kunarion

A tribolite from the Crustacean Period.

Can you give an example photo? When I first saw a similar thread, I checked some of my own pics, and it looked like GC had corrupted the "EXIF" data on them, regardless of size. The ones linked from my web site, so not processed by GC, were the only ones that still had coordinates in them (or any EXIF info). == EDIT == The photos I take with my Canon G6 camera (often in "RAW" mode) still have the EXIF intact (at least in the large views), and this is after I've cropped and resized them for uploading to GC. The ones I took with my Garmin Oregon 550T GPS have a blank EXIF file, once uploaded to geocaching.com, where the photo gets "processed", renamed, and rather grainy. If the EXIF doesn't transfer with the image, it's not an issue from me. I don't bring the Canon with me now. One less thing to carry. The pictures on the Oregon are pretty crummy, but I can live with that. Looks like I can upload most any shot from the Oregon, and the EXIF doesn't transfer. Here are 2 recent photos, taken with the Garmin Oregon 550T. I can't get a readable EXIF using either Firefox or IrfanView: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/gallery.asp...10-a08741c737ab

The #1 priority for my first cache was keeping it hidden from muggles. It has great coords, and a clue that should narrow it down to less than a 4-foot square, but sneaky camouflage still makes it tricky to find.

Would it be hard to find if you leave out a particular piece of info? If so, put that in your “Additional Hints”. It’s encrypted, so people who want more of a challenge can attempt the hunt without the hint. They can read the hint for an easier find. Whatever you decide, try to make the “Difficulty” star rating as accurate as you can.

If you can run a power cord to it, put a low-wattage droplight in there, and warm everything up slowly. If not and if you don't have the stuff to make a creme brulee, go home and make some hot chocolate.

Some generous cachers place unactivated coins into caches as a gift, or hand them out or trade them at events. If you want to start your own collection, that's certainly more memorable than just buying the coin. If there’s one elusive coin remaining to make a set, then you can check for sellers online. Many people made their own coins (that's where most of the coins originated), and that's a way to get lots of offers for trades. I bought a fancy “decoder coin”, since I think it’s a pretty cool one. It’s not something I’m likely to find in a cache, activated or not, and it’s probably the only one I’d ever buy. The other one was given to me. I only own 2 coins, and at this rate, it will take many years to have a large collection. If you do make or buy a nice Geocoin, I'll be glad to let you hand it to me at an event

Google "Geocache Log" for a bunch. For a Micro, even a blank sheet of paper is suitable, but you can make it more interesting with color and logos. For mine, I printed the cache name, GC number, and lines (to keep the signatures organized) on water-repellent paper. I also included a very tiny "Cache Note".

Thanks for the clarification. I've only seen 2 unactivated coins, and both had "activation codes" in the packaging (it's not a very secure code). One was handed to me by a GC "Lackey" -- so it was easy to know the status of the coin. I recently found a possibly unactivated coin, brand new, in all its packaging, and I even traded nice swag for it. Turns out, it was activated (had an "owner"). Some people will insert a strip of paper with the tracking number written large, so you know it's activated, and it's simpler to track.

Did it come with all the packaging? An unactivated coin, left as a surprise, would need both its "Activation Code" and its tracking number, in order to for you to activate it. Those tracking numbers are often VERY hard to read. If you type it wrong, it won't show up in the database. As GOF & Bacall said, check the logs for the cache you found it in. And look at the list of coins for that cache. With all the coins that go missing, it's good to double-check before you keep it. If I place an unactivated Geocoin as a gift, I'll also include a note with coin, saying so (with instructions on what to do next). If I have activated it, I'll drill it and include info and reminder tags. It's worthwhile to avoid confusion.

My first cache was a 35MM film canister micro. Rather than pack it with lots of log sheets, I filled that little tube with as much of a variety of Swag as I could fit in it. And I listed the contents, which became important information. While I was putting that cache together in my living room, the three jasper stone beads popped out onto the floor, so I put them back inside, and placed the cache in a park. One DNF mentioned finding “3 stone beads” on the ground (which encouraged them to try again later). Upon finding the cache, they returned the beads, now securely strung on a wire, to that cache. Those 3 beads are in there to this day.

