Mike & Jess
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Posts posted by Mike & Jess
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Thinking this over a bit more, I could go on the cheap and pull the stitching out of the existing bag, and work a space blanket in and re-stitch. A woven fabric equivalent would be better than a space blanket as I think it would withstand being folded and compressed more frequently than a space blanket.
This would result in the entire project costing me only the reflective material and time (~$19 + reflective material cost). The kicker would be that I'll need a second bag for the summer or I'll cook during the warm months.
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I believe rating a cache appropriately is more important than worrying about someone's challenge or statistics.
I wouldn't adjust for seasonal variations, but if the terrain changed permanently I certainly would alter it without a second thought.
Ignoring my seasonal variation example, I agree with you. Grids, challenges and/or other side games should not have any impact of reflecting the true rating of the cache. That being said, most of us up here cache to cache, not to fill a grid or challenge.
For the cache I revisited this past weekend, I do think it should remain a 5/5 even though it is not a 5 terrain anymore in my opinion. One method of reaching the cache (by land) has gone from ~4km of pure all out bushwhacking to a fairly nice cut trail (no more blazing trail or wet feet). My first visit took 6.5 to 7 hours to bike and bushwhack to base camp (another 3.75km to the cache). This past weekend, 3.5 hours, more gear and not nearly in the shape I was in back in 2010.
That being said, I would not want a city cacher to mistake or under estimate the risk of this trip as it's out of cell coverage, ~80km of logging road, and ~24km by bike and hiking (one way). Although the terrain difficulty is not nearly as bad, it still is a long ways away from any help.
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Two years in a row, I got caught in near 0'C temperatures (and rain both times) with my 14'C ultra light (cheap) sleeping bag. Somehow I always nail the cold rainy weekends when doing mid September camping. Both times I had no mat (to save space and weight) but did carry a space blanket the second time. Found it a fair bit better with the space blanket under the sleeping bag.
Not wanting to do that again, I'm looking for either a reasonably priced (warmer) sleeping bag or to potentially make my own.
My current bag is nothing more than a light fleece layer with a light nylon shell in a mummy bag configuration.
This is a bit of a two parter.
Does anyone know of a good ~0'C sleeping bag under the $75 price point (looking ultra light, small when compressed)?
If I was to go the DIY way, I'm looking at a nylon shell, slightly heavier fleece liner then my current bag (current one is really light, somewhat see through with nylon backing) and an inner reflective liner like a space blanket (but preferably woven as it will stitch better) between the fleece and nylon shell. Locating a woven reflective material might prove to be tough/expensive.
I have a woven metallic liner in my old snowboarding jacket which does keep the coat light and has been solid in -30'C and cooler temps. Being a "hot sleeper" I think a space blanket type fill in the sleeping bag would be enough to take the edge off.
Sawing skills and equipment is a non-issue. Trying to locate the thermal reflective material will be the biggest issue and deal breaker.
Thoughts?
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I don't have any experience with these devices, but do have tons of outdoor experience (and I started the 'Middle of Nowhere' thread).
Other then using these beacons (SPOT or otherwise) for checking communication, they should be treated as PPE (personal protection equipment) and be your last line of defence.
Proper planning, training and experience should be your first line.
I can say with experience that in the deep bush, even a modern GPS is flaky at best. I've been out a few times with folks that depend on technology (GPS) instead of using their eyes.
Plan your travels, check ins, etc, as if you do no have a beacon and when you do need it, find yourself a clearing, lake shore or swamp. Those are pretty easy to locate in my area and will generally bring clear sky.
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Seriously?
You're more worried about how much it'll cost for someone to SAVE YOUR LIFE???
No, that's not what I meant. I meant I don't want to pay someone if I'm not really lost or injured. A lot of places recommend leaving a map with someone of where you plan on hiking and when you plan on being home plus some hours. I just sense that there's a much greater chance something will stop a hiker from getting back on time versus truly being injured/lost. So I'm worried that by default leaving travel plans may be more likely to cause fines rather than save my life.
That's why I'm kind of thinking of making "a plan" of always calling up the County Sheriff's Department of the hiking area beforehand, asking if it's mostly a volunteer organization or whether they charge you for coming out. That would determine whether I leave a hiking plan with a trusted relative.
In the past day I found the website for the Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue for a county I like to hike in, and it says since it's mostly volunteer they only charge if they have to airlift you or use an ambulance to take you to the hospital, but no charge just to come out. Then another county in my state apparently charges money. So, this last day I've been slowly figuring out when it's wise to leave a travel plan with a relative and when it's wise not to.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS leave a detailed travel plan. The more details the better.
