Torchbearer

It has definately changed my plans. I haven't found a cache this Spring yet. I went out after the torrential rains we had which was a huge mistake and got caught up in the mud. This past weekend I had planned on going the whole day until gas went to $3.49 a gallon. So I stayed home.

I recently purchased a Mountainsmith 3.0. I agree with briansnat, there are better colors out there but it holds anything and everything I will ever need.

I use the red ones from Wal-Mart as well. As of now, I only carry one. I Haven't done a major hike that requires two yet but I will be this summer so I will purchase another one. My single has helped me already going up hills, crossing logs over creeks, etc. I generally keep my GPSr around my neck with a lanyard so I can just reach down and check it without much difficulty. Good luck

I agree with the above posts. I didn't pay for it but I was given the Dummies book as a gift for my birthday a few years ago. It was full of stuff I'd already read here. I was rather disappointed, but hey, it was free.

When I was using paper I did the notebook thing. The part I hated was having to drag the binder out to read the description of the cache or if I needed to look at the hint. Paperless is the way to go if you can afford it. And, if you are on a budget, you can get on ebay and get a PDA that can be used for caching for pretty cheap; $20-$30. I think it needs to have at least 8mb of memory. I use cachemate and GSAK and I love it. However, if you are dead set on paper, a notebook with tabs worked well as far as organizing for me.

I don't think more people would be worse. The "originals" generally welcome all new cachers and are happy to help them get started or at least in my experience they have been. My only concern, and it is way far out there hopefully, is that with more and more caches being found by muggles who think they are suspect packages, I.E. bombs, that the government will start regulating caches and cachers. We have a good honors system now and those that monitor these forums and those that approve caches are always doing their absolute best to make sure the integrity of the game is not compromised in any way. I would hate for some lobbyist to say we are a threat because we hide packages in the woods, parks, parking lots, etc. and cause thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours for the police, bomb squad, sheriff's departments, and the like. There have been too many recent articles about caches being destroyed because authorities thought they were suspect. That's my only worry about the future. However, there have been some very positive articles about geocaching done recently as well. I think as long as we as geocachers do our best to keep the environment clean and keep each other safe we will be fine.

I can say for a fact that gas prices have taken a toll on my caching time. I have a Chevy Blazer that is 10 years old and doesn't get great mileage. So after spending $40.00+ to fill up, $20.00 on swag, and paying the monthly bills, I don't feel so motivated to drive 100+ miles to go caching. I am really missing it too. I've pretty much hit the ones that are within 20 miles of me so I have to drive a little further now. If my wife would just let me use her car!

As said before you can ask someone else(who isn't allergic) to get the cache for you. Or you can check around your area for someone who keeps bees and they might be willing to come out and get them for you. However, I vote for this..

You can look at the 2600 Here and go to the fitting guide at the bottom to see if your PDA will fit. I think the Palm 3 editions will fit but I'm not sure. And, yes, you are probably right the Otterbox might cost more than the Palm itself. I found mine on ebay for about $30 and they usually run new at about $45. If you can find one of the aluminum hard cases they work well but aren't waterproof.

I can tell you this. This was the first winter I have cached in and it was a ton easier. In addition to the reasons you stated, it is also a lot easier to move through the brush without all the leaves and undergrowth. There were some caches I did that would have been heck to get to if it would have been summer. Having said that, I enjoy caching when the trees are green too because of the scenery and more animal life around. But, like you said, I hate those bugs.

I have a Tungsten E2 that I have a hard case for. However, I recently bought an Otterbox 2600 off of ebay that I will be using it in. It actually takes up more space but hey, it looks cool. As far as carrying mine, I usually wear cargo pants or shorts and put it in the cargo pocket. That way it is at hand if needed on the trail but not bulking up my hip pockets. What type of PDA do you have?

I got a GPS for Christmas one year, took it hunting with me a couple of times, then let it set. Somehow, somewhere, I found Geocaching.com and just took off from there.

I agree. I recently read a thread on how to make your own clay coins and it was really interesting and sounded like a fun thing to do. I am wanting to make my own sig item coin and am debating on whether to do the clay thing or do something with wood and laminate. I would love to see one of the clay coins in a cache.

Thanks for the link brian. I always wondered what your signature meant.

I can't believe she is berating geocachers for littering when she is so irresponsible. I mean it's her own fault she's a herpetologist. She should have used protection.

I'm 31 and have had the same set of clubs since I was 16. I used to love to golf and could easily fall back into it. However, green fees and certainly membership fees can get real expensive after awhile. I would much rather go geocaching. I can go out when I want to, not have to worry about a tee time and it is a lot less expensive except for my GPSr, my backpack, swag, compass, hiking stick, wait a minute...

I would like to ask how many of you have done "extreme" caches or would consider yourself extreme cachers? I mean the 5/5 really gruesome chaches. Did you really have to prepare physically for it/them? If so, what kind of preparation did you take? I would assume that it would depend on the terrain of the cache. I'm asking because I am really starting to get into all this to the point of obsession and I would like to work my way up to those really tough caches that seem near impossible. I'm kind of a closet adrenaline junky like that. I realize that I will have to build up my cache finding muscles for lack of a better term and try to improve on that sixth sense that tells you, "If I were hiding the cache I would put it there". Anyway if anyone has done one or several of those really crazy, near death caches would you let me know. Thanks. Torchbearer edit: spelling

Two Words..... Bear Trap!!! They'll only try to steal it once.

Garmin etrex Yellow. But I soooo want one of them there faincy colored screens.

It means 15 minutes until the next hour. Or, this is last call and I'd better find her soon or I'll go home alone.....again.

I just wanted to say thank you to all the knowledgeable people on these forums. I have been reading and posting for about a month solid now to learn all I can. I actually started caching last year but did little of it. Now I know it is a hobby that I will stick with, hopefully, into my later years. I recently decided to go paperless and was pretty concerned about all the downloads and what goes where but after reading all the helpful tips and links that were provided here, I did it with no problems. Many of you are very patient and understanding of all the "noobies" who ask some of the same questions day after day. I've been on other forums for other hobbies of mine and people are not always so patient. Most people here are very willing to help and the moderators do an excellent job of making sure everything runs smoothly. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for making me and so many others feel at home here. I can only hope I will learn enough to help someone else in the future.

My Son and I barely escaped a gardinel a few months ago. I was tying my shoe when I turned and he was standing in front of this brown, almost sugar coated looking lump. It had gumdrop looking lumps all over it. My son has a huge sweet tooth and was just about to reach for it when I yelled for him to run away. The gardinel made a desperate attempt to chomp him but just caught the edge of his coat. My son shed his coat immediately and we ran from the area. We dared not tell anyone for fear of being ridiculed. Thank you so much for bringing this subject to light.

Since your GPSr doesn't contain personally sensative information(phone #'s, Names, addresses) like your PDA or cell phone will, they may not consider it a necessity. Silly insurance agent. If they only knew.

Now that's a near death experience. I can relate. I've had to face the wrath of She Who Must Be Obeyed a time or two myself over my hobbies.

I erase mine when I get back to the car. I also erase the parking co-ords so I won't confuse myself (which is pretty easy to do.