Update on Question #1

     This is just a little update on question #1.
     First - A clarification is called for here on the comments made by Black_Cat, aka Shara.  I believe that I caught her at an 'odd' time, looking back during a night out in Scottsdale.  Shara took the questions as 'sort of a joke' and responded accordingly.  For those of you who know Shara, you also know that she has a 'different' sort of humor.   Once the post was made, she emailed to let me know that she would like a correction made.  So here it is - in the direct words of Black_Cat -

     Just to clarify, my answer was meant as a joke to a silly question. Yes, geocaching is mainly a "man's" sport and the majority of men I have cached with are much better at it than most women.

Now that we have cleared that up, I have a couple more women cachers who have responded.  

Cerena has an outlook from a different country.  After reading this, I am excited to find more women from around the world who will answer the same questions and their experiences.

 Cerena Andrew Marion
No not at all. I am female, host a large number of events, own and operate a geocaching goodies store, founder of the pathtag portal, own 3 handheld GPS's, a car navigator, use a laptop with gsak on it, and have hidden approx 280 caches. My hubby may have introduced me to geocaching, but I am the one that is totally hooked. Oh, and have no problem peeing in the bush. I always cache on my own, or with my 4 yr old son when hubby is at work. In Australia, the numbers of female to make cachers is pretty even I think, maybe a tad more towards females. :-)

Cindy responded and I believe she will be involved here; I am hoping she and her friends will find this site fun. 

Cindy Parlett Shafer

     I will answer your questions because this is interesting.  I can also give you a few other women in my area that may also participate.

So - there you have it.  I will be searching out new stories to share and probably more questions.  The questions seem to be the best way to get to know each other and what interest the readers. 

Thanks to all for your participation.  

Beauty and health tips from Cherelynn, professional make up artist
 http://makeupuniversity.blogspot.com/

Why Caching Women? Question #1

     So you may ask why I would start a blog called Caching Women.  It is sort of simple.  I was looking over the list of members on Geocaching - - - Arizona and realized that the percentage of women members was pretty low.  Maybe, about 25%.  Part of the  surprise was that I had just attended an event, hosted by a woman, and attended by as many women as there were men; perhaps more.  And some of the women there were very accomplished in the geocaching world.  That is where the curiosity began. 

     So here I am with a new blog, a sister to my TheSwagHunter.com  site, ready to cover experiences of women cachers from around the world.  And anything that these women would like to share and talk about.

     My first task, one just to sort of break the ice, was to ask a couple of basic and very broad questions.
     Questions -

# 1 - do you think that caching is mainly a man's sport?

# 2 - do you believe that women are equal in caching abilities to
    male cachers?

     My brother thought these questions were pretty lame.  Not a big stretch to know what the answers would be.  I agree.  But I wanted to start with a little ice breaker that would do a couple of things.  Show a variety of attitudes from women; age, relationship and life styles all make a difference in the answers.  Also, I really wanted to see what kind of response I would get, as far as numbers.  This was a huge surprise.  Of 18 request, I got 8 returns.  That is super.  When I have sent out questions to cachers of both genders, I have been pleased and lucky to get back 2 of 20.  I am really please.

     So - here are the responses.

Linda Fulmer

• #1 NO, not just no, but NO. In our team, once we decide where to go, I get the pocket queries ready and navigate. I find the challenges and sign up for events; I guess if I didn't, the hubby would have to do it himself.
  #2 Equal? yes. Do we play the weak female card when necessary, yes. It makes them feel better when they scramble up that hill to make the find.

Jessie Anne Cable

• Hey Donna!
  Well let's see, I don't think caching is mainly a man's sport. I think a lot of couples do it together and I have met a few ladies and men who cache on their own ....
  For your 2nd question, ... I have met both men and women, who are so good at this, and it is because of their experience, NOT their sex...Some of the women have been caching for years and they are so quick to answer any question you can throw at them or find any cache. Exact same thing with the men. Everyone has their personality quirks where some might love to look for longer times, some might hate the puzzles, but if they have cached long enough, they know what the objective is and they get it logged. They have no qualms in calling a fellow cacher (male or female) to ask a question or for a clue, I have seen it many many times.
  I don't know if that has answered your question, but it is the most honest answer I can come up with for you. Hope that helps you.
  
  Jessie

Shara Whitaker-Black Cat

• #1 No #2 No, I am a far superior cacher than 99% of the males I personally cached with
• But I am an elite top percentage
• Most people do not cache like I do

Fido Downs

    1) I think geocaching is male dominated. I think part of the reason for this is because men typically have a keener sense of long-term competition. It seems like a lot of the cachers who've been around for a long time are guys or teams with at least one guy.

    2) I believe that women have caching abilities equal to, yet sometimes different, from men. I think women rely a little more on intuition when searching for a cache and sometimes have more creativity when it comes to hiding a cache.

 

Linda Wallace Raven Art Studio – Tucson Arizona
Not to me

I think caching is equal for men and women.  I'm into the caching more than my husband but I know of others where the husband is more into it.

Happy caching

Bailie Frances Dempsey

    No I don't think it's a man sport . And I think it's pretty equal for men, woman and children

Cindy Parlett Shafer

• #1 - no
  #2 – yes

Bill N Teri Sweet 

      #1 - No, but perhaps men attracted to it more since they love      "gadgets" and are more of a hunter/gatherer.

      #2 - Yes, definately!

Teri

      So - there you have it.  The first 'question and answer' post of this new site.  Hopefully I will have plenty more stories to share in the very new future.

     Come back soon.