spannerman

Hi Stuey, here are a couple of pictures taken from the colorado in an area you should recognise. The first two are the OSM mapping with contours and the last is TOPO GB V2 for a comparison.

One of the reasons you originally had to find 100 was to show you were serious about letterboxing. If you didn't have the time or inclination to find them you didn't get a catalogue. There is no restriction now though, if you send the money, you get the catalogue. You will find it is harder to go for a walk on the moor and "not" find a letterbox. Look for a couple of pieces of white granite in front of a rock and there will be, more than likely, a letterbox behind them. Within a few hundred feet of any lone tree, cross, ancient monument or any other recognisable feature you will find quite a few letterboxes as well. The further you go into the moor, the better the quality of stamp, and as already mentioned, the better stamps are not in the catalogue. Loads of them!!! At present there are 371 active caches on Dartmoor (134 are micros) and cover everything from drive-by micros to 10 mile walks with no roads to be seen. If you want to email me and tell me what your idea of a "must do" cache is, I will try and match some up. My idea may be different to yours so it would be better to know what you like. Have a great time whichever you do but going by todays weather, you'd better bring a mac'n'wellies.

Yep, I'd rather sit back and have someone offer to maintain my caches for me as well. I though, am one of the majority of cachers who read the guidelines when placing their caches and take the maintenance seriously. I have posted several NA logs on long term disabled caches and have no qualms about doing so. The reviewers have encouraged the use of this feature to assist them so I cannot see a problem. It does not affect anyone who looks after their caches, only those who are happy to spend all their spare time searching out the properly maintained caches while making the rest of us wait until they are ready to enable their own. If my way of playing this game makes me "The Cache Police" or a "Self Appointed Reviewer" then so be it, I will not worry about upsetting, what I consider to be, the selfish element of our community.

Hello Peter, Well done on your first find. vw keychain is right about the amount of caches in the area, you will be busy for a few weeks I think My favourite caches in the area closest to the bridge are any of those set by knarfathome. They are all in the council woods and are really well thought out and set up. You may want have a go at a few easier ones first but his are well worth doing for the extra enjoyment. have fun!

Thanks for the clarification, I had never read that before and knowing that, I may set some hybrids myself.

Yes, I would agree up to a point but I am thinking about night caches where you only get the starting coordinates then have to follow fire tacks to the cache. Would general area starting coordinates on a letterbox hybrid be classed as "an essential element" and if so, could it still be classed as a letterbox hybrid or would it have to be a mystery?

I think I've only come across two in the course of my caching. One didn't need to be stamped as a logging requirement, so it wasn't any different to a normal cache for me, the other one did need to be stamped, so I didn't look for it (I don't have a stamp). I think I would assume that they are only placed by people who play both games, and maybe there aren't many who do. If I'm right, maybe the question would be better phrased as "why don't people play both games". Is there anything non-obvious about letterbox caches that is different from an ordinary cache that might make a non-letterboxer want to place one? Rgds, Andy I found this interesting because I do play both games and despite having set a few caches I have never even thought about placing a letterbox cache. I know many letterboxers now use GPS but I still like the map and compass style of letterboxing so for me they are two different games. All the letterboxes I have out use at least three bearing points to pinpoint the box so I'm not sure how you could use that for a cache. It would also require the finder to have a decent sighting compass which are not cheap. Maybe, as a letterboxer, I have a different perception of what a letterbox is. To me, it isn't a geocache with a stamp in the box but now after reading this post I am probably being too purist. The only way I could see to set a true hybrid would be to have a set of coordinates for the general area then bearings using compass for the final homing in. The only problem with that is that it would have to be classed as a puzzle cache and not a letterbox. Perhaps I have found the reason letterboxers don't place hybrids.

I wear wellies quite often but do prefer my boots and gaiters. My wife prefers her wellies and will happily walk all day in them. She normally wears two pairs of socks and has never had a blister. She does enjoy the "walking through puddles" bit, I'm sure she wasn't allowed to do it as a child and is making up for it now.

I don't think the tiny tack causes any harm at all to trees. As long as the landowner is happy and it's a tree and not a sapling then there isn't a problem. Birch sap wine More intrusive than a fire tack.

I write a note for the cache which allows you to drop the TB or coin. Once it is in the cache I usually delete the note but edit my original log to say I dropped the TB or coin.

