Nightstalker1967

quote:Originally posted by BadAndy:Take it from an old boyscout, I've been using a compass for more than 30 years. Just about any decent model works fine. A liquid filled is a good feature. The trick is learning how to use it. I'm with tha Bad Guy..... Now, some of you should learn to use one too. Right, Bad? Whe I give orienteering lessons I always test the scouts knowledge by asking them to find some feature on the map that I am indicating by pointing or describing in the terrain. I always know I have a well traioned lad when the first thing he does is orient his map to the vivible terrain and then throw out his compass and start shooting bearings. However, some never catch onto this if they are shown ten times...... Like the old adage.... What is the most dangerous object to friendly forces on the battlefield? Answer... A friendly 2d Lt with a compass and map calling artillery fire (I were one of dem... onesit.....) "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

OKAY Thanks. Hmmm The site says that there ae still coupons in a trash bag so maybe it would be worth local folks time just for those. Also, I count only 27 caches of 31 so I presume 4 more will be offered soon? They will likely be in Washington. LOL Next year....... "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

Great Job Hawk I've only been on these forums a short while but am already impressed by the excellence of your efforts in the various aspects of this hobby. Did you print that on your PC? ANd are all your caches full of these? Man, I've got to get outa tha house and start hunting...... Hawks 5 and 7 are already loaded in my GPS! Bury your face deep in your rag, however, and cry me a river, because I must keep house and be transport for all my chullins and still am trying to get out on my first hunt. LOL... soon, soon Typical is my situation yesterday. I thought a week ago that I might slip off yesterday afternoon after my wife came home from UNCG, but a second look at the calendar showed a hot dog supper to kick off this scouting year was upcoming. Dash it all! Now Wednesday........... "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

thje map and compass skills are a definite plus to learn I absolutely agree! Besides what happens when your batteries fail or someone drops the GPS unit down a cliff? Oooppsss..... Finding a cache on a map would be difficult because even on a good 7.5 min topographic with 40' contour lines sectional map (most often available in US) when you try to plot your location by drawing two intersecting lines the width of just the lines from a good pencil is 20' or more and your eyeballing of the correct location on the side of the map where the degrees are marked may vary slightly, and the map printing itself has unknown tolerances for further diviations. It can be done, but I would not count on being closer than 50-100' to the coordinates actual location on the map because of these things. Eevn after you have it 'located' on a map you must find that location using good dead reckoning with a compass. In training scouts for orienteering I've found that only 1 in a few are capable of doing this consistently even with good training and practice. None-the-less good luck and have fun trying. "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

walking in circles??? A trait often cropping up when tramping about out of doors. The trick to not doing this is to find two landmarks that you can focus on that are on your line of march and far apart or one that is in front and one that is behind you (better). You then become a moving point on a line to your target. I have not yet found a cache but I have found my way around the world, led patrols in enemy territory, directed artillery fire and called in air support with maps, with compasses, dead reckoning and GPS for about 50 years now. MY suggestion (and what I plan to do soon) is to watch as you approach the area and try to get to a nul cross track situation indicated on your GPS when you are about 200' from your target and before your GPS starts going nuts because you stop walking fast enough. Pick out your landmarks to establish your target area. Now, keep on walking in a straight line (sometimes difficult in the bush, I know) until you are within 50' of the target. If you are still getting an indication that you have 0 cross track, count your paces until you reach the theorectical exact point. Mark this on the ground and you should be within a circle (within which the cache will lie) the radius of which will be determined by the accuracy of your GPS. .....YEAH, and everything works great in theory! LOL...... I'd start with a 25' radius and search well, then go out to 50', then..... well, it may be a loonnggg day. Then try this...... on handheld commo device, say, Red Dragon, RedDragon, LittleBeaver 26Actual, Fire Mission, Marker ROund, Coord XXX XXX. Over. LMAO at me and myself (at least I'm in good company?) "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

next to a fallen pine tree! It's the one 5 paces just North of the one with 73 million, 368 thousand, 203 green needles and 2 million, 178 thousand, 748 brown needles..... unless that dadgum mocking bird is building another nest............. "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

Where would one find these coordinates? And are there other at large contests going on sponsered by firms or people? "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

I cannot find a logo that I like! Would a couple of you guys post URLs for your favorite places to peruse and.. ummm.... borrow logos? TIA "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

All the above posts have excellent suggestions but don't forget the mundane that I bet most of these folks take but have not mentioned (or I speed read too quickly) -- namely, a waterproof bag. It can be an elaborate canoe expedition type, a garbage bag or just a quart or gallon ziplock bag depending upon your needs and disposition. I'd suggest visiting a basic hiking and camping website and brushing up on 'the Ten Essentials' or whatever is recommended on that site and reading just a bit about being in the wilds before chargeing off on your first hunt that is other than an urban park if you are as inexperienced as you said. You might even desire to take along a mentor with some experience to just kind of watch over your attempt. ANother tip and I'll quit. Do not wear any 'smell good' when outside hiking. I love the smell of a woman wearing Opium or me wearing Farenheit but so do the BUGS. I shower hair and all using a bar of soap that is Citronella enhanced. You can buy this at Walmart and camping stores. Good luck and have fun. "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

Sorry bout the caps....... I guess I thought I was writting another military operations order. LOL These days there is no rhyme or reason to what or why I do things sometimes. Anyhow.... good cacheing... &........ HAVE A GREAT DAY! "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

