wandererrob
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Posts posted by wandererrob
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I suggest checking out http://www.handicaching.com/.
How cool! I'm sending this on to a friend. I'm always trying to find new, fun, accessible things to do with her. Movies and dinner get old after a while.
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I've actually introduced people to caching that I'm seeing . My current loves the sport and is currently working on solving a puzzle that she made me promise not to find without her . She wants to learn more and is herself telling people about it and how much fun it is .
Same here. My girlfriend started caching with me this spring and is largely responsible for me getting back into it as much as I have.
She's still learning to love the harder finds, but she's getting better. She's pretty good at spotting them too.
I suspect I'll be buying her her own GPSr for christmas.
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I went to one this spring. The cache was right where it should've been, however its hiding spot has vanished courtesy of a prescribed burn in the area. So there we are approaching the coords and spotted it from 100 feet away, a feebly hidden ammo can. Some of the contents were singed and/or melted, but the can was intact.
We did our best to disguise it with what little brush and such we could find. But the poor thing still stuck out like a sore thumb. Unfortunately the cache owner is currently in South America until this fall.
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I've been pondering this as well. I was after a micro in a park a couple of weeks ago. I found it, I was staring right down at the hiding spot, but had to abandon it b/c people showed up with their kids and were watching. I'll be back this weekend to finish the job
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Perhaps you can find an item that looks naturally-occuring, rather than one that looks like litter.
I saw a hollowed out pice of Birch at a flea market this past weekend that gave me some evil thoughts.
A log laying out in the woods is free. Got a router? Or maybe a Dremel for a smaller one? Pop a cheap container inside it, and it's weather-proofed, not to mention a nightmare to find.
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If you should feel so inclined, bring a rock from home...
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...f3-667386df90f2
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HA! This topic switched over to the difficulty rating side of things. Well, that IS a lot more subjective as already mentioned due to knowing what types of hides there can be.
Well... I actually was going for both originally, but we sorta got sidetracked onto the terrain specifically.
But yes, the difficulty ratings are in the same boat.
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...I just stand and look around for a while and think, "If I were a dirty, rotten, perverted cacher type person, where would *I* put the dadgum thing?"
Me too. Try to think like you're hiding a cache instead of searching for one. Most caches can be spotted because something is slightly out of place, not quite right.
I have to agree. I was just at one this past week that fit this description. To the casual eye it didn't look like anything was there. Even my not-so-casual eye skimmed right past it 3 times. Then I realized... Why would there be some fallen sticks under this rock ledge? They certainly couldn't get there by themselves. Mind you it wasn't the typical geo-pile of sticks. Just a couple, and lots of leaves, pine needles, and other stuff around the site that seemed otherwise perfectly normal. Just 3 sticks in the cover that didn't belong where they were.
For lack of a better way to put it, you just have to learn to think like a cahe owner. Start looking where YOU might hide something. Besides, it's that last 30 feet of the hunt that gets you every time. The GPSr becomes nearly useless unless you have a great signal, which is unlikely in the woods. So you just have to start searching. That's supposed to be part of the fun.
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I'm somewhat embarassed to say this (especially since one of my best friends is disabled and I've even taken her camping!) but I didn't even consider the accessibilty angle for rating terrain as a 1.
But yes, that makes perfect sense now. OK, so where I said 1 above... make that 1.5ish
Anyway, thanks for the feedback folks. Some very good points. And that rating thingy... very cool. I've got to remember that when I get ready to place my own cache. Though I may still tweak the ratings a bit if I feel it's a little off.
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Basically, I think you need to keep in mind that the terrain and difficulty ratings are only guidelines. You can't trust them too much.
Oh, I realize that. It just seemed that since returning to geocaching after a while away, yet again... things have changed a bit.
Guess I just need to adapt to caching in a new world.
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Have you seen this sytem for rating a cache?
Nope, haven't seen that yet. Cool idea though. And the examples provided are pretty much in line with what's in my head.
Although, even with everything set at it's lowest setting, it still sets terrain at a 2
OK, tried again, NOW it's says 1. -
Nope, can't say it's stopping me at all really. I drive an SUV too. But I knew it was a gas guzzler when I bought it, but it did what I needed it to do and then some. I still drive it everywhere I need to go.
Rising gas prices... just the "cost of doing business" to me.
Cache on!
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Has anybody else noticed ratings seem to be a little high on some, perhaps many, caches? Granted I'm not sure what the actual guidelines are other than a 5 pretty requires special gear (diving, climbing, etc) and 1 is pretty much walk up to it.
