Alibags

The Colorado one does though... somebody kindly gave me their spare and it works just fine.

The GPS training guys who were at the Mega event do. The bundle deal brought the price of the maps right down... and they do part ex on your old GPS

I like Nikwax. Normal boot polish does exactly the same job. I have some posh Brasher boot cream for my Brasher boots but mostly I use The Gunge. This is the stuff I make to treat my re-enactment footware. It's an ancient recipe... 1 part lard (no, Benecol, Flora or sunflower oil will not do!) 1 part beeswax Gently melt and combine the above two ingredients (do not overheat) Remove the mixture from the heat and pour in 1 part of turpentine Pour into suitable container and allow to cool. It should set but not be too firm as you need to stick your fingers into it and apply it to your shoes. Oh, and don't store it in your shed because the mice LOVE it!

I have the Garmin discoverer 1/50,000 map on my Dakota and I agree with bertsbodgers' impressions. In addition, here are a few of my own. It looks as if the OS map is an overlay and navigating is done on the actual road map hidden beneath. I think this is verified by the fact that the Southern Region maps, which I have, actually include the entire UK to streepmap level, looking rather rather like the Metroguide maps. The overlay runs out at about Nottingham. If you have track up enable, the labels (caches, some roads and POIs) are all displayed the right way up, but the text that is part of the OS map is rotated along with the map image. On the Dakota at least, your current position is marked with a ruddy big arrow head. If you zoom out enough for optimum map viewing, on a busy map, this arrowhead can obscure the detail you would like to see, such as the start of the trail. I don't know if this is configurable, but I would prefer to see a little dot, like you get when navigating on memory map on a PDA. Sometimes when trying to find a cache in thick woods, I find it's easier to use the map page, zoom right in and refer to your scribble (track log) to get an idea of where the cache is in relation to where you have been searching. If you zoom the OS maps in to 30 feet, the screen is basically illegible. It would be nice to be able to swap to the basic map (ie disable the overlay) as you can swap between maps on an Etrex. perhaps I need to send this as a wishlist request to Garmin. All in all, I would rather have than not have the OS maps. They certainly help when locating start of the footpath or finding out that your cache and dash is actually a climb up a steep hill. Having OS maps on your GPS seems to be the holy grail of features, so it certainly impresses your mates at the event (just don't let them zoom in!).

I demand a Cthulhu attribute! A nice icon with numberless tentacles...

9.4 miles for me for the nearest 500 caches (including owned, found etc) but if I look at how many unfounds I have within 9.4 miles, I see the answer is 19. Job (almost) done!

Hear hear!

look at this green jeep TB The TB picture appears to be a pink pig. If you click on view images, you don't see this picture. I think it has got misplaced in the database! Not grumbling... it's just interesting

I think I know which cache and ranting cacher this was. My attitude at the time was 'tough ti...oops I mean luck'. The rant in question seemed to deplore the fact that in general most people seem to want to do trads and series these days and don't want to spend hours and hours on multi caches. That may well be true, but it's hardly the fault of the new cache setter. No cacher has the divine right to own a location (as long as proximity and other guidelines have been followed) nor to force people to set or find the caches that they themselves prefer. I enjoyed your friends cache very much by the way (I did it at night!) tell them to put it out of their mind and not let it bother them.

Yeah! lets have a silent protest shall we BD? We will go and do some caches, not log them and the owners will never know... that will teach them! LOL! The good news is that cachers who don't log online are probably even less likely to come into the forums and read some of this nonsense. Ignorance is bliss as they say... I only ever seem to get wound up over caching when I come in here

I'm not far away (she says tentatively...) Actually, there are various scouting caching people I can think of in the general area, so send them my way and I will liase with the locals. There is an event coming up soon (20th September) In Wendover Woods where there will be lots of cachers, including at least one Scout leader and also a new trail of caches to find (in the pipeline after discussions with the rangers).

expert?! ROFL Oi!

I always log online but I have a couple of friends who rarely, if ever do. That's up to them. I don't think they are being disrespectful, I just think that for them caching is a way of discovering some interesting places and they enjoy reading the information on the cache pages. I don't think there is any any disrespect either real or implied in that. If I read a log from a muggle in a logbook, after they have found it, signed the book and re-hid it, this generally pleases me. I do no demand that they instantly go out, create an account on GC.com and log online. It's a funny old world isn't it? Considering the ranting that often seem to occur when the existing guidelines (or rules) are applied, some people seem very keen to lay on ever more rules and etiquette of their own devising. Leave them to it, I say! ...oh, unless they pick up one of my TBs and don't log them, in which case persecute the unbeliever!!!

