dshawk

The best part of that is the first part of the cache page: "This should be an easy find"

Hmmm...most of us work our butts off and save a LONG time to afford that GPSr, and I for one use the money I work for to buy food. I also happen to be a full time college student, and whenever I have extra money, it's going towards something for a class. Many people also get their GPSr second-hand. This sport can be played by people of all social classes, money shouldn't be involved. You shouldn't expect the guy who got laid off and has two kids to stick something expensive into a cache, and if you're expecting something in the 1-2 dollar range, then why not the new McToy that costs a dollar anyway? Also, define "junk". If you're calling McToys junk, I respect your opinion, but you've seen 10 or so people say that they enjoy a McToy in a cache so, for many people TNLN isn't better than that McToy their kids want from the cache. It seems a bit selfish, IMO, that a bunch of adults will complain about a toy in a cache just because THEY wouldn't want it, all the while knowing that if a child walked up to that cache, the first item they'd go for is the McToy. (As noted in my other posts, I of course think that you should trade even/up, so I also disagree with the "Took Maglite, left McToy" log, but I don't think we should pass off every McToy in a cache as "junk" because we wouldn't pick it up ourselves) Edit: clarity He asked for my take on them, not whether or not you agreed with it. Now go ride off on your high horse. He also asked for my take, which was contradictory towards yours. Don't take it personally that I chose to examine your post and give my opinion on it. It is common practice in the forums to quote and criticize statements in this forum. What I wrote previously brings up valid points, many of which have been supported by others in this thread, from the many who like McToys to Airmapper, whose GPSr was a gift.

Personally, I would approach the situation as follows: I wouldn't add another hint. You wanted it to be a challenge, so leave it as a challenge. (Maybe if many people have some trouble, you could up the difficulty a bit). Responding in the logs/deleting the logs is your choice. My preference is to respond to requests with an email only, so as not to give everyone more help. In this case, I'd probably try and give the cacher some more help, since he/she hasn't found many. Also, I wouldn't judge the difficulty of this cache with a single cacher. The cacher who logged the DNF hasn't had many finds, and probably hasn't come across a micro like yours. Wait until someone who's found a significant number comes across it, and ask them to help you rate it. Remember that sometimes, its just the cacher...I can spot a fake bolt rated 3.5/1 quickly, but I've been to a 2/1 film canister 3 times and haven't found it yet. *All of this is what I would do, but you should make your own decisions. Giving help is your choice, as well as the way you choose to do it.

Hmmm...most of us work our butts off and save a LONG time to afford that GPSr, and I for one use the money I work for to buy food. I also happen to be a full time college student, and whenever I have extra money, it's going towards something for a class. Many people also get their GPSr second-hand. This sport can be played by people of all social classes, money shouldn't be involved. You shouldn't expect the guy who got laid off and has two kids to stick something expensive into a cache, and if you're expecting something in the 1-2 dollar range, then why not the new McToy that costs a dollar anyway? Also, define "junk". If you're calling McToys junk, I respect your opinion, but you've seen 10 or so people say that they enjoy a McToy in a cache so, for many people TNLN isn't better than that McToy their kids want from the cache. It seems a bit selfish, IMO, that a bunch of adults will complain about a toy in a cache just because THEY wouldn't want it, all the while knowing that if a child walked up to that cache, the first item they'd go for is the McToy. (As noted in my other posts, I of course think that you should trade even/up, so I also disagree with the "Took Maglite, left McToy" log, but I don't think we should pass off every McToy in a cache as "junk" because we wouldn't pick it up ourselves) Edit: clarity

If you really want to get technical about it, you can buy a McToy without the happy meal, and it's about a dollar (my sister used to collect the Beanie Babies when she was little). And that toy doesn't come free in the happy meal, it makes up a good portion of the price you pay for it. I personally don't mind McToys in caches as long as they aren't broken, I just think there are "better" things that can be placed.

Some companies offer a service where you can have your vehicle shipped over in a sealed crate (for a not-too-small fee). Would this count ? I even know somebody who did it when they retired and bought a condo on Oahu. Hmmm...while I was in Hawaii, I did see vehicles from other states (Texas and California). A lot of the soldiers stationed on the islands had their vehicles shipped over there.

That's one heck of a list! Neos, If you send me an email with some of the things you're looking for, I may be able to send you some from my collection. I have tons of mineral samples that I don't need (Arkansas quartz and Illinois fluorite especially). I have a few other fluorescents, and fossils. I usually help out my profs when they go to elementary schools to teach about rocks/minerals, and I often give out pieces of what I've collected recently.

I think that's called thermodynamics. EDIT: WOOHOO!!! I've been upgraded to "Geocacher"

I think everyone here agrees with you that this particular rock was a pretty crappy trade item given the circumstances. We just want to make sure that ALL rocks aren't looked at the same way.

Hey Sunshine Gang, Thanks for the geocoin, it's really nice! Arwndsh and I were browsing the forums and happened across this thread, curiosity hit us, and we checked out the cache page to find out it was only 40 miles from us in one of the series of caches we'd wanted to try out. So, we decided to go after it before class this afternoon and what a great surprise when we opened the cache! (We did a little dance in the woods, only partially because we were cold) As a bonus, I had just gotten my new Explorist 500 and got to try it out, what a great day! The wooden nickels are pretty cool too, but we were out of trade items. Hopefully we'll find another one when we try out the others in the series. Thanks again! DSHAWK

Very nice to know that I'm not the only one who likes a good rock I'm glad I'm not the only person who walks railroad tracks looking for rocks. Most of the railbed here is limestone, but we occasionally get really nice granite and quartzites imported. I've also been out to NC and collected sapphires and rubies, still in the rock matrix. (I also have some hiddenite). I think any of those rocks would be great for caches. I also have topaz and red emeralds (the most expensive gemstone when cut) from Utah that I've collected. They don't cost me anything other than sweat and time, but I think they'd be good trade items. My next TB is going to be a rock

You can't lump every rock together though- Piece of concrete-junk Railbedding-junk Rock that was sitting right next to the cache, and probably helping to camo it-junk Rock I personally went out and broke a sweat and probably began bleeding over-not junk Rock that people would actually pay money for on "that auction site"-not junk In the case Voigt is talking about, I agree that it's a really bad trade, but not all cases of "rock for maglite" trading is it trading down.

I have to agree and disagree with this one. I completely agree that if someone grabs a rock from nearby and trades with it, that person isn't trading even for anything in the cache. But, trading even doesn't mean "rock for rock". If I traded a nice rock (meaning worth money), then I should be able to take something of that value. If I had a rock that would routinely be sold on "that auction site" for 20 dollars, I should be able to trade it for any trade item in the cache less than that amount, thereby trading even/up. (I know this isn't the OPs intended line of thought in this thread, but I think it's a valid point that you can't just lump every rock together as junk)

Since the map has a link to an RV camping supply store, they just assume you didn't ship your RV across the ocean for your road trip I suppose, then, that its caching usefulness is somewhat limited. I would have switched my states map too, I like the colors better on this one.

I think it all depends on the rock...if it's a chunk of concrete then I agree with the "junk" concept. But many rocks have value. A piece of granite or some limestone with fossils is great to kids, although I wouldn't trade it for more than a McToy (some places don't have granite exposed *Kentucky*). A nice quartz crystal, some garnets, or a good piece of fluorite are worth a lot more than most of the trade items I've seen in caches. I've commonly left quartz crystals that I've personally collected in caches (one of my next caches will have a FTF prize--a piece of fluorite) and I would gladly take most rocks from caches (most kids would take a rock over that broken McToy, too).

Way out in the pacific ocean

Where's Hawaii?