Chief301

When a NA is issued the reviewer will take a look at it. If the NA is warranted it will be archived. If it is not warranted it will be ignored. The system works well as far as this is concerned. While people may abuse the system, their abuse will have no effect. Someone happened to post unwarranted NAs on several of my caches this week. Those caches are still listed. Same thing happened to me last week. I only have one hide and it's only been out for about 3 weeks now. But a couple of days ago I get a "needs archived" log. The guy who posted it only registered last week and is in Maryland (I'm in Louisiana) so how in the world would he know anything about my cache? He gave no reason why the cache should be archived. Of course, I'm willing to assume that he maybe punched in the wrong GC code while logging caches, and that it was just a typo. What should a CO do when such a log is posted? Just delete it? Because that's what I did because I know it's bogus. (I did go and check on the cache today just to make sure) I also noted that the cache log contains a couple of finds I didn't know about, i.e., they were never logged online. Judging by their places on the log, the finds were made a couple of weeks ago, probably. Is this fairly common, people who sign the physical log but don't log it online? Or maybe just a case of procrastination?

Easy, come to the US for vacation and buy one Amazon price right now is US$120. There's a refurbished one for US$110. Check the Garage Sale forums for how much a used one goes for. Ha I'd love to, but the airfares would be US$2000+ so it wouldn't be a very cheap GPS after that. I'll just have to keep looking and saving, and meet in the middle somewhere. Thanks guys. Ted Yeah, but you could do some caching while you're here..

You're welcome! My Garmin E-Trex Legend HCX should be here any day now, so when I do some more hides I'll be using it instead of the iPhone. I only have one hide at the moment, which I did with the iPhone using Perfect Mark. Seems pretty accurate, no complaints so far.

I'm approaching #100 and I'm making plans for it to be "View Carre" in New Orleans. I hear it's an awesome cache and everybody around here recommends it. Will give me an excuse to upgrade to Premium Membership too because it's a PMO... Should be going for it right in the middle of the Mardi Gras season, too, so I've got that going for me as well

This is where I get mine... http://www.techblazer.com/2007/09/download-free-printable-geocache-log-sheets/

I think my favorite cache that I have hidden is GC2MRBP, "The Sandlot"..... ....well, OK, it's the ONLY cache I've hidden

DON'T put any petroleum-based grease on the rubber o-rings...it will make them swell up and make the part hard to move. That's why a silicone-based product. I found that out the hard way As far as Maglight goes, I personally think they're way overrated. They used to be the best about 20 years ago but they haven't changed their designs or technology much since then. They are very rugged and quality built but they don't perform that well compared to most modern lights. I think they mostly get by on their reputation nowadays when there are better choices out there. You can't beat Surefire, as many others have already stated, but they are quite pricey. For my money, Streamlight offers many options that are more reasonably priced and are are excellent lights. I have several Streamlights and they have not failed me yet. I have a Streamlight Microstream LED 1AAA light that is in my pocket at all times and a Strion LED rechargeable that I carry at work, and both perform flawlessly. I also have one of these... http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Cree-LED-Flashlight/746374.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dflashlight%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=flashlight&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products ...which you can get from Cabelas for $20 and meets your criteria for running on AA's. It's also a great little light which I carried daily at work before I got the Streamlight rechargeable. I'm also a big fan of LED's...nowadays I won't even look at an incandescent light, LED's are the way to go. Look for lights with a Cree LED, they're considered the standard these days.

Are you implying that we not honor a current President?

Edited...can't get pic to work...

