Jaebird82

Kershaw Needs Work. I take this with me hiking. This thing really does flip open like a switchblade! I don't own many knives, so I have nothing to compare it to. Reviewed on Outside.away.com. "A pivot fin along the back, assisted by an internal tension rod, lets you open this utility knife like a switchblade, fast and with a flick of the finger. kershawknives.com"

I use an Ipod nano 3rd or 4th gen with maccaching. Maccaching is a nice program that lets you put the cache logs onto your ipod. However, it only provides the last 6 or so logs which is kind of a bummer. Maybe there is a newer version out that i'm missing. But overall, it's useful and easy to use.

I completely agree. I've found that searching for caches in bushes, trees, etc., can be easier at night. It seems that I find them much faster when my light is scoping them out in the bushes. Aslo - as the above poster pointed out - you often come across containers with camo tape, or some reflective material, which really helps narrow it down.

Hey, I do a lot of caching while hiking at night so cops aren't a concern for me. I have done night city caching too though. My most recent finds were in the dark on a moderate trail with a few class 2 rock scrambling spots. I made it to the summit about 30-40 min before sunset - rested and made my way back to my car in the dark. Having a good headlamp doesn't make you feel like you have to rush back to beat sunset. The most important thing when night caching is a headlamp, in my opinion. A flashlight works too, but the best part about a headlamp is being hands free - comes in handy! It might take a bit to get use to, and you will look goofy, but not when you're hands free and everyone else is stumbling their way back in the dark. Depending on what kind of night caching you're doing, I'll recommend two. 1. Petzl TacTikka. Amazing, relatively cheap headlamp that I've abused for over a year, and it's still going strong! Nice and bright and very durable. Takes 3 AAA batteries and has a great battery life. It has a nifty red filter that you can flip up so you dont blind people when they walk by. It's gotten me through a lot of rough situations. Perfect for night caching in the city. It's great on fire roads and provides more than enough light to guide your way back to your car. http://www.altrec.com/petzl/tactikka-plus-headlamp 2.Mammut Tx1 Just got this thing and used it last night. Heavy duty light - this thing is a torch! Takes 3 AA batteries. Hopefully it turns out to be as durable as the above light. A little more expensive. For a LED, it's probably the brightest in it's class. Overkill for night caching in the city. http://www.altrec.com/mammut/tx1-headlamp Either way, highly recommend both. Jaebird82

Hmm, $4? I think I got ripped off. Thinking about taking mine back.

Haha! Thanks for your answers guys. Good to see most of you don't let the rain stop you. A poster mentioned having the right gear makes a huge difference. I have to agree with that!

I just bought a brand new rain jacket. I looked at the Mammot Preclip, though nice, check out the REI's new Shuksan jacket with eVent tech. Supposedly better than Gortex because it' way more breathable. Haven't tested it in the rain yet, wanted to , (heard its amazing in this aspect from various outdoorsy magazine like backpacker) but I did bring it on a hike with me when it got a bit windy. This thing is amazing. Now I need water-proof shoes and pants. Ill look into gaiters. What kind of shoes/boots are you using? Im looking at the Keen Targhees II, but can't decide. Headlamp? I wear smartwool as my baselayer. Haven't found nothing better to keep your thermoregulation somewhat normal in bad weather( take it from someone with a sever sweating disorder, even in the winter). --Jaebird82

I just bought a brand new rain jacket. I looked at the Mammot Preclip, though nice, check out the REI's new Shuksan jacket with eVent tech. Supposedly better than Gortex because it' way more breathable. Haven't tested it in the rain yet, wanted to , (heard its amazing in this aspect from various outdoorsy magazine like backpacker) but I did bring it on a hike with me when it got a bit windy. This thing is amazing. Now I need water-proof shoes and pants. Ill look into gaiters. What kind of shoes/boots are you using? Im looking at the Keen Targhees II, but can't decide. Headlamp? I wear smartwool as my baselayer. Haven't found nothing better to keep your thermoregulation somewhat normal in bad weather( take it from someone with a sever sweating disorder, even in the winter). --Jaebird82