But that being said, I've found a few recently rated higher than what I felt warranted for their location. One recent find was rated 2.5/2.5. It was a fairly flat walk in and a pretty easy find. Easily a 1/1. Another was rated 2/3... the only reason, which was noted was b/c of a 4 foot "drop" to the cache location which was only maybe a 45 degree slope the last 10 feet of the approach. Dont' get me wrong, both were good caches in their own rights and I enjoyed them, but when looking for something a little tougher than a 1/1, I'd like to find something that isn't a poorly rated 1/1.
I suppose my real question is, am I off my mark here? If so, or even if not, does anybody have some good examples of what they think deems a 1, 2, 3... and so on? Both in terms of terrain and difficulty.
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So, the only question I have is... Can the bomb squad now log the find?
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I recently found a cache that was up a tree with some dark green rope tied up over a branch then down to a low branch. Untie the know and you can lower the cache. No climbing required, but it was above ground so it took me a while to find.
I think most people, like myself, tend to look low and don't think to look high, so it'd add some challenge.
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Holy crap! GPSBalel will do Vcard format which I can then upload to my iPod! I always grab my iPod and take it with me anyway, why not put it to work?
I'm CAN go paperless!
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I'll have to check these out. I don't have the toys to go paperless right now and I've really ramped up my caching this year, so I'm blowing through a lot of tree.
I've got a stack of probably 30 pages sitting here igth now for the week. Anything to cut down on the paper I use, not to mention the clutter, is a good thing.
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Did you specifically check the "Selected Containers" checkbox?"
I've made the mistake sometimes of filling in coordinates and forgetting to choose the corresponding checkbox.
I've gotten back some very strange results . . .
That would be where I made my mistake. I checked only micro, but not the "Selected Containers".
Got a MUCH better return this time around. Thanks to everybody for your assistance.
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I did specify micro container only but it still gave me back a lot of other stuff :/
I'll run another one and check the settings again.
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Hi guys,
Figured I'd pick the collective brain for advice. I did a pocket query looking for micros in my area. Yes, I'm a freak. I actually like them, as long as they're not parking lot lampposts. But I digress.
My query came back with caches that were mostly traditional containers. Predictably it came back with multis, which is good. But most of the results were normal caches not micros even though that's what I specified.
Any thoughts on getting the pocket queries more aligned with my search criteria?
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Just wondering what other peoples opinions are on this...
I live in Northeast Illinois - north of Chicago; a fairly populated area. I have done over 500 caches - many of those near my home. And I am getting the feeling more and more that there are simply too many caches around here. Or to be more accurate: too many uninspired caches.
I've been finding much of the same around my area since returning to geocaching this past spring. The game has changed. Lots of caches being placed fairly close to others, most not very imaginative.
I'd like to counter that with a cache or 2 of my own, but the area's pretty saturated IMO. But I keep milling about and trying to come up with something worthwhile. Thankfully there are a few cache owners in my area that are good either with hiding, or with location.
Even so, there ARE good ones out there. It just takes a bit reading of cache pages to pick and choose potentially good ones. Even so, I'll snag a so-so cache if it's nearby where I'll be in the off chance it does in fact prove interesting.
Eh, regardless it still keeps me entertained, active, and for the most part out of trouble.
BTW, I have to agree on another point you made... what's with so many being blatantly in view of muggles??? Once in a while is a fun exercise in stealth now and then. But I'm passing up caches around here b/c of it at times.
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my only question is, what do you do with your gear whilst tromping into the woods after a cache?
I've thought of taking the bike several times. The helmet I can lock on it's hook under the seat, but have no desire to hike around in my leathers.
??? whatta mean? Hike? I just ride right up to the cache:
LOL! Now that's the way to ride and cache!
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my only question is, what do you do with your gear whilst tromping into the woods after a cache?
I've thought of taking the bike several times. The helmet I can lock on it's hook under the seat, but have no desire to hike around in my leathers.
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I once took a raodtrip from MA to KY. During my trip, I did not have internet access and found 60+ caches.
Any Idea how hard it is to remember that many individual hunts when I returned?
That's my preferred method.
I always carry my digital camera with me. As such, I try to snap a picture of my entries in the log books as I go. It's proven invaluable in remembering what I wanted to say about each cache on multi-cache days.
Would You
in General geocaching topics
Posted
Yes. I like a challenge.