Rckhnd

Nice day to go caching, so I get excited plotting out a circuitous route with almost a dozen caches, research each one, print out the notes, got the swag bag, camera, full tank, picnic, GPS........ forgot to download ANY coordinates.

If you ever find a foolproof method, could you let me be the first to know? I'd pay good money for that! --Larry Closest solution I've found is to pick caches by cache owner. I have gsk file I created of all the caches placed by owners I know to place creative caches. It works pretty well. I'll go to the maps and click on the satellite view. You can quickly tell then if there are structures nearby.

I have a garmin etrex legend H. I got it as my first gps. I wish I had made a better choice (more money) as it's not exactly user friendly for a first model to a complete newb. I've had to read the manual several times through and google some of the information it provided as it seems to assume you already know everything about the lingo of a GPS. It's also hard to read the tiny tiny print. Now that I have the hang of using it, I'm okay with it. This model does not support paperless caching. The Margin of error is acceptable and once in a while it's spot on. I use a USB cable to download coordinates. I'll end up keeping it until it fails or until I want to get a model that does support paperless caching. it also can take a dunking and a drop fairly well.

Hey!! I resemble that comment! Except sometimes I drag my boy along, er, he drags me...

I'll have to agree there. The few PMO caches I have come across have been far superior to the roadside/parking lot cache in location and substance. One premie cache is worth 10 cash n dash at least. - - yeah, maybe I'm a snob, but it IS my time off with my young son. I will have to disagree with you here. In my experience there is rarely a difference in quality between a PMO cache and any other cache. Many of the caches in my area that start out as PMO caches are converted to regular caches after the FTF. A practice I find completely without merit or reason. A quick look at the 20 or so nearest to me PMO caches shows only a few to be particularly memorable. At least two are puzzles. There are plenty of open caches that are deserving of favorite marks, I don't find many PMO caches that are simple drive ups. The caches you have to work for are generally in better condition. Not always though, I agree. I put my truck in four wheel one day to get to one cache and it was a disaster. A soup bowl tupperware with the lid taped on. everything was moldy and slimy. The owner is a PM, but the cache wasn't.

BWAAHAHAhahahaaaaa!!!!!! .....interesting lamp post!!

I'll have to agree there. The few PMO caches I have come across have been far superior to the roadside/parking lot cache in location and substance. One premie cache is worth 10 cash n dash at least. - - yeah, maybe I'm a snob, but it IS my time off with my young son.

I've been to caches that I wish I wouldn't have wasted my time with. In this day of 'political correctness' it would be easier to say 'found it, thanks' than it would be to say 'What a dump, trash everywhere and a lousy duct tape job on your tupperware'. I'm sure the majority of people put great pride in their caches and locations, but in my short tenure as a GC, I have already been unpleasantly surprised more than once. One cache I took a DNF without even bothering to look once I got there. If your tired and it's been a busy day, don't want to start a flame war... TNLN TFTC I've taken to writing notes just so I can remember conditions at caches and whether the log was wet, etc.,

Wow! Premium Members only cache owners can see who checked out the page for that cache? Cool! I started a coin that I want to make an overseas journey to a premy cache and had considered contacting the owner. Now I guess I don't have to because if they are interested, they will look. I don't think it's a privacy concern, just another perk of sorts, like being in a more exclusive club. - read 'smug' here

YET ANOTHER EMAIL… Wet Log Phantom writes: I found both of those. I explained that the wet log comment was a case of editing the logs several hours later. I use an app on my cell phone to geocache. Once I find it I hit a button which sets up a field note that I found the cache. I can then get on the computer and publish those notes with the generic found with phone line or edit them and add to it. I'm sorry that I sent you out there to check for nothing but I encountered so many damp logs on that cache run that I accidentally lumped yours in with the others while editing all the found logs. I've been doing this for some time now and I know what I am doing here and which caches I have and have not found. ------ So now my question is, if he is so "experienced" then he would know or have enough common sense to sign a perfectly dry log.... I will delete with a smile If that's the case, then I'd say that Mr Wet Log Phantom should be reconsidering how he logs his caches. Most of us don't have such problems. I like to use a waterproof pen. Writes underwater if needed. If I can't sign it, I don't log it as 'found'.