My wife always worries when I go out (mostly solo). This is why I give her 2 sets of ETAs. One is if everything goes as planned, and the other is a buffer time before she calls someone.
With a detailed plan, worse comes to worse and someone calls SAR, they'll find you easily based on your detailed travel plan. The easier it is, the less likely they'll bother you with any fines or anything like that.
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That is an interesting issue.
I've never come across this as we tend to do our local canoe/kayak (or similar) trips offline from the geocaching.com site.
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I had revisited one of my favorite caches this past weekend which has a 5/5 rating. Loved the location and the travels to it.
Since my last visit (2010), the terrain has gotten a lot easier. There is little to no bushwhacking now and it's pretty much all bike and hike via land.
Another example for this would be a cache I had (archived now) that was an easy hike along a snowmobile trail during the winter, but a bushwhack and swamp forge during the summer. Winter rating... maybe a 2.5, summer... maybe 3.5-4
I'm not looking to pick on this particular cache, but it did make me wonder if anyone adjusts their terrain rating as the landscape around the cache changes.
For mine, I was going to adjust the rating be never did as it would be a pain and incorrect if I forgot to adjust from winter to summer rating. For other caches that are getting progressively easier, would you adjust the terrain, or set it and forget it?
Again, not picking on specific caches, just giving examples where I could see terrains being adjusted.
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I tend to give my wife (and others) two sets of times for when I should be out of the bush and in cell coverage.
The first time is when I estimate I'll be out (provided everything goes as expected).
The second time is my buffer time. Depending on the trip, this generally is about 3-5 hours above the first estimated time. This covers minor delays (flat tire, late start, etc).
I always provide my wife with maps, estimated ETAs for each section of the trip and exit stratagies if something goes wrong. If I'm past my buffer time, she knows where abouts I should be, and can relay this to any SAR group.
My trip this past weekend... I gave the wife a 4:30PM ETA for returning to cell coverage, 7:30PM at the latest (buffer).
If anything was to happen along the hiking portion of the trip, we (my hiking partner and I) would divert south from the rough cut trail to the lake shores and travel along the north side of the lakes (tougher terrain, but visable from the sky and the lakes can both support float planes).
If problems arised along the drive/biking portion of the trip, my wife had detailed instructions and distances as to where to turn along which roads. I even had GPS routes preloaded on a jump drive for the roads.
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I thought I would post an update to this thread.
Most of us think of the Bolo knife when we thing machete. I myself have 3 different bolo machetes.
This past weekend, I was out with a buddy of mine and tried a Khukuri (aka. Kukri) machete. I donno what I'll do with my bolo knifes now, as they will never replace this new one.
The one I used was a bit heavier then my 24" bolo, and a bit shorter (~18"). It was far superior for clearing branches, splitting wood and almost every function I used if for while backpacking in the bush. I could not find any task this past weekend that my bolo was better at.
This is a picture of a more modern version of the Khukuri machete I now own.
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I have logged 8 NAs:
- Broken box, inside covered in black hairy mold. Owner hadn't logged in in 3 years. (Reviewer archived)
- Nothing left but a frozen solid logbook in a baggie. 3 NMs reported in 6 months. (Reviewer archived)
- Very exposed area. 3 DNFs and 1 NM in 2.5 months. (Reviewer archived)
- 10 months of DNFs and NMs. (CO archived after the NA)
- Broken box in wet location. Contents wet. Multiple NMs in 5 months. (Reviewer archived)
- Tin cache in terrible shape, wet moldy, rusty, no logbook. NM posted 3 months prior. (Reviewer archived)
- Card file in a baggie. Wet, moldy. Multiple NMs. (Reviewer archived)
- Tabs broken off lid, Cache filled with water. No logbook. NM log 3 months ago. (CO disabled after the NA)
You have a lot of mold in your area I see.
Your list sounds like my find list out East when I was there caching over the holidays. I NM a lot of caches there (24 I think in total). I didn't NA any, but did provide a lot of details so when the reviewers go through their clean up/warning COs to look after their caches, they should have been archived.
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Ontario is a big province so I'm sure there is enough business to go around. Another option is never a bad thing.
Wasn't saying it was a bad thing (although it is as a vendor as it's not much of a sustanable buisiness and no real margin).
Was just saying how we went from one in Ontario when we started to bam, everyone has a shop.
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Just a heads up, all the links posted in this thread are dead now.
I'm searching the caching sites for the exe file and will host it from the Northern Ontario Geocacher's forum once I locate the file.
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I will log a Needs Archive if;
- The cache is dangerous (or accessing the cache is)
I'm wondering which part of the guidelines you base this on?
