BFG99

For those who were wondering, the statue is similar to (but not identical to) these photos. The second photo helps you see where the cache would be placed...

All good questions. I'll have to find out what his intentions are and encourage him to join the site. I can confirm though that he's not a member of another geocaching site; he's been downloading from (I think) Groundspeak without ever creating an account, and tracking what caches he found on his handheld GPS. He's really not that serious of a cacher - only goes out on occasion - and yeah, I wonder too how seriously he'll take his upkeep requirements.

I have to admit, this conversation ended up in a completely different spot than what I expected. Seems like the consensus would be that, so long as it doesn't violate the rules (no property or art installation destruction, you have explicit permission, etc.), and perhaps provided that the cache-finder is given a good idea of the cache's nature in the description, then there's absolutely nothing wrong with this or similar caches. I suppose I'd be inclined to agree, frankly. I'll pass this conversation along to my friend as he's not a Groundspeak member. He'll have to find out if the statue is likely to be damaged by long-term exposure to people's hands. If it's not then I suppose he can proceed.

Sigh. I've had at least 3 runins in my life with people who misunderstand something I'm trying to say, or take it in the worst possible way, or take a meaning that I never could have predicted despite my best efforts to ensure that I am communicating clearly and "closing the door" on any possible alternative meanings. One of the three actually threatened to call the FBI on me because I was "harassing" her when I sent her two emails trying to find out what I did wrong "so I can learn from my mistakes" (actual quote from my email), and apologizing in advance for anything I did do wrong, intentionally or not. Unfortunately, there are times when you must simply cut off all ties with someone, because any attempt of any kind to restore the relationship, or even basic communication, will be misconstrued and make the situation further deteriorate. It certainly doesn't feel good, particularly for someone like me that tries so hard to put other people's needs and desires in front of one's own, but it is an unresolvable situation. Then again, there are sometimes also cases where people intentionally create rifts due to ulterior motives. I once had a woman falsely accuse me of rape simply so that I wouldn't be in class and set the curve on an upcoming exam. No joke. Fortunately I was easily able to prove I wasn't even at the location this supposedly happened at, but it still hurt because, despite the absolute proof she was lying, some people still chose to believe her instead of me, and I lost friends as a result. And I won't even go into the long distance "friend" who duped me into believing I had caused her to commit suicide. EDIT: Assuming the above post is from the person you're talking about, she's right - personal details aren't any of your business. If that's what caused this rift, rather than a misunderstanding of some nature, then it's certainly understandable.

Yeah, climbing all over a statue like that seems pretty disrespectful, unless it's intended for that purpose.

That truly never occurred to me - guess I got desensitized from my years in the farming community and then as a biochemist! It's an impressive statue in that the anatomy - all of the anatomy - nails it for realism. It's especially impressive what they did with the mane and tail to make it look like it's flowing in the wind, and the leg muscles look like they're rippling as they would in real life while a horse is rearing. I wish I could link you to a picture of it but doing so would reveal where I grew up and, potentially, my personal details.

Yeah, I don't have any interest in opening that can of worms, thanks

Interesting, never knew about that site's existence. I do have to question how many of those counts are bona fide though.

Since I have a LONG ways to go before my Find Count cracks 4 digits, I'm impressed by how many have found well over 10,000. I'm curious - does anyone know anyone who's managed to hit 100k? Or if not, what's the highest (probably) legit count you've seen? I know it's not a contest, but I am curious...

Yeah, I'm going to have to go with camouflaged microcaches in heavily forested areas. I once found a microcache (after a LOT of searching) that was a tiny twig sticking out of the side of a live tree, after searching an 80 foot radius circle because both of my GPSs' signals were bouncing all over the place. And the difficulty was hilariously rated 2.5 stars. I probably could have found 4 caches in the time that one took.

The interesting thing about this one is that the statue is located on the farm of a local horse breeder and boarder. I guess that makes the placement of the cache at least semi-appropriate!

You do have to be careful with...unexpected bodily fluids associated with caches. I found a bucket-cache just a week ago that had been used by someone (presumably a non-cacher) as a urinal. It was disgusting. In that case I decided to post it as "Found" and "Needs Maintenance" but I gave myself a pass on signing the completely soaked paper log...

My favorite, thus far, is a cache that was a fake bolt attached to a steel cable in a nearby parking garage. The parking garage had 5 floors, and several steel cables around the border of each floor, with dozens of bolts holding them in place. The fake bolt was a perfect replica of the real ones. It wasn't until I noticed there was one more bolt on the 3rd floor than on the other 4 that I was able to find it.