I did find a coin that someone had scratched their initials into, by hand. My first reaction was “what kind of clod engraves their name on someone’s coin? …Twice??” Then I discovered it was the coin’s owner. My first TB only made a couple of hops. It’s not a particularly fancy one, nor highly collectable. Evidently, the current holder of my bug has new priorities. Guess I gotta send a friendly reminder sometime. Maybe your coin or Travel Bug should be something of interest to you, on the theory that the less interesting it is to everyone else, the less likely it is to be "collected". If I place an activated (owned by me) Geocoin, it will be with the understanding that it's a gift to the first kleptomaniac that comes along. Otherwise, it's likely to be unactivated, free for anyone, placed as a FTF prize, or directly given to some worthy cacher. I'll let them decide if they want to throw it into the wilds.

Visiting my parents in Oregon, my brother and I walked half a block down the street to a cache “in front of the house, curbside”. There was a 4-foot-long PVC pipe tied to a tree right by the road, sprinkler head on top, but having no fitting at the bottom, not too bad for a disguised cache container. An elderly man was trimming a hedge nearby. As I contemplated that PVC pipe, he approached. “I noticed your sprinkler system”, I said. “I was watering the plants”, he replied. Then he asked “What are you doing here?” “We’re Geocaching,” I said. You’re WHAT?” ”Geocaching.” “Gee-whatzing?” I pronounced it again, and showed him the cache info on my GPSr, hoping he’d let me off the hook. “What’s Gee-whatzing?” Boy, I thought, some cache owners can really play their part to the hilt… “Never heard of Gee-whatzing,” he announced gruffly. Then he returned to his hedge. I wondered if he was waiting for me to just go ahead and open that sprinkler head, and get his Micro cache. It was about that moment that I realized the actual cache was one more house over. Since then, I hardly ever do a residential cache.

There are lots of little islands with caches on them. If you can maintain such a cache, and obtain the proper permission, it's fine. An island cache probably won’t get a lot of traffic, so you may be the one visiting it the most. Try to find islands not subject to flooding.

My Nuvi will not guide me off-road (yours may be similar). Even in “Pedestrian Mode”, it continued to route me to the streets. Does yours have a setting to shut off “street routing”? If not, it points to the middle of the closest street on its internal map, not to the cache. When I was without my Garmin Oregon, I tried to cache with my Nuvi 1250. The only thing that worked was reading the Coords directly, watching the numbers change. And that was very hard work. Well, it WOULD have guided me if I FIRST followed its expected route, several miles around the back of the park. I hope yours has a “hiking mode” with heading & distance info. From the cache page, you can get a “satellite view” (sorry, they’re tough to print). Use that to see where the cache is in relation to trees, roads, and structures. Be sure to hunt caches that have great hints and descriptions, so you know what to look for when you arrive.

Obviously the GPS snow detector circuit was faulty. And what if a road had washed out! They could have been KILLED by driving over a washed out section of road. For that matter, what’s to keep these people from driving right into oncoming traffic? Stupid GPS. It's dangerous.

Small bison tube I covered with marine epoxy, magnetically held to a rock, and painted like the rock: When I saw a nearby cache was missing its bison tube again, I designed this new one to replace it. But the CO archived the cache. So now I can decide where I might want to do this. It could turn up most anywhere.

One that you mentioned hasn’t been found since June, has a couple of recent DNFs from different people, the hint is pretty vague, and the Cache Owner hasn’t visited the website in almost a year. With that information, I would not expect to find it. The trip would be more of a survey expedition than a cache hunt, just to gather data. And I'd add my DNF if I can't find it. If it’s a really cool spot, try to contact the CO. Maybe they can check on it, and place a new container. Or they may give you specific info about the hiding spot so you can check it and place a similar container. Or they might let you “adopt” the cache (if you’re interested). Around here, it’s unusual for an “easy” micro to be idle for more than a couple of weeks. Since lots of folks won’t make a log when they can’t find a cache, if it has no logs for 6 months, it’s got issues. Your mileage may vary.

