medoug

Another perfect example to support bringing back virtual caches to geocaching.

Two points. First, no matter how well you maintain your cache, the problem is that other people find your cache and think that means it's a good container for them to use. Of course, most of them are not going to be as diligent as you are. Second, I've seen many, many caches that originally had an owner that monitored and maintained them regularly, but then for one reason or another, the owner stops monitoring the cache closely enough to keep a poor container up. Even conscientious owners lose interest or move or don't have as much time as they used to. The smart COs use good containers even if they plan to visit frequently. That way the cache doesn't degrade if something changes that prevents sufficient maintenance, either permanently or temporarily. Since I walk by my cache at least twice a day and check the contents several times a week I didn't think it could get too badly out of shape. I think you make a good point about other people thinking it's a great container because I'm using it, I hadn't considered that. I chose it simply for size reasons with full intentions of replacing it with a more permanent tupperware style container. I don't think a cool whip container is a good container but I had it at the time and it was the size I wanted for conealabilty/trade items so I went with it. nahdogg, Tupperware is probably the worst geocaching container you can buy. In many cases repurposed food containers are actually better. Although Tupperware is usually made of thicker plastic, it is really only intended for kitchen use and still does very poorly outdoors. If you want to purchase a regular-sized container for caching, I would suggest either a Lock 'n' Lock or a good-quality alternate brand. The silicone rubber seal and latching tabs ensure a very good watertight seal. Even the plastic on these better containers can degrade with long-term exposure to the environment. To help improve this, you can either paint the container or cover it with camouflage duct tape. I prefer the duct tape as it seems to stick better and does not flake away like the paint over time. This is especially the case at the "living hinges" on the latching tabs which are already more prone to breakage. The duct tape remains flexible while the paint doesn't.

Gee, I wasn't trying to get anyone in trouble. (That's why I hid some of the identifying information in my posted image.) I was just trying to show an example of where the 528 foot rule had not been enforced. I hope this doesn't result in issues with the new caches placed. I have no problem with their proximity to the earlier cache listed.

Here it is again with more details. There is no river, pond, cliff, etc. between the caches. The last two were fairly recently placed. I'm fairly certain that none of these were moved after publishing. My guess is that the reviewer either didn't catch it or doesn't care that they are slightly under the 528 feet guideline. After all, it is just a "guideline".

How does this happen? (not photoshopped) It looks like someone got away with pushing the limits a bit.

Seriously, if firetacks are allowed for night caches, can we use regular tacks to attach things? As AZcachemeister said, little harm can be done to the dead outer bark layer of a tree. On a slightly side topic.... I was visiting our local arboretum last week and many of the trees had metal identification tags attached to them with drywall screws.

How about liquid screws?

"Winter-friendly"? I thought that snowflake icon meant that the cache was "air conditioned". Seriously though, I think the snowflake symbol should be relabeled as "snow friendly", not "winter friendly" since it isn't uncommon in my area to have a thaw in the wintertime which produces barren ground. In fact, the ground was unusually bare most of the winter of 2011-2012 where I live. Geocachers wouldn't have had any problem finding even caches marked "not winter friendly" that winter.

Depending on the vibe that I get from the muggle, I may or may not tell them about geocaching. One line I've used is "I'm looking for a contact lens." I usually get a head shake, but never has anyone offered to help me look (yet).

Apparently the Groundspeak server temporarily crashed as it was overloaded with all the people submitting their new cache hides hoping to be the 2 millionth cache.

I'd still like to find a LPC that's at the top of the light pole requiring a ladder, extension reaching tool, or shimmying up the pole to retrieve. (Have I given anyone an idea? You're welcome!) You might have a harder time getting business permission and stealth would definitely be a challenge.

