S&SLaird

A projected has started to get a Geocaching License plate in Virginia. If you are interested in finding out more or adding your name to the growing list of people that are interested in getting this plate check out this link. http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/226891247380845/ We have secured permission from Groundspeak to use the GC logo on the plate and we are now trying to get enough interest to make it all happen.

I have had my 710 about the same amount of time as you....not sure I like vantage point maybe I need to play with it more and starting yesterday I now see the other caches on the map screen. I started with a GC and just upgraded to the 710....there sure are alot of things to learn, aren't there?

Maybe the use of an electronic Humidity Sensor would make it easier. 100% humidity = Rain...even setting at 95-98% would work unless you live in the Amazon but then you would only be making a very complex cache that is available 24/7

I don't care if they are PMO or not but that there is a great reason to make them all PMO...lol

I hope the CO's claiming finds on their own caches aren't also trying to tell everyone it isn't about the numbers

I must admit I do enjoy arguing about things that don't really matter but personally I don't really see what the big deal is. I like the numbers and I like really finding the cache and I do sign the log....with the exception of a micro that someone jammed the log into and it was wet so I didn't feel the need to destroy it getting it out. Maybe for someone else Geocaching means getting out of the house and having somewhere to go they may get to GZ and that is it and call it a find so they can keep track of the places they have been. Another my go out and find the cache and come home and post a long log about the simplest of finds while another likes moving trackables and isn't interested in anything that doesn't have one. I think the only valid complaint any of us really should have is the cache that is damaged or missing for months and the CO does nothing about it.....at least archive it so we don't go looking for something that isn't there....or all the unlogged trackables that are out there....if you are going to take it then log it, if not leave it there for some one that will. And as for SWAG I could really care less for myself but my grandkids enjoy all the "treasure" so quit taking it and dropping worthless scraps of paper (like coupons) leave the SWAG for the kids to enjoy. I tend to add SWAG and not take any. My wife enjoys the trackables and I love the statistics. Everyone gets something different out of it....SO LET THEM!!!

I predict the next page or so will consist of Toz pointing you to the forum post where the lackey that wrote that "rule" explains how it was meant only to convey that ALR would no longer be allowed. We will then see you and/or others argue ad nauseum about what the lackey really meant. In the end it is clear to some of us that all the rules says is the if your sig is in the logbook, the co can't delete your find. It will be clear to others that it is a hard and fast rule that states a sig MUST be in the logbook. The only people that can really clear it up are Groundspeak lackeys and after what, 3 years now, they have no intention of clarifying that "rule" But it does make for great entertainment. He probably will but it doesn't change what it says....it says that anything more then signing the log is an ALR and is optional it doesn't say that signing the log is optional. And as I stated before....I could really care less if you sign it or not....aproach Geocaching in your own way.....I was just pointing out that the guidelines currently state in plain english you have to sign physical log and then you can log it online. I don't know what the Lackey that wrote it was thinking but I know what he wrote....if he needs to try to explain it then he needs to rewrite it but until then it is what it is reguardless of how Toz feels about it.

Maybe you can try thinking outside the box. There is a cache series in my area called "Usta B". One is placed at a building that Usta B Pruden Hardware...but the cache name is Usta B Nuts and Bolts. In the description it tells a little about the store including its name and that its is now closed and if you visit it you might find the sign Mr Pruden put on the door the day he closed "Gone Fishing won't be back"...Just a thought. There are many ways to list a cache, just like there are many ways to approach one....some are harder then others....just find the easier path.

No they don't. The closest you can get is that the guidelines tell cache owners to delete bogus logs. Cache owners may chose to use whether or not a the physical log is signed to help determine if the online log is bogus. I don't believe this should be the only thing the cache owner should use to determine whether the log is bogus, but some owners chose to ignore other evidence and rely only on the physical log. Not Geo-cops enforcing rules since there is no rule saying that you have to sign the physical log in order to log a find online. I use a different name for cache owners who chose to delete online find log solely based on this one piece of evidence. cut and pasted from GC.com 3.1. Logging of All Physical Geocaches This page is an extension of our Geocache Listing Requirements / Guidelines. Physical geocaches can be logged online as "Found" once the physical log has been signed. An exception is Challenge Caches, which may only be logged online after the challenge requirements have been met and documented to the cache owner's satisfaction. For physical caches all logging requirements beyond finding the geocache and signing the log are considered additional logging requirements (ALRs) and must be optional. Cache finders can choose whether or not to attempt or accomplish such tasks. This is a guideline change that applies to all logs written since April 4, 2009. If you own an existing cache with mandatory additional logging requirements, we request that you: Cease deleting logs based on ALRs. Review your own cache listing to see if the ALR can be made into a simple, optional task, or whether it must be removed altogether. Edit the text of your geocache listing and, if necessary, contact a reviewer to change the cache type. Maybe I am totally wrong but it seems to say "Physical geocaches can be logged online as "Found" once the physical log has been signed." Not sure what evidence you are talking about or even what you are reading and quoting but this is the information from the website. Do you have in your possession a "special book of rules" can you share it with us. I only have the quidelines as laid out on GC.com, is there another source I can go to and learn more about the guidelines.

Now, now, that would not be playing fair. Many people leave signature items in caches, and some like to get word when others find them. Please do not discard the signature items of other cachers. No not the signature items those are pretty obvious....I am talking about the wanna-be trackable. I do leave signature items in caches as many in my area do, some even collect them but I don't know of any that request you to move it and send them an email. Sending an email everytime it is moved would make it more of a trackable. If you can afford a GPS or a Smart phone 5 bucks for a tag shouldn't kill you.

