wvmarle

For me, it recently started to work again. I have no idea what caused the change, most likely an update of Firefox. Finally :-)

Mmm... That version doesn't work at all for me - the version I had installed at least allowed adding of coordinates at caches and so, only the map display part was broken. Just upgraded to GreaseMonkey 2.2, Firefox 31.0 (Linux Mint). Thanks for the reply, but unfortunately no solution for me.

After a few months hiatus I'm trying to get back in the game. One of the first things I noticed is that GCComment (particularly the Mystery Mover function on the main maps) has stopped working. I upgraded to version 84 (the latest available on github now userscript.org has gone), it still doesn't work. Any alternatives for this? For those unfamiliar with GCComment: one of the many things the script does is add an icon on the map of the actual location of a cache, after you entered updated coordinates. This is mostly useful for Unknown caches, occasionally also for Multi caches that you haven't finished, or even Traditional caches where the listed coordinates are off. Very useful in planning which caches to go find.

This still requires you to go through this whole wizard. It's not exactly a reasonable workaround. A lot of extra work to get back to that single page.

Just now I tried to register a new event cache, and found out the cache listing has been completely FUBARed. I'm trying to be nice here, but I'm quite pissed about this change, making it so much harder and quite frustrating just to get an event listed. 1) The old, simple, quick and easy one-page cache submission form is gone. That was the first WTF moment. 2) I filled in the new form with placeholder data, just to get everything in one place, then try to edit it again. 3) the D/T rating part in the new wizard doesn't work. At all. There is simply no radio button or anything to click on. This may be a browser compatibility issue - it just means you have to test your forms better, starting by making sure it's valid HTML (just use the w3validator or so). 4) Editing the cache gets me back a single page, good start. But: the editor is broken. Many characters are not what they should be; a > looks very different; the $ too. As a result I can't properly read my own HTML code. It makes me feel like the old "maps change" all over again. There was the classic maps, and a perfectly working "beta maps" that everyone used. Then both were ditched, and far worse new maps were produced. Instead of using the working "beta maps". Here the same problem: I once or twice tried the wizard, and while cumbersome it actually worked. Yet now both working options are being ditched, and a far less well tested single new option is presented. Very, very bad practice. Very frustrating for us users. Change is fine, but make sure the new option is at least on par with the old option, and stop rollling out new features without thorough testing and/or fallback to the old, tried and tested versions!

You can easily have them show up on the GC maps using GCComment, a GreaseMonkey script (you need to install the GreaseMonkey script first). It keeps its own database of solved puzzles, you can also mark them as "found" in GCComment to have them disappear again from the map. Great stuff. Many more features than just the mystery mover. And when on the topic of GreaseMonkey, try Map Enhancements script: gives more map options, including Google Maps for non-PM. I installed it when Google Maps was yanked for all - even though I'm PM I never looked back. Now at least I can with a single click switch between Google and OSM.

If you want to interpret it really strict, then heaps of caches should be archived. All those bird houses attached with a nail, numerous rocks moved around for geopiles, caches that are off-trail and need you to trample some plants or push aside a bush risking to break its branches, and so on. And how can a cache placement ever protect an area from "intentional harm" by others? The attachment methods I am looking for are ideally reversible, so that in the future I may remove it.

Can you give me some photos or so, as I have no idea what those things you are talking about are, let alone how it would work. Lead shot, that sounds to me like something to do with guns. If so, that's quite unique American - most of the world doesn't have guns all over the place.

Drilling is not an option to me. Looking for something that can still be removed or at least leaving minimal stuff behind. Hence my suggestion of bolts or rivets. Well, the actual problem is: where to attach the other end of that fishing line to?

My idea was to use an existing crack to wedge a screw in. Something like that. A rivet wedged in a crack might also get stuck really tightly. I'd love to hear from people who tried just that. Actually I tried to use quick-set cement, but it appears gone - first to go search that cache (a few weeks after placing) reported they couldn't find anything. And they did search at the correct spot so it must be gone. Rocks there are really slippery... used some steel wool to clean it up before applying the cement... so even the epoxy would have to go in a cavity or so to have something to hold on to. A rivet wedged in a crack might also get stuck really tightly. Maybe I should have a look at the hardware store, see what they have. It's not a place that I go often, it's not far from home but the only regular transport is a minibus that runs once every two hours... and a more frequent bus on Sundays.

