ranger-rob

Memorial Island by b4work (GC6A48) I've looked for this one - it's a nice walk. Didn't DNF because I was on a pretty tight time table and didn't get to look very long. Cool Springs Cemetery by antiochcrew (GCRYQ1) Post This! by The Chaotic Order (GCRRZ1) SAS by The Chaotic Order (GCR9WC) Old Town Cemetery by The Chaotic Order (GCRAJG) The Ghost of Grancer Harrison by The Chaotic Order (GCR9WK) All of these are located in Opp (Zip Code 36467) If you don't mind going a few miles further to the rest area just north of Florala you can get this one: GeOING MY WAY? by The Chaotic Order (GCNKB6) This one is a short walk in the woods. or Will's Hide--- Lake Jackson by antiochcrew (GCQWHC) As the name implies, it's at Lake Jackson just north of the Florida border in Florala. This one is pretty much a park and grab. If you'll e-mail me your route through Alabama I might be able to do a little better and point some out along the way. Hope this is useful to you. Rob

The only bad thing about the Army lensatic compass is that unless you live near a military installation or a good surplus store, they can be hard to find. Of course, I don't blame the small retailers for not keeping a high-dollar item like that in stock. That's a lot of money to just be sitting around on a shelf. You can buy a lot of Silva's or Suunto's for that kinda money.

Suunto (sp?) brand, available at Wal-mart (imagine that) as well as most other sporting goods/outdoor retailers is good provided you don't cache in extremely cold weather (it's liquid filled). If I remeber correctly they're between $10 and $20. I can't brag about how rugged they are though, as a co-worker of mine breaks at least one a year on some project site or another. If you want/need a a higher "rugged" factor and don't mind paying a little (ok a lot) more, an Army lensatic compass will serve you well for years. The one I have has been going since '83 and short of the plastic parts yellowing with age, it's rocking along. I believe they're available in the $75 -100 range. Unless you're a night cacher, the self-luminous Trituim version ($100) wouldn't be a major bonus.

I recieved a bar of that as a gag (I hope) gift one Christmas. It works wonders on a "sleeping" foot/leg. But seriously... Back in my network administrator days <insert wavy memory lines>... The motto in the server room was "Jolt is for sissies!". Copious numbers of Penguin Mints (see www.thinkgeek.com), cases of Bawls, and Kick were consumed monthly. The coffee machine pumped out espresso by the quart and No-Doze was looked upon like a vitamin. Sheesh, I'm getting jumpy just thinking about that part of my life. Anyhow, after the doc told me that the kidney stone that was causing me excrutiating pain was likely caused by caffeine I cut back considerably (to a 12 pk. or so of Pepsi a day). The other admins razzed me but they eventually stopped.I don't know that I actually believed that all that caffeine caused the stone, but I liked the extra cash and I haven't had another one yet. When I started the job I'm at now, one of my co-workers was astonished to learn that I could easily knock back two 2-liter bottles or a 12 pack (which ever was cheaper) and not turn into "Buzzy the Hummingbird". Calvin and Hobbes fans should understand that reference. Now I'm down to maybe 4 or 5 cans of soda a week and that includes the cups included with meals. Since taking up caching it's water, water only until we're done. I kinda miss those days in a wierd sort of way. Being that wired I felt more alive - maybe that was just the caffeine buzz talking. Well, it's Thursday. I guess I should get some sleep this week

Thanks for the ideas briansat. There's a good possibility I can incorporate them but I need to get the coordinates first in order to see if there's enough different features to work with. I have little doubt that owner will allow me to place the container on another part of his property. I'm under the impression though, that they want to be able to watch when people are hunting/finding the cache. But that shouldn't be a problem, from what I've seen of their "spread". Am I correct in my assumtion that the stages of a mult can be placed at any distance from one another?

That's just so... so... simple. So simple it's pure genius! (Which is probably why I didn't think of it) Originally I'd planned for the container to be easily seen once the finder made it to the "search area". This had the added advantage of making it easily avoided by the owners when they mowed/trimmed/pruned. I like this idea better though. The problems I envisioned are all but eliminated now. Thanks for the input Genius! Sheer Genius!

Here's the deal: I've been granted permission to place an ammo can sized cache on private property, right in front of a really pretty antebellum house (1847). The owners regularly have the home and grounds on the local tour of homes (put on by the Chamber of Commerce) so they're not at all surprized to see people stop in front of their driveway, take pictures, and stuff like that. BUT... this is their full time home and some degree of control is required/desired so that their lives aren't unnecessarily interrupted. AND... They don't want people roaming all around the grounds, just the area where the cache is. A "Traditional" isn't an option because of Pocket Queries [1]. In this case, the actual cache page will be very important since it will have the "rules" as to the "when" and "how" to access the cache and what to look for etc. Which of the other three would be the most appropriate for these conditions? My first instinct is have the posted coordinates be a nearby intersection, on the way to the cache, and the clues/directions/bearing to the containers actual location written out on the cache page so that the potential finder will have to read the page to know where to look. Another option would be have the finder sent to a nearby location (stage) to obtain the final coordinates. And my final idea, have the finder solve a puzzle on the page to obtain the coordinates. Having never placed one, I'm not sure how the starting coordinate thing works with a puzzle, or offset. [1] For the folks that don't like this aspect because "PQ's are the coolest thing next to feather-weight, collapsable walking sticks", I have this to say: "Thpbbtttt , too bad! Go look for another cache."

I have to ditto that. If an event isn't practical, a mall or other high traffic public place would probably be ok, provided you don't go alone . Out on the side of the road or in the woods though, no way.

