Sol seaker

I noticed this recently on a local find: the FTF being before it was published, and on top of that it was found by the person reviewing that cache. If there is such a thing as fair in this world (which is highly debatable) this is not. If someone wants to claim first to find, then I think they have to be in competition with others. To find out the coordinates ahead of publishing in any way is removing yourself from the competition. Like a runner starting the race a day ahead of time. How can that runner finish first when there is no one running with him? how can you claim first when no one else is in the running at that point? No one else CAN find it. It seems to me to sour the sport of the game to do things like this. So I can just go out and hide caches and give the coordinates to my friends so they can all log first to finds? The more I hide the more FTF's my friends get? No, I don't think that's sporting. Call me a sour-puss (and now I'm sure some of you will) but it just rubs me the wrong way in a game when we're all in this together (hiding and hunting caches). It changes the mentality of the game. Before we are all in this together. Now, it depends on who you know. Well in a game with few rules (and I do like it that way) you are able to do whatever you like, sporting or not. Hell, why not just log them and not bother to find them? You can do that too. See who actually checks the logs. Why bother to go out at all? Play however you want. It's your karma, and your fun. The caveat being that it doesn't ruin other's fun. My geo-partner hid a new one the other day. I didn't know where it was, but waited for it to be published. I'd rather have a first to find that counts for me. I'd rather have no first to finds. (I was about 8th I think, and that's OK). OK, so there's my rant. Nuff said.

Our record day was 16. not a big number. I've had much more fun on 6 cache days out in the woods though. It was fun trying to see how many we could get in one day (two of us looking together). It was fun once, don't know if I'll try it again. Costs a lot in eating out for one. I know one woman who got 72 in one day. I checked her logs to see how she did it and it turned out she went to a city where they have TONS all over. (Spokane) In the area I live there are a lot of "evil micro's" that take some time to find. The most I've gotten in my home town is 9 I think. They are pretty spread apart too. Have to find a place where they are closer together. I'd rather go out in the woods myself and get just a couple. Just depends on your idea of a good time.

and the award for best answer on how to do puzzle caches goes to... "I usually resort to mind altering drugs. It hasn't really helped but at least I don't care about it anymore."

Just remember it's the quality that counts, not the quanity. I just checked on your hides by double clicking on your name, and then when your info came up, clicked on geocaches. Right side. Take a look at some of the other forums before you hide too many. everywhere people talk about the quality of a hide and how to keep the integrity of the game high by not just "throwing micro's out the window as you drive down the street". Every bad cache lowers the quality of the experience for all. It's up to us to keep the game quality high. People like to see caches in places that they want to go to. Parks they've never heard of, places with great views, places of interest, historical markers or places that are hidden. People like cache hides with purpose. Keep that in mind. Caches that teach or show something new. Beautiful places. Interesting places. Hidden trails. Give people a reason to go there besides your cache and they will remember it always with kindness and take their friends to it. People have written they do not like caches in rock walls behind garbage cans for instance. Or parking lots, or by a children's playground. There are many rules on where Not to hide a cache, I'm talking other than the usual rules, which are very important to read. They are few but important for safety and preservation of the game. Other than the official rules think of the people finding them. I came across another in a park right next to the play equipment (swings etc.) last weekend again. There were only three children playing in the park because of the bad weather, but three are enough to muggle it once we're gone. We left without making the attempt and I wont bother going back to find that one because the odds of me finding a day in the park when there are no children will be pretty slim. There was a fantastic empty park across the street behind that park that is hidden and has many great cache places out of sight. Put your caches in places where people can get to them without having to come back a hundred times. Also, men have said they dont' feel comfortable showing up at a playground by themselves these days, so just don't do playground hides. All around bad idea. Also, caches wtih identical names near each other can be a real problem, like evil micro #1 and #2 on all within a few blocks. makes keeping them straight while finding with other people, and while logging a nighmare. Be creative. If you put the area in the name people can find it easier, such as Marymoor Park Mary's cache or something. There are over 770,000 caches out there. Make yours something to remember.

OH my god it's fantastic!! (no pun intended) Yes this is great! I'd love to use it!! I had to use seaker because seeker was already taken. Also it's singluar not plural. Do you think it best to use the correct spelling or the spelling I've had to use for my name? I'm not sure it makes a difference. you've got experience with this, what do you think? And by the way, how do I now make it work? (I'll dig around and see if I can put up this one for a trial) Thanks so much!!! This is so kind of you to do this!!!! SS Here's something I came up with. Hope you like it. Large image if you want to put it on your profile. Small is the avatar. I didn't see the spelling you used for "seeker" and used the correct spelling in the images. I can change it if you like.