Cracks at the place are small; millimeter size. I was not really thinking of epoxy or any fancy contraptions (that usually need much bigger cracks anyway), more something like a small wedge bolt or even a simple screw or rivet. For extra complication: it's next to the water, only access is via the water, and attachment has to be done while I am in the water, balancing on a small underwater wedge on a nearly vertical wall. So need one hand to keep my balance. Well, can lie half out of the water on the rocks. Tricky overall.

An old thread, but never too late for creative ideas. First of all check out 'geocachespoilers' on youtube. He's got great videos, inspired me for several caches of my own. Then some of my own caches that have gotten great responses. 1) cache series tend to work well. I have one "island hopping" series that requires people to visit six outlying islands, and the final is on a tiny uninhabited islet that's nigh inaccessible. Getting there is one, getting from the shore to the cache is even harder. Final is out there for over a year, been attempted twice so far, but not found yet. All the other caches involved are traditional caches, with a number written in the log book. 2) night caches. The only one in Hong Kong. Following a reflector trail. Part of a series "the four elements", representing the element "earth". 3) another night cache, for the element "fire", requires people to start pumping a modified dyno torch, after which a box hung up in a tree will start flashing red (like fire), making the coordinates readable. 4) The element "air" requires people to blow in a pipe, making something pop up with final coordinates written on it. 5) Element "water" uses a tube with floater in it. Have to add water, then get to the final which is further up the river. 6) A tidal cache. Like a normal water floater tube, but this one has many holes in it. It's in the intertidal zone, so when the tide is right you can unscrew the top (bring your own spanner) and get the coordinates of the final out of it. Very tricky, should be implemented in a place with more active cachers than here. I don't know of this having been done anywhere else in the world. 7) I used to have a fake electrical conduit box magnetically attached to a piece of street furniture on a very busy town square. Super-muggly. Lasted only about three months... still working on the replacement 8) Underground cache: I got one in an abandoned WWII bunker/command centre. Full of bats now. 9) Underwater cache: a box-in-box to keep it dry, attached to a big rock to keep the whole contraption on the bottom. For that I just took a local rock, and with some fast-setting cement attached the cover of the outer box to it. Came back the next week to put it in the water. If anyone interested, I'm happy to provide more details and photos - just send me personal message. Many of these ideas I got straight from other caches, or adapted stuff (the "four elements" is inspired by a German YouTube video, for example).

Reading this topic as I'm preparing for maintenance on one of my night caches. That uses small reflectors attached to trees using small nails (the smallest that I could find; and not nailed in completely to allow removal). It is quite interesting how so many people complain that nailing trees is so bad for the trees. While bushwhacking to get to a cache is something that's considered normal by most, and many wouldn't think twice of doing so. Especially to get to all those caches that are not placed right next to an established trial. And we even have a "tree climbing" attribute for caches. So tree climbing is totally OK. Putting a small nail in a tree not. That just doesn't make sense: I do think sending dozens of geocachers up a tree is doing way more damage to that tree than a simple nail could ever do.

Interesting, I didn't know of that limit. But moving more than 20m or so is for me a new hide, usually. Anyway if you have to move more, send message to your reviewer with reason. I've had to do this once (for an earthcache) shortly after publishing, move quite a distance, as I forgot to put the correct coordinates there... had put in some place holder coords while drafting the cache that were a few km off and out in the sea to boot, later on a revisit to the area got accurate coordinates. Reviewer also missed that obvious error. Also I've seen other people "moving" caches quite far due to a typo in the coordinates. Also had to ask their reviewer. But moving less distance also seems to be noticed by the reviewer, just see what happened to GC339X3 around 7 April '13.

Hi, I'm trying to set up a multi with starting point next to waterfall, just above the waterline. Gotta swim to get there. Now I'm having troubles placing something there, that stays there. It's a natural rock face, with some pieces of rock sticking out, cracks in it, etc. And I want to hang something off of it, like a metal strip with coordinates written on it. Any advice on how I could make such an attachment? Probably best would be to use a crack in the rock. Drilling is out of the question. I'd love to hear success (and failure) stories of such attachments! Wouter.

Consumer grade GPS is not more accurate than about 5m. So expect to have slightly different results every time, but it shouldn't be more than 10m except when you indeed have reflections to deal with.

just a guess, not tried: create a PQ covering the caches you want to see, then remove all caches from the map (use the left panel) and show the PQ.

