emb021

Actually, the class is being put on by cachers in the local area, not the park people. They are doing it at a local nature center that is part of the Broward County Park system. We held a CITO event there, and put out 4 caches at the park/nature center. The flyer, however, was done by the broward parks people who obviously don't know better...

First off, there have been several articles written on geocaching. I believe from the main site you can get to an updated list of all of these. As to your question. For many people, its a combination of many reasons: * its a treasure hunt * its an activity they can do with their family, or friends, or even by themselves * you get out of the house and do stuff, sometimes out in the wilds. * you go to places you never had before, which can be very neat. This could be a great natural spot, a small park you never knew exists, or a back road with a lot of neat homes. * it can be a challenge, what with multis, puzzles, etc. * some like the sense of accomplishment (find more and more, TBs, geocoins, placing caches that others will find, etc)

Maybe. But it can also serve as a 'verification' that the TB is where it should be.

As someone who also letterboxes, I can only kinda agree. I don't think the lack of on-line logs is a reason it hasn't grown. HOWEVER, I find the lack of on-line logs annoying. It took them awhile to add even the ability to log that you found or did not find a letterbox, and I'm sure there are several LBers who don't even bother doing that. I find the lack of giving more expressive log (ie tell your experience) and the fact that many in the LBing community are AGAINST this even more annoying. Why? Logs, whether finds or dnfs are useful for both the owner and fellow searchers. The owner is kept appraised as to the status of the cache (people find it with few problems- good. people reporting a lot of failures- not good) As someone looking for a cache, seeing that people have been successful, especially within the last month, lets me know everything is probably ok. If no one has even tried in the last year, I have to wonder the status of things. Who wants to spend time going to the site of a cache (and the time looking), only to find that the cache is gone and has been gone for months?? But since no one gave any indication of this, you've wasted your time. I had this happen too many times with LBing. With GC, in most cases if something went wrong with a cache, it happened fairly recently (ie in the last week), and I just hadn't check things out on-line. So. Even if you don't plan on writting logs, at least log a Find or DNF!

I was going to make the same request!! I pretty much have to rely on knowing the local cachers who placed them.

Logging your finds (and not founds) gives you a record of what you've done. Going back thru your finds, you may recall the fun you had finding them, the tricky hides you overcame, the work in figuring out multis or puzzles or mysteries. And you might also re-live this in how others have found the same ones you did. (I don't upload pictures, so it can be fun to see those that others did) Plus you can check out the TBs you helped move along and see where they are. Going back over your DNFs, you can get updates on caches you might want to retry. I seldom give up on a DNF. There are some I've retried 2-3 times before I succeeded. Heck, I use GSAK to handle uploading stuff to my GPSr. I ALSO make the point to update GSAK with my finds. AND I keep a geocaching log book with all my finds. To me, doing the logs is 'part of the game'. Just as I feel that finding a cache but not signing the log isn't a true find, I feel that not atleast doing so on-line is similiar.

Actually, it depends. I have a knapsack, in which I carry: geocaching & letterboxing brochures, compass, sun screen, bug repellant, letterboxing log book, geocaching log book, rubber stamps & inkpad, a couple of extra pens, swag items (and any TBs I am moving), water bottles, extra batteries. I also have: clipboard with prints out caches & letterboxes I am working on that day, park passes if I know I will be hitting parks, small cooler with extra water, hat, telescoping walking stick, umbrella, most of which stays in car. Always have hat, good shoes and cellphone on me, sometimes long pants if I know I will be bushwacking. If the cache is a quick 'park & grab' or in a small park, I'll probably leave most of the stuff in my car and take GPSr & info along with pen and maybe trade items (if its not a micro). If it will be a longer hike, I'll take the knapsack and walking stick.

Costs. Interesting. I was mentioning geocaching to some fellow scouters, and one kept claiming it was 'very expensive'. I kept saying it only cost about $150 or so for a decent GPSr, but she kept claiming the costs were more. Never understood her point, and I quickly dropped it. I do enough 'outside stuff', that I had most of the stuff already to go geocaching. What have I spent (or not)? * GPS and carrying case. I've never invested in any maps for it. $180. * shoes, hat, knapsack, first aid kit, compass, bug repellant, sun screen, walking stick. $0 because I already had all this. * trade items. $20 or so * notebook to record finds. $10 (not needed, but I wanted to do this) * park admission. I got year passes for visiting parks in my state and county. $40-50. * GC.com premium membership. Not needed, but useful, so I got it. Now, if you get into geocoins, that is a cost. If you get into placing caches, that will cost, but finding caches? A GPSr and you're set. Really, everything else is extra.

