thehoomer

We have been using the Garmin Etrex H for the 8 years we have been caching. I would like to buy a new one as a stocking filler for Mr Hoomer but I cant seem to find the old model available anywhere. Has it now been completely superceded by the '20' and '30'?

Thanks very much .

I know its going to be a million miles from her radar at the moment but I would like to send Sarah an email. Can someone tell me her Geo name please?

Very sorry to read this, how terrifying it all must've been. I venture no assumptions on how/why it happened and wish Sarah a speedy recovery. I'm sure we would be grateful of news of her progress if anyone knows?

You could try contacting the reviewer who released it for publication. The CO might not have to reply to you but the reviewer should shouldn't they ? Perhaps they could email the CO on your behalf and ask them to release your TB? I’m guessing you should at least try to contact the CO directly first though.

Ive found a semi-fix to this John. If you click on 'Print 5 or 10 logs', you can at least see the last 10 logs .

Just give me a call when you are next in the Bicester area Jeff and if you can drop by, I will show you how to do it. Please don't request anything more technical than that though!

Oooooooh, I want Nipper ! Have you tried emailing Scalesr? He/she found that cache on the same day. Unless of course you were together? By the very nature of the game, it's almost always the last cache where you lose/leave the GPS. We lost one once and never saw it again. I hope you are luckier.

It could be that Jeff has forgotten about his previous posting. After a sea of finds, it is also not impossible that he needs a reminder on how to award a favourite point .

A 100% failure rate. We owned 1 TB back in 2007 and that was purely because someone gave it to us. It went missing after visiting 3 caches.

Make sure you have a good supply of plasters if you’re embarking on a high terrain cache Hen! Welcome back.

I can hardly see how you can go caching without some sort of shortlist system. Although it does take a little effort and may require half an hour of preparation, there's not really any option unless you just walk around at random and hope to come across caches as you go. A bit of research will probably save you wasted time and effort so the net effect may be that the caching trip takes less time overall. I have no idea what's wrong with the favourites system either. Although not perfect it seems to be a reasonable way of identifying a good or poor cache. If a cache has been found 100 times and has no favourites I'd at least check out the logs to see whether it's going to be worth going out of my way for. And how would you propose that any "qualifying period" works, given the obvious problems? You seem to have a problem that is only a problem to a small number of cachers, with a solution that is undefined. Forgive me if I gave rise to the notion that I go caching without any preparation. That as you say, would be foolish indeed. I simply meant that the ever increasing amount of work involved was having a pleasure-reducing impact on the overall experience but I am gratified for your advice and ideas on how to enhance my enjoyment of the game. I am pleased you are reasonably content with the favourites system but for me, it is no longer a reliable tool (in most cases). I do look at it but only with a serious element of tentativeness on board. I agree though, thus far, it is perhaps better to have it than not. I’m not certain I understand para 3 but if I have deciphered it accurately, please can you advise of your statistical source for the ‘small number of cachers’ who suffer from the same ‘problem’, or is this statement the result of some kind of personal study? I know it seems like gay abandon but bizarrely, I feel no obligation whatsoever to proffer a water tight business case in favour of a qualifying period (or a set amount of finds). Equally, I fail to see how you know there would be ‘obvious problems’ without first testing the water. We neither of us are Soothsayers and without first trialing the idea, are therefore unqualified to determine its success or failure. We are however, both entitled to our opinions on the idea as a concept and I respect yours to that end.

Yes, I am aware, this is one of the reasons I said, 'I know I am raking over old ground'. I also said that I was unmoved by any argument and whilst I totally respect and appreciate the views given so far, my opinion remains steadfast. I have said before, I am fully appreciative that a beginner is not necessarily afflicted with reduced competence when producing a quality cache but in my experience, these instances are occasional at best. I completely engage with you, in an exemplary world, found logs which propose that the cache has room for improvement would be a valuable way forward. However, for varying reasons, many cachers will not express their true feelings on a poor placement. The almost overriding trend of 'TFTC' (or variations thereof) leaves the CO or future seekers in a neutral environment on cache quality. The favourites system has also become unreliable and flawed due to (what I consider to be) a diversion from its original course and intended purpose. Perhaps you have the advantage of more preparation time than I but 'building a shortlist' with its ever-growing associated filters, is becoming more and more of a chore for me.

Ok, I can understand why my post may have been misconstrued and apologise if I caused any offence but please allow me to put something straight here. Almost without exception, when a newb finds one of our caches and mentions in the log that this was their first cache, we post a note on the page welcoming them to the game and thanking them for choosing one of our caches as an introduction to Geocaching. Just in case they don’t revisit the page after logging, we also send them a pre-prepared email which repeats our welcome note and also contains our contact details if they require any help, guidance or assistance with anything geo-related. We also offer our attendance on a small caching trip to show them the ropes if they want it. This offer has been taken up on several occasions and we have made some good caching friends as a result. Cachers in this area will testify, I am far from being anti-newb and actively encourage future involvement in the game by supporting and offering hands on assistance if required. It may sound pompous but I’ll wager that I am in the minority with this level of attention and ‘open arms’ approach to newbs. I’m aware I’m raking over old ground but I remain unmoved by any argument against a qualifying period of involvement (or a set amount of finds) before setting a cache. This argument, amongst other things, used to be because it was felt that a better quality cache would be set as a result of experience but things have moved on since then. More and more, I’m seeing caches being set and almost immediately abandoned by the cacher who was in love with the game for 48 hrs and then moved on to something else. Often, the cache is never even found before it is archived because the co ordinates are wholly inaccurate. We all know and appreciate how hard the reviewers work and I would like to feel that their valuable time was being spent reviewing caches which had been set by someone with a little more than a fleeting 48hr passion about the game.

