Mike & Jess
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Posts posted by Mike & Jess
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Read the logs.
And post your own DNFs, please.
I've found caches (and some FTFs in there) because of DNF logs. One cache in particular would have been a DNF for me, except for the existing DNF logs. It wasn't so much that they provided a bunch of info as much as by simply being posted, they told me not to spend time hunting a bunch of usual locations (there were 4 DNFs by experienced cachers, two were just "no joy", another was "nope" and the fourth " an hour + more of searching ")
The logged DNFs eliminated a bunch of places I might have hunted.
another thing is to check the owner other hides what do they use as containers on those if there are of the same difficultly could give you a hint especially if they developed a pattern of the same style of hiding placement
The bolded text is what I would suggest. It's hard to break old habbits and if you do a few of this CO's other caches, you'll get a feel for thier style. The Container might be different then what locals are use to.
Based on the things I read, I suspect it's one of those fancy containers you won't recognize as a cache until you know what to look for. Good luck! It looks like a fun challenge.
Sounds like one of the locals here. He bought a cantainer from an out of town shop. A couple locals found it with some effort. Some out of town cachers found it right away as they had seen this container type before.
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Recently I placed a new cache for others pleasure to find. I received a rejection because it is 302 feet from the end of a multicache. There is no way to determine any parts of a multicache after the starting coords. Potentially, multi caches can hog up multiple sites because of the multi terms but it cannot be predetermined where these sites are. I would agree that it may be wrong to place a cache within a tenth of a mile from any other posted cache but not any other multicache locations. I am discouraged enough to no longer set out caches due to my frustration with this rejection. Is there a way to change these rules?
I had this same issue a year or two ago. The Reviewer had given me the name of the cache I was having issues with, so I was able to contact the CO and ask them approximately how far my cords was from their stages. Funny enough, in the dense bush, I was only about 10ft from their final.
Sometimes that's true, sometimes it is simply not possible for any of a variety of reasons, and yet other times the hiding spot is unique enough that moving the location would change the hide completely.Moving it a few hundred feet should not be such a big hassle as to stop setting caches out.
Very true. My example above... The original location was a great spot (hollowed out tree, large enough for a child along a river bank). The alternative location was nothing compaired to the first spot and in my mind, looked like a toss in the bush cache.
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You certainly can create the cache page(s) for your event-related caches.
You don't need to get them published, but if someone else wants to put a cache nearby the reviewer will ask that you either place the cache or relinquish the location.
SwineFlew's example will apparently work if you can put out the 'placeholder' caches at least 3 months ahead of time. Not something I would do, since I place caches with the intent of having their lifespans measured in years, not months or weeks.
Whatever it takes to get people to attend your event, eh?
But, if they will only attend in order to get XX additional caches, perhaps something else is wrong?
Someone beat me to the answer.
Create a draft page for a cache with the cords of the event, but don't submit it for review. When someone goes to place a cacher there, it'll show up in the reviewer's proximity check.
As for events... I don't think you can reserve the area to keep out an event.
I have a special event page already created and sitting in draft because it's too early to publish it. I don't think I can keep another cacher from turning around and doing an event at the same location before or on the same day as my event if they manage to get theirs submitted ahead of me (within the 3 month limit).
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If he has any good caches left that are not archived, ask the CO to adopt if you want to aquire them.
The archive and replace with a new page, I personally might not bother going back to a cache I already found, just to knock it off the list again.
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Thought I would up date this with a picture of some of the knives I'll be testing next summer.
An old highschool buddy of mine that I had taken backpacking a month or so ago picked this up. We'll be testing these on a number of different trips in Central and Northern Ontario. Knowing how good mine was, his hand made in Nepall knives will a treat.
Here are the knives he ordered and now owns;
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Looks like you guys had a great time.
I need to definately start dragging a video camera with us on some of my out door trips.
For the clip where someone was splitting wood, I'd suggest looking into a ka-bar kukri machete. I was given one as a gift on my last outting and find it to be great for splitting wood and blazing trail.
I split two large boxes of wood with mine at the house. Some splits only required a drop of my hand to put the knife through the wood.
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Never fails.
I have 5 packpacking trips (kayak, mtn biking, hiking and train hopping) on the schedule for next year, consuming all my vacation time and travel funds, and along comes another great trip. Would be a go down in (geocaching) history type of trip, but would kill the funds of at least two trips.
Anyone else run into issues like this. Plan your next summer and along comes something else?
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You can add Topo and other maps to an Explorist 310. I'm not so sure you can on the Dakota 10, but don't quote me on that.
