Crafty Turtle

You need to have a physical cache at your waypoint. Imagine if you got to GZ (ie 30 feet of the actual spot) and then gave instructions to walk down the path next to the pine tree. Where you are standing you might see a pine tree and a trail of sorts leading away. Unfortunately it is the wrong one. No handheld consumer-level GPS is that accurate. However, if you had a physical cache to find, you would know you are in the right spot.

I really hope y'all are not being serious. Firstly, the word "muggle" predates Harry Potter. JK just used the word in her books. She didn't invent it. Like many other words, it has evolved in its meaning. Secondly, changing a word cos you don't like the movie reference, then replacing it with another movie reference - well that's just silly. Thirdly, and most importantly, when a large group of people uses particular terminology, it makes no sense to change it just for the sake of changing it, even if it is technically incorrect. eg "dial" a phone number, "turn" on a tv, the point is, people understand what it means. OTOH, it is such an American tradition to change words just for the sake of it. bedside table became nightstand, curtains became drapes, footpath became sidewalk. Yeah - why not change it so America can no longer understand the rest of the English speaking world. But we'd have to drop the "u" cos that's the done thing, right? (honour, colour, favour, mggle) I hope y'all know, I am not being serious.

I think you first need to find a rain-sodden cache with soggy log and rusty swag. THEN you'll understand the importance of w-e-a-t-h-e-r-p-r-o-o-f-i-n-g. Oh, and I found about 20-25 before placing my own hide. I was still in the euphoria of this new hobby, and I wanted to add my own contribution to it.

Thanks for that. Although it started as a newbie query "I can't find the info I need", it has evolved.

Kids, huh? I took my Mum on a find. She saw an el cheapo compass in the cache, and nabbed it, jumping up and down with the happies. She's nearly 70 and she got excited over a bit of plastic "toy"! ...but that's why we take them along, huh?

Yeah I think it's all very well to buy in bulk, to get a cheaper per-unit cost, but if you only want one or two, it's a bit of a false economy. Why pay $150 for 100 when you can pay $4 for one? I'm pretty sure I'd never use 100 in my lifetime. Imagine keeping track of them all! And as creative as I am, I don't think I could come up with 100 designs, or 100 travel purposes for the coin. Really, one is enough. Maybe when I travel overseas, I could drop one in a cache there, with the mission of it finding its way home to me. It would be nice of there was a reseller who would sell individually: a number and an icon from a selection of their more popular icons... flags, caching icons, animals, smilies, peace sign, stars, etc, So nothing is "custom", just you choose from an existing list. That would be nice.

Oh wow - thanks for checking that for me. I will make the waypoint visible, as you say. It makes sense. Is it a multi or a traditional? I'm a bit of a confused newbie, so any advice is gratefully accepted.

But it won't have the picture I want on it. Nor will it look all purdy and shiny so folks want to pick it up and take it home and look at for a few days before dropping it off somewhere. Is it just me, or are other people attracted to pretty shiny things? It's a girl thing, isn't it?

Yeah, it sounds like that's about as close as a handheld GPS is going to get you. There are ways around this, but they are costly and only usually used by businesses such as open-cut mining, precision between-the-rows farming, etc. Yes there are other methods of more accurately getting to the true coordinates. Surveyors have been doing it for centuries. Chains, ranging poles, compasses, theodelites, laser sights, etc. Remember the person who hid the cache and posted the coordinates also used a similar handheld GPS. Their reading will differ just as much as yours will. It's a bit like chinese whispers. Their posted coords will be a bit off the actual cache too. Don't try to get more accuracy out of something that is itself only within 30 feet. It's not a dartboard, it's a planet. (That was probably a bad analogy - the bullseye of a dartboard would be more like saying "Yup, I'm in Australia! 50 points!")

Winter - too darn cold for everyone else to be out and about - less chance of being muggled. Spring - well goshdarn it I'm in such a good mood I think I'll go caching. Longer days, daylight savings begins, so I have more evening-caching hours. Summer - Too hot during the day, so night-caching it is - no muggles around. Autumn - at least the nasty hot weather is over, and I get out and about. Preference? Um.... I'll be honest. I've been doing this for 2 months now, in Spring. (southern hemisphere)

A-ha! I see. I will try to be patient for 72 hours, then. <drumming my fingers on the desk> doobeedoobeedooodummm. patience. patience. I don't do patience well, do I? Probably why I cache at night a fair bit - I see a cool cache on the website in the evening and I want to do it NOW. patience. It shall be my new mantra.

That's a good idea. I'll make a few. I'm probably going to make it out of hard-glazed ceramic. Tough enough that you can drop it onto a hard surface and it will not even chip.

I have placed my first cache, and filled in the cache page. How long does it take till a reviewer looks at it? And what do they look at? How long does it take to be published? I'm impatient, I know.

Okay, thanks. I'm gonna do it. I'm going to make it look like any other coin. I'm designing it in my head now. ....ooh quick, open photoshop, get me my pencils.... Thanks again. Watch this space, I'll post a picture when I've made it.

Smurf - what about naming it? Can I name it what I want?

