours to get to, 15 seconds to find, 4 hours to return from.

[uxorious]

The only real differece for me will be which vehicle I use.

I do most of my caching with my Honda CRV, gets pretty good mileage for what it is.
However, I do like to take my 22 ft. motorhome sometimes. At my age it is nice to have a bathroom with me, and a conveniant place to rest and make a cup of coffee, after a short little walk into a park or wooded area.

As the price of gas goes up, the number of times I use the motorhome for a day trip will go down. But the number of times I go caching won't change.

This post has been edited by uxorious: 22 April 2012 - 09:34 AM

[duncanhoyle]

Hello from England. I thought I'd give you a perspective from over here.
This morning when I filled up the car standard unleaded petrol/gas was £1.38 per litre. I think that equates to about $8.30 per US gallon. Yes, you read that right! Diesel was about £1.44 per litre I think. Most of that price is (I think) made up of tax and we'll be seeing another tax increase later this year. There's already been chaos this year caused by fuel tanker drivers striking for a day or 2. I think they're planning to strike again soon.
Yes, it does make me consider caching trips carefully but didn't stop me recently completing a run of 100 days:-) Most of the time I try to plan complete days to maximise my fuel usage rather than just heading out for the odd cache.

Forgot to say - I drive a Prius so my consumption is about 57mpg, which makes me a lot better off than many in less effecient vehicles

This post has been edited by duncanhoyle: 22 April 2012 - 10:23 AM

[Ambrosia]

I remember when gas went up to A WHOLE DOLLAR. So shocking. Wouldn't that be nice to see again? Drive for a quarter of the amount of money it takes to drive now?

[Chokecherry]

Usually I only cache on the weekends. And typically I will go to an area with a few caches I want to find. Gas prices probably won't impact me much. I don't go on fancy vacations or anything so I save some recreational money there. I don't have a motor home or anything so I save some money there. My job is now closer to home so I'm not driving 60 miles a day to get to and from work and this job pays better too so I have more cushion in my budget for caching.

[power69]

duncanhoyle, on 22 April 2012 - 10:22 AM, said:

Hello from England. I thought I'd give you a perspective from over here.
This morning when I filled up the car standard unleaded petrol/gas was £1.38 per litre. I think that equates to about $8.30 per US gallon. Yes, you read that right!

not shocking since you figure somethings paying for free euro healthcare!

[uxorious]

For those that think the price of gas has always gone up, and it isn't a big deal.

When I bought my first car, gas was between 19 and 25 cents a gal for regular. I was earning $1.87 an hour.

Now the same job would pay maybe $10. and hour, and gas is right around $4. a gal.

I could buy 5 to 8 gals. with an hours worth of pay. Now you can only buy about 2.5 gals with the same amount of work.

When I worked at a gas station, it was rare for a fill up to cost more than a single gallon costs now. Some of the kids in my school drove cars that cost less than a fill up on my pick-up does today. (A fifty dollar car would get you around for a while. )

Every thing has gone up, but the cost of gas, a new car, and a home, has gone up way out of proportion to the average income.

This post has been edited by uxorious: 23 April 2012 - 08:04 AM

[StarBrand]

Those of us out here in the rural areas are forced to drive a bit more for almost everything we do. Gas prices start playing a big part of my budget these days.

I try not to let it control my life though.

[kassimaja]

Stop complaining. In Norway the gas price is almost $10 per gallon...

[sTeamTraen]

duncanhoyle, on 22 April 2012 - 10:22 AM, said:

There's already been chaos this year caused by fuel tanker drivers striking for a day or 2. I think they're planning to strike again soon.

Actually, no strike took place. The chaos was based on the threat of them striking, not helped by the government giving contradictory advice on what seemed like an hour-by-hour basis.

One advantage (I'm a glass-half-full person!) of high tax on fuel is that when the price doubles in the US, it only goes up by 25% in Europe.

[Nomesquad]

The gas prices as they stand right now haven't slowed us down any - a weekend of camping and caching or a 3-4 hour cache run in the morning on a Saturday is still WAY cheaper than trying to take the family out to eat at a restaurant or going to get movie tickets for 5-6 of us.

[DragonsWest]

Those speculators have to make a living somehow. Remember how the price plummeted after the 2008 financial collapse? Some malarkey about lowered demand was what the news reported, but the reality was speculators were bringing their boats in to sell, sell, sell as they needed financial liquidity. The price of oil doesn't justify the price we're paying at the pump, it's being manipulated for profit. If there were a blip in financials again, we'd see these leeches bring in their boats again. I really did expect something to happen in the past week, when hearing the president wanted to take on speculators, to get the gas prices closer to market reality. Prices at the pump should be at least 75 cents less, but I chalk it up to election year. Seems in recent memory the price goes up during the four year election cycle and then drops after the election. Be interesting to see it that happens again.

