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vw_k

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Everything posted by vw_k

  1. I take a cheap extendable hiking pole with me. I can use it for poking into dirty, creepy holes, beating foliage out of the way, retrieving dropped/unreachable caches and it helps me feel more secure when climbing/descending slopes etc. You don't need and expensive one, any pole with a bit of a spike/metal tip on the end will do.
  2. One solution to this would be for the CO to change the description to include a waypoint projection. Start at the position where the sign used to be, then the cache is X metres away on Y bearing.
  3. TBs and geocoins do end up in places like junk shops and car boot sales occasionally, and sometimes get bought by cachers just to put them back into circulation. Here's hoping the ebayer does the right thing and places them in a cache.
  4. If you're prepared to replace the logsheet twice as often then go ahead. How convenient this is for you will depend on how close the cache location is to your home or workplace. If there are other hides of the same cache type and similar D/T rating nearby have a look at them and see how many logs they get, this could be an indication to how often yours will get found.
  5. Agreed, I doubt many people will trust this attribute to find a gas station when on a journey. Google etc are going to be a much better choice. I wouldn't want to rely on geocache attributes to find EV charging stations either, there are already plenty of established apps for finding charging points.
  6. I think you should each create individual accounts for yourselves so you can log caches as individuals when you are on your own. Keep your co-owned account for when you are caching together.
  7. I've found myself staying indoors during the day and going out caching/hiking in the afternoon/evening when it's cooler.
  8. I like mystery caches. I like the fact that the cache type is a bit of a "catch all" for caches that don't fit in other categories but that still follow the guidelines. It allows people to get creative with their hides. Sure there are plenty of mystery type caches that I'll never be able to find for certain reasons but that's life, there's plenty of other caches that are beyone my ability too (a hard climb, puzzle I can't solve, needing a boat etc etc).
  9. I have an 9m extendable flagpole and also have this issue with the top section. It wiggles around a lot once it's 9m up in the air and once a cache container is picked up it bends too much due to the weight on it, I also leave the last section retracted to give me a less flexible end and what is in reality an 8m pole. I've done one cache where I had to lift the base of the pole about chest high to retrieve the container meaning it was hard to control. Extendable flag/fishing poles are a lot more stable if you can keep the base end on the ground therefore I'd recommend that anyone considering one get the longest you can find. 10m ones are available.
  10. 1. Do you prefer to find TB with specific goals or the ones that just want to get miles or travel from cache to cache? I find that TBs that just want to travel are easier for me to drop off and keep moving. Those that may want to move in a particular direction I may struggle to help if I have to plans to find suitable caches in that direction. There is a TB hotel close to where I work so if I find I'm struggling to find a suitable cache for a particular TB I'll end up dropping it in there. 2. Does it seem to you that TBs with a general goal of simply getting as many miles as possible tend to travel further and last longer than TBs with more specific goals (e.g., visit each of the state capitals)? I doubt it makes a difference. The life of a TB is due to it being lost or stolen. 3. Do you ever specifically search for Geocaches with TBs in them? Yes, especially if they have icons which I haven't logged. 4. Does a cache with TBs in its inventory make a cache more attractive to you? Yes, so I can move the TB on or just log it as discovered if I feel I can't help its mission. 5. Have you ever kidnapped a TB? (...held on to a TB much longer than you intended) A little longer than intended, maybe. But in general I drop trackables in the local TB hotel if I've had them for more than a couple of weeks.
  11. This. The geocaching website and app isn't set up for "private" caches to be created like this. Just noting down the co-ordinates of the caches you hide and finding a smartphone navigation app in which they can be entered (such as google maps) is the way to go. Perhaps the signatures in the logbooks confirming which student found which cache could then be entered into a spreadsheet to create a list of logs and find counts.
  12. My daily bag which I use for taking my lunch to work has a pen and a paper diary in it (yes I still use one!). The diary can be used as a notebook too for working out co-ordinates etc. These 2 items along with my phone were sufficient for finding probably 95% of the caches I've found. For any caches that involve more equipment I'll just choose to take that equipment with me as needed. I'm a keen hiker, camper etc and love my gear but my actual "every day carry" list is very small. I can't ever see myself needing to carry much kit in everyday life.
