Marcas_Found

We carry items in our geo-bag to repair caches and do so on a regular basis. We've even replaced stages to multis before to keep them going when the CO has not responded to e-mails and when the local caching community is fairly certain the stage is missing and not just well hidden. If its a minor repair we'll just write it up in the log. If its major we'll e-mail the CO and let them know we've either repaired it or are planning to on our way to the cache. We've never had a problem with a CO being mad at us for making repairs. As far as the coin thief is concerned, that blows but its a bag-o-worms that I'm sure others will want to comment on, but its part of the hobby you just have to unfortunately deal with. Hawaii has a huge problem with a coin thief so every time (when I was out there) I found a cache with a coin, I would update its status or pick it up to move it along. -galaP-

Can't emphasize this enough. The GPSr is a tool, don't let it override geosense i.e. common sense. You should be heads up looking around at least 50 feet or so from the cache as you walk in. Don't wait to get to ground zero and start looking around. As you get more caches under your belt you'll start to get a feel for what you're looking for, for each cache type and terrain type. You'll also get accustomed to certain cachers' hiding techniques which makes it fun when they throw a curve ball technique at you! -galaP-

You'll get a lot of different answers to this one with pros/cons on each cache. Bottom line is, its your cache so its up to you. Personally, I've shared caches before they've been published because we were either in the area or to QC them. I usually won't log an FTF until its published unless the CO says I can and the rest of the group is. -galaP-

We use our blackberry curves for paperless caching using the trimble software on a daily basis. In a pinch we will use their GPS capability to go caching with. From what I understand, they have they have the same chip as my Garmin but not the sensitivity that comes from an antenna. Overall it works pretty well. -galaP-

We are one of the (newer) admitted local FTF hounds in our area. We primarily do it for the thrill of the hunt and the challenge against the other FTFers in our area that we know well. Numerous times, we have met at GZ to hunt together or go on a FTF binge for the newest hides. Its the thrill of the hunt against our friends that we enjoy. It also has an "amazing race-ish" feel to it for us. We are 5 miles from one of the largest NJ state parks and caches are always popping up (which had raised the density issue on the local GC website). When a new cache gets published, we're off in our 4x4 jeep trying to figure out how to get to GZ as we go. The Mrs. and I enjoy caching and enjoy FTFs, thats all the justification I'm worried about. WRT to FTF's, we usually end a group caching event at a local pub. More times than not a CO will give the group coords to a new cache not published and we're off for the last cache of the night. As a rule of thumb, we do not claim FTF rights if it is not published. -galaP-

I've gone to Germany and Hawaii with mine in my carry on bags. I just pull it out and place it next to my laptop at security and haven't had any issues.

I (kind of) grew up in that area (gre up in Winchester, Va, went to college in Lexington, VA). You're colse to skyline drive which has some great views. There are bound to be some caches in that area. Crabtree falls are close and are the tallest falls east of the Mississippi. Your're also close to Lexington, Va. If you're willing to make the drive down there, I would check out the Goshen Pass area. It was one of my favorite "haunts" in college and an area that I love to go back to every chance I get.

But the policemen around here don't have balls.........oh s**t, did I say that out loud?

If you want to grow the stuff and smoke it, have at it. But don't expect me to be around you or condone it. Where I think they crossed the line is putting it on public property in an attempt to reduce their chances of getting caught. Although I have not run into any pot fields, I have run into Meph labs which can be much more dangerous if disturbed. If an area is seen as a "safe haven" for one drug then it will be for others as well, leading to a downward spiral. It needs to be reported through whatever method you prefer.

Our youngest daughter could stand to be in a little better shape (not that her parents have much room to speak). So we do take her out caching with us for the exercise part of it. My wife and I can get more caches without her but it's not about the numbers and it's time spent together as a family.

Quick simple easy reading: 1. We're military which = about 4 yrs in one place. So every cache we put out will have to be adopted at some point. Because of this we set a rule of 1 cache per 100 finds which gets us pretty excited when we get to hide a cache. 2. Has anyone taken into consideration the growth rate of this sport/hobby? I'll leave it at that. 3. Its a sport/hobby, enjoy it. Give back as you see fit. 4. A quote that may fit the situation since this discussion is based of of the "numbers" in people's profile's Before making an assumption: there are 3 sides to a story, yours, theirs and somewhere in between is the truth.

Per Mother Hen's post on SJG's page: Please dont get excited... The site will be going down again. Brian and I are going to be forced to go to a new db framework or try to successfully upgrade what we have and we will be closing the site sometime this weekend. Our ISP is migrating all the servers to php5/mysql15 and we run off of v4. I do not know what the new site will like and what we will be able to keep or what will get lost. We will do our best to save as much data as we can Unfortunately, I am unavailable every night from 5-10PM through Sunday, so it means Brian and I will be burning the midnight oil and working as fast as we can. Please let folks know this who dont faithfully log into the website. If someone want to copy and paste the above notice to Groundspeak northeast forum and the yahoo group, that would be fine. -galaP-

We have the blackberry curve through AT&T. We installed Trimble's Geocache Navigator on it and use it hand-in-hand with our Garmon 60CSx. The BB allows us to access any cache, download topos, read logs, hints etc. Its essentially like having big green on you hip. Addditionally, if I go into a new area that I haven't loaded my GPSr for , I can pull up the BB and find whats around me. We can also log caches as "found" then access our field notes when we get home without having to write stuff down in the field. Its essentially the ultimate in up to date paperless caching The downfalls: cost. I pay for the price of the bb and the service which I need for work anyways. Then I tack on trimble's fee (either monthly $3 or annual $30) Also, a slip on a rock could cost us $300. Coverage: we haven't ran into an area that we didn't have AT&T coverage for the internet connection but I'm sure they exist. The GPSr chip in the bb is actually pretty good. I read in another post when I was researching it that its the same chip thats in my Garmin (other viewers pls correct me if I'm wrong) but without as good of an antena. My wife walks with the bb and I walk with the garmin and we're both within 10 feet of each other 95% of the time. Having bought it and used it, We love it and won't go caching any other way.

