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RedStickHam

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Everything posted by RedStickHam

  1. I plan to do the same. I haven't contacted the geocacher who had it last, so I don't know what happened to it. At least it made it out of state, maybe my next one will do better. RedStickHam
  2. I have a lost travelbug out there. I dropped one in a local cache in September 2006 and it was picked up 2 days later. It made its way to Georgia then to Tennessee, and after that, hasn't been seen since January 2007. Cool that it got out of state, but would like to see it again. I've got some travelbug tags I need to use. I have an idea for a travelbug, but just can't find the right item to use for it. RedStickHam
  3. What I've found is not to rely 100% on the GPS. GPS units aren't accurate to the inch, I usually don't get more than 15 feet of accuracy with mine. I can remember one cache I went after 3 times that I thought I was right on top of, yet couldn't find it. Finally, I just put down the GPS and started looking for good hiding places and found it nearly 20 feet away from where the GPS was taking me. Some of it takes technology, some of it just takes experience at determining hiding places, and some of it is just making a good guess. I do think sometimes it's best to start with regular size caches, the hiding places are a little easier to determine, then move on to micros. My first few times out, I only found one of the several caches I went after. As I cached more, my rate of finds increased. Keep plugging away at it, and the same will happen to you. Good luck. RedStickHam
  4. I was using a Garmin Geko 101 and have since upgraded to a Garmin Etrex Legend. I haven't gone paperless yet since I don't have a Palm for or the like, I instead print out the caches I want to go after. My best piece of advice is don't cache by GPS alone. After attempting one cache 3 times with 2 different GPS units, I decided to just look in the general area for good hiding places, and that is what helped me find the cache. My WAAS enabled GPS coordinates weren't quite what was on the sheet, so I added my new coordinates when I logged the find. Sorry to not be much help, but this is the best I can come up with.
  5. I haven't run into anything quite like that, but I have run into some issues with caches, like leaking containers, full logbooks, etc. What I do is post it in my comments when I log the find. Hopefully the owner will read them and take action. I wonder if I should send a separate Email to the owner in addition to this. Any thoughts?
  6. I'm considering switching from Windows to Linux as my main OS and am looking for an application that will allow me to transfer waypoints to my Etrex Legend that will run in Linux. I've found some text based stuff, but nothing graphical like EasyGPS. IF anyone knows of such a program, please let me know. Thanks. RedStickHam
  7. My first GPS unit. the Garmin Geko 101, was purchased on sale locally at a Super Target store. The Geko 101 is a good starter GPS, but it lacks a PC interface so you can't download waypoints into it. My wife recently gave me a Garmin Etrex Legend for my birthday, which came from Amazon. Now if this weather here would just clear up so I can get out and try it! RedStickHam
  8. I do some GIS work on my job using ArcMap 8.3. I work with mapping demographic and economic data for economic development purposes. Don't get to do as much with it as I would like, but do enjoy what mapping I do. I usually work with existing maps and databases of geocoded information, I don't do any data collecting. Even though I don't do alot and have very little formal training, I've learned to do some cool things with it. RedStickHam
  9. Seems like in my area, most new caches are micros and I've found 4 of them(one was part of a two stage that included a standard sized cache but I didn't find the second half). One was hidden hidden inside a hole in a tree and I almost missed it. I looked at the hold and saw something shiny and pulled it out and it was the cache. It was smaller than a film container, but did have a scroll in it I could sign. Another was a container that looked like a keychain that was hanging on a tree. Those were both very original hides in my opinion. One was hidden in a hole under a tree and was a little larger(a pained Altoids tin), but it was a good hide and a good container that was very water tight. Another I found was hidden on a power pole and was in a high traffic area likely to be found my muggles in my opinion. Still, I went after it because it was a cache and it was near my home. At first I didn't like micros but now, I do find them a challenge. The only thing is they need more maintenance I think, as one I found needed new log sheets and another was leaking. I put those things in the notes when I found them and hopefully the owners listened. Just thought I'd add to this discussion.
  10. I'd like to throw in m 2 cents. I thought Geocaching was about the challenge of looking for and finding caches using our GPS units and our wits, not about finding treasures. In my opinion, the finding itself is supposed to be the reward. Getting outside and hiking around and having fun is also supposed to be part of it. Geocaching is in my opinion, a great way to combine the great outdoors with high technology. As for trading, sometimes if it's a themed cache, I might buy a small item that fits the cache theme. Some examples I can think of are when I went after a cache with a theme of peppers, I found a small refrigerator magnet that looked like a pepper to put in it. It was only a buck, but it fit the theme. When I do leave something behind, I will try to keep with the theme of the cache if possible. The last time I did some caching, it seemed like most of the caches I was going after were micros. Seems like most of the new caches in my area are micros so all the finder could do was sign a logbook. In the one regular cache I found, I found some useful items, like a small screwdriver set and a glasses repair kit, but I took nothing but left a travelbug, which has already found it's way from Louisiana to Georgia. Geocaching isn't about loot, it's about getting outdoors and using technology and our brains to find caches, and the finding is the real reward, not whatever is in the cache. Just my opinion.
  11. I've only found a couple of caches I thought needed some maintenance. One micro I found had a wet logbook although it was in a plastic bag, but I didn't have any supplies with me to fix it so when I logged it online, I in my note it needed some maintenance. Another one smelled like hot sauce because its theme was hot sauce and peppers and it had alot of small bottles of Tabasco in it. That cache was later muggled and disabled and hasn't come back, so I guess it doesn't matter now.
  12. I have a very basic Garmin Geko 101 which I'm not sure is even available anymore. It was $78 including sales tax at Target. It's similar to the Garmin Etrex yellow but smaller and doesn't have the computer interface so I have to enter coordinates manually, but I can live with that. If you have an Academy sporting goods store in your area, they have in the past had the Etrex yellow for under $90. That's a good basic unit, it's not color and you can't load maps into it, but it works good for Geocaching. The Geko is OK, but I'd like to upgrade to something I can load coordinates into from my PC. I can deal with typing them, but if I have alot of caches I want to put in, it takes me a little while.
  13. I've seen a few signature items in caches before. I recently saw a logsheet in one from a cacher in a city I used to live in so I dropped him an Email. When I went on a caching trip with a science fiction club, we left cards advertising our club in caches where we left items. I put a business card advertising the group in case with an audio cassette tape I left in one cache. We don't think these items were cluttering the caches, since they were regular caches and not too crowded. The organization was a non-profit group, so I don't think it was inappropriate. I think cards with signatures or promoting some organizations are OK, but commercial stuff needs to stay out. Just my opinion.
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