Hey, It's staring to rain here in Southern Cali - just wondering who caches in the rain? A more relative question to me would be, who hikes while caching in the rain? I just bought an incredible rain jacket and want to test it out, but now I need rain pants and water proof shoes to go along with it. Just wondering if the rainy season keeps you in doors and out of the dirty muddy water. --Jaebird82

Nice. I don't think I have the patience for that, but to each their own. You're doing it the more "creative" way. Haha. Very cool. Thanks for the reply. Jaebird82

never tailed him and wasn't ever close to a cacheWhat's that have to do with my story? No clue, but I liked your story. =)

because not all people use the iphone and want to pony up a monthly fee to use it for caching. Unless you are just talking about buying the iphone and not signing up for a monthly plan. Then what's the point? Then you have a unit that can do so much more like unlimited internet, gps, etc., and you'll probably end up spending more money than you wanted to. if i was in the market for a new phone then i'd think about it. =)

Where are you mountain biking where caches aren't allowed?

That's great! Haha. I'd probably get lost without my GPS, so i'm glad i got it before geocaching. I might have not found it enjoyable after not finding any caches and gave up on the whole thing. Jaebird82

Thank you everyone for the replies. I should be happy with what I have, but as an earlier poster said, it's the want factor. Plus, the 60csx was only like 40 dollars more than the vista on Amazon or something like that. Im feeling like i should have went for that. The vista has never really let me down though, so i'm sticking with it for now... i think... And to the poster below, the Ipod nano I think works great for paperless caching. I have it on my 4 gig nano and it straps perfectly around my wrist making it one less thing to carry. Only thing is that it doesn't show all the logs. I use maccaching. Is there a way around this?? It only shows what is on the geocaching page before you click "show all logs". Thanks everyone! Jaebird82

never tailed him and wasn't ever close to a cache

Yikes! That's scary! Although, going along with the theories of a few people on this post, he could have just been a GeoCacher with tired arms using your truck as an arm rest.

The way he flew back down the canyon after slowly pulling next to my car tells me otherwise - just erratic behavior. Plus, every place he parked at waiting for me to catch up had absolutely no GeoCaches as I had all of them in that area on my hand-held. Trust me, if you there you would have gotten the feeling he was following you and hiding, following you and parking, etc. That one time he was parked on the side road I could just see the front of his van with his dome light on. Plus, what are the odds that I see him two 1-2 weeks later pulling up behind my car again? Same GeoCacher? Don't think so. ANyway, LOL to where this post has taken us. Same sex hookers, Skinheads and Incomplete multi-caches, OH MY!

This could be a possibility; however, I really doubt it. If he was really that suspicious or concerened he would have called the cops. I was on the road for a very long time, they would have gotten to me before I had left the area. Plus, if he worked for the cops or was a concerned neighbor, he had more than enough chances to pull up to me and ask me what I was doing, which I would have done if I was protecting my children, family, and friends from arsonists. And.. gay cruising happens in places you would never believe. I gew up in Los Angeles. Mulholland and that area is no exception. As far as gun dealers go, perhaps squirt guns wouldn't be such a bad idea in that area. Bad joke. Jaebird82 It's possible that he lives up there and was concerned about what you were doing. The people in that area are freaked out that someone is going to come up there and burn their mountain down, either by accident, or intentionally. Don't forget that it was late night partiers that burned down 100 homes in Corral Canyon, last year. Heck, if the residents of Malibu had their way, they would close the town off from the rest of the world, just to keep themselves safe. Gay crusing, drug dealing or gun running would be the last thing to expect in that area.

Lol. I totally set myself up for that one. Jaebird82 Is there some sort of double meaning here?. If so, that might be why you were being followed. That and the Elysian Institute has been closed for a while now up there in Topanga Canyon.

