HamSamwich

Yep, they're a blast. The cachehound even has padded troop seats when we chauffeur him in the Pinz. Here we are parked below the Elberta Beach Cache (GCGFYB ) in the Lake Michigan dunes near Elberta:

We typically cache in our 97.5 Hummer, but sometimes we go in my '72 Pinzgauer 712M. No problem reaching caches with either of these trucks. HamSamwich

Some of the worst behavior I see is when an experienced geocacher logs a WJTB/YJTB as being found in a new cache and writes "took the Jeep TB as a First Finder's prize." Dudes, they're not prizes. In fact, they're not trade items. I get frustrated when I have a cacher go to my sites and log something like: T: Cool laser level and 4 AA batteries L: BlahBlah TB Since my wife and I have stocked our caches with cool stuff, I've started upgrading the level of difficulty to reduce the junk piles in them. That's the same rationale for my placing a Jeep TB in a really hard wilderness cache. I know it makes it almost impossible for less capable cachers to get one, but at least I moved it promptly, and the next finder will have to put some effort into obtaining the desired find/TB. I don't bother with placing them in multis- a lot of people who have solved the multi will just walk to the last stage and pull the jeep out at 2AM since they know where the last stage is. I think to be fair, to enter the contest you should have found the Jeep TB in a cache that was a new find for you. Too many people just watch the local caches and go out at midnight to a previously known/found cache, without the need for GPS, and raid the container to get one. I guess that's okay if you plan to play the game and move it, but getting a Jeep TB in a new find was a real treat for me. Rich

I've read through this thread with great interest, especially since we just completed a trip from Detroit to Northern Alabama and I spent quite a bit of time getting the GPX files of caches along the route. In contrast, however, I was able to extract a list of Ham Radio VHF/UHF repeaters along the same route easily using a package called TravelPlus for Repeaters. This application displays a map with limited zoom capability and major Interstate and state roads. I simply placed my cursor over points along the route, clicked and drew a "corridor" along the route X miles wide (specified as a default, but changeable for each point). The software even imports StreetAtlas routes so route definition is a breeze. After drawing out the route (about 12 points) the app generated a list of repeaters with the characteristics I desired that fell within the "corridor" (frequency band of operation, access codes, etc.) I struck me that TravelPlus for Repeaters embodies much of the functionality in the UI that folks have mentioned for the PQ/Cache Route package. I am not familiar with the technical details of how it does this, but the similarities are striking- something like it for caches that generates a GPX file as output would meet many of the requirements I've read here.

I have recently come to the same conclusion- people are collecting them and not releasing them. I have also found that cachers seem to be getting rabid about these things- one showed up in a cache near my house last night around 7:30 PM, and according to the logs this morning a guy was out there in the middle of the night picking it up. It spent about 3 hours in the cache in the dark before it was nabbed. About 60% of the caches listing YJTBs in this area (SE Lower Michigan) do not actually contain them- cachers are reporting them as missing but they are still logged as present. Sometimes the logbook identifies the person nabbing it, and apparently still holding it two months later. Other times the TB is just missing without a log entry, sometimes just hours from when a cacher drops it off. It amazes me the things people will do for a little metal car.