Alan White

Here's an updated version of the original request for cache density by county. Rank County Caches Area (km²) Density 1 City of London 53 2.9 18.28 2 Dundee 170 60 2.83 3 Bristol 270 110 2.45 4 West Midlands 2106 902 2.33 5 Flintshire (Sir Y Fflint) 966 438 2.21 6 West Yorkshire 4428 2029 2.18 7 West Sussex 4158 1991 2.09 8 Surrey 3389 1663 2.04 9 Greater Manchester 2528 1276 1.98 10 Greater London 2901 1572 1.85 11 Berkshire 2173 1262 1.72 12 Merseyside 1029 645 1.60 13 Clackmannan 224 159 1.41 14 Edinburgh 363 264 1.38 15 Lancashire 4181 3079 1.36 16 East Sussex 2393 1792 1.34 17 Northamptonshire 3087 2364 1.31 18 Hampshire 4683 3769 1.24 19 Worcestershire 2148 1741 1.23 20 Buckinghamshire 2265 1874 1.21 21 Essex 4430 3670 1.21 22 Tyne and Wear 644 538 1.20 23 Cardiff (Caerdydd) 163 140 1.16 24 Cheshire 2713 2343 1.16 25 Glasgow 198 175 1.13 26 Bridgend (Pen-Y-Bont Ar Ogwr) 278 246 1.13 27 Warwickshire 2178 1975 1.10 28 Kent 3987 3736 1.07 29 Staffordshire 2821 2713 1.04 30 Fife 1374 1325 1.04 31 South Yorkshire 1605 1552 1.03 32 Hertfordshire 1674 1643 1.02 33 Cornwall 3512 3563 0.99 34 Derbyshire 2577 2625 0.98 35 Leicestershire 2112 2156 0.98 36 Wiltshire 3303 3485 0.95 37 Nottinghamshire 1950 2160 0.90 38 Rutland 335 382 0.88 39 Bedfordshire 1079 1235 0.87 40 Dorset 2292 2653 0.86 41 Cambridgeshire 2853 3389 0.84 42 Swansea (Abertawe) 312 378 0.83 43 Midlothian 291 354 0.82 44 Torfaen (Tor-Faen) 98 126 0.78 45 Oxfordshire 2011 2605 0.77 46 Aberdeen 143 186 0.77 47 East Dunbartonshire 133 175 0.76 48 Isle of Wight 284 384 0.74 49 Gloucestershire 2319 3150 0.74 50 East Lothian 499 679 0.73 51 Shropshire 2364 3487 0.68 52 Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg) 216 335 0.64 53 Somerset 2649 4171 0.64 54 Devon 4227 6707 0.63 55 Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych) 522 844 0.62 56 East Renfrewshire 105 174 0.60 57 Suffolk 2268 3798 0.60 58 Inverclyde 95 160 0.59 59 Caerphilly (Caerffili) 159 278 0.57 60 West Lothian 230 427 0.54 61 Neath Port Talbot (Castel-Nedd Port 232 442 0.52 62 Lincolnshire 3572 6959 0.51 63 Wrexham (Wrecsam) 251 498 0.50 64 Conwy 556 1130 0.49 65 Newport (Casnewydd) 92 190 0.48 66 Renfrewshire 117 261 0.45 67 Rhondda Cynon Taff 188 424 0.44 68 North Lanarkshire 208 470 0.44 69 Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy) 356 850 0.42 70 County Durham 1071 2676 0.40 71 Norfolk 2149 5371 0.40 72 North Yorkshire 3316 8654 0.38 73 East Riding of Yorkshire 937 2479 0.38 74 North Ayrshire 332 885 0.38 75 Falkirk 99 297 0.33 76 Cumbria 2250 6768 0.33 77 Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro) 486 1590 0.31 78 Perth and Kinross 1606 5286 0.30 79 Angus 616 2182 0.28 80 Gwynedd 695 2548 0.27 81 Moray 601 2238 0.27 82 Stirling 571 2187 0.26 83 Isle of Anglesey (Sir Ynys Mon) 182 714 0.25 84 West Dunbartonshire 34 159 0.21 85 Northumberland 1049 5013 0.21 86 South Ayrshire 249 1222 0.20 87 Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin) 482 2395 0.20 88 Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr Tudful) 22 111 0.20 89 Herefordshire 409 2180 0.19 90 Ceredigion (Sir Ceredigion) 328 1795 0.18 91 Orkney Islands 175 990 0.18 92 Blaenau Gwent 19 109 0.17 93 East Ayrshire 210 1262 0.17 94 South Lanarkshire 241 1772 0.14 95 Aberdeenshire 812 6313 0.13 96 Powys 504 5196 0.10 97 Shetland Islands 135 1466 0.09 98 Highland 2123 25659 0.08 99 Scottish Borders 390 4732 0.08 100 Argyll and Bute 449 6909 0.06 101 Dumfries and Galloway 345 6426 0.05 102 Western Isles 89 3071 0.03

