mcrow

double post

FTF prizes are quite different from one to the next. For my first cache I put a $20 gift card to the local pizza place, but I won't be doing that for all of them. Next time I may put in a nice little flashlight,a fishing lure (if it's near a fishing spot), or something else with a local meaning.

Not sure what the OP was but I have turned a difficulty 1 cache into a 5 due to my own stupidity and I suspect that it has happened to every cacher.

I've never caught anyone in the middle of it but I stumbled upon a beach that I later found out was called "bareass beach" while caching. Lets just say that it must have been ladies night. The one time I don't have a camera with me.

It depends on what you plan to use your GPS for. If you just need a basic GPSr to Geocache with and don't plan to upload maps to it then no you don't need one that accepts extra memory. As mentioned above the Venture HC is a great entry level geocaching unit. I paid about $120 for mine, new and it does everything I need it to do for geocaching. Plus it's a Garmin so it works well with the website.

32 as of Cinco de Mayo.

Micros are tricky but I'm getting better at them. I've found a couple of nanos that are small enough to fit in a bolt hole (about 1/2 diameter x 1/2 inches long). When they are marked micro they can be anywhere from a 35mm film tube down to the nanos which the smallest ones I've seen are like the ones I mentioned above. So when you are talking something that small they can literally be right infront of your face and you will miss it. I recently had a nano that was so small and well disguised that I had my face within a foot of it at least 3 times and did not see it, then I came back to it later and spotted it right away.

A couple years ago I got poison ivy while caching. While most people just get a rash, I'm very allergic to it and my skin on both legs started to peel off. Fortunately, I the ointment started to work fast enough to leave on some minor scars.

I just took a look at the satellite view of a couple cache locations in Hutchinson, MN. The highest resolution available is the 200' scale. Around here, the highest resolution available is the 20' scale. It makes a big difference. Sorry. I forget that the satellite photos aren't as useful elsewhere as they are here. Yeah, I see that out in Cali you guys get a lot better coverage than we do. You could actually see people on some of them.

The Geko may be the best "bare-bones" Caching GPS out there. For around $80 you get a WAAS enabled chipset which is the most accurate type. I think it is actually the cheapest one as well.

In theory the a standard non-WAAS gps is accurate to 10-17 feet while WAAS enabled GPSrs are supposed to be about 7 to 10 feet. But with all the different factors (terrain,weather...ect) the user rarely sees better than 15 feet with WAAS and 20 standard. My Venture HC gets bout 5-10 feet on average more accurate with WAAS enabled.

I know I've been to a few caches where I forgot a pencil or the log was full or wet so i couldn't sign it. However, depending on how old the cache is I can probably tell you exactly how/where I found it.

Maybe I'm biased. I've found a lot of caches sans GPS. I've never been surprised to discover that a cache is in a playground. After clicking on the "Google Maps" link and switching to satellite view, I can easily tell if the cache is hidden in a playground, near a playground, or elsewhere in the park. For playground caches, I hunt for the cache when there aren't any kids around, and I decrypt the hints before searching. I also have my PDA out. I try to walk right to the cache location, take care of business, and keep moving. No one pays attention to people who do that. But they do pay attention to people who are trying to act stealthy. That's interesting since I've never seen a satellite view that shows detail enough to show playground equipement. Now, if you are familiar with the park you can probably tell by where the google mark is in the park whether or not it's in or near the playgound. Still, I almost always look at the google maps and they generally are not detailed enough to know.

Sorry, I don't want to waste my time driving to a playground cache just to find out it's something I wouldn't want to do. And most maps don't tell you wether there is a playgroundt there or not and if the waypoint is in the playground. That's why people should say that it's a playground cache in the description. I think they have a purpose, like if your kids are caching with you they might like it. If it says "playground cache" in the description I won't bother with it, my only real problem is when I show up at a cache only to find that it's on a playground.

Some of the things I've placed in caches or traded: Pins (cache related) Erasers (fun shaped ones) Plastic Ring stamps (high school musical/barbie) Toy cars Army Men Backpack clasps Clips Small flashlights Small screwdrivers Glow sticks As others have said, the Dollar store is a great place to check out. I tend to focus more on kids stuff because I have a daughter that goes with me. Also you can check out oriental trading, they have a lot of good stuff as well.

double post, sorry.

There's nothing in geochacing that annoys me more than going to a cache and finding out it's on a playground. Being a 32 year old male in a park seemingly scoping out playground equipment without my child present makes me and other park patrons a little nervous. Or maybe it's just me. Eitherway I hate it when people don't mark playground caches as such. Personally, I'd like it to be a rule that you cannot hide caches on playgrounds (or within 100ft of one) school or not. Anyone else hate these things or is it just me?

As others have stated, unless you buy a GPS made for surveying you are getting about the same accuracey among all of the new models (Garmins starting with the Etrex H models going forward). The newer chipsets get you about 5-10 feet more accurate but pretty much all brands now have the same accuracy. It comes down to price/features/feel.

Well, I just placed my first cache yesterday and sent in the log at about 5pm and it was activated this morning. I think someplace it says it can take upto 2 days but mine went through faster, just depends on how busy the reviewers are, I guess. Nope, you don't have to do anything else after you submit your new cache unless the reviewer tells you otherwise.

Thanks! Not sure what happened to my OP. I guess I was just asking how good they are and that they looked like they cost less than the Lock & Locks but look to be pretty much the same thing.

Just a name on the site, most of the people listed with "Team" in their name are couples/families who share an account because they cache together.

Why would anyone be embarassed about a DNF? This is not a contest....and most of the time they are meant to be hard to find.

I don't mind DNFs. I can appreciate both the tough ones and the park and grabs. What I do is keep a seperate list of caches that I DNF, and periodically I go back and look again. I have some that I've been to 3 times and still can't find it.

We always love coming across an ammo can as the kiddlets know there is usually good swag to trade for. I have purchased dollar store lock & lock knock offs and they have leaked in a very short time. The original Starfrit Lock & Lock are the best of the plastic ware in my opinion I would stay away from peanut butter containers as no matter how well you clean them animals may still be attracted to them, and a squirrel or raccoon can destroy a cache quickly, nor do you want larger wild life being attracted. Have fun. G Yeah, Peanut butter jars may not be the best thing to hid where you know coons might be around plus there are people who have peanut allergies and no matter how well you wash them out it can be dangerous for them.

I've found caches made from: Mayo Jars Peanut butter jars Rubbermaid containers Spice bottles Ammo cans 35mm film containers Pill Bottles A tape measure I've had few problems with finding wet caches. The suggested containers for best results are the ones in bold. You can find either of them for about $5-$10 but if you cannot afford that mayo/peanut butter jars seem to do pretty well. The key for the mayo/peanut butter jars is to make sure the lid screws on tight after you cammo tape it.