tankboy

19K4HA8, that's an M1A1 Armor Crewman, E7, Instructor, Master Gunner. Currently assigned to the 1-204th Armor Training Bn. That's a "schoolhouse" in Boise, Idaho. We teach BNCOC (Basic Non-Commissioned Officers Course), ANCOC (Advanced " ") 19K MOSQ (Military Occupational Specialty Qualification) 19D MOSQ, (that's scout stuff), and TCCC (Tank Commanders Certification Course) Best job in the world. All the perks of active duty, without having to move every few years. Unless we get deployed (again).

Did ALMOST the whole thing, Cub Scout all the way to Life Scout. All I needed for the Eagle Scout was to complete a community service project. Never got it done. Too busy chasing girls I suppose. I do seem to recall I expended an awful lot of energy in that area.

"My" first GPS'r was a Trimble Scout, which actually belonged to the U.S. Army. That was in the early/mid 90's. Then I upgraded to the PLGR. I got tired of the Army being so possessive about their toys and bought my own in 2003, a Garmin E-Trex Venture. Specifically to try this "geocaching" thing I'd stumbled across on the WWW. It worked well. Then a buddy got the Vista, the map feature of which I suddenly could not live without. Then I managed to misplace the Vista - seems to me I loaned it to someone, but that someone swears I didn't. His memory being slightly worse than mine, it's anybodys guess. I suspect it'll turn up in his house one of these days, and he'll sheepishly sneak it back into my locker at work. Currently using my brand spankie new Garmin GPSMAP 60cs. I don't miss the Vista at all.

My retriever rides in the back of my truck, I have a shell, carpeting and dog bed installed. I bought the shell specifically for that reason. I had a Ford Explorer, the dog rode in the back. Fine and dandy until one day he hacks up a huge mass of doggie goo and coughs it at high velocity towards the front of the vehicle. It hit the windshield. It was at that point I began considering trading the Exploder in in a 4 door truck with shell.

Well, then I feel marginally better. Kind of irritating though. Thanks.

Is anyone else having a lot of trouble logging caches on the site today? I keep getting error after error, no luck at all. So, is it me, or is it the site?

1. How long have you been actively using a GPS? Militarily, since 1991 (Trimble) Civilian - since July 03 2. What got you started? The army told us this was good stuff. Civilian - I wanted a toy, and geocaching provided the rationalization I needed. 3.What keeps you currently using it? The geocaching thing, and the fact that my E- Trex Venture is more user friendly than the Army PLGR GPS. I plan on taking it with me to the field.

These guys have every cable you can think of. http://pc-mobile.net/gps.htm Cables

I use one of these. Great pack, just enough room for 1st aid kit, trading stock, gloves ,extra socks, and some energy bars.

The high desert of Idaho - rockpiles and under sagebrush so far, although I've only been at this a short time. I've run into a brilliant micro-cache in town. I won't disclose what it was though, who knows how many other similar caches there are out there.

I actually have two caching dogs. Scout, the Retriever who doesn't retrieve, and Gracie, the Basset, who doesn't do much of anything. Scout is in my sig pic. He enjoys his "me time". [This message was edited by tankboy on August 23, 2003 at 11:11 PM.]

What Alan2 probably saw was a meteor headed directly towards him. Those have the appearance of a rapidly growning star that changes colors, and disappears.

I'll reiterate making your car a waypoint. Been there, done that, it makes you feel very, very stupid. After the initial panic, of course.

I've only been at this for a few weeks, but I've seen two really clever hides, and one that was absolutely brilliant. By and large though, around here things are under rocks, under sagebrush, and under logs. Bridges are a popular spot for micros. I like the really remote spots, requiring long walks and climbs over rugged terrain. By that time, I don't care if the hide is clever or not, I just want to find it and get the ordeal over with! I also enjoy the really clever urban hides, the ones that can be in plain sight, right under your nose, but you don't realize it until three days later. Such was the case with the brilliant hide mentioned above.

I just bought a Sony Clio SJ-22. I've been pretty happy with it. Works great with Plucker and cache pages. It's overkill for my needs though, I would have been fine with the 99 dollar Palm Zire. If you want sound, I'd go with the Pocket PC platform. Be prepared to spend considerably more than 99 dollars.

Ten years as a "part timer", National Guard. 15 now as a "full timer", AGR - Active National Guard. All in armor, from the M60, M60A3, M1, M1IP, M1A1, and most recently the M1A1HA. Much of the active time as an instructor on the tanks with CVTTT, one of the best uses your tax dollars ever went towards. Only 5 more to go, and I'll retire with 30 for pay.

My pack is a military style Camelback, 2 good size pockets. The top pocket is trading stuff. The bottom pocket is my stuff, which is: 1 mini-maglite 1 motorola FRS 1 1st Aid kit 1 butane lighter 1 trioxane heat tab 1 Odwalla food bar 1 4-pack alkaline AAs 1 small pack "wet wipes" 1 mini-binocular 1 pair leather palm gloves 1 spare pair of socks 2 ball point pens Clipped on the outside are E-Trex Venture in case, and my Sony Clio SJ-22, in case. Clipped on my belt are my Leatherman, and my cell phone. I've been thinking of purchasing a Glock .40 or .45, I keep finding these big kitty footprints. I don't want to shoot the big kitty, but I want the option.