Too late!!!
I do think I will like the touch screen aspect, how is the accuracy of the Dakota?
When you can keep your gloves on and simply reach from the handlebars and touch the screen to zoom in, or change from map to compass or trip computer...
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I stopped caching for about a year... changed jobs, bought a fixer-uper house, had a young child to keep up with, etc.
I knew I'd come back, but just couldn't make time. The only bad part was that I completely forgot about the two trackables stowed in the back of my car.
Life happens.
Other then the changing job, that is us exactly.
Going to leave the two trackables I've been sitting on for a year or so at the event this weekend.
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At the very least, you WILL fall deeply in love with the color screen. Its not all about the color... they are SO much easier to read that you won't regret the money you spent for that reason alone.
I certainly will be going with the colour screen, well worth the $$ if I can read it!! What about the touch screen, are there any noticeable advantages/or disadvantages?
Also keep n mind I tend to miss place my unit.....once I found it at the bottom of a muddy lake after bailing off a canoe!!! So, the waterproof aspect is very necessary!
I'll admit I started with a touchscreen. Using a loner while mine was missing killed me. Once you go touchscreen, you will never be able to go back. So useful for mtn biking, quadding, kayaking.
I located my Oregon 300 6 or so months after our move.
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I save candles (not pillar candles, obviously) that have burned down to not-so-useful, then cut to 1" bits, which I trim and burn a bit to start the wick, so to speak. I carry a big handful in my pack. A few of them will create a long-lasting flame to start a fire over.
Cheap, easy and a good way to use up otherwise throw-aways.
And potato chips work fairly well, if you can bear to burn them. Oily little vegetable wicks, they are.
I've heard people say potato chips. I rarely have any at home, let alone out on the trails. Too hard to pack.
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Been out for over 10 years now, hasn't been found yet. It's been mentioned in numerous threads about hardest geocaches or longest without a find. Judging from the logs no one has even been able to reach the location to search for it (kinda makes you wonder how the CO got out there to place it in the first place)
No doubt whoever manages to find this one will become an instant Geocaching legend
dadgum... I'm almost considering scrapping my Toughest Cache series next summer to go get that one.
I don't have enough holiday time to do both and the wife probably would not let me go that long solo.
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What is interesting about this thread is how much geocaching has changed from 2002 to now.
To add to the OP, most of the more senior cachers left the hobby because they got bored with it. The quality we started caching with has dropped to a level where some of us can't be bothered with any more lamp skirts, or mindless hide.
A lot of the cachers that started geocaching at the same time as I did hit the 175-225 finds level and that was it. We had about 300 caches in the area at that time when we all hit that range.
For myself, we got too involved with geocaching and the politics have really hurt my enjoyment of the game.
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DNFs are for the weak.
I setup camp until I find it (or the local authorities make me leave).
Or the wife says it's enough and forces me to log a DNF
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I'll toss in that my 'canned' corrugated boxboard strips thing I picked up elsewhere, and that the idea for the can was to protect the wax / paper structure for a survival kit we were building at the time. The can used matched the diameter of a larger can that was intended to hold other survival gear. The 'candle' could be turned with the open end against the top of the larger one and duct taped together (could have one on both ends actually). That was a long time ago, and since I made other better SK's since, I just made the 'candle' part.
I like the idea of completely consumable for simple firestarters a lot. I have lots of those paper egg containers already. Also was sitting thinking about this as I focused on a wastebasket full of cardboard 'cores' from TP and Paper towel (there are lots of others too). Always like to recycle products or reuse them... so it dawned on me that cutting the cores into shorter lengths (your choice) and then rolling the corrugated strips inside and waxing them you have a pretty good compromise. Same for other fill mixes like paper or chips / strips and/or just paper for the wax to bind up. Lots of ways to do the same thing.
Doug 7rxc
The paper towel or TP rolls would be perfect. It would also keep the size small for easier packing. Never considered it, great idea.
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Just to further my previous post...
I received a notification last night of a couple finds. The last long (2013/09/25) of this cache (http://coord.info/GCC4A) along with others is why I maintain this cache that is not mine.
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A far for maintenance, more "stages", the higher the maintenance.
If you buy cheap reflectors, they will stop working over time, especially if the sun hit it alot. If the night cache is in a popular park, the more often you will need to maintenance it. I had see a night cache deep in the woods that nobody found at night. Nobody want to go up there at night anyway since its too dangerous. The cache was finally archived due to logging.
