dementedtribe

I didn't know there even is a "backdoor" way to log a PM cache! LOL I was exploring an area near us for caches and I entered in the coords for one back in off the beaten path in our GPS. It took a few weeks for us to visit that area to do some caching. We found that cache (and few others) and when I went online to log the find, I discovered it had been changed to a PM cache. I contacted the CO (cache owner) and explained the situation. The CO was very nice and removed the PM designation for 24 hrs to let us log the find, then returned it to a PM. Most CO's in my experience are willing to work with fellow cachers! We were on vacation and discovered later that we visited an earth cache area. Even though we didn't have the exact picture or info requested on the cache page, the CO knew we were there by the info I did have and let us log the find. The reply was "I'm not too picky, the goal was to get people to stop and explore the area".

Thanks, Mrs B! Found it!

Go to your profile page, and scroll down to where you can see "List newest in xxx". As new ones are published, they will show up on that list. (from a previous post) I have been all over our profile page and can't find the "list newest" option listed above. Where is it exactly, please? Thanks!

We have a Safari and I agree it is difficult to figure out what to do with it!! To manually key in cache coords, you have to go to "Waypoints" on the menu. Our Safari has blank entries (waypoint000, waypoint001) and we pick one and edit the name to the cache name, then edit the coords, etc, etc. You can add a written description of the cache and hint (or even voice record notes)! It isn't hard, mostly tedious as you have to move back and forth between the letter and number screens with a Greek alphabet screen between them! We have dial-up internet, so haven't tried to download caches onto it, so can't help there. Hope this helps!

Oh, forgot to mention in the previous post that I talked a man in his early 60's into Geocaching! To me, it was a perfect match! He was going to be retiring in 2 months, had a new GPS, and a nice big motorcycle. He said on the weekends he sometimes would just get on his bike and ride up to 150 miles just to have lunch in a "tourist bar" in the next state. He said I was the second person to mention this to him in the past week! The equation added up: new GPS + motorcycle + love of travel + lots of time= Perfect Geocacher!

Welcome to the obsession (or sport)! My hubby said he knows his dad would have had a ball with Geocaching, had he been alive when this all started! He was always looking for spots off the beaten path. As for hiding... oh boy! With his imagination and love of building/creating things, he probably would have been the "evilest cache" hider in the area! Many of the people we have met caching lately are retired and are having the time of their lives doing this!

I don't have a picture available, but I made a birdfeeder into a "working" cache. I have an old cyclindrical feeder that is made out of heavy plastic (the ones that were made out of two pieces of plastic and came with all the other parts that you had to assemble). After being outside about 5-6 years, the plastic is yellowed and cloudy. (I did the following camo work outside as it is very messy!) I thinned out some Alene's craft glue and coated the inside by pouring it down the sides and turning it round and round at an angle. Then, I filled it with sunflower seeds and let it set overnight. The next day, I poured out the seeds. There were open spaces between the sun seeds, so I coated the inside with glue again and poured in the finer birdseed that has the small grains,etc. Let it set overnight, again. When I poured out the smaller seed, the spaces were nicely filled in. The inside diameter is reduced, but there is still room for birdseed in the lower portion and a small baggie with the log book and a few small items to sit on top. At first, I wasn't going to fill the feeder with seed, but realized a "full" feeder with no seed debris on the ground would be a dead giveaway! It is hanging in the tree at the end of our driveway, with 2 other feeders within 20-30 ft of it (one is identical to it). One cacher had a DNF because I had just refilled the feeder and there were birds eating out of it when she was there! She said I was evil when I met her later at an event! He He He! P.S. I tried the camo with a newer feeder first, but it was glaringly obvious that the seed was glued to the inside!