I've been seeing something similar for the last week or so. I open the mapquest map in another window to get a print out of the location of the map (really useful when hitting those urban/suburban caches). I've been doing this for months without a problem. Now, while this works the first time, the following time I get a blank map area at mapquest. Its strange that when this started, was the same time mapquest seemed to have made some changes to how you navigate their maps (zoom in/out). I've basically had to give up and use yahoo maps to get my maps.

You did the right thing. As a finder I don't believe in 'provisional finds'. If I don't find the cache AND sign the log (or leave a piece of paper with my signature, which I had to do with one cache were the placer forgot the log), its not a find. Period. There were 2 caches placed by a local cacher which I wasn't sure I had found the cache. (had I opened them, I would have been sure). As I wasn't sure, they were a DNF. I have verified with the placer that I did find the caches. They will remain a DNF until I can go back out to those caches and sign the log. There is a local cache located high in a tree. The rule for the cache is that you must get to the cache and sign in where it is. (ie, you must climb the tree to get to it, no having a friend climb it and bring it down for you to sign). Well, I 'found' the cache as I saw it, but could not climb to it. Its not a found. Period. Those are the rules. I entered this as a 'note'.

Putting a large number of coins into a cache or an event is easy. Picking them back up is a pain, as you have to go to each individual item and do this. That is what I am trying to avoid. I have no problem with people 'discovering' my coins. Heck, I (like others) give people a list of my coins. But one person didn't know about the discover feature and picked/dropped them all off. The point is to make it easier for the owner to move a group of coins to caches/events. Someone else mentioned allowing the owner to limiting others to just discovering the coin. A good idea, I think.

All- The last couple of months, I've had this idea rattling around, so I thought I would throw it out. Am sure that some of the 'purists' won't like it. Like many other geocachers I've encountered, I have a small (but slowly growing) collection of geocoins. These coins are ones that, by and large, I plan on keeping. However, I take them with me caching, especially to events, and I have no problem with people seeing them, taking down their numbers (I have a sheet of paper with them, as I've seen others do, which I give out), and 'discovering' them and getting the icons. When I first got the coins, my idea was to literally and figuratively 'take them with me', that is to log them into every cache and then pick them up. Well, after the first cache I did this (drop off all at once, but then had to individually pick them back up), it was a major pain which I haven't repeated. At a recent CITO event, I dropped off the coins, and picked them up, and most people just did a 'discover' on them. However, one person instead did a take and replace on all my coins (and everyone elses), and after I had already picked them up, so I had to re-pick them up. Major pain. So I wondered what might be a solution. Then I thought of something. Now, this may not be technically feasible, and the PTB may just find this not worth their time, but anyway... My idea is to create a virtual "coin bag". You would place all your owned trackables (coins &/or TBs) into your virtual "coin bag". You would then drop off and pickup only the coin bag. Your trackables would picked automatically the logs/stats for the movement of the bag (tho you could edit particular logs for particular items, if you wanted). New trackables added to the coin bag would only get the logs/stats of the bag after they've been added. (ie if you had 4 coins in your bag, when you add the 5th coin, it would only get logs/stats from the point it was added to the bag). You could, add and remove coins from the bag as you wanted, and they would keep the logs/stats from their time in the bag. So, that's my idea.

I assume you are asking about open-ended series that anyone can add to, as opposed to a series 'owned' by someone, leading to a final cache. In my area (SE Florida), we have several such series: * There's No Place Like Home (some are marked as 'Not'). Placed near Home Depots. (the 'Not's are placed near Lowe's). Don't assume they are just parking lot lampost hides, either. * End of the Road. Placed at the dead ends of roads. Some can take you to some interesting locals. * Bullseye. Placed in Target parking lots * Always. Placed in Wal-Mart parking lots I've actually taken to creating bookmarks of these in my area, and add to them when I find them.

There is no rule that you have to trade. I (and I think many others) used to always do it, but I stopped. Now I only trade if its interesting. I don't. But this could be consider 'cache repair'. Some caches degrade as to their trade items due to poor trading. Depends on what you mean by 'leave more'. You are always supposed to 'trade up', leave something better then you took. But if you want to leave more items, that's up to you. You could consider it trading up or cache repair. Never! I would consider it theft. One container was too packed with items for me to trade what I had, so I just didn't trade. I've considered it. I think so long as you kept to the 'trade up' rule, go for it. I think this is true of many of us. I rarely trade. HOWEVER, if you don't sign the log, I would never consider it a Find. If you want to "TNLNSL", feel free. There seems to be a small subgroup that gets a little pissy about it. They also tend not to like logs that just say "TNLNSL" and nothing more. I do add more, but it will depend on what happened in my finding the cache.

