cataclysmcow

It's just random chance, but nearly every light I've ever depending on was a Petzl. I've seen some great lights from other companies, but all my memorable ones have been from Petzl. I always keep a Petzl E+Lite in my bag. It's insanely small, lightweight and decently bright. A great emergency light. My primary light is a Petzl Tikka XP. I don't like the voltage regulation on it as much as other lights, but if you keep the batteries fresh it's pretty bright. I also use a a Petzl Myolite. It uses a xenon bulb instead of an LED. It's a little bulky, but it's very dependable and bright. The color of the light is more natural too. You won't find it in a headlamp package, but the best bang for the buck is going to be a light using the Luxeon K2 LED. It's nearly as bright as some of those cheap walmart "x million Candlepower" spotlights. Make sure you get one that drives more than 5 watts and has proper heat sinking. For the price you won't find anything brighter (<$40 on ebay).

Granted, this is a post from July 2007, but...chains as a recovery 'strap' = incredibly bad juju. I know of a guy in 2004 who was doing a recovery in AZ with a hook instead of a loop at the end of a strap. It slipped just as he turned around in the driver seat and the strap was at full extension. He was killed instantly when the hook buried itself in his forehead. Besides vehicle body damage, a chain that slips/breaks could cut a body in half. I wouldn't rely on weights to hold it down either in that instance. There are static and dynamic straps. You're probably more accustomed with 'recovery' straps (dynamic, stretchy). Using a chain or clevis at the end of a static strap is common practice. Judging someone from a pic of a chain on a front bumper is bad juju too. Where in AZ did the accident with your friend happen?

I remember seeing a 30 minute journalistic/documentary spot on geocaching (at an event out east) A movie though? What movie is this?

Answer is HERE OP double posted.

There is no "key" as in a key on the keyboard, but if you hold down the ALT button (PC) while typing 0176 on the number pad you'll get the degree sign °

We have 2 in the Pikes Peak region that have survived (Front Range Moving Target and Pikes Peak Traveler). They cause some grief for cachers passing through the area or for people who don't read the descriptions, but I'd say these are some of the most popular caches in our area. There's a lot of bookmark lists with traveling caches that are still in play. This is the most complete one that I know of: Traveling Caches by Hemlock

You can disable your cache for any reason. Guidelines suggest that your cache should be sound and lasting, but I've seen plenty of 'seasonal' caches. Snakes rank pretty low on my list of worries while caching and I think if you mentioned the risk on the cache page and added the attribute most people wouldn't object to it. I'd vote to just keep it active. Up the terrain rating and modify the attributes and description.

Way to go! What's the FTF scene like in LA? It's, obviously, larger than Colorado Springs, but just about as dense. In COS a traditional cache will rarely last more than an hour and is often logged within 20 minutes. Even the caches placed a couple miles up a trail in the foothills won't last more than a day. Finding 3 in a day here would be very rare if it weren't for reviewers who only log on once a day or the people who saturate the city with urban micros. My FTF rate is 39% with 37 in one day. That's pretty rare in my area, but so are people who decide to publish 60 micros along an rural highway route in one night.

I like the T-shirt slogan the best, but there's a bumper sticker fad going around with the theme of: !-CAUTION-! This vehicle makes frequent and unexpected stops. Geocacher onboard.

++ Very sound advice. Decent quality poles are very packable so there's no reason to not carry a set. Having two makes a world of difference sometimes. And if you aren't using the strap you're either going down some crazy downslope or not using them right. The strap is meant to carry the weight and the grip for control. And the Walmart poles .... skip them. For just $20 more you can buy a decent set of poles. The Wally World ones I've seen work fine for casual use, but I know I can trust my life on my poles (and have). Why not spend another $20 for a decent set? The Wally World ones buckle or break when you need them most. Poles don't make you a better hiker, mountaineer, skree'r, etc. Know when and why to use them.

Most caching communities have not only public bookmarks for handicapped friendly caches, but also bookmarks for caches that are listed as difficulty 1 when they are obviously not handicapped accessible. If you find a few difficulty 1 rated caches in your area I'd look to the right side of the cache page and see if bookmarks are listed for handicapped caches or a list of caches that are incorrectly marked as handicapped accessible. Your local caching group can help you out a lot here as well.

For FTF's I think only two I did without my GPSr, but total I think I've probably done about 40 without even taking the GPS out of my pocket. Either by looking at the satellite photos, knowing the style of the hider or it being blatantly obvious like the only LP in an abandonded parking lot. I've cached with a few guys who rarely use GPSr's except for the difficult ones. They just look at the satellite photos and head out.

There's a member in Fort Worth TX, Lotus , who has dozens of archived puzzle caches. He allows and apparently encourages finds on these and his non-archived caches. The finds after archiving are from people who haven't found the cache ( 'substitute cache') and many haven't even been caching in Texas. There's a few people in our area who have logged hundreds of finds like this.

As already stated you need to think of how they are going to retrieve the cache without damaging it. With a 100' run that likely won't be an issue, but make sure you test it first. The problem with fishing line is that it's usually not UV stable. After a few months in the sun it will become more brittle and not hold up to repeated use.

This Cache (GCGG7W) may only have 2 DNF's, but it's been out for more than 4 years with no finds yet.