Vinny, You are hilarious. I wasn't shocked or amazed. I was merely telling my story, which I thought was especially appropriate with Halloween right around the corner. If you read my post knowing that I kept GeoCaching even though one of two things could have happened to me - ( I might have gotten lucky OR might have gotten thrown in the back of the van, gotten lucky, then killed) - then you know I have absolutely no common sense. =) The main reason why I asked if I should report this to the cache owner or make a note on the cache page is because I didn't want to scare people into not finding the cache. I didn't want the owner to over-react and take the cache down. Just wanted some advice.. with bullet points...and I got both. Best, Jaebird P.S. I'll let the cache owner know. Thanks! Well, I largely agree, but really, it seems to be more like "pickle road in an unpopulated and somewhat abandoned area of an urban megalopolis", in the current case! Frankly, I too was a bit amazed that the OP did not figure out instantly that it the incident was either gay sex cruising-related or drug-sales-related (or illegal handgun sales-related, although the probability of that is rather low...), and I am still even more amazed that the OP acted surprised and shocked that such an encounter could happen in a desolate part of an urban area, and at night, to boot. However, when I start getting a bit critical about this level of shock and incredulity, my charitable side kicks in and reminds me that it is entirely possible that one of the following hypotheses are true about the OP: she/he grew up in a tiny town in the New Jersey Pine Barrens with a population of 13 persons, and lived there for their entire life until one week ago, when they moved to Los Angeles, California, whereupon they immediately took up the dubious pastime of hunting caches in abandoned and desolate urban areas late at night. he/she was born in a tiny monastery in upstate NY, on the NY/Canadian border, and grew up in the monastery and lived on the monastery grounds for their entire life until one week ago, when they moved to Los Angeles, California, whereupon they immediately took up the dubious pastime of hunting caches in abandoned and desolate urban areas late at night. she/he was abducted by aliens as a tiny child, and has lived on the mother ship (hovering in geostationary orbit over the Sahara Desert) for their entire life, and was returned to earth's surface only one week ago, and happened to have been set free in Los Angeles, California, whereupon they immediately took up the dubious pastime of hunting caches in abandoned and desolate urban areas late at night.. This all reminds me of something which is somewhat relevant: My admittedly very extreme and unreal Psycho Urban Cache #10 - Derelict Grunge Acropolis is located in an aging and long-neglected abandoned fort located in an aging and long-neglected and underfunded urban park located on the very desolate and abandoned outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. And, as is true of all such parks worldwide in such locales, a number of activities are rampant in the park. Because I was well aware of this when I placed the cache -- largely from having read the disgusted find log entries logged by past finders over the previous three years of a virtual cache that was located in the same park (and which did NOT bear any cautions or reminders on the cache listing page about the types of activities that one could reasonably expect to find in the park -- I decided to do something rather radically different when creating the cache listing page for this cache: I listed in large bold font on the cache listing page a rather comprehensive warning statement and list of just some of the more common activities that one could reasonably expect to witness in this park (and in most other neglected urban parks around the world), and the page and list included the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WELCOME TO EXTREME GEOCACHING, AND TO PSYCHO URBAN CACHES! DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS CACHE ALONE! BE SURE TO BRING ALONG ONE OR MORE PARTNERS AND SAFETY PERSONS, FOR SEVERAL REASONS! THIS CACHE IS BEST SUITED ONLY FOR A TEAM EFFORT. YOU MUST READ THE FULL LISTING AND DISCLAIMER BELOW BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS CACHE! CAUTION! This is a very sick and very tough cache located in an urban park; the odds are great that you will fail to find the cache even after a three-hour search. Despite the fact that a beatiful aging citadel is located at this park, ALL of the realities of modern urban parks are present here in plentitude, including: * trash and litter, including beer bottles, liquor bottles and empty syringes * graffiti * large rats * feral cats * sometimes-deranged elderly men and women who drop by to visit the cats and give them food and water * urban homeless people * "street people", sometimes called "transients"; at least a few would be called "derelicts" * drug and alcohol use onsite by some park visitors, particularly some street people * tens of thousands of hungry cave crickets * drug dealing * drug users * gay sex cruising * straight sex cruising * ongoing graffiti creation and tagging by "taggers" and graffiti artists * prostitution by male hustlers * history buffs with cameras * prostitution by female hookers * thousands of big spiders * pimps * johns looking for (straight) sex * panhandling by transients and street people * sightings of Sioneva * paintball skirmishes by paintballers * hungry and curious cave crickets * puddles of possibly tainted human blood, urine, feces and other body fluids * used condoms * pale and tattooed bored and stoned "Gothic scene" teenagers dressed all in black * bored and jaded tourists who are sightseeing * teenage lovers in customized "monster" pickpup trucks * recreational boaters (using boat loading ramp and docks) * broken beer bottles, liquor bottles and empty syringes * hungry and vicious cave crickets * spiders (yes, I know that I already listed spiders above...! But, spiders, for some people, are a big deal!) These factors all contribute to making this cache even FAR more "psycho" than it would be otherwise! We advise you of these phenomena in advance, so that you may better manage any situations which you may encounter. ...if any of these types of people, things, activities, people or critters offend you, or if you do not wish to witness such activities or critters, then we suggest that you may wish to skip this cache, even if the Difficulty 5 or Terrain 5 ratings do not deter you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To me, it was simply an act of commonsense courtesy to emplace that warning on the cache listing page. However, the reaction of the geocaching community -- and this includes not just local geocachers, but also geocachers from across the USA and from across the world -- while unexpected, has been impressive. I have, in the 2.6 years since placing that cache, heard from numerous geocachers around the world, including many seekers of the cache, thanking me profusely for being thoughtful enough to have placed these caveats on the cache listing page. Some of these cachers told me that they are urban residents, and do most of their caching in urban areas, and so technically they should have known all these facts already, but that they still found it comforting that someone took the time to remind them that all these phenomena do exist, in case they had been blocking out such realities of modern urban life, or in case they had been totally spacing out that day. Others told me that they lived in very rural areas, and only rarely ventured into urban settings such as this one to seek a cache, and that they had been rather unaware of any and all of these realities of modern urban life, and they thanked me for the reminders! .

