vree

Meh. What other people do affects me only to the extent that so many people find the park and grabs, micros in the woods, parking lot skirt lifters, etc. that these are the more popular placements and I need to filter through them to try to find what I consider to be quality placements. That is one reason why I only have 4 finds this year, but to each their own.

Don't know how reliable this list is or how they obtained their information... but here's a list for you: Airlines which approve/disapprove the use of GPS receivers during cruise. If it's on the internets, it must be true...

Well, actually... NY does trust their good citizens. Reread that post back on page 1. There are some specific limitations, but you are legally allowed to carry pepper spray as long as you are an adult and have no felony convictions or convictions in other states that would qualify as felonies in NY state. Pepper Spray is LEGAL in all 50 states. However, possession and/or use may be regulated or prohibited by law in some jurisdictions. You can read more about the restrictions for New York here: New York Penal Law Section §265.20 14 Spray on, (non-felonious adult) New Yorkers, spray on... greenbriel, glad to hear the good news about your GPS and hoping for a speedy recovery.

Wow, thanks! An unexpected treat to read that. You've made my day. I've been swayed on issues about which I hadn't had a strong opinion: TBs are travelers not trade items, and I don't need to find every. single. cache. and... probably more. I may not understand how some people think and operate the way they do, but at least I have some idea of where they are coming from. I find that to be helpful and it's one of the reasons that I check in on the forums every so often.

Heresy! I agree. Wendy's has the best french fries. Topic? Well, we've had a rash of decon containers in the area which are in need of new log books because the containers are full of water. Some cache finders are not closing the lids all the way. Can't really come up with a way to idiot proof that...

Thanks for the link, Clan Riffster. I just discovered that I'm the wordiest cacher in Michigan (that has uploaded stats so far). As a cache owner, I appreciate more descriptive logs. To me, short, nondescript logs indicate a lackluster cache experience, and as a cache owner, they have caused me to reevaluate and archive one of my cache hides. I thought the location was a nice spot, but the hide was unimaginative. If the location can't inspire a single comment in the log from cache seekers, I assume there's a problem with the cache that people are too polite to mention. As a cache seeker, I like to leave descriptive logs for my benefit as well as the cache owner. I like reading through old logs and remembering cache hunts. In fact, my shortest log was 5 words and I can't remember a thing about that particular cache. My longest log was 739 words and I can practically relive that cache seeking experience. And on my best day (19 finds), I was still wordy in my cache logs because I was able to remember something fun about all the cache hunts. I don't understand the cut and paste method but realize that I operate differently than a lot of people.

Stan&Ruth, I am guessing that you know about the DNFs because (especially on your evil "Not for Beginners" series) many people make comments like, "It took me 4 visits to the site," in their "found it" logs, but haven't logged any DNFs. Personally, I don't get the idea behind not logging DNFs. I log all mine except for the aforementioned "not liking the area" scenario. And since you are so dilligent about maintaining your caches, I can understand why you want to see those DNFs logged. You have a fair collection of DNF logs on your caches because they are good hides, so it's particularly silly to me that people would be... what I can only assume is embarassed about logging one. Or three. I guess I liken it using your turn signal. Some people just can't be bothered to use it even when it's easy, helpful, and courteous to others. When one uses the DNF log they are letting the cache placer know that someone has looked for it (I always like to know when someone is interested enough to search out my caches) and that it is possibly missing. They also let other cache seekers know that someone has looked for it and, because they couldn't find it, the other cache seekers can infer that the hide may be difficult or missing. Or just that the last person just plain couldn't find it.

http://nationalmap.usgs.gov/? http://seamless.usgs.gov/? i'm not sure exactly what thing you're looking for. and by "here" i'm not sure if you mean geocaching.com or Groundspeak.com. you can try googling this: usgs.gov site:Groundspeak.com and search through the results to see if anything looks familiar. good luck!

i think we should inform LE about this.

thanks! that would definitely have been more helpful.

i ran into this hint recently: "Know your aerospace history." thanks. helpful when you're standing in the woods, ignorant about aerospace history. at least it's short and useless.

exactly what i was thinking.

this has been discussed at great length here recently. it takes a little more work to try to weed out some of these caches, but hopefully if enough people stop hunting them, more people will stop placing them. i love gsak and ignore lists. it's like mixing chocolate with peanut butter.