Yes but you're supposed to be posting the good stuff you find HERE!! View Full Version : 10 Reasons Not To Bring spouse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- attroll04-16-2005, 09:19 PM Top 10 Reasons Not To Bring Your Significant Other On A Cache Trip Torry Stiles By Torry Stiles, aka Torry (http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=5a548571-dffa-48c0-b7b5-2364a8986f48) 10. "Honey. The guide book says watch out for bears. Honey? Honey?" 9. "What do you mean 'Just go behind a tree,' mister?" 8. "Every time you see somebody you whisper 'Pretend we're making out,' Is your GPSr even on?" 7. " Sweetie-kins. It's a CACHE BAG. Not a purse. Okay?" 6. " ...And I suppose Mary Finnegan claimed YOU were the FTF? ..." 5. "What do you mean 'Stop and ask directions?' I've got it on my Magellan right .. right .. Where's my Magellan?" 4. "I'm not sticking my hand in there! Get the salad tongs!" 3. "Are you thinking of caching with someone else when you're caching with me?" 2. "Sweetie. You can't get the ESPN sports-feed satellite on that so stop trying and help me look." 1. "Honey, I'm sorry. I promise you can have the next FTF and I won't knock you down on the trail."

Maybe, if ALR'S were still allowed mine would be, "If you did not have a good time finding this cache or if you have any complaint about it, geocaching, or anything about geocaching your log will be deleted." What's the point here? So then I suppose I would have to add: "But you can find it again on another day when you're in a better humor" Haha. Isn't griping the point of the forums?

OK, another signature: Some people are like slinkies. Not much good for anything but bring a smile to your face when you push them downstairs!

You know it would be an interesting idea to have liasons to the police department for geocaching. We have liasons to certain park systems, why not the police dept? This person could train the police on geocaching, where to check for the caches online, how to contact the cache owners to confirm it's a geocache etc. It sounds like this needs to be done on a regular basis because of someone talking about the turn over of police. Or perhaps just the bomb squads need to be educated. How about special police access to the website so they can see the cache owners real name and phone number so they can call the owner and have it dealt with in a sane (and cheap) way? I'm thinking of contacting my local police about this. . .

More on bomb squads exploding geocaches: QUOTE(Clan Riffster @ Feb 17 2009, 10:03 PM) Typically, it's the first responder who sets the tone for the incident. If Officer Bubba sees a Tupperware and thinks, "Hot Diggity! Them there Al Kay-dah fellers are tryin' to blow up a pine tree!!", it's likely he will escalate the incident to an EOD response. If Deputy Riffster shows up and says, "Hey, there's a cache that's not in my Garmin. Whoo Hoo!! I get a smiley on duty!!" then the incident stops right there. Permission rarely enters into the picture.

I really do come here for the humor. there's a thread about bomb squads blowing up geocaches. Someone replied that all sorts of things get blown up. There's link to an article. I couldn't get the link to work, but the title seemed to say it all anyway. Real article: "Boston police blow up traffic counter chained to lightpost myfoxboston.com — Thanks to the Boston Police bomb squad, this is one traffic counter box that won't get a chance to kill anyone."

Thanks for posting this. I tend to read the forums first for the humor, second for all I learn. I love the signatures people come up with, like, "shut up and keep looking" and the one I adopted from someone no longer playing the game. My latest favorite was from the forum thread on Subscriber only caches. Someone was asking a question about these caches that had been asked many times before. I've heard many complain about repeat topics coming up again and again. This was the way this cacher responded to a topic he/she must have seen many times: "I thought this topic was scheduled for Thursdays?" One reply from someone who didn't understand: "There's a schedule for discussing forum topics? Seriously? " The appropriate reponse: "Questions about posts are on Tuesdays." Then it went on : "No, Tuesday's discussion is Double Posts. Questions are Saturdays. \you never get that right!!" Then of course the moderator had to do their job. They were WAY off topic: "Sorry, but access to the forum topic discussion schedule is a premium member feature. Suggestions about the forum topic discussion schedule need to be posted in the Geocaching.com Web Site section of the forums. Please keep on topic."- keystone moderator I think he was adding to the humor by the first line. Not sure. His post definately added in the long run... "I'm sorry, but despite what Keystone posted, discussions about staying on topic are only allowed on Fridays..."

I think it's not just caching, but even just hiking in the woods where you could run across this, so it's not just a danger to cachers, (although perhaps cachers are more likely to want to check out the containers). "Caching is a lot more dangerous than people think."

