Jeep4two

I'm in Kentucky so I've not been to your caches in all likelihood. It is a strange thing. @Nature Kids: So far 3 of the golf balls have been handy for physics projects and ended up being launched from air cannons. The students got bored with potatoes and wanted to see how a golf ball would fly. . . It's amusing to say the least to have something out of place be so consistently present.

I would say that most parts of our country are the same. I'm in Kentucky and have come across my fair share of snakes this spring while caching. None poisonous so far, just garter snakes. None IN a container either. I'm pretty calm unless I see a Copperhead or Rattlesnake. I always laugh when mowing the first few times in the spring. I try my best not to run the garter, green and black snakes over (stopping often as I mow) but there are so many. They find better places to hide after a few cuts. I try to leave them be - they eat moles and mice which I hate much more than snakes.

Alright - I know that many place golf balls in caches as 'trade items'. Not sure how I feel about that. But that's not my issue. My last several caching outings have yielded a golf ball find. Consistently while hunting caches sometime on a great caching day I'll come across one. Not in a cache mind you. I've found them just lying on the ground near a park (makes sense), half buried in mud a mile from any location that could be used for golfing, wedged in the crotch of a tree or floating in a stream. Most of these finds have been along the route to or away from a cache and none of them have been close to a golf course (no closer than about a mile in one case). So I wondered. . . am I alone? Is this maybe why there are so many golf balls in cache containers? Is the popularity of the golf ball in the cache container why I'm finding balls on the ground nearby caches (frustrated cachers tossing the golf ball out of the container). In addition I have found 1 softball, a baseball and a very nice soccer ball all located not too far from caches. Oh well - Just something that makes me laugh. I now consider a golf ball find good luck (as long as it's not in a cache) and always pick it up.

Wouldn't gorilla glue crack or does it form a flexible adhesion? I think I need something stickier or gummier. I used it on mine and worked like a charm and that was probably about a year and a half ago. I recommended it to someone else and got an email they had the same results as I did. Nope, Gorilla glue didn't crack. Also, one of the reasons for the problem is the heat. I wouldn't think tape (of any kind) would solve this problem since heat pretty much has the same effect on tape. Ok, so if you want to open up the unit for any reason, how do you overcome the gorilla glue? I have a unit that has a broken USB connector but i don't want to seal it up permanently when I reassembly it. There are two clear rubber seal strips that wrap around your eTrex unit under the rubber grip outer piece. The 2nd (outer) clear seal is double-sided sticky, this is the part that fails (adhesive). If you use gorilla glue and need to later disassemble your unit (say to reseat a loose display ribbon cable?) you are going to have to replace those clear rubber seals to get your unit safely water proofed again. Garmin makes a kit that includes all three pieces, designed to be installed if/when the unit has to be disassembled. Careful disassembly may enable you to put it all back if the adhesive is still good. . . but its a crap shoot.

@TFM: I'm in agreement. I enjoy getting out hiking and trying to have a good time Geocaching. My wife and I still like to trade (although we don't do so at every cache). I limit our hunts to small-large cache sizes and often walk right by micros when we are together. I'll pickup a micro here and there but just don't enjoy them too much so mostly I avoid. I'm hoping to get my first hides out there soon. I'm mapping some locations right now and want to have about 4 or 5 small and regular sized caches placed. After reading this thread I do plan on trying to make sure there is sufficient space left for other cachers to make hides between/around mine so others can contribute to the area (currently cache starved). Then if nobody jumps in I may add more later. BTW: I kinda like McCrap...

If you can get it for $20 or $30 it's well worth it. Great beginner unit. . . and will easily bring that in a year if and when you decide to upgrade to a better one. I still use my eTrex Legend as a backup (or wife uses it along side me and my Oregon). It has the same receiver as the plain yellow eTrex and can still lead me to a cache.

