The_Brownies

Sometimes things may be taken out of context due to the tone in which the message was written. If I see a log that gripes a little bit, I will investigate the claim and prove or disprove the validity of the claim. However, most of the time I just ignore the post. It's not worth loosing any sleep over.

Basically the term means the cache is no longer active. I.e. you cannot log a find to it. You can still view the page, and read why the cache was archived. If someone did find the cache, their log would remain on the archive page which is good because if this did not happen some of my find stats would start going down.

Curious? I'm a software tech, and in order to authorize software you need to punch in a keycode that we generate. Why not have Groundspeak create a logbook code to go along with the cache number at the time the cache is approved. The owner then places that number in the front of their caches logbook and when someone finds the cache, they need to write down that number. Then when they log the find, to verify the find, they punch in the logbook number. Maybe someone else has thought of this already.. It's just a thougt..

Bri -- Have you submersed the logs in water for a couple hours? My bet is the ink will run, but it was simply not exposed long enough to the water. The only reason I say you need to use a Laser Jet printer or Photo copier is because when I first started creating waterproof logs, the biggest thing mentioned in all the threads I read was not to use an inkjet printer because the ink will run when exposed long enough to moisture. If you think about it does make sense. Inkjet sprays on ink but the toner is burned on. The paper is waterproof, i.e. is has a waterproof texture. If you spray ink onto it, my guess is that it exposed long enough to water, the ink will run. Who Knows, Maybe the National Geographic AP is different. My experience has only been with Rite as Rain paper and Laser Jet has been the only successful thing in printing out logs.

Why purchase a waterproof micro container when your altoid tin will due? Sounds like you need to use waterproof paper. I've made a lot of micro logs and I never have had a wet logbook since I started using waterproof paper. Even if it get's wet you can dry off the log and write on it. No plastic bag needed to keep it dry. Look for an a RITE AS RAIN distributer near your. One last note. You will need to print the logs using a Laser Printer, or print out the Micro Log on normal paper using an InkJet Printer, and then go to Kinko's and copy the Micro Log on to the Waterproof Paper with the use of a photo copier. If you try and print the logs onto the Waterproof Paper using the inkjet printer, the ink will run off when exposed to water. Laser Printers & copiers burn the toner onto the paper and the toner will never run. A cool test of the wp paper is to print out a micro log and then dunk it into a glass of water. Take it out and dry it. Wa la -- the log is dry again and you may easily print on it. Rite as Rain website

Not as hard as you think. Hold down the Goto Button to create a Way Point. Punch in the Coordinates, and the log description and save it. It's just that easy. I suggest creating a second way point with your home as the coords. This way if you want to go after a cache, you simply goto the compass screen. Then press the Menu Button. Use the arrow keys and scroll down to routes. Add your home as the starting point, adn the cache as the ending point. The last thing to do is activate the route and you are on the hunt. Suggest that you get a link cable and easygps from GC.com Then you simply download the cache coords and upload them into your magellan. FYI - The CD that came with your Meridian has all of the info about routes and waypoints on it.

When you create your log, use waterproof paper. I've made a lot of micro logs and I never have had a wet logbook since I started using waterproof paper. Even if it get's wet you can dry off the log and write on it. No plastic bag needed to keep it dry. Look for an a RITE AS RAIN distributer near your. If you don't, count on replacing the log due to mositure sometime during the cache's life. One last note. You will need to print the logs using a Laser Printer, or print out the Micro Log on normal paper using an InkJet Printer, and then go to Kinko's and copy the Micro Log on to the Waterproof Paper with the use of a photo copier. If you try and print the logs onto the Waterproof Paper using the inkjet printer, the ink will run off when exposed to water. Laser Printers & copiers burn the toner onto the paper and the toner will never run. A cool test of the wp paper is to print out a micro log and then dunk it into a glass of water. Take it out and dry it. Wa la -- the log is dry again and you may easily print on it. Rite as Rain website Here is the link to the Micro Log on GC.com Click Here This is My MC Log Doc.. Pg.1 is the front & pg3 is the back. Generally after I print the title page (pg1), I will flip the page and use pg3 of my MC doc to add the log date / user columns to the backside of the mc log. Hope this helps..

When one thinks of micro conatiners we think of the obvious, Pill Bottles, Altoid Cans, 35M Film Canister, Fake Rocks, etc. In my past experience I have seen other more unconventional items used. * Electical Outlet Boxes with a pull off cover plate. (around $4.00 to make) * Popup Sprinklers (around $1-$2) * Haven't seen this but a dental FLOSS container. * Glue (paste) Sticks where you rolled out the log. * Metal or Platic Fence Post Caps with a Film Canister Glued to them. * Salt and Pepper Shakers. * Waterproof Match Container (around $1.00) Along with the containers comes the question of logbooks. Ths biggest issue I have encountered is soggy log books so here is a tip. Whatever the container is, always make sure that the log books are made from waterproof Paper. I get mine at a local art supply store for around .08 cents a sheet and I use a laser printer to create approx 4 -5 log logbooks per sheet. Inkjet printers will not work. With a laser printer the toner is actually burned onto the paper. Ink jet printers blow the ink onto the paper and it tends to run off with a little moisture. What if you do not have a laser printer? Use a photocopier. It will do the same thing.

Hmm -- I can think of four old railroad trails and forgotton Highway tunnels. 1) The Coal Miners Trail is a cool little path in time. We placed Sarah's Happy Hollow There a couple years ago. 2) As mentioned above, the Iron Horse / John Wayne Trail, has also become a popular cache destination. I know of about 8 caches placed on it. 3) The Cowitche Canyon Trail in Yakima. It use to run from Yakima all the way to the town of Tieton, WA. Now it's just a great place to hike. Plus it has got some really inventive caches located in it, like We Three Sages, and Ghost Rails #4. 4) Finally, the old Yakima Canyon Highway Tunnel near Selah WA. ElkMilk hid a cache there and it prooved to be quite an interresting hunt.

TNLN = Took Nothing Left Nothing. TNLNSL = Took Nothing Left Nothing Signed Log. MPitS =? My Pits Stink? You got me on that one. Another one I use. TFTH - Thanks for the Hunt..

To what extreme have you gone to retrive a cache. Last year, in the middle of February, I remember taking off my shoes in 15 degree weather to wade a creek on the quest for a Two Wacky Whits cache. I found the cache and I did not get sick, but my wife thought that I had lost a few marbles. How about you?

I thought geocaching was about, if you take something, then you leave something. It does not say take something of equal value and leave something of equal value. Look at geocoins. Moun10bike put out over 1000 of these which cost him a little bit of money. How many people took the coin and left something that was equally as good. Sure there are some of us, Myself included, if I take a nice item, I leave a nice item. But let's not split hairs here. Instead let's try and educate new cachers. If it's a trash cache, then remove the garbage and leave good items, or leave trash for trash.

Seth and Jeremy were the stars, and it was a pretty good spot. There was also a geocaching spot ran on Traveler magazine on Friday 14 Nov 03.

Who absolutely hates what Groundspeak has done to the new cache lookup page (i.e. the page where you search for caches in your area). You use to only see caches that you have not found at the top, the ones you planted or found were at the bottom of the results. I don't know about you , but I hate this new design !!! what do you think of this recent change?

Micros are cool, and I tend to use them sparingly. The best part about micro's is they are cheap, I do not have to restock them, and they can proove rather difficult to find!! All of my micro's contain waterproof logs, and I keep a close eye on them, so if they do need servicing, I can do rather quickly and get them back out. With a large cache, people tend to take the good stuff and leave trash in return. Then I end up having to replentish the cache, only to have the same thing happen again. Face it. People are getting tired of constantly replacing trash with good items. If most geocachers would start taking something of good quality and leaving something of equal value, you might see a decline in micro's. Personally, I have started making my bigger caches harder to find by converting them into multi leg caches with the cache at the end filled with good items. Kind of a reward.

Already came up with my own list...

Haven't decided if I was going to put it out or not. They are cool but if I do, it will not go in a cache around here. Most likely it's going to travel to Europe and turn up in a geocache there. Moun10bike should have put a pattend out on the name geocoin. He'd probably be rich from all of the royalties from all the geocoin spinoffs. If I were MB I would see if I could still do this and then go after anyone who is selling them for profit. It would be probably be a slam dunk case in the courts since a lot of webpages talking about geocoins refer to Mount10bikes geocoins as the bases for their coins.

