The Cheeseheads

Maybe it's just a Coke/Pepsi thing. Garmin is the Coke of the GPSr world and Magellin is the Pepsi. Lowrance would be the RC cola. Even though it might taste better than Coke or Pepsi, it just doesn't have the market presence that the big two have. I stopped at the local Bass Pro Shop a couple weekends ago and looked at their electronics case. Almost all Garmins and Magellins, with maybe one Lowrance model. If you were a first-time buyer who didn't know all that much about GPSr's, which would you buy?

The first cache I ever placed was the worst weather I had ever cached in. It was overcast all day, but never even sprinkled. i spent a couple of hours wandering around the park until I found a good spot. Went back to the car for the cache, and as soon as I placed it, the sky opened up like nobody's business. I don't I had ever been that wet in my life. Made for a pleasant (and odorific ) drive home...

The first cache I ever placed was the worst weather I had ever cached in. It was overcast all day, but never even sprinkled. i spent a couple of hours wandering around the park until I found a good spot. Went back to the car for the cache, and as soon as I placed it, the sky opened up like nobody's business. I don't I had ever been that wet in my life. Made for a pleasant (and odorific ) drive home...

quote:Originally posted by Markwell: Ah, but if I were such an unscrupulous person, I could do it with that 6-digit code and never have to leave the comfort of my office. Only those with the code can log or move a travel bug. That's something that I always wondered about... What would stop anyone from being able to punch in random 6-digit numbers to log in a travel bug? I figure that there's probably a check digit stuck in there somewhere, but is six digits secure enough to prevent abuse?

quote:Originally posted by on2vegas: geocaching, a sport for geeks that gets them away from their computers and into the great outdoors to look for stuff using a GPS. Of course I work in a geek farm and most people here know what a GPS is and are interested in this stuff by nature of our common geekiness. Of course, as they say on Slashdot, "Real geeks don't go outside..."

quote:Originally posted by on2vegas: geocaching, a sport for geeks that gets them away from their computers and into the great outdoors to look for stuff using a GPS. Of course I work in a geek farm and most people here know what a GPS is and are interested in this stuff by nature of our common geekiness. Of course, as they say on Slashdot, "Real geeks don't go outside..."

quote:Originally posted by BassoonPilot: I really would like to see an automatic notification sent to the owner of any cache not recording a "find" log within the previous 6 months... Originally posted by Warm Fuzzies - Fuzzy: I think that any such automated system should, at the very least, be revised to only start the process of archiving or transferring ownership of the cache if there were "not found" logs posted in the same amount of time. Otherwise, there's a good possibility that nobody's even tried to search for it yet, or that everyone's waiting for better weather (for example, a cache high up in the mountains might only be accessible for a few months in the summer.) This is probably the best idea I have seen. Perhaps another cache status needs to be added to the system. In addition to "archived" and "deactivated", perhaps there also needs to be something along the lines of "potentially abandoned". After six months of no activity, an automatic email would be sent to the owner, directing them to visit their cache page and click on a link to verify that they still are active. If there is no response after a week, the cache would be moved into the "potentially abandoned" status. At this point, it gets a little gray, though. Perhaps after a month, if there is still no response from the owner, the cache gets archived? How about a page listing all the abandoned caches in an area which the local geocachers could use to check to see if they still exist or not. The page could then let you report back as to whether a cache is missing, plundered, damaged, still functional, etc. From there, a case-by-case decision can be made as to what to do. Archive the cache, transfer ownership, etc. Jeremy and crew really need to get something put into place, since as the number of total caches gets bigger and bigger, this problem will come up more and more frequently.

I'd just be worried that someone trades it for a McToy...

I've found that the best investment to get the most out of my batteries was to buy a car adapter. With that, I can keep my eTrex on for the whole trip out to a cache (useful when parking coordinates are given) and not have to worry about the batteries at all. That said, I use the Energizer NiMH's. I have two sets that I switch as needed. I just wish that the car adapter could charge the batteries as well, then I'd never have to switch batteries.

Personally, I just find the spot for my cache, mark the waypoint, then head back to the car for my box. If I can follow my GPSr back to my hiding spot, that's good enough for me. There's always going to be some range of error, both on mine, and on the GPSr of the seeker. Besides, if you pinpointed the location exactly, what fun would the hunt be?

Personally, I just find the spot for my cache, mark the waypoint, then head back to the car for my box. If I can follow my GPSr back to my hiding spot, that's good enough for me. There's always going to be some range of error, both on mine, and on the GPSr of the seeker. Besides, if you pinpointed the location exactly, what fun would the hunt be?

quote:Originally posted by Ranger Rick: A ziplok freezer bag can make any gps unit water proof. Used them in many rain storms while geocaching. They work great for FRS radios, too!

quote:Originally posted by Ranger Rick: A ziplok freezer bag can make any gps unit water proof. Used them in many rain storms while geocaching. They work great for FRS radios, too!