Looking for caches in "hunting permitted" areas does not affect the difficulty level, nor should it scare you. It just requires that one use a little common sense and realize that the area is a "shared use" recreation area. As both a hunter and a fellow cacher, here's a few guidelines that I recommend when searching for caches in these areas: Read signage along the borders of the area. A few areas will be closed to all activities except for hunting during active hunting seasons. If it is limited to hunters only when you're there, look for the cache on another day. Be aware of the local hunting season schedules. Most hunting is prohibited at night, so you might want to return then to make it a night cache find. Wear orange blaze (hat and/or vest) when entering the area during hunting season. (I explicitly recommend this in my cache description if I know that the cache has been hidden in a designated hunting area.) Look at the attributes for the cache. The hunting attribute, if applied correctly, will indicate if extra precautions need to be taken. Stay on the main trails as much as possible during your search. Most caches only require bushwacking for the last several feet. Don't diddle-dally in the area during hunting season. Find the cache and then leave. Your presence could be scaring away game and messing up the hunt for any hunters in the area. It's called courtesy. Despite what you hear in the news, most hunters aren't blindly shoot into the brush at any sound or movement. The last thing a hunter wants to do is accidentally shoot at a human. You don't need to be scared if following these guidelines. If you still don't feel comfortable searching for the cache in the area, don't do it. There's other caches to find and other days (outside of hunting season) to find that particular cache. If others have other suggestion/guidelines that I may have missed, please post them on this forum topic.

When I was in kindergarten, I learned how to play well with others.

Where's Chuck "caching" Norris when you need him?

I agree. Even better would be to place multiple individual caches (1 or more along the way, and 1 at the final destination) to help direct the proper route. That way the finder gets additional "found it" points which avoids the "negative stigma" of a multi and will actually entice more cachers to attempt the hike.

If I was you, I'd hide a larger container in the area and see if it comes back "full of money".

NYPaddleCacher, I agree, but why even allow that slim chance for a tech-savy muggler to re-muggle. Also, I was able to successfully delete the "Update Coordinates" log today, but yesterday I was unable to shortly after I created it. When I clicked on the "View/Edit Log/Images", my computer would just make dinging sounds. Perhaps there is a period of time required between posting an update coordinates log and being able to delete it. Thanks all, medoug.

I recently needed to move one of my caches to a new hiding place because it had been muggled twice in the last 5 months. When I updated the coordinates for the cache, it created an on-line log which listed the old and new coordinates and distance moved. I have no problem with this type of log being generated and visible to geocaching members, but I wish it wasn't visible to non-members (confirmed by viewing the cache listing without signing on). With almost everyone having internet access and smartphones with GPS these days, it seems like making the new coordinates visible to non-members is putting my moved cache at additional risk of being muggled again. Typically geocache coordinates are not visible to non-members, so why would the coordinates be visible to non-members in the on-line logs? This seems like something that should be "fixed" on the "update coordinates" function at geocaching.com. And, "No", I don't want to change it to a premium-members-only cache because it is 1 of a series of 7 non-premium caches which require gathering information to find a bonus cache in the series. I want to keep the entire series available to general geocaching members. medoug.

A few years ago a couple cachers were looking for one of the stages of a cache and found an envelope with a car key and note in it attached to the bottom of a picnic table. They initially thought it was part of the cache, but it really was was part of a separate state-wide treasure hunt contest being sponsored by "Our Iowa" magazine. Even though they were unaware of the contest, they ended up winning the Mini Cooper. Here's an article about their lucky find: WCF Courier news

OK, so this tree wasn't really on a "hike" and wasn't shaped by nature, but it gets enough attention to be a virtual cache with a lot of favorites: Double-take

Looks great! Let us know here when it's published. (Not that I'm heading to Colorado anytime soon, but I'd like to see your description write-up on this one....Zombies!?...)

AZcachemeister, That ain't gonna happen. The reason geocaching started the favorites system in leau of a rating system. It was decided as a way to recognize exceptional caches without assigning negative critiques to the poor ones. If everyone actively applied their favorites points to caches, the favorite points of all but the worst caches would go up. Then there would only be a few lame caches with 0 favorite points. The mediocre caches would have a small to moderate number of favorites. And, the best caches would have a large number of favorites. The favorites system can eventually become a type of rating system if everyone would assign their favorite points. AZcachemeiser, you're not helping the system get to this point without using your favorites.

Vater_Araignee, Please explain. I fail to see the logic of why the heat would make you less likely to log caches online.

As a cache owner, I have definitely noticed many less logs on my caches in the last week since high temperatures have been in the 95 to 100 degree range with high humidity.

Mushroom420, You don't need to give up on you cache placement. It can be accessed by boat only on the river. There are lots of caches that are landlocked which can only be legally accessed by boat. Keep in mind that it would be likely to have less visitors due to the restraints of access. One thing that you definitely need to consider is if the location away from the tracks is actually on public property. If it is landlocked as you mention, most surrounding property is likely to be private.