BadAndy

I'm looking for a usb gps module for my laptop. Must be in good condition and compatable with streets and trips. direct usb interface, not a serial to usb converted type. Will buy or trade for geocoins.

It's been 2 months since the gold/silver coin sets were delivered and I thought I'd do some research and see how the coins have fared. I kept a list of the tracking numbers so I could watch them and I am somewhat dissapointed in the overall results, but here they are... Of of 85 sets delivered: 49 have yet to be activated. I will assume that by now most of these will remain as intact sets and the copy will not be released. 22 have been activated but were never released into the wild. Most of these were "dropped" into the owners archived cache or an unpublished cache listing to remove them from their inventory. These copies apparently will not be released into the wild. 3 or 4 of them are kept inhand and allowed to be discovered at events. Only 14 were activated and released into caches as intended. Of the 14 released copy coins, all but 2 are still travelling the world. One of the missing coins managed to get some miles before it dissapeared (sorry AltlantaGal) the other missing coin never made it out of the gate and went missing right away. (real tough break prntr1) I'm still hoping that some of the 71 copy coins that are squirreled away will eventually be activated and end up in caches. Overall, I still think this is a good idea in theory, but apparently it's a bust in practice. I'll check the coins again in a few months to see if much has changed, but I think I can safely draw a few conclusions from the test. 1. Collectors are generally reluctant to release even coins dedicated to travelling and marked as copies. 2. 1 in 7 geocoins released into caches will go missing in the first few months. Special thanks to the following cachers for releasing your coins to the world. slumbersix Shootie Team Honeybunnie hybridgeek The Dream Cachers Cachanova D@nim@l horsegeeks CachingCoins AtlantaGal (stolen??) TuuronTour The Washers Rubiconlwb prntr1 (stolen)

Layers are the key to beating the cold. Wear whats comfortable. Contrary to brians advice, I've lived in the Rockies most of my life and have often mixed cotton shirts and jeans in the layers. When it gets to single digits and below, I trade the jeans for heavy wool army surplus pants. Feet, hands and head are the toughest to keep warm. I wear a wool toque when the temps get below freezing.

Getting good coords when placing a cache can be tricky at times. Heres my favorite method. As I approach the location I'm hiding the cache, I first roll down the window and decrease my speed to under 15 MPH. With my gps is one hand and the film can in another, I toss the film can out the window and mark the location at precisley the same time. I've had a few complaints that my coords are off, but I think they are garmin users so I usually just disregard them. Another way I do it is to just set my gps down and let it average itself as I cover the ammocan with rocks, sticks and whatnot. I rarely get complaints on those caches as they are usually being found by Magellan users.

Wearing orange is a great idea. Another trick is to attach a small bell to each shoe. When you are walking it makes a light jingle that not only alerts hunters to your presence, but also spooks off bears, cougars etc. *side note* Q. How can you tell cougar poo from bear poo? A. Bear poo has two small bells in it.

I like the best of the best idea. I like it alot.

I think the assumption that geocoins will get stolen shortly after being released is a myth. While it's true that many are stolen, my personal experience is that most of them travel well and are very appreciated by those that find them. If you choose to keep your coins and not release them, thats all well and good but don't dupe the finders by releasing a photocopy. You can't have it both ways (imho). I've lost some geocoins after they were released, but most of my coins are travelling as I had hoped and the very complimentary comments I've gotten from the finders makes it all worthwhile.

Whether I logged it and how would depend on my mood. If I was in a charitable mood, I'd log it with a simple tnln. If I was feeling good, I'd log the book and DPM the online log. If I was in a bad mood, I'd create a sockpuppet, log it as my first find and let the games begin....

If one is getting logged in a cache in Timbuktu, and the other is getting "discovered" at an event in Hazard Kentucky...one of them can easily be considered a virt. The issue isn't so much that the one in Timbuktu is a lame photocopy, but that the same tracking number is intentionally being circulated in 2 places thousands of miles apart at the same time. If the original coin goes missing and a photocopy is released in it's place, thats a different and valid situation. The tracking number is only circulated at one place at a time and wouldn't be considered "virtual".

Idaho is in the works, but won't be submitted until I return from a business trip at the end of next week. It's gonna be special....

I almost never get too worried about a single dnf on one of my caches, even from an experienced cacher. Even posting a needs maintenance is probably premature on a single dnf in most cases.

I'm an avid hunter and often bowhunt for Elk alone. Four years ago I was hunting alone in an area just west of the Yellowstone border. I was about 3 miles down the trail when I started getting dizzy. I sat on a rock to catch my breath and started getting pain in my upper back. Within a minute or so I was barely able to breath. I realized I was having a heart attack at that point. All I could do was chew an aspirin and sit quietly hoping it would pass. Some time later I found the strength to get up and start hiking back out. By the time I got to my truck I actually felt somewhat ok. I drove myself home and went to my doc the next morning. He basically freaked out and rushed me into the cath lab where they inserted 2 stents. They had to shock me a couple times during the procedure to get me ticking again (I don't remember anything from the time they cath started until I woke up in ICU). My wife doesn't let me go hunting alone anymore.

