Casting Crowns

Hello.....most TB hotels are placed just like a reall hotel would likely be placed.....near the highway or Interstate. One popular here is just outside of the D/FW airport. I've dropped off many travelers over there. How small is your town? Does it have a lot of tourists? Weekenders? What's the draw? Have a lot of cachers in your area? I wouldn't want to place one if they became stagnant and didn't move. Other than that, I think you'll be OK!

Wow.....I love the romantic notion that caches should only be located on the top of Mt. Everest where the views are best and the glory is greatest! Really? If you don't care about cache swag, then why voice your opinion in a thread about improving cache swag? It's really simple.

I disagree with this one point - a lot of effort has gone into some sigitems, and I believe in trading up or trading even. If anyone wants to take one of my sig items out of a cache they can as long as they don't have one already. No need to "trade" for it. Even though I believe the opposite that you do, I leave items in caches even if i don't take anything. My cache swag Karma is evened out over the course of my caching, I'm sure. 'Tis true......I've spent around $500 on trade items/sig items in the year and a half I've been caching. I think I rank up there on "time spent" also because my shrinky dink sig items and bottle cap sig items take a lot of time to make. And, yes, I do leave them in MANY caches without trading for anything. An ammo can always gets a pathtag (for the Cache Owner as a "reward" for the ammo can or the next cacher). I just made 150 ink jet shrinky dink sig items to flood the area with. Cachers love them and they appreciate me making them. I don't expect anyone to trade for my sig items. I also give them away in person.

I don't like it one bit.....but I still do them....

I also believe you should sign the log....first and foremost. I have several different sig items (I'm addicted to them....only thing I really want in a cache now) and leave them for others to collect. I also believe that sig items can be taken without trade.

I'ved cached in the rain a few times....mostly going for FTF's. Neither time was I properly dressed. One time was with my daughter just after the new Cowboy's Stadium was completed. It flooded that night and we were worried to cross the new bridge. It was like a kayaker's dream but very violent runoff. Don't know that they engineered for such a deluge. I was concerned about the foundation of the bridge to get washed out. Guess it's OK cause it's still there. We did get all of the FTF's (4).

I like being the FTF but I don't keep track of them or want a Co-FTF if I'm with you and you find it. Many cachers here will give you a Co-FTF. Happened to me just last night. I was at GZ....some friends of mine pull up and his wife made the spot almost instantly. The Cache Owner gave us both FTF's in her cache description because I was "there". It was nice of them, but I wouldn't have minded if they didn't.

We went out for a night cache that posted......the spooky part is it's near an abandoned bridge that's too washed out and treacherous to cross yet the teenagers do it anyway. Supposedly you'll hear a shrill scream at night while out there. I guess the story is true because, as we were signing the logbook, a pack of teens came out to the bridge. I came walking out of the woods in a hoodie at 6'-3" and scared the bejeebus out of some teenage girl. The others were completely oblivious to my presence. I told them to have fun but to be safe.

I would want to help but wouldn't know how to react if I found a deceased person in the woods. I dunno.....

I have given this topic much thought and attention several times. Geocaching was just a simple "fit" for me since I've been obsessed with finding stuff growing up as a child. If you said you lost something then I had to devote all the time it took to try and find it. Earing.....money......keys......remote control......didn't matter. So, I thought about that also.....WHY do I need to find these things? I guess it all boils down to needing/wanting praise. Adventure....being outdoors.....that's just natural for me as I've grown up in that sort of environment my whole life. I enjoy being in those same invironments today but it's still about finding that "thing in the woods". I have to set time limits on some caches because I don't want to walk away with a DNF. It's a sickness.....

"Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices." That's the first sentence you read when you go to the first page at geocaching.com Probably why they always tend to refer to it as "treasure hunting".

I just completed one dedicted to a police officer that had lost his life during a bank robbery. The bank had placed a memorial plaque there and have it blocked off from foot traffic. I posted a pic of it in my log as well as others. I thought it was a cool idea.