WRT to gas prices: I really don't care. Depending on the cache location, it costs me either 15.9 mpg or 18 mpg to get to it. the time I get out of the house and in the woods with the kids and wife is worth it. After the initial investment, its not a terribly expensive sport. I bought a "beater" jeep for the woods and have still spent more money in mountain biking and paintballing. WRT to cache distance: It's a split decision. If there are 2 places/events/etc within .1 miles of each other then shouldn't both be fun to see? I would put that issue as a variable that the admin can accept or deny depending on whether you cache is worthy enough. If its a cache just for the numbers race, I'm not interested. I do track numbers because we made a rule to ourselves that we would only hide a cache every 100 caches. The idea was to celebrate our achievment and to make sure we placed better and better caches as we went along.

Anybody know what's up with the South Jersey Geocachers web site? Been trying to access it with no luck. Gipsie's having the same issues so we know its not just us.....I feel like a drug addict not gettin' my fix with the site down. -galaP-

I just found a green acres track in our area (20 miles east of philly) that is about 46 acres and has some beautiful vistas. The reason we found it was because of the Eagle Project at it's entrance. It would be a great place for a cache. I'm a little "greedy" on saying exactly where it is, 'cause we want to hide a cache in there first but PM me if you're interested and I'll let you guys have 1st hack at it. Eagle Scout '91, Troop 45, Winchester, VA OA Vigil member, Shenshawpotoo lodge, No. VA - galaP-

So whats the difference b/n premium and platinum? I searched the site on this one with no success.

I do the same thing with my Blackberry. But I also have the trimble software and a GPS BB, so if a new one pops up at lunchtime, all I need is my BB and I'm G-2-G!

I have advice, just get over it. Is it that big of a deal anyways? I'm sure it happens alot. Just remember, Its a hobby/sport. Just as in other hobbies/sports there are those who bend the rules and become known for that. I wouldn't waste too much time on the issue. The exceptions would be an FTF or a difficult cache (terrain, size/hide, puzzle, etc).

I think you may fall into Northern New Jersey's Geocaching Organization's area: http://www.nnjc.org/ You also may have better luck in the North East forum -Galap-

I'll through our 2 cents in: My wife read an article about geoacaching before christmas, thought it sounded neat and wanted to try it: christmas gift #1 solved. I buy her a cheap GPS nowing that if we don't like it, we hadn't put that much into it. Well its not quite 3 months later and we upgraded to a much nicer Garmin, a bunch of software for the computer and phones a $600 "beater" jeep for the forest and have about 250 finds under our belt. So are we "noobs" that will fizzle out? Probably not. Our other hobbies are mountain biking, hiking, camping and paintball, all of which we have dumped some serious change in to BUT still do. We have a pretty good idea of whether we'll like a hobby and stick to it. Will we slow down? Probably. Thats usually the nature of any hobby you get in to. What we like about the hobby: - First and foremost its the "We". I get to go trapsing around the woods, park, street, etc and spend quality time with my wife and family. - Secondly, whether it be in our beater cherokee or hiking to a cache, getting there is just as mutch fun. Finding new areas and learning new things is great. - Friends. The local geocachers org is outstanding, filled with a ton of down to earth people thats we've enjoyed meeting, usually at the bar next to the state forest that most of us cache in on a weekly basis. -The type of cache and location of the cache really doesn't bother us. There is some psychology to geocaching if you think about it. After a while, you get the "feel" of how a specific cacher hides stuff. Its fun to size up the cache even before looking at the GPS to figure where they may have hid it and why they hid it there. Our caches: - We have 2 caches. - Our first is in a lampskirt at a movie theater. Lame? Depends on your point of view. My eight year old loves geocaching with us and wanted to hide a cache. She came up with the cache stype, name and localtion. We helped her place it and write up the description. Whats the difference from my daughter wanting to hide a cache or play soccer? We would have preferred to wait and hide our cache but didn't want to curb her enthusiasm. On top of that, she is a pro at finding these types of caches which makes it all that much more enjoyable when we're out caching. - Our 2nd is out in the local state forest and was well thought out and placed. Thus far, A bunch of the local "old heads" have found it and enjoyed it's cleverness. - Our rule: we won"t hide any more than 1 cache per 100 we find. We figured this would help keep us in check and ensure we were creating fun, new caches. ...our 2 cents... -galaP-

If it was well hidden, I don't think moving it will make that much of a difference considering they found it with a GPSr and can do so again. If it wasn't that well hidden then i would move it. If you want to err on the side of safety then move it.

.......Can't believe I just wasted 10 minutes reading this soap opera. Quite amusing though with interesting tid-bits from all sides, but why are you piling wood on to a fire that just needs to burn out?

To make your decision a little easier, I would highly advice getting an REI membership and purchasing a GPSr from them. No, I dont work for them or have any connection. The advantage is that once you decide what you want and purchase it from them, if you don't like it a year (or 2 or 3) from now you can take it back, get a FULL refund and purchase another unit if you wish. It helped us with our decision. We'd like to get Garmin's newest top of the line model but until they work out the bugs, we settled on a 60 CSX, knowing we could turn it back in + the diiference in the new model for the Garmin 400 series.

Try this; http://www.logicweave.com/cachestats.html follow the directions and it will allow you to cut and paste your stats into your personal page.