Tassie_Boy

As much as that sort of attitude is around at times it probably isn't worth paying too much attention to. The truth is that there just ISN'T 5 million premium members, they'd be very lucky to have half a million. As for anything else, I don't believe that a premium cache could possibly be any better than a standard one so your not really missing out there, notifications are probably great if you're into the ftf game but otherwise you're not missing much and same with anything else, if you use it then it's probably worth paying for. Personally there isn't anything I can need from a PQ that I can't get from the map.

April it's starting to cool off a bit so the snakes in some areas are probably not going to be as active as the middle of summer, they are normally scared off by your footsteps anyway and you should be Fine if you don't go poking them with sticks, it really annoys them. Be careful lifting rocks and logs, that's where you'll normally find spiders when geocaching. What I'd be more worried about if you had into rainforest areas is leaches, carry a packet of matches with you and if you are bitten watch the site, it's not unusual for it to become infected especially if it's just dropped off an old roo or a mangey wombat. speaking of wombats, I just noticed the post above and the grumpy old sods will go you if they take a disliking to you, they're not as cuddly as most think. Most important thing is just to have fun and don't stress. Doesn't sound like you're heading north so you don't need to worry about crocs at all.

What do you expect the volunteer reviewers to do when someone reports a "bad cache"? The volunteer reviewers assess compliance with the guidelines. They do not assess quality. They do not want to assess quality. "Bad" comes in many flavours but a bad "quality" cache often leads to a "plain Bad" cache that is wet and strewn across the paddock, surely if a cache or even caches by the same CO keep coming up for maintenance then it's fair to ask them to stop flogging the same dead horse which obviously isn't working. Then there's abandoned caches where the owner has given up the game. It's quite normal to see someone leave the game with several caches still out there and just like an abandoned building a small issue quickly leads to large issues and it doesn't take long for the list of owned caches to fill with spanner icons and the risk opens up of one or two of them ending up in the cycle of "oh cache missing, we'll leave another one" only for it to turn to poo because nobody is responsible for it which turn to "oh cache missing, we'll leave another one". Why not just archive them all and make a game of it called "Last to Find" where the winner gets to souvenir what ever they want from the cache and then bin the rest. Result in both cases is that average quality of caches in the wild rises so theoretically better caches are put out by those placing caches for the first time because what they've seen is better in the first place. A photo for the reviewer at submission time would also give them a chance to question the quality of the container, that may not currently be their job by if it saves them work in the future. Get stuffed! We've all seen it in topic after topic after topic that someone perceives an issue, generally with new geocachers, and 999 Times out of 1000 the suggested answer is "make ... PM only" like paying $30 makes you some kind of special geocaching god who suddenly does no wrong. Well wrong! PM's still create (if you can call it that) bad caches, they still lose/hoard TB's, they still don't read descriptions. All being PM proves is that they can use a payment system to transfer money from their own bank account to that of Groundspeak's. Same goes for high find cachers. there are many out there who have done the hard work and got thousands of fair dinkim finds over the years of all different types in many different places, but we all know there are plenty who rack up their count with wee easy finds every 500 odd feet. Is three thousand film canisters really better than a hundred finds that took hunting, especially when we know that many of these types of cachers will pass over caches with difficulties of more than one because they take too long to find (i.e more than thirty seconds). If you want higher quality hides its going to take work from cachers, hiders and reviewers. First cachers need to report bad caches in the first place, a reviewer can't take action if nothing is said. Also, if it's a really bad cache (a plastic bag crammed between a sign and it's post) don't log it as found at all, many many found logs only suggests that this sort of thing is ok. At the stage where potential caches are submitted for review why not have a requirement for a photo of the container to be used at the potential cache site. This gives the reviewer more to go on than some text on a form that is easy to fudge. When I was at school we had a "moderation" day once a year. Basically we got the day off but the teachers got together with teachers from all the other schools to make sure they were all marking at the same level. Ground speak could do a similar thing here. Send out a fictitious submission (a case study if you like) to a group of reviewers and see how they act on it, make sure everyone is on the same page. There's plenty of options for improving caches and you should learn the game and get a feel for it before hiding but an arbitrary number or a title that you pay to get will not improve things at all. No need to be rude and tell me to get stuffed because of my opinion. Be civil about it, just because we don't agree about the subject does not make me right or you wrong. I did not start out as a PM hiding PMO caches. I started out as a basic member leaving TB's in caches just to see them end up missing. I started giving back to the community by hiding nice caches, then ammo can theft became an issue. I see the 0 finds and 1 hide users often on another listing service, and most of the time it is because their geocache was rejected by a volunteer reviewer here. I have a good feel for geocaching with a few hundred placements, and I have made all of my listings here PMO and I have stopped placing new hides. I only seek PMO hides, and there is a difference, and I favor Waymarking and Virtual geocaching over seeking Alotids tins under lamp skirts. Been there, done that, formed my own opinion with experience that I have gained as a geocacher. Apologies for coming across a bit course but the sentiment still stands, a $30 payment does not make anyone a better cacher and while that solution may work in your area it does affect everyone be it the next valley over or the other side of the world where that sort of thing is not such an issue and it ends up stuffing everyone about. People seem to forget what it's like to be new to something and that in learning new skills/hobbies you are going to make mistakes. One way or another people need to learn what to do when finding a cache, what works and doesn't when placing a cache. Any other hobby it's easy because there's others around to show you what to do but Geocaching is generally a solo effort so you need to expect more of what the more experienced would call mistakes. And before you say it Yes there are those who are out only to make trouble but you will get that with anything you do whether they are actually involved or not.

