metal-bijou

If I'd never heard of geocaching then I'd pay to give it a try. I have paid to "play" on a well maintained orienteering course and would consider that very similar. You pay for the information as to where the markers are placed which covers the cost of maintenance and profit. Sounds like they have setup a good multi cache that could get people interested. That's a win to the hobby and hopefully they would arrive at geocaching with high expectations. (I've not done one of the Center Parc caches so I am making the assumption based on the quality of their other activities). I would agree that it is a shame it's not free or just a minimal charge if you have the equipment and a charge to hire or be chaperoned similar to cycling around their centres. I would think this could be free to people with the equipment as way of getting you to see all the other paying activities.

Thanks, that is a fantastic resource that I never knew about.

Looks like I'm off to Alicante next week. Does anyone know of maps for spain that I can download please?

Oh the options: When needed is amazing what a great feeling sweet flask tea gives. Nothing beats it when really in need. Even brewing doesn't have that weird feeling; perhaps mainly nostalgia creeping in though. And more likely Rose-Tinted glasses. But then there are other times when it’s all about that break and taking timeout to boil up the water. It always seems just the right amount of time to recover. I too was looking at the jetboil and it does seem great. I however would like to try one first. The old Army hexi burnersare not bad though slow and dirty. Buy the right mug and it makes a lot of tea and placed straight on the stove. It is cheap and not exactly heavy or large. In winter I will often have one as a backup but I’ve never had call enough to use one. These days I tend to use a couple of thermal mugsof strong hazelnut coffee; stays hot enough for me for over six hours if left unopened.

Do I foresee a CITO or few being planned?

I'm in full agreement with HH. Avoiding burying is the important aspect. And for me, I've really appreciated when there has been a stake indicating the cache location. However where I see the change is also important is in placing caches pushed into the ground and hidden in such a way that damage is done to the surrounding area. You may not need to dig for the cache but with all surrounding vegitation obliterated you may as well have done so. Regarding the OP specific question about the cache, well it doesn't have to be buried. I had one of these sticking out of a hole in a stile. That was until they change the old wooden stile for a metal kissing gate.

The one I'm most proud of has to be Stupa time . It's not got the most favourite points of my caches. It's not even the most effort I put into setting up a cache. My Wherigo caches took a lot of effort to setup. I must admit I don't get the lack of favourite points. Perhaps because most people found it before favourites were implimented. It certainly had some good comments. It was however just a lucky find by myself as I grew up in the area, passed by on many dog walks or school sponsored walks and yet never knew the existed.

I seem to be a fan boy of GSAK and yet I don't even use it to the full potential.

Not no use but little detail in places. Range varies with what you buy. I think you can buy the whole countyr but costs a lot. Good to shop around as cost does vary but I don't think they are cheap for what they are. I'm likely to try talky toaster maps next.

I do believe that your "wish" has almost been granted with a facebook group for those living in Chesham.

I'd never noticed that one. Will give it a go now, hopefully it won't just be a link like the watch thread.

EasyGPS vs GSAK - not better but different. GSAK is very caching orientated and allows you to load multiple pocekt queries. It will remove duplicates and allows you to cull before transfering a single gpx to the GPS. Bought maps so I don't ahve the whole GB yet.

Fully agree and would be hopeful that if they did answer it would be under such advise.

When I first read this post I had to think hard as to why it could be a concern. Only three points came to me (please read child as any vulnerable person): 1. Being able to identify a child where others on the site could not. 2. Knowing where a child lived. 3. Having contact with a child with influence. 1. I can't remember having to put my date of birth, just confirmation that I was over 18 or under supervision. It's reassuring to know that most information isn't made available even to reviewers. To me, the risk would be greater with a vulnerable person rather than child. 2. It's reassuring to know that this is not necessarily known though of course could be calculated if the cacher is honest about their home coordinates and has placed a couple of caches. 3. I believe you could quite easily argue one way or another regarding the influence. A reviewer would have greater influence over another cacher making private contact. This discussion should very much be open and I applaud Tony for bringing it to everyone's attention. There may be (please read probably) no cause for concern, no harm in a discussion that makes people think and then if appropriate alleviates any concerns. Groundspeak are the right people to answer the question as they are the legal operator of the website, this discussion doesn't have to supply the answer but other opinions are insightful. I’ve certainly got one take away point and that’s the great advice from Haggis Hunter to place a reviewer note when a minor is setting caches asking for communication to be sent through the responsible adult.

It took me a little while to get used to it but I love my 450T. I had been caching with the iPhone but generally now it's the GPS with the except of adhoc (or it appears in London where I tend to just use the iPhone). I'll try and find the link I had that had useful tips for the oregon in general. I've not used talky toaster maps myself as use the Garmin OS which I love. I've only heard good things about talky toaster though. A tip for the maps - well actually the card. Once in place put a little bit of tape over the card slot. I was given the tip but when I changed the card one day for a larger card I didn't do this and lost the card when changing the batteries in the field. Another tip for maps, always keep a back up of the maps. I use GSAK for loading caches and that's great. Just don't load too many (i think if you do they import as waypoints instead of geocaches). You can't delete geocaches or gpx files from the device, you have to do that when connected to the PC. Relatively easy to do. Screen brightness - try and dim it quie a bit as this eats batteries. Batteries - it appears to prefer rechargable. There are great features such as adding a next stage to a cache but sometimes require too many screens than expected.