Ok, call me dense, call me stupid, call me Ray, call me Jay, call me Johnson if you like. I just don't understand how finding one type of cache "cheapens" finding [1] any other type. Aside from the obvious, what's the difference in a micro (or non-trade item sized container) cache and an ammo can (or trade item sized container)? Personal opinions and caching style aside, explain this please. Please, keep in mind that I understand the ideal is to use the largest sized container possible whenever possible, but some places just aren't suited for a large container. [1] Finding= placing hands on, signing the log, etc. edit: clarification of "finding"

...which, after repeated handling by cachers, is ultimately and eventually not water-proof after all! Good point. Ammo can: Metal, initially water-proof, containers of varying size used in the woods in the place of tupperware. Neither ideally suited for storing food or fending off attacks by heavy equipment or firearms, they tend to be a bit more robust than their plastic counterparts.

are you saying "if you don't like something there's no way it can affect you."? ...because I don't think he was complaining he has to play the same way, I think he was complaining it affects him. After re-reading drat's reply tp my comment I've determined that I misunderstood him and responded accordingly (albeit wrong). I now chastise myself for poppoing off with a nonsence reply.

The coins or the icons? I'm sure I know that YOUR answer to that is the former, but to so many others, it's the latter. Ya know, that's the beauty of this game. If you don't like someone elses style, don't play that way.

I'm from Alabama. I can't (and won't) speak for the group I cache with normally - BUT - I will shoot off my yapper for myself... Officially I'm neither shocked, amazed, surprized, put-out, disillusioned, morally out-raged, or anything else. Frankly, with the exception of the signing of the containers bit - they shoulda known better, but that's between the DRR Team and the cache owners - I don't particularly care. Yeah, regardess of how they did it, that many in 24 hrs is pretty impressive but I've never been about the numbers. Some people are. It's their game too and they can play it their way as long as I get to play it mine. Just my two bits.

Now that I'm done laughing enough to type ... In the the immortal words of "Larry the Cable Guy": I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there.

The only point I can say I disagree with is #3 (geo-coins). They tend to be more "collectables" than "trackables", in my opinion. I don't ever remember seeing any in the wild except as collections at events. Unlike other forms of trackable where the tag, more often than not, is of more intrinsic value than what it's attached to, geo-coins are generally unique or low production run pocket sized art and something most anyone (geocacher or not) would tend to want to hang on to. I know, most people would say they move them on as regular cache swag, but if that were true, there'd be a lot more living in the woods and not in coin collecting albums in peoples homes. I don't know what all the fuss is about adding icons to your stats is about. I logged a few after one event and found it to be more work than it was worth. Maybe I'm just lazy. They sure were fun to look at and marvel at the creativity of the designers though.

Water-proof match container: A small, usually plastic, cylindrical device used for storing long, narrow rolls of paper in a wide variety of environments.

I've got several "high muggle" area caches out, one of which was placed at the request of one of the repondents to this thread. With the exception of one, which is a .30 Cal. ammo can, none of the containers or contents are of any real value, so when they're gone, they're gone. I would however, like the chance to read the logbook entries and that, to me, is the actual loss when a cache disappears. All that said, if a certain type cache or cache environment isn't your thing, have a little respect for not only the owner but the people that come behind you that enjoy having to be super sneaky. As for "being sneaky", there's a lot of ways to do so. A clipboard and orange vest works pretty well (as any road construction worker can tell you)

I know I wasn't the original poster of this idea but I think it's funny. Many props to the person that posted it first. Geocaching: An envronmentally low-impact activity that after the purchace of a 4 wheel drive off-road vehicle, boat or jetski with trailer, fuel and a road-side assistance contract for the former, Scuba gear (and lessons), mountaineering and rappelling equipment (and lessons), a laptop computer with satellite internet connection, mapping software, gps reciever, the occasional permit, and a pen or pencil (because you have to bring your own to some caches) is relatively low cost and suitable for all age groups.

I wish you hadn't said that. Is there any way someone could phisically check on them. If he and Resqueme are ok then I'm ok with waiting until he gets the site back up, whenever that may be.

If you're not going up 231 (aka AL Hwy 21) for a specific reason and are willing to divert off onto AL Hwy 9 in Wetumka (much less hilly and a lot easier drive - in my opinion), that will take you to US 280 (which passes through Sylacauga). There are several caches that are within sight of the road along that route (or immediatly adjacent to it) GCPDK7 (Hog Walla Holler) GCK204 (Which Way Is Up) Both on 280 after turning off Hwy 9 in Kellyton toward Sylacauga/Birmingham GCNAMN (I Can't Hear You) GCQA91 (A Noble Endevor) GCJJM5 (Crows Nest Cache I) These are a few on or near Hwy 21 in Sylacauga.

I'm usually exhausted as well. Oh! *exhalted*, that's completely different... Nevermind

The whole gamut of possibilities has pretty well been covered but I'll throw in my $0.02 ... If you're having trouble with spray paint sticking, as previously mentioned, a light sanding works sometimes. Also, when you're done give it a double coat of transparent flat (or matte) paint. It'll protect the colors from light scratching. -OR- Use Krylon for plastics. It costs more but is a lot less work (and drys to the touch pretty quick too) Since they're round, a trip to the woods and a little glue, and some creativity should provide you with a fairly convincing "rotten log" or "stump".

One more vote for ammo cans, for all the reasons listed. Make sure the seal is still present and pliable though, or it'll leak. Bison tubes, aka nitro tablet holders (and the clones with O-ring seals) are great for micro's as well as waterproof match containers. Use your imagination, be creative, and experiment.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone actually talked to Jeff? Is he ok? Does he need help ($)? Or, is he just busy and not had time to tend to whatever the problem is?

Just about anything (read the guidelines for restrictions) you think is cool, handy, unique, etc. is good trade material. Hand made items are popular as well. The rule I go by is "What do I like to find?" and that's the kind of stuff I leave