NatureFish

Minor correction to team names, The group of cachers: Ed, The AlabamaRambler (AKA NatureFish) Max, 'Poppy' of Nonnypoppy Mike from Cache&Keri Mike, 'Golf' from GolfNutz Roland, darth_maul_3 Tammo, Spuchtfink Michael, MZielinski Carsten, geoPirat All caches were signed DRR (Dallas Record Run) for the team. Many thanks to all who helped put this together, and especially to my team-mates! Four Germans, four Americans, a big van and lots of geocaches to find - now that's a recipe for a great weekend! 24 Hours (9 a.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday, we broke the old record in the 18th hour!) 312 Caches, (yes, we found every one - not one was logged without signing) 44 DNFs 312 Miles More laughs than I can count Lots of wonderful memories = Priceless Thanks, Ed

I think you're most ALL missing the important point! The man is giving caches to cachers! Hey, I will say Thanks! if no one else will! Wal-Mart, K-Mart, your local camera shop or drug store have PILES of film cans they'll give away for the asking, so how's this any different? I can't see that cachers would be any more prone to hide a micro they got at GW4 than they would anyway. If hiding micros is a cacher's propensity, they will, if not, they won't, and this give-away likely won't affect their behavior! I do have to say thank you to Arkansas geocachers, though... When I attended an event there recently someone had a big bin of film cans, free for the taking. I was real proud to see about as many in the bin after the event as before it! Ed

Woohoo! Don't change a thing! I love it! I'll take 15 if you have this made! If you do make a change at all, have it say "Get in the Jeep, Billy!" around the edge. Ed

Sign me up for 4, please. Thanks, Ed

I like the idea about the Confederate flag evolving over time...though I am partial to the Naval Jack. The request for coins depicting events in Alabama makes me wonder if having one for every state where action took place would be cool? My suggestion is a Raiders coin - Wilson's Raiders, among others, slashed through the South after The War of Northern Aggression, destroying infrastructure so that the South could not recover and re-enter the fray. Most of the really neat scenes of such destruction throughout the South have or likely will have geocaches... I would love to have a Raider coin to put in them. Ed

You are very welcome, thank you for the kind words! Happy Holidays and New Year's best wishes to you and yours! I love this game, more particularly love the people that play it, and have gotten way more out of it than I can ever repay! Reviewing and listing new caches makes me smile - I usually review the que of new caches around 8 a.m., 3 p.m. and midnight and each time come away feeling good about the game and its players! It's been a great year and I know next year will be even better! Y'all have fun, see you on the trails, NatureFish

Marry Christmas, El Diablo, and thanks for a nice offer! I am a subscriber, love it, but will pass the info on to others I know who may not yets subscribe. Have a safe and happy holiday! Ed

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays wishes to all! What a wonderful year, wonderful group and exciting experience it's been! No matter how much I try to give to this game it seems that I always get more in return! Here's wishing you a safe and happy New Year! See you on the trails, Ed

As soon as your PM is activated navigate to "My Account" and build a Pocket Query on your area of interest - say your home coords or zip code. Based on the parameters you select when building your PQ this will result in a list of caches surrounding you. The PQ will be emailed to you. Spend a few more bucks and buy a program called Geocaching Survival Army Knife (GSAK) from www.gsak.com Open the PQ file emailed to you with the GSAK program. Select a cache that you want to visit. Right-click on that cache and select Set As Center Point. This will sort all of the caches in the PQ by distance and compass direction from the cache you are going to visit. You can get quite elaborite with this by using the filtering built into GSAK. If you know that you are going to try for that one cache and then be traveling north you can set it as center and then filter out all caches except those north of it! Have fun, Ed

Ditto! Really bad idea, please don't! Ths goes against every image of geocaching we are trying to show land managers!

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Multi-caches, a series of related caches where one leads to the next, are perfectly acceptable, as are notes in a cache that point to another unrelated cache, something like "While you are in the area, you may want to hunt for GCXXXX, just over the hill". Hope that helps!

First let me say thanks to all who support geocaching and who make the volunteer opportunity of being a Reviewer available - I love this game and the people who play it (well, MOST of you! ) and my experience as a reviewer has been great fun so far! That said, someone posted, and I have heard simular comments to the effect of . I beg to differ! Everything a Reviewer does is closely scrutinized by TPTB at Groundspeak, other Reviewers and the geocaching public. As a matter of fact, after a decade in the military and almost thirty years in corporate and government IT, I have never been as closely watched as I am as a Reviewer! The folks at Groundspeak obviously have a vested interest in us Reviewers, and while they do grant us certain powers and allow a certain degree of flexibility, there is little leniency in matters of professional demeanor and customer service (that's you!). They expect, nay demand, that all of us work on your behalf and treat geocachers always to the best of our ability. Trust me - they watch very carefully! Every Reviewer needs and wants the cooperation and respect of our peers, and every Reviewer has essentially tha same powers and responsibilities in every area, so we all interact and collaborate to assure that every Reviewer understands the guidelnes and enforces them as evenly as is possible. It isn't until you start caching in multiple areas of the country that you discover the vastly different attitudes and manner of playing this game - folks in Arkansas and Washington and Maine play the game differently and Reviewers have to adapt to that. Again - we work together but we also watch what each other does - If there is a bad actor among the volunteer Reviewers we'll most likely know it and fix it before you do! Much of the geocaching public has WAY too much time on their hands and spend quite a lot of it examining everything a fellow geocacher, and even moreso Reviewer, does or says. We embrace every level of education, every possible background, race, religion, you name a group or type and they are represented in this game. It seems every one of them watches Reviewers, sensitive to the slightest variation or interpretation of the guidelines! Again, everything we do is closely watched. All that is not to deny that we make mistakes or get into conflicts; we're human, sometimes we run across a geocacher that makes it difficult if not impossible to work with them - there are an amazing number of angry and or ugly people out there! Once a Reviewer tangles with one of these folk and does his best to satisfy them they often take, as is their right, to the forums to rant about their perceived mistreatment, and the Reviewers side of the issue is rarely accurately portrayed. If you have ever been involved in Customer Service you'll have some understanding that you can't please all the people all the time, though, like us volunteer Reviewers, you go way out of the way to try to do so. Finally, if you believe that the reviewer has acted inappropriately, you may send an e-mail with complete details, waypoint name (GC****) and links to the cache, to Groundspeak’s special address for this purpose: appeals@geocaching.com. TPTB at Groundspeak will review it and take appropriate action. Little oversight? We're the most-watched folks around! On the topic of anonymity, there are benefits that make it desirable to some of us. I chose a semi-anonymous account because I want to keep all correspondence and communications related to my Reviewing work seperate from my business or personal, and because I attend quite a lot of events and frequently geocache with others and want to be known and treated as just another geocacher. I watch the Reviewers that are known at events - they are inundated by geocachers looking to curry favor, wanting to discuss this or that issue, who want to complain about this or that, everything they do or say is sliced and diced for controversy - known reviewers are reviewers 24/7 and most would tell you they would, like me, like to just be a geocacher now and then! The original group of Reviewers weren't offered anonymity, and many wish they had been. New Reviewers make the choice, and almost all, like myself, at least start out anonymous. Certainly people are naturally curious, but only the somewhat paranoid or the conspiracy-theorist will see evil intent behind our choice of anonymity. Distrust of corporate and government actions is a good thing, if not carried beyond the realistic - in this case unrealistic is demanding to know who I am, what my find count is, what I have hidden and found, etc. Realistic expectations are: Do I know and understand the guidelines, will I enforce them evenly, on average do my publishing behaviors show me to be dedicated to helping cachers get good caches placed? Am I here to help the community and support the game? Am I able and willing to help submitters modify guideline-violating listings such that they meet the guidelines and can be approved? Those are the things that matter. Lastly on this matter, Groundspeak Reviewers are less volunteers than recruits. Groundspeak and the Reviewer community watch for geocachers that are continuously active contributors to the game over periods of years, that are active in community building, that host and attend events, that have a history of helpful and instructive posts in the geocaching.com and local forums - in other words people that are respected among their peers and have a reputation as leaders and helpers. When there is a need in an area for a Reviewer local cachers are examined - without their knowledge - by TPTB at Groundspeak AND by the entire community of Reviewers. Local well-known active cachers may be contacted to get their opinions, recomendations or words of caution. Any issues are examined and, if the majority so votes, a phone call made to the unsuspecting candidate to see if he's willing (silly enough) to volunteer his/her time. You can't ask to be a Reviwer, and those that do are looked upon with suspicion as they are likely promoting some agenda! I work hard, as a geocacher, to promote and support the game and its players, just because that's what I enjoy. I was stunned when I got a phone call asking me to be a Reviewer, and even more so when I discovered how much effort had been made to vet me as a candidate before that call was made. Reviewers are not sycophants - we aren't examined on how much we agree with Groundspeak on anything but the guidelines. I have never met Jeremy or Hydee, I met Nate Irish for maybe two minutes at an event, I know only three other reviewers, and them peripherally...so it's not an "old boy" community by any stretch of the imagination. We all, by our very nature, are quite vocal and independant. Suck-ups need not apply, as Groundspeak encourages and listens to the beliefs, needs and opinions of geocachers and Reviewers alike, even, perhaps especially, when we disagree. As a result of that experience I cringe when I hear geocachers demanding that we all be public personalities. I know that the Reviewer body is examined, watched closely, and each has earned the trust invested in him or her. I think that ought to be all one needs to know about a Reviewer!

post kilt by sender

I may have a warped sense of humor, but this is the funniest geocaching story I have ever read! Sorry it happened, but oh my how funny! I can just see city leaders trying to explain to some excited citizen that "No, that black plastic film can is not a golden spike!"

Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and Scouts. Scout Leaders hold a special place in my heart as the volunteers that dedicate, and in this case give, their lives to teach our children to be good and prepared citizens. Few if any volunteers in any activity give as much love, time, effort and money to our children as do our Scout Leaders, and I am ever grateful to them. There is a lesson to be learned from any tragedy, however, and since this game often attracts urbanites to camping out it bodes well for all of us to remember that no structure should ever be erected under power lines. NF

Simular to the rope-and-pulley mentioned above, a neat one here uses green spider-wire fishing line thrown over a high branch. The line forms a loop that hangs down the tree tunk - you have to reel the cache down, sign it and reel it back up. The container is a brown bison tube.

Well, dunno about you, being trained and all, but I sure as heck don't want an M80 going off in my hand, or anywhere near me if it's in a metal (shrapnel-producing) container! But that's just me, I don't have any training in this area. My uncle does, a bird-colonel in Army EOD, and he's taught me a few tricks - mainly don't handle anything that might go boom casually. As to public caches requiring stealth, we have lots of them and love 'em! One is a magnetic keyholder on a No Parking sign in front of a retail store where the owner works - the challenge is to get it during business hours without being seen through the plate-glass store-front. This is in strip mall where the parking lot and sidewalk has constant traffic. All of the neighboring store's employees watch for cachers and love to bust 'em! Three are ammo boxes on the edge of corporate parking lots, where the owner can see you from his office window. Gotta get one of them during business hours without being seen to log it, and the whole building watches and calls the owner if a geocacher is seen trying to sneak in. You would not believe some of the disguises geocachers have concocted to get this one! One is a toy store with a scrolling sign - you watch the sign long enough and it will scroll coords to the next stage, for all the world to see (most geocachers miss it because it's so unexpected!) I did a multi this weekend where one stage of a multi is a picture in an art gallerywindow - with the geocaching logo and coords to the next stage painted on it... again, geocachers spend lots of time scouring the parking lot and building face, much to the amusement of the owner inside! I believe that the more the public knows about our game the less problems we'll have, and as the Public Information Contact for the AGA spend quite a lot of my time promoting and advertising the game. Stealth, to me, really only comes into play when the cache should not be there!