You can find the reviewer in your area by checking the new caches in your area and seeing who reviewed them. Then e-mail the reviewers directly. I've done this and they've always been more than helpful. If the cache has wrong coordinates that are that far off, it should be disabled until it is fixed. Otherwise, it's a really good way to make a lot of people really mad. Not the point of the game.

I've found caches muggled and empty lying out on the ground. I'm trying to declutter my house, so collecting anything geo-sized was part of that. I filled an empty (clean) plastic cat litter box and keep it in the back of my car for caching. When I've found empty caches or bad ones I've tried to refil them with a number of items. I've got a lot of stuff that's really nice stuff that I don't have any use for anymore. My favorite to find is foreign coins. I've also found those nice heavy duty clips that have a magnet in them you can put on your fridge or where ever and clip papers in them. I like useful stuff like that. I left a nice amethyst the other day. I've got some other crystals I'll be leaving soon. My geo-partner says his favorite find was a clock he could use. Actually, come to think of it, my very favorite has been AAA batteries. I was just out. That was really nice. I left a few pocket knives before I found out you weren't supposed to. I left them in far off hiking spots so kids wouldn't get them. I left some nice folding scissors too. Carabiners are always good to find and leave. I try to leave stuff that I would like to find. Whatever it is, it pretty much has to be waterproof here in the pacific northwest. Most caches are leaking by the end of winter. (if it does ever end this year) My partner says his ideal cache would have $100,000 in it. I still wouldn't mind keys to a new car myself.

I didn't know this thread existed. I've been wanting to start it myself. OK, the things I've found (omitting the gross since there's enough of that here already): I inputted the coordinates to the cache wrong and the gps took me right to a large tent, all neatly rolled up in it's bag in some bushes (in the city). I collect tents so I thought that was pretty funny. The coordinates were right on for the tent. Half a block off for the cache. I left it assuming a homeless person would be back for it. Then next to another cache I found an extension ladder. I left it too. I didn't need it. then I found a really nice bicycle in a park. Just left on the ground, and it was pouring rain. No one else in the park. Not even another crazy geocacher. My geo-partner found my hiking cane I dropped one day. He gave it right back, but lectured me for dropping it without realizing it. After all it is a fifty dollar walking cane I almost left in the woods. How could I do such a thing!?!? After we found the next cache, I gathered my stuff to walk off and found he had left his $600.00 GPS in the snow. I picked it up and walked quietly with it until I saw him suddenly patting all of this pockets urgently. "Looking for this?" I asked with attitude. I gave him a look but didn't say another word.

OH and how can I forget the fire hydrant that is fake and the entire top of it comes off?!?!?! At least that one's not a micro!!! Oh, and then there was the fake electrical outlet on the side of an electric box. My geo-buddy thought I'd flipped when I checked inside that one, but there it was. People in my area are really into these things!! I just don't like the idea of having to check out every fire hydrant and pull off the wrong cover of a real one and get soaked. Or worse yet, think it's a fake dog doo and it turn out not to be. I hide tupperware that people can find. am I boring?

I have found (and I'm new at this) a fake sprinkler head, a pine cone hollowed out, a reflector, just a small round reflector with a magnet on the back and a log glued to it, a micro the size of my small finger nail, a plastic plant with a bison glued to the bottom (you have to pull up the plant to find the bison tube), a plastic container inside a log thrown at the edge of the woods... Ones I did not find, include a hollowed out bolt I know is there but have yet to find, on an ENTIRE SET OF BLEACHERS!!! A fake rock was missing in the pile of rocks. It was later confirmed to be missing. And many other micros in my area I haven't yet identified. My area seems to be the capitol of micros. And tough micros at that. There are way too many here that are called "Evil micro" numbers one through a million. There is even an evil ammo box hide. I found that one at least. Why do people insist on being evil about this? As a newbie it can be frustrating. I guess it's for those who have been around forever and need a challenge. I still love a good ammo box in a stump in the woods. My idea of a good time. So to even the odds a little, since I'm so new at this still, I looked up "geocaching container" on ebay. There are tons of containers there to check out. I would not have found the magnetic reflector if it wasn't for that. There's quite a few on websites too. I obviously have not found them all yet, as there are many micros here that I haven't found yet. Well maybe after I've logged a few thousand and need a challenge?

