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Team Dromomania

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Everything posted by Team Dromomania

  1. Some owners figure that's part of the hunt. GC3828 is a good example. Nobody has figured out how to get to the cache without tresspassing signs for the past 2 1/2 years.
  2. This has happened to me at GCD61. I first attempted a creek approach but ran into new "no tresspassing" signs. I turned back. After reading the logs I see that others have been making the approach from a "road" runing along side the creek. I returned and found the road about 50 feet away from my first approach. Just BEFORE I reached the No Tresspassing signs I found the cache.
  3. After my Palm Tungsten broke for the second time I also purchased a Dell Axim which has been great. Only screen washout in the sun has been a problem (just like the Palm). I just directly load the GPX file into the Dell and hit the road. But I miss the Plucker generated web pages. Is there a good program which will allow true web pages on a Pocket PC (with photos, etc).. Also I liked how I could search for the next nearest cache. The wireless feature is neat but you gotta be near a source. Anyway, when heading out of town to attempt a few dozen caches then going paperless can't be beat.
  4. I AM a qualified Journeyman electrician. Local 212 Cincinnati from 1978- 1984. (graduated valedictorian) I am also a certified electronic technician and holder of an FCC commercial radio telephone operator's license (formerly First Class untill they degraded the licenses back around 1985- which i had held for eight years by that time) I'm grinning. I am a certified journeyman electrician in the state of California. For the past 29 years I've been troubleshooting electricial problems and I've seen some really weird stuff. The codes have changed a lot since 1984 but the safety issues are still very real as they were back then. I wanted to be an ET and I was accepted in the ET program at Mare Island Navy Base but that was one of the first classes to be canceled in 1977 before the base finally closed down. I never did go for my FCC license but I hold a general ham license (been a ham since 1976). Sounds like we could trade some great stories. But back to the subject at hand... I'm not going to rehash what I've already stated. Just let me say that I personally have no problems with caches hidden on the surface of transformers, loadcenters or around conduit. On the other hand, caches hidden INSIDE of old electrical boxes, etc. is a bad idea IMOHO. And caches hidden inside ENERGIZED equipment is just plain nuts!
  5. No new rules, right. Voltage not involved in electrocution, WRONG! Current = Voltage divided by Resistance. Current and voltage are inter-related mathematically and cannot be separated. The higher the voltage the higher the current, assuming you do not exceed the current CAPACITY of the source. In order to be killed by a car battery, one would have to have an EXTREMELY LOW body resistance, like perhaps being immersed for hours in salt water prior to contact. Getting a lethal shock fro HIGH VOLTAGE only requires NORMAL body resistance and a VERY SHORT exposure time- provided the SOURCE has at least 100 milliamperes current capacity. Your argument fails because STATIC electricity has almost NO current source capacity. The typical static shock is about 5000-10000 volts but almost zero current. The HIGH VOLTAGE electricity found in COMMERCIAL POWER SYSTEMS has a source capacity of HUNDREDS or in some cases THOUSANDS of AMPERES (depending on wire size and distance from nearest transformer, among other factors) It is a mistaken belief that only high voltages kill. Of course there is a relationship between the current and voltage. But it still remains that it is the current which will do the killing. That 9v example I gave may be a 1 in 4 billion chance happening and would not have happened if dry skin resistance was used. Generally extra low voltage devices (less than 50v) do not kill. One of the reasons that utilities transmit using high voltage is because the current is so much lower allowing a smaller transmission line (i.e. lower cost). Just for the record AC voltages of less than 1000v are considered to be low voltage. You home is powered with low voltage. Talk to your local certified Journey Electrician. He can explain things to you. Most of the electrical in the USA is covered by the NEC codes. Those codes keep us pretty safe. I am confident that the risk of shock at a public accessible electric box or post is extremely low. I would personally have more fear of injury crossing the street on a green light than I would grabbing a magnetic cache off of a green transformer box.