I had 30 finds of 36 attempts before I upgraded to a high sensitivity GPSr. Only 1 that I can think of was a DNF that could be attributed to the GPS not getting me close enough. I will say this. The older units that are not high sensitivity do require some special handling while using. Before giving up on your GPSr try some of these ideas. When you get close to the cache start holding your GPSr out in front of you at an angle (like it was a book you were trying to read). Keeping it away from your body will help with reception. In addition this will ensure it has a clear upward view for the patch antenna to get better 'view' of the satellites. So how close to the cache do you need to do this? Well that depends on the amount of tree cover. I've found that the heavier the earlier. Usually within 500 feet in normal tree cover works, but sometimes .2 miles works best (heavier tree cover). In addition to how you handle the GPSr you might also slow your approach once you get within about 300-500 feet. This will allow you to focus on making you are getting good reception and also allow the GPSr to adjust to your slower speed and improve accuracy (this is an observed behavior from my eTrex Legend). It helped me quite a bit, but your mileage may vary. That said - there's no doubt that a high sensitivity GPSr will make life easier but it is not a requirement by any means. Try some of my techniques and see if they help you out and keep in mind that even the best GPSr won't navigate you within inches of the cache. Once you are sure you are within 25 feet of a cache it's a good idea to start looking for logical hiding spots.

Sorta makes the Geomate.jr look a bit pointless doesn't it?

You do qualify for 30 days of free trial as a premium member with the purchase of your Oregon 300. Just visit: http://www.geocaching.com/garmin/freetrial.aspx

Short answer: Yes Long answer: You need the full GPX file to get descriptions and hints - otherwise you get only the basics included in the LOC file or coordinates and name only.

I've seen the video that Garmin release of the 500. I didn't see anything in that video to indicate that it's brighter. It looked rather the same as my Oregon 400t. The specifications on the Garmin website also do not specifically mention any difference in the screen. The marketing descriptions also do not mention any 'brighter' or 'improved' screen. They still use the same 'sunlight readable' description for both. There was however a press release from someone (don't know who the source was) that mentioned it was an improved screen. I would think Garmin would want to differentiate this model from the others from a screen standpoint if they had in fact made changes. I'll be interested to see opinions and side by sides of owners once it comes out - but I'm still tickled pink with my Oregon 400t's performance in all lighting situations I've encountered so far.

I won't duck into the flaming match here I'll just say this. I'm in the process of placing a series of caches in an area near my home (so I can take good care of them) and I really don't care who hears about them first. They will be available to all members and if the FTF is a premium member or regular member that's just fine by me. The FTF is only the first - I hope my caches will be available for hundreds or thousands of finds. I hope my cache hides bring people to interesting places and that they enjoyed the experience whether that is a quiet hike alone in the woods or a family race to 1000 finds. Whether its a quick park and grab on the way to work or maybe your first find after searching ground zero for 30 minutes. Makes no difference to me. I enjoy caching and it has inspired me to begin my search for a quality set of caches that I hope people enjoy. I would hope that everyone that decides to hide and maintain a cache would feel somewhat the same.

Not sure about the plastic pins that you refer to. I'm not familiar with those but maybe a trackable item of some kind. RE: Travel Bugs. . . you really won't know what to do with one until you get back to a computer with Internet access and look it up on www.geocaching.com/track Once you know what the bug wants to do you can try to accommodate it's wishes. RE: Your Nuvi. Not sure what kinds of problems you are having but I suspect maybe accuracy. More details on the model that you have might help someone more familiar with the Nuvi help you out. The handheld units are more suitable for caching since they are more durable and designed to be handled in rougher terrain and can survive being dropped (even in small creeks/streams).

