buffhusky

I do - I often cache with young children and a dog, so if ticks & thorns (or "no dogs") are listed, I'll probably wait until I can go without them. Also the wheelchair accessible one is useful if I'm with a child in a pram.

I'm not a geologist and I've just had my first Earthcache published, and I've got plans to create another when I get the chance to visit the site I have in mind. They do take a lot more effort to create than your average lock & lock in the woods (mine took me 4 full evenings to write, plus I did a fair bit of reading up and I visited the site a couple of times), but are very satisfying to create. If the OP can find a way that the tornado affected the geology of the area, that could potentially work.

I'm another c:geo user.

I usually just walk a wide circle around them if on my own and they rarely take much notice. I'll avoid cattle if I'm with the dog though as they often get really curious about her and come over. I don't like that, and neither does she - the more she leaps around on the end of the lead trying to get away, the closer they come ;-(

It depends how you want to play - I know some people don't use hints, for example, or they only use them if they get stuck, while others always read them at the start. I only use the maps if the gps is wibbling about (urban or woodland areas mostly, though occasionally also if it looks like the co-ordinates aren't very accurate), or to help me work out if I'm capable of the walk to the cache in the first place. At the moment I can only do relatively short walks on flat/even paths, so I use the satellite view to help me decided if it looks suitable for me.

I originally found it about 2 months previously but hadn't worked out what to do to log it. I didn't have gps then either, so wasn't sure if I'd be carrying on - finally got started properly in January this year. This is a typical length/type of log for me, hope it's good enough! The owner sent me an email later in the day encouraging me to keep geocaching, which I thought was a friendly thing to do.

Someone else obviously feels the same as the OP! Pointless cache?

My daughter is 4 and particularly loves swapping things (choosing what to put in as well as what to take out), but also loves nanos - the smaller the better! I'm not quite sure why, but I think she likes laughing at me when I struggle signing the tiny bit of paper and rolling it back up again to put it in I wonder if half the fun could be not telling them the size of the container, and then guessing what they're looking for could be more of the game? I suppose if they really don't like micros, either don't do them for now, or make sure there are plenty of larger caches in between "If you help Daddy find this little one, we'll look for a bigger one for you next" kind of thing, a sort of lesson in taking turns.

It seems to depend a bit what country you're in too - I'm in the UK and the average item seems to be cheaper than the stuff my relatives are finding in caches in the USA where they live. If I'm on my own I rarely swap, but when I'm with my daughter, she always wants to. So I take children's items along as it's almost guaranteed that's what she'll take. e.g. small model animals, rubber balls, little toys that you'd get in reasonable quality Christmas crackers (i.e. not the tiny, misshapen plastic things you get in cheap ones!), fancy marbles, pretty erasers etc. You don't want to leave stuff that will wreck if it gets frozen/very hot/damp etc - depending on the climate of the place you live, as some items can stay in a cache for quite a while. I also generally leave a pencil if there's not one in the cache. This isn't as a swap, but just a favour to future cachers who may not have one with them.

Ah right, that makes sense. I haven't even done any caches on Brean Down yet (the day I'd planned to, I wasn't feeling well so didn't go). Apologies I only had part of the story, but it still may be worth the OP contacting them about their policy on caches, as presumably some of the issues are similar.

It might be worth speaking the the National Trust - they have now started setting up their own caches on Brean Down in Somerset. Individuals have had their own caches on there for a while, but understand that the NT has asked for them to be archived so they can set up and manage their own. I'm not sure if this is because of fears of damage to the Down by cachers (so pulling it all under their control they can manage it and remove/re-site them as needed), or whether they want to use geocaching as a promotional tool - I think at least partly the latter, as there was a geocaching event there last month. If you do a search for caches on Brean Down, you'll be able to email them through their username, which is something obvious like "National Trust at Brean Down".

I think that's probably right keehotee. I have friends who sail etc who already had their gps for that, so geocaching was just another thing they started using it for over the last few years. I've never had the money for more expensive hobbies like that so never bought one, and all the hiking & cycling I've done (lots) has been the old fashioned way with map & compass which always suited me fine, as I can use both confidently and have a good sense of direction. Even now I'll often just use a paper OS map, and have found lots caches that way without even switching the phone on. Anyway, now we have a family I'm finding this is a really nice way to add a bit of extra interest to walks with a younger child - it's a much better way to persuade a few extra miles out of them ("looking for boxes") than the old promise of an ice cream at the end! Which again is probably very different to the original idea, but all hobbies evolve over time, especially where technology is involved.

I'm a relatively new geocacher using a mobile phone. I was keen to try geocaching and needed a new mobile (old one packing in after over 10 years of use), and was lucky enough to be given a phone that could do both as a Christmas gift I think that's the way many people get into it now - they have the functionality on the phone so give it a go, and perhaps upgrade to Premium as & when they get hooked. We may well splash out on a standalone GPS now the whole family has got into it though, as they do seem much more robust and my phone doesn't like being out in the rain... I'm not sure it's a particularly cheap hobby though, especially when you take into account fuel or public transport costs once you've exhausted the local area for caches within walking/cycling distance. And of course you have to buy the phone/GPS in the first place if you don't already have one. We haven't got heaps of spare cash, so try and combine a bit of geocaching with trips we already have to make.

I've only been geocaching for about 4 months, and my first find was a micro. Size isn't necessarily important - the largest cache I've found so far took me about 20 mins at GZ even though it was big enough to hold loads of DVDs, where that little micro took about 20 seconds. My local area also seems to have more small containers than large ones (most are small or micro). It's a good idea to try for ones with a difficulty level of one which should be easier, and check that it's been found several times recently. It might also be worth trying ones in a location you'd be visiting for another reason anyway, so that the cache is just a bonus on a nice day out rather than a destination in itself. That's what I try to do, as I'm usually caching with a 4 year old, who loves a good search & find, but does get bored quite quickly if it's taking a while to locate. It honestly does get easier once you've managed to find the first few. I only use a smart phone and the free c:geo app, and have been happy with both so far. It can be worth using the map option as well as the compass - sometimes the satellite view will help you to see which side of the road/stream/path, whether it's near a particular building etc. Loads of things can throw your GPS out a bit (tree cover, proximity to tall buildings etc), so the map can be useful then. Also - search Ebay for "geocaching" - you will see a selection of containers that people can buy, so samples of some of the containers people may use! Obviously containers may be homemade, household objects, plastic boxes etc, but many will be specially bought ones too. e.g. I had no idea what an ammo can was until I saw one on Ebay, as it's not something the average person in the UK is likely to come across in normal life. Good luck!