Fairbanks

I think the cache density is pretty high in this area (the Harrisburg PA suburbs). I just ran my PQ for caches closes to my office and there are 37 within 3 miles of where I sit . . . 5 of those are regular caches, 3 are small, and the rest are either not classified or classified as micros. I must say that many of the micros in this area are well-though, tough hides and aren't the lamp-post variety.

I actually adopted one of the original Wally World caches placed by SBUX. I adopted it for a few reasons: 1) There are still a bunch of people that like to find this type of cache. If you don't, then that's fine - get over it. 2) This cache was placed several years ago when it was an original idea. Some people have travelled far from other areas to log one of the "original Wally World" caches. 3) The cache hasn't been muggled and has had two DNFs in the last few weeks (one wasn't logged, but I received an e-mail from the finder that had been there several times) so it can't be that trivial of a hide. 4) This cache has 75 logs - seems kind of a shame to kill it now. 5) It doesn't seem likes there's anywhere else nearby to place a killer cache. This cache doesn't seem to be "sucking up valuable real estate". Anyway, just MHO . . . If you ever get to the Harrisburg, PA area, give it a try

I signed up for this notification on the Jeep Geocaching site, but I can't find the form now. I wonder if they removed it.

Anyone know how many there were last year? O|||||O

. . . if you do decide to install GreaseMonkey (which I have had a lot of fun with), then you may want to try these other scripts as well: Geocaching.com GreaseMonkey Scripts The first link will put a link to Google Maps and Google Sat. Images right on the cache page which I have found extremely useful. Clicking on it zooms you right in to the coords of the cache. The second link will put a "Find Nearest Caches" link on Google Maps so that if you have the map centered on an area, it will pop open a new window with a geocaching.com search centered on the map coords. Enjoy. I thought it was kinda cool that someone had already created some canned geocaching.com GreaseMonkey scripts so I didn't have to. -Fairbanks (Firefox-user-extraordinaire)

It looks like you're all wrong - it's really . . . Forward Deployed Naval Forces Acronym Finder

I enter coordinates directly into Google maps all the time and haven't had a problem. I know for a fact that they didn't used to support it, but they add new functionality all the time. You can even get turn-by-turn directions to coordinates by clicking on the Directions link and putting an address in a first box and coords in the second - pretty cool!

Out of curiosity, have they given you an estimated ship date yet?

I noticed the latest Scuba Diving magazine had a two-page Jeep Geocaching ad as well - I was shocked as that magazine never has two-page spreads (except for sometimes behind the front cover . . . I guess they see scuba divers as adventure people as well. They must be dumping a bunch of $$$ on this promotion.

I have heard that in certain parts of Pennsylvania, they have put a stop to roadside cleanup and adopt-a-highway because of this very issue. Apparently it's as common to find a cooler roadside then deep in the woods. Besides chemical explosions (causing burns), inhaling the concentrated fumes can cause serious lung damage. I'm seriously hoping that this isn't as big of a problem as people are making it out to be, but you never know!

I actually get this a lot from people that ask me about geocaching. Many of the folks that I talk to just assume that all of the caches are buried. I guess it's the age-old conception of "treasure hunting". I'm not really concerned about a deluge of buried caches from newbies. The community does a fantastic job of policing the rules in a constructive and polite manner and the folks burying caches will quickly learn of their error . . . or they will just have a boatload of DNFs and be none the wiser .

Great design. I'll sign up for a couple. Just one dumb question - when does cointracking.com go online? Is this site someone's personal project or do you think it will get some traction with other coins?

Any idea where to get this size of Lock 'n Lock containers without buying an entire set? Everything I have seen is like 28 pieces of assorted sizes.

The Mr. Magneto caches are even smaller than nitro tubes (the log is typically the output of a paper shredder - about 1/8" wide strip of paper). They also have a super-strong rare earth magnet built in, hence the name, which make them easy to stick right to metal objects. There are several hidden in my area and give a nice alternative to hide-a-key containers.

Is this what you're referring to? Great Plains Geoacache Store - Mr. Magneto I just had to purchase a few myself...

Hmmm nothing of interest here yet. Perhaps I'll add to the nothingness by not really saying anything . . . . . oh yeah, and I'm kinda new.

We went to Camp Jeep 2004 in VA (first time) and had a great time. I was expected a boring corporate-sponsered virtual marketing brochure, but it was very cool. The trail rides were set up and managed by the local offroad clubs and they really knew what they were doing. Garmin was there doing geocaching demonstrations. It was actually one of the major attractions (wasn't just stuck in a corner somewhere). That's actually the first time that I had ever heard of the sport and here I am!

I have seen these in several small hiking/outdoor outfitters. There's bound to be one in your town (and it doesn't hurt to suppor the local guy once in a while).

GPX files contain basically every bit of information that is on the cache page. This is helpful when using a powerful tool like GSAK to convert that information (e.g. terrian rating, whether the cache has travel bugs, etc) into a comment that some GPSr units can store. I have only used GSAK for a week or so and it seems like a great product, but I want to evaluate some others before I make my choice. I decided to buy a premium menbers to gc.com after only a short time (2 weeks) geocaching because I knew this was something I wanted to do and wanted to support the hobby. I have to be honest and say that I felt a bit odd having a premium membership while still being a noob. I felt as though I had "bought" my way into a group of experienced members. I'm over that now and happier than ever.

OK - so I'm a bit late with this reply, but thought I would tack on anyway. I was just at my local Bass Pro Outdoor World store and the clerk there tells me that they will price match anyone (even web sites). They only ask that you bring a print-out showing the date so that they know the price is current. I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to have them price match compuplus.com as I'd much rather buy this item locally so that I can return it if doesn't meet my needs.

I'm not sure if a Serial -> USB adapater would work here. I'd be interested to hear the answer myself. I have read that even with the gpsmap60, if you don't have a serial port (which my new computer doesn't), then you have to purchase a USB -> Serial adapter to connect to the serial interface of the GPS for these map products to work properly. I'm also struggling with the decision of Vista C -vs- gpsmap60C/CS.

Thanks for the info thus far. That review was helpful. It seems as though my biggest concern so far about the Vista C is that it doesn't have a serial port and therefore doesn't support NMEA. This seems to lock you into only Garmin map products as the other products, like National Geographic Maps, don't have USB drivers (at least yet). I know not having NMEA support means I can't hook this up to devices like marine auto-navigation systems, but I wouldn't intend to use this unit for that purpose anyway. Is there something else I'm missing that I lose with no NMEA support?

Unless I completely screwed up my forum search, I ran a query on "vista c" and didn't get a whole lot of results back on general opinions of this unit. I went GPSr shopping last night and really like the look and feel of the Vista C. This unit is being purchased for me in exchange for services rendered so budget isn't a huge deal here. Anyone have any opinions (good or bad) or would recommend another unit similar to, but better, than the Vista C? I see a lot of talk about the 60CS and that's an option as well. Here are my general concerns about the Vista: 1. Size - it's really nice that it's small, but the screen looks tiny compared to others. Is the screen size a problem for anyone? Are the detailed and/or topo maps readable given the screen size? 2. Connectivity - I've seen several posts about problems connectiing to certain software packages - is this something to be concerned about or more of a general annoyance? 3. Batter Life - Specs say 20hrs battery life, but I'm betting that's with the back light turned the whole way down all the time (which makes the unit next to impossible to read). What can I realistically expect from a fresh set of batteries in this thing? Thanks in advance for any info. Let me know if this is covered elsewhere. -Rob