No, you should first walk 20 feet away from the cache. THEN you sing the peanut song, while the others continue the hunt. This repeats until there's just one unfortunate soul still searching, to a full choir of "Found A Peanut"

I’ve had a plastic 35mm film canister cache, out in the elements for 4 over months, and it has 28 finds. It’s been there through some of the most severe rainstorms Georgia’s ever had. And the log’s bone dry. I check on it frequently, since it’s in a nearby park. Several people have had trouble putting the cap back on (or they were in a hurry). I’ve been expecting to see damage along the cap seal, but it’s still pristine and watertight. This is the old-fashioned black-body grey-cap style. And maybe there is a secret to keeping it water-free: Keep water off the container. Mine is covered in water-repellent treated “leaves”, maybe a kind of little raincoat. Rain tends to never touch any of the plastic container. If the whole thing got soaked, the lip around the rim of the cap could trap water. Then all one needs to do is open it, to get the log wet. I’d guess a temperature drop could pull that water inside, too. Try sheltering it from the rain somehow, maybe covered by something smaller than an ammo can After all the bad press here about film canisters, I’ve been preparing for my cache to get soaked. I have a new Rite-in-Rain replacement log sheet ready to go. And I have the 2nd Generation cache ready – it’s a match tube. But I haven’t needed to use either, yet. I’m NOT looking forward to the day when I will have to switch to that match tube. The film canister holds pathtags, swag, lots of fun stuff. The match tube is too small for anything. My 2nd cache is an ammo can, and it’s always perfectly dry inside. But even that one is covered with a rain barrier. Go figure.

I use City Navigator more than Topo (mine has both), but for guidance on city streets, I prefer my car-mounted GPS. If you're doing a lot of hiking, you'll probably use Topo more. All I really use when I'm approaching the cache, is bearing and distance.

Maps are handy, if you'd like to see where a Geocache is in relation to a road. But watch out -- once you park at the cache area, you must not be in a mode that routes you onto roads. I think on your device, you'll select "Off Road" (but don't hold me to that, check the manual). If you're in a "Follow Road" mode, the GPSr will point to the middle of the closest road, not to the cache. This is a problem if the cache is far from the road.

Silica gel, such as relatively inexpensive kitty litter, is effective to absorb about 15% water by weight: http://www.uline.com/BL_1004/Silica-Gel-Desiccants There are better desiccants, and some have a moisture indicator. A little sugar-pack-sized one wouldn't be suitable to prevent rust in an ammo can, but may be OK for a slightly humid log book in a ziplock, or in a micro if it fits. You can decide if you'd rather hang around -- and hang the logbook out to dry -- or just pop in a desiccant and let it do the work. Let someone know they should remove the desiccant later. You can also decide if it's worthwhile to even bother drying the cache by any method, if it leaks and it's not being maintained. It's just gonna get soaked again, desiccant and all. If I ever get around to placing my Bucket Cache, I'll keep a sock-full of silica gel in it, replacing it on a schedule. The plastic buckets develop condensation just from being opened in the humid air around here. I'm also going way overboard in preventing its inherent leakiness, which is another topic.

If it's a dessicant pack that hasn’t been exposed to air (already "full" of moisture), you might place one item, such as the logbook along with that in a ziplock bag. I’ve had success with large amounts of “silica gel” cat litter. A knit sock full of the stuff will dry out a rather moist ammo can in a couple of days. I still must figure out a way to prevent the silica gel from spilling (such as when somecacher opens the sock). The dessicant can be removed once everything’s dry. As mentioned, drying is most useful if the water’s from condensation or being opened in the rain (and not from a leak).

You’ve got a very good model of GPS! The accuracy will be about 20 feet, if you have unobstructed signals. When the cache was placed, they may also have been that far off -- so when you’re showing “0 feet”, the cache could be 40 feet away. Hiders strive for the best cords possible, so you’ll often be much closer. When your GPSr is showing less than 20 feet, you should be looking for the hiding spot.

I just now tried it. Took about 5 minutes before anything happened. Then the "Add to queue" button grayed-out, it showed "generated", and I got the email. All at once. I was gonna tell you to send an email to yourself from your profile. It's sure disappointing to see that's not allowed. That would be one super-easy way to be sure you can get email from GS.