Hi treaclefudge, not sure about letterboxers "unwritten" rules, if you look on the 100 club website you will find the code of conduct which most letterboxers (and geocachers) abide by. I have found quite a few caches on Dartmoor and only one or two I felt were a bit suspect. If you have found any which you feel are sited inappropriately you should contact a reviewer who will sort it out. I have also found a few letterboxes and without getting into a "us and them" conflict, I have to say I have found geocachers tend to be more sympathetic to the moor than many letterboxers, both in placing and searching for box/caches. There are good and bad on both sides but a quick note to a reviewer can get a bad cache archived very quickly while a bad letterbox stays in the catalogue for at least 6 months. I hope you haven't come across any badly sited caches today, I had a found notification earlier today on one of my Dartmoor caches spannerman (member of the Dartmoor 100 club and letterboxer for 20 years)

I have just checked and there are 370 active caches on Dartmoor at this time with 15 disabled.. 135 are classified as micros so there are app. 33% micros. I haven't looked off the moor but it would be interesting to see how the figures compare nationally. BTW the long series you recently completed has just got bigger! Only one on the moor though.

That particular cache has had 11 DNF's logged but it has always been found subsequently. The owner does hide them rather well and they are a challenge but in the vast majority of cases the coordinates for her caches are very accurate. As far as Dartmoor is concerned, I think some owners place smaller caches and hide them better because of the numbers of letterboxers who are out searching most weekends. Because of the sheer number of letterboxes on the moor, some boxers just wander around checking under every rock they pass. If the cache is too big it is going to be found by far more letterboxers than geocachers, especially if it is placed more than a couple of miles from a road. I agree that there are some micros where a larger cache could be placed but I am just pointing out that there are, sometimes, other considerations which a visitor may not be aware of. If you ever make it back down to Dartmoor again, I would be happy to help you decide which caches you would find the most appealing. We have nearly 400 active caches at this time on Dartmoor so there is plenty to choose from.

Yes! we are spoilt down here

Millets in Plymouth had some Clifton Suspension Bridge coins today. Blacks had some Angel of the North at the weekend but I was away and missed out on those. I was lucky enough to get the last of the 7 coins that arrived in Millets today and it is now activated and due to be released this afternoon although not in my name .

I didn't realise "dog logs" could be annoying, perhaps I'll tell Roxy Bullie to just write "TNLN T4TC" in future. We created her account because my wife thought it would be a fun thing to do and that is a good enough reason. We try to write her logs to match her character and usually find it harder to compose her logs than our own. A bonus locally is that we have put our two caches in Roxys and my name, neither of which would have been placed if it were not for her. One is specifically aimed at canine cachers and the other was set on a new walk we were trying out. I have to admit that she doesn't sign the book herself. Either myself or the wife will sign the log for both of us, just the same as many cachers who enjoy a day out together will do. She also cannot quite manage the keyboard yet .............BUT she does her share by doing all the driving.

I had the same trouble so checked out the macros for GSAK and found this one. You can back up and restore the state information. I've tried it today and it works well.

Best not activate it then

I had a bit of fun this evening while attempting to get to a new cache on the edge of the "Grimpen Mire" on Dartmoor. After struggling for nearly a mile across bogs and a very lively stream I had to admit defeat while less than 60ft from the cache. The final crossing was just too dangerous today and although we didn't get to find the cache we got home in one piece and I really enjoyed the attempt. How close have you got to a FTF then had to turn back for whatever reason?

I have a fairly economical diesel car but have been cutting back on caching trips over the last few months due to the price of fuel. I have a cache trip planned this week but unfortunately it will be to remove and archive several of my caches which I now consider too far to go for maintenance. I hope I am wrong, but I think there will be a big increase in the number of unmaintained/long time disabled caches due to the price of fuel so I am removing ones I know I wont be able to get to as quickly as I have in the past. I have set one new cache this week within walking distance of home and plan to replace any that I archive with similar walking distance caches if I can find good places for them.

I know that situation well. My wife is definately the best "specialist equipment" I take caching with me as she rarely fails to spot a well hidden cache......(and she thinks I take her for the company )

Ah! Not sure if this is the problem but I think you have 2 spaces between Alphabet & Challenge in the title for K. That may scupper a search on the name. Re. your new one - not for long

No idea then, sorry...........unless you have upset your cache and "IT" is ignoring "YOU!

Your ignore list is in your bookmarks list. The button to ignore a cache is at the top right corner of a listing in the navigation panel and is right between the "watch listing" and "bookmark listing" options so it is easy to click on the wrong one.

Have you accidentally added it to your ignore list? I get it in my daily PQ and am able to see it in searches on the main site.