The GeoGadgets Team

So, the following email that I received from my local reviewer on April 11, 2006, that went like this: Me: > Last June I did a demonstration on Geocaching for the San Francisco Section of the American Radio Relay League Convention... at the number of Amateur Radio operators (Hams) that turned out to be Geocachers as well. A common issue that came up was, "Why not make this an Event?" Reviewer: > Please read the Cache Listing Guidelines, particularly the section titled "Event Caches" http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx: "While a music concert, a garage sale, a ham radio field day or town’s fireworks display might be of interest to a large percentage of geocachers, such events are not suitable for submission as event caches because the organizers and the primary attendees are not geocachers." - is CRAP?!? When I quoted the following: "For geocaching events that involve several components, such as a day-long group cache hunt that also involves a seminar and dinner, only a single event cache covering all components should be submitted." - I was ignored. The Convention is over now, and we had such a puny turn out, due to lack of advertising (no official event listed), this subject SUCKS to me. I feel cheated. Does this also mean that if we hold an event, we cannot advertise it over the radio or in newspapers? I mean, then we'd be trying to gain the attention of non-Geocachers in an effort to get them interested, so it wouldn't be "because the organizers and the primary attendees are not geocachers". This still sucks. I still feel cheated. I'm sure the Convention organizers who were hoping to attract non-Ham operators and perhaps get them interested in another tech-geek hobby, feel cheated, too.

Doing cache maintenance a few days ago... a security guard came out of a nearby business to ask what I was doing. I explained that I was from the local Audobon Society (true) and that we'd gotten a report that a pair of ospreys were nesting in the trees nearby. I showed him my GPS and said I was logging the coordinates of the location for the 'records'. He thought that was pretty cool. He was looking way up into the 200+ spruce I'd been standing near as I drove away.

K&J Magnetics - www.kjmagnetics.com I just bought 50 - 3/8" discs from them. $6 + shipping. They put free samples in every order. They have cylinders, donut-shaped, ball-shaped, oblongs, etc. And they are super-strong. Those little 3/8" discs will hold almost 2 lbs.

I'm sorry... rules is rules. I may not have thousands of finds. I may not have posted a thousand posts or more in the forums - I have a life and would rather FIND and HIDE caches than post about it - BUT (yes, Wanda, there is a BIG BUT in this)... There are rules to abide by in Geocaching and they are there for a REASON. I guess some of us haven't been Geocaching long enough to remember the episode of Law and Order (if you bother to watch TV) that highlighted (for a few moments) a person (who was actually Letterboxing, but hey) finding and logging (using a stamp, but some of us do that and are still Geocachers) a Geocache that was BURIED somewhere in Central Park (since the episodes usually take place in New York I assume that it was there). Immediately the hew and cry went out that YES, it is cool to Geocache, but NO, you aren't supposed to BURY them. I still get asked about that when I tell folks I'm a Geocacher (I do a lot of Geocaching demonstrations for groups), and it gets old explaining to people that it really is against the RULES to bury them. Now, back even further, there was a hew and cry when a very IRRESPONSIBLE 'geocacher' (lower case used intentionally) actually drilled a one-inch hole in a living tree to hide a 35-mm film container. dadgum, that was just WRONG. Do I need to explain why? Gawd, I sure hope not. Even if you spell in the forums like you speak (which some may take as cute - but it is as offensive to me as people drilling holes in trees to hide a cache, or typing 'u r' instead of 'you are' - $&it - that is just bloody LAZY, and almost as offensive as people who don't know how to turn off the caps lock function), you have to realize that this is a bad thing. Almost as bad as run-on sentences, yuck. My point (and yes, Virginia, there is one), is that you can't just dismiss bad behavior and say, "oh shucky-darn, shouldn't we oughta just go cachin'?" and call it good. Bad behavior in caching as in life is just that, BAD. If we just shrug and let it go on, then pretty soon caching will become littering. And then we'll be banned from hiding caches anywhere other than in Wal-Mart parking lots and magnetized Liquid Ice containers under power boxes at the local Piggly-Wiggly will become the norm. Hell, people won't even bother to keep the ziplocks zipped for the logbooks. Oh, hell. Caching is already that way. Might as well throw away my hiking boots and stay home and read a book. I'm sorry, but the same folks that will bury and cache and call it good will drill a hole in a tree and think that is okay, too. Those are the same people that won't discipline their children so that they grow up to be the cement shoes on the rest of society. That is like saying the rules apply only to those who get caught. Slap them on the wrist as long as it is still a hard find. Trailer-trash caching. I suppose it was as inevitable as the degradation of the English language.