It's the reflectors failing, paint or ink fading, etc that I am more concerned about. The +40'C(104'F)/-35'C(-22'F) weather here can really put a beating on caches or anything left out in the elements.
I live 263 miles SE of your first cache hide, which I'm quite sure is close to your home.
Now I admit our Winters aren't quite as severe as yours, but pretty close. I have never had to do ANYTHING to the fire tacks on my July 2004 placed classic fire tack cache. Then again, I haven't been there in a year and a half, and it hasn't been found in 2012. If anyone's looked for it, they haven't logged it. It's actually gone over a year without finds a few times, and I do need to get out there. But I'm sure it's fine. I'd tell you I bought these fire tacks at Gander Mountain, but I'm sure that's an American chain, and I couldn't remember what brand they were anyways. Just the ol' classic white reflective fire tacks.EDIT: Actually, I just got a strange log on mine the other day. I'd better shoot an email and see what's up. I've never had any tacks muggled though, and they were absolutely fine 6 1/2 years after placement.
My first hide (close to home) was close to my house before we moved 50 miles away this past December. Regardless, same climate and environment.
Good to hear that yours have held out alright. We had only one night cache in town which was placed about 2 years ago. I can't located it or remember the name of it, so I can't say if it's still around or not. I will keep an eye out for different ideas and products that I can use before I put one out.
caching in the dark at night is SUPER cool !!
we are many who love the buh-ha feeling, the smell and feel and sounds and all that
along with night animals we see too.
so PLEASE go on and make a great night cache for your local friends,
if you try to use better parts for longer function and less maintenence problems,
you are most likely to have a better night cache than so many others,
so what are you waiting for :-)
if you are a bit smart, you use a little bit less distance from reflector to reflector
than is really needed, this way if one is missing, it is still solveable for most people.
and also think about trees and leaves and stuff changes during summer and winter..
a night cache made during winter, might be great to do during winter,
but impossible to do during summer.
hang up the reflectors at SAME hight, and explain this in your cache page,
use a hight so kids and mugglers can not jump up and pick them down.
some night caches are made with numbers written on some reflectors on the route
those numbers are used to find the final,
this kind of extra diff is also alot of fun, makes it possible to hide the final
where it is not revealed by accident if people use a flashlight at night in the forrest.
but offcourse numbers written will go away if they get sunlight over long time,
and people must be able to reach for them to see the numbers.
more things to go wrong.
If I can put together a good cache idea, with a solid night system, I will put one or more out.
Being that not a lot of locals have done these, if the quality of the cache or gear used sucks, or doesn't survive the local environment, the concept or idea of night caches will not bite.
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I'm never a fan of statements like this:
Please remember to have respect for the cache... use stealth, replace as found, make sure you take the time to put the log back properly...and do not include any blatant spoilers of your own (if I, the CO, wanted blatant hints or directions to the cache, I would have either included them or painted the cache a bright neon color with flashing lights) in your logs as it (your log) will be swiftly deleted...these types of things go a long way in making the cache enjoyable for others.1) There is NO guideline that says spoilers are not allowed in logs.
2) Why is there any need to mention replacing as found. The type of person to move a cache is the type who does not read cache pages.
The fun of my Hate Mail Cache was inadvertantly killed with photos of the cache by a finder. I can't blame them for doing it, as most of the locals that had found it wanted to post pictures but held off.
As for your second point... There should be no need for this, but it does act as a reminder for some that don't do it.
Here's one that I saw on an event
Please remember you need to be in the picture (smiling or not) and also have signed the log which I will have to claim a find.Um no I do not need to be in the picture or sign the log to attend the event. I do both anyways, but a statemnet like this just gets under my skin.
I don't see how that can be made a logging requirement, specially for an event. A friendly reminder to sign the log and stick around for the photo should be enough.
I've tried doing a photo as a logging requirement for a couple different caches in my area that I know only a few could or would actually visit. That got squashed pretty quickly.
Instead, I've had to send the fake loggers a note informing them I'm removing their online log as they didn't sign the actual log and more then likely didn't get to GZ.
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I used to use paper egg cartons filled with either wadded up newspaper or DRY sawdust, then pour in wax. You cut the cups apart and the somewhat ragged edges are easy to light, and they burn about 10 minutes. The canned cardboard trick sounds good too. I might try that with a small cat food can to save space. Another useful material is Jute twine. It's cheap, and when "unwound" the fibers will even catch a spark from a ferro rod. It burns pretty fast, but can be used as a tinder bundle to start the rest of the fire.