One of the reasons I like geocaching is because it does expose those local secrets, those little places that are quite interesting but so much off the beaten track you'll never find them in a travel guide. Though in case of caves I can imagine safety is an issue.

With one very notable exception: areas that require an entry fee. There is even an attribute for that, and indeed in my area there are three caches within a single theme park that requires you to pay a fee to get in.

If looking for really hard caches you often better off not going for D5/T5 as most that I have seen so far are really a D1-2/T5. Like "it's high in that tree, you need climbing gear, but you can see it from below" kind of caches, which should be D1. And because it's so dadgum hard to get to the cache (T5) they also make it D5. Many people mix up D and T ratings. Try to look for slightly lower rated caches, like D4/T4. Those are generally truly tough. Or a D4/T5 or D5/T4 cache. But do read the description to see if it's a really tough one, or just pretending to be tough. I've got a D4/T5 out there. D4 as you need six other caches that are far apart to get numbers to calculate final coordinates. It's out there for over a year, I know one person tried but failed to get to GZ, the vegetation was too dense. Was fun placing that one, almost failed myself :-)

Many caches simply don't have the space for a second log. And as it's soaked (and with that I mean dripping) you're going to ruin the rest of the contents with the excess humidity, even when you put it in its own bag. NM is great but for a cache that's on a 400m hill top, with the main access over a trail that's gravel and loose rocks, at 1 1/2 hours walk from the nearest bus stop (with a minibus every two hours) not much chance of quick maintenance. GC2HHXD is one of the caches where I changed the log. I was the fourth to find it (third finder didn't close it properly, hence the water), and the cache by then was over a year old. No finds on that cache in over a year now, only one DNF. I really don't see the point in leaving the cache in far worse condition than I could leave it, while with little effort it's a great cache again. And it reminds me... I really should visit that place again. It's a good afternoon hike. Great views on a clear day.

I've seen this happen, too. Not all caches are >161m apart. Ask your local reviewer for approval beforehand. Especially if you're quite close to the limit and a good reason to want to place the cache right there, I'd just ask and see what happens.

The GreaseMonkey script GCComment can do this for you. Very useful. Has many more functions too, but I only use the mystery mover function. The other script mentioned here is Geocaching Map Enhancements which I started using shortly after they stopped offering Google Maps (and am still using even though I'm a PM because it allows for easy switching between Google and OSM maps - not the sucky Groundspeak method). GME also allows for easy reload of your current view (to see your new smilies appear, for example). Both scripts are highly recommended. I can't do without! Besides there is indeed another way: from the cache page itself. Correct the coordinates of your mystery, then scroll down to the map where you can indeed see the icon at the corrected locations (and the waypoints of the cache), and click on "view larger map" there. This sends you to the normal map view, but with the final and waypoints of that cache added. Unfortunately it does not show final locations of other caches as well, and only via this detour. GCComment does this much better, can show you all at the same time. And later if you're looking for a place for a new cache you can easily recall locations of found mysteries using GCComment as well, saves worries about the 161m limit.

Geocachespoilers did a great job imho. He would never give out coordinates, or tell you exactly which cache it was. I really enjoyed his videos, and it has given me inspiration for some caches in my area - that get great acclaim. Puzzle spoilers work similar to me, the problem is of course that it's impossible to hide the solution (and usually which cache it belongs to). Best puzzle spoilers should be limited to already-archived caches. I've read quite some of them, partly to get general ideas on how to solve other puzzles, and also to get inspiration of puzzles to set up by myself. Some of my puzzles are directly inspired on puzzles elsewhere in the world. I've given out plenty of hints for puzzle caches (my own, and ones that I solved myself) to other cachers. And asked for hints myself when getting stuck. But when I get a general question like "do you have a hint for puzzle GCxxxxx" I always first ask "what did you figure out already?". Often a little hint is enough for people to make it to the end, without directly spoiling it.

I have a night cache where at the starting point the cacher will find a dyno torch, when pressing it some lights will start flashing inside a box hanging high up the trees, making the coordinates readable. Doesn't work during the day (light sensor). Box is spray painted several layers; the cover has several layers on the inside where the coordinates are scratched out in, and a single thin layer on the outside making it completely invisible in the day. So this can only be done at night. A reflector trail leads you along a faint trail through the woods to the starting point, and from there back to the main trails.