I can still access SE Caching. I tried to PM The Cache Hoppers (the site admin) on there but it says she doesn't exist I've posted a message on the forum though it has been effectively dead for quite a while.

I really hesitate to join in here because any thread of this nature usually turns into a long one expressing strongly-held views on all sides of the debate. Nevertheless, I must point out that there is no such thing as a "definitive list of counties". The political entities one chooses to place in such a list depend principally on a point in time, it's true, but which? For caching, why choose a set which existed long before caching did? The pre-1974 counties are ideally suited to, for example, genealogy but if you use them for caching then many caches in what is today known as southern Oxfordshire will be in Berkshire, to pick just one of many differences that will seem to be confusing anomalies to cachers. And didn't we have this discussion a few years back...?

I apologise if you feel offended; naturally that wasn't my intention. I was merely pointing out that one can draw few conclusions if you exclude 89% of the data from the statistics.

By population: Rank County Caches Population Density 1 Perth and Kinross 1596 147800 10.80 2 Rutland 338 37400 9.04 3 Orkney Islands 175 20100 8.71 4 Cornwall 3445 535300 6.44 5 Flintshire (Sir Y Fflint) 978 152500 6.41 6 Stirling 567 89900 6.31 7 Highland 1335 221600 6.02 8 Shetland Islands 132 22400 5.89 9 Gwynedd 690 121900 5.66 10 Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych) 529 93700 5.65 11 Angus 607 110600 5.49 12 West Sussex 4166 799800 5.21 13 Shropshire 2365 456000 5.19 14 Wiltshire 3261 639500 5.10 15 East Lothian 484 97500 4.96 16 Argyll and Bute 431 89200 4.83 17 Conwy 543 115200 4.71 18 Cumbria 2214 494300 4.48 19 City of London 51 11700 4.36 20 Moray 381 87700 4.34 21 Ceredigion (Sir Ceredigion) 327 75900 4.31 22 Northamptonshire 2870 687300 4.18 23 Warwickshire 2183 536100 4.07 24 Clackmannan 205 50600 4.05 25 Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy) 352 91300 3.86 26 Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro) 468 122400 3.82 27 Worcestershire 2126 557400 3.81 28 Fife 1346 365000 3.69 29 Devon 4150 1143000 3.63 30 Powys 473 133000 3.56 31 Cambridgeshire 2745 789600 3.48 32 Scottish Borders 387 112900 3.43 33 Western Isles 88 26200 3.36 34 Lincolnshire 3427 1021600 3.35 35 Northumberland 1034 316000 3.27 36 Midlothian 256 81100 3.16 37 Dorset 2246 714900 3.14 38 Suffolk 2242 719500 3.12 39 Oxfordshire 2001 648700 3.08 40 North Yorkshire 3282 1082000 3.03 41 Surrey 3369 1127300 2.99 42 Aberdeenshire 732 245800 2.98 43 East Sussex 2301 774400 2.97 44 Buckinghamshire 2125 739600 2.87 45 Lancashire 4147 1449300 2.86 46 Somerset 2617 917100 2.85 47 Cheshire 2770 1009300 2.74 48 Gloucestershire 2314 858300 2.70 49 Hampshire 4648 1743700 2.67 50 Isle of Anglesey (Sir Ynys Mon) 183 68700 2.66 51 Berkshire 2136 812200 2.63 52 Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin) 478 183800 2.60 53 Staffordshire 2718 1071400 2.54 54 Derbyshire 2542 1010600 2.52 55 Norfolk 2139 862400 2.48 56 Essex 4281 1737900 2.46 57 North Ayrshire 333 135200 2.46 58 Dumfries and Galloway 354 148200 2.39 59 Kent 3802 1684200 2.26 60 