RPW

I have thought of swag as a way for one cacher to do bargain basement shopping for other cachers. As an example, I the other day I was walking through the closeout section of my local Walmart and saw a bunch of fanny packs marked down from $5 to $2. So I bought all that they had. Not for myself -- I only have one fanny -- but as swag. Ditto everywhere I go. If there is a deep discount on a nice item not only will I purchase one for myself but a bunch for all my fellow cachers. I understand why people get burnt out on putting nice stuff in caches. All too many people "trade down" instead of "trading even". But someone has to trade up otherwise why bother trading at all? Of course Geo-Ho has the right attitude: Ditto!

Several of the geocaching events around here have allowed multiple logging of the event. Once for each of the temporary caches at the event. I.e., if there are 10 'this day only' caches then a person can log the event 11 times -- once for the event itself and 10 times for the caches. Personally I do not like this in part becasue the 'day only' caches tend to be so easy and part because I feel that the event itself is the cache -- heck, why not log a multi-cache once for each step, it is the same logic in my eyes -- but some people like doing this. Whatever spins their wheels.

My memory is usually rather bad -- names and faces in particular -- but I can remember most of my caches. Where and what they were. Eerie.

Yes, that is a given. But often enough the owners do not respond. The cache then falls to the collective responsibility of the caching community. We do have a statewide one -- ingeo (Indiana) -- but it does seem to be as organized as organizations in other places. However this just pops the question up the ladder. What should the organization do with errant caches? Please markwell me if applicable or, if there are organizations with guidelines on what they do with errant caches, then a link would be appreciated.

To Criminal et. al., I am not trying to bring up that old hoary subject of "obtain permission or not." I agree with your position (obviously paraphrased here) that this is a free country with public lands and thus we do not need permission to use our lands and, in fact, because of the nature of land managers we risk getting entrapped in a bunch of red tape if we do ask for permssion. Likewise I can also agree with the other point of view that obtaining permission first can avoid future problems. No, that argument is old, old, old and will never go away. Rather, continuing on my slightly off-topic post of "what should a geocacher do if they know the land manager will not like a previously placed cache" ... perhaps there was a post-facto decree banning caches or perhaps it is obvious that the cache is in ecologically sensitive area, etc ... then what should a geocacher do? Contacting the original owner is a good first step but if that does not work then what? Ignore the cache? Ask that it be archived? "Muggle" the cache? I have only had to face the above sitution once and since I did a DNF on the cache it was moot point ... or perhaps not since other people found it after me and thus I have done the default "monkey see no evil" ignoring of the problem. What would the rest of you do in such a sitution? Criminal (not to pick on you but you do have a lot of good opinions), I know that you obey the rules when posted and when you think they are fair ... what do you do if you find a cache in obvious violation of land manager rules?

Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: Haven't you ever been interviewed by the press and quoted out of context? I agree with you that it would be a stereotype however the press often relies on sensationalism for headlines. Gee, I guess that is a stereotype as well. Anyway I agree with 'tlg', using the word 'steal' is potentially bad press. Wish he would post the cache so that we could see how much of a mountain is being made of this molehill. BTW: Don't forget, molehills trip and break the legs of even the most mighty of beasts.

Going off the topic just a bit here. What should a geocacher do when he/she knows that there is a bad cache out there that will just cause problems if (or more likely when) it is found by the land managers? Trying to contact the cache owner is always a good first option but, as we know, not all cache owners are responsive. So, what should be the next step? Request an archive? Physically remove the cache (a desperate measure, I know, but it is possible that the "bad cache" could ruin caching for everyone)? Contact the land managers and explain that it is not everyone's fault that there is a cache in a poor location and so please do not punish everyone for a single person's stupidity? Just MYOB (for the non-Americans: mind your own business; i.e, ignore the problem)? Not trying to be inflamatory here -- and feel free to Markwell! -- but I think this is a question that a lot of people could use advice on. I certainly could.