Get stuffed! We've all seen it in topic after topic after topic that someone perceives an issue, generally with new geocachers, and 999 Times out of 1000 the suggested answer is "make ... PM only" like paying $30 makes you some kind of special geocaching god who suddenly does no wrong. Well wrong! PM's still create (if you can call it that) bad caches, they still lose/hoard TB's, they still don't read descriptions. All being PM proves is that they can use a payment system to transfer money from their own bank account to that of Groundspeak's. Same goes for high find cachers. there are many out there who have done the hard work and got thousands of fair dinkim finds over the years of all different types in many different places, but we all know there are plenty who rack up their count with wee easy finds every 500 odd feet. Is three thousand film canisters really better than a hundred finds that took hunting, especially when we know that many of these types of cachers will pass over caches with difficulties of more than one because they take too long to find (i.e more than thirty seconds). If you want higher quality hides its going to take work from cachers, hiders and reviewers. First cachers need to report bad caches in the first place, a reviewer can't take action if nothing is said. Also, if it's a really bad cache (a plastic bag crammed between a sign and it's post) don't log it as found at all, many many found logs only suggests that this sort of thing is ok. At the stage where potential caches are submitted for review why not have a requirement for a photo of the container to be used at the potential cache site. This gives the reviewer more to go on than some text on a form that is easy to fudge. When I was at school we had a "moderation" day once a year. Basically we got the day off but the teachers got together with teachers from all the other schools to make sure they were all marking at the same level. Ground speak could do a similar thing here. Send out a fictitious submission (a case study if you like) to a group of reviewers and see how they act on it, make sure everyone is on the same page. There's plenty of options for improving caches and you should learn the game and get a feel for it before hiding but an arbitrary number or a title that you pay to get will not improve things at all.

Half thought through already, although the actual travelling part worries me a bit. Since I want one key to come from overseas and the other to come from interstate there'd be a big sign on the lid & cache page & TB page telling them to leave the keys in the box when they shut it up and I'd deal with getting it back out there. Thanks for the insight anyway guys, will have a chat to a reviewer later to see what they think, if not then I might trial it on GCA and see what response it gets from cachers in the field.

Thanks, that's not a bad idea, hadn't thought to put them elsewhere as mysteries.

I have an idea for a cache and I need feedback/opinions/help. Please bare in mind that this is in the idea stage only. The plan is to build one large box out of plate steel that has a sign on top as a lid ( Sign would give local historical information or something along those lines depending on the site). The lid would be hinged at the top and latches at the bottom just to make it a bit of a challenge to get into. Inside would be divided into several compartments. 1st would be open and contain the cache logbook, swag etc, all the usual things you find in a cache. The 2nd compartment would have a lid on it, have it's own log and be locked. 3rd would be inside the 2nd and get the same treatment, Lid, Log and Locked. Keys to compartments 2 & 3 would be either part of TBs or contained in other containers to make multi's. Idea being that anyone can get into 1, only a few lucky cachers can get into 2 and only a very few very lucky cachers that can get hold of both keys at the same time can get into 3. I realise that with this idea there are cache saturation issues so I'm wondering how flexible the saturation rules are?

I'd suggest play the game for a while and see how it works in the field before worrying too much about personal signature items and trackables. This allows you to see what others use and see what does and doesn't work. It also lets you develop what you could call a "caching personality" letting you choose an item that truly fits the way you cache rather than the first thing you find at the Two Dollar shop.

The founders addresses are in a couple of public records. If you know where to look you can find them. A couple years ago I was curious and look up the addresses on Google Maps Street View. They were your typical middle class homes in your typical middle class neighborhoods. Nothing special. If they are making millions and millions of dollars from running a website then they sure aren't living like it. Ok that's a little bit creepy!

Actually no and same goes for any other private business out there, what Groundspeak do with the money they make had nothing to do with you. You are simply a customer for their services, IF you don't like the way they operate your option is to discontinue using their services and this only changes if you are some form if shareholder in the company, a creditor or the US tax man.