Herefordshire 396 179300 2.21 61 South Ayrshire 242 111400 2.17 62 Leicestershire 2017 955300 2.11 63 County Durham 1054 513200 2.05 64 West Yorkshire 4409 2161200 2.04 65 Bridgend (Pen-Y-Bont Ar Ogwr) 270 139200 1.94 66 Isle of Wight 269 140500 1.91 67 Wrexham (Wrecsam) 251 134800 1.86 68 Nottinghamshire 1930 1086500 1.78 69 East Ayrshire 213 120200 1.77 70 Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg) 211 126300 1.67 71 Bedfordshire 972 614800 1.58 72 East Riding of Yorkshire 921 602600 1.53 73 Hertfordshire 1687 1107600 1.52 74 Neath Port Talbot (Castel-Nedd Port 209 139800 1.49 75 West Lothian 238 172100 1.38 76 Swansea (Abertawe) 307 239000 1.28 77 East Dunbartonshire 134 104600 1.28 78 Dundee 173 144300 1.20 79 Inverclyde 95 79800 1.19 80 South Yorkshire 1583 1343600 1.18 81 East Renfrewshire 103 89500 1.15 82 Torfaen (Tor-Faen) 97 91100 1.06 83 Greater Manchester 2521 2682500 0.94 84 Caerphilly (Caerffili) 154 178800 0.86 85 Rhondda Cynon Taff 186 234400 0.79 86 West Midlands 2096 2738100 0.77 87 South Lanarkshire 238 311900 0.76 88 Edinburgh 362 486100 0.74 89 Merseyside 1019 1381200 0.74 90 Renfrewshire 116 170300 0.68 91 Aberdeen 142 217100 0.65 92 North Lanarkshire 213 326400 0.65 93 Bristol 274 428200 0.64 94 Newport (Casnewydd) 91 145700 0.62 95 Falkirk 85 153300 0.55 96 Tyne and Wear 602 1119600 0.54 97 Cardiff (Caerdydd) 146 346100 0.42 98 West Dunbartonshire 37 90600 0.41 99 Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr Tudful) 22 58800 0.37 100 Greater London 2875 8174000 0.35 101 Glasgow 207 592800 0.35 102 Blaenau Gwent 19 69800 0.27 Density = Number of caches per 1000 people Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ceremonial_counties_of_England http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scottish_council_areas_by_population http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Welsh_principal_areas_by_population

Not at all. The Isle of Wight is thirty years behind the mainland so caching hasn't arrived there yet :D. And it's a very nice island - I wish more places were still in the 1980s. The first can be done: the sources I used have the population as well as the area. Give me a little while as I have to pop out for a bit. The second, as you say, is probably not possible as the data isn't available.

Well, if you exclude most of the caches, especially in an area where it's inevitable that there are few larger caches, then of course the results will be different . For background, here are the active containers in GB: Container Quantity Percent Small 53343 41% Micro 45877 35% Regular 14834 11% Other 8400 6% Not chosen 6693 5% Large 385 0% Virtual 190 0% Total 129722

Avon was abolished as a "county" before caching started . South Glos isn't a county used by Groundspeak. Perhaps if you said which town you live in - or corrected your profile - I could advise which county you're in. And just to pre-empt any further similar posts, I'm not going to debate what the counties should or should not be. I answered the OP by using the counties as they are used by Groundspeak and which were defined by the reviewers some years ago and, broadly, agreed to by most who contributed to the lengthy discussion. I suggest that this thread is not the place to reopen that debate .

