Lieblweb

I have a nearly brand new Magellan eXplorist GC that I'd like to sell. We bought it to hold us over until our Oregon arrived, and as it turns out, we only used this GPS one time, for about 2 hours yesterday. GPS comes in the original packaging, with the screen protector still attached and 2 Energizer AA batteries. It also includes a card for a free 30 day Premier Membership here at geocaching.com. It also comes with the USB data cable to hook the GPS to your computer to download all of your Pocket Queries. I'd like $100 shipped USPS Priority Mail anywhere in the US. Paypal only, please.

Question.... Are the premium member caches better to place trackables in and/or are less likely to get stolen/muggled from them? And is it 'wrong' to put a TB (owner is NOT a preimium member) into a cache that is a premium cache? They can still see its travels just not the coordinates - right? I enjoy picking up trackables and moving them along but I find myself perhaps being slightly picky about putting them in certain caches. As someone else already mentioned - the upkeep of the cache, the area its located, and the history of 'missing' TB's in the logs. The last thing I want to do is pick up a TB and put it inside a cache that's susceptible to get the TB muggled. I'm still new, but I'm assuming the premium member caches would be better to drop TB's? And, some of the nature hiking caches that require a good distance (1/2 mile, etc) to walk into - also seem better to put them in. ??? <Jandy>

My husband and I started with our iphone 4's a week ago and have found 58 caches so far. We've been learning the pros/cons. We've been hearing/reading how smartphones aren't all that great to use. Just yesterday, our Explorist came in and had it out last night. My husband had the Explorist and I had my iphone. Honestly? We're not impressed with the Explorist. And perhaps its because the Explorist doesn't have the 3axis compass. The iphone does this VERY well. So already, we're looking for a better GPS unit with a 3axis compass in it. So, the fact that we started with the iphones - we've concluded that its a lot better than people lead it to be. If you haven't used one, you can't say how bad it is. The cons in using ihpone/smartphone: Battery life & lack of cell signal does prevent proper usage of the device. We've tried disabling all the extra goodies and even cell service but that only makes the thing slow & unresponsive. Recommendations: A smart phone for those basic caches & for immediate documentation online (when cell service is good) A dedicated GPS for rugged areas or lack of cell service & longer caching outtings. And - a GPS for your car to drive you to the general locations of your caches (we have a Nuvi 660).

My husband and I were introducted to Geocaching 10 years ago. Back then - there wasn't many caches & you had to drive pretty far to find them. Our little GPS just wasn't that good. We lost interest and now we're back and lovin it. Now? Caches are all over the place. You can go to the grocery store and find a cache and makes it sooo much more fun now!! 10 years from now? I think the hobby will grow in popularity, however - cache saturation will be at its peak (if its not close to that already). It'll be almost impossible for people to hide their own caches. It's a toss up.... Hobbyists come and go. People grow out of hobbies and find new ones. So although it may grow in new players, some of the older players might find it boring and fall away. Perhaps some of the older, non-maintained caches be archived to make room for the newer players to hide. Afterall, hiding them is just as fun as finding them. I don't think it'll go away completely. Although - with more players, the 'ignorance' factor will grow (people don't understand the etiquette). And perhaps that ignorance factor will make it less fun to enjoy. ??

Actually, a really neat thing I bought for myself around Christmas time - I think I got it at EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports). It's a keychain pen made by Inka. This thing has saved my butt several times and its always with me!!

I'm fairly new to this myself and I try to get everything done properly. However, I've realized the nature of all that's human in this world even in geocaching. I've learned not to 'sweat the small stuff'. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing or not doing. Spend more time enjoying what you want from the game.

Have a friend, family member, or fellow cacher with a different GPS unit find your cache before publishing it. Or have them take readings also. Compare notes.

Wow, this kinda thing happens all too often?? That's kinda depressing..... I did a PQ to try and locate some local TB's so I could carry them along for tomorrow. After looking thru the PQ and reading log notes of the TB's - a lot of them had "Did not see" in cache notes. So obviously, I didn't visit those caches. One cache I visited should've had 5 trackables in it, but there was NOTHING. Another one, NOTHING! Does anyone have any luck doing this type of PQ? I guess I'll never try that type of query again. Your better off stumbling on TB's as your caching. I made notes for each of those 6 TB's that I didn't find. Truely depressing....I hope they show up somewhere or get logged soon.

I have no info to add other than...KEEP posting!! I've enjoyed reading this thread!! Some funny stuff and glad there are positive muggles out there!!

Sounds like someone needs to go and retrieve all of those trackables and move them along to different caches.

You can also use google maps which might already be on their phone. I have an iphone4. Although I haven't used it very much, I do know that if you type in cache@ (then the digital coordinates), it'll navigate you to a cache. Once you get close, zoom in. If they have a smart phone, and are somewhat familiar with google maps - they should be able to figure it out. The cache@ part is pretty important. Without using that, it only navigates you to an address which isn't fine tuned enough.

Quick question, After caches are archived, who goes out to collect and dispose of them?