As for putting a dent in caching, well, it makes me chose my trips a little more carefully. I have to spend more time making sure I'm OK with the extra $20 for a longer trip, like I did Saturday, north of Sacramento. Nice trip, but oh, that price of gas is nasty.

[Ambrosia]

Nomesquad, on 23 April 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

The gas prices as they stand right now haven't slowed us down any - a weekend of camping and caching or a 3-4 hour cache run in the morning on a Saturday is still WAY cheaper than trying to take the family out to eat at a restaurant or going to get movie tickets for 5-6 of us.

It all depends on how you normally live. We only go to the theatre once or twice a year (anniversary), and go to restaurants extremely rarely.

[harbhippo]

I drive a Prius. So gas prices don't slow down my caching. Even without the excellent mileage I enjoy, I would still enjoy caching.

[DragonsWest]

harbhippo, on 24 April 2012 - 01:15 PM, said:

I drive a Prius. So gas prices don't slow down my caching. Even without the excellent mileage I enjoy, I would still enjoy caching.

I'm so glad I got the car I did, when I last bought a new one -- Wish it was a little better, but doing 30+ MPG is a help. Can't imagine what it would be like if I still had the big pickup truck, which was lucky to see 18 MPG. Still, whatever I get next will have to do 40 or better.

[Glenn]

duncanhoyle, on 22 April 2012 - 10:22 AM, said:

Hello from England. I thought I'd give you a perspective from over here.
This morning when I filled up the car standard unleaded petrol/gas was £1.38 per litre. I think that equates to about $8.30 per US gallon. Yes, you read that right! Diesel was about £1.44 per litre I think. Most of that price is (I think) made up of tax and we'll be seeing another tax increase later this year. There's already been chaos this year caused by fuel tanker drivers striking for a day or 2. I think they're planning to strike again soon.
Yes, it does make me consider caching trips carefully but didn't stop me recently completing a run of 100 days:-) Most of the time I try to plan complete days to maximise my fuel usage rather than just heading out for the odd cache.

Forgot to say - I drive a Prius so my consumption is about 57mpg, which makes me a lot better off than many in less effecient vehicles

Here is a little more perspective. You can drive from the North to the South of England in a little over 12 hours. It takes 4 times as long, 2 days of non-stop driving, to go from West to the East coast of the United States. England is about the size of the State of Louisiana. Louisiana is the 31st largest State.

[tttedzeins]

Ambrosia, on 22 April 2012 - 11:00 AM, said:

I remember when gas went up to A WHOLE DOLLAR. So shocking. Wouldn't that be nice to see again? Drive for a quarter of the amount of money it takes to drive now?

When it went to over R1 per litre in South Africa, I got a job with Shell travelling around the country setting the bowsers back to 50c and then explaining to the attendants how to do the conversion. The bowsers did not have the capacity to charge over 99c / litre. It was an awesome job

[mvarley84]

The yanks on here don't know how good they have it!!! Here in Canada, we are paying $1.30 a litre...which works out to be $4.94/US Gallon.

[Glenn]

mvarley84, on 25 April 2012 - 03:11 AM, said:

The yanks on here don't know how good they have it!!! Here in Canada, we are paying $1.30 a litre...which works out to be $4.94/US Gallon.

Ah, but you do have "free" health care. Nothing is really free. Until you can convince Doctors and Nurses to work for free, you pay for it in some way. You just have to hope you don't die while waiting for a life saving procedure to get approved. It isn't like you can drop your insurance company and go to another one when you are getting poor service!

[DragonsWest]

mvarley84, on 25 April 2012 - 03:11 AM, said:

The yanks on here don't know how good they have it!!! Here in Canada, we are paying $1.30 a litre...which works out to be $4.94/US Gallon.

Yep. We do moan. But that's because we've been doing everything to ensure our petroleum addiction remains high:

Built highways everhwere, removed passenger trains everwhere.
Film, television, books, etc, glorying petrol guzzling vehicles.
Stick our noses into the affairs of other countries to ensure a steady supply.


We'll be at 10$ a gallon some day, too. Hopefully we start moving back to a decent national rail network, but I dont' see it happening soon.

[The_Incredibles_]

Glenn, on 25 April 2012 - 04:52 AM, said:

mvarley84, on 25 April 2012 - 03:11 AM, said:

The yanks on here don't know how good they have it!!! Here in Canada, we are paying $1.30 a litre...which works out to be $4.94/US Gallon.

Ah, but you do have "free" health care. Nothing is really free. Until you can convince Doctors and Nurses to work for free, you pay for it in some way. You just have to hope you don't die while waiting for a life saving procedure to get approved. It isn't like you can drop your insurance company and go to another one when you are getting poor service!

Actually, it is "free" for the many freeloaders that live in our country. As for those of us who actually support ourselves, it costs our family $128/month.