Few years ago now myself and my girlfriend decided to pack up and travel the country, sort of troop where we had a start date and a place we were headed to first and see how we went with the rest. All was fine for the few months, then we moved on to the next stop, Albany Wa. Her grandparents live there so they were our back up if things didn't work out and thank God they were there. Work was scarce because all the grey nomads and backpackers were landing in town due to cross being wiped out on the east coast and the House sits we were relying on for accommodation came to almost nothing. Or relationship was suffering. I'd looked at geocaching in the past but never got into it due to not having any gear and for some reason remembered about it while out on one of my many long walks cooling off. Got back Home, looked up the website and thought it was a great idea, even talked the gf into it, she loves puzzles. Picking up geocaching and having an outlet helped us through that very rough time. Even though I do most of the caching in this house now we still plan caching days out on the rate occasions we both have a day off and love it just as much as we ever did.

Ok this sounds very serious and if it is affecting you and your family that much it may be time to ask yourself if geocaching is really that important to you. You say that he only has contact with you via the web, so cut your losses and keep it that way before he finds out how to make personal contact. This game is nowhere near as important an the safety of you or your family.

By your quoted definition, you meant to say it had already come and gone on the thirteenth of December, 11. As in 11AD. You beat me to it

It's been old for 4 years. I imagine it must be old to keep saying it. I used to take offense back when I had my 3GS. Today, when someone bashes me for using an iphone, I laugh, roll my eyes, and know better. I wish I could stalk other peoples profile,,,I mean, contact other cachers from my app. That time will come. I use geowatch to watch my friends logs and finds. I have my bookmark lists set up and my PQs are on auto generate. I only crack open my PQ list when traveling. And when I need to, it takes about 30 seconds to run one. I remember heading off to Rainier and noticing the internet signal dying. I pulled over, ran a quick query for the area, it downloaded instantly to my iPhone, and back to the mountain I went. I, at one point in time had thousands of caches on my iPhone. Close to 20000. In addition to the many more I can find on the fly. Moun10bike called me a 'heavy user" at one time and it made me smile. I'd like to think I'm a bit more than a casual cacher. Just a bit. In fact, I know I am. And I have no problems getting dirty or wet or muddy or injured while geocaching! Just last week, on my last cache, I slipped and fell into a huge pile of muck. It was disgusting. I thought I broke my arm initially as I couldn't move it for 10 mins or so. I was covered in mud. Huge bruises on my arm and leg. Gold iPhone? Just fine. I wiped the mud off the screen, and found the micro cache. In the forest. With a dead arm! Somehow, I managed to make the find. Did I mention it was a puzzle I had solved on my iPhone while at Starbucks? I use the microphone button to compose my logs, and send them or pend them via field notes. If they are longer, I'll finish them off with my iPad. Usually I'll finish up my logs when I'm eating lunch, or on the top of the mountain chilling out. Funny, my compass works just fine too! It's an awesome miracle! I beg to differ on the better functionality though. I have an app that can do just about anything I need it to do. Granted, my Garmin is pretty basic, but who needs more when my iPhone is superior? My garmin has better topo maps (although I do have a fantastic topo map app on my phone). But what my Garmin really has that my iPhone doesn't is NWTrails. If I could get my hands on those for the iPhone......holy smokes! I'd be in heaven. Then the Garmin will stay off in the bag when I solo hike. Why would anyone bash you for using a Smartphone? I think that I have detailed my issues with phone caching in the other thread, but in a nutshell, I think it isolates new users and allows them to develop bad habits from the simple fact that they don't know any better. You are obviously an experienced cacher that has learned how to use your phone to your full advantage. You should be holding Phone app 101 presentations at your local events. One thing though, don't people go up on Mt. Rainier, get lost and die? I think that even if I had mastered my iPhone, I'd keep the Garmin and a bunch of batteries on hand, just in case. I really wish I could justify the expense for a smartphone because I have a feeling that I would be able to figure out how to use it as you do. Even so, I think I would want my dedicated GPS when on the trail. It's general bashing (figuratively speaking of course. Haven't actually had anyone lay into me for caching with my phone..... Yet ). I've only been coming to the forum for a few months and one of the first things I came across many, many statements proclaiming that caching with a phone was an evil thing and if it were allowed to continue then hell would rain down on us all. Ok so that's a bit broad but so are the comments made at times. New people are not going to kill the hobby, those not using a dedicated GPS are not going to bring an end to the world (apologies to the purists but the truth hurts sometimes). I've got 2 GPS receivers, one is about 7 years old and while a good machine came with a dicky cable so was always difficult to charge. The other is probably good for Bush walking but not great for the precision required to find a bod vial in an open paddock. On top of that is the controls that only seem to make sense after a week straight of fiddling. I think that a dedicated GPS is a powerful thing but for 98% off the caching I do the phone is a hell of a lot simpler and more than adequate for the job. Oh I realise things are probably different over there with data rates and such but if I NEED something off the website I fire up chrome and get what I need, Need data for the app so can use internet.