I'm not entirely convinced of the value of it but here it is. Rank County Caches Area (km) Density 1 Edinburgh 62 264 0.23 2 Berkshire 288 1262 0.23 3 West Yorkshire 434 2029 0.21 4 West Sussex 416 1991 0.21 5 Hampshire 770 3769 0.20 6 Flintshire (Sir Y Fflint) 85 438 0.19 7 Rutland 68 382 0.18 8 Greater Manchester 223 1276 0.17 9 Surrey 286 1663 0.17 10 Lancashire 515 3079 0.17 11 West Midlands 150 902 0.17 12 Caerphilly (Caerffili) 46 278 0.17 13 Swansea (Abertawe) 60 378 0.16 14 Bristol 17 110 0.15 15 East Dunbartonshire 27 175 0.15 16 Hertfordshire 233 1643 0.14 17 Cheshire 324 2343 0.14 18 Worcestershire 240 1741 0.14 19 Fife 182 1325 0.14 20 Greater London 205 1572 0.13 21 Cardiff (Caerdydd) 18 140 0.13 22 Torfaen (Tor-Faen) 16 126 0.13 23 Renfrewshire 33 261 0.13 24 Shropshire 428 3487 0.12 25 Isle of Wight 47 384 0.12 26 Cornwall 436 3563 0.12 27 East Renfrewshire 21 174 0.12 28 Glasgow 21 175 0.12 29 Dundee 7 60 0.12 30 Buckinghamshire 217 1874 0.12 31 Derbyshire 303 2625 0.12 32 Wiltshire 402 3485 0.12 33 East Lothian 75 679 0.11 34 Gloucestershire 344 3150 0.11 35 South Yorkshire 167 1552 0.11 36 Clackmannan 17 159 0.11 37 Northamptonshire 251 2364 0.11 38 East Sussex 190 1792 0.11 39 Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych) 88 844 0.10 40 Dorset 267 2653 0.10 41 Bedfordshire 123 1235 0.10 42 Staffordshire 263 2713 0.10 43 Merseyside 61 645 0.09 44 Bridgend (Pen-Y-Bont Ar Ogwr) 23 246 0.09 45 Oxfordshire 234 2605 0.09 46 Tyne and Wear 48 538 0.09 47 Essex 314 3670 0.09 48 Warwickshire 168 1975 0.09 49 Kent 306 3736 0.08 50 Nottinghamshire 174 2160 0.08 51 West Lothian 34 427 0.08 52 North Ayrshire 69 885 0.08 53 Leicestershire 164 2156 0.08 54 Newport (Casnewydd) 14 190 0.07 55 Conwy 82 1130 0.07 56 Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr Tudful) 8 111 0.07 57 Rhondda Cynon Taff 30 424 0.07 58 Midlothian 25 354 0.07 59 Wrexham (Wrecsam) 35 498 0.07 60 Somerset 291 4171 0.07 61 Cambridgeshire 232 3389 0.07 62 Suffolk 259 3798 0.07 63 Perth and Kinross 356 5286 0.07 64 Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy) 55 850 0.06 65 West Dunbartonshire 10 159 0.06 66 Inverclyde 10 160 0.06 67 Cumbria 411 6768 0.06 68 Neath Port Talbot (Castel-Nedd Port 26 442 0.06 69 Angus 128 2182 0.06 70 Falkirk 16 297 0.05 71 Aberdeen 10 186 0.05 72 North Lanarkshire 25 470 0.05 73 Stirling 107 2187 0.05 74 North Yorkshire 419 8654 0.05 75 County Durham 128 2676 0.05 76 Devon 308 6707 0.05 77 Blaenau Gwent 5 109 0.05 78 Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg) 14 335 0.04 79 Norfolk 211 5371 0.04 80 Isle of Anglesey (Sir Ynys Mon) 28 714 0.04 81 Northumberland 180 5013 0.04 82 Gwynedd 89 2548 0.03 83 Ceredigion (Sir Ceredigion) 62 1795 0.03 84 Lincolnshire 231 6959 0.03 85 Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro) 48 1590 0.03 86 Herefordshire 63 2180 0.03 87 East Riding of Yorkshire 62 2479 0.03 88 Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin) 57 2395 0.02 89 Aberdeenshire 140 6313 0.02 90 Argyll and Bute 120 6909 0.02 91 Moray 38 2238 0.02 92 Powys 86 5196 0.02 93 Scottish Borders 78 4732 0.02 94 South Lanarkshire 27 1772 0.02 95 South Ayrshire 18 1222 0.01 96 East Ayrshire 15 1262 0.01 97 Dumfries and Galloway 57 6426 0.01 98 Shetland Islands 13 1466 0.01 99 Highland 223 25659 0.01 100 Orkney Islands 7 990 0.01 101 Western Isles 13 3071 0.00 102 City of London 0 2.9 0.00

