3fros

Here's a couple more pictures of some of my kayaks.

Hey Jomarac5, glad you found this thread. Here's some links: Guillemot kayaks Redfish Kayaks Toquenatch Creek kayaks One Ocean Kayaks Building a strip built kayak costs probably around $500-$700 and is not that difficult. Once you build a strongback, cut the forms on the band saw, cut the strips with a table saw, and bead and cove the edges with a router (optional), then most of the rest of it is done with hand tools. Fiberglassing is also required. It's really just a lot of easy steps. Here's a book that is inexpensive and really outlines the details required in building one. I agree with almost all of the book except I don't use staples, and I put on the coaming (the thing the spray skirt attaches to) after fiberglassing the deck. Other than that, the book is really informative. If you're considering building one, drag your hide on over to this forum and ask away with your questions. There are many knowledgable people there willing to answer your questions. Guillemot builders forum [This message was edited by 3fros on March 10, 2003 at 11:11 PM.]

If you have the time and the tools you could build one out of wood strips. It is cheaper to build one than to buy a fiberglass or plastic one, and when finished they are worth more. This is if you don't consider money value of your time. There are a lot of wood strip kayak and canoe builders out there. Below is a picture of one of my kayaks. Here is a link to the ultimate in wood strip canoes. http://www.woodsongcanoes.com/

I'm one of those "don't use the Etrex in the dense woods" guys, but if you are talking forested woods in the Mountains as you said earlier, I don't think you are going to have a lot of problems. I think the "dense woods" that we are usually squabbling about means different things to different people. For example I live near Seattle, but used to live in Montana. The trees in Montana are typically not nearly as dense as they are in the Pacific NW. I think this is part of the reason that some of us beat up the Etrex because we have had bad experience with them, while others swear they have no problems with them.

Wow, I thought the Vista was an Etrex. I didn't realize it wasn't an Etrex. Before owning my own GPS, I really had my sights set on the vista. After trying a friends Etrex Yellow in some dense woods trying to find a geocache I was disgusted with it. I was wandering around off the trail just trying to get in a clear spot so it could see through the trees. I'm sure you can relate bamboozle. My other friend that was with me (not the owner of it) said that if this is how bad GPSr's are he doesn't want one. I bought a mag 315 from my sister because she never used it and didn't want it. I thought I might be able to get some fun out of it. Well, after going through some dense woods with it I realized the signal loss was just an Etrex problem. ESFKids, My Platinum does great in the trees, but I think my 315 does a little better. Sounds like your experience with the V and 76. The bigger antennas doing better. Bamboozle, if you're having trouble in the trees, just make sure your next one has the quad. Garmin or Magellan. If you know anyone with a quad antenna GPSr, see if they'll take it out with you so you can compare them for yourself.

Last I heard, the Meridian Color has a port for an external antenna.

Meridian.

Rebates are good, but you have to protect yourself. I learned my lesson from CompUSA when they screwed me out of an $80 rebate. I bought some memory from them a few years back. Well, the problem is that most all rebates require you to send in the ORIGINAL UPC codes, and will not honor photocopies. So I sent in my UPC codes and guess what they told me after I asked where my rebate was a while later "We never got your rebate paperwork". I couldn't send it in again because I didn't have the originals, only a photocopy. I got mad and went to take the memory back to the store. They wouldn't take it back because the UPC code was removed. I did make quite a scene. Well, I have since told everyone I know not to shop there, and they have lost a lot more profit than that just on my own computer purchases. Another problem is that CompUSA said it was a different company that handles the rebates (which wouldn't do anything about it) so it wasn't their problem. If the brakes go out on my car, do I take it back to the dealer, or do I have to go to bendix? This was just their way of insulating themselves from the problems while they still collect the money. So when I sent in my Magellan rebate, I sent it by certified mail. No problems. I got my rebate a few months later.

Aerospace Engineer working on the 777.

Nathan & Anne is right! Regardless of whether it is Garmin or Magellan, the Quad helix antenna is better than the patch antenna. Notice that the patch is on the lower end GPSr's (Etrex and Geko) and the Quad helix are on the upper price range GPSr's. Even Garmin admits this: From the GPSMAP 76 page "This unit features a built-in quad helix antenna for superior reception..." The Etrex has gotten beat up so badly on the message boards that the Garmin Etrex yellow web page has to post this about it. "No need to worry about dense tree canopy with this unit, the eTrex will continue to maintain a tight satellite lock even while operating in forest-like conditions." Why would they have to advertise NOT to worry. Sounds like they're trying to patch up the patch reputation. It might not make much difference in normal use, but if you are in a dense forest the difference will be obvious (I know, I have tried both). If you want a Garmin there are many models to choose from without the patch. You can buy a 72, 76 series, V, Rino... If you're not going to be in heavy trees, go ahead and get an Etrex if you want. If you want a Magellan you will be getting a Quad helix antenna (they don't have any patch antennas that I know of). On the Magellan side I like the 315+ series, Sportrak series, and I really like the Meridian series. The best thing about the meridian series is the SD card. I can load maps onto it much faster than possible on any serial port GPSr. I've got 128MB of storage and it's awesome. If I decide to go to another state it's just a matter of uploading a map of that state in a few minutes.

