wildearth2001

From my experience fires will destroy the contents and maybe the rubber seal but the can itself usually survives, then add a new logbook and seal and your good to go (a lot of caches I have visited, the owner leaves the burnt up crap in the cache for 'educational' reasons)

I caint get that file to open, I dont have excel only works spreedsheet (which usually opens .xls files no problem) and then works freezes up

OK....I just noticed a problem I am having. I already have all the BMs for AZ loaded into a single database in GSAK. I am now trying to find the oldest BMs in a few counties (Pinal, Maricopa, I already know Pima) in order to determine which one to go for. What would thr easiest way for me to find this out considering that I dont really want to reload these counties into their own DB in GSAK as I have the unregistered version which takes 4 mins before I can do anything.

NPS banned all physical caches on land administered by them, which does not necessarily mean all National Parks. Some National Parks and Monuments are still administered by BLM who allows caches. National Forests however are administered by the USDA Forest Service who generally are very friendly toward caches. THere are exceptions both ways, such as wilderness areas in National Forests are off limits and individual BLM administered parks and some National Forests have their own policys. In addition I have hear of some caches being allowed to be placed on NPS land with special permission from both the park service and Groundspeak.

If you are only interesting in using your GPS coords to find your position on the map, you could make it even easier by learning advanced orienteering skills, once you get the hang of that stuff you dont even need a compass, just the map and your brain and you will always know where u are at. The downside is that this method is usless if you want to take your position off the map and put it into the GPS. As for a real answer to the OPs question, I personally use UTM if I am gonna use maps/gps together in the field but like everyone else has said get a good scale and Lat/Long works as well if you make sure to print the tic marks.

You can, in the top right corner of the screen click on MY CONTROLS then scroll down and on the left side click on BOARD SETTINGS and then you will see a place to select your time zone.

yeah the main page is down for me, I get error messages at the top of every page and I can only acess threads by going into the last active topics page

I live near Tucson and have seen all of this first hand. One of my caches was placed on top of a hill which was covered by debris left by "Campers". Thankfully cachers worked to clean out the area and it is now trash free. Last summer while field checking an orienteering map in and area with several caches, I was busy mapping new "game trails" when I decided to sit down and take a break, in just 30mins sitting under this tree over 200 aliens walked down that trail, and I'm sure this isnt the only trail out there. Often I come across abandoned trucks with no license plate just sitting in the middle of the road, often with the tires blown out and have had to call 911 to get agents out there to remove the vehicle. I live adjacent to the Ironwood FOrest National Monument (which is where all of what I just descirbed happened) and the area is great for the local scout troops to camp, but most dont fell comfortable out there, and if they do camp they circle the trucks around the tents and a leader stays up all night. ITs crazy out here.

When I pack for an extended trip, I attempt to parcel everything. I put one small package (things I would want for a break) into a larger package (things I would want for a stroll) into another package (things I would want for a day hike) in to another (things for an overnighter), etc. Then, as Keystone illustrated, I have everything I need for most situations I will encounter. But the problem still lies in the discipline needed to choose the appropriate package. That is exactly my strategy, unfortunately my packing ideas usually get skrewed up by my parents who cant think more than 2 steps infront of them. As for choosing the right pack to grab (I too leave all my bags fully packed) If the hike is under 2 hours I am usually way underprepared, despite being an Eagle Scout. Anything between 2-8hours I am way overprepared (enough food for the whole group for a whole day just in my pack) and for anything longer than that I am usually just prefectly prepared (ie. I have enough supplies left over to get me through an additional 3-6hours when Im done). First aid wise, I dont take much with me. Being a lifeguard with quite a bit of first aid training, above what is necessary for the job, my theory is that If the wound can be covered by a band-aide, it dont need covered. For more remote hikes I take some rolled guaze and comression bandages along with a small container of H202 (hydrogen peroxide) for sterilizing.

Well...we better keep it open awhile longer because I think This Cache Name would be in the running! I like how the GC# of that cache is GCPARY, which with that addition of one more letter would be gcPARTY

I'm in (but I dont think I'll be very competative) -jason wildearth2001

I just bumped the rating up to 2.5 and may move up more later but I agree with Shoebugs that around here out terrain ratings are different than the rest of the country. One of my other caches is a steep but short hike up a rocky hill and I have it rated 3 for terrain, which is in line with other similar caches in the area, but I guess that I like comparing apples to oranges and Urban Micro to an Ammo Can in the desert.

