Smaug1

briansat, the one thing you're forgetting is that logged finds are based on the honor system. I could go all over geocaching.com and write in logs, but it doesn't mean I was actually there. I don't really care one way or the other, I'm just saying that if someone really wants to pretend that numbers are important, it is easy enough to fake. It is kind of like in the motorcycle world when squids will sand the 'chicken strips' off the edges of their tires so that when people look at them to get some idea how far they lean over, they will think that person has some real skill. Take me for instance: I've only got three finds and zero hides so far. But as I look for more caches to find, I tend to skim over the suburban micros and hold out for the ones I think will be better. I work full time and go to school part time, and the precious few hours that I have for myself and my hobby are going to be going after quality geocaches. Maybe I will have a different view when I've exhausted all the local decent ones. Wow, it's snowing like mad here in Chicago. I'm thinking about giving up some geocaching time to go snowboarding, then again, this would be the perfect time to hide that cache I've got ready...

Well, I can't answer your question, as I'm a newbie too, but I will be the first to say Welcome to the forum!

The transluscent 'white' ones are put out by Fuji, but some cheaper, no-name brands are very similar looking. You can tell the difference because the Fuji ones have a nice solid 'snap' when you put the lid in. (I say 'in' because they are the ones that fit inside. That may be a reason the Kodak ones (black can, gray lid) are more popular; since the lid goes ON instead of IN, there is slightly more room inside them. The people in the one-hour photo places usually know which ones are which. If you're unsure, it is quite easy to test them yourself, whichever ones you may have on hand.

Those are cuter than Travel Bugs, but twice as expensive, and there is no special feature in geocaching.com to track them yet. I'm going to go with a Travel Bug I think.

Without a doubt they are. It is one smart and cheap way to stay in touch with their customer's needs. My Legend (and presumably most newer Garmins) have two icons for 'geocache' and 'geocache found'. I don't think that just occurred to them. Either someone from here told them or they decided it would sell more GPSs from lurking here. HI GARMIN PR GUY!

I'm interested in this too. Hopefully, we get some good feedback!

Dave, I think you're on the right track. - Read the tips on Hiding Your First Geocache. It is good stuff and will help you from making your first cache a lame one. (a newbie's worst fear) - Geocacher University is a good site to read too. I picked up some good tips there. I'm determined to make my first hidden cache a decent one. It won't be in the middle of a sawed-off log, or stuck underneath a railroad bridge, but I think it will please people and be worth a trip out there.

For reference, here's the thread in question. CoyoteRed was upset because a noob was placing a lame cache. briansat agreed with him because it is a shame to assist in laming up the cache population. My bet is that after you've found a few dozen lame caches you start to get bitter that you've wasted the gas. That may sound elitist too, but if there's nothing to see and the cache is lame, it is only entertaining for a person's first cache. If the noob made an honest attempt to place a good cache and actually read the guidelines on geocaching.com, it wouldn't even be an issue. He didn't though, he was just excited to be hiding caches I guess...

Very classy. Thanks. This post makes me wonder how many of your 7,900+ posts have been helpful and constructive?

I just wanted to take a minute to thank you Brian. (I hope I'm right in assuming that's your name) Since I started a month or so ago, I've noticed you're one of the guys who never seems to lose patience, esp. with repetetive noob questions. I think you're a good mascot and first contact for people just getting into this hobby. I know you replied to a few of my first posts and helped me to find my way and I appreciate it. I'm up to speed a lot faster than I would be otherwise. I also noticed that when someone asks a question which has been asked before ("Which GPS should I get?") You don't just tell them to search and blow them off. You're a more patient man than me. Hip hip....

