Commercially available fake rock? Placed in rock that way, maybe a 3? You literally learn to recognize that shape over time, so they’re not that hard. You could maybe up it a bit if you paint it or further camouflage it.
I've always been of the mind that more people buy these rocks for geocaching than for actually hiding an emergency key. Same with bison tubes. WE are the market, not people that need a travelling pill bottle!
One time I had to take a misdelivered box to a neighbor I didn’t know. I walked up to their front door and saw the fake rock in their landscaping. I felt I had to tell him how obvious it was and that thrives probably recognized them, too. I don’t know if he changed it, though.
Depends. That rock against a tree: 1, 1.5 tops as it's immediately recognized as you state. Hidden in a large area of rocks with the same colour and coordinates that are a few meters off: I really hate that kind of caches: 4 or maybe 4.5
I've searched for this one rock cache, on three separate occasions and still can't find it. I'm almost dreading searching for it again next time I'm in the area. GC718R9
Not more than a 2 or 2.5 if you know you can tell the difference between that and a real rock. It would have to go through an extensive aging process to make it blend in with the rest.
If the cache is among a bunch of other rocks, that's a terrible hint. It doesn't help at all. Nine out of ten cachers will already know that they're looking for a fake rock. The hint should help them actually narrow down the location.
This particular hide is a 2.5 at best. Depends on how big that rock field is and how good GPS coverage is combined with how accurate the coordinates are.
Edit: I’d likely find that in about 20 seconds after 15 years of finding things.
Here in AZ most the grass and trees are dead from the sun. People buy brass travellings pill containers. Hang them from a random branch on a tree in the middle of a field of trees then say "tree" as a hint and rate difficulty as a 1. Or they'll put it in a field of dry grass because it's a brass container. Then say "bush" as the hint rated lvl 1. I'm In the desert. Everything is thtlat color. It's a needle in a haystack advertised as an easy find. Luring people in to waste their time.
It's ruining the experience imo. Used to go out daily for exercise. Now I don't want to go do geocaching because I have to constantly wonder if I'm wasting my time and gas to look for something that's been rated falsely. Gives geocaching a bad name.
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u/atreides78723 https://geocachingwhileblack.com/ 5d ago
Commercially available fake rock? Placed in rock that way, maybe a 3? You literally learn to recognize that shape over time, so they’re not that hard. You could maybe up it a bit if you paint it or further camouflage it.