martlakes

Well, yes, but the pics are supposed to relate to a cache! The tarn is a wonderful changeable spot as you suspect. Take wellies to do the circuit! There's the odd bit where if you stray off the 'path' you could lose VMG! Thanks to The Wee Beastie Hunter for picking my pic this month. Apologies for the delay in spotting I'd won! Too much work over the last couple of days. Several very good other pics so wasn't expecting to win. I'll get the new thread started. Lager perhaps or a small sherry?!

Not to mention DNFs on one of our Earthcaches!! Take several pens Always look under your rucksac When you've found a cache, keep looking in another couple of holes. That way it won't always be in the last place you look! As Mrs B's comment on TB numbers - handy tip, take a photo of the number. Usually makes it much easier to read and you've made a note of it that won't get lost. Hiding - only in locations that you want to visit frequently to maintain your cache

If someone is still keeping the cache listed on another site, then they should have the courtesy to de-list it on GC.com especially if they have got emails/logs saying it needs maintenance and/or will be archived. All it takes is a simple note/response and then de-list it. If they don't they only have themselves to blame if someone goes and clears up what appears to be an abandoned cache. As for the 'theft' idea, oh pleeeeease! Go on, take me to court! I double dare you! The reviewers do now include a note asking people to remove their cache or to contact the reviewers, who may be able to get it removed, esp if it has trackables in. This was a good move by the reviewers. I do wonder if it actually works since most caches which are reviewer archived are cos the owner has disappeared. I've said before that GC should develop some system so that local cachers can play a role in clearing abandoned and archived caches, as they are often in danger of just being forgotten and become litter.

Autumn http://coord.info/GC3740H

It seems to me that this is really only a problem IF the event is a cache and can be logged. If they can be listed but can't be logged then if an organiser makes it expensive or hard to attend - people won't and won't feel they are missing out on something. So, I agree with HH (again!) remove the anomaly. I'd then also allow people to list any event they want that wasn't illegal! Other cachers can then vote with their feet (tent peg). Final point - when reading Groundspeak's rules one must always interpret them through an American lens. Eg. ferry rides and overnight stays make a lot more sense cos things are much further apart.

Agree with Mr. Humphrey, anyone can hide a nano in a rock field and make it a 'hard' cache to find. But there's no fun in that just frustration. If you make it a bit creative, different, and with an oblique hint then while standing in a pile of rocks you've got something to work on and think about. Then when you work it out there's a sense of achievement, or if you find it by accident (as you pick your rucksac up or something) then astonishment and fun and big smiles. I also dislike hint-less caches. I'm obviously stuck, which is why I'm looking for a hint. Even if it's very cryptic then at least I've got something to think about rather than be left with no idea at all. Found one with a latin plant hint recently. Hadn't checked google so no idea which plant. However, it didn't have oakus in so it wasn't the oak, which narrowed down the possible sites. So even a hint we didn't know was still of some use cos we thought about it. So, in short, no thanks to needle caches - damage, frustration, muttering and A combination of sneaky hide, oblique hint, and perhaps a cunning title = challenge, achievement, fun and Don't forget that a gps can only get you in the area. Without any other hints or clues, you are often left with quite a range of possibilities. Anyway, have fun with it. One of the reasons I like hiding caches is seeing how finders interpret the hints and clues and trying to get the balance right so people enjoy our caches.

Caches aren't permanent, unlike dogs for christmas! (or have I got that wrong!?) There's nothing wrong in hiding caches for a specific mega event and clearing them away after, assuming they've been out for a few months as per the guidelines. I'm sure most of mine will stay out but there's a couple which have slightly delicate hides that I was thinking about removing, but we'll have to see. I'm sure there won't be a shortage!

I feel I have a little bit of the exact opposite problem: should I temp disable some of my hides? Will large numbers cause havoc to the hide? None are very close to the Mega but certainly on the way. Agree with other points above about hiding them. Anything in Cartmel is going to be swamped so 'temp' caches are probably best rather than an expectation of being there for more than the minimum. It's an interesting conundrum.

Hi Matt - be interesting to know your geocaching account name since you say you're out and about caching a lot. Bit of a shame to pick geohustle as the game name as hustle is fairly pejorative. Yes, I do find the flashing bit on the site distracting and some of the text is hard to read being grey'ish. Might be fun.

