digimuzik

If you wanted to be really helpful and add a map-based coordinate, you could add a waypoint. But keep in mind that the satellite images or even map lines may shift over the years. There are a number of map-based mysteries around me that are pretty much unsolvable since they're based on images from 10+ years ago (though Google Earth does have a nice history feature...).

I've had GSAK working pretty well under Wine, but it was so hideous (and the Maps didn't work at all) that I now just use a Windows machine over remote desktop. I'll have to check out iCaching... but I really love my macros in GSAK.

Yeah, I got the souvenir after an email... and now I don't have the souvenir for week 2, even though the points are showing up. I may just wait until it's all over to bug them again. I'm bloody and have a soaked and muddy shoe after today's caching adventure. WAY more rewarding than any fake pixels on my digital profile!

Apologies if this has been covered before, but do people ever give cachers the benefit of the doubt? I only recently joined ISAG and have finally been regularly logging my DNF's like a good cacher, but more than once have I almost submitted them as "Found it!" since that's what every app / website page defaults to. Probably not solvable without some serious redesign in either apps or the website. But rather than a single "Log it!" link, it would be nice if there was a direct option to "Didn't find it". Maybe some people don't even know that it's an option? Meh. Just an observation. I'm also planning to be a "good geocacher" and start placing my own soon, now that I've moved states. Maybe I'll get to experience this fun from the other side!

Well, I'm getting points this week. Don't know what happened last week. But I guess I'm out of the game now.

Yep; I had everything logged the same day I found them. I might be checking the wrong place. https://www.geocaching.com/play/friendleague?week=1 Just says my score is 0, and if I expand, it says "No activity for this week". I never actually checked last week, but maybe I'll take another gander at this week's score after I get out and grab a cache or two after work today.

Or any caches in my case. I just checked and I found 8 caches last week (I know, big time cacher...) but it says I have 0 points. Oh well, I don't care much for this side quest; I'm not caching to earn souvenirs, but it would be nice if it worked. Maybe I forgot to "opt-in" to something.

Their name even included "handyman", so you'd think they could figure out a way to retrieve it, especially if this computer programmer could...

As plenty of others have said, I usually read descriptions unless they're long/rambling/obnoxious. Random observation - I just grabbed a cache the other day that, after I left GZ, I noticed the description had changed just the previous day and the cache was now part or a series on a road I travel down a couple of times a year. I needed to record a number off the inside of the cache to help find the final. Of course, I didn't do that. D'oh! But that's totally on me. Maybe if I knew better I'd check for hidden numbers inside each cache container...but realistically probably not. On the other hand, I don't blitz through caches and generally remember each one. So if I really want to do this series, I'll remember exactly where this cache was and have no trouble finding it again. An observation from the other direction - I've been timid to place my own caches because I don't know enough about the history of a site or area to write as nicely detailed descriptions as other cachers have done. I want to place good quality caches, and sometimes that involves including a bit of history as to why I chose a particular area if it's not immediately obvious. Actually, it's kind of a relief to know that many cachers don't read descriptions, so perhaps I don't have to worry about that as much. Just make the destination interesting and the hide non-crap, and it shouldn't matter too much what the write-up actually is.

D'oh. One more reason I'm sad I mis-read the destination of my September work trip as "Massachusetts" instead of "Maryland". This would've been a perfect destination!

Also using GSAK (yes, yes, not a PQ, but an alternative that actually allows 'lassoing'), you can use the rectangles and circles to get all caches for your general area, and then use the Google Map Plugin to lasso areas and send them to GSAK as a filter. I've used this often to either cut out or crop caches in an area I'm researching (power trails anyone?).

I'm always looking for creative ways to filter out poor caches. edexter had some great suggestions over here: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=336343&view=findpost&p=5583394, including finding some caches you really like and then looking for other caches by the same owner, or looking at that owner's lists of favorites.

If it does, I have 308. (308 consecutive days without a find from 06 Jun 06 to 10 Apr 07) I have 912 days officially. And if you drop off my finds 2-9, it's a 1790-day slump ! Not sure why the spark took 5 years to take off but at least it is finally kindled!

I love that thing! Except I use it so rarely, I usually have to scrape it vigorously against my palm or some other rough object to get it to start writing again. Which sometimes leads to scrapes which... oh...

Those are some great ideas; thanks! I definitely use GSAK to plan trips as well as maintaining a DB of interesting "to-do's" in my state. But I had never even heard of benchmarking; that sure is buried around here! Thanks for the tips!

No, but I absolutely will now! I hate constantly pulling my phone out when I'm wandering through the woods towards GZ.

Pretty sure GPS jammers (along with cell phone jammers) are quite illegal (think of the risks to emergency responders). Maybe there are just too many electronics being activated when the car is on. That sucks, though. At least it's not your car. If it was yours, I'd say a new car was definitely in order. Nothing wrong with replacing your wheels for the game.

No, it´s not. I have one lockpicking geocache listed by my self and I have found several others. None of them was ever opened by brute force. It have to be obvious whats to do, it has to be clearly described, and it has to be hard to destroy it. Some cachers might overpace when they don´t get to log real quick. But are there realy cahers out there in your bad bad world, taking the decission to destroy a cache by full intention, using tools or stuff??? I don´t think so. And if so, one of a thousand or so came along. And replacing a cacher after a thousand or so founds wount hurt Now what I'd like is someone to make a great bookmark list of lockpicking geocaches across the country (or globle). It'll be awhile before I'm on the west coast to try this out myself.