The counties I listed are those used by Groundspeak to form the regions (states). I have no data for any other versions of "county".

You don't say which county you're looking for but your profile says Exeter which, as far as I'm aware, is and always has been in Devon.

Rank County Caches Area (km²) Density 1 City of London 51 2.9 17.59 2 Dundee 173 60 2.88 3 Bristol 274 110 2.49 4 West Midlands 2096 902 2.32 5 Flintshire (Sir Y Fflint) 978 438 2.23 6 West Yorkshire 4409 2029 2.17 7 West Sussex 4166 1991 2.09 8 Surrey 3369 1663 2.03 9 Greater Manchester 2521 1276 1.98 10 Greater London 2875 1572 1.83 11 Berkshire 2136 1262 1.69 12 Merseyside 1019 645 1.58 13 Edinburgh 362 264 1.37 14 Lancashire 4147 3079 1.35 15 Clackmannan 205 159 1.29 16 East Sussex 2301 1792 1.28 17 Hampshire 4648 3769 1.23 18 Worcestershire 2126 1741 1.22 19 Northamptonshire 2870 2364 1.21 20 Glasgow 207 175 1.18 21 Cheshire 2770 2343 1.18 22 Essex 4281 3670 1.17 23 Buckinghamshire 2125 1874 1.13 24 Tyne and Wear 602 538 1.12 25 Warwickshire 2183 1975 1.11 26 Bridgend (Pen-Y-Bont Ar Ogwr) 270 246 1.10 27 Cardiff (Caerdydd) 146 140 1.04 28 Hertfordshire 1687 1643 1.03 29 South Yorkshire 1583 1552 1.02 30 Kent 3802 3736 1.02 31 Fife 1346 1325 1.02 32 Staffordshire 2718 2713 1.00 33 Derbyshire 2542 2625 0.97 34 Cornwall 3445 3563 0.97 35 Wiltshire 3261 3485 0.94 36 Leicestershire 2017 2156 0.94 37 Nottinghamshire 1930 2160 0.89 38 Rutland 338 382 0.88 39 Dorset 2246 2653 0.85 40 Swansea (Abertawe) 307 378 0.81 41 Cambridgeshire 2745 3389 0.81 42 Bedfordshire 972 1235 0.79 43 Torfaen (Tor-Faen) 97 126 0.77 44 Oxfordshire 2001 2605 0.77 45 East Dunbartonshire 134 175 0.77 46 Aberdeen 142 186 0.76 47 Gloucestershire 2314 3150 0.73 48 Midlothian 256 354 0.72 49 East Lothian 484 679 0.71 50 Isle of Wight 269 384 0.70 51 Shropshire 2365 3487 0.68 52 Vale of Glamorgan (Bro Morgannwg) 211 335 0.63 53 Somerset 2617 4171 0.63 54 Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych) 529 844 0.63 55 Devon 4150 6707 0.62 56 Inverclyde 95 160 0.59 57 East Renfrewshire 103 174 0.59 58 Suffolk 2242 3798 0.59 59 West Lothian 238 427 0.56 60 Caerphilly (Caerffili) 154 278 0.55 61 Wrexham (Wrecsam) 251 498 0.50 62 Lincolnshire 3427 6959 0.49 63 Conwy 543 1130 0.48 64 Newport (Casnewydd) 91 190 0.48 65 Neath Port Talbot (Castel-Nedd Port 209 442 0.47 66 North Lanarkshire 213 470 0.45 67 Renfrewshire 116 261 0.44 68 Rhondda Cynon Taff 186 424 0.44 69 Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy) 352 850 0.41 70 Norfolk 2139 5371 0.40 71 County Durham 1054 2676 0.39 72 North Yorkshire 3282 8654 0.38 73 North Ayrshire 333 885 0.38 74 East Riding of Yorkshire 921 2479 0.37 75 Cumbria 2214 6768 0.33 76 Perth and Kinross 1596 5286 0.30 77 Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro) 468 1590 0.29 78 Falkirk 85 297 0.29 79 Angus 607 2182 0.28 80 Gwynedd 690 2548 0.27 81 Stirling 567 2187 0.26 82 Isle of Anglesey (Sir Ynys Mon) 183 714 0.26 83 West Dunbartonshire 37 159 0.23 84 Northumberland 1034 5013 0.21 85 Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin) 478 2395 0.20 86 Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr Tudful) 22 111 0.20 87 South Ayrshire 242 1222 0.20 88 Ceredigion (Sir Ceredigion) 327 1795 0.18 89 Herefordshire 396 2180 0.18 90 Orkney Islands 175 990 0.18 91 Blaenau Gwent 19 109 0.17 92 Moray 381 2238 0.17 93 East Ayrshire 213 1262 0.17 94 South Lanarkshire 238 1772 0.13 95 Aberdeenshire 732 6313 0.12 96 Powys 473 5196 0.09 97 Shetland Islands 132 1466 0.09 98 Scottish Borders 387 4732 0.08 99 Argyll and Bute 431 6909 0.06 100 Dumfries and Galloway 354 6426 0.06 101 Highland 1335 25659 0.05 102 Western Isles 88 3071 0.03 Area in km² (yes, I noticed later you asked for miles ) Density in caches per km² Groundspeak caches only Excludes archived caches Sources for area: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ceremonial_counties_of_England http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Welsh_principal_areas_by_area http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scottish_council_areas_by_area E&OE