What a lot of fuss about not much. Simple - make it only discoverable at the Mega, before hand use it for publicity at any pre-events. "Lose it's exclusivity" - please, don't make me laugh! Seriously, are people going to travel hundreds of miles just to see "the fabled Gold can"? If that's the best reason for holding a Mega, better think again. If it only ever appears at the Mega, most people probably won't even see it. If it's used as publicity beforehand, it may build up some fantasy mythical status. Otherwise, hardly anyone knows about it or cares. I really can't see how using it (or a replica) to promote the Mega is in anyway dissing the original concept. As long as it can only be logged at the Mega, it's done it's job. Otherwise, what's the point? My 2p.

I'm sure it must be early and my brain hasn't woken up, but having read your link to the suggestion, could you explain what it means!

Being honest about a cache is good, but most folk could work on their 'feedback' skills and creative writing! If you say "it's a rubbish cache" it comes over as very harsh and for the CO a personal criticism without suggesting anyway of improving. If you say "I thought this was a rubbish cache because ......." it gives some useful info about why you didn't like it. The CO can then compare your opinion with theirs and others, and decide if you're a rabid loony or a master cacher with a worthwhile opinion! If you want to be a little more gentle, try and avoid descriptive words like "rubbish". "I didn't enjoy finding this cache because of the ....." Leaves the reader to conclude that it's perhaps a rubbish cache from your pov or that on that day something horrible was there. Other readers might even conclude 'That sounds like a cache for me!' As anyone who's been on a course at work will know, when it comes to feedback: Own it: state it as your opinion (others may vary), use lots of 'I' statements. Be specific: what specifically was good or bad, and why? What did you enjoy, hate, etc. Make it specific and the receiver will know how to improve or keep on doing what works. Avoid generalizations: "Everyone knows ..." "I'm sure everyone would agree ..." "A good cache is always ..." Feedback 101 HTH!

I think if you are going to include this sentence in your info you should only do so with more detail. If more detail isn't available then don't include it. It raises more questions, increases potential worry, and the consultation process may get bogged down into further (pointless) discussion about whether geocaching is illegal. (It's pointless without more facts.)

I have tremendous respect for anyone who gets involved in 'suspicious packages'. Having someone suggest something might be a bomb, and then you have to go have a bit of a look, takes a certain amount of bravery. No doubt some police officer has to have a quick peek (at the vicinity even if not the box) before deciding to call the bomb guys out with their fancy equipment. That said, a couple of other points spring to mind. If someone wants to blow some town centre up - they will do. They don't need to skulk about hiding pretend geocaches, or anything. As others have shown, stick it in a rucksac and board the bus, or put it in the car and park in the car park. If you think how 'easy' it would be be to carry out an 'attack' it's perhaps surprising that there aren't more of them here. We do live in an open society so it would seem to be a simple matter, given the materials. Look at places like Irag where suspicion is at its highest and people are trying really hard to stop bombers, yet there are frequent attacks. I think the Wetherby incident was probably an over reaction, but even if it wasn't, no huge harm was caused. The technical guys got to practise their skills, Wetherby is famous for 15 mins, some shops lost some income (bad) but as suggested go hold an apology event! As for the finder getting a criminal record and risking his employment, well, until all the facts are in it's just a scare story. Sorry, but it is. We don't know what happened or what the charge was. Until we do know more facts it's just a scary 'oh no I'll be arrested for caching' cry-wolf tale. If geocaching is in fact illegal let's be told, but it appears that it isn't, so what happened here then? Not enough info. Surely, if they arrest a guy at the scene who says I'm geocaching, here's my GPS or phone with the cache details, I'll go get it for you, then it's as safe as can be, and no need to call the bomb truck. Whatever is done to the boxes, whatever size, shape, colour, label etc, none of it will make it entirely safe. It could be a well disguised bomb. But why bother? Leave a carrier bag of c4 and run, or just blow yourself up. Why go to the trouble of placing a pretend geocache? How often do 'suspect packages' turn out to be bombs? I don't know but I would think not often. If the police knew how to log onto geocaching.com and the other sites to check out the caches in their area, they would at least have a reasonable expectation that the suspicious box was a cache. Beyond this, if they are still unsure, they would have to treat it as suspect and close roads etc. I think the main purpose of labeling is so that muggles can see what it is and thus not call the cops in the first place. A final thought, as someone mentioned above, given the huge number of urban caches and cachers, it's amasing that this hasn't happened before. No doubt it will happen again, new guidelines or not. Maybe the occasional 'incident' is the price of living in a free society. So, labeling boxes is good, thinking carefully about your hide is good, searching carefully, and being open and honest if challenged is good. I think the new rule needs some work though. It would have been good if a more considered approach was taken, with more discussion on forums, and with GAGB members and other geocachers. Once again rules are implemented with no consultation, and in this case a bit of a rush. Urban caching has been happening for years without hundreds of incidents, so taking a few months to consult, consider and think would have been good. Anyway, I will upgrade my regular cache that's outside the town hall in the near future! Hidden with full permission to avoid exactly this sort of incident. Of course, whether they would remember having said 'yes' when phoned by the cops is another matter!