Out & about with the phone today running errands. Each of my stops, I try to 'search for nearbye' on my phone - but kept getting communication errors with geocaching.com. Great cell reception in the area. So, I would assume this could be a 'verizon' issue or site issue? Does this sort of thing happen very often? Slowly learning the differences & pros/cons of strictly using a cell phone for geocaching. My husband did order a megellan so we can be unstoppable!!

My husband and I used to do a lot of offroading (4WD, etc). As officers of our club, we used to hold "Wheelin 101" trips. This would be primarily for newbies on easy trails to teach them how to drive and be responsible on the trails. Similar to geocaching, there's a lot of etiquette, safety, responsibility that goes along with it. We made sure we had a 'safety' briefing and lecture prior to going out. So, my thoughts on this for Geocaching.... Does anyone hold local events specifically for newbies? I don't know how you could organize that.... perhaps grab a bunch of local experienced geocachers together to organize it. Example: Place 25 temporary caches inside a large 'legal' area (say for instance, a park) and somehow organize it that they find ALL the caches, give them points, bla bla bla.... You get the point. It'd be a HUGE amount of work but with planning and volunteers could pull something off. I'd volunteer if there was one near me. I'm not sure how you'd advertise for something like this. The last thing you'd want it hundreds of people to show up. Just a thought.... (or does something like this already occur?)

Android baby..android...Virgin Mobile for 25 buck a month..unlimited data..10 buck for the GC app [plus PM membership of course]..now you have total paperless [in the USA].

Android baby..android...Virgin Mobile for 25 buck a month..unlimited data..10 buck for the GC app [plus PM membership of course]..now you have total paperless [in the USA].

Android baby..android...Virgin Mobile for 25 buck a month..unlimited data..10 buck for the GC app [plus PM membership of course]..now you have total paperless [in the USA].

No kids here, just me and my husband. I'm taking in all suggestions! Is there a way to find Hot Spots? Say for instance, I wanna take a day trip but don't know where to go for the best or most popular areas? And say I'm going out of state, I'd like to search for a trackable with a goal in that direction? In most cases we're too busy from working to be that organized! I'm new also and taking it all in!

My husband found one of those 'blinkers' - Good God - I don't know how the owner got that log rolled up inside that thing. To be completely honest, we didn't remove the log for fear of not being able to roll it back up tight enough to get it back in!! One of these days, I'm going to go back there to take a picture of it!! Definately worth a picture. We just couldn't do it that day - too many muggles.

True... or when it gets frustrating. There's a lot to say about 'experience'. The more caches you find, the more experience you get, and the more 'sense' (Cache-senses) you get. My husband and I only have 39 caches so far. As a newbie - you need a mix of easy quick finds to keep you motivated inbetween harder ones that you DNF. If you can't even find the quick & easy ones, then the whole game isn't fun anymore. I will often look at the size of a cache to kick my cache-sense into a certain mode. Micro caches require a magnifying glass type search mode. If you get frustrated, walk away and look for it another day. Same thing where I work. If I'm looking at a problem and I can't figure it out, I'll walk away for 10 minutes to clear my mind. More often than not, as soon as I come back - the solution hits me like a ton of bricks! In terms of logs (and maybe this isn't the right thing to do?) - if the cache was recently found and there are no other DNF's, we'll simply walk away and not log anything at all. We'll go back after some time and read some new logs.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. **it happens..... My husband and I have placed our first two caches. We must have spent a week or more just finding, placing, testing, the sites. But until you actually put the cache there, have it posted, and expose it to the geocachers & muggle activity, you really don't know what's gonna happen. By placing caches and trackables, you must accept the possibilities of them getting stolen or destroyed. Don't give up. Consider those spots as *off limits* and move on to different hiding spots. Good Luck!

Question (from a newbie) Is there local groups of volunteers that actually 'visit' caches - to either verify they need maintenance, and/or review new caches? Is there an adoption program for caches that have been left & un-maintained? Instead of putting them in the archive bin? After a cache is remedied 'archived' - is there a group of volunteers that collects the cache (to not leave trash)? I'm a newbie myself and I've already seen a lot of caches that looked 'un-groomed' for a long time and some the logs were impossible to sign. It makes me want to keep a box of ziplock bags & log sheets in my truck and fix these caches as I go. But - nobody wants to be accused of stepping on toes and I might be spending a lot of money on bags & ink. As a newbie, I like the NM. I've used it anytime the log sheets are soaked and un-signable. How else do you communicate that to the owners especially if they're not visiting their own caches on a fairly regular basis?

. Does it really get that critical for people? What I mean is, do people actually get upset about their bug not going exactly where it's goal is? It's a game and half the fun is moving and watching it move ( for me anyway). How easy is it (or not) to search for a TB by their goal? Say for instance you're traveling out of state and want to find a bug to take with you? What are the chances of finding/searching one thats going south (for example)?

I read in another thread (thought to mention it here) to turn off wifi & push notifications - that it might help with battery longevity. And in low cell signal areas, turn off the data & wifi so the phone only uses the GPS. This will require you to save all the cache information via 'favorites' prior to going out in the field and saving your log entries and sending them later. I'm definately going to try this the next time we're out for a full day and in remote areas. Makes sense ....

Thanks for the info - will have to try this the next time we're in a 'not so remote' area. I would assume you just turn off cellular data, data roaming, wifi, & push in the general settings?