XV Pilot

Mez and I go Geocaching in a '77 VW Beetle (with a few modifications) that has yet to be defeated by any terrain. Admittedly we haven't really pushed her over rocky ground, but she is very much at home on sand. She even towed a Hilux out of trouble once. You can see a pic of her as my avatar. - XV Pilot

Warthog, you got mail... - XV Pilot

Rather a nice weekend it was, with an opportunity to get back into geocaching now that varsity vac is upon us. Only found three, which isn't a lot considering how many nice easy ones have sprung up in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town recently, but I was able to introduce someone to the hobby which was good. - XV

Aye, pretty extreme and rather dangerous. When my mate Andy and I did that one, he hit his head on the big rubber band on the way down, smashed his glasses and cut his head. Kokoscoot also witnessed an injury to a jumper there. Wrap the camera in lots of foam, and give the camera operator a helmet and body armour! - XV

Good points - didn't think of those! -XV

Hmm - I could only see the point in doing that if the TBs mission is to collect miles, or, as in the case of TB "6er-Schluessel" currently in GCR4QY, to visit as many caches as possible. In such cases, one would be helping the TB by logging it in and out of as many caches as one can visit before placing it for pick-up by someone else. However, if this is not the TBs mission, it does seem rather pointless... - XV

Hi! I don't own any TBs, but if I did, I would want to see them moving, even if they are being moved in the company of other TBs. I wouldn't have any objection to people taking my TB along with someone else's. I'd rather they did that than leave the thing behind, especially if they can help it with whatever mission it may have. - XV

E25 33.### is on the R75, Uitenhage Main Road in East London according to Mapsource. Anybody going to be near there anytime soon? -XV

Aye, as he said WELCOME! Best of luck with your caching exploits, especially when you come to the Cape. Plenty to find here! - XV Pilot

Hi! I know that I am neither Vespa, Larks or Goofster, but I hope you don't mind me replying to this message. The CITO event sounds like a great idea. Perhaps everyone in the area could start considering places which could do with CITOing? Somewhere with relatively easy access (T=2.5 max) would probably broaden the appeal of the event to cachers and media people alike. As for the cache itself, personally I prefer the idea of bringing items to place in a collective cache, as it provides more of an opportunity to meet and interact with other cachers. Perhaps the cache could have a mutually agreed theme? Let me know if I can assist with the endeavour. - XV Pilot

True enough, it is nice if the cloak-and-dagger approach isn't needed too often. Although in some cases dodging the muggles can form part of the challenge, and thence the fun, of the cache. I had quite a lot of fun hunting Goofster's "Return to Isengard" for this very reason. - XV Pilot

Thanks for the congrats - my 50 has been a long time coming compared to most of you, and I am glad I have reached it at last. I am glad I am not the only one who is constantly plotting escape routes when out in public with a GPS. I thought I was just being paranoid. - XV Pilot

Well, just had my first cache approved today. That's one more towards the national target! - XV Pilot

Excellent idea - I shall also try to get a cache or two approved. Shall we try to make a point of setting caches that all geocachers can find, rather than restricting them to premium members? Or are there valid reasons for the restrictions? - XV Pilot

Hi! When looking for caches suitable for a group of disabled kids I used to work with, I came across this rather handy site: www.handicaching.com It offers extra information about cache accessibility - very useful if you use a wheelchair or have other mobility issues, or, as I was, are trying to plan a cache hunt for others who do. The site relies on geocachers to voluntarily rate caches they have either set up or visited acording to criteria such as steepness of slope, presence of ramps or lowered curbs, terrain type, etc. The concept is very useful, but sadly it features very few South African caches at the moment. The rating process is very quick and easy, so could I suggest that, next time anyone hides or finds a cache that may be suitable for people with mobility issues, they pop onto the site and rate it? It doesn't take long, and may help make the hobby more accessible. Cheers, XV Pilot

Hi! Not sure what others think, but I don't see anything wrong with visiting a cache more than once, as long as you log subsequent finds as a note rather than a "found it" so as not to skew your stats. There is a cache near me that I visit quite often, as it is often visited by out-of-town geocachers and is thus a good spot to leave TBs that want to go overseas. -XV

Okay, sorry all. All hail the mighty Groundspeak! I shall say no more. (long list of opinions deleted)

Other than geocaching, I enjoy driving, modifying and working on my Baja bug, international travel (when I can afford it, which isn't often), playing bass in our band (rock of the older variety), and amateur digital photography. Other than the bass playing, my other interests complement geocaching very nicely - probably why I'm enjoying it so much!

Hi! Hermitc and I were having a chat earlier today about cachemobiles, the vehicles we use to go geocaching in. I found it quite interesting that we not only used completely different vehicles to go geocaching, but that we also had completely different ideas as to what would be the ideal vehicle if we could go out and buy a vehicle dedicated purely to geocaching. So, just as a matter of interest, what vehicles do you all use to go geocaching? What, do you like/dislike about it? What would you like to drive if you could? And perhaps most interestingly, why? We'll get the ball rolling: Hermitc: Drives: Mercedes S-class, as it is very comfortable on the open road, great for reaching far-flung caches. Could do with more ground clearance though! Would like to drive: Truck-based motorhome, to make entire weekends away cache-hunting less of a hassle to organise. Would also be better on rough roads. XV Pilot: Drives: Clubman class Baja Bug (VW Beetle modified for offroad racing), as it is a tough go-anywhere vehicle that is a lot cheaper to run and maintain than a 4X4, but can reach most of the same caches. Could do with a bigger fuel tank though. Would like to drive: Unlimited class Baja Bug, same advantages as my current car but better offroad & with longer range.

Good idea that - hiding an empty container first. I have a few spots in mind, so I'll do that over the weekend. If they survive, expect to see a couple of new Cape Town caches in a few weeks, including one along the lines of D.I.Y. but with a car theme. - XV Pilot

Hi! My immediate reaction to the problem of stolen caches was to consider placing micro- and virtual caches instead. However Geocaching.com seems very much against virtuals at the moment, with getting approval rather a challenge. There is also the ongoing debate about "lame" caches, with micros coming in for a lot of flak. So my question is: Is it worth trying to set up micros and virtuals in places where traditional caches won't survive, or does one forget the location entirely? - XV Pilot

swag (v.) "to move heavily or unsteadily," 1530, probably from O.N. sveggja "to swing, sway," cognate with O.E. swingan "to swing" (see swing). The noun sense of "ornamental festoon" is first found 1794. Earlier senses of "bulky bag" (1303) and "big, blustering fellow" (1588) may represent separate borrowings from the Scand. source. (Copied and pasted from the Online Etymology Dictionary) The reference to a bulky bag suggests a likely origin of the term "swag bag", which has been used for centuries by London's petty criminals to mean the bag you use to carry stuff you've nicked, or "found" if the local constabulary should care to ask. It seems a small step to our current use of the term to describe items we find in our caches. Given the term's usage by London's criminal fraternity, I initially suspected a rhyming slang-related etymology. However I haven't been able to find any evidence of this. If I have time tomorrow I'll raid our linguistics faculty and find out more. Isn't language wonderful? (or maybe I'm just letting Speech Language Pathology rule my life... oh dear...)

Hi! GPS pouches made by your unit's manufacturer are very nice, but can be a bit pricey and difficult to find. (They are around here at any rate.) You may consider a generic pouch for a cellular phone as an alternative. Same goes for dashboard mounts. After nearly fainting at the price of a Garmin mount for our eTrex, we found a nice tough generic phone mount that does the job very well for a 30th of the price. - XV