I guess I live in a really small Geocaching community... Usually, if we see another vehicle in the vicinity of a cache we're hunting, it means we're not FTF, especially if we recognize the vehicle. But then, we attend a lot of Geocaching events, and if we haven't met the local or semi-local cachers, we've seen photos of them in their logs. Early on in our caching careers (so many years ago now, it seems), we were hunting a new cache along a seldom used logging road. We'd been searching for about 30 minutes and couldn't seem to get any decent bird-lock. We hear another vehicle approaching, and before it even came into view I knew it was other cachers... in fact cachers from over 100 miles south of that location! They recognized not us, but our kids in their bright red hooded sweatshirts. Seems we only posted pics of them in the logs (we're too ugly). We had fun and teamed up for the FTF. That was our first GC encounter in the wild. I'll have to try the "lesbian-on-my-chin" maneuver next time, if I don't recognize the other hunters. Of course, this assumes that the other cachers read the forums, right? As for muggles, I tried a new tack today with a rent-a-cop as I was returning to my vehicle from replacing one of mine. He asked me what I was doing, so I told him I was a member of the local Audobon society (true) and that there had been a reported sighting of a pair of nesting osprey in the area, and I was trying for a sighting and documenting it by taking GPS readings. He thought that was pretty cool. If the cache hadn't turned up missing once before (muggled), I'd have been happy to share the truth with him.

<rant> I'm still trying to figure out how some reviewer would approve 1) a cache that is placed in the bushes within a sensitive Biological Preserve maintained by California State Parks - who has a strict policy against Geocaches; 2) within 350 feet of an already existing cache that is NOT within that same park/preserve; and 3) placed by cachers that hide caches in areas where they don't live and don't hunt caches. I hate to be ugly about that, but WTF? When I visit an area I don't live in, even if I drive there once a month, I can't get permission to place a cache. If, or more likely WHEN the CSP discovers the cache, who do you think is going to take a hit to the eye for this? Um, not the people who placed it... they don't even participate anymore, and no one can get them to respond to emails. No, it will be Geocaching as whole. </end vitriolic blatantly condemning rant - for now> BEMs is right.

Wow... poor thing. Just feel blessed that you live in a state that doesn't have mosquitoes all over it. If we didn't go caching because of the mossies, we wouldn't go at all... whiners. </sarcasm>

Funny, I was looking for a place to hide a magnetized cache the other day... On the 'secluded' side of the shopping center I noticed that the lamp post skirts were all bolted down, but not in the main part of the parking area. Turns out it is because the bums that live in the bushes behind the shopping center would steal stuff and if they thought they were being chased, they'd hide their ill gotten gains under the lamp post skirts. Therefor, management had them bolted down to make recovery of the stolen loot a bit easier. Weird. That knowledge made me decide to avoid that shopping center all together. Why would I hide a cache someplace that the bums were watching? And just so you don't think I hide all of my caches in shopping centers... I had hid a beautifully camoflauged ammo can stuffed with goodies as one of the special caches for our annual summer event here, along this wonderful but not so well maintained trail along a neat little creek. Turns out that the local homeless population must have been watching all of my visits. The cache was found on the day of the event (by those who attended the event), but within two days after the cache went missing. Some homeless guy has a great 50 cal. ammo can to hide his hooch in now. That really sucks.

Let me first say that making any caches Member's Only won't do any good... been there, tried that. The minute that they had heard that others had logged a local find that didn't show up on their list, they became members. Secondly, I agree with the comment about destroying flora and fauna around caches. It is always bad when you come to a cache site and you don't need to use Geo-senses, because there is a clearly visible trail stomped down around the cache, making it look as though a herd of water buffalo were all trying to get to the same spot at the same time. This is one very good reason for not hiding caches in geologically- or biologically-sensitive areas (don't get me started on THAT topic! argh!). I'm all for taking these people caching in a large group - as long as they don't have to ride with me (*shudder*) . Will definitely have to take the Jeep (with 4" of lift and a removable back seat) on that outing. One of the reasons that we know these folks are the culprits is that they sometimes take the destroyed cache home. They then email the person who placed it to saying that they found the cache in the broken state. I suppose that that might be their one saving grace, or was. Lately, they just comment in their find log that the cache is broken. The damage is always the same - like someone with foot-wide fingers is trying to handle something delicate. "Bull in a China Shop" comes to mind. Oh, and here in the Pacific Northwest, where it rains 100+ inches a year, very little makes me more angry than idiots who can't bother to zip the ziplock shut for the logbook! There is a special place in hell for those people... especially when they insist on being FTF and then it is ruined for everyone else. (Playing Zappa refrain on mental soundtrack)

Okay, now you're just being yucky.