2004 -- three finds, 0 DNFs. Sniff. And worse yet is that my primary geocaching buddy has gotten married. One less person to hang around with and to share gas costs with.

I run a couple of mine every day. These days the PDA aspect is a very minor component of the PQs. Yeap! Somewhere the meaning of your message lost me. 80s?

Yes you can upload waypoints. The advantage of the Rino 120 over the Rino 110 is that the 120 comes with the upload cable. At least it should. Thus it is a better deal than the 110 and then purchasing the cable later. My family has both a Garmin Rino 110 and a Garmin Venture. Both are good units. Some of us prefer the Rino while others of us prefer the Venture.

OK, someone has to say it. "The problem with common sense is that it isn't" (maybe from Mark Twain) Examples: To me (and some others) it is only sensible to make the cache size appropriate to terrian; i.e., no micros in the woods. Guess what? Other people disagree. To me (and some others) it is only sensible that a terrian 1 cache should be handicapped accessible. Guess what? Other people disagree? To me (and some others) hiding a cache in such a way as to cause a lot of foliage being trampled at the cache site is a bad thing. Guess what? Other people (and the deer ) disagree. And so on. Maybe this is why the forums have so many posts! I.e., each of us spouting off on on "common sense."

I have lost count. TWO! Or is it more? Anyway, yes, I use the all of the time. I had a big order at Groundspeak -- shared shipping costs with a friend -- and threw in a bunch of stickers. Unfortunately I have now either used all of them up (either on caches or via giving them away) and now have none. So ... for my next cache (I hope in a month or so) ... I will either have to bite the bullet and get more stickers or do without. It would be nice if Groundspeak offered low-rate shipping for the small flat items. Just a padded envelope for stickers and travelbugs shipped via first class mail. It shouldn't cost that much. I do think that that the stickers make the cache look more official. The last thing I want the authorities to do is to get in a panic state and start banning caches around here.

This is the part of the sport that I enjoy -- getting out to interesting places that I did not know existed (and I have lived around here for 30+ years so I thought I knew everything!) or re-visiting old favorites. Some people like spending lots of time searching for the cache. Others, like myself, like spending lots of time hiking to the cache. Others like interesting puzzle caches. As touchstone said, there is a place for everyone inside this sport. To be fair to markevans however, I have several friends who have the same opinion of geocaching, i.e., why bother since it "gets you right to the tree?" I think I need to work on my explanation some more.

The pocket queries can be run immediately. That is the nice part about them these days. True, you do not get a GPX file from the immediate run but you do get a web page just like the ones you can get from your home page or from the GC home page. I believe that this is what the original poster -- the8re -- wanted. I.e, some way to specify multiple home locations to search from. Now what I believe the second poster -- deckyon -- desires; i.e., both multiple home locations plus GPX files generated on the fly, is not currently available. It is possible that TPTB may do something like this in the future. I vaguely remembering reading a post concerning this. Bottom line, especially for 'the8re': try out the pocket queries.

The newly redone Pocket Queries are useful for searching multiple locations. Since they can be run on an as-needed basis I have started using them for all of my searches. No more searching from my home page or the GC main page. PQs do not have to automatically run nor send constant email. Of the 9 pocket queries I have set up only two of them auto-run and send me email -- and that is limited to a single day. As an example of what can be done with the PQs, my list looks like: At home - New caches At home - Nearby tbugs At home - Unfound At home - Events At home - All At KZoo - Events At KZoo - All At Vigo - All At Goshen - All That takes care of the interesting caches around my house plus caches at my parents (Kzoo), friends (Vigo), and in-laws (Goshen). Give the PQs a try. I suspect that they will do what you want.

Knights of the Dinner Table. Thanks Jolly! But I did not start getting serious until a friend sold me his GPS so that he could upgrade.

I say 'B' -- onsite calculation -- as well.