quote:Originally posted by Scout Master:And here is the article from the Standard Examiner. Elliott said once the squad located the container, they determined it was full of harmless materials after X-raying it rather than blowing it up, which was once a standard procedure of suspicious packages. Was the container marked with www.geocaching.com on the outside? If not, why not?

Here's a picture that looks similar to the drill bit I used to use as a kid when helping my dad with plumbing. We had to drill holes in the floor beams for the pipes to go through. I recommend a good drill like maybe a 1/2" drive one. http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004SXSF.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg From here Amazon

Found this on the GARMIN web site when looking at the GPSMap 76 "This unit features a built-in quad helix antenna for superior reception..." Even they admit that the quad helix antenna is better. Now in most cases I agree that the patch antenna of the Etrex series is probably fine, but I live in Western Washington where the tree cover is a lot more dense than most of the rest of the United States so to me it matters more. I probably wouldn't be such a quad-helix nut if I lived anywhere else. Think about what you're going to do with it, and then buy whatever fits your needs

quote:Originally posted by Desert_Warrior:The general consensus seems to be that the Garmin just reports loss of signal immediately, where-as the Magellan tries to fake it a while it hopes to regain signal. That's just the general consensus in the Garmin camp. I have had my Platinum lose lock, but it is a VERY rare occurance compared to the Etrex yellow I borrowed once. One time I was in a steep valley with heavy trees on both sides of the road and have had the Plat lose lock while I was in the car. It didn't guess where I was. It just waited until it got a lock again. If it does have a lock it will keep track of where I am even if I turn. The better way to test it is to turn. The stop and go method is more of a way to measure overshoot because it takes a GPS a second to catch up to the change with all of the calculations it has to do. My Platinum is more prone to overshoot than my 315 because it has a 20MB topo map of Washington to toss around while doing all of its other calculations. By the way. Go for the Platinum.

"Gourley had been wandering continuously in the backcountry since Monday afternoon, moving up and down ridges during the day and making temporary shelters at night." My dad taught me that if I ever get real lost and can't figure out which way to go, always go downhill. You'll eventually come to a stream, which will run into a river, which will eventually come to a town or road. It sounds like good advice.

I was going to send the money snail-mail, but some of you have got your panties in a bunch and want it right now, so I set up a pay pal account and sent in $6. If we wait a little bit until all of the money rolls in maybe we'll be able to get them something nicer than an etrex, but if that's all we get, then that's all we get. [This message was edited by 3fros on February 22, 2003 at 12:11 AM.]

How many Frenchmen does it take to protect Paris? No one knows, it's never been tried before.

I'm in for $5 too. My vote is to buy them one that has a Quadrafiler antenna, either a Garmin or a Magellan.

Ken, Perhaps you should write the President of ASU. Maybe they don't know what kind of people they have running the museum. One look at this site and the letters she wrote might just get her in the hot seat.

We usually get about 3K back. I know, I know, I shouldn't be giving the government an interest-free loan, but it does force savings which would probably be spent on knick-knack-paddy-whacks instead. We'll probably pay some on momma's new Tribute, of which we also got an interest-free loan.

That's one great reason to hide members-only caches in the parks there. The parks dept will have to pay to find out where they are.

Do they really need that kind of accuracy? I suppose if they already have the equipment they should use it, but I hope they didn't run out and spend a bunch of taxpayer dollars on Trimbles when an Etrex would even be way more that accurate enough. The space shuttle was going 12,000 mph (that's 3 1/3 miles every second) at approximately 39 miles up when it broke up. The wind resistance on every piece will be different than every other piece. Do they really need centimeter accuracy to find the exact spot of every piece? If they were within 100' should even be far more than accurate enough. It's kind of like measuring the distance between 2 cities using a micrometer.