This is better than my solution. I'm curious to know what Renegade Knight's approach would be. The folks in question were initiated into caching by other family members in their area. They have been invited to cache in a group, usually after one of our monthly events. Only once did they go along, and then they disappeared after one cache, and only because they were upset that they weren't first to find on that one (many had looked, nobody had found that one). Their specific destruction is that usually they can't leave a cache intact. Something always ends up broken, and on the caches they insist on hunting for, if the cache isn't put back just as it was found, it will either get muggled or following cachers will be unable to log the cache due to the destruction. Considering how much work the cache hider (not me, yet) has put into the hide, this gets pretty frustrating. I have about twelve truly evil caches on my desk ready to hide, and I'm seriously hoping that these folks don't find their way to my neck of the woods.

Funny you should mention that song! Zappa's "Flakes" is one of the first things that comes to mind when I see people doing really foolish, ignorant or destructive things. "Just remember... never flush a tampooooon." Oh well.

Sockpuppets? Did you have anyone specific in mind? Phhhhtttt!

Sure, it's been thought of plenty, and discussed at length. Keep in mind that Geocaching began only a short period of time prior to 9/11. After that, placing ammo cans near railroad tracks, airports, government buildings, etc. became pretty much a no-no, and folks hiding and finding caches were under a great deal more scrutiny due to everyone's heightened/elevated sense of security/paranoia. Many of the guidelines for placing and hunting caches were ironed out during that period. From my personal perspective, non-GCers always bring up the negative when they first hear of Geocaching. I've heard everything from what you've described to dope dealers using the cache to make drug trades (which is patently ridiculous... just think about it). Being discovered by muggles while caching has even lead to accusations of just that - using the cache to make a drug trade. Human nature, being what it is, though... I don't discount anything. With the recent CBS news report on GCing, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an increase in vandalized caches - the type of person who would take a GPS (or go buy one for just that purpose), build a bomb, put it in a Geocache and post the cache for others to find just seems like a stretch to me. But hey... I've known of adolescents who have done just that and made the coordinates take the seeker to a very dangerous abandoned mine in the middle of nowhere. Being a FTF Ho almost got me in a world of trouble that time... But heck, I just pray that I won't be tasting shoe leather after making opinionated statements like those above... prove me wrong General Population!

One of our caches - the oldest remaining cache in the area - has been found numerous times by geo-muggles. We pull the cache in every fall for maintenance, and to read the logs. One young lady who comes every summer to stay with her grandmother found the cache three years ago while walking the dog. She opened it, read the instructions, took an item and traded a dollar for it. She excitedly signed the log. The following summer she returned, and wrote that the high point of her summer was finding the cache still there. She didn't trade anything this time, but she wrote in the logbook (obviously). She logged her visit again the following summer. This last summer she wrote that she'd asked for a GPSr for her birthday. Gawd, I hope she gets one! Each year she signs the log she writes that her mother has moved her to a different state. Think of the fun she could have hunting! I repeatedly found caches which teens and sub-teens have found, and did similar things (signed log and cussed at those who hid it), and in which the trade items are usually trashed or gone. (knocking on my wooden desk) I have yet to find one with fecal matter, body parts or waste of any kind other than just trash or gum (pre-chewed), but I live in a relatively remote area of the world. I'm sure that my education isn't complete, but I can always pray otherwise... sheesh. You did the right thing, but I think it would be a blast to present the signed log to their parents, even if only to embarrass the parents... sick Biatch that I am.

In our area of Geocache Heaven are some newbies who tend to destroy everything they touch. Well-planned, wonderfully executed Geocaches are getting trashed by these people. I'm not saying that they find the cache, exchange good stuff for garbage or anything (I think they've done that, but can't prove anything), but what they do is worse. - Caches with wonderful camouflage get left on the ground, exposed to the elements and geo-muggles; - They have broken cache components that make it impossible for the next person to locate or log the find; - They post blatant hints about the whereabouts of the cache for others, or email folks in the area to give them hints, or outright tell them where and how to find the cache. This is just ridiculous. They will destroy a cache and then post it as DNF, but say that they found parts of the cache on the ground, broken. At first it was thought that muggles were doing the deed, but after six or seven events like this, with them being the only finders in common, well, it is pretty obvious that they are the culprits. When gently confronted with the evidence they return a response that doesn't admit or deny, but asks what MY problem is, then ask, "why are you so uptight?" Yeah, maybe I'm too uptight. Maybe I put too much effort into this game and expect courtesy and respect in return, and that is asking too much. ARGH!

I AM the Geo-Parent... I've introduced more folks to Geocaching than I can keep track of. I have actually been paid (or reimbursed actually) to travel and teach others how to GC. Those people tell other people and so on... Does this mean I don't have Safe GC? Do I proliferate neophyte Geocachers senselessly? Do I regret my actions? Hell no! I love hunting the caches hidden by my babies (and grandbabies)!

