FoxholeAtheist

For attaching the lexan to the side of an ammo box to make a hybrid container, I would (again) recommend trying 3M Marine adhesive 5200, available at many Home Depot stores as well as marine chandleries. The stuff sticks like crazy for years and years, is waterproof, and remains flexible. http://shop.store.yahoo.com/thebite/3m52maad.html

I bought a Courier bag from Aerostich (makers of high-end motorcycle riding suits) about 12 years ago and it's been my primary "stuff bag" ever since. http://www.aerostich.com/riderwearhouse.fi...N/catalogs/1034 Mine is black, but the high-viz yellow model might help you not get shot so much in the woods.

I don't know if 3M's "Marine Adhesive 5200" will stick to Tupperware, but it will sure as hell stick to anything else. I still have a glob of it on the bottom of my Tevas from 4 years ago. You can find it at boat stores, and I've even seen it in a Home Depot (in the caulking aisle), but that was in Florida, so YMMV.

I left them in addition to something else because after tramping through the snow in below freezing weather, it would be nice to go home and brew up some hot tea, left in factory-sealed foil wrappers, found in a cache.

Okay, so now I feel bad about this. In one of my recent caches (in Alberta, in winter) I left two individual foil-wrapped tea bags. I know not to leave chocolate and whatnot....how bad is tea?

Well, had I not moved, I would have been glad to hunt a few with you... I used to be in Pensacola. I would suggest for your first cache you look for one with a relatively low difficulty rating, preferably in an area you are somewhat familiar with. You can also check out "Benchmarking" for another fun thing to do with your GPS http://www.geocaching.com/mark/ The steps I would take... 1. Download EasyGPS 2. Read your GPS manual, and find out how to hook up the PC cable. Also check out the section on "Navigating to a waypoint" 3. Go to the main Groundspeak page and punch in your zip code. 4. When the list of caches comes up, click the checkbox near any that interest you, and download them as a .loc file. 5. Use EasyGPS to download the caches into your Vista. 6. Get a little notebook, and note any useful information listed in the description of the cache, as well as the code for the cache. (i.e. GC1744 or whatnot) Many cache listings will mention good places to park to start your search, things you should look for, etc. 7. Go find them!

Well, you need to enter a waypoint for the cache you are seeking, then get the GPS to show you the direction to that cache. Not knowing any more about the specific GPS you have hampers instructions on how to do this, but if you have one with a compass and altimeter, you probably can hook a cable to it and download waypoints. I use EasyGPS for this, which seems to work okay. Keep in mind... often it's easiest (not to mention more environmentally friendly) to stay on a trail until you're fairly near the cache. Cache in, trash out... have fun!

Am I missing something, or are you unable to import multiple-cache .loc files? I just saved all my waypoints using EasyGPS, and Icache is saying that it's not a valid .loc file. Oh, and as a very minor suggestion, you might want to rename your setup file to something more descriptive than "Setup". I've had hard drive problems recently and have had to reload everything a few times, so I've taken to burning all the little programs I like (Irfanview, Spybot, Adaware, Acrobat Reader, etc) to a CD so that I don't have to re-download them when/if I have to start from scratch. If your software had a more descriptive name, it would be easier to tell what it is in the lineup, or in my "Downloads" directory.

I just saw the threads on 'caching in Florida State Parks, and the article out of California regarding environmental damage, and had an idea. Would it be possible for there to be a page created on the geocaching site listing each state's official policy regarding geocaching? I'm not suggesting that the mods should go through the trouble of contacting all of the state environmental offices, but as individual cachers write in, they can post their results and/or the home page of the state's office. I'm going to call the folks at Mt Wachusett tomorrow regarding my first cache (didn't call them before placement, but will make up for it now) and am thinking about emailing the state DEM to find out what their official policy is. Just an idea.... Fox

This is way cool, and I'm excited about it, so I'm gonna waste a little bandwidth! [] I recovered MY3792 on top of Mt. Wachusett here in Mass a few weeks ago and filled out the form on the NGS website, and it's finally on the official record! Woo-hoo! Very cool! Okay, return to your regularly scheduled forum now. Fox

This is way cool, and I'm excited about it, so I'm gonna waste a little bandwidth! [] I recovered MY3792 on top of Mt. Wachusett here in Mass a few weeks ago and filled out the form on the NGS website, and it's finally on the official record! Woo-hoo! Very cool! Okay, return to your regularly scheduled forum now. Fox

