NicknPapa

A brand new pair of socks. DON'T ask what they had been used for

See THIS Knowledge Book article. The way I have seen this interpreted is that it is OK to place a physical cache near a virtual but you should make sure there is enough distance so that your map icon doesn't cover the existing icon or the other way around....

No. When you adopt a cache the name stays the same as it was originally. After you complete the adoption process the "Cache by" field will automatically link to the new owner's profile and you will be able to edit it. We recently adopted an old cache and added the "adopted by NicknPapa" but left the original owner's name to recognize the fact that he had made the hide. Some just change the name, some don't change it at all. We talked about it and decided to add the "adopted by" in order to reduce confusion that could be caused by someone clicking the user name and going to an unexpected profile while still giving credit for the creation of the cache to the original creator.

For myself, I don't often take anything. Nick on the other hand.... If there's anything in there he thinks he just has to trade. He seems to prefer cars, probably because we haven't found any airplanes yet. Also boy scout or park patches unless he already has one. I do enjoy moving tackables around occasionally and may start collecting signature items. We haven't seen many of those though. As for leaving, we leave a fairly large assortment of stuff. Carabiners (and I'm happy to see people like those), lanyards, thumb drives, keyrings from places we have visited and yes even a few golf balls. For the record though, they were NEW golf balls. I've never managed to keep more than one used ball at a time, I could lose them in water traps in the middle of the bloody Sahara. Also cheap LED flashlights that do work. We haven't made any signature items yet but are planning to as soon as I can get a brand made. When we do they will be a leave item, not a trade item.

One of the biggest things is to act you are exactly where you are supposed to be doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing. It's when you start looking like you are trying to be "stealthy" that people get suspicious.

My personal favorite isn't even a hint, it's the very first line on the description. "Go over foot bridge to end of paved walk. Take the center trail(it is the most traveled)" We went probably 1/4 mile past the foot bridge on the paved trail before I turned the GPS on (trying to save batteries as they were getting low) and noticed that we had gone WAY past GZ. Turned around and went back to the foot bridge and found one trail (of sorts) that went the right direction and we did find the cache but I think the description is probably years overdue for an update. (the hint for this one was actually really good once we got into the right area).

You did just the right thing. While I do carry some freezer bags and a few pieces of paper in case the logs are wet it is not required, or even expected. As a cache owner I would certainly appreciate the "needs maintenance" log. I try to check our cache on a fairly regular basis but things happen and I would prefer to be informed as soon as possible.

I had heard it mentioned here and there but never really paid enough attention to find out what it was all about. Then about 6 weeks ago my grandson and I were helping one of the boys in his scout troop with his Eagle project and Nick found a "piece of trash" that turned out to be a micro cache. He signed the log and put it back, then when we got home we created an account so he could log the find on the website. When he saw that there more close by he wanted to go try another and we haven't stopped since. We did have to slow down a bit, they are getting farther away and fuel is turning into an issue.

It's very easy for the cache owner to do. Just click on the link to the trackable in question and log it as "missing". Pretty much the same as logging maintenance notes and "found it" logs. But sometimes waiting for the trackable owner to do it is detrimental. They might not be active any more, etc. As the cache owner who is still active in the game, it wouldn't be difficult to update the inventory, if someone makes you aware of a trackable that is not in your cache. You don't need to go out and physically check on the trackable to do it. Not at all. Not every aspect of this game needs to float the boats of all the players. I've grown blaise over trackables, too. They are rarely ever in the caches where they are supposed to be. Travel bugs can be large, making finding a suitable cache to move them to is difficult in these days of nanos and micros. But if I'm finding caches where the trackables are missing, I'm going to start making it a habit of noting the situation. Posting notes that say the cache is empty of trackables might save the next cacher who is still interested in finding and moving them some disappointment. I would not mark a traveler as missing from my cache unless I personally verified that it was gone. And even then it would involve double checking everything in the cache. I recently had a TB show up in the inventory of the cache we adopted but when I went to do some maintenance I didn't see it. I started back to the car with the intent of logging it as missing but decided to go back and be double sure. It was between the pages of the log so I'm glad I went back instead of just logging it.

I'll take the fax machine and salvage the gold contacts and get rich! I'll the gory fake (thank goodness) hand (found that one when I did a maintenance check on our hide today. Yikes!)

There is a lot of good advice here. I would add one thing, especially for caches larger than micros. Look for things that aren't quite right for the area they are in. Example: A lawn timber in a brush pile is fairly normal. A lawn timber in a brush pile in the middle of a state forest, not so much. Or: A broken cement block in a hole in the foundation of a destroyed house is fairly normal, unless the house had a field-stone foundation. Sometimes the things you will see are really subtle, often you won't be able to say just what exactly catches your attention other than a sense of "wrongness". Don't give up, when you get it figured out it's a lot of fun. And a really good excuse to get out from in front of the TV

We have found 62 and have not placed one yet. We have adopted one that was placed in 2001 (the owner had moved away and was moving even farther). I personally feel that we could make a good hide now, we just haven't found the right place yet. The key is knowing what makes a "good hide" and by that I don't just mean longevity, or difficulty. There are many things to be considered (more than I feel like typing). HERE is a very good article that is already typed that will give a lot of information on how to determine if you are ready.

Any place where the current weather mentions either "Wind Chill factor" Or "feet of snow"

Nick (my grandson) found the first cache by accident (or not, he finds things. LOTS of things). Then he wanted to go look for more so we Made an account and started finding them on purpose. Since we were in a hurry (it was getting pretty late in the day) and he's Nick and calls me Papa that's what we decided to use.

A Nuvi 1300 is all I've used. While not ideal it is workable. I've had the best luck using "Where am I" and working my way to the coordinates. My biggest issue is that you have to move so fast before it will start to register changes in location, preferably not under trees....