What is tricky about signing a log? I don't want to give it away....Just know that there is some deception involved. It is the second cache in a series called "Patience".

I did go out and cache for an FTF with my daughter. We had another FTF Hound in the area show up with his son so we ended up figuring out the cache together. It was pretty sneaky. The ammo can was easy enough. But to sign the log was a little trickier!

My goal as an FTF hound is to meet more cachers and have them join me in the madness. So far, I've teamed up with another group (we even cache together on FTF Fridays in the same vehicle and wait for them to "pop"). It's made us pretty good friends so far. Now, because of our desire to get FTF's, we've "re-invigorated" some past FTF hounds and encouraged some Noobs (two other teams and a single cacher) to join us. Not as a group, just in the hunt. Now we look forward to seeing each other throughout the week. Much more fun, IMO.

I wouldn't worry about it either.....I don't understand why they would do that either.

I like them but I'd definitely NOT do them by myself! I'm a big scaredy cat. I have a few hides like this in mind.....night time only caches.

The best, most rewarding cache I've ever serched was a 5/4.5 mystery cache called "Triangulation". I was by myself and ended up taking the wrong way in. Took me 3.5 hours to complete.....was by myself so I didn't have to worry about anyone else.......found all three tags (where the last 10 cachers or so couldn't) found the ammo can packed with cool swag......wrote like a five page log in my journal......then stuffed it back with swag. Hasn't been found 4/19/09.

You'd be surprised what you can accomplish, with much enthusiasm, with a cordless deill with a hammerdrill feature. I use them for work so I made my own hollowed out rock to hide a film can in. It was limestone so it was fairly easy. Then I used a chisel to smooth it out a bit. Worked great. A hole the size of an ammo can??? That's going to take a LOT of patience! Good luck!

I thought Bittsen's reply was hilarious! Anyhow, I like logs to be more informative. I don't know why.....I like to think that I've offered a challenge to someone or brought them to a special area that they didn't know about. I also like to write down notes in a logbook to help me remember what happened at each cache.....even if it IS a series of P&G's. LPS's will get a one liner......you didn't put thought into the hide, I won't put much thought into the log.

W00T! Texans in the house!!! I wonder how many officers are affected by geocachers? I know I've been stopped by 6 in just a year alone! Mostly the same city (North Richland Hills). Most area cachers know not to night cache in NRH unless you want to get stopped. They're definitely on the job!

With FTF hounds running around, I also think its pointless to leave FTF prizes. One of the FTF hounds brags of over 200 FTFs. So if everyone had left $5 he would have gotten $1000+ What's the point? Now, if I do a fairly "good" hide, I might. Something to sour the milk for a FTF hound. Something like a 5 mile hike would probably do it since my son posted a cache at the 5 mile mark on a trail and it still hasn't been found over a week later. It's only 15 miles outside of the circle of FTF hounds. BTW, this does not mean I don't like FTF hounds. I could be seen as one of them but I don't chase all FTFs in the area. I only chase the ones close enough to have a good shot at beating out the other FTF hounds. *off topic* yes, it does seem like you're bitter about FTF hounds....I love the hikes and would find yours if it were here in Fort Worth! *back on topic* Also, people have started to leave those $1 gold coins in caches lately as an FTF prize. Usually, I like ANYTHING that's in there for the FTF. I have a bag 'o swag (my wife calls trash) but I love it! LOL! I don't know why....I told my son and daughter that when I die, they can plant it at my gravesite and people can trade from it. May need a gravesite of it's own by then!

I do.....I leave money, pins I've ordered online.....or just knick-knack stuff like patches, necklaces, etc. *edit* I also like to leave pathtags.....

Caching at night can be more challenging. When I first started, I had only DNF's. I eventually got better and better at it and it's a good thing. I also like the "coolness" of the night as compared to the blazing Texas heat. We've been stopped by 6 LEO's since starting a little over a year ago but only one was awfully suspicious of us. I had my son (13) and another 17 y.o. with me so it helped. Most of them I end up talking to them about cahing and they take an interst in it.