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mckee

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Posts posted by mckee

    Who makes maps for Mexico

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    Just read an amusing non-fiction book that discussed traveling through Mexico. The running punchline involved maps of Mexico and the poor road markings creating all sorts of confusion. Apparantly accurate street maps of Mexico don't really exist, including the AAA maps. I don't know if the current mapping information has improved since 1999, but be prepared to get creative if you find that your map and reality do not agree.

     

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    Gun Owners: What would you recommend?

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by BrianSnat:

    It does make some people feel better to carry a weapon in the backcountry, but unless you have it readily accessable, it's useless. A gun in your pack is about as good as no gun at all.

     

    Personally, I don't see the point. I've been roaming the backcountry for 25 years and have NEVER encountered a situation where I wished I had a gun. Over the same period of time, I found myself wishing I had a gun probably some half a dozen times in the "civilized" world. The only time I fear for my safety in the backcountry, is during sever T-storms. Other than that, I feel much safer there than than on the streets of Newark, NYC, or Paterson.

     

     

    I agree that I feel safer "out there," however I've run across the "criminal element" out there more than once, especially when camping (for whatever reason).

     

    I've watched guys scoping out our rig quite a few times. Nothing special about the truck, but I don't relish being stuck way the hell up in the mountains for a few days because somebody hoisted my battery, drained my fuel tank or shot the truck up for kicks. With poor cell coverage, rare traffic and cold nights, that could end very badly.

     

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    Gun Owners: What would you recommend?

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    Find out what the local law allows regarding carry. After you have an idea, you'll know if they'll even allow you to do what you want.

     

    Basic rules of thumb: The shorter the barrel, the greater the perceived recoil. The heavier the bullet, the greater the perceived recoil. Heavier, slower bullets penetrate deeper with less expansion. Lighter, faster bullets penetrate less with greater expansion.

     

    I'll avoid the revolver/auto debate, with one exception: In my time training people to shoot handguns as part of the concealed cary and security training I've done, I find that most people shoot semi-auto pistols better than they do revolvers.

     

    My advice, based on everybody else's advice on the subject in the past 20 years:

     

    You've shot enough to know what is comfortable. Get that gun in the highest caliber you can shoot most accurately. From the bottom up, approximately: .44 Special (165 grain JHP), .38 Special (158 grain +p or +p+ JHP), 45 Colt (200 grain JHP), 9mm (124/125 grain +p JHP), 40 SW (150 or 165 grain JHP), 45 ACP (165 grain JHP +p), 10mm (150 grain JHP), 400 CorBon (150 gr JHP), 357 Sig (125 gr JHP), .357 Magnum (125 grain JHP), .41 Mag (170 grain JHP), .44 Mag (165 grain JHP).

     

    Those all deliver between 1100 to 1400 foot-pounds pressure, sufficient to deliver enough power to... um... "do the trick." "+p" means that higher pressure is used to move the bullet faster to arrive at that "magic range" between 1000 and 1400 fps. Heavier bullets would give better protection against something heavy-boned like a bear. I wouldn't pack anything lighter than a 44 Magnum if grizzly/brown bear are a real concern, with the ideal being a .375 H&H Magnum. For more realistic concerns, lighter bullets would stay inside the organism in question, speeding up the shut-down process and avoiding a lot of liability issues.

     

    For the best class you can take, go to www.ayoob.com and see if a Judicious Use class is scheduled in your area. It is well-worth the investment, and provides competent guidance on laws and restrictions with regard to use of force.

     

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    No return e-mail on virtuals

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by Woodsters Outdoors:

    I would wait for a short period of time, maybe a week, 2 at the most, and if no reply, I would log it as a find. One of the stipulations of placing a virtual is to be able to verify the answer. Not replying is not a way to verify the answer. For all they know, you never received the email, read it, or don't give a crap. Just like a traditional cache, you need to active with the email thing.

     

     

    Yup. You did the work, claim it. If they can't maintain the email as part of their responsibility for "cache upkeep" it's hardly your problem. Claim those virts!

     

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    Attention Jeremy and Geocaching.com

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Granted we're new to the sport. That may completely negate this posting in some people's eyes, but who cares? We certainly don't!

     

    Our opinion? If we want to go see art, or a nice view of the city, or the World's Biggest Free-Standing Mud Dwelling, we'll just go see it. We don't need geocaching.com to lead us there. We're glad that cache types are listed since we avoid the virtuals as if they were the Plague.

     

    The sport/hobby/whatever is in searching for the spot the coordinates indicate, then finding the cache and taking/leaving something interesting/amusing/whatever. If you can see it from 200 feet away, why not just post directions, since the coordinates are largely irrelevant? If we want to go the the Abbey at Mt. Angel to see the world's biggest hairball (I'm not kidding, it exists there), I'll save my batteries and drive down there without the GPS.

     

    There's another term for "virtual cache," and that is "sightseeing." Slapping coordinates on a nice view doesn't really make it any more exciting or interesting.

     

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    Anyone here talented enough to do this?

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    My wife and I do freelance, plus she works for a national publishing company. The hardest part is learning why things don't want to run properly when the product goes to print. There are a hundred tiny little things that look OK on the screen but when you try to print, fonts disappear, images turn solid grey, margins splay across the page, etc. Mostly the problems are caused by little things, like Word-style True Type fonts. It can drive you crazy!

     

    Quark, Photoshop, Freehand and Illustrator are the ideal tools. Desktop publishing has created it's own monsters, but it's also enabled a lot of people to experiment and excel in a talent they would never have discovered if home computers didn't exist.

     

    If you look at the .pdf, it's pretty easy to see that the image resolution is too low. Higher resolution would make the pix look much better. A better trim job on the inserted GPS images would also improve the appearance of those the low-res images.

     

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    Why hide it in there? Think about it first!

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by TEAM 360:

    Cool idea! But who's gonna pay for all that shipping on a full-sized ammo can? icon_eek.gif

    Seems my original point was missed. I apologize if I did not explain it the first time with clarity. This bush is on the peak of a hill overlooking a parking lot, exposed for all to see, and has already suffered damage, it has broken and bent branches, etc...are we really doing the bush or the park any good by putting a cache in there? Plenty of benches, walls and rocks were very close to the location, only about 50' away.

     

    The post office would love us for that, I'm sure of it. Sure, it's generating postage $$$, but the caches might trigger all sorts of mailbomb responses.

     

    The updated description makes more sense, top of a hill, total exposure, etc.

     

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    Best weedwhacker for geocaching?

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by GOT GPS?:

    Use tons of boiling water, for it is better than chemicals or the distructiveness of fire.

    The vegetation eventually dies.

     

    Tons? I will make my wife carry the water so I can read the GPS. I wouldn't want her to spill any on the wrong spots. icon_frown.gif

     

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