I agree: the API is extremely useful and it's a great benefit. There are three aspects which cause its poor performance when compared with PQs. Firstly, the API data retrieves, packages, transmits, and - in GSAK at least - loads the data in real time whereas a PQ is created offline and only the last two functions need to be done in real time. Secondly, the API currently sends more information about each cache than is in a PQ (favourite points, premium status, avatars etc). Thirdly, and to my mind most significantly, the API has a much greater overhead of data for the same information. This is partly as a result of the extra information but isn't helped by the tags in the API being huge. Here's a small sample: "<a:IsArchived>false</a:IsArchived>". This uses thirty-four bytes to send five bytes of information; "<a:AdminActionable>false</a:AdminActionable>" user forty-four bytes to send five (I've no idea what this tag is or how useful it is); and so on. The result is that the files are also correspondingly huge: a 1000-cache PQ is typically slightly under 1Mb; a 300-cache API file (GSAK splits the call into such files) is over 6Mb. Even allowing for the fact that a PQ contains five logs per cache and I usually ask for ten logs in an API call then the API still needs about four times as much data as a PQ for the same information. Still, mustn't grumble. The API is a very useful enhancement to Groundspeak/GSAK and I'm very grateful for it.

As I understand it, and therefore the way I would handle this situation... The coords at the top of the cache page should be those of the first stage [1], in this case the virtual. You should have four additional waypoints Wpt 1 = parking Wpt 2 = Question to Answer with first stage (same coords as top of page) (this is arguably unnecessary but I prefer it for completeness) Wpt 3 = stage of a multicache = first physical cache = hidden Wpt 4 = final = hidden With things set up like this then all proximity checking for future submissions is automatic because the system checks waypoints as well as the coords at the top of the page (question 1). If you need to move Wpt 3 say 300yds I would first mail a reviewer to confirm that there are no proximity or other issues preventing the use of the new location. If all is well then you update the coords of the additional waypoint and once again future checks are automatic (question 2). No doubt a passing reviewer wil be along to confirm and/or correct... [1] http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=308#multi It used to be the norm that the first stage of the multi was the parking but this was changed some years ago. The point is that, unlike a mystery, you should be able to go to the published coords of a multi and start there.

