BubbleDragon

Uhm... Because I guess no one else is starting, $50 is as good a jump point as any, hmm? I presume that's what the OP meant. I'm looking for one so that I can hand mine off to my brother! Will follow the replies.

Whistlen! What wonderful whistles in your icon! I've been trying to make some with PVC for possible swag items, but I think folks might be leary of a whistle in a cache. Heh. In any case - where do you find these brass discs to stamp? Do you mean metal stamping or do you use a permanent ink pad type stamper? If you metal stamp, could you point to resource so I can figure out how to do it? I've been leaving kid's valentines stamped with a hand carved PWND stamp and 'laminated' with contact paper. Not all that sturdy, but a nice little note for anyone who'd like it. I often wonder if anyone's picked them up.

Just what reputable establishment was this? Gosh, I'll have to start tracking your new finds, now.

This is a really good idea! I think that would be fun, and also encourage people to get out there on your day.

Are you suggesing something like a gift certificate? Yes! I just thought one specifically for for a month of membership would be good because they're reasonably priced and all that. As cool as it'd be to find a $1 certificate in a cache, I don't think that it'd be so nice to handle that in any sort of Groundspeak database in the store.

That is an excellent point! (Though I suppose if you really only used it as like a FTF type prize, then it'd go to the reliable cachers...) But anyhow... Thanks again!

Thank you! Sorry about the forum mix up. Perhaps something like this should be considered in the future, then - so that it isn't tied to any certain payer. Like the cards apple gives out for free itunes credits.

Can this be done by sending the payments via paypal, and writing the subscription ID on a card? It seems this would cause it to automatically charge your card after the month's over. I ask, because I think this might be a nice "higher end" trade to leave in caches. You know, enter this subscription ID to redeem a month of premium member services? Also a bit lighter on the backpack, and able to be slipped into a wallet, for those off-the-cuff caching days. This would be a fantastic option!

This is Caching Beast Portia, me, and my parents in the background. She's a 1.5 yr old mutt, and is STILL not trained to seek out tupperware.

First - this might do better in the TB forum. But from what I've seen, no there is nothing you can do. Some people are just going to be a**hats and have different ideas of fun than us. I'd get as much info as you can, perhaps ask owners/locals to check the relevent caches and sort out the tag situation. If some are still in tact, then there's a bit of luck in the situation.

Agg. How can it be that you have a reasonable expectation of privacy behind a bush, but not under your clothes?! (If you're confused, look up recent articles about pervs going through malls and videotaping up young girls' skirts - but doing absolutely nothing wrong, legally) In any case, I seem to be reading more and more of this and have added a few pair of gloves into my sack. Gross, yes, but I think urine is sterile when it leaves the body (of course, then it sits there for however long....) I guess I just don't understand why someone would do that on purpose - but I never understood the 'let's destroy something for fun' thing that kids/people seem to get into, either. Makes me want to smack people. Is this really as common as the forum is leading me to believe?

I don't think they've got Linux support, either, so that's a bit of a bummer. But that software always scared me. I could tell when it was taken, because I could tell there was a tree in our yard that had been cut down, how many cars were in the parking lot, etc.

That looks like great stuff to me, and I'd love to find any of it! (Though I think I may have grabbed the headphones instead of the water bottle if I were FTF, I keep breaking my headphones!) Glad to hear about the hemp/air force thing - I never ever would have known. Though I would like to find hemp bracelets, myself. *grin*

Our little dog is pretty spoiled and poorly trained (our fault, of course) - she zips off at the drop of a hat, and we sometimes wish there was a backup system to the leash/collar in case she slips it. She's too hard to catch, and of course, we reinforce the running by chasing, but I'm not sure what else to do. We'll get training eventually, when we can afford the cost and the time. So when we go caching, she stays firmly on the leash. I always go by the rule of better safe than sorry, and I'm tired of seeing 'no dogs allowed' signs, so I'll follow the rules at parks that still allow them. )

For those of you getting slit envelopes with nothing in them, I have a wild, paranoid theory from another chat group. Their theory says that any plain white envelope that feels like it contains more than just a letter is rerouted to be 'inspected' and everything removed, in case something dangerous is inside. Of course, I just believe the postal worker above who says they get caught in the machines and slip out. I definately suggest packing it in something more durable and marking it as "hand stamp only" or something to that effect.

AuntieWeasel - Try "StazOn" ink pads. I've got a black one, and it even sticks to glass and the shiny side of shrinky dinks. I bet it'd stick to rubber pretty well. Your idea cracks me up, too! So cool. *grin* What's the word on putting magnets into a cache? Like... I know some people leave compasses, so I'm guessing that it's ok, unless you see something that might be damaged by a magnet.

Globalgirl, I love your items! So cool! We've got stamps that we use to stamp the log books, but we've been thinking of other things to use. I picked up some ink-jet shrinky dinks the other day and I think we'll make some zipper pulls or key tags with a logo or picture on it. I think that'd be nice. Aside from that, I may just start dropping some crafty things that I make into caches - flower hair clips, magnets or knitted mini socks. I definately think that's cooler swag than what I find around here. I love hand made stuff. )

I have a small obsession with glassy/bubble items, and your marbles are fantabulous! Oh, how I wish I could cache near you and score one! Perhaps sometime I'll take a glass course and learn myself. As it stands, I think I'll keep hoarding paperweights. Hee. So sorry to hear about your bad luck with cachers trading poorly. It's always terribly disappointing to hear that. So tired of army men!

Hi Lep's! I'm from Pgh, too! Nice to see you around - still haven't found your Eliza Furnace cache. ;o) In any case, thanks for the input - I was thinking something that screwed together like that might be the best bet, though I was tempted by those outdoor electrical fixtures where you flip up the panel to access. (Things might fall out, though) We'll see. Maybe I'll trek out to Lowes later on.

I've noticed on some letterboxing sites that they've got 'mini' letterboxes that move from box to box. Could something similar be done with travelbugs? I'm sure it has been done already, but I haven't found any - anyone know of them? I'm mostly asking because I'd like to put one out. I may even carve a small stamp and include an inkpad like the letterboxing folks do. But I'm not sure what kind of little portable container would work. Suggestions? I've been digging around hardware stores and such, but can't really come up with a good idea that would keep everything reasonaly intact. For reference, it would mostly just be holding the stamp (1" square, no back) and the tiny inkpad (also around 1" square), and a tiny book to sign/stamp into. I realize it would get stolen/lost eventually - but hey, "Nothing gold can stay," right? Would this do better as a 'locationless cache' or a travel bug? I'm not sure now. What do you all think?

You might want to try SciPlus - the science surplus site. I think lots of geocachers use them for various things, but it's hard to predict what they'll have and when.

Here's PA's site for such information. I'm glad they're addressing it in a positive fashion, and I totally understand the rule about no PVC pipes, though I think they'd be ok if you used the pipe as the base for a clever disguise to build up from. http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/geocaching.aspx

I'm very new. My family did a few caches last year, but then winter rolled around and we stopped. My dad had gotten a Magellan sportrak from a promotion through diner's club. Well, the thing stopped working sometime this spring, so he went out and bought a new one. I took the old one in, loved it, re-initialized it, and laid claim. Mine. I didn't know of this problem and just came browsing the fora, but it seems mine has the cracks, as well. Hardly noticeable if you're not looking for it, but they're there. Mostly on the middle two screws on both sides, and the very beginnings of them on the bottom screws on both sides. D/C is 1203, however I haven't the foggiest when it was purchased or anything. "Sometime in Summer 2003" is as close as I can figure. Hope this helps ~bubbles