ShaunEM

A perfect example of why this type of hide is unacceptable. It is up to the land owner to 10000000% ensure it is listed accurately and that their neighbors are not unhinged. Whey bring strangers into harms way? Because you are too lazy to head out to a park? Or that you love the "tee hee" of watching someone search for something. It's just not worth it. Come on.. get out there.. explore.. give people room to look for things in privacy... Urban hiders need to be more considerate by several factors more than a hide on a trail. Shaun

Have someone watch you "be stealthy" and then you watch them do the same. It's garbage... Just find it efficiently. Try not to reach for it, or put it back while you have eyes ON you. Shaun

The only true answer: As long as you wish. Just ignore and queries and do what you intend. This is world better than those that steal them or when caches vanish when them inside. Shaun

Check out the newer Garmin models. They are getting closer to what a phone looks like. Otherwise, look into offline caching mode. I believe even the geocaching.com app allows for offline caching. You just need to save off the cache information in advance. Shaun

You need to use a different browser because Microsoft *constantly* breaks other people's code/interfaces. They are of the attitude that the world revolves around them and everyone else can just rewrite their stuff.. constantly.. on a whim.. with angry users on their backs. That is why.. Shaun

Ohh and here is another story... My wife found an ipod in a cache once. She was going to take it, I pointed out we had nothing of that value to trade for it, so we left it. A week later a flood took the cache away... and we had been the last to find it.. so there you go. Shaun

I have found something that helps is to make the cache a bit of an effort to get to, simple park caches get pilfered. I actually saw a mountain summit cache that had a Hockey Jersey in it (had been there for over 3 years) untouched. Making it a puzzle cache can help too. Does not even have to be a hard puzzle.. just enough to stop the cache raiders. Shaun

I had a couple for several months we had a real hard winter and any time I was at a cache it would not fit either of these TB. I finally dropped them both at a Maker Madness event. Happy trails! Don't Don't Don't send out things you are going to be overly attached to.. Don't. Shaun

I did a check on several of my caches late last fall. I took a bunch of smaller items to put back in these caches. I was surprised what was left in them by previous finders. A HUGE bag of marbles, a tie, 3 extra log books (from other caches...), and many many crud pens (I leave at least two golf pencils in each cache, they were still there and sharp). I had to take more than I brought in order just to get them to close properly. These are fairly easy caches to get to.. but to carry a huge bag of marbles? Crazy! It was interesting to go read the logs from the caches that had their logbooks taken. I am working on returning the ones I can. Shaun

Go get the app "GPS Status". For my S4 it improves GPS operation for me on my phone. I can't say mine has ever had the problem you are describing though. Perhaps you were in a bad area for GPS signal. Woods, Big City buildings, etc.. Also, if you still have the GC, I would recommend using that for trail geocaching. Dropping your GC in a river would cause some words to be said. Dropping your S4 in a river would probably cause a whole new set of adult only words. Shaun

I use mine when I take that car to a cache. I don't always take THAT car, so it's kind of a fun add.. Some people crab about that kind of logging saying "how did you actually dip your car in a cache".. to those people.. I would drive by them in a rainstorm covering them with mud... Others who find my car in the wild are more than happy to log a discovered log. Shaun

The FTF race is like a nuclear explosion. I would prefer to duck and cover until the blast subsides. Then leisurely make my way over to the cache and make a regular find. Horray! Shaun

I still find in nicer than caching in the summer heat and bugs. It's also a lot easier to see through bushes.. and you don't have to be on constant alert for wasp nests! Shaun

I had a TB show up again after 3 years. Unless you KNOW its gone.. I would just leave it. Or if the original shows up again, ask that finder to lose it for good again. Shaun

Follow the yellow brick road?

Those sound like really annoying bison tubes. Shaun

Post an NA log and talk to the area approver. No way that sort of thing should happen. Shaun

Every trip I have been on, I have gathered up several TB to take with me to drop there only to have every regular or small cache I find within range of where I am staying is actually a small or a micro. I scramble before my flight out to fine ONE TB hotel that can take these TB.. only to have them idle there or go missing totally. That is really the problem.. too many micros! Add to tha, TB hotels are thief targets. We try, but I do feel bad if I cause someone to lose their TB because of where I placed it. I have a couple of my TB in Europe. They sure do move a lot more over there.. damned if I can understand the logs though! Shaun

There are always going to be those that wreck things, either by accident or intentionally. I see that as part of the game, even if it's annoying part of it. If we didn't have to worry about muggles, caches would be VERY boring to find, laying out in the open. If we didn't have geocoins stolen or lost, eventually every cache in the world would be overrun with many many trackables... the humanity! If the occasional cache didn't go missing, no one would ever DNF. Some of the more persistent of us would fumble around in the dark, looking for those caches that MUST be there! Shaun

Bad caches tend to destroy themselves without any assistance from Groundspeak. Leave it as it is. If you find some soppy gooey mess, post a NM log and move on. I have seen more than a few waterproof caches compromised by swag trades that prevent the otherwise good container from closing properly. What would resolve that? Swag size requirements? Meh.. its a fun game.. sometimes because of the margarine containers full of mud, in the woods. Shaun

This might help make up your mind: http://www.gpscity.ca/garmin-gpsmap-62s.html It is on for $199 CAD. I have the Etrex 20, its great... but the additional buttons for navigation would be nice. Other than that I have heard they are very similar. Shaun

I have to second this. I find I prefer it. I go on milder days rather than the cold COLD we can get. My request would be, if you can't move it/open it.. DON'T FORCE IT!!! Anything short of an ammo can becomes very brittle in the winter and it sucks to have to do cache maintainence in bad weather because someone kicked your locknlock apart trying to unfreeze it from it's hidey hole. Most CO will give you a find if you take a picture or describe why it was found but not signed. Shaun

A GPS receiver should backup what your brain is telling you, not the other way around. Shaun

Go walk into any ditch next to any highway. You are going to find way more junk than exits with all the abandoned caches in the whole world. If you find one that is obviously just garbage now.. read the comments above. Take it, log a note against the cache page.. and throw it out when you get no response back. If it's really bugging you.. create a local CITO. Those are always good PR. Shaun

I got stopped over the lunch hour downtown by 3 cops on bike patrol. They said I looked pretty suspicious crouched over like I was with the cache container. I showed them what I found, they had several questions (being curious more than authoritative). I think they are more than happy to be able to do their job (investigate something suspicious), and find people doing strange things that isn't criminal. I have yet to meet one that didn't know what geocaching is. Shaun