+1 for Motion X...Lite version works fine, paid version is even better. Excellent general GPS app. Geocaching Toolkit (free)...helps with puzzle and multi caches. Haven't had to use it much yet but I can see where it will be useful if I start running across more puzzles. Perfect Mark (free)...if you decide to start hiding some caches yourself with the iPhone (a whole other can of worms ), Perfect Mark lets you take several coordinate readings and automatically averages them for you for better accuracy. Also, you'll be interested to know that the iPhone 4 does have an actual GPS chip and doesn't rely solely on cell tower triangulation to determine your position. This makes it more accurate, but just as importantly, it means that you can actually use the GPS functions in areas with no cell signal. Finally, if you're caching with kids, try to choose larger size caches that will have trade items. Kids tend to like that kind of stuff better than finding a micro with just a log sheet inside. Keeps 'em interested

Thanks for bumping this thread...These places are really cool! I love historic sites like this and now that I've started geocaching I have an excuse to go find them! Unfortunately in Louisiana few old structures were made of stone or brick so most have rotted away by now. But there are a few around... One of my favorites so far, GC236X9, "Old Sugar Mill Cache" near White Castle, La..... This one, GC17HQP, "Brother Jube's Not Here, He's Out Back" in Chackbay, La. Funny story about this one, I haven't actually found this cache yet. My son (Capt. Sparreaux) and I passed through this area the other day and spotted this old church. It's a town we've never been to before, but we had other things on our minds that day besides caching. As we passed it he commented, "That would be a great place to put a cache". I replied that I was just thinking the same thing, and we left it at that. After we got home, out of curiousity I did a search for caches in that area and sure enough, there is a cache there! Oh, well, it's not too far from home, we'll go back after it soon (and from the looks of the place, it had better be soon!). Anyway, here's a pic from the cache page...

It's been said already but I'll repeat, you might want to avoid the micros for your first few (unless they're really predominant in your area, like mine, where you may have no choice but to go after micros if you want to do any caching at all ). Briansnat has provided some excellent examples of "typical" cache containers you might come across. Just be aware there are some not-so-typical ones out there too, and some are downright sneaky! Some are containers that are in plain sight but are made up to look like something else entirely. But most times they'll be standard type containers, just well hidden. Be aware that the containers will (usually) not be left laying out in plain sight. Be prepared to search with your hands as well as your eyes....feel in, under, behind, and on top of things that look like they might be likely hiding spots. Also, know that your GPS will likely not place you right on top of the cache...Even the best GPS (yours AND whoever hid it) do not have pinpoint accuracy. Be prepared to search within about a 30' radius of where your GPS is showing. Once you've reached what you believe to be the spot, put away the GPS and start looking for likely hiding spots. Once you've found a few it gets a lot easier to know what to look for and where. Good luck and happy caching!

Inconceivable!

We have a couple that we've had for a few years....went and dug them out of the closet when we started Geocaching. Handy for us because Mrs. Chief doesn't mind coming along for the road trip but doesn't care to get down and hunt, so if the kids and I have to stumble off into the woods after a cache we can keep on touch with the mother ship ...

I think you're still not understanding what "drive & grab" (or "park & grab" or "P & G" or "cache & dash" or whatever folks might call it) means. You're not going to find the cache sitting in your car, you're going to have to get out and look for it! You're going to have to poke around in the bushes, feel around under, on top of, and behind things, in addition to looking with your eyes. And besides, even if you do happen to spot it, or it's obvious hiding place, from the car, you still have to open the container and sign the actual log to claim the find. Some caches are hidden in ways more clever than you can imagine, until you find a few of them. There is a bit of a learning curve at first until you get a feel for where and how containers can be hidden. Just get out there and start looking!

Agreed, you can tap the "flag" button and it opens a screen that lets you manually enter a waypoint. Also, there are other apps at the AppStore that can help you. "Motion X Lite" is a free GPS app that is very good (I went ahead and upgraded to the paid version but the free one is fine). Also, "Geocaching Toolkit" (also free) has some great tools for helping with puzzle and multi caches such projecting a waypoint or converting Roman numerals to regular, stuff like that. Check it out!

You can also print out logsheets of various sizes free off the internet. They come printed in columns of various widths so you can just cut out the strips once printed. Great for micro caches where a full sheet of paper or a whole notepad isn't practical. Just do a search for "Printable Geocaching Log" or something along those lines. I printed out a few different sizes and bring them along with me when we go caching, so if a log is full or really ruined I can replace it. Might save the owner a trip.