Don't know how bad meth use is in the Midwest (I am from small-city Indiana.) Maybe it is perceived as bad since we don't have the crimes associated with other places and thus concentrate on the meth labs? Looking at united-states-drug-use.com it appears that there are quite a few meth labs being busted in Indiana. On the other hand a different article from the same source says, "... California produces 85 percent of the Nation?s methamphetamine ..." and then comments on the growth of meth labs in the midwest. So who knows? Is it worse here or are we simple less tolerant of it? Anyway, getting back to geocaching, it is good idea whenever you are out in the woods or fields to keep your eyes open and your common sense intact. If you do run across a meth lab or dope growing amid the corn then just back away and leave it alone.

I agree with the other negative posters. Way too many pop-ups. The front page itself is unclear as to what makes it interesting. I finally got around to clicking on the map but given that there are about 11 other clickable items (10 of which are ads or unneeded services) it is not at all obvious to way this page would be considered useful. The map itself scrolls poorly. Perhaps this is a good idea but at the moment it is poorly executed.

Basically all of Geocaching is a big honor system. Finders expect the hiders to be honest in actually hiding a cache. Hiders expect finders to be honest in actually reporting a found cache. The Powers That Be expect hiders to be honest in obeying the rules about obtaining permission. Travel bug owners expect TB finders to honestly want to move the TB instead of holding on it it. We all hope that muggles will be honest enough to leave our caches alone and/or join our game. Like all games it is fun while everyone -- or at least the majority -- are honest.

Almost lost my GPSr today. I was moving a cache I had hidden in early December to a better location. After picking up the cache from the old location and moving it to the new location about 500' away and scrounging around for sticks to cover the hiding place and then spotting a better hiding spot, moving the ammo box there, finding new sticks and then tromping around in the snow and slush for even a better spot only to go back to the first spot ... whew! ... I finally grabbed hold of the GPS attached to the lanyard around my neck in order to take a reading only to find that the GPS was not there! Panic time! Evidently the quick release had, well, released. It took a good half-hour of retracing my steps back and forth before I finally spotted my good ol' GPS on the ground. Out of battery juice. I think that it decided to commit suicide and so jumped off of my lanyard into a grave. Fortunately new GPS food and some tender loving talking brought it back to life. Still, for a while there, I was seriously think about which model I would have to buy as a replacement. Sort of a pleasing idea in a wierd way.

Yeah, that was a long ramble by CCD. I think that his main point is that it is no fun to be hassled by a park ranger. Thus it is best for cache placers to find out what "on the trail" rules there are and to not hide caches in violation of the park rules.

It might be more like benchmark hunting. I suspect that somewhere -- probably not on a computer -- are lists of all of the historical markers. But not their co-ordinates. TPTB could add the written description of the markers to the GC site and then we could go find them. Just like benchmarks I suspect there are missing or misplaced historical markers. So this could be a public service ala the benchmarks. BTW: It could be interesting within the benchmark section to have people put in the co-ordinates of the benchmark. Certainly people can do this now in their logs but a formal method would make the location more accurate for future finders.

My wife and I set twin TBs loose in California early this past January with a goal of getting back to Indiana. Fall of 2005 may be optimistic for them.

Perhaps an old topic but it is new to me and since the search engine does not allow searches on three or less letter words ... well, Markwell me if you want. IKE is a "GIS data collection device" that includes "multiple integrated features including a digital camera, laser distance meter, digital compass and GPS receiver" running on the PocketPC platform so it is also a PDA. Rugged. Water resistant. Can be dropped without harm. Everything that a Geocacher would want. Well, maybe telephone as well but ... sigh ... I'm in love!!! SurveyLab's home page Unfortunately love does not come cheap. Suggested retail is $12,000 (I am unsure if this is US or New Zealand dollars). Maybe my real love (a.k.a., the wife) will buy me one for Valentine's day? Edit: include a nice picture: