Slainte

My Air Force father's attitude was," If you don't ask, they can't say no." Seems that, if caches have been set in an area, and managers of that area know about the caches but have said nothing, that that could be construed as implied consent. If we force them to make policy, they're likely to say no because they probably have more pressing issues to deal with. But if we mind our manners, and even help them take care of their area (CITO), we ought to be able to pursue our activity with clear consciences. Just my two cents worth.

Seven pounds, wet (2 litre hydration pack). Includes everything for three seasons. Winter will add a pound or two, I expect.

This afternoon, I set a small closed course of caches for my daughters and their friends. I averaged the location of each cache, but when I ran the course to check for accuracy, it wasn't very close. I was lucky to get within thirty feet of each site. Are there tricks of the trade that might help me get as close as I do to those set by others out in the wide world? I hope to set some real caches before the summer is out, but my coordinates will need to be more precise than this before I go public. Incidentally, I'm using an eTrex Legend Cx.

I find that I have an urge to revisit caches I've already found. (reliving past successes to make up for present failures, I suppose.) Anyway, on occasion, I'll find a travel bug / geocoin / coolneat thingy that triggers my grab reflex. Is snitching of this sort against the rules, frowned upon, practiced widely, or what? Relogging would be pointless, yet TBs and such need to move, and I'm certainly a willing vehicle. I expect this is a hands-off-you've-had-your-turn sort of thing, given the point of the game, but still...

I am a dyed-in-the-wool Apple computer guy, but I use a laptop PC for my caching, just to avoid the convolutions necessary to make the Mac play well with the cache programs. My Mac has a DVD drive, but that is of little use with City Select. Thanks for your ideas; sounds like I'll be looking for an external drive for the PC, though. Rats.

Recently, I found a very fine cache, well hidden in the lower branches of a ponderosa pine. However, the ammo box was hung on the end of a fresh ten inch metal tent stake that had been driven into the tree. My daughter was sad because of potential damage to the tree, which I know may or may not be an issue, but I'll bet it will be an issue to the logger that hits the stake with his chainsaw long after the cache has been forgotten. Not sure if I'm being AR about this, but I wonder if there are any guidelines other than common sense.

The Mythbusters idea is a good one, if for no other reason than to make folks aware that this can happen, rarely or not. I had a NiMH AA – or was it a AAA? – burst in a wireless mouse. Killed the mouse, scared me half to death, and left quite a scar on my desk.

This may have been discussed, but I've been unable to find the thread. I've waited for the latest version of City Select North America to be released, which apparently has happened. However, the medium is DVD, and there is no DVD drive on my geocaching computer. Am I stuck with buying an external drive in order to use the new software? I've called Garmin, but have been unable to tolerate the long hold time. I hate it when my electronics turn into doorstops!

So, someone tell me about geocoins. Are they for trading? Collecting? Are they just like travel bugs? I found one in a cache and passed it on, but now I wonder if I should have held onto it. I've searched the geocoin section of the forums and have found little clear information. Thanks!

When I was young, my father, a teacher, took us to many interesting places during summer vacation. One of the highlights of any camping trip was when he'd set up a treasure hunt for us. (I learned to use a compass when I was about six years old.) The treasure was usually a candy bar or some such treat, but the real joy was in the search. When I ran into geocaching a year or so ago, the whole treasure hunt adventure came rushing back. My teenage daughters are hooked now, too, though we still do low-tech hunts once in awhile. Dad would have loved this sport!

All you need is a proper cairn, the right number of sunwise circles, and the" time between times" and you've got the whole time/space portal thing taken care of. Piece of cake! Now that I think of it, a cairn cache would be perfect; if you worked it just right, there'd be no maintenance at all. Check out Stephan R. Lawhead's book, The Paradise War. Fiction, granted, but I'm afraid that ship sailed quite awhile ago.

I just reread my own post above, and realised the first two questions might be a little vague. They refer to the website itself, not the use of a gps. I'd like to search the site for cache locations relative to a specific street address. I understand how to do this using zip codes, keywords, and so forth, but I don't see how to search using an address as the starting point. I hope that hasn't confused things even more. Thanks for your patience.