Excellent point. I will be sure and point that out to him, thanks. Frankly I don't think he completely thought through the impact dozens of greasy (or clean!) hands would have on bronze over time. So, in this case it's clear it's a rules violation. But, I'm still curious about thoughts on the larger question - when shouldn't a cache be placed (if ever) because it's in poor taste, assuming it doesn't violate any rules? EDIT: And yeah, I agree someone will inevitably get offended, and it could get stolen. Probably wouldn't be any of the locals but still. The "offended" piece is their prerogative, but stealing the cache puts them in the wrong more than the cache-placer.

That's an important detail that I should have mentioned - it's actually a privately owned statue at the front of a farm driveway, and he claims he already has the necessary permission. I asked him that too. I have to wonder if he specified where on the statue he was going to put it though.

It's certainly possible, but I'm up to 8 incidents and counting (out of the 20 or so that I've whipped the iPhone out for thus far). For this same reason, I also don't think it's a bad idea to get coordinates for caches you place yourself from 2 or more devices - or, barring that, from a device that has both GPS and GLONASS.

A high school buddy of mine, who is also a cacher, told me recently that he plans to plant several new microcaches in and around the rural town I grew up in. Most of them are innocuous, but I have to question one of them. He plans to put a microcache on a large bronze statue of a rearing stallion such that the cacher must reach into the statue's penile sheath to retrieve the cache. While that's pretty innocent (and kind of funny) for the average farmer or rancher, I can't help but think that's wholly inappropriate for children, especially those who didn't grow up in a farming community. Not to mention that it could damage the statue over time. I've already advised my friend against it. But what do you think? Innocent or not? Is there a line to draw (beyond the official rules) on when a cache location is in poor taste? EDIT: Grr, just noticed that I typoed the topic. Don't suppose the admin could change the "in" to "is" for me?

Seconded. It's gotten to the point where I use my company-issued iPhone to check coordinates if I cannot find a geocache with my handheld. More often than not, the coordinates are 40+ feet off (according to my handheld), but spot-on (according to my iPhone). Which one's right? Who knows. It just makes it easier to tell which coordinates were recorded with a phone.

I went 0 for 3 recently on a 7 mile, 2.5-hour walk (plus 1 hour search time) trip to pick up caches near my home. On the previous trip I was 11 for 12. It made me wonder, what's the worst caching streak you've had so far?

My answer's simple. I inherited the eTrex Vista HCx that I currently use from my late father, and it reminds me of him every time I use it. Sure, I'd prefer to have something with GLONASS access, Internet capability and less drift in heavily wooded areas, but it gets the job done.

One of the strangest ones I've seen so far...was just last week. There were several human-sized bones strewn about the LZ of a cache deep in an urban wooded area. To err on the side of caution I actually called the local police to have them check it out, then when they got there THEY couldn't tell whether they were human or not. We ended up determining they were deer bones but it was still creepy. But the creepiest one of all time had to be three years ago. I was in another urban wooded area (this time, a wooded area formed by a multi-highway interchange), and 20 feet away from the cache was a tree whose base was surrounded by a perfect circle of 12 dog skulls. There were also random markings in the tree's bark. I crushed the skulls as well as I could then got the heck out of there.

I've never been a nudist and never will be - I don't enjoy it and don't see any reason to go naked if you're not enjoying the sun and nature - but I have a doctor's prescription to sunbathe naked whenever possible due to a noncommunicable health issue. I honestly wouldn't mind trying this sometime if I was part of a group of men and women doing the same, and I wasn't going to bother or gross out anyone. And that I was well-covered with sunscreen and insect repellant...I can say from personal experience that sunburns on certain body parts can be VERY painful!

It's interesting that my unit (Garmin ETrex Vista HCx) isn't on the list of handhelds with a barometric altimeter, but it is equipped. I'd be curious if anyone has done detailed measurements on just how far off a barometric altimeter can be based on air pressure changes via weather. I imagine it could be significant in rugged terrain however. My experience in the relatively flat or rolling terrain I've used mine in is that it's usually within +/- 8 feet from one day to the next, and that's without any calibration.

It may not be used much, and I agree it should be left up to the cache owner whether to provide it, but I don't see why it would hurt to have it available as an option if the owner would like to provide it. Maybe only 25% of people would fill it in, and only 10% of cachers would use that information, but why not provide it when the owner wants to?

This topic occurred to me the other day when I was trying to find a microcache somewhere within a 5-story parking garage. Has there ever been any discussion about optionally recording Z-coordinates (height either in metres or feet above sea level) on Groundspeak? I could see that being useful information in some instances, such as the one I just described. I briefly checked the forum history and didn't see anything about it.