i think it is inappropriate to be driving stakes into trees to hide a cache. the guideline, provided by a couple posters already, seems pretty clear to me. i don't think it is unreasonable to expect that this guideline be followed. parrotrob, it seems like you are just trying to be argumentative. and N2ZPY, logging really isn't at issue here. briansnat makes some excellent points about why it is in the geocaching community's best interest to not deface trees. if you'd like to do that to a tree in your own front yard, knock yourself out though.

this 6 page thread feels longer than the 20 page "new numbers game" thread. so painful, yet i can't. look. away. it's a car wreck.

man, mushtang... did CR pee in your cornflakes? it sounds to me like CR prefers regular sized containers where a regular container would be supported. it sounds like you disagree with that (vehemently). is he trying to understand why or is he stirring the pot? who knows, but why not explain your position rather than start yipping? for example, "i prefer to hide micros because i don't like having to constantly clean junky mctoys out of my caches, haven't got the money to invest in a full size container and decent swag, was afraid that a larger cache would be too obvious, micros are more difficult to find in a wooded area and i like to be evil, etc." he's explained why he prefers regular size containers, why not explain why one might prefer micros so we can understand? is it just aesthetics like red vs. blue tie or is it something else? Lep, thanks for sharing that pic. it sounds like you had a great time! in situations like those, i am thankful for whatever cache has brought me to that place. a regular sized cache would have been icing on the cake, but i like plain cake when it's tastes good too.

i very rarely trade, but i still prefer caches larger than micros. but that's just me. i refrain from picking up travel bugs because it's becoming more difficult in my area to find cache containers that are large enough to hold TBs and i end up holding on to them for too long.

i think it is good practice to learn the language of the countries you are visiting... enough to get by at least. i am embarassed that i don't know much german and i travelled there, however i didn't spend much time without my german-speaking hosts and made an attempt to learn more of the language while i was there. that said, being able to understand cache pages can be difficult when they are in another language. most of the german cache pages i've come across are quite verbose. it took some time for my german friend to translate them into english. i can't really remember which site my sister uses for translation. one of them is ImTranslator... i'll try to locate more. p.s. geospyder, please bring me back some brötchen!

Oh! that is such a beautiful area! i just visited last month (my sister lives near koblenz). it was interesting trying to translate the cache pages. since the *vast* majority of caches there are multis, it makes things quite difficult trying to figure out what you need to do to log a cache (especially with the platte). i'd highly recommend Old Mustard Mill in cochem (and go inside and try the mustard if it's open). sooooo good. i'm sure you'll be in the area of Deutsches Eck too, so why not walk around to all the legs in this multi/virtual. my main focus was also sightseeing, so finding caches with short(ish) descriptions and shorter hikes were ideal. i wish that there were more "german style" hides around my home so i could devote some time to some of those longer, scenic walks. have a great time!

vinny, you crack me up

well that's just silly. what does caching have to do with these forums?

what concerns me about micros in the woods is the higher potential for cache seekers to do more environmental damage searching around if there are a lot of potential hiding places. heavy tree cover and a smaller container makes for a wider search area and more environmental impact. it's why i really don't search for micros in the woods any more. well, that and i don't really have the patience for it.

all cachers don't receive weekly cache notifications so that wouldn't reach everyone either. short of emailing every user on the site about any upcoming changes there is no effective way to communicate policy and website changes to every user.

meh, the cache owner thought so too. he emailed me and told me so. i replied and said, "if it's a legit hide with permission, please excuse my rudeness and delete the SBA." he promptly archived it. i will probably email first the next time i run into something like that, but based on his reply i still would have hit SBA. i don't think cachers should be put into situations where they can get into trouble (for example, being charged with criminal trespass). what saddens me is that seven other cachers found this particular cache and no one said anything. i'm sorry but i find it hard to believe that *any* utility company is going to offer permission to hide a cache on their equipment. and i'm not going to just ignore it.

wow. i guess i wasn't really speaking about caches on a business' property because i haven't really run into that. the SBA that i posted was on utility equipment and "no tresspassing" was clearly posted about 10 feet from what looked like ground zero on the gps. what would you suggest i do about it, then? but feel free to flame broil away.