Someone near here put out a series called hunting the bear or something like that. It is about six caches that each have part of the story in the cache description. It is a story of native americans hunting a bear that is causing trouble. Every story has clues to find the cache. Each cache has a part of a necklace in it. The first cache has the string and one bead. Each cache has parts of the necklace, the last one being the bear claw (fake of course) for the center of the necklace. The owner stocks the caches with the necklace parts regularly. A lot of effort went into these and they are quite well done. Very unique. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...92-f863661a1222 GC1ABPD is the first cache. I also love history caches. There is a cache near a historical marker in town that I never would have found without the cache. I love any cache that points out a beautiful sight or site for that matter. There is a cache near here that over looks a bay. It's got a sign that shows the before and after pictures of the native american's work on restoring the bay. That's a top-rate cache in my book!!

my latest pet pieve: people who list many caches with the same name close together, like near my house there is "Sammy the dog" and "Sammy the dog 2" within a block of one another. So we are out caching and he says, "What cache have you got next?" My GPS says, Sam so I say, "sammy the dog". But thats in the next block he says. No, thats' the other sammy cache. So what's this one? he says, Sammy the dog I say, and it goes on from there. Can we be a bit more creative than that please? Save the confusion!!

I have to go cheap, as I don't have much money. I pay close attention to the containers I find to see what works well. Here in the Pacific Northwest seals are tested to their limits. Virtually EVERY film container I find has a wet log. People are right about ammo boxes being the best, but not always the best for the situation. The best cheap containers I've found are nalgene water bottles (cheap? you say, look right now for these in thift stores as everyone is changing their bottles for the chemical free ones. Especially thrift stores near rich neighborhoods). These are totally water tight and stay that way. I've seen some clever hiding places for these including inside logs. Make sure you get the wide mouth ones and put a log in it that can be easily gotten out. (much easier to get stuff out of than bisons!!) My other favorite is a cashew container from Costco. It is totally water-tight and the one I found has been there for years. The container is expensive, about 10- but comes full with a couple pounds of FREE cashews!! I ran it through the dishwasher and then will air mine out for days or longer before putting into the field. It seals so well the minimal smell stays in, but I'm airing it out first to be sure.

As a new cacher I'm most interested in finding puzzles I CAN SOLVE!! I tend to avoid the puzzle caches because they are often so hard. Often I haven't a clue what the puzzle even IS. I don't really want to spend months trying to figure out one puzzle. I'm in this for the fun of treasure hunting. I like the hunt and I like going through a box of "stuff" even if it's just junk. These are the fun things for me. If I was into the puzzles I would go to a puzzle website. I'm into the hunt and find. So if you're making a puzzle cache, make it one I can solve. And I DO like the ones that teach me about the area, such as get the clues from signs in the area about the history, etc. I don't mind where the final is as much, as long as it's not behind a dumpster or in a parking lot. Beautiful places are always prefered, but not always available. I don't like micros because I like a treasure hunt. If it's just a log it's not half as fun. SS My question comes to this... Is the thrill in the puzzle, the location or maybe just getting another ? caches to your stats. We always try to get finders to remember our caches. (The good kind of memorable though! )

I know in WA state you can hide them in state parks, but only with written permission. There are some parks that are "cache friendly" and some that are not. I don't know about National Parks here. I know one that someone has been trying for quite a while to get permission after getting a letter from the State park saying to remove it. No permission yet. While another park is, a local reviewer said, "cache friendly" because of a cache friendly ranger there. I asked how to find out and the reviewer said try the local websites, but they might not have it on there because they usually can't figure out what department has authority over "hiding tupperware in bushes". We are a strange lot aren't we?? LOL SS

OK, I think I've got this figured out now. I'm going to be sure to carry dry log sheets when I cache. I already carry baggies for those that need new baggies. I wrote the reviewer, and he/she told me to log that that missing cache needs archiving. I said I'd take over it, and they said there's nothing to take over since it's missing. they said the person who placed it owns it so I shouldn't just replace the container. I need to note it needs archiving and then if that doesn't rattle the cage of the owner, then it will disapear and anyone else can place a new cache there and (hopefully) maintain it. I have some waterproof paper I'm going to carry with me for all these wet logs. The containers belong to the owners so I can't do anything about them. I'll do what I can and not worry about the rest. I do want to say, I had a GREAT experience with one owner recently checking on their cache when I suspected it missing. They were RIGHT on it and found it gone (a different one). there are a lot of cache owners out there that deserve cudo's (good mention) for all their hard work in making sure the rest of us have fun. I'm going to place my first cache soon. it's good for me to see the responsibility and importance of good cache maintance. And it's good for the rest of us to remember, "it's just a game". SS