I see two problems with this. First he didnt sign the log, and second his log is a big hint which I dont want. I already encrypted it but should I delete it??. . . 2) I do have some concerns about your cache. It seems to have a Terrain rating of 2. If this were an adult cacher, and she/he reported that the cache was "a bit out of reach", then you may need to take a hard look at whether you need to change the Terrain rating, perhaps to 3.5 or 4. Something may be wrong with your curent Terrain rating. As I stated eairler in this thread-here is a description of the cache, and my reasoning for the terrain rating-If I need to chage it I will. THe cahce is on a big steal ramada type thing located right next to the road (kinda like an oversised bus stop but its not). You can walk on a sidewalk right to the base of the structure from several parking spaces within 0.25miles. I took advatage of the supporting I beams to conceal the cache (it is placed between two of them right where they converge. It is way up high and on the opposite side of the beams from where a searcher is likely to be standing. You have to stand on a wall and lean out to the side to retrieve the container from the other side of the I beam. I am 5'5" and am able to reach the cache. I figure I dont need to post a hight requirement because I am of 'average hight'. I also figured that it only deserved a terrain 2 because if it where at ground level it would be wheelchair acessable and only 0.25mile from parking which would be a 1 or 1.5. I then figured that climbing up on the wall is simple and esssentially just like standing on a chair to hang a picture at your house, no real 'skills' are required.

Is there any program (free ) that I can draw tracks and then load them into my Garmin Legend GPS? My normal mapping program is USAPhotoMaps but I cannot create tracks, only routes which can quickly use up my waypoint limits (or make searching for a nearby WP a BIG PROBLEM!!!) Thanks

It is held magnetically to the roof of a ramada type thing up high where you have to stand on a wall and lean out to the side to retrieve the container from the other side of a big I beam. I am 5'5" and am able to reach the cache. I figure I dont need to post a hight requirement because I am of 'average hight'. I too was more worried about the DNF v Found than the spoiler but since I already had to contact the owner/delete log I brought it up. Also it was a little more direct of a spoiler than the two you quoted, although the log with the 'flatland box' and 'looking up' words had me thinking for a while but then I decided to leave them. At least for this cache, right now my rule (subject to change) seams to be that if the spoiler is a creative part of their log or a simple and subtle oversight then I'll leave it but a more direct one needs changed. BTW I emailed the cacher and she changed the log type and wording no problem. She did point out that I should add something to point out that the cache might not be accessable to all and then I looked at that cache page and noticed that somehow I had forgotten the no wheelchair attribute, which I have now added.

Someone just logged one of my caches with this log I see two problems with this. First he didnt sign the log, and second his log is a big hint which I dont want. I already encrypted it but should I delete it?? Also, the encryption doesnt seem to work on the main page-only on the view this log page. Whats up with that??

The problem with that is some descriptions might give enough hints as to where the cache is that a non-PM could find it without the coords OR many PM-Only caches that I know of are puzzles so If you could see the description then you would be able to solve the puzzle and find the cache. What you are asking for would defeat the purpose of PM-Only caches.

Im happy to report that I found the cache today!!! Now I have about 3 more that are blocking up my first page but at least I got the one within sight of my pool!!! The owner told me where to look to get a small hint and then 3 days worth of bashing my brains out and I took that hint and turned it into a solution.

Wow, I just set to ignore all of you, so I caint read any of this thread, and I even set it to ignore Jeremy Dang...It wouldnt let me ignore myself, that would have been interesting and now I cleared my ignore list, right now I dont really have a use for it

yep I just looked at your profile and it does indeed show somebody elses stuff all in the UK very stange

lets see what my sig looks like on the new software

it is perpously inacuarte and jumps around a little bit. this is because TPTB didnt want to create a way for non-PM to bulk download caches but the inacuaracy is small enough that it still gives you an idea of the area of the cache. basically the answer is that it is supposed to do what you say

Being young and with good vision I actually like the smaller text, BUT if it is going to stay that way the larger text in the side boxes (like the coorperate team building area) need to be reformated-the text doesnt line up right. Heres a hint if the text is to small to read-hold down the CTRL key and move the scroller on your mouse.

wow, I dont understand that diagram at all...anyone care to explain?? also how much worse will battery life be if they are flashing compared to steady?? what would be the easiest way to make the little circut only run at night? thanks

What size/type capacitor do I need to use? I plan to use 2x9v batteries in parallel and 3xIR diodes (1.28v, 20mA) in series which (by my calulations would have required a 1/4watt 170 ohm resistor. BTW sorry canningclan