Since Idaho is truly heaven on earth, many of us usually just levitate above the snow until we're at the cache.

I can't believe I got sucked into this argument... You seem like an intelligent adult. I'm sure you can clearly see the difference between a marked coin from the mint and a chunk of cardboard and plastic. If you want to believe there is no difference between the two...more power to ya.

But, to paraphrase Highlander, there "can only be one". Even though the copy may look identical to the original with the exception of the word "Copy", it still isn't the original geocoin. The paper copy coins, if they're made with care, look reasonably well and convey most all the important characteristics of the original too. Some people on this forum have previously made a big deal about only the original coin can be logged and said things like even if you've seen an expensive replica of the Mona Lisa, you still haven't seen the Mona Lisa unless you've been to the Louvre in Paris. I'm all for anything that puts coins in caches. It just seems inconsistent to me that people who reject paper copy coins and ridicule those who make them would be willing to embrace these copies, just because they're more realistic. Hopefully nobody will threaten to take a pair of tin snips and cut up any of these disgusting new metal copy coins like they threatened to do with the paper copies. Take a minted copy coin and it's twin and compare that set to any geocoin and it's most meticulously made photocopy laminated clone. Theres no comparison. The minted copy IS the same as the unbranded geocoin. Highlanders quote should be "there can be only one set of identical twins"

Out of curiousity, how are these different from laminated paper copy coins? Obviously they're better quality copies but I'm just wondering if the same people who rabidly insist that you absolutely, positively must see the REAL coin to properly log it think it's OK to log these copy coins because they're made of metal. If you see the copy coin in a cache, have you seen the real coin? I personally think it's a neat idea but I'm just wondering how the anti-paper copy folks can logically reconcile their positions. It's easy to reconcile. The "copy" coin is identical to the nonmarked coin with the exception of the engraved word. It's the same weight, size and thickness. They were struck with the same dies. The copy geocoin is a real geocoin. The laminated cardboard is not.

We thought of this Idea back in November on a coin we are still working on. We didnt pull the trigger for it till July for any of our coins. I think we got the idea around the time someone traded a 'copy' moun10bike coin which was attached to a washer . If this is true...the circle of life is now complete. I was the original owner of the geoswag.com domain. When I forgot to renew it, It was quickly grabbed up. It's all good.

It's probably about time that they put good contact info on their website. This topic comes up seems like once a week.

I did and the series sold out in a day. I hear one of the coin clubs also did this on one of their coins. Copy coins

A simple keyword search for "9/11" returned 22 active caches remembering the events of 9/11. A number of the series are already published. I see no reason for these caches to be pulled.

Looking over the geocoins I've released or retrieved, about 75% of them have moved in the past 2 weeks. Of the remaining, all but a handful are logged in a cachers possesion. Out of over 100 geocoins, less than 10% are missing. On the other hand, I've placed 43 caches and have had 13 of them stolen. Thats a 23% mortality rate. I suppose it would be a good idea to place log only micro's (the geocache equivilant to a cardboard copy coin) instead of ammocans and tupperware caches to make up for the cache theft....