Please reconsider, or restate honestly, your motivations here. Most geocachers abhor litter, and as a group we do a fairly good job of practicing our CITO ethic. With so much legitimate trash to be collected it's interesting that you would focus on geocaches that you deem to be trash. If you were truly concerened you would be out on the roadside cleaning visible trash, not off in the woods hunting hidden. If you want to make a positive difference, organize CITOs, clean up roadsides and parks - there are any number of ways to make the world a better place and yourself a better citizen. The concept of "Doing bad to do good" is as old as man and is always misguided. Becoming a cache thief in order to clean up your part of the world should, on the very face of it, make you think that you need to rethink your plan of attack. I do not deny that there exist trashy and/or poor caches, but they are such a small minority that your focus on them reveals way more about your mental capacity and emotional stability than if you express your beliefs by properly addressing the much larger issues. Nobody likes a thief, no matter what your motives may be. Thieves that are caught, and if you do this enough you will be, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Turn that same focus and effort to positive, helpful, legal means and you will find a supportive community that together can help you accomplish your stated goals.

Way too many! 700w Inverter cabled to battery EarthMate GPS cabled to laptop Laptop with power cable TV with power and antenna cables, roof-mount antenna CB with power and antenna cables, roof-mount antenna Kenwood mobile dual-band ham rig with power and antenna cables, roof-mount antenna Kenwood Handi-Talkie (portable) dual-band ham rig with power and antenna cables, roof-mount antenna ICOM Handi-Talkie tri-band ham rig with power cord Cell phone with charger and antenna cables, roof-mount antenna Dash-mount speaker for CB, and cable Dash-mount speaker for ham, power and radio cables Ray-O-Vac 15 min. battery charger Magellan Meridian Platinum with power cable Magellan Meridian Basic (I keep found waypoints in the MeriBase and Unfound in the MeriPlat, which has a compass) Palm Tungsten T5 and charger Sony Clie and charger Digital camera with power and computer cables. Unwired stuff includes 4 FRS/GMRS Radios 2 Headlamps 4 D-cell handheld flashlights 2 dry-cell (the big square thingies) flashlights Electronic compass Seriously - all that and more is in my truck every trip! And, believe it or not, I use every bit of it!

What briansnat said - Bears aren't the issue, having permission from land management would be. Is this public-use land? If not, does whoever runs the monitoring station have contact info on the sign? Even a gov't department name?

Geocaching at night, in strange places, in small groups, with out-of-state license plates, I get stopped regularly by the police. Never a problem, just explain the game, maybe they run my license, have a good day, off we go. One day I and a friend are hunting a cache that's in some woods adjacent to a school. Some kids - 4 kids around 8-10 years old, playing on the school's playground, see us and come into the woods to see what we're doing. I know trouble when I see it, so I tried to brush them off, tell them we're busy, scoot on back to your school. They walk a few yards away and, as kids will do, stop to watch. This time my partner and I tell them to move on, go back to the playground, and two do, two just move a bit further away. We really should have just gotten in the Jeep and split, but didn't. Next time I look up there are three seriously upset mommas standing there, hands on hips and fire in their eyes! I explained the game, showed them the cache page, told them we'd tried to send the kids back - they weren't buying it. We told them we were sorry for scaring them, asked them to warn the kids about approaching strangers in the woods, and left. Half the cop cars in the county descended on us before we'd gone a mile, and they were not a bit amused. After a thorough check-out of both of our ID, a search of the car AND insisting to be taken to the cache (we'd DNFd it, so we couldn't take them and show them - which did NOTHING to bolster our story!) they let us go with a stern warning both to never return and to have the owner remove the cache. Shortly thereafter caches in school proximity were banned, this one among others removed, and I fully support that decision. Not because of the cops; getting investigated is part of the game, but because we put ourselves in a compromising position and upset some moms pretty badly. I just can't see any benefit in attracting strangers, well-meaning as they may be, to school zones.

HooHoo! I dare ya! So far I have moved statue(s), bowling ball, brick and cement block TBs, I'd love to see what happens with a breadmaker! Have every finder make a loaf of bread with it and post their picture, bread and recipe! I say go for it!

If this guy has a TB out there you gotta know it just became an instant collectable! How long before we see it on eBay?

This game only works in an information paradigm - if we don't log DNFs we're not sharing crucial information! There's no embarrasment involved in not finding something, but I would be embarrassed if the geocacher after me wasted his time because I failed to log a DNF.