Im is new cacher. I fonnd 1 cachge since a joined yesterdad. THis game is grart. Gunna set my owm cashees now..? Ive nearlt finished my ice crean and as soon as its gon Im gunna throw the tub undar a trree 4 u all and make some cordinites on my fone. Plese speeek me onfacebuk. I plan to 4get this game in t minus 60 hours. Happy days.

Could you perhaps change the wording on the page to something like, 'Please send a picture of yourself or GPS at the location'. This way, you would never have to respond to the finders and can just forget you own it. I know that it may only be a matter of time before it would get archived for some other reason but at least this would buy it a bit more time. There are loads of traditional caches out there which are being maintained by the community rather than the absent CO. Surely between us, we can find a way to keep this valuable virtual.

I just clicked on this thread with eager anticipation and excitement. Sigh, that'll learn me.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no trees or bushes which are heavy-laden with Tupperware as fruit. Tupperware does not occur naturally in the environment and nor do aerosol cans. Whether a Tupperware box is prettier than an aerosol can is a matter of opinion. There are hundreds of caches out there which aren't maintained. Providing the CO performs maintenance when required, I am at a loss to understand why you felt the need to log a NM. Its not the kind of cache which we would set but equally, we would have no problem logging it as a find and would only log a NM if it actually needed it. We would be in a right old pickle in this game if we all logged NM's on caches we didn't 'like'.

Welcome to 'Its A Knockout'..... first event, straw clutching.

Agreed. I was just offering a very cheap but perfectly adequate alternative. We have found quite a few caches now and have also successfully hidden a couple, all using a 50 quid tracker. Area gets printed out from multimap with loaded caches highlighted. 2 batteries taken from a pack of 12 from the pound shop last us a whole day. Job done. I cant believe that George W. Bush has landed the American Presidency, Al Gore is far better.

I'm gunna run quickly through the forum and shout, 'Garmin eTrex H' and then quickly run away again.

You make some valid points although even so if someone is going to place caches that are easily accessible they would still do well to make them interesting. You are entirely right that some people lack the ability to walk 20 miles, or 2 miles, and some lack the ability to walk at all. Wouldn't it be better for things like wheelchair-accessible caches to be physically accessible but placed near a point of interest, rather than be utterly unimaginative variations of a wet film pot behind a sign with no reason to visit the area other than to grab the cache? Otherwise effectively what we're saying is that the less mobile among us deserve nothing better than the caching equivalent of being tossed a few crumbs from the table. If anything I'd argue that when considering the needs of people who are less mobile it's even more important to make a cache interesting. For me it's no big deal to walk or cycle to a cache so if it turns out to be a disappointing keysafe behind a road sign I still got some exercise out of the process. If someone is going to make a reasonable effort (whatever "reasonable effort" means based on their own mobility) to get to a cache it seems a shame for them to go to the trouble only to find the cache setter just threw down a lame micro without much thought. Hear hear. Well written and I completely agree. Yeah yeah, I know that some of you may come back and say that they do have limited mobility and yet live for lame micro's but I would guess that most would prefer something interesting or clever.

There will be another opportunity to enter and explore this fantastic restored bunker on Sunday 16th June between 12:00hrs - 16:00hrs. Terry and his team will be on hand to answer any questions you have on the restoration or indeed, the bunker's history. Parking at the site is very limited and I'm guessing that only 2 people will be permitted in the bunker at any one time. In view of this, please could you post any expressions of interest on the cache page in order for us to create a visit timetable if necessary. I hope that those of you who missed out last time can make it on 16th.

I think you will find that opinion is reasonably equally divided on cache sizes. No 'cache UKIP' here as far as I can see. There will always be a division between those that like micro's and those that favour the larger. Im sure that most of us are as content with that diversity of persuasion as you are with seeking a variety of container sizes. Years ago, our holiday destinations were determined by the amount of caches in the area. Now, the location most definitely comes first. However, we do usually try to find a town trail multi when we are away. Along with taking us to items of interest, very often, they have proved useful in helping us to get to know the place too. If one is selective, multi’s of this nature haven’t changed that much over the years and we can usually find one to fit the bill. IMO, some aspects of caching have changed for the better and others perhaps not so but I guess that thats the nature of the beast.

I couldnt agree more Paul. My Flabber has never been so gasted at the difference we all made. For those of you that discovered about this event through this forum, please accept my heartfelt thanks for all your hard work. Thanks too for all the lovely logs and numerous pictures posted on the page .