I've been at this 'sport' since late '01 and I am very much female. I can't always get my other half to go with me, and sometimes the kids don't share my enthusiasm (I'm an admitted First Finder Whore), so I do go by myself as often as I can. Unfortunately, where I live it is very rural and there are lions, tigers and bears (Oh My!) in the surrounding wilderness, making it not only unsafe, but decidedly unhealthy for a woman (or anyone) alone to go Geo-hunting. My suggestion to you would be to go to the forums for your area and see if there are other folks who would like a hunting partner. Go to events, ask around. There is bound to be someone who has similar interests, a similar schedule and a burning desire to hunt and seek. Barring that, carry pepper spray (taking a training class in how to use it is suggested - I have my Mace certification), a big walking stick and stay out of areas that you wouldn't frequent alone for any other reason. Just because you're caching don't think you're bullet-proof. Not all folks hide caches in the smartest of places.

Yes, micros are really caches... nano, 35mm, Altoids tin, etc. How they are hidden is the key (as has been stated). However, plastic AOL CD cases, CD crystal cases, Liquid Ice containers (read: containers that are in no way weather-resistent) should be banned, canned and the Cachers who hide them need to be made to retrieve them and apply them to the Biz Bag (trash) immediately, as they should have been before they ever became geocaches (small "g" intentional). Somewhere along the line some of these less-creative cachers got the idea that it was the quantity, not the quality, of the caches they place that matters. I've seen a CD crystal case hidden under a wet rock with a logbook that was worthless by the time it was first located - the hider didn't even bother to ziplock the log. That kind of cache is just "trash", and even the hider treats it as such... they don't maintain them, instead forcing the reviewers to archive them when nothing is done to keep them up. The hider then just drives down a street and pitches a few more crappy 'micros' out their car window, driving just slow enough to write down approximate coordinates. I've read in previous forum threads that anyone who hates this type of hide should be able to put them on an ignore list, but how is one to know what the quality or condition of a cache will be until they arrive to see it for themselves? But maybe my opinion doesn't count... I was the first person within a 100-mile radius to put a 35mm film canister under a parking lot lightpost - years ago. Within six months a nearby community became inundated with them... But I am diligent about maintaining them. I can't count how many times I've replaced filled logbooks in them. Doesn't mean I won't go there to cache. In fact, it is a good lesson in 'what not to do'. And, it gives me something to gripe about...

Actually, in CALIFORNIA schools, all children of a certain age or grade must be able to recognize, read and understand the significance of an analog clock face. That said, what Chris of john + chris is referring to is this cache: GCV0XG. In the typically evil manner of all 2Trax caches, the name is very significant to whether or not one locates the cache. In this case knowing how to read an analog clock and being able to visualize it in a digital manner is an essential tool in what is required to find the cache and sign the log. Again, in typical to all of 2Trax's caches, the name makes almost no sense until you locate it - then the lightbulb (usually) comes on. This cache is no exception. However, I'm still scratching my noggin' over how long the logbook will last... RedwoodRed

Yep, and getting more and more babe-like... but that is for another forum topic. So, how is married life treating Mopar? Or is that another geo-topic, too?

I don't think we've ever broken anything (human or mechanical) while caching, but I did fall twice while looking for the same Geocache (Contact Cache in Hillsboro) and in doing so fell on my (then) brand new Meridian, scratching the bezel. Yep, fell twice in under two minutes. My leg was tangled in some vines and they were so fine (fine vines?) that I didn't see them, even after the first fall. I really thought the old man was tripping me. I think better of him now.

Abso-friggin'-lootly! I mean, I'm a fem, so don't think they make kilts for my kind (they call them something else, but I rarely wear them so don't remember), but can I observe the kilt forum? Especially if photos are encouraged? dadgum, not only do both Dr. and Criminal have dadgum fine gams, but I sure as hell didn't know that kilts were made/manufactured in a fabric other than plaid. Camo? Awesome! Oh, and just to stay on topic - as sept1c so succinctly phrased it - my avatar is what I aspire to. For those who have been living in a cave since 1996, that is Lara Croft, THE Tomb Raider. The original Geocacher (well, next to Indiana Jones, but I KNOW they didn't have GPSrs during the first two WW's) and my (however fictional) heroine. No, I don't look a thing like her... well, exept maybe for the red hair, and the large chest and the backpack. Yeah, the backpack!

Throughout California (and many other states) there are plaques or markers with important or registered historical information. Oregon already has established the "Oregon History Lessons", though most of them are currently physical caches (though I haven't been north of Coos Bay much lately). I began a series called "California History Lessons" with the first physical cache last month. Since the majority of these markers, etc. are in areas no suitable for a physical cache (and since I'm tired of getting the "WOW factor" letter!), I'd like to propose the category "California History Lessons" and I'd be happy to oversee it. RedwoodRed of The GeoGadgets Team Crescent City, California

Thank you so much, Ibycus. That is what I meant (about weight). I never got good enough math or science grades to get into physics. I knew my limitations then, so didn't try. Now it interests me, but all I know of it is via ossmosis (sp?). Maybe I wasn't so good in spelling, either?