We started geocaching as a side activity to do while we were travelling. I live almost 1200 miles from my parents. Since we have to stop and take breaks along the way to let the "tribe" out of the car for a while, we thought, "Why not add a little more purpose to the stops?" We have stopped at areas we may not have thought about before, and seen waterfalls and geological formations (some in our "own backyard") that we didn't know existed. In looking for caches, we are seeing the outdoors in a whole new way... we are actually looking at nature around us in detail. Sometimes finding the cache is the least of the "discoveries". One day, the cache we were looking for had been taken (muggled), but there was an osprey nest nearby and we got to watch the adults feed the chicks in the nest. We wouldn't have seen that if we hadn't been caching! In finding and hiding caches, we have also learned to use our GPS and its features better. If it makes you feel any better, our second son (who ironically enough is the best micro finder) doesn't see the point of caching either and finds it boring. Thank you for your interest, though. Try it and see if you like it. If you don't, that's okay, too. Geocaching, like any other hobby or "sport", isn't for everyone and some of our friends don't understand why we do it, either.

I only have a few caches placed. I don't mind giving a hint, if the person emails for one. One of our caches is a working bird feeder. I glued birdseed to the inside of an old cyclindrical feeder. There is room for birdseed in the bottom and a small bag with the log and a few SWAG items on top. One cacher emailed after a couple DNF's and asked if the feeder was "it" and I said "yes". Didn't mind confirming the container. If I ask for a hint, I don't really want to know exactly where it is, just if I am close. One time I asked the CO if we were correct about the container (an extra bolt very tight on a guardrail) and the CO told me we were wrong. Found out later, it was the bolt! That made us mad! If you don't want to tell someone what the container is- fine, but don't lie about it!!

Hindsight is always 20/20... wish we could have tried to do our multi/puzzle cache as if we didn't know where the clues would lead us! A couple of the clues were wrong and the coords were WAY off! Poor FTF was successful in spite of us! It taught us newbies some tough lessons we won't forget, though! IF we do another puzzle, it will be tested a few times before being published!! We also put out our containers a couple of weeks before publishing, just to make sure all will go okay.

Thank you!

I have done searching through the topics and haven't found what I was looking for, so if this question has been answered already, please let us know the thread title... Is there a way to search the cache listings in our area to find out which ones are "night caches"? Or do you have to be a premium member? We have a couple of places in our area that we see as possibilities for a night cache hide, but want to find a several before branching out into this type of cache. Our first (and only) puzzle cache was a disaster at first! We discovered we had a lot of bugs to work out AFTER we had it published, and were about ready to just archive it before the clues would give the proper coords. Don't want to go through all that again. Thanks, dementedtribe

Yep! L&C Pvt. Shannon Shows UP (GCYE4W) is still there! In reading the forums, seems like we were lucky that our first find was a micro!

I have a unique camo container that I am getting ready to list ... I glued birdseed to the inside of a old cylinder-type bird feeder, so it looks like a full feeder. Since there is only room for a baggie with a small log, pencil, and a few small items, do I rate it as a small? Or as "other"? I don't want it to be too easy, given the work that went into it.

Saw 3 guys looking around on the ground for something, thought they might have dropped the car keys. Their body language indicated they were frustrated. Then I realized they were at the site of a cache! So, I drove by slowly and offered a clue for the tricky micro. I received thanks in their log notes.

We share with people we think would like to join the madness. Some people just don't seem to understand why anyone would want to go find hidden containers when there "isn't anything to gain by it" (ie What's the big ticket item you are working toward?) Talked to one person about caching and he said a friend of his sent him a link to geocaching.com the week before I mentioned it to him! Before I told him about caching, he had said he had a new 850cc motorcycle, a new handheld GPS, soon to be retiring, and currently has been known to drive up to 100 miles to just go somewhere to have coffee. Sounded like a natural for this hobby! LOL

Our GPSr usually gets us within 25 ft, and we have found it does work to just put it away at that point and use our eyes! We have about 3-4 caches (difficulty ratings of 1 or 2) that are just "thumbing their noses" at us and refuse to be found, so don't feel bad! The logs say "easy find", but not for us some days! Really, how hard should it be to find a plastic gallon jar, right?? When we finally do find that tricky one, the victory is sweet! Welcome to the addiction!

Just an "FYI"... you may be surprised what "interesting" things are in some caches! Depending on the area, we don't let the younger two look in the container before we do. So far, nothing dangerous, just inappropriate for young eyes!

