Jeep4two

I wondered how long it would take for Kit Fox to post on this one. I've picked up the one's I've seen at Wally World and immeditaely felt they were worth exactly what they charge for them ($10-15). I'm a big guy (6'3" 225lbs) so a wimpy aluminum pole like that wouldn't last me long. I've got a brother that's heavy in the outdoors stuff (out in California on a 14 day hike on the PCT as I type). I've talked to him about poles and I think they will be on the Christmas list. He has something similar to Kit Fox. Consider the weight of the poles. You should be taking them with you when you are going out hiking for any significant distance or on challenging terrain. Sometimes you'll want to secure them to your pack, swag bag, etc, so weight is a concern. Ability to not bend is an important concern as well. I'd rather spend $50-100 on a set of poles once than to have to go back and by another set later.

You're in Ireland - just find the nearest all night pub with WiFi, grab a pint of Guinness and sip away until that bad boy gets published while carefully watching your e-mail for the notification. The longer it takes (and the more pints you have) the more fun it's gonna be...

Why would be irrelevant to me. I figure if there's no description (even on a 1/1) then there must not be much of a reason to bring me there. Pass -

My understanding has always been that 528 is a rule of thumb designed to prevent over saturation (in general). I suspect there may be problems anytime the caches are less than 528' apart. Contact your reviewer to explain your situation and see what he/she thinks. It could be that your situation may warrant an exception, not sure.

Find some benchmark disks in your area and see what you get. I've got one here locally that I use, it's a triangulation disk. I use the published coordinates and the latest beta release on the Oregon is within a few feet every time I go to the disk. I really can't complain about accuracy - and I mostly ignore accuracy reading on the unit as long as it's less than 30 feet. If it's over 30 feet I start trying to make changes in how I'm holding the unit to get better signal.

I use a base of a flat, green. Then I just use random squirts of black and brown. Sometimes if I'm feeling creative I use an oak leaf as a template, laying it on the container, spraying, them moving it and spraying it Comes out nice. See the one in the back, below: Here is the oak leaf pattern along with the random splotch method. Very nice Briansnat - I like 'em. I'm donating an ammo can at the 2009 Indiana Fall Picnic next weekend and have to paint it this weekend. I'm going to use that concept along with my Krylon paints on the 50cal can. I've got a nice Pin Oak in the yard that will gladly donate some stencil leaves I need to get the lettering stencil one of these days.

You'll find that many cachers (especially those that visit the forums) rarely trade, often leave swag to help improve the cache and on that every once in a while opportunity try to trade up/even. When I or my wife want something we do our best to trade up or even but that is subjective. Some would say we go too far (leave way too good stuff) and some would say not good enough. Use your better judgment there. Bottom line is that if you want to trade for something do your best to do it right. Then if you decide to keep it, that's fine. Decide later to put it in a cache, that's fine too. Remember - it's the journey after all....

I don't mean to oversimply this - but if you have the coordinates couldn't you just put them in your GPSr, get a satellite fix and 'navigate to' the cache to see the distance? OF course you can also paste the coords into google maps search box, hit enter, then click the directions link to get 'on road' distance.

Hmm - I wonder what show. . . . Just avoid using printed, or electronic logos, artwork or other copyrighted works. The concepts themselves as intangibles should be OK. You won't profit from it and in fact are really promoting it (gratis) so I doubt any attorneys will be seeking you out.

Hey PirateFarmers! I've seen your caches poping up in the area recently and had it not been for my current schedule I'd have been running for some FTF's. RE: the front yard cache - the dogs barking will be a turn off for most cachers. It's a bit unnerving even if you are a 'dog person' when you are approaching or on private property and the pups are doing their job. Maybe a nice ammo can over near the Smith Berry Winery? You find the spot, contact me and I'll co-own it with ya and provide the 7.62mm ammo can. I've never been over there but I'm way over due a tasting.

While maybe not Geocaching specific, many army surplus stores will have items that are often seen in online stores. I picked up some ammo cans for $4 (7.62mm) and $6 (50cal) each, and they had 'Write in the Rain' booklets (water resistant log books) and lots of other items that could be Geocaching related.

Another vote for the Krylon Fusion Camo Paints. They are 'Ultra Flat' and have a great no glare finish. I've only got two caches hidden right now but they are dollar store lock n locks that I painted with the Krylon paints. They look great and are holding up wonderfully. Remember, give your paint at least 48 hours to cure in low humidity before placing in the wild. I gave mine about a week just due to my schedule but the tackiness was gone after about 2 days. The cost for the quality paints is higher, but the benefit to me is way beyond the price. You can go with a cheaper container and the paint will provide a no glare finish that will help protect the plastic from the UV of the sun and other elements. I will be using the same paints for my ammo cans that I have and hope to place soon. Best of luck.

I've had both in hand, own the Oregon 400t. The Colorado 300 is nice, the screen is better when it comes to readability. However I'll forgo that 'edge' that the Colorado has and still buy the Oregon today. The touch screen is very nice, accuracy since 3.10 (and even better in 3.15 beta) software is great. When I upgraded I was wanting to get away from the d-pad style joystick of my old Legend. The Colorado has a different interface, but the wheel is just another iteration of the joystick. The touch screen is a world of difference. Just my opinion but I've talked to a few cachers in my area that agree. Some still have both but rarely use their Colorado except as a backup. I'd rather have a 60Csx as a backup personally.

