GeekKitty

Looking at some caches, I notice in the clue a couple of acronyms I've not come across before: MTT, and TTT. What do they mean? it's not obvious. Is there a comprehensive list of acronyms used by geocachers? GK

It seems I cache rather light compared to everyone else, when caching I normally take with me: Phone Pen (If I remember) Occasionally if I am having a grand day out caching, I will take a few extra's: GPS (etrex) Phone Pen Shewee As for bags to transport stuff in, even if it is empty most of the time, I tend to carry a "Deuter Futura 32ac" with me at all times as a hand bag (define it as a handbag and it no longer has to obey the laws of volumetric physics). J

This is my preferred form of "multi-cache" I find it annoying when you goto do a multicache, that goes through 5-6 hops, only to find that you get to hop 5, and can't find it cos it's been muggled. It takes a lot of the fun out of it, where as with a series + bonus, you visit all the same places you otherwise would, you get the nice walk/ride/drive/swim, and even if you don't find one cache, and can't find the bonus, you still get a good afternoons caching. My favourite example of this type of series is in Sandwich, Kent. I had great fun doing this series, but couldn't find two of the stages, but was still able to find the bonus, by brute forcing the possible combinations of missing digits. I would suggest you would be better off with a Series+bonus as detailed above, it is more likely to get people to do it, less of an issue if bits go missing, and IMHO, more fun. Where a Multicache comes in to me, is when you goto position X, and read the date off the shop sign, then across to point Y, and read a number off a notice board, and then onto Z where you get the number of birds on the coat of arms, and then plug it all together and get some coordinates, where you find a cache. A good example of this is "Pilgrims Cache" in Canterbury, a brilliant way of exploring the City and seeing more than you would as a typical tourist. This to me is a Multicache. This all said, remember, ask 10 geocachers what a multi is/should be, you will get 12 answers... Just my 2p. J

Actually we're talking about another in the series, Off the Bench V, but thank you for pointing that out, I had found IV and replaced the log at the same time as trying to fix V, but hadn't cleared the needs maintainence tag. Thanks J

I did, was the first thing I did when I got home. J

FOUND IT! With the help of those who found the cache recently I was able to locate the cache, change the log book, and put it back in the place it should go. Phew. Picture to celebrate: J

I am confused where the hint went, it was there when I set it, and other cachers have commented about following the hint to find the cache. I am not going to replace it, as then we will have two containers in the area which will lead to confusion, and potentially wasted trips of me going to refil the logs of the replacement when it was the original found. People are finding the cache without my help, I just wish that I could find my own cache, all I wanted to do was replace the logbook... J

Well I went to cache location, had a dadgum good rummage based on the information provided by thehoomer, but alas, still can't find it. But seeing as people are still finding the cache, I have reenabled the listing... Will keep the 5* rating, if the cache owner can't locate it... J

Argh, someone has gone and found the cache again yesterday. Not sure what to do now...

I have lowered the difficulty of the rest of the series, but until I can locate this one myself, I will leave it at a 5* Would you mind contacting me privately to say where you put the cache, you were the last person to mention in the logs that it was on the floor. Thanks J

That would be fine, if they didn't also moan at me about the log being full... J

I already did, now I wait for the last finder to explain where they put it. It just made me smile that I had lost my own cache... J

I've lost one of my geocaches. It's a magnetic nano, that should be stuck under a bench. People keep finding it and logging the find, but when I went today to replace the log, I couldn't find my own cache this is the second time in a month I have tried to replace the log, but couldn't find my own cache... And people questioned why I had a diff 5 rating... Anyone else had this problem? J

You see I would look at that, and then move onto other caches nearby, without even bothering with the cache. It takes all the fun out of it to have something entirely impossible. The cache size gives you an idea of what you are looking for, so you aren't looking for a hole in the tree big enough to take a ammo can. Container description allows you to not try and open every pine cone looking for the one with the bison tube in it, hint allows you to waste 10 mins on the DNF, not 1 hour... Just my 2p worth. J

I am wondering what sort of hit rate other cachers are getting, as in number of DNF's to Finds. It's getting infuriating with the number of DNF's I am getting and am wondering if it's me being totally inept, or if the proportion is normal. I had an entire series in Denmark (with the hint of "Tree") which I failed to find any of, before giving up and going for a bike ride. What's your hit rate? J

I like hints that are not totally cryptic and allow me to find the cache when a proper search has failed - if your hint is "tree" and you are in a forest, you're doing it wrong. I like Series + bonus caches, these allow you to do all or part of a walk, and provide for caching to continue, even if part of the series goes missing. I like Caches that take me to places I wouldn't otherwise visit. I like caches big enough for a geocoin to fit. I don't like Puzzle caches I don't like long multi's I don't like absent or cryptic riddles for hints I don't like soggy logbooks I don't like it when my trackables go missing J

Completely agree. I'd vote for doing away with hints completely. I couldn't disagree more, Time and time again I need to use the clue's to find the cache when 15-20mins of fruitless searching has already occured. Unfortunately I find that in a significant number of cases the hint is actually entirely useless, ranging from the cache in a forest with the clue "tree" to some complex riddle that makes little sense to anyone (recent cache in amsterdam hint: "Day or night accessible"). I think that the hint is there to help people who are already a bit stuck with a find, making it harder for someone who is likely already frustrated is just being mean and ruins the hobby for some of us. If you don't like hints, fine, don't use them, however often they are needed by many of us. J

I have a number of caches out in the wild, some are good ole tupperware, but most are either magnetic Nano's or, 35mm pots with magnets attached. Recently however, the magnets seem to have fallen out of a number of the Nano's, and the magnets I had glued to a lot of the 35mm caches with a hot glue gun, have also fallen off. Can anyone suggest a better way of keeping the magnets in my nano's, and attaching them to 35mm film pots? Thanks Julia

Does anyone know if the forestry commission has a policy on geocaches being placed in their woods? I have a cache I would like to place which is next to a footpath through forestry commission wood, and want to know if there is any blanket yay or nee policy before I go any further? J

I am in the process of putting together a few new caches. I am having a certain amount of difficulty finding notebooks that are small enough to fit in 140ml lock/lock containers. Has anyone found a good source of cheap, yet small notepads that they use in caches? For now I have resorted to using larger ones and chopping them about. Thanks J

Typically when I have placed a cache, the FTF happens in a matter of hours, followed by a smattering of runners up as they all get there just after one another. Then there is typically a steadyish stream of finds over the next few months, till all the locals have done the cache, then it typically becomes a "greetings from germany" in the logs. Yet, on my latest hide. It was found once, after it had been on for a week. Since then noone has logged the find. Noone has logged a fail to find either. Is everyone just being put off by the weather? Am I just impatient? Julia

Mine is sim free. I use it in the Uk with three PAYG or orange PAYG. I also use it abroad with vodafone.nl. Works fine. J

I use a nokia 6220 classic with trimble navigator, It has revolutionised my caching. Wonderful tool. *BUT* it comes with a caveat. If you want to cache abroad, roaming dataplans are extortionate. Meaning that you have to either fall back tothe basic gps functions of the phone, rather than the funky tool from trimble. Or, get a propper gps for when you are across the water. I would advise against the Nokia N95 for this tho, the battery life sucks so so much. If you want to go more than about 6ft from a power socket, choose the 6220. HTH J

Is there a mechanism for searching based on attributes of the cache, such as "needs scuba"? I can't seem to find it, am I being blind ? J

Are there many Underwater caches in the UK? Are caches that require scuba to reach them acceptable within the geocaching guideline? I am wondering if I can combine two hobbies... Thanks Julia