The tricky thing for me is when I'm new to a hobby and I first enter the fora. I have encountered it with shooting, reloading, woodworking, and to a lesser extent here. Off to the left, underneath my name, is says something like '50 posts'. Even though I'm an intelligent person with good reasoning abilities, the regulars at times tend to take opinions from people like me as carrying less weight than someone with a huge number. Maybe the newer folks don't feel like 'putting in their time' to get the respect and would rather just cache? Sometimes, the people with the huge numbers only achieve it because they post smart-aleck one-line responses to thousands of posts. Sometimes, it is because they spend more time in the fora playing keyboard commando than out caching. There is something to be said about earning the respect of your peers through your helpful posts. What I like to see is when a newbie shows up and out of sheer excitement asks a question which has been asked a hundred times before, there always seems to be a few people out there who never run out of patience. They will either just answer the question again or tactfully suggest the poster try the search feature and post results. For the most part, people who are not patient enough for that don't read or don't respond to such posts. There are the few people that act so exasperated whenever it happens, I just have to laugh to myself. Well, that is my $0.03.

Yeah. I remember getting that one. Way back when. The one I hate are the morons that question your intelligence because you miss spelled a word. Spelling Zealots! Misspelled is one word, you moron.

What I do that seems to be effective is to search for parts of a word ONLY in the topic. (there is a little box you check for that) If you search for the whole word, you might be eliminating a certain tense of the word. If you search the contents, you'll come up with all sorts of false hits. Another tip, search for other ways to phrase the same thing. There might be a certain way that someone refers to something that is different than how you phrase it yourself. I think you can use logic in the search fields: for example. 'Geocache + DNF' will yield anything with both words in it. If you had just searched on Geocache DNF, it would only find it if they were in that particular order. (not 100% sure on that one) Lastly, when all of that fails, just go through the entire history page by page and quickly scan the topics for stuff that might contain what you're looking for.

briansnat, I agree that a cache is better if there is a good reason for the location. However, that isn't always practical. For instance, I have three areas near me that would be good places to plant a cache. None of them have any sentimental value or breathtaking beauty. They are nice forest preserves, and it WOULD be a good walk, but I can't say there is any really strong reason to bring someone there other than to have a good hike in a nice place. Does that qualify? If I go further out until I find a really cool place, I will not be able to check on it often enough to keep it well-maintained. Having never maintained a geocache before, I don't know how much trouble it is and how often I will have to head out there...

Having just made my first cache, and gotten some good advice here, I learned that waterproofness is a must if you're planting your first cache. I assembled my first cache (haven't even planted it yet) in a $4 Plano tackle box. I got some advice that suggested this wasn't the best idea, and that the good old-fashioned ammo can is hard to beat; especially for the money. So here are a couple of links to a place that carries them: Cheaper Than Dirt This is the result of a search on 'ammo can'. Here is a six-pack of the 30 caliber ammo cans for $20. These are perfect for a smallish traditional cache. Here is another all-time favorite, the 50 caliber can. It is about twice as wide as the 30 caliber one mentioned above. It holds twice as much loot, but is also twice as hard to stash. $6 ea. Lastly, for my fellow SKS or AK-47 owners, here is a bargain on 500 rounds of 7.62x39 ammo, which includes the 30 caliber ammo can. $50. Here is a table of their shipping rates. Elsewhere on their site, they mention that shipping is free on orders over $150, so you can ignore the bottom part of that table. Of course, their free shipping is extra-slow, but hey... Bottom line is that a 50 caliber ammo can will cost you $12 to your door, or a six-pack of the 30 caliber ones will cost $28 to your door. Here's a link to an ebay auction selling 3 5.56mm ammo cans for $6.50 + $13 shipping. (ouch) Here's a link to an ebay auction selling 12 5.56 mm cans for $18 + shipping. (whatever that is...) I've saved the text to this post, because I have a feeling it might come up again. I bet someone else has this response saved somewehre too...

Vista C. I know a guy who just bought one and he is very impressed. He's moving up from a Legend, and he says the reception is amazingly better, not to mention 4X the memory. It all depends on your budget really. From the amazon reviews, I'd go with the Garmin instead of the Magellen, as they seem to be "right" from the factory more often, and they have better feedback regarding their customer support.

I have to agree. If it's kids or teens without parents, lie. I know what I was like and if you trust them and let them in on it, they will ruin it. I would have done it as a teen, even though I'm a responsible adult now. I have an acquaintance who when confronted by a muggle (not muggler) lifts the GPS up to her ear and pretends it's a cell phone and she's having reception problems! Of course if you're planting a cache, the ammo can is harder to explain than empty hands. That brochure that gridlox linked to is great. I just printed a few copies last night.