The Wisconsin DNR site has an article about garlic mustard, a non-native plant which is growing out-of-control and choking out the native plants in Wisconsin. Apparantly it is now flowering and easy to spot, and the DNR is encouraging people to pull it from the ground and dispose of it if you find any. This might be a good thing for us to keep an eye out for while we're out in the woods. If you've never seen it before, there are pictures at the site. Maybe if someone lives near an area that is infested, they could set up a "garlic mustard cache" and encourage people to yank up the weeds as they search for it.

quote:Originally posted by BassoonPilot: quote:Originally posted by james f weisbeck kd7mxi terra utah: you dont have too be rude your write eye appollojize aye shoodnt bee rood welcome to YOU'RE wurld!!! ----------------------------------------------- Woo-hoo! Let the cross-country flame war begin! Honestly, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. I paid my dues a couple of weeks ago, checked the cache list in my area and saw exactly zero MOC's. New caches are popping up daily, and it doesn't seem as though 90% of all new caches are MOC's so the sport is in peril. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how many MOC's there actually are? I've never actually seen one, so I have no idea...

I agree that you can't hold the hider responsible for the injuries, and that the cache shouldn't be automatically archived for that reason. But, this thread has been discussing abandoned caches, and since it looks like about four months passed since the last successful find, and three others have been unsuccessful, perhaps the cache is now missing. I would deactivate it until I could determine this.

I had been planning on placing one like this and was wondering how much help to give. Then I found this thread, and it seems that people should be able to find it, although it may take a couple of trips. My original plan was a three-stage multicache, each with the distance to the "real" cache. The third stage was to have a pad of graph paper, a compass, and a ruler/protractor. I'm now thinking that I might just dispense with that altogether. If people ask for a hint, perhaps I'll hide a fourth micro with detailed instructions on how to do the math. Question: Am I right in assuming that when doing the math, you're best off working in UTM?

ROTFL! If there's not one there already, I'd place a cache there using that name, just so you can get a chuckle out of everyone who goes searching for it and sees that sign!

ROTFL! If there's not one there already, I'd place a cache there using that name, just so you can get a chuckle out of everyone who goes searching for it and sees that sign!

My two-year-old loves it! Some of the brush we encounter that I stuggle to push through, she just walks through without a problem. Once we find the cache, I always let her pick out the "treasure" she wants. Just be sure to check the kids for ticks when you're done...

For mine, I sprang for the click-pencils with the retractible leads so you don't have to worry about someone breaking the pencil and then no one can write in the log books. It's not much of an issue now, but don't just leave pens in your cache as they will freeze during the winter (or even in the desert, depending on how cold it gets at night) and be unusable. If you're stumped for stuff, try going to your local dollar store. You can usually find some pretty nifty stuff (tools, toys, books, etc.), a lot of which looks like it is worth much more than a dollar. I usually leave a Where's George dollar as well. I put the log book in its own zip-lock bag, and put the cache items in a much bigger bag. Make sure the second bag is as big as you can find, because even if all your items fit, the items that other people leave might not fit, and then the bag doesn't get closed properly. You might consider leaving an extra empty bag, just in case.

I like to compare it to the scene near the end of Shawshank Redemption where Morgan Freeman is out searching for "a rock with no business in a Maine hayfield" and he has to do some hiking to get there. The only difference is where Freeman finds a box full of cash that he takes, the boxes I find are usually filled with little trinkets that I trade for, and logbook to sign that I found it.

Personally, for the two I have hidden, I didn't do any averaging at all. Both hides were done in two trips. The first was me going out and just looking for a good spot with the cache left behind in the car. Once I found a good spot, a took a waypoint and headed back for the car to get the cache. I then set my GPSr (A Garmin Legend, BTW) to take me back to my hiding spot. Both times, it took me within 20 feet of the spot, which is probably as good as I can expect. Besides, if the location were too exact, where would the challenge be?

quote:Originally posted by Steak N Eggs: Just post what YOU think the ratings should have been in your log. If I think that a rating is way off, then that's a good idea, too. What I was thinking was putting a rating drop-down on the reporting page (which would only be visible if you found the cache, so people who report a no-find don't give it a five by default) When you view a cache page, it would avarage out everybody's rankings to give a third ranking besides the two that the cache owner gave it.

How about adding a system where in addition to logging a find, you also rate how difficult you found the cache? The site would keep an average "user rating" that potential hunters could use as an additional guide as to how difficult a cache is.