I think the egg carton might actually burn longer and even hotter then the muffin cup liners, so that would work probably better as a fire starter. Think I would stick with the wood chips though. Sawdust might not get the heat of wood chips. I haven't tried sawdust mixed with wax, so I can not say anything from experience.
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A far for maintenance, more "stages", the higher the maintenance.
If you buy cheap reflectors, they will stop working over time, especially if the sun hit it alot. If the night cache is in a popular park, the more often you will need to maintenance it. I had see a night cache deep in the woods that nobody found at night. Nobody want to go up there at night anyway since its too dangerous. The cache was finally archived due to logging.
It's the reflectors failing, paint or ink fading, etc that I am more concerned about. The +40'C(104'F)/-35'C(-22'F) weather here can really put a beating on caches or anything left out in the elements.
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I am very suprised that no one put a NA on this cache before the bomb squad took care of it.
If I got wind of a cache like that in this area, I'd find it and NA it if it was indeed a pipe in the city.
I know a couple like this in the bush. The first one that comes to mind has 2 Geocaching labels on it, and it's deep in the bush.
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I know a couple, she loves to cache, he loves to make her happy, so he drives and reads a book while she goes after the caches. It's worked for them for 10 years and thousands of caches.
Funny, I know one or two cachers in our area that do this.
Actually, my wife did this the year she launched her web store. I'd get the P&G caches, she'd work on the website.
To the OP,
If your bf is into hiking and backpacking, but not feeling geocaching, maybe look for a few really good hike in caches in your area. We are lucky enough to have a great cache locally that can be a nice overnight backpack trip or a tougher day trip (with a cache at the end of it). Browse through this thread and if the pics look like something he or you would like, ask around locally for something similar (http://forum.northernontariogeocachers.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=487&p=3303#p3303).
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Oh, good grief!! "Hoax device"? And I'll believe the pursue charges thing when the DA says it.Even though it was a hoax device, Beavers said police could pursue charges because the device put fear in the neighborhood and the incident tied up police, who have to respond to reports of suspected explosive devices, close streets and in some cases evacuate residences.
I'd say that Sgt Beavers is simply trying to save face.
I had a chat with a buddy of mine that works in the force in Southern Ontario. We actually talked about this as it had happen a week or so prior in Mississauga Ontario. He said that if the local bomb squad is called, something is going to get blown up.
I'm pretty sure the response will be similar in most areas. In the end, the one time those guys do let their guard down... it may not be a geocache. Besides, blowing stuff up legally sure looks like fun.
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All the promotion geocaching is getting is a bit bitter sweet.
So, we're now a "craze", huh? (the title of the article)
That does it... I'm out.
Too bad you are not local. I have a few 5/5 caches coming out next summer that could drag you back. I just created the draft pages for 5 caches and 2 events. Going to be a fun but expensive hiding season for me.
Now I admit our Winters aren't quite as severe as yours, but pretty close. I have never had to do ANYTHING to the fire tacks on my July 2004 placed classic fire tack cache. Then again, I haven't been there in a year and a half, and it hasn't been found in 2012. 
Game type events, lessons learned
in General geocaching topics
Posted
With the number of events we've attended, I thought I'd start a quick thread to share the lessons learned (both good and bad) with others to help bring up the enjoyment level and reduce the frustrations.
I'm also looking for other lessons learned which can make an event better, and or things to watch out for.
In no particular order....
- Alternative games
If you are doing a poker run, or other type of cache find challenge, have a couple local games which the cachers can enjoy. Some may not be physically fit enough to find all the poker hand caches, so games like closest to the pin or similar add to the event and give those cachers something they can enjoy (as well as those who can complete the event finds).
- Stick to the schedule
Be clear on the scheduling and make sure to stick to it. If you have instruction sheets going out to the cachers, include the scheduling on or with it. If cachers venture off the grounds to do other caches, or something else, and miss the closing events (in full or part), it will not fall back on the event host(s) or others. It's really hard to keep track of event cachers and a roll call should not be required.
- Group Photos
If you are looking to get a group photo of those attending your event, get the photo at the beginning of your event closing. Once he prizes start being handed out, cachers will start to leave.
- Bigger Ticket Prizes
This can be a touchy issue. Try to be very clear as to how you plan to award any really big ticket prizes. I personally had received a load of flack almost a year after the fact because my wife and I decided to raffle off a GPS as a door prize instead of giving it to the top place on our challenge. Even though it is your event, and your prizes to decide how to distribute them, there can and will be someone who might complain up to 9 months after the fact that they were cheated out of a prize they were expecting.
If anyone else has any lessons learned or tips and tricks, please add them.