joeandjill

I think I'll just go ahead and send the coords of my proposed cache to the reviewer and see what he says. I'm no fan of multi's. Don't know why, just don't care for them. The multi I'm placing near has (from what I hear) lots of stages and takes the better part of a day. I'd rather not mess with it. Thanks for your help. Geojoe

I have a spot picked out for a sweet cache but there is a multi nearby. I'm not sure where all the stages of the multi are and it is quite possible that a stage in the multi may be very near where I would like to place my cache. I don't want to go through all the work of placing the cache if it is going to be denied because it is to close to another cache. Do they base their decision on the starting point of the multi only, or do they include all the stages? Also, I am planning a night cache that will travel a trail that passes withing 300 feet of other caches. The start and end are at least .2 miles from any other cache. Is this OK? Thanks!!!

Heres another idea that I have been using lately. I have found that Gorilla tape will stick to lock n lock containers and last for a long time (haven't had any containers with problems yet and a couple have been out a year or so). I wrap the containers with the Gorilla tape which is available at Wal Mart and then paint them with camo spray paint. The tape sticks to the container and the paint sticks to the tape. Has a great finished look. Just something you may want to try. Joe

Trauma nurse in Level 2 trauma center.....

I've been experimenting with some different types of glue and lock & locks lately. I've been using spanish moss as my medium of choice. My favorite glue so far has been Gorilla Glue but I have had good luck with some of the industrial building glues from the hardware store also. The Gorilla Glue is nice because it expands as it hardens and contacts more of the spanish moss. The key to using them directly on the plastic container is to rough the container up a bunch so they have something to grip. I take a vibrating sander and a very gritty sandpaper to the container before I apply the glue. The next thing is getting the moss to contact the container in as many places as possible. I started by putting heavy weights on the container but found it was impossible to get even coverage (especially on the sides of the container). My current method is to apply the glue, then the moss, and finally wrap the entire thing with ace wrap (the stuff you wrap a sprained ankle with) very, very tightly and leave it until it is dry. It seems to stick very well and I plan to put one of these out in the field next week and see how it goes. That being said, the method I used for my last cache was the same as above except instead of placing the moss directly on the lock & lock I wrapped the lock & lock with camo tape. I used camo tape I purchased from cabelas instead of duct tape. Duct tape is smooth on the outside and the camo tape from Cabelas has a cloth exterior. I then applied the moss and wrapped it with the ace wrap as I mentioned above. My thinking is that if the moss all falls off or is torn off by a careless cacher then the camo will still hide it. I have lots of glue and lots of moss so I'm going to continue to experiment and will let you know if I find anything that works better. Joe

One other thing you need to consider is that some people are physically unable to get to caches that aren't super accessable. My father loves to Geocache with me but he has Parkinsons pretty bad so we are confined to searching in public parks, etc. We've actually gotten very good about searching when there are lots of people about. Holding the GPS to your ear like a cell phone when people look, pretending we dropped his cane while we look under the bench, etc. Its great fun. Like someone before said, if you don't like that kind of cache - don't find them. My personal preference is for a cache you have to hike, scramble and climb for but that doesn't mean those kinds are best for everyone. Just my opinion. Joe

I prefer to grab my swag from the local hardware store. I can often times find stuff on sale that goes very quickly. You can tell if people like your stuff by looking back at some of the last caches you've placed items in and see if people have taken it (provided they put it in the log). Some recent items that have gone well are small pliers, small adjustable wrenches, magnetic tape measure that sticks to your refrig, etc. Kids toys are harder because all little kids these days have too much McD's crap at home already. I prefer (and my Son would agree) to place small compass, whistles, glow sticks, etc. It pertains more to Geocaching and usually gets picked over the McD's toys. Best advice is like you've read before, place items you would like to get yourself and always leave a cache better than you found it. Joe

My little man loves to "treasure hunt" as long as the hike isn't too long and there are no micros involved. Here's a little tip to keep the kids interested, I bring along a couple of small toys as swag and if the cache if full of crap then I sneak one of the little toys in so my guy has something to take home. I'm usually sneaky enough that he doesn't know its me that put it in there and we don't have to take home another broken McD's toy. Have fun Joe

I have an internal frame hiking pack that has a second small detachable pack attached. I keep some swag, my camera and important items in the small pack and in the large pack I keep raingear, water, snacks, etc. That way I'm prepared to hike 5 miles or pop of the little pack and hike 5 minutes. I keep all my stuff in the pack so I can pick up and be ready to roll in just a minute or two. Its the perfect setup. I purchased mine from Cabelas but I've seen similar in REI and such. joe

My Wyatt on the Caching trail

Foot bridge over Platte River near Kearney Nebraska