If your cache is in an out-of-the-way town that you'd like people to spend time in, get a coffee card or similar for the local (good) coffee shop or ice-creamery. A certificate (make your own in Word or Powerpoint) is valuable to the competitive FTFer. Sure it's just a token, but they do get to display them (in the office or wherever) and have people ask what they are. A rosette is also kind of cute. Do not spend more than $5 though. Is there anything you can get through your work cheaply, that most people would pay a lot more for? Cheap for you, but of value to them. What would YOU want?

Oh wow - both responses are very helpful, thank-you. Blorenges - I like your outside the box thinking. Have you tried this? Does it work? I mean, can I just transfer a number like that? It sounds so simple! There's got to be a catch. Ace862 - it looks like I can buy a tracking code from a coin-maker. I couldn't see which ones do this, though - any clues? Hmmmm.... if the buy-a-TB-and-use-the-number thing works, I'll do that. (It sounds the simplest)

I do not mean commissioning a coin with a company who will register it and give me an activation number. I mean I want to physically manufacture my own one-of-a-kind coin with my own bare hands. Yes, I have the skills to do this. I am quite crafty. What I need to know is how can I get it registered/activated so I can track it? I need a GC code to stamp on the coin. Where can I get one? I have not been able to find this info - everything just points me to companies that will make a coin with my design. Grrrr. Anyone done this?

Crafty cos I like arts and crafts but also I can think outside the box. Turtle cos I like turtles the way some people like dolphins or butterflies or dragons. I have a tattoo of a turtle on my leg. I've used this nickname for years - eBay, every forum I've ever been on, online games, etc. If you see "Crafty Turtle" on the web, it's probably me.

Chances are the dude who sees you skulking in the trees shouldn't be there himself. If he thinks YOU look suspicious, ask him what HE is up to. Also - you could try looking like you belong.... - cache with a dog - dogs can be walked anywhere - wear coveralls, hard-hat or hi-vis vest or some attire that makes you look like a maintenance worker or municipal official, etc (yes, it works for chicks too) - sling a camera over your shoulder and take "artistic" photos of architecture, rubbish, graffiti, plants, anything. Of course that meand you may have to climb on a wall to get a good angle (and look for the cache while you are there) - park your car as close to the cache as you can. A car works as a great shield. - act unapproachable - appearing dirty/homeless, or mentally ill. (will all due respect to the homeless or sufferers of mental illness) - cache at a time when less people are around - weekends, early morning, night (personal safety allowing) Depends where you are, you might find a cacher living near you. (You said "bush" so I'm guessing Australia or South Africa?) Is there a local group you can join?

I"m fairly new to caching, so before finding a cache I diligently read every log, the "hint", I look up the coords in Google Earth, and sometimes other maps (eg local topo maps). However, the hints I often find are useless, confusing cryptic clues making reference to some movie or cultural genre of which I have no knowledge. Why is a hint not a hint? Surely a hint should be more of a spoiler - eg "under a rosebush by the white picket fence" rather than a cryptic clue only for those who happen to understand the reference - eg "Bart's bespectacled friend". As it turns out, that means "Milhouse" - or the house next to the old flourmill. Even though the coords lead me right to that house anyway. This clue is not helpful at all. A hint should be a hint - a spoiler. If you don't want to read it, then don't. If you need to read the hint, then please please give us a helpful hint, not more puzzles.

I have picked up more than one geocoin which was well out of its preferred area. One wanted to stay in a certain city in another state - I put it onto a cache in my town on the main highway that leads to that city. I posted in my log what I did, and I hope it finds its way home. Another wanted to travel in the alpine areas of the world. I found it in a lowland hinterland. The best I could do was place it on the highest mountain around, which by alpine standards would still be considered a minor hill. I did my best. I don't know why people bother taking geocoins if they aren't willing to respect the wishes of the owner. Yes, caching is supposed to be fun, but it has to be fun for the coin owner too. If you do decide to pick one up without first having researched its mission, then look up its mission after you pick it up. Who knows, you might be the one correcting someone else's error. We are all entitled to an "oops" every now and then, but we also need to learn by our mistakes, and try to correct things that have gone awry.

Yikes! But like some of us have said - if you wouldn't go there alone for another reason, then don't go there alone for caching. Geocaching does not automatically give you a protective shield against danger - you only have what you had already. (Sounds reminiscent of something Yoda said to Luke Skywalker.)

I can understand people after 1000 or so caches can get stuck for new ideas for swag to place in a cache for swaps, but can it get boring for people? I mean, if you cache close to home, you often find cache after cache with the same swag - cos the same people were there before you - people who also cache close to home, leaving the same swag wherever they go. Luckily most people don't have a signature swag. As for mine: I can buy these very cool mechanical pencils at 5 for a fiver (ie about a buck each) - they are 1/2 the length of a standard pencil, they have an eraser on the end, a gel grip, come in funky bright colours, and you click the end to advance the (refillable) lead. I find this pencil the most useful caching tool - I sign the log then pop the pencil in the cache. I personally think a great caching must-have, and owning more than one is not redundant. But do other people think that? Is it lazy? Or do you think signature swag is a good idea? Would YOU take it in favour of something else?

I hadn't though of that. Of course! It seems simple now. Thanks.