I never thought of not putting the container out before submitting the listing. We have varied work hours, so when it is published, it is ready to go! Did our first puzzle cache this week, definitely a learning experience!! Both in making the puzzle work and in listing it. When it asked for additional waypoints, I left it blank... why would I want to publish the coords of a puzzle cache? Defeats the purpose of the puzzle, right? How wrong I was! Oops! We have a very nice, patent reviewer (who probably is beating his/her head against the wall because of newbie stupidity), who has walked us through the proper procedure! The coords aren't published for all to see, missed seeing that in the explanation. Placing and listing a cache can be just as much of an adventure as finding one!

We found a cache that was listed as a travel bug hotel. It was a rather large lock and lock (2ft x 2ft) with little trees and things glued to the bottom and sides to resemble a hotel courtyard with a pool. It was obvious that certain things were not for trade in there. As for this cache, don't think putting in items that were not to be taken out was a good idea! As others have said, loose things in a cache are fair game to many people. I think bringing the items back is a good idea, and then having the CO remove them would be a better idea.

This is Mom here, on behalf of the menfolk. We are a Scouting family and that is where we learned about geocaching...during a talk about orienteering and GPSr. Dad was never in scouts, but has been a den leader for every rank in Cub Scouts and is an Asst Scoutmaster. Mom has helped Dad as an asst den leader and is on several committees in the Pack and Troop. Son #1 did Webelos and Boy Scouts, earned his Eagle and was in OA for a short time, now is a Jr Adult Leader. Son#2 started out as a Tiger, and is working on his Eagle project and just was certified as a BSA lifeguard. Son #3 also started out as a Tiger and is now a 2nd Class Scout. Son#4 has worked his way from Tiger to Webelo 2nd year. He is looking forward to Boy Scouts next year. There is a geocaching merit badge now! This is the 100th year of Scouting and some areas have 12 caches with the 12 points of the Scout Law in them. If you find all 12, you can earn a Cache-to-Eagle patch, not limited to just Scouts. There are good Troops and bad. Our Troop has several activities going on most of the summer. Winter is a slower time and harder to keep the interest up when they are stuck inside for the meetings. There are platforms at the resident camps here for the tents, not to keep from getting dirty, though. They keep the unwanted critters out of the sleeping bags at night! Most of the boys manage to be "grub muffins" just fine!

Our two caches are at area churches. We just gave the history of the church on the cache page and times when there are likely to be people around. Both were published without problems. The second cache of the series of three isn't up and running yet. The church is on private property and permission to place a cache was revoked at the last minute. So, now we are working on converting the traditional cache to a puzzle cache and finding a hiding spot fairly close by using info off the sign to give the coords for the cache spot. Our two caches have been up for about 2 months and we are close to 20 finds on each.

We carry a variety of items in our pack and try to trade even or up. Some caches don't have much in them- one cache had a golf tee, a worn sticker, and a paper clip. Doesn't surprise us that some caches are depleted, but it is disappointing to the kids at times. So, we try to be a good example for them and restock the cache, and move on to the next find! For us, geocaching is more about the hunt and the family time together! My husband and I are on opposite days and shifts right now, so it is hard to find that time.

Back to your Magellan question, copied from another post.... We had a Triton 300 and had the same problem... only our first unit was 10 MILES off! We could do better without it! We sent it in and the company sent us another one - 26 miles off. Sent it back and the next one was 13 miles off, even with the upgraded maps. (This whole saga is why we were out of the caching loop for almost a year and a half.) So, got our money back and bought a Lowrance Endura Safari! Now we are definately happy cachers!! I know not everyone has this bad of a problem with the Tritons, but it has "put us off" the brand. I have heard the newer Magallens are very good.

My husband was talking to a friend about GPS's and orienteering for Boy Scouts. Then, he mentioned we were going on vacation soon. So, GPS + vacation = geocaching! I checked out the website. We bought a cheap GPS and tried it out 2 couple of days before we left. Our left attempt, for a large cache, was a DNF (two years later it is still a DNF), but it didn't put us off. We were hooked and willing to develop our skills! Our first two successes were micros (go figure)! Of our family of 6, only 1 doesn't like to cache. He thinks this whole sport/hobby is boring, but he really has a "micro cache eye". He doesn't like sitting in the rig while the rest are out "beating the bushes", so is a reluctant participant.