fishnfule

On a video game, how would you replicate; 1) Pulling thorns, stickers, and burrs out of your legs and arms? 2) The unique aroma in the car after caching at the local dog park? 3) Mosquito bites? 4) Frantically searching for a near dead battery so you don't have to hike back out, run to the store, and hike back in? 5) Spider bites? 6) Sticking your hand into some dark hole or animal burrow and feeling around? 7) Wasp stings? 8) Stepping on leaf covered ground and sinking up to your waste in muck? 9) Big mosquito bites? 10) I'm still fairly new, but I'm sure there is much more, in geocaching adventures that I haven't encoutered yet that you couldn't reproduce in a game. 11) Did I mention Mosquito bites?

I am having the same problem and I'm also new to geocaching and the GPS in general and on top of that, not real computer savy. I understand I can download waypoints and routes from the website, but after that, what? How do I convert them to a file for Magellan? and how do I upload them from that point? Someone told me out in the field one day and I felt like I was being given step by step instruction on how to give brain surgery. Maybe at least here, I will be able to see it in writing, and can work through it step by step. Hope you all can help and thanks.

I'm fairly new to geocaching as my son and I just learned about it last month at a pack campout when the Boy Scout troop showed us how it's done. Since then, it has provided my son and I hours and hours of quality time hiking and biking without the interuption of video games, computers, phones, just one on one like it should be. I've been in scouts all of my life and remember quite fondly learning and earning the Orienteering MB. A skill I was later asked to teach in the Army. I firmly believe that Orienteering and Geocaching are 2 totally seperate things. First, orienteering is a skill that when learned, should a situation arise, can be life saving. It requires simple tools and no batteries. I have yet to see a GPS unit work in the outdoors without batteries. I strongly feel that old school ways should be at least learned to a practical level, before allowing technology to do all of our problem solving for us. Don't get me wrong, I love my GPS, but I think it is kinda cheating. Second, I agree with a previous post, that a merit badge shouldn't be just about geocaching as that is just one activity of "Electronic Navigation". One last note, I'm also a scout leader and have placed a couple of caches in my area with a scout theme, and when talking with the local council about it, I'm surprised at just how many leaders are unaware of geocaching. I'm looking forward to introducing our locals to the activity and hope to design a course for the scout camp down the street in the near future. Just my 2 cents worth.

I am fairly new to geocaching. Last month, I was on a Cub Scout campout with my son and the Boy Scouts came out and introduced them to geocaching. My son and I are now hooked and it has provided us with some quality time together you could never buy. I just purchased, and recieved my first geocoin (literally a few hours ago) and guess which one it is? It is Mr Atwells design. I've been in scouts for over 30 years now, and am currently a scout leader. I came into the forums to learn about geocoins and look what I stumble across. I'm not affiliated with either side on this issue, but would like to stress a few points about this thread. First, if I would have seen Mr Atwells acquisations and comments in this thread before I purchased the Scouting Coin, I never would have purchased the coin. Second, Mr Atwell attacks a scout troop for doing a fund raiser as a non-profit group when they make money doing it, that is the whole purpose of doing a fund raiser, and yes, it is still considered non-profit when they make money for a cause like this. Their production of their coin is nobel, the money is not going in anyone's pocket, but rather to promote a learning experience for young men. Your production of the coin is strictly FOR PROFIT. I don't care how many coins you donated to your own family's scout troop, the coins cost you nothing in the first place. Third, we're only talking about 100 coins that are very secific to only ONE Boy Scout Troop, how much damage, competition, or depreciation of Mr Atwells coin? Fourth, Mr Atwell brags about being an Eagle Scout, but I seriously wonder, his comments and actions do not reflect that of an Eagle Scout. I could go on, but I will leave this my final comment. I bought the coin from the website looking at a small picture, after getting the coin, something about it reminded me of an eagle I've seem somewhere before, quite extensively, and almost exactly as the eagle on Mr Atwells coin. I don't know how to post a picture in a forum, but you can see dozens of the identical eagle at http://www.thirdreichruins.com/reichsadler.htm only the swastika is omitted on the coin. This really should be a non-issue.

Just thinkin' out loud: Grind off the threads, then drill out the base and insert/glue another rare earth magnet into the hole. Find one of those big pipes that seem to blossom around strip malls. The 12" pipe that comes out of the ground, goes to a valve, then returns into the ground? Those things typically bristle with odd, dead end fittings that you could slip that gauge into. How about just a piece of PVC U shaped into and out of the ground...looks kind of like a gas pipe...with the guage right at the top in the middle...could place that anywhere! Sorry bout previous post. I'd try, finding an old pipe, running a couple of old electrical wires from the pipe, through the pipe in the gauge and fixing firmly inside the gauge, then let it dangle by the wires resembling an old busted gauge. I'd bet most cachers won't recognize it's a pressure gauge.

Just thinkin' out loud: Grind off the threads, then drill out the base and insert/glue another rare earth magnet into the hole. Find one of those big pipes that seem to blossom around strip malls. The 12" pipe that comes out of the ground, goes to a valve, then returns into the ground? Those things typically bristle with odd, dead end fittings that you could slip that gauge into. How about just a piece of PVC U shaped into and out of the ground...looks kind of like a gas pipe...with the guage right at the top in the middle...could place that anywhere!