I'll log a NA on a cache that I cannot find if there are multiple (5+) DNF's following a strong history of finds and/or those DNF's stretch out over a period of time. I'll log a NA on any cache that presents legal issues like trespassing that the reviewer may not have been aware of at the time it was published.
I won't log a NA unless I was there myself to observe the situation.
Hwy medium (nano on sign)on 4 lane divided hwy...
Donno if the guidelines need to spell out everything. We all know someone will try and P&G the cache in my example.
I'm sure there are better examples, but that was the first thing that came to mind.
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DO NOT log a Need Archive based on DNF counts. Some of us take great pride in DNFs and it doesn't mean the cache should be archived. I'll generally check on my caches after a few DNFs and post a note indicating it's all good or replaced (if that is the case).
+1
A cache can suddenly developed a string of DNFs even when the container is in its place just fine (mostly if it's a tricky Micro). It's a psychological thing. If you're still excited about finding it
, post a log note: “This has a string of DNFs. Is the container still there?”I hardly ever do a NM or NA. They do cause instant responses, but not always the productive kind. “Don't you know the guy's been ill for a while! What's wrong with you!” (A previous note log about the ill CO would have been useful, no?).
If you do a NA, even after a bunch of tactful logs and detective work, prepare for a lot of grief over it.
I hope the bolded text isn't after logging a NM.
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I have the same problem keeping my SAR gear ready to roll.
I'm not wealthy enough to have duplicate sets of gear and leave one sitting unused most of the time.
Fortunately this helps a lot. Only things I have multiples of are snowshoes (several styles/generations/technology), skis ( again by technique and technology periods) and bikes (down to one road and one mtb). That is the big sort for me.
There is lots of other junk though as well as the accouterments. I use the 'bag of bags' method for most of it, on a larger scale that for items in my pack. Climbing gear in one duffel, Ropes in another, I have a 'kitchen' in a 68 litre Roughneck tote, which I can toss in the truck, Same for one with SAR spares or low use items. Those are handy for isolating related items and are easily stacked. One problem I find is that stick on labels don't for some reason stick well. I hate to use indelible markers on them since I change my mind a lot.
I know one chap in the US who shall remain anonymous who bought a Volvo Wagon just to carry all his gear in and keeps it loaded up...
He takes some out when travelling by AIR. He has lots of duplications of gear however... I do not.
He also uses it a lot more than I do.
I guess the real key is making it so that you can select what you need quickly as your needs change and then restore it when finished. I have one kit that has SAR items prepacked inside, I can throw in my smaller bag of daytrip items when I remove the small pouches to the outside points. However I admit to needing a bit bigger bag these days so here I go again. But the modular approach and pre loading concept works when fine tuning the pack job. I store the SAR bag within a rectangular duffle (sport bag) along with other spares and small pouches of more specialty items (like a throw bag) that might be useful sometimes.
I don't think anyone ever gets finished though since there are always new items to add and some that finally give up the ghost and need replacing. Having a house to work with is a nice touch though, I've been hurting since I went to an apartment lifestyle.
Doug 7rxc
Right now I'm using tote boxes with labels on them. Things do get kind of messed up though as time goes on and with some items or cloths being multi-use (multi-season)...
What will make keeping everything together worse will be my two growing boys. Their gear will start to add up in there as well as they start accompaning me on my outtings.
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Some in the basement, a bit in my "office", some in the garage, a lot in the big pole barn, quite a bit in the smaller pole barn....
Easy grab and go has never existed in this household!
That sounds similar to my household. Currently I have stuff three different floors (plus basement) and in the garage, most of which is still in random boxes from the move. While packing last night, I found 3 different full finger mountain biking gloves, all the left hand.
Trying to resolve this though. I'm planning on building a room in the basement which will be soly for storing sporting gear. The only ideas I can come up with is 1 shelf is tents, another knifes, etc. Will be tough to really organize though.
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I only log a NA if the cache contravenes the rules. Normally this is where a cache has inadvertently been placed on private property without permission. If a cache was causing damage in an ecologically sensitive area I would also log a NA. I would not log NA if the cache were simply apparently missing, there I would log a NM, if the cache is not replaced the reviewer should archive it in time (if the reviewer had placed a warning log on the cache more than 6 months ago, I may log a NA to bump the reviewer into fulfilling the warning.
Other then the bolded text, I agree. Private property without permission is a tough one to prove unless you are the property owner.
I had someone do this to me and my cache was not on private property (within a stone throw of the fenced off private property, but not on).
To the OP;
DO NOT log a Need Archive based on DNF counts. Some of us take great pride in DNFs and it doesn't mean the cache should be archived. I'll generally check on my caches after a few DNFs and post a note indicating it's all good or replaced (if that is the case).