I came into this about a month ago, and here is how it seems to go: If you are a person who likes the outdoors and who likes walking/hiking for exercise but likes to have a purpose, you will like geocaching. It was said (by Teddy Roosevelt) that walking is the perfect exercise. I think that's right, I'm just the sort of person who has a hard time getting exercise unless there is some other goal than burning calories. Geocaching is just that; a good excuse to get exercise and spend some time outdoors. I found a cache yesterday with a below-zero windchill and had a blast. The cache was only of mediocre quality, but it was thrilling nonetheless. If you post which area of which state you're in, someone local to you might reply and offer to host you. If you don't have any luck finding someone local to tag along with, or you just are not patient enough, I agree with brian; get a gecko 101 (for $50 new or a bit less used) and give it a go. If you have a bit more $$, go for the Garmin Legend, which offers some everyday functionality (road and topographic map options) in addition to just basic GPS.

If there is any way at all you can come up with the extra $50, I’d recommend the Garmin Legend. The basemap extends the usefulness more than you would think. Otherwise, either a Gecko or Yellow eTrex would be a good buy at $50-85. (amazon.com is the place to buy) I haven’t noticed Groundspeak being more Garmin-biased. After I did my research, which included Groundspeak and user reviews at amazon, I decided to go with Garmin since the Garmin customers were happier overall. The Garmin Customer Service in particular got better marks than Magellen’s. The Garmins had fewer complaints about out-of-the-box functioning. The Garmins were smaller and had higher-resolution screens. All these things were the reason I went down the Garmin path.

I knew you would like the lip gloss! It will be in Northern Illinois when we plant it. We haven't decided which state park to plant it in yet.

Question on waterproofness of cache boxes: If the cache will be hidden such that the box will only get moisture from the top, how do the contents get wet? For instance, my tackle box should be rain-proof, right? (assuming it’s placed level) I don’t doubt your wise words or anything, I’m just wondering if you all have any insight on this. I think I’m going to head to my local gun shop and see if they have any ammo cans for cheap…

It cost about $25 I think. Everything is new. Case: Plano tackle box in dark green and beige Logbook: small, but thick and spiral-bound, w/ pencil & pen in Hefty One-Zip freezer bag Swag: 3-in-1 magnetic game (chess, checkers, backgammon), pocket Sorry imitation game, two thin CD cases, 6' extension cord, two small C-clamps, small tire pressure gauge, heavy-duty plastic quick clamp, super glue... ...and from my wife: a small tin marked "For Girls Only" which includes: lip gloss, tiny hair clips, and an emery board. The last step is to print out the couple of sheets: one which explains what geocaching is, in case it gets muggled, and some the other sheet which I will carry as I'm planting it, in case I get caught by a cop or something. I'd like your input. Am I up for a disappointment as people slowly bring the quality of the cache down with junk? How often am I going to have to 'refresh' it to keep it good? Edit - I just realize that I'm probably going to have to wait a while to plant this cache. There is snow on the ground up here, and I'm afraid that if I plant the cache now, some muggle will follow my tracks and find it. Curses! It's going to be a long wait north of Chicago...

one item that I saw was once in a cache that we found today was a 'surprise music mix' CDR. I thought that was a GREAT idea. I may do it myself one day... Some things I put in my first cache: new 6' extension cord small C-clamps mini tire pressure gauge pocket-size games super glue thin CD cases bungee cord My wife added a 'Girls only' tin with lip gloss, tiny hair clips, and emery boards I once read a post here that posted as a guideline: "stuff that you would like to have found in your first cache is what you should put in your caches" I thnk that is a good guideline. Stuff that people like or that is useful is great. You can do pretty well with stuff under $5 or even under $2. Put some thought into it, and keep your eyes peeled when you're at dollar stores and such.

OUCH can I backtrack, concede, and accept geekdom status, instead of this? Yes, but as punishment, you have to use some geeky lingo in your response to this post, you MUGGLE!

This is a good idea, and it reminds me of another good idea: Why not offer one month of free premium trial memberships to everyone who is signed up here? That way, people could get a taste of it and have a more educated decision on becoming a premium member on the pay basis...