Gary & Jane

Are we and cezanne the only ones who think offset caches are one-stage multicaches? Why was the term offset introduced if everyone thinks it's the same as a multicache? Gary & Jane

Maybe we're over fussy but we've found that we need to make maintenance visits to our caches at least every couple of months to remove all the tat that's been left. We've come to accept that most people trade down but we don't really mind if they're appreciative or if they write a log that's more than one line! What we do mind is when people trade down and put the item they've taken straight into another cache! If they're not interested in the contents we wish they'd leave them for people who are. Gary & Jane

Offset cache is the only cache type listed in the guidelines that does not have its own selectable "cache type". Also using Multi-cache for an offset cache gives a misleading idea of difficulty.

With the imminent addition of the new "earth cache" type would it be possible, as has been suggested previously, for "offset cache" to be added to the list of possible cache types?

The online manual for the Venture says you can delete all the waypoints (and other data such as routes) by going to the Trip Computer page, selecting the Option Menu and choosing Reset. Gary

There was Huga's Camera Shy TB which was released in March 2002 and returned to him in January this year. We took a picture when we moved it to Lake District and would love to see the rest of the pictures from it. Gary & Jane

We suspect that a lot of caches go missing after they've been found by careless cachers who are spotted by onlookers who then go and investigate after they've gone. We always move right away from the cache site but close enough that we can see if any bona-fide cachers come along. That way at least if anyone sees us looking through a box of goodies they won't know where to look for it. It's also so much more relaxing. You're not having to constantly look over your shoulder and you can spend time reading the log book etc. We're amazed that cachers sometimes admit to having been spotted but don't seem concerned. We received this log on one of our caches: "Found the cache easily but got funny looks from a little girl who was wondering what we were doing all standing there in the middle of the trees trying not to look suspicious!" It may be a coincidence but the cache was reported missing by the next visitors.

At around 40 caches mapped per day trip, with a goal of hitting somewhere in the high twenties, the answer to the above question is "Time" But if you don't read the cache description before you set off you might miss important information about the best route to the cache! The direct route isn't always the quickest. By taking the direct route you might also miss something that the cache owner wants you to see. We looked at a selection of cache pages and it took us on average about 15 seconds to read the information. Surely the extra 10 minutes needed to read 40 cache pages would be time well spent considering the potential time savings on the trail?

When we originally placed our Swyre Head cache it was a straightforward traditional one. We made it an offset cache after we had problems with two hiding places at Swyre Head itself. We wanted to show people the view from Swyre Head which is why we didn't just change the coordinates to the new hiding place. As the total round trip distance from the suggested parking place didn't change, and the cache description indicated that it was an offset cache, we decided it wasn't necessary to change the cache type. One of the reasons the cache owner is no longer allowed to change the cache type is that it causes statistics anomalies. We never do virtual caches but we're credited with finding two because when the real caches were stolen the owner changed the cache type. What should happen is that a new cache page should be created with the new type. We probably should have created a new cache page for Swyre Head, listing it as a multi-cache, but (as others have said) we were reluctant to do so as a lot of people don't attempt multi-caches! After saying all this, what's the problem with simply reading the cache description before you set off?

Well said Chris! If you're not interested in the contents of a cache please leave them alone for someone who is. It's bad enough when people make unfair swops but when they do it for no reason it's even more annoying. We hardly ever take anything from a cache but we nearly always leave something as a thank you to the cache owner. You'll know we're not that impressed with the cache if we don't leave anything! Jane

Yes please! We often don't see the photos until months later because we don't know they're there.

Congratulations on reaching 100 finds Bill and thanks for the caches you've placed. We'd also like to thank you for the quality of the logs you write. In the good old days one of the rewards for reaching 100 finds was to list your favourites. How about it Bill, any chance of reviving this long lost tradition? Gary & Jane

Hear hear John! This is one of my pet hates. What's the point of moving cache items around? That's what travel bugs are for. "Treasure" is for keeping surely? Jane

The photos from the cache camera in Ferry Barn are now online and can be viewed here here. If anyone can put names to faces we'll update the pages. Gary & Jane (helping out gpsstrider and jane8276)

quote:Originally posted by wing-co:What's the etiquette for re-logging 'replaced' caches? If it's OK, I'm off to do http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=bef32386-f5e3-4622-bfbc-81a93d2c675e again as well! We have no problem with that!

quote:Originally posted by Team Tate:My Father is a New Forest Ranger & I have just been informed that there is a plan to lift any caches that are on New Forest land without permission. Within the last couple of weeks we've noticed a higher than normal rate of not found logs coming in for the New Forest caches. Some of them have been confirmed as missing. Can anyone confirm if they are being actively removed or if this is just a case of bad luck? Gary & Jane

The way the stats are created on the user's profile pages on geocaching.com make it impossible to find this information out. The stats show the breakdown of cache types as they are now and not when you found them. So if you log a real cache and it later gets changed to a virtual your profile will indicate that you've found a virtual. However if geocacheuk have been clever and recorded the cache type with each new found log then they could possibly provide the information you're after.

quote:Originally posted by NattyBooshka: We usually end up moving an item on to the next cache anyway. We've noticed quite a few people do this but what's the point? We spend a lot of time choosing items that we hope people will like and it's disappointing to see them turn up in another cache! If you don't want anything don't leave anything! ?

We don't want to start a "my bag's better than your bag" war but we've found that not all zip-loc bags are equal! The thickness of the plastic and the quality of the zip can vary a great deal. We now only buy Baco zip'n'seal bags which we've found to be the best by far. We get them from our local Wilkinson's.

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations. We had a great day. The Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath even laid on fireworks for us! Although thinking about it it might have been the start of the Bath Music Festival . We tried a bit of Dan & Pid style caching in the evening but failed miserably. We think we'll stick to normal daytime caching! We had a very wet honeymoon in Wales but still managed to do a few caches so it wasn't a complete washout . Gary & Jane

quote:Originally posted by Travers:I think it was when Tim & June mentioned it was easier for them to identify the UK ones so they were likely to get accepted more quickly. We also thought it was Tim & June but it was actually Richard & Beth! The message in question is here. We also agree with jstead and like to see the county name in the title. It can also be useful for new cachers who miss the postcode search option. We were recently contacted by a new cacher who'd done a few of our caches and wanted to know if there were any more in Dorset. He was searching for caches by using Dorset as a search keyword and was therefore only given a list of our own caches. He now uses the normal method of seeing which caches are close but it shows that adding the county can be useful.

We found BTwigger's log for West Kennet Longbarrow quite amusing

quote:Originally posted by The Merman:Whilst on the subject of the Forums, have they changed the fonts etc? I have not changed any of my settings but all the fonts seem to have gotten larger I've had this happen a couple of times before. I think it's due to a corrupt .css file being downloaded. In both cases clearing my cached files and then reloading the forum page sorted the problem out. Gary

quote:Originally posted by Bill D (wwh):Could it be you? Bill No, it's us.

Congratulations to The Wombles on finding their 200th cache. We see they did it in style by finding the entertaining Wildcat! If this wasn't impressive enough they've also placed 39 caches! We have to say that every one of The Wombles caches that we have done has been superb. Once again congratulations on your 200th and many thanks for placing such good caches. Gary & Jane