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ProfessorBenson

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Posts posted by ProfessorBenson

    camouflage idea

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    I'm sick and tired of my geocaches getting trashed. I figure it's not being done by other cachers, just people who find them, don't understand what they are and trash the cache. So I want to make one that will be tamper-proof:

    A geocache disguised as a hornet's nest.

    And for an added attraction: I want to put a motion-activated buzzer on the inside. This will keep away the wrong sort of people. Of course, in the cache description, I'll let everyone know what they are supposed to find. And make sure there are no real hornet nests in the area.

    Does this concept violate any of the rules?

    Moving a GeoCache

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    I've received a complaint about a field puzzle I hid last May. It was one I spent a lot of time doing, but few people have bothered to trek out to where it is located. Now someone has sent me an angry letter describing how it was messed up when they found it.

    I'm thinking of moving it to my property where I can better take care of it. More people could find it. The problem is proximity. I would have to archive two other caches in the area to do this.

    Is there a regulation against this?

    Can you shift caches around if there seems to be a problem?

    Would I have to re-name the one I want to preserve?

    Most Steps in a Puzzle Cache

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Over the past year I've discovered placing caches can be more fun than finding them. It's immensely satisfying to see people find them and log in comments. And I've made a few complicated puzzle caches, which seem to draw the more dedicated cacher.

     

    But is there a record for puzzle cache with the most steps to it? How would you find out?

     

    The puzzle with the record number of steps (however you define them) probably has at least a similar number of people ignoring it. :anibad:

    Could be. But people are attracted to challenges.

    Most Steps in a Puzzle Cache

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Over the past year I've discovered placing caches can be more fun than finding them. It's immensely satisfying to see people find them and log in comments. And I've made a few complicated puzzle caches, which seem to draw the more dedicated cacher.

     

    But is there a record for puzzle cache with the most steps to it? How would you find out?

    Multi's and padlocks

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    I have a metal box with a clasp I want to use as a cache container. I also have a padlock I want to lock it with. My plan is to put the key in a separate container and list it as a multi-cache. Put there are some problems:

    1) When the cacher finds the first stage (the key), they will need to travel to the second stage to unlock the box and sign the log. Between the first stage and the second stage, no one else will be able to find the cache. My solution is to-

    2)Put the cache with the key in it within ten feet of the actual locked box. Thus, the down time will be minimal.

    I'm also assuming our local cachers have enough decency to return the key to the original cache.

    My questions are:

    1)Would putting the key in a different stage of the multi create a problem?

    2)Does putting the key stage within ten feet of the final stage create a proximity issue?

    Protocol Question re: Puzzle Cache

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted · Edited by ProfessorBenson

    I worked the puzzle backwards to make sure it could be solved.

    This is not a standard "here's the secret code, now solve it" puzzle. You have to intuit your way through this one. I did it this way because(A)my previous "Junior crypt-analysis" ones were all cracked in a matter of hours and(B)I wanted something different that a computer couldn't do.

    Geocaching Fiction

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Just published my review of CACHED OUT:

     

    http://geocachecreation.com/geocaching-books-cached-out-by-russell-atkinson/

     

    Great book! Was surprised there are other geocaching fiction books out there! I thought this was a first.

     

    Good review, except that you wrote:

     

    The book begins with Cliff Knowles geocaching in a Southern California state park.

     

    All the caches that were found and most of the story took place in the hills around Santa Clara valley, mostly in the Santa Cruz mountains. That's all considered part of northern California. One of the things I really enjoyed about the book is that lived in the area for 35 years and have been to almost all of the locations mentioned in the book. I think I've even been in the bar at the "Pruneyard" (a shopping center in Campbell) where an important meeting took place.

    Arg! I should check these things often...have to make a correction.....

    Protocol Question re: Puzzle Cache

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Is there some general rule as to how long you should the puzzle cache go unsolved before tossing out another hint? One of mine hasn't been cracked and I've had it out for a week. From the geochecker I put on it, there have been about 35 attempt I know about.

    As the owner of 68 puzzle caches (37 still active) I would prefer people solve mine themselves so they get the full experience and the fun of the Aha! moment, but I have no problem with people getting hints from other previous solvers/finders. I will usually give hints on puzzles after a reasonable period of time has passed for the smart folks to get the "glory" of FTS or FTF, such as it is, but it can get to be a pain. Sometimes I say on the cache page I won't give hints, but I usually cave if you email me nicely. But I don't give spoilers, so if someone asks for a hint, they should only ask once and if they still don't get it, stop asking.

     

    It's irritating to keep spoon feeding someone who is pretty much useless at solving (Have you Googled the title? No. Anagrammed it? No. Looked up the definition in a dictionary? No. Counted the number of sentences - 15 just like the number of digits in coordinates? No)and who really just wants to be told the coordinates so they can get a find. What's the point of doing a puzzle cache if you don't want to work the puzzle? Are you that desperate for another find? So in those cases I stop responding and if they want to get the answer from someone else it's fine with me. I do want my caches to be found, but I'm more interested in giving people the fun of solving the puzzles. I have also made some very good geofriends by asking for (or giving) hints on puzzles I don't own, so I see this as a positive social aspect of geocaching. Somebody has to go first in making new friends and if you share an interest in both geocaching and puzzles, why not make the move.

    Geocaches in public places

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    My first four were done on a park trail with permission of the ranger. He even helped me place them. And I had to fill out four pages of paper work for each.

    I just did a blog entry about what happens when you place a cache in the wrong location. I'd post the link to it, but don't want to get accused of "self promotion".

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