stevebrassett

I almost always have my dog with me when geocaching. It gives a legitimacy to a bloke walking around in the woods, and I could always be looking for her ball if anyone asks.

I usually give an FP for a cache that makes me smile. It may be location, it may be the cache itself, or even that the cache owner obviously put thought and effort in.

I "TFTC" very occasionally. I really try to say something different about each find (no cut+pasting), but sometimes, when I have found the umpteenth similar cache in a similar location, I run out of things to say.

I'm not a reviewer, so this is purely my personal opinion. If you haven't got to work anything out, then it cannot be a puzzle cache, surely.

I use a free app, but also pay for Premium Membership because of the other benefits when using the website.

It depends very much on mobile signal. Here in the UK I rarely find no signal, and so I have only ever used a mobile. Out in the sticks a dedicated GPS device may be better (yes, I know you can still use a mobile without a signal but it is harder work).

As a relative newcomer to the game, these are my cache likes and dislikes. Likes Unusual caches - especially homemade. Beautiful locations Caches that take two or three goes to find (only if they are local). I can then go away, pick through the online logs for clues, and wait for someone else to find it so that I know it is there. Dislikes Ivy covered trees Lazy caches - a 35mm film canister somewhere that isn't special. Nothing against 35mm film canisters themselves, but I believe some thought should go into a cache - either object or location or both. Badly maintained, wet, dirty and broken caches that obviously haven't been visited by the owner for years. This is not an exhaustive list.

With current baggage allowance most airlines have I wouldn't even consider this Imagine having a few thousand listings with you when traveling (we drove 5000Km last year in New Zealand, 3000Km in VIC/TAS the year before). Having a few 1000 caches in my GPS with a full database backup (25000+) in GDAK means I'm sure that no matter where we are we can find a few caches along the way. Free WiFi in hotels/B&B allows for logging in the evening and updating the upcoming area. I did it when I went to Mexico, and there was precisely one cache within walking distance of the hotel.

I have gone old-school when I didn't want to bear the data costs abroad - just print out the cache details, and turn data off on your phone.

Personally, I regard signing the log as an important part of the game. If I have come out without a pen, then I don't look for geocaches. I am not above adding a piece of paper to the cache if the log is full or wet, however, but every cache I have counted has something with my name on in it.

Internet Explorer in Windows 10 is hidden away in the Windows Accessories folder. Or, at least, it is on mine.

It is the variety that makes geocaching so enjoyable. I don't want to climb trees or crawl through pipes as a rule - especially as I don't want to leave my dog tied up barking, drawing attention to me. However, I absolutely understand that others would enjoy this (not the dog barking bit). Vive le difference!

As a new geocacher, I will add my opinion. To me, the main point of geocaching is getting me out of the house, and walking in areas I have not been before. To me, therefore, it is more important to have well-maintained caches, than well hidden ones. Whilst I appreciate the occasional challenge, I don't want to spend 20 minutes finding each cache - I want to find it, log it, and get onto the next one, which will normally take me down a path I haven't walked before. I do like the interesting caches, however - the pine cones, the false rocks and the home-made objects. I also appreciate thoughtfulness in the placement of the cache. Searching several ivy covered trees holds no attraction. One is ok.

I do exactly the same.