Quizes

I've only been at this a year, but doesn't the term "muggled" refer to a cache that has gone missing...probably by a non-cacher? If so, please tell me what I've done to anger someone here: Cache log

I'd like to get a bug for the front of our camper, but our trailer is white. Do they make the stickers in any color other than white?

When I first started caching I made the mistake of picking up two travel bugs on my first couple of runs. A short time after that I had a medical issue that landed me in the hospital. I didn't get back to caching for 6 months. During that time, both of the owners contacted me several times. Without wanting to go into the details of my personal issues with them, I just old them that I would move the bug along the next time I cached. I finally did so on crutches, just to get these people off my backs! One of the owners even told me he had put a curse on me! Over a stupid little owl on a keychain. Seriously, people, get a life. So now, I pass them up unless I know I'm going down the road to another cash I can drop it in or if it belongs to a cacher I know. You put the travel bugs out there in the universe and then let them go, you should not expect other cachers to obey the TB owner's every command. Geocaching is just a hobby for most of us. Please remember that travel bugs are usually just little pieces of colorful plastic with negligible value attached to a little metal tag. Don't pin your hopes, dreams, moods, health and future well-being on them. There, I feel better. Rant over.

It is a shame that a cache that very few will ever try to seek has garnered so much heated discussion. I'm glad that most owners aren't subjected to the abuse sailor has taken (and continues to take) so graciously here.

I agree with Prime Suspect above...it is GEOCACHING, not puzzlecaching.

Puzzle caches should be in the same category. I'd rather have 1 more virtual in my area than 1000 more puzzles caches.

A "sous chef" is essentially an assistant to the chef.

When I get the chance, I go caching with my nieces and nephew and it is all about treasure with them. Because of this fact, I always try to leave something in every cache...I carry foam stickers, guitar picks, little gems, rubber bracelets, plastic rulers, bead necklaces and etc. and leave something (most often lots of something) in every cache I find except nanos. I hope this leaves caches better off than when I found them. If the little kiddos that find them want to trade the beautiful rock they found on the path to the cache, they have something to trade for. I carry decks of cards, small carpenters levels and keychain flashlights to trade when I find something I want, but seldom find anything I want in caches. If I find trash in a cache, I always remove it. If it needs duct tape on the container, a ziploc baggie or a new log, I have it. My goal is not only to find the caches, but to keep them out there and well stocked to keep the next group of children from being disappointed. It makes for a great lesson in leaving the world a better place for the kids in my life.

Other than me, has anyone taken the position that puzzle caches are not true caches? After all, the "game" is geocaching, no puzzle solving. Putting a cache out there with an intricate puzzle challenge is someone's way of "cheating" true geocachers out of a wonderful outdoor experience by making their brains hurt. The devils do it because they want to feel superior when they see all the DNFs logged and get the frantic calls for assistance. If I want to solve a puzzle, I'll do the crossoword/soduko in the newspaper. If I want to geocache, I'll skip the ones listed as "?"

Like another poster before me, I'm just no good at puzzles. I don't know any other geocachers, so I could not phone a friend or "cheat" if I wanted to. I just skip those caches. I hope that all puzzle cache owners share the OP's outrage and permanently archive ALL puzzle caches. Maybe even geocaching.com could outlaw puzzle caches because of rampant cheating. Where is the group? I want to join, if only for the slim possibility that puzzle caches will fall out of favor forever. Up with the cheaters....down with puzzle caches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hell no, we won't solve!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Free the caches!!!!!!!!!! Power to the puzzled!!!!!!! Cheaters always win, winners always cheat!!!!!!!!!!

I've been in two situations where I've been caught in the act of searching: The first one was while hunting a micro at a local statue. I was putting it back in it's place when I was surprised by someone saying hello from behind. When I turned around, he stated that he didn't mean to scare me, but he was going to photograph the artwork...then he asked what I was doing. I told him about geocaching and showed him the container. He'd heard of it, but never done it. The second time I was caught, I was in a bad part of town looking for a cache in kind of a trashy area. I heard a car door slam behind me and started to formulate excuses for being there when a friendly guy waves a GPS at me and yells "Are you geocaching?!" Yep! So my first encounter with a fellow cacher helped me make a find.