I haven't heard anything on how the Philmont Training Course session on "Geocaching & Boy Scouting" went. Good? bad? whatever?

I keep a personal logbook like what is described above. I use one of the large official geocaching logbooks, tho those aren't intended for that purpose (they are cache logbooks). I log: name of cache, date found, coords (if multi, all subsequent coords), waypoint. All caches are listed in order that I found them. If this is part of a series, will write down the clues needed for the final. If I dropped off or picked up any TBs or the like, will note that. If cache is in a park, will give the name. Anything interesting I find or experience, will note that. With the 1 LB-GC hybrid i found, I included the stamp. Also, if cache is in a park, I try to get a map/brochure of the park, which I keep as a souvenir. When I finished my first log book, I put all of the map/brochures I had collected with it. I have filled my first logbook, and plan on getting a second. But I have also considered designing my own pages to print out and make my own logbook. My logbook for letterboxes has number of the LB or HH, date, name, and location, along with the stamp. I also save any map/brochures of parks where the LBs are.

In my area, there are very few parks that have enough caches that I can spend the whole day. So most turn into a 'cache run'. I usually now use the geocaching.com map feature. I get a high-level map of the area I am thinking on caching in. I figure out what basic routes I'll drive on, which ones I will leave out for another day, etc. I then download all the info as GPX files and upload to GSAK (see previous note), and then upload coords to my GPS (avoid entering these by hand). I then review each cache. I might eliminate caches if I suspect there is a problem. I'm not paperless, so I printout a page on each cache, including the hint and 5 logs (VERY helpful on many caches). If there are any pictures that may be useful, I'll print those out as well. As I'm caching, I'll note on these sheets which ones I've found, haven't found, any TB found/dropped off, etc. I also print out a mapquest map of the cache location, so I have a more detailed road map of the cache location. (I don't have map on my gps, so this is vital for me). On a good day, I'll get in about a dozen or so, depending on the cache density and my successes. After its all done, I'll update GSAK with my finds, and log everything on geocaching.com (finds, dnf, tbs, any comments I want to make, etc) hope this helps

And a very poor one. I can't think of many I found where the logbook was dry. That's why you put the logbook in a small ziploc in the key holder. This works fine in this area. Also, most key holder are attach underneather items, so they aren't directly out in the rain.

Having an idea of what you are looking for (35mm film canister, medal pill container, pill bottle, matchbox container, magnetic key holder, etc) can really help. if item is cammoed, how? (a film caniser with camo tape, or a pill bottle in a piece of wood dropped on the ground?) Having an idea of where the item is you are looking for (attached to sign? attached to medal guardrail? tree? bush? fence? etc). If you get to the spot, what might be a likely location? is the ONLY thing one of the above? that helps. If there are 2-3 of these items, tougher, but you might be lucky. Also, WHERE on these items would be a good local. (ie, know WHERE on a medal guardrail to look, or a medal signpost, etc).

Team Neos and Juicepig list a lot of the topics I would have recommended. Some others: * explain all the size types of caches: pico/nano/micro, small, regular, etc. * explain all the types of caches: regular, multi, mystery/puzzle, virtual, etc. * explain cache series * cover the grandfathered caches now on their own site(s): Waymarking, earth cache, etc *CITO *geocaching events and groups * maybe a brief discussion on what reasons some have to cache: family activity, the trading items, just finding caches, 'number hos', 'ftf hos', 'icon hos', etc.

A modification on this. I recently participated with a youth group in a photo scavenger hunt. Had to go to various locations and take a picture there. HOWEVER, you had to read the directions to get full credit. In most cases, the picture had to be specific. Photo of the location, photo of YOU in a particilar place at the location, etc. Just running up and snapping a picture might not get you full points.

Read Briansnat's posting on containers. Ammo cans are good, but you can find some Lock-n-locks that are almost as big. Ixnay on the gladware and similiar containers. Just junk!

What is this "scrapbook," you speak of? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapbook This will explain scrapbooking. Its big amoung many people. There are stories out there that cater to scrapbooking, and a log of groups are making available scrapbooking materials with their logos and the like. Also check out art supply stores like Michael's, or even the craft area of Wal-Mart etc.

The Caching Place: http://thecachingplace.com/

Also check out the Florida Geocaching Association at www.floridacaching.com