Instand e-mails to notify you of new topics, why have to visit the forum to see what's new. Automatically following a thread if you comment in it.

Instand e-mails to notify you of new topics, why have to visit the forum to see what's new. Automatically following a thread if you comment in it. useful mobile apps Generally the conversations are very different though and actually I just wish this forum had those features.

Numbers are making this hobby different and I wasn't involved 8-10 years ago. However that difference is not all bad. It does mean you need to take more effort in deciding what you want to look for or attend. And for me it's starting to be about the numbers due to some great challenge caches out there. Don't get me wrong, not volume but quality numbers Look at RubyShoos challenges three caches with the tree climbing attribute in a day ten Multi caches in a day 9 star rating variants of the D/T grid, i.e. a 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5 and 5 star rating in a day three countries in a day

There are certainly urban caches I walk away from as overlooked. There are others that make that part of the challenge. But I'm guilty of setting two very urban caches. One is just outside my house and what's really great is if you are honest to say what you are doing, you may get a little guideance from the muggle neighbour. My other is because I like the little train station and thought it deserved a side tracked.

GSAK would be my prefered choice as an alternative to sussamb. If you've not used already then you trial for free and you won't get a nag screen at this stage. GSAK will eliminate the duplicates and then you can either export to your GPS or as a GPX file.

I have a TB decal and I do like when it get's discovered at events. In fact it's even better when it gets discovered by people I have a connection to. E.g. they slept in my car, I gave a lift home, we raced around the countryside together. As for looking out for them, I keep telling myself to stop but can't help myself. The missus has even snapped one for me while we were driving down the M4, hope I've actually logged that one. There are some interesting ideas out there too e.g. with chirps being used.

Backpacks too large are already banned from sites. But I think that's more about getting you to buy more. While I know where you are coming from about backpacks on the tube, I think thy miss perception is easier to explain than someone hunting for Tupperware. Searching for a cache does look like someone rummaging and if all they see is the replacing then it will trigger suspicions. I'm not saying that the security then has a right to be heavy handed like the time a Cacher was asked to put the detonator down but it's the level of training and skill that makes the difference.

Yep, whenever anything happens it's not the police's fault for hugely over-reacting, it's not the media's fault for sensationalising everything, it's the fault of the average person just going about their business. If a film pot doesn't represent a danger in the SW1 area for 99.9% of the time it's hard to see how it suddenly represents a danger because a load of cyclists or boats are going through. I don't believe for a moment that the film is the problem. Our activity will be preserved as a problem. For 99.9% of the time that film pot isn't being watched with suspicious nervous eyes. and not just by security teams be they experienced or new to the role. You only have to look at the hysteria of backpacks on the underground immeadietly after 7/7 to know everyone's awareness will be heightened.

There will be a range of security personnel with varying training. Right down to volunteers welcoming spectators. If they see something suspicious then they will call it in and then as Deci says, the havoc will start. It would give geocaching a bad name. The news are out for it to go wrong, just look at the focus they are going for with the recent shortfall of G4S staff. A positive angle they could have gone with, “look how good our Armed forces are for being able to adapt and step in where needed. Not forgetting that security does fall under their responsibilities and is one of their mandates. And look at the thousands of volunteers who are giving up their time to help on the security front too, all accredited and trained by LOCOG”. Ok I’m very biased and those who know me will know why. But really, the organisers of the Olympics want a safe and secure atmosphere where the games can be enjoyed. As for the SAM, well there are numerous reasons for use. A show of force, ability to remove light aircraft before reaching a target and by destroying light aircraft in the sky, smaller parts will fall and be dispersed rather than a large impact in potentially an overcrowded location.

http://img.geocaching.com/track/log/large/78f784eb-4211-4336-b426-096adba54024.jpg - cache view in Wales http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/large/cc0e1e6f-f293-4687-a3d3-96f4cdd2d6a8.jpg - Another without cache but while caching – and not walking so not helpful really http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/large/6756a66f-69d8-4401-9f01-314a7705ff0c.jpg - Again no cache but caching http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/large/c98ba1df-e5c5-4cf7-8cf3-a333b46f86e5.jpg - a stage in a multi http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/large/31e6e8f8-0c21-47b8-9f6c-70a69f78254c.jpg - Young bijoubabe09 http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/large/8e21cd45-fa28-47a4-80b4-7f6ecfbd4001.jpg - At a virtual at the blarney/kissing stone http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/large/c214c6ce-abb3-4da5-b892-e83be06f6ef2.jpg - Another virtual this time in London If you see any from my profile then you are welcome to use.