I will log a Needs Archive if;
- The cache is dangerous (or accessing the cache is)
- The cache owner is deceased
- The cache owner has been out of the game for some time and not responding to emails after I've confirmed it's not there.
- There is something wrong with the listing or the cache that the reviewer(s) should be aware of.
Reviewers generally (from my knowledge) do not get notified of NM logs, but do get notified if a NA is logged.
When logging a NA, be very, very clear with your note you include.
When you post a NA, you should have already attempted to contact the cache owner to resolve the issues before hand. I know I am very displeased when I see a NA on any of my caches from a cacher that has not tried to contact me regarding an issue.
Above all, be 100% sure about your reasoning for placing a NA log. The cacher that killed one of my favorite caches was incorrect about their assumption that it was on private property. I unfortunately could not commit to prove this wrong at the time due to personal life (was busy with our new born son and returning to work).
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Getting ready this week for yet another bike/hike camping trip.
It's been a bit of a struggle this year with the move and all, most of my gear is still scattered around the house in boxes.
Going forward, I'm looking for a way to keep my seasonal gear organized. I have a ~1345sqft unfinished basement which will contain a room (in the near furture) for all my camping and sporting gear. My camping and sporting gear ranges from summer kayaking, hiking, mtn biking (both solo and family gear) and winter snow shoeing, camping and ice fishing.
How do you guys keep your gear orgainized so you can fairly easily grab, pack and go?
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There is a new online retailer serving the Toronto area. They are Cacher's Corner Store.
Another southern Ontario geocaching shop?
There was hardly any a couple years ago, and now there are tons.
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One of the caches I'm hiding next summer will be my most expensive hide (and someone else's find).
Excluding gear, food or anything else like that, the cheapest train ticket (only accessable via train) is currently ~$130. The find and surrounding area, and the trip will make it worth every penny however.
My most expensive find (caches and an event) excluding fuel and food was ~$300. Hotel and 10km over (ticket) on the way into the town, and the another 10km over leaving town... The first one I earned. The second... questionable (but too far from home to bother fighting).
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I use 4 inch PVC pipe about 16 inches long with cheap drain end caps, and I paint them flat black and gray camo colors. They are waterproof, last a long time, and are large size to hold lots of swag.
I have heard many geocachers get excited about PVC looking like a bomb but I live far away from big cities or other sensitive areas and I have never had an issue. I write GEO on the back of them and put that part down out of view until picked up. Very inexpensive compared to ammo cans.
The huge problem I've encountered with PVC pipe caches is that they stink. I've rarely encountered one where the contents were dry. Using the standard caps, if you tighten them enough to hold out water, finders need to bring a wrench. If they are not tightened enough, they leak horribly.
Nevermid that when I priced one out at the local big box home improvement store buying all the necessary parts of a PVC pipe cache would run well over $10, which is right in ammo box territory.
Ammo boxes are the hands down best choice for long term durability. Next to them it is wide mouth Nalgene bottles for long term longevity. Take that from someone who has a few caches that have been out for a few years.
I'll second the ammo cans as the best (locally anyway) long term container. A few of our local oldies are ammo cans. Some haven't seen owner's maintenance in 4+ years and are still dry.
For mine, I kind of still want to go L&L inside an ammo can. If someone is going to make that trek, I want them to find a good, dry cache.
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I love DNFs on my caches if it's a good hard cache.
The point of caching is to find the cache. The point of hiding a cache is to make it good and hidden.
Back on topic... I have once cache that gets it's fair share of DNF (15 DNFs, 32 finds). I've never had to replace the cache or relocate it back where hidden.
My favorite DNF log from a high finder (7000's) "Given the hint and all the DNF'S this one is gone." I thought it was a NM until I checked a minute ago.
I checked it minutes later (lunch and I work a block away). Cache was fine.
Don't ever assume a high find count means they are experienced enough to confirm a cache is gone.
These power trails that exist... They make high find counters, not nessessarily good cachers.
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Some people in my area don't hide more caches because
I sure wish we had your problem.
I have more fun hiding and maintaining caches than I do finding them.
I also enjoy the hides as much or more then caching.
The quality of the finds over the last year or so as taken the excitement away. Creating new (creative for the area) caches and populating our fairly untouched area has been something my young boys and I really enjoy.
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One thing we do for swag (as we go through a lot with kids) is hit up the local second hand shops and thrift stores. You can get some pretty decent toys and what not for really cheap.
, post a log note: “This has a string of DNFs. Is the container still there?”
Terrain rating adjustments over time
in General geocaching topics
Posted
If the bolded text is in regards to one of my posts, I was commenting on the same cache, visited 2 years apart (loved the area, had to go back).