Not entirely correct. True with the older iphones but the iphone 4 (and I think possibly the 3GS as well) actually have a GPS chip. I have tried mine turning off the cell data and the GPS functions still work fine by themselves. HOWEVER, you wouldn't be able to find cache listings on the fly without data. But, if you do a little planning before you go out, you can save the caches you'd like to go after to "favorites" while you still have data, then if you get in an area with no data you can still select one out of the "favorites" list and navigate to it. At least that's how it works on my iphone 4. I don't know about Droids or any of the other newer smartphones.

I concur with the others...if you don't want the hints to give it away, don't use them. As a relative noob, I appreciate the hints. I did find one evil little nano using only the description and hint, didn't use the GPS at all. But in that case, I was glad to have the hint, because it was in the middle of a busy shopping mall (a couple of weeks before Christmas, no less), and it would have been hard to manage a normal navigate-and-search because of all the muggles. Using the hint I was able to have a seat on the bench and oh so nonchalantly grab the cache without stirring the slightest bit of attention. So in that case, I felt pretty slick about using the hint My kids were quite impressed...

There's a free app called Perfect Mark that lets you mark several sets of coords and average them. You might want to try that.

I think there are rare occasions when it's OK to report that the cache is clearly missing. One obvious one that comes to mind is when you are accompanied by a friend who has previously located said cache, who can confirm that the cache is not in the hiding place where it was known to be. But lacking that clear evidence, I'd log the DNF.

Speaking as a new cacher, honestly, it never occurred to me to write anything more than name and date in the physical logbook. Because that's all I've seen, really. It seems like the single line physical log is standard procedure, while the online log is the place to put something more detailed. Part of the problem, I think, is cache sizes. I only have around 80 finds so far, but I'll bet I can count the ammo cans or other "regular" sized caches on one hand. Most have been micros, a few smalls thrown in for good measure. Who wants to write a thoughtful paragraph and take up valuable space on a tiny slip of paper to be stuffed in a magnetic key holder? A simple name and date, then, on the paper log, and write something more substantial in the online log where everyone can see it. Related to the proliferation of micros is the locations where they are usually found. Urban or suburban hides, mostly, at least around here. If you're out in the middle of the woods you might have the privacy and time to sit down and write a few well thought out lines in the log book. But if you're having to use some stealth and try not to attract too much attention, and the log looks like something that came out of a fortune cookie , you're going to be expedient in signing the log and replacing the cache.

I'm a noobie and I seldom log from my phone. I might if I was only picking up one or two caches while out doing something else, but most of the time if I've spent the day caching I'll wait till I get home and log them on the computer. When I'm out caching, either alone or with the family, I'm usually the one driving, so who wants to grind the whole adventure to a halt to stop and type something on a tiny keyboard? I know some people quickly hit "Found It" or a quick "TFTC" out in the field and move on. Some of them will go back later and edit their log with something meaningful, but many won't. That's not my style. I don't do power trails so I never have 50 or 60 finds to log when I get home. We'll usually do about 10 or 15 in a day, so it's no trouble to log when I get home. I don't even take notes in the field, I can remember the details of a handful of caches pretty easily. It's not about the device, it's about the cacher. Smartphones do not automatically mean lame logs, and sitting down in front of the computer does not automatically mean quality logs.

+1 on the Otterbox. Not waterproof but excellent protection against drops, bumps, and the like. Also +1 on the Ziploc bag, the screen does work through the bag. I haven't had to use it yet but I keep a few Ziplocs with my Geocaching stuff just in case. I also plug the phone into the car charger while driving between caches. Very few of the caches in this area involve any kind of major walk or hike so that kind of battery drain is not a problem. I am still shopping for a dedicated GPSr, however, although I'll probably go with a lower end model just for basic navigation, and still use the iPhone to identify caches, driving directions, etc. Room enough for both tools in the toolbox. Also, I think somebody may have mentioned it already but in the app you can save caches to favorites, and save the maps and photos, before you go out. Then you can navigate to them using only the GPS chip in the phone if you are in an area with no cell coverage. But you have to load them up beforehand, you can't search for new ones on the fly unless you have data.

Ink? What ink, officer?