I went back during the day... he pulled up behind me while I was signing the log book.... I would even say more... Where in the WORLD you are located. I'm in Belgium and if the OP used other locations I may not have known where he was. Fortunately I visited CA (that's California USA ) and was aware of Mulholland and PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). Remember that the world is bigger than LA, CA, USA some people (mostly US) seem to forget that. As for an explanation on who/what happened I guess Vinnie&Sue might be correct. Maybe the caches Jaebird82 went for are best done during daylight hours (and then some). The owner may know better about the area.

HAHA! BEAR with me. =) Maybe this van guy heard me say that and just wanted a little nakey time.. The reason you couldn't find anything in my profile, is because I got scared of my own story and took my full name, including the city I live in out at 1 in the morning.. Yes, im a 6'2" male that can sometimes act like a 15 year old female watching a horror movie. You are correct, Los Angeles California. I'm putting my name back in along with my address just incase he is indeed a gay male cruiser. The last gay male cruiser I came across drove a Miata, not a child molester van. BTW, I know how whole gay cruising thing works because it's happend to me before, and my gut feeling is that this wasn't it. He followed me up the entire long windey road from the PCH. Then, a week or two later he's back pulling behind my car in plain day light. A lot of this gay action you speak of happens at night... so i've heard. Anyway, thanks for the reply. I gotta take off, going back to Mulholland road for some "geocaching." Thanks. quote name='Vinny & Sue Team' date='Oct 19 2008, 02:19 AM' post='3679902'] Quick note to the OP: I have just stumbled upon this thread at 5 AM, and I have only read the first paragraph so far, but I do wish to pause here and quickly respond to you before reading any more of your post. Briefly, regarding your invitation to get bare with you, no thank you! While I am not prudish nor puritanical, and while I am not afraid of being naked, I do not feel that it is appropriate for me, nor for you, to be bare naked on this forum, nor in many geocaching venues, for many good reasons. So, no, I will NOT be getting naked with you on this forum, nor anywhere else! I just want to get this boundary REALLY CLEAR with you before I read your post any further! Thanks for listening! First, you did not tell us in your post where you are located, nor does your forum thingie tell us where you are located, since you did not fill out that part of your profile. I therefore needed to go to your profile (hoping, by the way, that I would not encounter bare-naked pictures) and explore your recent finds to figure out where you live, as I simply do not know off the top of my hear where "Mulhollad Road" is located. and it seems, from perusal of your finds, that you may live in California, and perhaps in the Los Angeles area, although that is less certain at this time. Nest time you tell us a tale like this, it would help me a lot if you would simply tell us explicitly where in the country you are located, and even more specifically, exactly where within a named city or county your adventure took place. For the remainder of my reply, I will assume, for the moment, based upon my earlier-mentioned sleuthing, that the site of your adventure was in Los Angeles, California, and will proceed accordingly. Based upon what you have told us, and particularly upon the incident with the flashing dome light, it is entirely possible that you had a near-encounter with either a gay male sex cruiser (on some rural roadways and even in deserted areas of some cities, they cruise on certain pre-designated roads in cars) or, alternatively, with a mobile drug dealer who customarily does his/her business with clients via casual rendezvous with them in vehicles along the roadway in question. To my best knowledge, the behavior exhibited by your would-be "friend", including the flashing dome light, indicate strongly that the encounter was likely one of these two scenarios. And yes, you may wish to send a note to the cache owner, suggesting that they may wish to put a note warning about the possibility of such encounters on the cache listing page, or you may simply wish to post your own log note about the matter on the cache listing page. Beyond that, I would not bother to get obsessed about the matter, for, at least in my worldview, such bizarre encounters are simply part and parcel of modern urban life, and they are even more common at night than during daytime.