Weed Whacking and Bush Whacking is sometimes part of the hunt. Did a series yesterday - I came out with no major problems but the wife's got some bumps from skeeters and grass/weeds (allergies) from all the deep grasses and bushwhacking. I don't remember how many we tried yesterday but only had one DNF and it wasn't because we didn't find 'Ground Zero' (cache location) but just that we overlooked (or underlooked in this case) where the cache was. The type of GPS you have makes a huge difference in the summer months. A high sensitivity receiver is almost a must in heavy tree cover. Even in some urban areas where buildings stand tall the type of receiver can make all the difference. The clues to the caches can make all the difference as well. Clues include the description, title and of course the hints. I've never been much on the urban caches personally but that could help you some. Tips for using your GPSr: When closing in on the cache location, try to hold it in front of you by a foot or so (not close to your body) as if you were holding a book out to read it. This will help you reception. I would say starting this when you are within 200 feet of the cache site will help give you better reception as you approach ground zero. In addition GPSrs without the high sensitivity receiver can benefit from slowing your movement rate as you get closer too. I have an eTrex Legend and it performs fairly well as long as I hold it out in front of me a bit and slow my rate of movement once I start getting close. Also try not to get too hung up on the accuracy reading - it's just a guide. Follow the arrow and if you are within about 25 feet start paying attention to the direction it is pointing you and use your eyes to look for obvious locations for the hide (piles of sticks, rocks, even tracks from other cachers can lead you to the hide spot).

As a premium member you can use Pocket Queries to build queries that return caches based on what you want (say all caches within 2 miles of a particular park, using the GPS coordinates for the park - you can get those off Google Earth). Then just upload the GPX file to the x:\garmin\gpx folder on your 400t and you are good to go (x:\ = the drive letter for your Garmin 400t's onboard memory when connected to your computer using the included USB cable in Mass Storage mode). Check Markwell's site for more info - its a great resource: http://www.markwell.us/geofaq.htm#pq

I recently purchased a Garmin Oregon 400t (Around $400 net - maybe more these days as some specials have expired - but time will bring the price down). There are lots of others out there - but I recommend reading up on Paperless Geocaching and choose a model that has at a minimum the following 2 features: 1) High Sensitivity receiver/antenna and 2) Paperless Geocaching. Feature #1 will give you good reception even in heavy tree cover and dense urban areas with lots of tall buildings. Very important to have when Geocaching. #2 will give you the ability to view logs, descriptions, and save field notes while out in the field without having extra devices to lug along with you (all in one - GPS does it all). Granted - the paperless devices with high sensitivity will cost you more but you'll likely be satisfied with the device for much longer. If you want to save the cash and go with a lower cost model just about any Garmin with an H in the model name will give you high sensitivity, and the GPSMAP 60CSx is the gold standard for accuracy (its High Sensitivity even though no H in the name). Set a budget and post back and you'll get a more specific recommendation. In addition there are lots of threads over in the GPS and Technology forum that discuss this topic. You might try running a search on that forum as well.

There's a GPS in Education section to the forum. I suspect this thread will get moved there. Here's a link to that section: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=12 Best of luck

FWIW: There was another thread that suggested that users may need to sign the agreement (http://www.geocaching.com/waypoints/agreement.aspx) but I had already done that as verified by visiting http://www.geocaching.com/waypoints/ Today - query ran fine so I guess it was a problem with their servers that finally got resolved. I hope they put some better monitoring in place to help support the users of PQs

Well - I guess I'll pull the targeted set one at a time that I wanted to do and fall back to an old query for any others that I might decide to get while away. It's only $30 for a premium membership, but I would expect that PQ's wouldn't have this as such a common problem considering PQ's are the main benefit for becoming a premium member.

I considered Geowoodstock as a potential issue as well. Odd that Frank's PQ ran in a jiffy for him.

Okies - could you run my pq for me and have it e-mailed to my address?

Note an e-mail issue (I run my own webserver - no spam filter/blocking enabled at all). Stills hows on the PQ page as "NEVER" for last run.

I'm trying to setup a PQ for a trip this afternoon and I can't get the e-mail to send. Usually when I build a query I just need to check the day of the week to run, and if I check the current day of the week it runs and is in my e-mail before I can even switch to the page. I built a query about 2 hours ago and it's still not run (Shows NEVER in the PQ page). I have Saturday checked, and the PQ results in 298 caches which I can preview. Any ideas?

We have a winner! Is there a FTF prize for FTF the answer to OP's question? Also - I think Snakes On A Plane would be SOTMFP - so that's disqualified.

I found some gardening shears and a wood saw placed inside a hollowed out tree near a cache site. Nothing out of the ordinary in the area other than that - but I did find it a strange place for these tools.