This is an interesting encounter with the cops at a local cache: Furness Flyers

Slightly aside, anyone know where to get hold of bottle pre-forms? They seem to have disappeared from everywhere I've looked. They work very well in the wild as they are designed for liquids.

I've told you a thousand times not to exaggerate! You constantly harp on about essays and diaries and long logs. No one but you is measuring the worth of a log by the length. With 3 words you can convey huge emotion +ive or -ive if you care to. Even one word can say a lot. I'm convinced that probably the main reason geocaching has blossomed where Letterboxing is still a small minority hobby is the online sharing of experiences. It builds a sense of community, a shared adventure, it's a communication between cache setter and cache finder. If no one wrote anything in their logs, so all you knew was the number of folk who had visited and when, but nothing more, how many caches do you think would get set? And no, it's not about 'demanding' being thanked, as you seem to present it. It is about giving some feedback and sharing something about your adventures, indirectly caused by the cache being set. Hopefully, some of the feedback may well include a 'Ta, enjoyed it', but if not the cache hider learns what folk like or dislike, thus caches improve. So, does it matter if some strange individuals think it perfectly ok not to write anything? Not really, but if everyone thought like that the hobby would die. The loggers are also missing out on a great and fun aspect of the game. If someone only wants to write 2 or 3 words in a log, that's fine by me. Just pick the words to say something. 25 cut & paste words over and over is even worse than a blank log. Jolly good fun A fine cache Got muddy! :-) Damp but ok Wow, terrible spot Glad to leave Easy find, onwards Up down got it! Next! Noooooo! See how easy it is!

Hi plugusmaximus They key thing to realise about caching is this: -------------- You don't have to do them all. ------------ No, really, not gratuitous advice, just the key to enjoying the hobby. There are xxxxxx thousands of caches in the UK now, you will never do them all, so you've already "lost". So, you're free to use your limited time to find the caches that you enjoy. Just cos it's on the map, doesn't mean you have to go find it. Once you fully understand this, crud caches in dog alleys suddenly cause no stress whatsoever! Leave them be, walk on by, put on ignore list or whatever you like. Check out the cache page, look at the map, and decide if you want to go there. Enjoy the finer side of caching, whatever that is for you. Have fun.

In the end they aren't much different from cut & paste logs. Just had several this am which all said: Apart the exciting knowledge that they were from Norwich, it doesn't say much more than " ". Mostly I've given up caring, just delete the emails and move on. If it's blank, at least I don't have to spend a second or two reading the same C&P drivel again. If someone did that on a particular special cache, I'd delete it and email them. But if people can walk all the way to the top of Scafell and still write nothing, or just C&P their log, what hope for any other cache? Geocaching is going much more mainstream and public. There are some weird people out there who have very different attitudes to stuff, so we have to expect some folk to complete .......! Life!