  6. I say use common sense. If you have a fear of electricity then stay away from such caches. I work in the electrical field. I've had to turn off the main breaker to homes where the customers had such a great fear of electricity that my turning off the breaker to the load being worked on scared them because the "lights still work." Much of the discussion here seems to be around "high voltages". That can be a problem but it is mainly the current that kills - not the voltage. I've been hit by thousands of volts of electricity almost every day by static. A taser gun zaps you with thousands of volts. Most people will not die from those high voltages. On the other hand people have been killed from 13 volt car battieries and there is even one account of somebody figuring out how to kill themselves with a 9v battery. That makes me happy that my GPSr runs only on 3 volt. The movie "JAWS" didn't make it less safe to go into the ocean but LOTS of people suddenly had a great fear of sharks and stayed out. Perhaps this discussion will have people think - if only for a moment - before sticking their hands into a place that just might be unsafe. And that's good. Bottom line (for me): I believe most cachers use common sense. No new rules are needed.
  7. I have several caches which are almost impossible to reach during our rainy season when the creeks raise. One could kill themselves trying to cross one of the creeks. I've posted warnings. I also have caches located in known bear country and in areas which have rattlesnakes. Those too have warnings. I see no reason to take those caches offline for a season just to help avoid possible problems. I treat my cachers like big people - they should know what they're getting themselves into when they enter a wilderness. It's not my business to police them and protect them if they wish to go after one of those caches after reading the web page and warnings. The ones who go after the caches have an idea what to expect and will have an adventure and hopefully some fun with great views. Those who don't wish to attempt them are wise in that they wouldn't be prepaired for what may come their way in the wilderness. Just for the record: I don't wish any harm to anybody. If a cache doesn't seem safe for your skill levels, PLEASE DON'T ATTEMPT IT.
  8. I just peeked at a couple of your logs and all seem in order from this end.
  9. Perhaps one of the more dangerous items left in many (if not most) caches are pencils. Just google to see how many people are injured or die from pencils. Is say get the lead out of our caches!
  10. I've always understood travelbugs to be objects to be moved on if encountered - no trade necessary. If I should find a cache with several TB's (such as a TB hotel) I do grab as many as I think I can move on within the next couple of weeks. I do not trade for TB's. I trade my swag for other swag. That being said, I have no problems with my TB's placed in a "hotel". But I would like from them to be moved on ASAP. Unlike ALR caches, I haven't heard of a find being deleted because of one-for-one TB trades not being done. Has this been the case somewhere? Or is the main problem just the additional trading requirements placed by the hotel owners?
  11. Since I do a lot of caching in the wilderness I frequently encounter hunters. I've never bumped into a "scary" hunter yet. They have all been friendly. The times I didn't enjoy was when I didn't know the location of the hunters but could hear the gun reports which sometimes seemed very, very near. Only once did I ever hear bullets fly by my head and that was when I was at an old creek swimming hole (swimming) and some kids figured that'd be a good place to try out their new 22. I could hear the bullets "tumbling" as they went by my right ear. They were shooting at a milk carton in a tree between me and them. There is a geocache hidden about 500 feet from that location although I wasn't caching at that time. True hunting stories from many years ago near areas where I was living: NE Arkansas. A hunter saw what he thought was a deer and shot it. When he approached his kill he found a game warden standing next to his dead horse! SW Minnesota. During deer season a truck with an animal over the hood was pulled over. It turned out to be a cow. But the hunter did properly dress out and tag his kill! The only shooting I do these days is with my camera. But invite me over and I'll help eat almost anything that had been shot. <G> I think twice about some geocaching hides during hunting seasons but I usually go for them anyway if the weather is good.
  12. Not every cache is designed to be reached by a car. In this area we have several long isolated bike trails where one must ride a bike or hike in to nab those caches. Also, there are several "guard rail" type road hides on roads with NO legal or safe parking nearby. Again, walking or biking is the only sane option to nab those caches. If I see "no parking" signs, I obey them only to sometimes having to walk in to the location after parking a mile or more away. In my mind parking issues have nothing to do with the cache itself. And I assume that the cache had been placed in line with the geocaching guidelines. In sticking to the topic of the thread, I'd be nervous if I was parking illegally just to make a cache find a bit quicker.