Two questions: - I see on the website that I should be able to search for caches by entering an address, yet I see no opportunity to do this. What really obvious thing am I missing this time? - Can I adjust the size of the search area reported when I enter a zip code or other set of parameters? Can I do areas of one mile, three miles, five miles, etc. from a given point? - OK, three questions. I understand the need to ask permission to set a cache on private property. Having determined that a spot isn't private, do folks really go to the trouble of contacting the appropriate authorities (BLM, USFS, etc.) before setting up shop? The national park restriction makes sense, but if you have to scramble for official sanction every time a cache needs setting, it seems it would take away some of the fun and spontaneity of the sport/ game/ whatever. Is there an unspoken "Don't ask; don't tell" philosophy?

You folks probably get pretty tired of hashing over the postiives and negatives of the various brands of gps units, and I suspect the comparisons are mostly personal preference, not major flaws in one design or another. I have some specific questions about perceived differences, though: If I were to purchase, let's say, an eXplorist 400 with a 32 mb flash card, do I have access to all 32 mb of maps once I've installed them on the card? The 400 apparently has either 8 or 16 mb of internal memory; do I end up with a total of IM - plus - card as my useable capacity, or is the unit limited to using the size of the IM at a given time? Garmin's units all seem to use AA batteries, while some Magellans have gone to proprietary rechargables. It seems to me that having a couple extra AAs in my pack would be much simpler than keeping a spare rechargable at the ready. Is this a green issue, or is it just personal preference? It seems that dealing with nonstandard batteries sets one up for a fall when they are no longer available. I have heard that Magellan's maps are sometimes rather inaccurate, especially when magnified to great detail. I have no experience with these maps or with Garmin's. Does either company provide a better product, or are the differences so minor as to not be a concern? Lastly, I hope to purchase units for each of my daughters and for myself from either Garmin or Magellan. What is the policy for multiple users within a family regarding map set use? I would rather not have to buy three copies of the maps if I can avoid it. Thanks for your feedback. There is a lot to learn in this game!

Test 1

I borrowed a Garmin Legend C last summer, and enjoyed it thoroughly. However, because of the extra cost of the map sets, I returned it, and am now searching for a Garmin V. This is an older unit, w/ monochrome display and 19mb of non-expandable memory. However, it comes with a code number to unlock and install a complete set of maps off the net at no extra cost. The unit will run a bit more than $200, but you won't have to pop for the extra maps, which seem to run around $100. And you'll end up with a unit that will double as a street map set, too. I'm pretty cheap, and this seems like a reasonable direction to go.

Never been expoosed to PI, But PO and I get along just fine. Rumor has it that about ten percent of us are immune, but that may be just rumor. Glad to have avoided it, regardless.

I earned Eagle in 1971 as a member of troop 258 in the San Gabriel Valley Council in S. California, and was a Brotherhood member of OA. Scouting laid the foundation for who I was to become. (I'm reasonably sure that was a good thing!) I'm amazed to see how many Eagles and other ranks have responded to this thread, but I guess I shouldn't be; geocaching is just the sort of activity that appeals to Scouts, both young and, um, less young. We were taught to keep our eyes open, our brains active, and to get our sorry carcasses outside whenever possible. Geocaching is perfectly suited to us. (Incidentally, I was also a Brownie; my mother was a Girl Scout leader in my older sister's troop, and I was dragged to all of their activities. I think I still have my beanie around here somewhere...)

I'm on the verge of purchasing a GPS unit, but am curious about certain issues: I borrowed a friend's Garmin 5, and took advantage of its detachable antenna and magnetic roof mount. Are there other, more current units that offer this feature? Also, is there a current model that includes the more detailed maps available on the 5, without putting out another $100+? Is there a significant difference in accuracy between Garmin and Magellan units? According to their PR, Magellan is more precise, but I'd like to know what real-life use has shown. I'd be using the unit for both city street location and geocaching. I enjoyed using a borrowed Garmin eTrex Legend C last summer to do some caching in the eastern Sierras. The color screen was nice, but is it worth the cost? Are these later-model units much more accurate and easy to use than their predecessors? Thanks for any information you might provide. Slainte