TGE-GG Wisconsin coin - July 15, 2006 - 22,271 miles ICON HO!'s ParentsofSAM Geocoin - 3/24/06 - 20640.7 miles Plem45's Grand Experiment (1-1) German Geocoin 1/21/06 20,121 miles 57Chevy's 2006 USA 1/15/06 13032.1 Miles Serendipity (USA coin) - 5/20/2006 - 12,367 miles Worldchampionship 2006 Geocoin - 03/03/06 - 11,303 miles Mauison's World Travel Geocoin - 5/11/06 - 10,656 Miles AG's Traveling Balloon Geocoin - 4/6/06 - 10,271 miles Go JayBee's Experiment PoSAM's 2006 USA Geocoin #3 - 1/12/06 - 9639.2 miles Plem45's Grand Experiment (1-3) China Geocoin 1/21/06 9104 miles Mueller Memorial Geocoin by Prntr1 March 31, 2006 8600 miles Blue Canary Geocoin by Prntr1 May 2, 2006 8483 miles TGE-GG BackBrakeBilly - Sept 9, 2006 - 8470 miles BadAndy's Krugerrandy #24 - 02/02/2006 - 8397 miles TGE-GG Maryland - Sept 1, 2006 - 7745 miles Go JayBee's Grand Experiment - ^V^ New York '05 - 31Jan06 - 7714.8mi Shilo's Phone-a-Friend Geocoin -3/17/06 - 7256.5mi Go Jaybee's Experiment - Damenace's Caching Around the World Geocoin - 01/21/06 - 7219.5 miles Go JayBee's Grand Experiment - ^V^ Iowa '05 - 31Jan06 - 6686.6mi Mighty Mut the Hiker - Fox & the Hound personal coin, April 26, 2006 - 6861.3mi BadAndy's Krugerrandy #13 - 01/26/2006 - 6685 miles AG's Traveling Finland Coin - 2/17/06 - 6255 miles Mauison's Prague Geocoin - 04/19/06 6102 Miles Go Jaybee's Experiment - Damenace's Georgia Geocoin - 01/11/06 - 6012 miles Castle Man's Geo-Loot Coin #3 - 1/26/2006 - 5961 mi Wild and Free Geocoin #6 - Sept 7, 2006 - 5545 miles Go JayBee's Experiment PoSAM's 2006 USA Geocoin #1 - 1/12/06 - 4929.4 miles Go JayBee's Experiment PoSAM's 2006 USA Geocoin #2 - 1/12/06 - 4916.9 miles AG's Traveling BikeDog Geocoin #2 - 4/7/2006 - 4849 miles SWMG GEO ENGLAND -3-1-2006 4343 Miles SWMG GEO ENGLAND 1 -3-1-2006 4341 Miles CR05 - Plem45's Finland Geocoin 2/5/06 4302 miles Serial Finder's Personal Geocoin #8 - 03/24/06 - 4143 Miles Ladybug Kids' Geonut Geocoin - 6/3/06 - 3666 Miles Kealia's Maryland Coin - 2/19/06 - 3,612 miles CR40 - Plem45's Signal Geocoin - (Feb 06) - April 18, 2006 - 3474 miles Where is JoeMerchant? - #029 - 1/14/06 - 3350 Miles Ladybug Kids' UK Geocoin #2 - 5/20/06 - 3327 Miles Mauison's Wisconsin Geocoin - 01/07/06 - 3248 Miles Mauison's Delaware Geocoin - 04/11/06 - 3120 Miles Team LightningBugs' 2006 Traveling USA Geocoin - 2986 miles Mauison's New York Geocoin - 01/06/06 - 2853 Miles Mauison's Florida Landmarks Geocoin - 04/04/06 2785 Miles Cornerstone4's Bikedog Coin- 3/17/06- 2637.2 Kealia/Hula Bum Geocache America Coin - 8/27/06 - 2,562 miles Kealia/Hula Bum Earth Geocoin - 8/27/06 - 2,562 miles TGE-GG Rowanf Gypsy - July 30, 2006 - 2530 miles Serial Finder's Geocoin - 10/28/06 - 2522 Miles Kealia/Hula Bum North Carolina Coin - 5/6/2206 - 2,367 miles Sawblade5's MIGO Geocoin 05 (MIGO Refurb 2005) - 1/17/2006 - 2366.1 mi Wild and Free #3 - Sept 9, 2006 - 2339 miles Kealia/Hula Bum UK Coin - 5/6/06 - 2,305 miles London Geocoin #490 - 4/7/2006 - 2,207 miles Cornerstone4's Temecula Valley Event Geocoin- 3/17/06- 2172 Shilo's Geocaching U Geocoin - 6/11/06 - 2051 miles IceCreamMan's Personal Geocoin #13 - 1/14/06 - 1839 Miles IceCreamMan's Personal Geocoin #15 - 1/14/06 - 1764 Miles RustyBeerCan's California Micro #1 - 4/7/06 - 1529 miles CR20 - Plem45's Generic Geocoin (mini) 3/3/06 1458 miles Kealia/Hula Bum Iowa Geocoin - 5/6/06 - 1,448 miles Southbayday's Grand Canyon 2 - 2/1/06 1006 mi ScoutingWV World Traveler 1 - 2/26/06 - 851.5 miles Sawblade5's Frozen Bone Geocoin (Frozen Bone Bronze) - 1/17/2006 - 768.4 mi Tdecell’s Mississippi Geocoin #1551 – 743.3 miles Signal Geocoin Jan 2006 - 6/6/06 - 551.6 miles Scan My Barcode--Generic Geocoin - 5/26/06 - 333.9 miles Free's Pengy & Tigger coin released 28/2/2006 (or 2/28/2006 for everyone else since Im British) 262 miles Sundailman's March Goecoin CLub released 4-6-06: 218 miles Claire's Birthday Zodiac Geocoin - 7/3/06 - 167.8 miles Loggerhead LE: release 4-2-06 151 miles Sundialman's Earth Day Earth Geocoin released April 22, 2006 151 miles Team Jsam's POW/MIA Coin: released 6-08-06 134.4 miles NSLP Travelling China Coin: March 27, 2006: 95 mi Free's Lamppost Geocoin released 4/4/2006 93 miles Team Jsam 2006 CITO: released 4-21-06: 57.8 miles Finland Geocoin 3-10-06 37.4 miles Hogwild Cointown 3/7/06 26 miles

I'll do an Idaho cache.

I'd contact Magellan and see what they say. I've no idea what it'd cost to fix or be worth on ebay.

I found a photocopy of a coin in a cache once.... I was like "Dude, whats this?" Shootie was like "I think it's a geocoin" Then I was like "No way man!" Then she was all like "It's true dude" Then I was like "thats bogus man" and she was like "yeah"