A perfectly inaccurate, ill informed comment. I expect better from Reviewers. Someone who has obviously never used an iPhone4 Early iPhones weren't great in the accuracy dept and would not be good for hiding a cache. Weren't that great for finding at times. iPhone4 is a very accurate beast and works better under trees than my Garmin Legend does. It is quite capable of being used for setting a cache. Yes, it can produce rubbish co-ords if you don't know what you're doing, but so can a GPS. By the way, (factually correct info follows, please pass on to the Reviewers) iPhone4 will show an accuracy figure of 5m (16.4 ft for the dinos amongst us). Back to the OP. I bet you still use one of those single function devices that has some sort of strap to attach to the wrist. How weird is that? And to think all they do is tell the time! (Not even that if the sun goes in!!)

Just post a blank Owner Maintenance of course!

Surely it's about time Saga moved the goal posts. If we're all supposed to be living longer, retiring later, in better health etc, 50 shouldn't be considered 'old'!

Increasing frustration of mine: Ignorant and thoughtless cache seekers who blindly follow the arrow, prepared to destroy all before them. With the growth of the hobby, it seems to be a more common occurrence, ie. getting logs where people describe how they have climbed walls, trespassed, or whatever on the way to the cache - often ignoring clear advice and instructions on the cache page. "The GPS says that way, so off I go." Not to mention those who don't record their "adventures" in the logs but cause havoc, as we discover when visiting the cache. I'm afraid I snapped the other day and wrote this log on one of my cache pages - a drive-by, roadside cache, no hint of needing to enter any fields or climb any walls, in fact clear that you don't. Even if you don't read the page, it should be blindingly obvious that if a wall is in your way, you don't start climbing over it. So, I thought I'd log a note: Oh, yes, agree with calling cards being annoying!

I sympathise with the OP as it has become more complicated to hide/list a cache in recent years, and it would be useful to have a handy checklist somewhere easily found. It would help hiders and reduce the workload on reviewers. These are most of the questions a new hider should be asking themselves. The guidelines/rules will be found on the GC.com site and the GAGB site. Graculus's Follow the Arrow site is excellent and contains pretty much what you need to know. MAGIC map will allow you to identify many specific areas of land which do need specific permission. GAGB database is also worth checking if you're looking at anywhere other than normal countryside. (Yes, real permission is always good but many caches don't have it and don't cause any problems). Forums are also handy founts of info, or ask a local more experienced cacher for some help. Some hiding questions: Is it a good place to bring other people to? (Personal taste - sometimes questionable!) Is access ok to this site? Will cachers stand out, be arrested/shot, cause a nuisance? (Common Sense - often quite rare!) Is it a banned location: Network Rail property, War memorial, 'terrorist target' (what isn't?), school, playground, etc. (Guidelines/rules) Do I need specific permission? Is it in one of the following: Church yard, Nature Reserve, SSSI, Woodland Trust, National Trust, Forestry Commission, etc (Guidelines/rules) Is it a good hiding place - will it be invisible to muggles? Will it last frequent cachers finding and rehiding it? Will it protect the box from the rain? Will it be different in another season? (Common sense and cunning) Make sure it's not in a wall or attached to something potentially dangerous like an electrickery box. (Guidelines/rules) Is it a location I want to return to 'often' to carry out maintenance? (Yes, you will need to revisit, sometimes quite frequently) What size box do I need? (The bigger the better usually!) How can I add a fun twist? Is there anywhere better? (Is this really worth it? Anything sneaky/fun/better?) How near is the next cache, am I more than 160m away and does this spot need another cache if I'm that close? (Does it add to or disrupt other cache series?) The simple version is: Find a great location that is brill. Get permission from the landowner. Hide a nice box well. List the cache with all the details needed. Watch it get published and the finders rush out. Don't be paranoid - the reviewers aren't out to get you. Generally, they are helpful folk often dealing with cachers who haven't thought much about what they are doing. Yes, it can be confusing all the rules and forms, but with a bit of work it can be done. Obviously, the more you want to 'push the envelope' of what is seen as a normal cache, or an exotic/unusual location, the more work needs to be done, often with the reviewers assistance. Having hidden over 200 caches, I've only had a couple of minor issues picked up by the reviewers. Nearly all of my caches I've sorted out properly and so they have been reviewed quickly and ok'd.

One from a little while back, so not current but extra points for caching actually taking place! FTF This Unfortunately, it is no more. Fun while it lasted. The sheer persistence and power of trees, one of the canal bridges: Near http://coord.info/GC13HG7