Sgt Stitches

At least the cache owner is willing to give clues... The owner of this cache : The Penultimate Puzzle Cache (#99999) writes in his cache description: "Absolutely no hints on decryption will be provided. Don't even ask. If you record this as a find without having fully completed the encoded instructions, your log will be deleted. Period." Personally, I think that the tone of the "Penultimate" cache is a little harsh and not very friendly... at least with M15, the owner is willing to help out. Personally, I think ANYONE can come up with an "unsolveable" puzzle. A really well thought out puzzle will provide clues... even if people don't know they are clues. I have constructed a few puzzles myself and am always willing to help with varying levels of clues.

I have recently started placing a few MOC in my area... I leave them as MOC for about a month to let the members have the first shot at finding them, then after a month or two, I edit the cache and "un check" the MOC box. This encourages new people to sign up for memebership, yet allows everyone to eventually find the cache. I have had a few comments from people (including non-members) who thought that was a nice way to encourage people to join, yet still allows everyone to participate/find my caches eventually.

First time out geocaching..... 11 stitches in my head. That's how I came by the name Sgt Stitches. We (a group of about 12 brothers, sister's-in-law, cousins, nephews, nieces) had found the cache, and were posing for a group picture. I set the timer on my camera and as I was running to the back of the group, I tried to duck under a tree branch... but I didn't duck quite low enough. I ran full speed into the tree branch knocking me on my rear. Luckily I was wearing a baseball hat or I might have really torn up my scalp! My sister in law drives me to the the hospital while everyone else goes on to find two more caches. 2 hours and 11 stitches later, we meet up with the rest of the group in time to nab the last cache of the day. Since I didn't yet have a name for geocaching, my brother insisted I incorporate the word "stitches" somehow. Since then, I have fallen down gulleys and raised bruises 8 inches across, cut my fingers on nasty razor grass, and gotten some pretty nasty splinters. I pulled my back while trying to get to a cache on a dirtbike. In all, I have drawn blood 5 times. I have developed a reputation as the "clutziest cacher" in my area. Now there is something to be proud of!

I use a green plastic army man with a little price tag that has a sticker of my avatar attached. I like the signature items that are easily identified as being from a particular cacher.... eg army man = sgt stitches. Each member of my family (The Cruz Commandos) uses the same thing with a different sticker attached, so if we all hit a cache, there are five little army men.... Cpl Kiwi, Cpl Coconut, Sgt Tiki, and Lt. Happy Camper. We do not exchange them for items, only to mark a cache where we have been. Some people like to collect the sig items. The best collection I ever saw wa "Marky and Joani's" collection. They had two scrap books and a box of different sig items... some very cool.

When I created my very first, cache, I did not really understand the different types... It turns out this cache is more of an "offset" or "letterbox hybrid" from the standpoint that the waypoint is about 50-70 feet from the actual cache. This was due to insufficient GPS reception at the actual site.... so I provided clues in the form of rhyming directions. The cache was created as a standard cache... but someone searching without the page (eg: waypoint only) is unlikely to find the cache... How do I change the cache type? What type of cache do people think this is? Cache is Cross the Creek Cache by Sgt Stitches and the Cruz Commandos in California

This is my first post. I sometimes lurk, but mostly because I don't have time to really get involved in the discussions... mostly I search the topics and discussions looking for information.... for instance, today I was trying to find out how to include a file other than a photo in a cache description. I am planning a puzzle cache and would like the answer to be a password for a password protected file as opposed to coordinates. The puzzle does not lend itself to numbers and I figured the file could have the real coordinates. This would also be a "self check" of the solution since the solution of the puzzle would unlock the coordinates of the file. Oh well, see, I'm already out of time! -Sgt Stitches