I thought the attitude of entitlement and "my way or the highway" I've seen in other threads on this forum was depressing (note I'm not seeing that here at all), but this topic is again making me sad I didn't get into Geocaching much earlier. I was (am) a techie - why didn't I get out and do this more a decade ago?! I keep trying to tell myself it's not about the numbers, but the statistics page is an awful temptation. I've been on an almost-two-month streak (I know, paltry to the real number addicts), but already I've found myself frustrated by caching because I'm running late and even that park-and-grab is going to delay me. Where's the fun in doing it just to keep a streak going? I swear I'll stop...after April when I can log a nearby 1-consecutive-month challenge. Because obviously that will be fulfilling... It doesn't even make sense in my area. Even with a 30 minute rural commute, I don't have enough PNG's to last through a Wisconsin winter, so it'll be a long while before I fill up my calendar (which means I can log one more 'challenge' and have minor bragging rights that don't mean anything because there will always be another grid to fill...). At least for awhile, I am content that I live in the Midwest, and there are still many good quality "early aughts" caches around for me to find yet. I'll put my techie skills into a browser plugin that completely hides the statistics page from my profile and all others' profiles. And I'll spend my time researching unique caches on the rare times I can actually travel out of my area (and be thankful that I can go in all 4 directions). Mostly, I'm thankful for a game that motivates my butt out of the house and gets me enjoying creation much more than I would have otherwise. Any good tips for finding the types of caches talked about in this thread? I've been using the aforementioned "early aughts" to target really old caches, as well as using FP's and FP%'s (with a grain of salt). And only a couple of challenge caches (like State Park series or waterfalls in the state) are really destination-inspiring. I'd love to find some great themed bookmark lists, but don't know of any way to reliably search for them. Edit: oye! I didn't even realize this was a regional forum; I was just searching the forums for "bookmark lists" and came across this topic that resonated with me. Didn't mean to offend anyone up there by talking about my wide open spaces in the middle of the country.

This one made me laugh because its true. When a cacher does this, what is going through his/her head is this; "hmm, surely this could be done better... I'll help this clueless CO out. My altruism knows no bounds. Give myself a nice pat on my back." This assumes that every finder between the cacher and the CO has hidden the cache exactly as they found it. Aside from adding branches or leaves to replace rotting wood that was the original hiding location, I've only ever moved caches that were obviously out-of-line with the description/hint, or something else clearly happened (sitting in the open several feet away from a hidey hole that was actually at GZ; tied to a pine branch that has since died). Usually I add a direct messages to the owner with a pic of what I'd done and a willingness to reverse it if I ticked someone off. In any case, I never do it with a "help this clueless CO out" mentality, but more of a "clean up after clueless/irresponsible cachers" attitude. Hopefully I'm not ticking off anyone's peeves, but I'd be willing to bet there are some CO's out there with a peeve of cachers who don't do what I do. (And then there are people with peeves at CO's who expect others to do their maintenance for them!) Just saying not everything everyone does is intentionally arrogant and what ticks off someone might just be someone trying to help out. Reading through these forums, the only clear thing I've learned about geocaching is that it's never possible to please everyone.

Yeesh. I didn't realize this was where pro database designers criticized helpful suggestions (actually, I realize it wasn't even original; frinklabs asked essentially the same thing in June 2014). It's an alternative solution that reaps other useful benefits besides helping 'incidental side games' (of which, I'm obviously not a serious contender). If GS reads these, then the idea is planted, and the implementers can debate the merits. If this forum is really a black hole, then there's not much point in arguing. Not saying others aren't more than welcome to keep trashing my idea. I just won't defend it any more, since I'm not even married to it myself and have pretty much no say in how this could get implemented anyway. I'll go try to contribute somewhere else and see if I'm welcomed there...

Just proposing an alternative I hadn't seen suggested. Creating a historical view of a cache would reap many other benefits as well. As a a dev in the health care industry, this is standard practice, and I'm a little surprised something like this doesn't already exist in some form. In any case, it's just an idea in line with this request. There are, of course, pros and cons to any solution for this.

FWIW, this doesn't have to be implemented in the massive storage cost method most people seem to think it would be (via storing the D/T with logs). Instead, the cache record itself could store a history of D/T ratings (or heck, a history of previous revisions of the whole cache: description, coords, everything). Then queries for a user's D/T statistics only need to take one extra hop to get data "as of" their find date. As a software developer, this seems like a fun problem to solve. Alas, I am not employed by GZ.

Is it armchair caching if I drive around in beat-up old cars whose seats have been replaced with armchairs Red Green style? Or in this?

Asked this in the pinned topic, but no responses, so thought I'd try in the full forum. I'm ready to start caching and transporting in earnest with a family adventure planned around the state. We're prepping a bunch of TB's to drop off in various locations. Here's a new question (I've been scouring the forums and haven't come across anything like this): If one of my shiny newly activated TB's has a goal like "visit every state park in the state", can I have it "visit" several caches before dropping it off at its first home? Or does a TB not become loggable until dropped once? Somewhat related, if I'm going on a cross-country trip, is it kosher to stop by a new cache on the way out, but make the first drop at my destination? I'd like my bug's initial location to be near my home, but I don't want to be seen as artificially inflating its mileage. FWIW, I'm also planning on stopping by a TB Hotel near the airport to pick up a few other bugs and give them a several-hundred-mile boost!