Something pretty freaky happend to me. What do I do? Bare (Bear) with me and read my story. So, a few weeks or so ago I'm out and about night caching on one of these very very windey roads around Mulhollad Road and some of the intersecting roads. Some parts more deserted than others. I started from the PCH (coast) and worked my way up. Keep in mind, its extremely dark around here. Just the moon and the stars and a few street lights. After a few caches found, I notice this white work type van (not a Mini Van), driving around back and fourth, then I saw him parked on the side of the road up a ways and thought nothing of it. I drove ahead to the next cache. He drove by me and I thought that was that. So I notice a little ways up the road he's parked with his lights off and as I drove by, he turned on his inside dome light and flickered it really fast as I drove by. I didn't get a good look at him. At that point you'd think I'd just go home, but I was on a mission and thought maybe he was a fellow geocacher. ( I know I sound like a dumb blonde from a horror movie.) I pulled over and found another cache as he flew by me again. I was kind of freaked out, but I thought he left. Sure enough, he's parked on a side road this time with his dome light on a good 500 feet off the road. I continued by.. Maybe just lost? So this is where is gets scary. I pull up for my last cache, I knew it was a pretty quick one off a little tiny trail off the main road. I park in the light on the road across from the little side trail. Maybe not even 120 feet. I debated on wether to get out or not. It was so close though! I went for it. I crossed and ran up the hill and started to zero in on the cache in a matter of 45-60 seconds or so, when he pulls up behind my car and turns off his lights. My heart dropped. At this point.. im standing in the middle of the trail fully exposed. He then slowly passed my car, but i was looking down from the trail. He made a Uturn and parked on the other side of the street on the same side I was standing just 100 feet up. Then its as though he saw me standing in the dark. I just felt it. I flipped open my knife and started running down back towards the road because I felft like if he was going to get out, at least id be by the main road where I hoped someone would drive by. He took off extremely fast flying back down towards the canyons where he came from. So I go home empty. handed for that cache just glad to make it home with my head in tact. I thought I would just go back during the day another day. This is where it gets really weird. So.. today around 12 Pm or so, I pull off the side of the road, run up the hill and make the find ,and while I was signing the log.. yes.. the same white van pulls behind my car. In plain day light, im 100 percent sure he saw me up at the cache. He sat there for a second, then made a screeching uturn and took off. Just very strange. Do I tell the cache owner about this??

Haha, looking at my post of me saying i have 100 finds sounds like i think it's a lot. A whole 100 finds!! Anyway, it's very tempting to sell my vista and get the oregon. Why do you tempt me so? Thanks for the responses. --Jaebird82