Not true, I can think of several earthcaches which are at archaeological sites rather than geological sites. I think 'ancient' is the key here.

Pedigree? Nah, I came from Battersea Cachers Home! Drop me a PM and I am willing to come out with you and help you with cache placement if you like. When setting, I always like to bear the following things in mind: How likely is this to be muggled? - Is there a kids tree swing nearby or evidence of people sitting on nearby bench to drink cans of beer... etc How can the cachers damage the environment? - I hid a cache in an ivy covered stump to gradually witness the stump first get stripped of all ivy, then get broken apart, then get knocked over and finally end up kicked into the nearby river. This may not all have been cachers, however you have to bear in mind that some cachers will decimate an area looking for the cache. As well as being annoying, if your cache depended upon the vegetation to hide it, when the herd of wildebeest have passed, it may be left rather exposed. How can the environment damage the cachers? - you can tell them there is no need to scale the sheer cliff face gripping only with their fingernails.... but will they listen? nah! It may be their choice, but as the cache setter I think you have to consider the foolish ones and decide if you want the consequences on your concience.

I shall make sure I get in early for 10/10/10 then!

I know I am waaay too late to go for the coins, but I am holding an event on 9/9/2009 and would like to link it in to all the others. I am in the UK, but Lizzardman's event is 200 miles away in another county entirely. Who is the global enabler of this?... can my little event be included please?

What a very timely thread, I have just been dealing with and wondering about how best to deal with a rash of virtual finds on one of my virtual caches. The cachers mostly seem to be in Germany for some reason. Anyhow, I am going to find another bit of information that cachers must seek and then provide me with, which they cannot Google for. In the meantime I have added some bold red text to the cache page.

Oxford - NW contingent? Oxymoron surely? I think SE 2012 is a great idea, lets DO IT!!

When you release a TB into the wild you lose all control over it and you just have to accept that fact. Any missions for trackables are simply that : requests, you cannot force anybody to take photos, move it to a certain location, etc. I have had at least one clearly labelled TB of mine go way out of the area that I would like it to stay in, but I see it all as part of the adventure and don't get bent out of shape because of it. If you want a TB to get to a certain place by a certain time then post it... if you want to enjoy the sometimes random and sometimes sadly terminal travels of your item, then release it as a TB. I would rather a TB of mine kept moving from cache to cache, even if the people who moved it could not take a photo or move it directly towards it's goal. A static TB is a very sad thing indeed. If I pick up a TB I may or may not take photos, as the mood (and opportunity) takes me. I make no apologies for that. I assume that other cachers are like me and would like to see the TB move as I do. Sometimes I go the extra mile to assist a TB in my possession. If a TB fires my imagination, this is especially true - yet another teddy bear with no special mission and entreaties to take lots of photos just doesn't do it for me (unless it's owned by small kids because nobody likes to dash their expectations). I have had very bad tempered emails from some TB owners making all sorts of weird and wonderful demands for their TBs, including one cacher who told me (not requested) to make a 50 mile round trip to a cache I had previously visited, in order to drop their TB off there, when the TB was just labelled to travel. Now, TBs with large and grumpy messages on their tags inevitably get left where I find them, as I just don't need the hassle. I don't enter COTM. I have decided that for me caching is not a competition, but is more of a journey. Check out the main TB area of the forums where this has been discussed once or twice before.

I knew I was a trend setter! My top quality cow print cost me £10 (I had to apply it myself), I had it done once the cowmoobile got to 200K miles, and I thought why not? So far I have seen in cow print: 2 separate Pug 307s 1 Range Rover another Citroen ZX a BMW mini ...what was that one on Brean Beach?... think it was something like a Mondeo oh, and LOTS of Robert Wiseman trucks!! you could always cow print your fridge!

When I did the caches round Pednor Lane, we too were challenged by a local man. He followed us around in his car before challenging us. This bloke said that they had had a spate of house break-ins in the area and he was concerned what we were up to because we were acting suspiciously and he had called the police. We explained that we were harmless nutters and carried on about our business. Never saw any police (or cachers pooing in the verge!).

Hmm if you live in London you may see these about courtesy of innocent drinks. Ill try to take a better photo when i next visit them . Oooh! me want!!!!

Cow print is nice...

I was in Aldi this week (economy shopping for me until I pay off my spending at the Mega)... I see that from today they say they will have 6m poles in store for £19.99. Not everything that they advertise seems to appear, but if there is an Aldi near you it may be worth a look.