I have the 255WT (same as 255W + traffic) and it does a better job if you take it out of 3D street view. You lose the 'thrill' of the 3D angle, but the overhead view is better for getting a good view of street names. The font is smaller in overhead view. You do still miss the occasional street name however unless you zoom so far in that you see the street name on the GPSr at the same time you could read the street sign.

I picked up a 20 pack of Lenmar brand 2500 MaH NiMH batteries. While they aren't the newer 'low discharge' batteries, they have a fair shelf life (about 80% after 3 or 4 weeks) and perform well as far as life. For me I weighed the difference in MaH rating versus shelf life. I went with higher MaH and have a pretty solid charging regime that fits my caching style and Wii usage

As in: This past Saturday, I sure could have used a PAF after hiking 1.5 miles uphill on the old railroad tracks, through a boulder field/slide area, thick over growth, heaving broken tracks, mosquitos only to end up leaving with a DNF. We stood at what we thought was Ground Zero wishing we had gotten a number for a local cacher. I have that number now

And I thought you were referring to the candy

Interesting thread. Now I need to get one of those tiny WD40 spray cans, or some 3 in 1 oil to keep in my swag bag. Ran across a 5 year old cache this weekend that had hinge pins that were in good shape but getting rusty. Some 3 in 1, WD40 or just plain ole axle grease would do them good I like the cheap repair tips - even though it may only be a $5.00 ammo box, sometimes getting to the source costs more than the cans themselves. I guess that's why I bought 10 (5 x 7.62's and 5 x 50mm) when I last found myself at a surplus store ($4 and $6 respectively). Hoping to get my first ammo can on the ground this weekend.

No sign, no find. That's the way the game works. I keep some paper in my caching bag for occasions that I find a log that is full or too wet to sign. I add a page (or piece in the case of a micro or nano). If I can't reach it, I don't log it. I also don't log a DNF if it's out of reach. I consider a cache being in a tree that I couldn't (or wouldn't) negotiate a non-hunt. I didn't go the distance. Now, if I had gotten in the tree and didn't find it, I'd log a DNF. Regardless of the nature of the hide you really need to sign the log and have the 'cache in hand' to count it as a find.

You might try the regional forums for your state if you are looking for buds to go caching with. As you can tell by my name, I always take my Jeep caching. Haven't had a chance to do any wheeling, but I'd like to. I'm hoping to plan a trip to western Kentucky some time to ride the trials and cache a bit.

You'll quickly learn that it truly is the 'journey' not the cache contents that make the game fun. I would like to believe that no true geocacher would leave garbage in a cache, but I've been to too many that are simply way too far out of the way to be very likely the target of muggles. I guess they could be. . . but somehow I doubt it. That said, I've found anything from beer bottle caps (recently actually - thought they could be signature items, but there were three of the same brand) to empty gum wrappers. I guess it's better to place ones trash in a cache than on the trail, so I just put in some appropriate swag, collect what would be considered by virtually anyone to be trash and move on to the next cache. I love caching - but don't typically use it as a source for hot sauce or used bottle caps.

Hope today went better for you. First and foremost don't let not finding a cache turn you off of the game. My first try ever was back in 2001 with a group of 3 people - we looked and looked. Never found it on the first day. We regrouped and tried again the next day - found it....... As Mama posted - stick with the "regular" sized caches at first, 1 or 1.5 difficult - terrain can be higher if you are up for a hike. Once you find a few you'll have a better idea of what to look for. Try to think as if you were at the location looking to hide something. If the size is a "regular" then you should be looking for somewhere that you could hide a small shoebox sized item. Small's can be more like sandwich size containers down to smaller plastic tubes, beach safes and the like. Micros are typically 35mm film can sized items (or smaller - sometimes referred to as Nano's). The Micros can be had to find at first, and Micros come in all flavors from film cans, bison tubes (tiny pill bottles), regular pill bottles, flat magnets camoed to blend in, or even magnetic key holders. Eventually you'll develop your Geosenses only to find your son is developing his at a much faster pace. Enjoy!!!!!

I personally have also (like many) cached with and without. I agree with the general consensus that it's not necessary but it is nice. I made sure when I recently upgraded however that I did get the electronic compass. The reason I like it is so that when I'm standing near a cache location (within 50-100 feet) I can stop and get a good bearing without having to keep moving. Helps me zero in while still a bit away from ground zero and often allows me to see where the cache is likely hidden (pile of sticks, rocks, fallen tree etc.). I don't use it on every cache, but there are many where it comes in handy.

Also - be careful. I've had problems with the website not 'ignoring' notes from caches older than xx/xx/2009. When you upload there is a field that will be populated with the last date of upload. To avoid having old field notes getting loaded, I delete my geocache_visits.txt file after I finish logging on the site so I'll have a fresh empty file next time.

Garmin compatible map files will have a .img extension. Of course there are other file types with that extension, so make sure you know what you are getting. I don't think DWG, BIN or SHP files are going to be compatible and will need further conversion to be Garmin compatible. The name of conversion software (other than the cost prohibitive ARCGis) allude me at the moment. Just check the description of the file before you download it to ensure it's Garmin compatible. Many map files require loading into another application and selecting the individual tiles (small sections of the larger map) and then converting to the IMG file to send to your device. Mapsource can do this with Mapsource compatible maps. Checkout www.gpsfiledepot.com for some Garmin compatible maps.