nintendudes

There is another "treasure hunting" game, that we all know about, that has used technology to basically eliminate the questionable finds that are being discussed in this thread. Logging a find is only possible by having the target in front of you. I guess there are ways to cheat but you would need to know somebody who is going to the hide, have them agree to help you cheat, and then you would need to give them your phone for a day. Certainly more difficult than simply sitting at your computer and logging a find by proxy. This newer activity has been gaining momentum at an alarming pace and until recently, I couldn't figure out why. Maybe this thread is part of the reason. I don't really have an issue with the cheaters personally but it does diminish the value of actually going out and finding a cache yourself. To some more than others. I can't help but think that writing in a physical log with a pen is un-necessary and archaic. I feel the the geocaching heirarchy needs to develop a way to make it necessary to actually be at the cache in order to log it. The honor system is noble in theory, but as more people join the game, the number of dishonorable individuals will also increase and discredit the honest finders who work so hard to maintain a level of legitimacy to the game. Eventually, all the true players, the ones who are out there hacking through the woods, diving in the hedges, or climbing the mountains, will migrate to the game that gives validity to their effort. Or maybe not. Maybe the limitless flexibility, self-policing mentality, and a loosely upheld rulebook that allows or even encourages rule bending, are what make geocaching so popular to so many. I will be watching closely as this "other game" works overcome the "no signal" issue. At that point, it will become very interesting.

I'm only in my 2nd month of geocaching but I will add my $0.02. I became a PM after 2 finds and didn't really give it a 2nd thought. I would estimate thus far the kids and I have gotten about 100 hours of entertainment. Of all the expenses associated with this hobby, the cost of the PM is the least of my concern. Even the cost of the GPSr (bought new at Cabella's) is fairly insignificant considering the periodicity of such a purchase. The real expense that I've found to be the hardest to digest is the freaking fuel. I still have a pretty good amount of caches within a 5 mile radius of my home and I'm still getting 1-2 days less out of a tank of gas. I can't imagine the fuel cost of those with thousands of finds. If anybody is getting rich from geocaching, it's Exxon.

When creating GPX files of a specific area to view in Google Earth I have found the the results are a mess of green icons and large white labels. Is there any way to clean this up? I can change the properties of individual caches but if I try to change the properties of all the caches, I lose the unique icon for each cache type and the default GE "yellow push pin" takes their place.

Thanks for all the replies. That is exactly what I was looking for. Preloading the caches from a computer is not an issue. It sounds basically like updating the GPS in my car. I do plan on upgrading to Premium after we find a few caches and see if we like it. We have been letterboxing for a little while and would like to add Geocaching. Letterboxes are few and far between and it would be nice to be able to find geocaches in close proximity to the letterboxes we go after.

A GPS with built-in cell phone? Not that I know of. Even if such a device existed, I would expect it to be pretty expensive. It doesn't need to be a fully functioning cell phone. It simply needs to know 1. where you are (which it does) and 2. where the caches are. The app provides #2 quite nicely. But is there a Gps unit that can replicate this function?

I just started and downloaded the free version of the app on my wife's iPhone. Unfortunately, we haven't found a cache yet but we are stil learning the tricks of the trade. I would prefer to not use the iPhone but I really like the way the app works. Being able to identify caches that are in your area, wherever you are, with a touch of a button is very convenient. Is there a GPS unit that has this type of functionality or something similar? I don't always have my wife's phone with me and my cell is a Blackberry that my employer provides.