Sometimes being FTF comes with a prize. I got a FTF on one near my house and in the cache I found a sheet of paper for the FTF, it had additional directions to another location where I found the FTF prize. When I got to the additional GZ I found a handcrafted walking stick complete with a GS trackable walking stick medallion that had not been activated. Of course generally all you get is a blank log to sign. Check out the walking stick TB4ANBE

That's a fallacy. The only entity saying that caches must/should have a log book is Groundspeak, and that's only to get the cache listed here. Since you're not listing the individual stages, but rather the final cache, only the final cache needs the log. Or, if you see the multi-cache as the sum of all the involved caches (stages plus final), even then it's only a single cache and so only needs a single log book. Call it what you will. Definition of a Multi came from GS (cut and paste even) They call them caches....again I think having more then one log in a multi is stupid and I wouldn't sign them all. I think GS should call them stages and make additional log books in a multi an ALR and there for optional. But as written I don't think it is currently an ALR but I do think it is a Multi with CO who has control issues.

The guidelines clearly state that you have to sign the physical log in order to claim the find online. With that being said I really don't care if you sign it or not as long as you put it back in the same condition and location that you found it. And please don't throw your expired coupons and other garbage in as swag. I don't get into the swag thing much but my grandkids do and I hate seeing the disappointment of their faces when all they find are scraps of paper and no little toys to trade. But if you don't want to sign the log thats on you but beware of the Geo-cops and their devotion to enforcing all the rules.

I live in Solihull, West Midlands, UK but visit Devon often where my parents live. I have not overly indulged in GC, bit I have just acquired a dog and hoped to do a bit more while I walk him. The area I live has a lot of PMs and it is frustrating. I know £30 a year is not a lot, but I an in principle opposed to paying for such things unless I see an added value. For me the value added is contributing to keep GC.com online. We may not agree with the quality of some of the things they do but I think we can all agree we enjoy the value added of keeping it going.

I can accept that for some it isn't about numbers but you have a huge listing on your profile showing all your various stats (not the one everyone has, the one you added) and it even has a section that takes up my entire screen labeled "some numbers" Kind of makes one think that maybe it is about the numbers.

I say it is a Multi....although I think it is a stupid requirement. A Multi-Cache ("multiple") involves two or more locations. The final location is a physical container. There are many variations, but most Multi-Caches have a hint to find the second cache, and the second cache has a hint to the third, and so on. An offset cache (where you go to a location and get hints to the actual cache) is considered a Multi-Cache. The definition of a Multi clearly calls a "stage" a Cache. As a cache it should have a log book. Again I think putting a log book in each stage is dumb I don't think it is ALR due to the fact that GS refers them as caches not stages. If they refered to them as stages then I would agree that it is an ALR. But I probably wouldn't log each one either.

I first purchased a GC and have enjoyed it and used it alot but it had its limitations and I have now upgraded to a 710. I am very happy with the 710 but we still have the GC and is now in the hands of my wife. The GC is limited but still very effective, I don't regret for a minute buying it, it allowed us to get into caching and learn more what we wanted out of a GPS with out it costing a small fortune.

I think I would be temped to take it with me, place it in the large city provided container on wheels at my house and send an email to the owner a couple weeks later from a bogus account giving them the cords for the local city dump and let them know its new location. Email subject line: CITO Or I would just leave it there

I enjoy the statistics and they just don't work without some numbers. Everyone gets something different from caching. Some might like moving trackables and some might like collecting them. Some like the numbers and others don't care. Each cache is a different experience to each person even though it was the same thing everyone else found in the same location it will have different meaning.

She won't have her own name....we have 3 grand-daughters....all sisters not cousins. I am going to make an account for the three of them and let her older sisters do the log and leave the "Power Caching" to the little one. I am looking forward to getting them out this weekend.

I am sure she will especially once she figures out we can trade SWAG. We will be talking them out again this weekend and I am going to start an account for them so they can track what they find should prove to be fun.

How much did she have? None....like I said I think she only cares about the numbers. She dumps it all on the ground gives it a quick inspection and then puts it all back, closes the lid and then heads back to the spot with it like a running back breaking thru the line....fully tucked in knocking everyone out of the way.....does a great job of putting the cache back, arms go in the air followed by YEAHH! and then she is heading back to the truck to do it again.....funny as can be....and I am still signing the log. I guess she is a natural power cacher

We recently took the grand-kids with us....I wasn't sure how the youngest (almost 2) was going to feel about leaving all those toys behind but was surprised at how well she did. It took her a couple of tries to get the idea but on our third cache she had it all figured out and on the fourth she was a pro....find it, dump it all out, give Papa all the paper, shove it all back in, put it back, then come on lets go find another.....30 seconds and she has done it all and ready to go find more treasure.....I think she only cares about the numbers...lol

The forum guidelines tell you they can do that. I think you would be hard pressed to find a forum owner that doesn't do that. They own it and can do what they want....use of the forum is not a requirement for Geocaching and does not require you to be a premium member to post something. Are you unhappy with a free service?

I have given a bush hide a favorite point. We had a good time trying to find it. We didn't know what a bison was and thought it was a way of saying "by sign". The GPS said it was one side and the sign was on the other side. We thought it was funny and we enjoyed it. There was also a guy nearby selling some really great melons and we bought a couple.....they were very sweet and we wouldn't have enjoyed them had we not been caching at the bush. I think everyone has different reasons for using a favorite point. It may not be your favorite but it might be mine. I may not agree with your favorite but I won't ask you not to give a cache you liked a favorite point because I didn't like it.