I STARTED TO NOT REPLY TO THIS THREAD BUT RECENT POSTS HAVE CAUSED ME TO CHANGE MY MIND AND GIVE MY .02 WORTH OF ADVICE. OVER A FEW DECADES I HAVE MADE A FEW OF THESE 'STICKS' IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS, HAVE BOUGHT SOME AND GIVEN SOME AWAY AND HAVE EVEN USED A COUPLE OF THROW AWAYS ACQUIRED AT THE TRAILHEAD ALSO. I HAVE COME TO THE PERSONAL CONCLUSION THAT I WILL MAKE AND CARRY A 'STOUT' POLE OR NONE AT ALL. I HAVE SEEN LEKIS AND SKI POLES BENT INTO PRETZELS WHILE SOMEONE TRIED TO HELP SOMEONE ELSE UP A SLOPE OR OUT OF THE WATER UNSUCCESFULLY, WOODEN AND BAMBOO POLES SPLIT AND BROKEN JUST HIKING ALONG, UNTIPPED POLES CAUSE BAD FALLS IN THE WINTER ON ICE, AND MY OWN LIFE STORY POLE BURNED BY MY 3 YEAR OLD USING IT AS A POKER WHILE I TOOK A SHOWER AND HIS MOM WATCHED HIM..... LOL. SO,WHEN I WANTED TO MAKE A NEW STORY POLE A FEW YEARS BACK, I THOUGHT IT OVER FOR A WHILE FIRST. HERE'S WHAT I DID. 1.BOUGHT A 'D' SHAPED HARDWOOD CLOSET POLE 60" LONG FROM A HOME PROJECTS STORE -- NOT EXPENSIVE, NOT SURE OF THE WEIGHT (DON'T CARE REALLY), EASY TO CARVE, BUT TOUGH. ORIENTED THE FLAT SIDE TO THE INSIDE WHEN I CARVED HANDGRIPS. 2. BOUGHT AND INSTALLED A 1/4" COMBINATION LAG SCREW/MACHINE SCREW STUD IN THE BOTTOM. (DRILL A GUIDE HOLE, PUT TWO HEX NUTS ON 1/4-20 THREAD AND TIGHTEN AS JAMS, RUN THE LAG SCREW INTO THE WOOD (USING THE JAM NUTS) UNTIL THE MACHINE SCREW PORTION IS EVEN WITH THE POLE'S FACE WITH WOOD GLUE IN THREADS, TAKE THE NUTS OFF, PUT A FENDER WASHER AGAINST BOTTOM OF POLE AND RUN JAM NUTS AGAINST THIS WITH GLUE UNDER THE WASHER AND LOCKTIGHT ON THE NUTS. GET A RUBBER CAP FOR 'SENSITIVE' AREAS.) THIS KEEPS THE END FROM WEARING AND SPLITTING. 3. CARVED HAND GRIPS THAT FIT MY FINGERS EXACTLY FOR HIKING AND THAT PROVIDE GRIPPING SURFACES IN CASE SOMEONE NEEDS TO GRAB THE POLE TO BE PUULED OUT OF A JAM. 4. CARVED AND SHAPED THE POLE TO MY LIKING WITH SYMBOLS, DATES, INITIALS, ETC -- STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS -- LOL 5. WILL MAKE dadgum CERTAIN THAT KIDS DON'T USE THIS ONE AS A FIRE POKER C(rying)OL STILL... GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECT "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

In the mid-Atlantic states .001 min. is only about 5' of error on the ground. Since you must round up or down this will add 25' max to your existing error of about the same. ANd most of time only 10-15' or less. Maybe this is still functional for geocacheing purposes? "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

What GPS receiver are you referring to? I was referring to a Magellon Pioneer. It was quickly replaced with the Mag.310, I think. But I am not an expert on GPS units. I just took the one I had and did what I wanted to do which included learning its capabilities and limitations. At that time the elevation data was purposely distorted by the government and I wanted to see if I could break their 'code'. Now it is not. At no time have I tried to actually determine how accurate the info is and it has been years since I even paid much attention to elevation on my unit except in a casual way of noticing it because it is there. "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

If you really 'want' to enter a correct elevation value in your unit you can do it this way. Go to an actual marked benchmark location. Go into setup (the quick start or initiation screen) in your GPS and enter the elevation value of that benchmark. Sit down and record whatever your GPS shows as a value for about 30 minutes. Statistically extract (it helps to take along some type of statistical data recording and reporting device from quality assurance for this) the unit's most consistent reading. COmpare that to the benchmark value. If the values are very close you have a 'correct' value enetered and can quit. If not close enough, in your judgement, reinitiate your unit with a value that is a compromise and recheck. You should eventually get a decent value recorded. I did this on top of Hanging Rock, NC in 1997 when my GPS was new ------- and never used the altitude again....... and now you know 'the rest of the story'........ "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)

OMG I just wandered into this sport and it looks great! And by conincidence both the first Cache report I read about and the last post on the first forum I accessed were by the same person, EL Diablo. And that person is only a few miles from me as the crow flies......... Coincidences like these must have some reason that is "beyond the ken of normal men" (pardon me Shakespear). Will we become fast allies or arch nemesi? In either case, good luck to you and your Evil Horde. I plan to put out a couple of caches for you and seek a couple you have planted. Pardon me for being slightly off topic on this thread but it just fit too dadgum well. Now, how duz ya turn dis thingee on and what is uh Avitar and how much was tea in China yesterday..... "For the captain had quitted the long drawn strife And in far Simoree had taken a wife." ( R. Kipling)