Wow, sounds like a fair bit of stuffing about. If I'm heading out somewhere and I think about it I might check the map on the website that morning and see what's around where I'm going, then pull up the map on the app when I'm there and go. Usually log from app aswell, so there, done. Might log in at Home to clear up lose ends on website like TBs but learnt how to do that in app today as well. Even if heading to an area without reception, check map on website then lad them up into offline list on phone and go from there Can still submit logs offline with the "submit later" function that's provided. While accuracy may have been an issue with older models it is getting better and a good phone is as good as (if not better than) a cheap dedicated receiver. Enough of the phone cacher bashing. Seriously. It's old. Play the game your way and let us pay it ours.

Let's think about this for a minute, $60 isn't that bad really. They want you to get a permit so they have some control over what's going on in their park. it needs to be hidden well so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, it needs to be maintained so it doesn't end up as rubbish spread over a mile of track. If there are any issues the ranger is generally the one who has to sort it out and that's where the cost is. If there's a report of rubbish on a track roughly where he knows there is a cache your permit fee I is paying for him to go and clean it up. He May even inspect after placement to check it meets his guidelines. It doesn't take long for these costs to add up very quickly and let's face it, you're government can't really afford to be spending money it doesn't need to.

Possible silly question but if he has got notification that it has been grabbed and managed to send off an irate email then why could he not log it for another month? Sounds like ignore it and continue on with life as it was and not worry about it.

How is having a dedicated GPS as a requirement going to help the situation at all? I've got two of the things and I still prefer to use the phone for a large majority of the caches I go looking for. There IS NOTHING WRONG with the phone app for finding and it is quite natural to use, which is important when people are just getting into the game. Handheld GPS receivers can take a fair bit of getting used to with it not always being clear what each button does or how to get around the interface. I've not used the intro app, I ended up buying the full Groundspeak app on day 1 but if it works the way it sounds like it does then they need the email verification before they can find anything. A short 5 question quiz to reinforce ideas like logging, proper replacement of the cache and CITO. Also a big fan of the limited caches idea, 10 or so is enough for a weekend or two of caching, enough for an idea if you like the game or not.

If the problem is that they have no internet outside of the resort to load up the caches, could they not load them up at the resort and save it to an offline list? Surely that's got to be easier than communicating what they see on the ground and what you see on the map via text message

That's all fair enough, I certainly wasn't considering binning it or just taking it out of circulation myself. Seeing the state and life of this bug had me wondering about orphans and geriatrics. With this crap weather we're getting overt the next few days I'm hoping to dip it in a cache I've had my eye on for a couple of weeks.

900? How the hell do you keep up with that many?

Ok ok I Get it

No the code was right, it matched up to what was supposed to be in the cache. Past logs indicate it lost whatever it was attached to a long time ago. Look for the record I'm not about to bin it, I intend to drop it in a cache but I am wondering if there is a retirement plan for these things, if I found a cache in a similar state with an awol Owner it would be archived. Are TBs destined to travel aimlessly and uselessly for evermore as there is no-one to look after it, nowhere for it to call Home?

G'day all, I don't normally hang around in this corner of the forum too often, mainly because Trackables have never been a huge part of the game for me. Till today of course. Took a TB that was in a cache I found today and to be perfectly honest, it's seen better days. It's just the dog tag, not even a chain attached to it and its stained and dented. Normally that wouldn't phase me too much but when looking into it it has no goal, no sort of description and reading through the old logs it looks like the owner never dropped it properly in the first place, it just appeared like a man that's lived in the jungle for 40 years. The owner has not been around for 18 months, not that that means much, he hasn't ever logged any finds (on this site anyway) but has moved/discovered 3 trackables. So the question is; Is there any sort of retirement plan for TB's? Is it acceptable for an orphaned, crippled TB to aimlessly wander the world or should they be put out of their misery? As I say, TBs aren't a huge part of my game, I can log them but that's about as much as I know about them, thoughts would be appreciated.

G'day noddy I also use the xperia z for caching and find it to be faultless, often using the offline list feature. What you need to do is go into the cache page in the app (search by bc code). then you need to refresh the page, this is due to a current bug in the system. After the refresh the option to"save to offline list" appears in the menu in the top right hand corner of the screen where you can put each cache in its own special list. I find it a little odd that the website had the option the "send to phone" but the link just sends you to a page about the app. Hope that helps mate.