Maybe she was at the event and mistakenly thought the TBs there were up for adoption. Or she is confusing adoptions with picking up the bug to move it.

I think it is cool that the slug flashes!

How do you know the cache is truly missing if nobody has ever been to look for it? (he has a basic description of where it had been put in addition to the coordinates) Maybe someone else on the island has it, or Ricardo was instructed only to acknowledge it's existance to a live person coming to the island. Besides, I'm willing to bet that the CO would give someone a find if they did indeed go to the island to seek it and found it had been misplaced. Until then I'll dream of winning the lottery and sailing my luxury yacht to this destination to seek this cache. I sure hope it hasn't been disabled when I get there!

I found a cache recently that was a large-mouthed bottle stuck in a dug-put hole underneath a rock in the highway right-of-way. When you kicked over the rock, you saw the cache and pulled it out. The top of the bottle was flush with the ground. I didn't think it at the time, but would that be considered a buried cache?

I like to read people's logs on caches and see cryptic hints that might assist me. It adds to the clues in the description. For example, a log that said: The stroll down the hill was tougher than seeing the cache.....would lead me to believe that the cache was at the bottom of a mild knoll and in plain sight. But, I'll be more careful in my personal logs in the future, and will probably drop it down to just SL, TFTC.

With the current guidelines, just take the person to the place and let them enjoy or pay tribute. You can mention what it is in the description. IMO, places like you described can be very powerful without any need for "tributizing".

Puzzle caches are evil. The people that place them are toture-ers. Don't you know that a seeker will short-out precious brain cells during the process that can never be replaced and become dumber with every find? DOWN WITH PUZZLE CACHES!!!

The coordinates only get you to the area. In my experience, the search grid can be a 15 foot radius at a minimum from ground zero and can expand to 100 feet based on the area and how good the posted coordinates are.

I think you misunderstood me, Roddy. I continue to use my Legend over other models because it is low-tech and easy to use. There is NO difference in my reception between and the other "upgrade" model I own or the units my friends have upgraded to. It might be a product of where I live, or just that I've learned to use it with ease. My main frustrations come from cache hiders and not my GPS unit. In my limited experience (I've only been at this a year), there are some hiders that relish the thought of making people go back four and five times to find a cache. A buffalo tube stuck in a drilled hole in the bottom of a pine cone hung 10 feet off the ground will be what eventually frustrates the cacher. Sticking with the 1/1s will help the game be fun and the make the newbie want more.

I have an Extrex Legend and it is totally fine. Do not let people encourage you to upgrade to something out of your financial range, espcially if you are not sure you are going to like the sport. I've never, ever had a problem with bad reception. The unit is low-tech and easy to use. I enter coordinates by hand and have no problem doing so...even on a 20 cache outing. If you find you really like the game, and you really like high-tech gadgets, and you really want to spend the money...then you can go back and get one with all the bells and whistles you want. Better yet, see if you can borrow a gps unit for a couple of weeks.

I agree that a description/photo of a container would be beneficial. There has to be a way to put that option in there, where if you don't want to see it you don't. If you cache with young kids sometimes, like I do, the thrill of the search and "satisfaction" of finding it by yourself sans hints insn't appealing. Also, I agree about the swag complaint. Is it really unreasonable to think that people who spend hundreds of dollars on gps equipment and hiking gear along with countless hours researching and hunting could spend a couple extra bucks on some nice trinkets to leave behind for small hunters whose main thrill is treasure? Beer bottle caps, pennies, rocks picked up on the trail, old golf balls, broken/dirty toys, paper "I found your cache" cards and etc., should not count as swag. Thanks for a place to let me vent.

There are lots of experienced cachers in my area and I get frustrated looking for caches intended to be very hard to thwart the old hands. It is almost like someone hid a cache and advertised it, but they really don't want anyone to find it.

What would really be disappointing is when someone actually gets to go and find it and posts....TNLN, SL, TFTC!

I love the fact that a stranger can hide a small container on the globe and post the coordinates in a virtual community of like-minded individuals to provide others with a wonderful opportunity to be led on an adventure to a precise location where you can pick out a trinket and then share your experience with others. Seriously, think about it...billions of people and billions of wonders in the world and we lead each other to precise places on the earth to share a common experience.