Apparently, the sattelites are always shifting around a bit. Most GPS Margins Of Error are plus or minus 20 to 30 feet. I can usually get mine down to 4 feet before it shoots off to 20 feet in a different direction. At that point, I consider myself to be at Ground Zero and start searching a circle about 30 feet in diameter. It was pointed out to me that if you put the gps on Waymarking setting and put it down and left, that when you come back 15 minutes later, it would look like a dog trail running around the yard. Anyway, get your number as low as possible, then start the groundsweep.

Wow, quite the discussion. Almost puts me off of wanting to create a hide. I believe I would be more attentive to my caches, thus not being one of those who has hundreds of caches hidden. I would stick more to the spirit of find it / log it / post it. This whole thread has convinced me that any caches I create will be ammo cans or some other water proof container, and premium member only with no 'roadside access' for the cache-n-dashers, you will have to get out of your car and walk a bit, or be willing to go a few miles off pavement on dirt roads, serious cachers only please. I may not get many logs, but at least it will be maintained and have less risk of being hit by bogus finders.

I went to Google and entered 'free topo maps for garmin' You can get all the free maps you want. I would only load the maps for areas you will be using the GPS in. You don't even need GPS maps to locate caches, just follow the pointer. I use the maps feature for hiking and hunting, mainly hunting.

If I'm ever in your part of Cali, I'd like to take a shot at getting this one. As a former USDA Forest Service Timber Cruiser / Firefighter, I wouldn't worry too much about people getting concerned because you removed some deadwood. One of our biggest problems in Sequoia / Kings Canyon was the overabundance of the thousand hour fuels. As long as it was not a habitat stump, you're good.

I hear ya! My boy doesn't care for the casual 'roadside' caches anymore. He calls them 'trash caches' because people seem to be in too much of a hurry and just dump pocket trash in them for swag, like pencil erasers, etc.

Yup, there's an envelope icon under your 'geocacher'. I guess it's just disabled from me seeing it in mine...

I notice that a lot of posts have the PM icon, mine do not. In my settings, the 'disable' box is not checked. So, how do I activate it? Thx, Rckhnd

My GPS doesn't charge me anything to use it. - BUT, it also doesn't notify me of new cache publications... My margin of error is around 25-30 feet, sometimes GZ is spot on!

I recently saw someone else pull away with the FTF after I was racing for it! I want to know where he got that GINORMOUS Geocache logo sticker for his side window! All I can find is the little 3X3 stickers...

My Garmin e-trex legend H.... I've named it 'Nowdammit!' because it takes forever to load every time I choose a function. My truck is - Truck

Thanks for the info, now I can stop beating the keyboard!

So, I use a Garmin e-trex Legend H. I'm pretty sure I have the PQ figured out. I enter my parameters and can view it now or have it sent to me as an e-mail, although I have yet to recieve an e-mail... Paperless?? I've gone through the self help manuals a few times and I'm still in a fog. Now that I have a premium membership, I still get an abreviated description in the 'note' section on my Garmin. - So abbreviated that sometimes the title of the cache is partially missing. I don't get it. I still have to write the extra info and/or hints on paper and carry it with me. Is this a feature that the Garmin e-trex Legend H does not support? This is the main reason I went to premium, although now I have found other benefits that make it worth it to keep. Still, I'm frustrated that I can't figure out the 'paperless' part of this. Just to clarify a bit further, my assumption was that I would be able to have ALL the cache info and hints on my GPS. Is that an unreal expectation?

Correct, just dip the bug in the cache you found it in with an note to correct it's mileage then move it along, glad you found your answer. Yeah! It was a little nerve wracking for a newb to try to edit, delete, update, regrab..... But I think the logs are all okay now with the excess baggage removed. Man! I was starting to sweat bullets over how such a simple task can get so convoluted! But the world is whole again and now I can sleep... with a little more experience under my belt

I found my answer here! http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=10 under heading 3.2 fixing trackable history I resubmitted my log and 'dropped it' there.

That clarifies things a bit. It's a shame it hasn't been logged before though. I found this in a cache about 20 miles from it's last known location. In my log though, I did state what cache it was retrieved from so the owner will know what happened to their lost puppy. I think from now on, I will pick up all trackables I come across. I didn't know they could be lost so easily. Thx!