"Our State has the best politicians money can buy." "Cat, the other white meat" Here's some more. http://www.dumbbumpers.com/

Someone around here is reminding me of Frank Burns from MASH. By the way, the shot glass idea is great. I also like the idea of adding coordinates to find the stash to fill it Speaking of which, last summer I found a 24 pack of beer in some weeds where kids would probably hang out. There were 18 unopened beers left. What to do, what to do. I remember my high school days and I wouldn't want to find it missing if it were mine, but I couldn't in good concience leave it there, and I couldn't let perfectly good beer go to waste so I HAD to take it home and drink it.

quote:Originally posted by GRANDMASTER CACHE: Hey, fair enough - or at least establish some sort of responsibility. I'm travelling to a _very_ remot area when I get the chance. I _will_ be planting a cache there. Why? Because there are not many geocachers there, and I do believe they would have no problem with a so-called "tourist" cache. Anybody near Beatty, NV - please chime in with your cries of "stay away" and I'll _gladly_ save the caches for another area. Wowbangers, I can understand trashy-cachies, but I believe that has _nothing_ to do with it being a "tourist" cache. I can assure you that every sorry-arse looking cache we've stumbled across out here is from a "local." Not that they mean evil, just a point that _not many_ people take ownership of their caches once dropped. If there's a note, and it's close - I'll take a run out. But if people are going to start getting "beat up" because a pencil's broken and someone can't solve that issue on their own... well, I see the number of caches to be declining. Is that what we want? If we as seekers take more of an "ownership" role ourselves, I can see the number of caches increasing - and that's what we all want, no? Heck, when I _visit_ a cache, I am the temporary, and most recent "owner" in my opinion. But as a seeker I consider I have an obligation to maintain caches as I find them. Plain and simple. If it needs repair, therein lies my obligation to do a little something to "fix" it. It's real easy to carry a ziploc baggie with a logsheet for 50+ signatures pre-made. Wet log? Solved. Been doing this long enough to carry my own writing utensil. "Broken pencil" complaint? Solved. And when I _DO_ come across a dull/broken pencil, how hard is it for me to sharpen it? I am there. Should I request a person make a special trip to wipe my bottom? Nah, I can help out. Poor toys? Hey, that's what we carry a bag of 'em for. Of course, if it's a soggy brown box, I'm gonna pack it out - that's trash. But if it's wet contents, because of a cracked lid - then I'll convert everything into a ziploc bag, replace and note so on my log. That's called (word of the day coming up.....): _COOPERATION_ By the same token of "helping to maintain" caches, people placing them should in no way drop "garbage" and expect others to maintain it. But if a person starts a nice cache out, it only gets worn/devalued by fellow seekers. Sheesh. I've never stumbled across a tourist cache, but I'd help out just as though it were a locally-placed cache. The last thing I want is for "tourists" to think I don't want them playing in my playground. Rather than "ix-nay" them, why don't we try to put the word out about so we can help make the process smoother? For example, here's my plan: When we drop a few off near Beatty, I plan on leaving something extra special for the FTF. I am also going to ask that in return they "keep an eye" on the logs and "help me out" with the cache. If they don't wish to, I'll simply ask they leave the FTF item for the next person to step up to the plate. But, I have this feeling nobody will have a problem "adopting" the cache if a problem comes up. Hopefully I will have made it worth their while. And there's not a six-month period that goes by when I won't be in the area. A big part of me going to Beatty is _just to leave caches for the few people out there_. You know, it's the mother-in-laws digs, so clearly the caching is going to be _my_ excitement of the trip. As a "tourist" I promise not to leave a cardboard-box cache. I will leave a few pencils and two pens. If the pencils break? SHARPEN THEM. My 9 year old can figure that one out. If the pens run out of ink? REPLACE 'EM. Log book gets full? (C'mon, we're talking Beatty, NV. The 'Lil Fat Notebooks will likely last a few decades of caching. ) And if they _DO_ get full? You know the drill. And if the cache gets plundered? Then it's not really a "tourist" problem at all, is it! Blame thy brethren, not I. No, seriously... I think with some responsibility on all sides, there can be some wise arrangements made. Hey, maybe each "area" can have a "foster parent" for caches. I'll help maintain any tourist caches in this area, and you won't need to send me any money. It's called "giving back." To be fair, if you leave a pile of hastily-made crap with a sheet of paper in a kleenex tissue box.... consider it garbage. It _will_ get tossed. People, it's real easy - and it _rarely_ is the tourists' caches that rival the garbage our very own locals are capable of: If it needs maintenance? Service it. If it's broke beyond repair? Trash out, is the norm. Try the "service agreement" you can make with the FTF. I think that's a _great_ arrangement. But c'mon... in all reality this isn't about "tourist caches" it's about trash-caches. If we're really worried about caches falling to crap, the tourists are the last place we should start "fixing." JMHO. GRANDMASTER CACHE I couldn't have said it any better. I'm quoting your entire post so they can read it again and hopefully a bit of it will soak in.