Hey, I will be heading down to Longview for a few days and I want to hit some caches on the way down. If someone could give me a list of caches to hit on my trip from Cle Elum WA to Longview WA and back, I would greatly appreciate it. Pappa Brownie..

Replentishing a cache is essentially the same thing. Are you not taking out items and exchanging them with other items? Yeah, Yeah, I know you are not referring to that. You are referring to the point when you see something in your cache that you want, is it alright for you to grab it from your cache. My thought on that is no or if you just have to have that item, put something back that is just as good or better than the item you took from your cache. This way your not taking away chance for other cachers to find good items. There are times, however when you should not take items. A signature item is definately one of these items I would never take out of my cache for myself. Personally, I don't know about you , but if I were to take an a signature item from a cache I planted, I would feel dirty. It would be like I did not actually earn the item. I just took it because it was in my cache. On the same token, if I just have to have the signature item, I then actively search for that signature item in a cache I have not found and make it a priority to hit that cache ASAP before anyone else gets to that cache. This way when I do get it, it is something I earned. Not something I ripped off. There are times when you need to remove items. I could see removing razor blades, food, candy, or any non appropriate item from a cache, but other than that, leave your cache contents alone, unless you are replentishing it. [This message was edited by The_Brownies on February 13, 2003 at 01:11 PM.]

Wish I was in Jersy. I'd love to hit some of your caches.

Bri -- Now you have seen examples of good micro's, maybe it's time for you to show the cachers in your neck of the woods what a truely good micro cache can be like. Pick out a good topic like the Civil war, or Coloniel America and make a new micro series that will give everyone a good history lesson. Be inventive and try to make them a true adventure. Trust me, you will be rewarded by the logs you reveive. Plus, someone in your area might get some ideas from you, and start placing cool micro's that you can hunt. Remember, education and leading by example are the keys to success.

You obviously have not experienced a good micro Bri.. I take pride in my micro's... Before I place a cache, regardless, micro or normal, I carefully think out the reason for the cache, then I research the topic, I.e. I go to the library and find out a little bit about what the micro is going to be about. Then I carefully compose my cache page with a bunch of good information which I hope will give my fellow cachers a little bit of history and to educate them on their adventure to find the cache. I have been on some mirco's that have been no brainers. I.e. Here's the cache, and try and find where I dropped this micro. Personaly, I do not like these types of caches but I hunt them none the less. The people who place these types of micro's obviously are the people you are talking about. So before you pass judgement on all micro's you first need to experience a good micro. Here are just a couple, and I hope you see how micro's can be just as compelling to find as the larger containers. Labyrinth Frozen In Time Touch and Go CopyCat #1 A Beautiful Mind" Part V Confluence Conundrum A Beautiful Mind" Part I Worldly Reflection One additonal note. After 10 or so regular caches, I find that a micro is a lot easier to maintain. Normally I stuff my regular caches with quality items. However, cachers do not tend to exchange items of equal value so I get junk in my containers which I have to weed out and replace. If cachers would do an equal exchange, I.e. good items in, good items out, then I probably would hide a lot more larger caches. Right now when I hide these caches, I tend to make them somewhat hard to find to cut down on the visits. In short the reason I prefer micro's is because a log file is a lot easier to maintain than an entire cache. Plus they can be placed just about anywhere, and they can be a lot more challenging than a large cache could ever hope to be. [This message was edited by The_Brownies on February 11, 2003 at 09:52 AM.]

You already know that you can go cache hunting without a GPS. But we all forget Geocaching is simply an offshute of the old sport of Letter Boxing and there are just a couple of these caches out there. Of course you will need your own stamp and log book. But other than that, the concept is the same minus all the trinkets.

When I first stated putting out caches, I use to make them large ones. However, they can be a pain to maintain due to the ease of find and the fact that some cachers have taken out the good stuff and not replaced them with items of equal value. Now I tend to hide Micro caches a lot more, and if I want to put out a large cache, I tend to make it a lot harder to find. This way I will have fewer finds, but the people who do find the large cache will be rewarded for their efforts because it's filled with a lot of very good items.

Yes and No...Sometimes it makes me think would my time have been better spent doing something else.