I recently found my first Benchmark (my3792) and after posting the find on Geocaching.com, I filled out the recovery form you referenced on the NGS page. I read somewhere that they don't need a recovery form if the benchmark has been found recently, but if it's been a while, it's nice to drop them a quick note. Note that the guidelines for photographing these things are kind of strict, so if you haven't read and followed them, your photos probably won't work for them. Fox

I have gone in and deleted the find for my cache, edited my watch list to take it off, and checked to make sure the Travel Bug is still there. All events went smoothly, no surprises. Thanks again! Fox

I just placed a cache and posted it to the site, then went in and logged a find for it so that I could transfer the Travel Bug I picked up to my new cache... At the same time, I clicked on the "Watch this cache" button. Now, I _THINK_ that I received two notifications of myself finding this cache... would I receive one since I hid the cache, AND one since I clicked the "watch" button? Thanks, Fox

Thank you all for the advice, but especially for the geocaching rating system page. The question/answer section was kind of neat, but the "results" page was what I really needed. After looking at the descriptions of each level, I decided that it was a difficulty 2, terrain 3. It only takes a couple of adults in average shape 30 minutes (huffing, puffing minutes) to get from the parking area to the summit, and the cache is about halfway from one to the other. Path is pretty obvious, but quite rocky. I wouldn't try to take a bike up it, but some people with better biking skills than sense might go for it. Fox

Thank you all for the advice, but especially for the geocaching rating system page. The question/answer section was kind of neat, but the "results" page was what I really needed. After looking at the descriptions of each level, I decided that it was a difficulty 2, terrain 3. It only takes a couple of adults in average shape 30 minutes (huffing, puffing minutes) to get from the parking area to the summit, and the cache is about halfway from one to the other. Path is pretty obvious, but quite rocky. I wouldn't try to take a bike up it, but some people with better biking skills than sense might go for it. Fox

Thanks for the advice, Mule. What I'll probably do is go back to the cache, see how close I get with the existing way point, and then try a few methods to get a more exact waypoint, without deleting the first one. I was in a little bit of a hurry when placing this cache, since I was trying to get to the top of the mountain in time to take some sunset photos. (This mountain is 2006 feet...not a REAL mountain per se..) In addition to getting an accurate fix, I also need to write the coordinates on the lid (why do we do this, btw?) and put a welcome greeting in the cache. I'm also gonna rethink my placement. I think the path to the top of the mountain is interesting enough to be a cache location, but I might try re-hiding it near a scenic view or something. There are a few path branchings on the mountain also, and I would like to get an idea of what someone would see as they were trying to find it, so as to give a good idea of what they'll need to look for. On a related note, how do I tell what difficulty level to assign the cache? You don't have to use any special gear or anything to get to it, and it's a well marked path, but you do have to clamber up some relatively steep rocks to get there. I was thinking about calling it a "3", and let people who go looking for it advise me on adjusting that up or down depending on their opinions. Sound good? Fox

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear with my first post... I was hiding my first cache, and didn't read the page before doing so. Now I've read the page, and realize that I didn't do it right, so I've got to go back and do some things over before I post it to the site. Glad to know that some of you out there are supportive of us Newbies. Fox

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear with my first post... I was hiding my first cache, and didn't read the page before doing so. Now I've read the page, and realize that I didn't do it right, so I've got to go back and do some things over before I post it to the site. Glad to know that some of you out there are supportive of us Newbies. Fox

Read the page about placing your first cache BEFORE you get back from placing your first cache. Now I get to go back to the mountain, get an "averaged" GPS fix... write some stuff in the notebook..... *sigh* Well, at least I found my first Benchmark while I was doing it. (MY3792.. top of Wachusett Mountain in Central MA) Fox

I purchase an Etrex Venture a few days ago for $169 from Circuit City (can be found for a little less online) and am happy with it so far. The reason I went with it over the base Etrex was that it came with the computer adapter, and from what I can tell, you can't hook a basic model up to a computer. Granted, it's a gadget, but for not very much more money, it is a VERY nice gadget. I love being able to log on and in 5 minutes download every cache location within 15 miles of my home. Also, the venture is green, which goes much better with my backpack. Fox

I purchase an Etrex Venture a few days ago for $169 from Circuit City (can be found for a little less online) and am happy with it so far. The reason I went with it over the base Etrex was that it came with the computer adapter, and from what I can tell, you can't hook a basic model up to a computer. Granted, it's a gadget, but for not very much more money, it is a VERY nice gadget. I love being able to log on and in 5 minutes download every cache location within 15 miles of my home. Also, the venture is green, which goes much better with my backpack. Fox

I am reading it kind of like discovery, only you are doing it again, so it's REcovery.... my $.o2 Fox