  13. I have several matchstick containers hidden in various forms of camouflage. Some have been out there for more than 2 years and I've never had one fail me yet.
  14. Reviewers, SBA logs, posting in the forums and such can wait. First make an honest attempt to contact the owner giving them plenty of time to respond (may be on vacation). There is no need to cause an uproar where there may not be any problem. The owner may not want to post that they have specific permission for a cache in order to give the cacher a little "rush". It's very easy to walk away from any cache which doesn't appeal to the searcher. Just go pm to the next cache which you know you'll enjoy. As far as defacing property - a BIG NO NO in my book. But I still would go to the owner first with that problem.
  15. (Being from the same territory as TD) I wonder if it is one of Eddie Bow Wow's? I know they placed at least one that never showed up in local searches. That cache was on a very dim trail or no trail at all and was by no means a 1.5/1.5. Three years ago there weren't too many outsiders placing caches around Clearlake. Actually my figures were off but the nature of the coords is the same. The cache in question is in the logs at the Silverado Mine cache. I think the old cache was the Mt. St. Helena cache.
  16. Thanks you Chuy!. I never paid any attention that one could search archived caches from the geocaching map. I think I found the missing cache name and owner.
  17. A cache with a geocaching stash note has been found near here. It was hidden three years ago but the logbook list the coords at 36.xxx and it was found at 26.xxx - a good distance off so I assume that after a few DNF's that the owner assumed it was MIA and pulled it. There is not a cache name nor an owners name in the logbook. Is there a way to identify this abandoned cache? Curiousity is my only reason.
  18. I've done several yard caches and for the most part all went ok. Meeting the owners is great. Meeting the neighbors can be a little less great. And I've met more neighbors than owners. Can everybody say NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH. Another type of hide I don't really enjoy is a cache placement in full view of homes adjacent to a park or greenbelt. If I lived there and saw somebody sneaking around my fence I'd want to know if my place was being cased! Hated also - caches placed next to barking dogs. Some owners even "warn" against the dogs (like we're suppose to do something about the barking dog on the other side of the fence). There's nothing like letting the whole world know that you're sneaking around. It's almost as bad as caches hidden in front of security cameras.
  19. My current ignore list are all island caches hidden on several local lakes. I would like to attempt them but I need to get a raft, canoe, boat or whatever first. Meanwhile I also have the same caches on my watch list. If water levels get low enough to walk then off I go. This very thing did happen a couple of years ago on a local island cache. Anyway, owners will see one watch and one ignore from me. What will the tell them?
  20. I keep crazy stats on my own caches. One of those stats are the number of days between finds. For those caches which have been out more than a year the most visited is A Micro Cache in a Micro Park which with 61 finds is averaging about one find every 8 days. The least visited cache is my Fiske Peak Cache which is averaging about 1 find every 235 days for a total of 2 finds. One is located on a busy city street. The other is a 5 hour round trip hike from the trailhead. Guess which is which?
  21. I just purchased 20 sharpeners for a buck at the local dollar store. That's a nice idea about leaving it on the tip. Thanks.
  22. I have a "fishing" cache which is a micro. And no, it's not just another hook the container out of the hole cache. I can't say more without spoiling the surprise but you can read the logs to get an idea that most cachers seem to enjoy this type of hide.
  23. I can agree with your beef there. ALR's add a little spice to the game. I'm with the others who suggest that ALR's should be easy to identify so that those whom wish could avoid them. As it stands, there is no way to filter them out for those traveling or for those whom just plain hate them.
  24. No, I'm not "willing to blow off" descriptions. When I log my finds, I do read the descriptions and comply the best that I can. I'm not aware of ever having causing any "grief" to myself or others for hunting caches without the descriptions. But I do come away with more frequent DNF's. I'm responsible for those DNF's - nobody but myself to blame. Also, "too busy to read" 700 descriptions before a trip and it's not practical to read 700 descriptions are two different problems IMOHO. I've returned to caches which were near my home to complete some sort of requirement. But don't expect me to drive 2200 miles to Arkansas for a photo to complete a ALR. As I've already stated, posting a find for those few caches and explaining to the owner what I had done has never resulted in a deleted log.
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