There was a recent string of caches in our area along a highway that traveled through a scenic and more or less pristine part of Colorado (compared to the development elsewhere). One of these caches ((GC184GC) was rated as a dif 3 at first. My first day at GZ was the day after it was published and the entire hillside was destroyed. Trees were knocked down, trails were demolished any vegetation to control erosion was poked, plucked and prodded. This is only on the first day and no one logs a DNF. Days go by with no finds and this hillside gets repeatedly raped again and again. The third time I went up there I not only found that people had completely torn apart the hillside, but that they were now using it to dump trash. Many cachers in our area refuse to find this cache now due to it's effect on the environment and it's reputation. It would have helped if the owner posted correct coords (they were 70ft off) or if previous cachers would have logged a DNF. Rip apart a 1/4 acre for 3 hours and don't log a DNF? come on...

Many property owners are often agreeable to caches on their property as long as it's close to public access and notice to the fact that it is on private land is clearly stated at the cache and cache page. This owner might even be fascinated to learn of the history of their property. You might even want to contact your state's historical society who could possible act as a mediator for you or at least give you some support. The only problem I see though is that Groundspeak very specifically states that caches may NEVER be placed on railroads

Hardest cache? We've been hunting this one for a while with no luck. In fact it was placed in 2003 and still hasn't been found GCGG7W I don't know about hardest puzzle cache - those go on a different scale altogether. My hardest would have to be GC12EYZ. The difficulty level is low, but one of the parts of finishing the multi was tracking two TB's. One of which was in a cache halfway up a cliff in ice and snow. Everyone who's found that TB up there decides that the next person should have to suffer just as much and just discovers it and leaves it. Poor TB.

Each good cache has a different quality that makes it great. A brilliant hide, a creative container, revealing a new location/trail. Last night a friend and I did a 4500' elevation climb @ 30-40% slope in waist deep snow for a FTF. Good views, easy find - ok cache. On the way down we realized there was a cache nearby. We circled and circled in freezing weather trying to find this 'micro' in the woods (I hate those). After 20 minutes we opened our eyes and realized that one of the trees was a plastic christmas tree (the 'micro' was a film can). That just made my day. If you want to highlight the historical features of this area I'd suggest making it an unknown/mystery cache and use a little bit of the history in the puzzle. As for the container maybe your could do something similar like hiding a plastic tree in a forest, but suited to your spot. If the container was large enough you could place some photos in the cache itself or on the cache page. Please don't put micros in bushes .... easy way to get yourself killed.

The rule in our area is pretty much if you are there when the container is opened you have rights to claim CO-FTF. I don't really agree with that because on many puzzle or diff 3-5 caches you'll have 3-4 people searching and one of the gets the bright idea leads to the find. If I find a cache first and others are out searching there too I'll tell them that it's up to them whether they want to claim CO-FTF. I'm in no race with them, but I do treasure my FTF%. If someone else finds it while I'm searching too I'll forgo the FTF unless it was a group effort to find it. If I'm going to spend 8 hours snowshoeing up a 45% slope at 2 in the morning I'm not going to loose a FTF notch just because my buddy happened to sit on the dadgum thing. FTF rights should be discussed on the spot. Plain and simple. If the people don't agree with your decision (assuming you are first on log) then simply ask the cache owner to look at the log, verify your FTF and manage their cache appropriately. It's a non-issue really. Just can make for some uneasy moments at cache site.

I understand his argument even though it's really beyond his business and he really needs to find another hobby if something like this boils his blood. I can see where you are coming from too and I agree with you, but you may want to consider one thing. If you apply additional rules to your cache it should not be labeled as a 'Traditional'. Any owner added ALRs, rules or stipulations make it a 'Unknown' cache by Groundspeak guidelines. I'm not saying that this is going to change that guys opinion, but I know when I roll up to a traditional I don't expect any additional requirements to the cache and I'd likely make the same mistake he did. Changing your cache type to 'Unknown' since it has additional requirements might help out future incidents.

I was doing a round of caches in some open space at night. This next one on my list had a reputation for being unique and lots of DNFs. I'd been told the coords were pretty accurate so I put my GPSr on the ground so it would settle down. After 20 minutes of searching through the brush and trees on the hillside I called a friend for a life line. I'm on the phone with him for about 5 minutes and I give up - the cache must be gone. I'm just hanging up when I pick up my GPSr and there's the cache; covered by my GPSr which was reading 0ft when I picked it up.

I don't see where my 'angst' was directed at him or why I shouldn't be upset about the situation with which the previous poster is obviously not the cause or source of.

The don't seem to have a problem with revenue. Our subscriptions alone should manage upkeep. Even premium members have to deal with adspace on the website. Plenty of websites have made huge profits from just small subscription fees and adspace alone. And then top that off with their merchandising. Hitchhikers are a core part of this sport. I don't think we should be charged for it. Or at least excessively as we are charged now.

There's still the issue that Groundspeak has monopolized the issue of hitchhikers for profit. Travelbugs and coins must have a 'serial' that is supplied by them. People who make coins and tags pay this fee to Groundspeak for this 'service' and that cost gets passed down to us (and inflated). The fees, IMO, are excessive. Why can't the individual cacher register his home made hitchhiker to be registered on geocaching.com?