It's only "recently" (2 years?) that it was increased from 500 to 1000. With the arrival of the API I wouldn't expect a further increase anytime soon. You can avoid overlaps by filtering on conditions which don't overlap, such as placed date.

Perhaps not: that's a function of the app you're using. I was simply correcting Loony Londo who thought that attributes aren't in PQs. To confirm that they are, open the PQ in a text editor and you'll see tags such as <Groundspeak:attributes> <Groundspeak:attribute id="56" inc="1">Medium hike (1km-10km)</Groundspeak:attribute> <Groundspeak:attribute id="1" inc="1">Dogs</Groundspeak:attribute> </Groundspeak:attributes>

They are if you choose GPX 1.0.1 (bottom of your account page). Note that this must be done twice (or did when I last used it) as the first time doesn't stick.

I don't often look at attributes, especially in the field, but just a few times they've proved invaluable: - occasionally there's an attribute which turns a near-DNF into a find - when caching ad-hoc, an attribute can help determine whether to visit a particular cache. As for seeing them on an Oregon, you need this GSAK macro. Caveat: I don't use this macro myself though I do use a modified version of its attribute display in my own macro.

There are only two large containers in Norfolk and four in Suffolk: Norfolk: GC1GRMP, GCQ8XF Suffolk: GC3K66B, GC2XJ9E, GC2PCB1, GC351XC

I agree there are cache deserts though there are 7,500 active caches within 50km of Bury St Edmunds - plenty for you to do yet . For comparison, there are 12,000 active caches within 50km of Bracknell, of which we've found only 4,500 .

That's a bit tricky because of the rate at which cachers and caches increases. Taking a view since caching started would be meaningless. Even a recent snapshot isn't very informative - I did a similar exercise about three months ago and there've been over a thousand active cachers added since then . Howver, let's have a go. Because of the above let's look just at the last year (a year back from today, not 2011). In that time there were 45,743 caches placed and there've been 1,405,460 found logs posted on those caches. That's a bit over 3% so a long way from this notional 10%. Oh, and for the avoidance of doubt, I don't approve of this 1 in 10 or any other suggestion which encourages caches beyond finding enjoyable or interesting places to hide them. There are far too many caches already: caching should be about quality not quantity.

I should qualify that figure by saying that of those 41,472 7,805 have posted only one log, and only 21,729 - just over half the total - have posted more than five logs. It all depends on what one defines as an active cacher .

As a loyal listener to Radio 4's More or Less a randomly quoted statistic like that always causes me to look a little closer, especially when I don't believe it . The 5 million figure presumably comes from the last-used value from the username sequence, which as I write is a tad over 5839000. I don't know Groundspeak's database, but database sequence numbers aren't necessarily all used. Of those which are, many will be redundant accounts and many will be alternatives (lots of users have more than one account for various reasons). Therefore this sequence number is not a measure of the number of active cachers. Let's look at the real statistics for GB caches (listed on Groundspeak). There are 120,507 active caches, where "active" includes temp disabled but not archived. Let's say an active cacher is one who's posted a log of any type on any cache in the last three months. That's 41,472. So the true ratio of cachers to caches isn't the suggested 3.3 but the rather more likely 0.34 .

That is not what I said. I said "I found such a cache and reported it, without effect.". That is, the result of the report was no change. I found this surprising, especially as I now know about the absolute ban on such caches. As I say, I know of other similar caches and the proximity of the cache to the playground can be seen with GE and/or GSV. I agree entirely.* Not everyone agrees, though. See this thread. * Just for clarification, whilst I agree that caches near playgrounds are a bad idea, I don't agree that UK reviewers should unilaterally make a rule banning them and, from the quoted thread, it seems that most others don't either. Like HH, I prefer the "cachers' code" concept on which some other sites base their guidelines (and which GAGB used to use) rather than the draconian rule-based method used here. For example, the equivalent guidance on another site is "Playgrounds and schools are best avoided.".

In the UK caches within or near to playgrounds or play equipment are allegedly banned, though that doesn't seem to stop them being published .