  13. Do you have the GC.... code of the particular cache you are trying to find? Multi caches can vary in the ways they need to be solved, usually reading the description will give you instructions on how to solve it. Some multi caches involve collecting clues in the field and doing some (usually basic) maths to convert numbers to the final co-ordinates, others may involve projecting a waypoint or a series of small containers, each containing the co-ordinates to the next one until the final cache is found. Cache owners are usually helpful and want their caches to be found and enjoyed, so messaging the cache owner through the geocaching website is another option. Good luck and have fun
  14. You may be interested to know there's a gouple of Telegram chat groups, "Geocaching Furries" and "geocache furries".
  15. Sounds fun but it's really a seperate game from geocaching as it doesn't involve a person physically going to the location and signing the log. It could be developed into an interesting hobby though if there were locations that allowed drones and which made for an interesting photograph from above. There was someone who would leave notes on geocache pages saying they'd virtually flown over the co-ordinates in an aircraft simulation game but they only wrote a note and didn't claim a find.
  16. Is geocaching decreasing in popularity? Since I started in 2006, no, it's increased a lot. However looking at the logs of some caches, especially those near schools, it seems there was a trend over the past couple of years of new cachers (presumably school kids) with few finds logging caches and this seems to have died down now. I remember reading somewhere that geocaching was trending on TikTok thanks to a few popular TikTokers mentioning it so I guess that could have been responsible for this period of lots of new young cachers. Geocaching seems to get popular with journalists occasionally which could also influence trends of people starting up.
  17. I've got a handful of FTFs in my time but I won't go out of my way to get them any more. Perhaps if one appeared locally or if there was an unfound cache in a place I was going to (as happened on a small island I was visiting on holiday once) I might be tempted. I think it's kind of nice that they are an unofficial thing that's accepted amongst the community. After all it's usually our local caching peers that we are in competition with for a FTF. Making it an official part of the game might encourage some people to get too serious about it!
  18. On the subject of letterboxes, an activity could be set up that uses a map, grid references and compass bearings, as are traditionally used in the hobby of "letterboxing". A custom map with grid references could be made by laying a grid over a plan of the school, and basic compasses are much cheaper than GPS units.
  19. Just a small one but: Finders posting spoiler photos for other cachers' cleverly made hides. I had this happen today, not the end of the world for me as it was a type of hide I have seen before, but the "Ahh THERE it is! Very clever!" factor was missing as I could just walk straight up to GZ knowing what I was looking for and could see the cache camoflage as I approached. For someone who hadn't seen this type of hide before the experience of searching for the cache then realising you've found it would be gone. Turns out the finder posts a lot of photos of the caches they find "to help others". If a cache owner wants to post a spoiler photo then it's up to them, but posting spoiler photos on other people's hides can kind of defeat the point of difficulty ratings in my opinion.
  20. Personally I think you'd be better off arranging to hide and find caches that are not listed on geocaching.com, perhaps get students to hide caches on school grounds (and maybe elsewhere with permission) and to exchange co-ordinates within the class by e-mail or on a printed out sheet etc.
  21. I enjoy finding regular or large caches mostly for the ability to actually fit a trackable in them and also because you can get a decent sized logbook. But I've noticed recently that even when a cache is in an interesting spot with a good sized logbook the written logs over the last few years have gotten shorter and shorter. One example I found recently had a logbook that was over 10 years old, most entries from 10 years ago were a short paragraph taking up half a page or a longer entry taking up a whole page. But the most recent page was just single line entries of date, username and the occasional "TFTC". If cachers aren't even going to write interesting entries in logboks any more and it's all about just signing a name and getting a smiley then I can understand why people wouldn't bother placing larger size caches. A logbook large enough for interesting entries is the best thing about larger caches for me, I rarely see any swag in them worth trading for these days, mostly McDonalds toys, rusty keyrings etc and in our climate they're usually damp.
  22. vw_k

    Serbia GC

    Welcome to this fun hobby Geocaching is popular with tourists and travellers so hopefully some geocachers will visit your city and interest in geocaching will grow there.
  23. How about allowing webcam caches under the control of or in conjunction with organisations such as tourist boards and tourist information centres? Quite a few of which seem to operate webcams anyway and orgs like this have already been involved in geotrails and other forms of geocaching. Perhaps put a few simple rules in place such as using a webcam of sufficient quality and location to allow recognisable photos to be captured (no "I'm that small blob in the distance" logs) and ensuring the webcam can be accessed for free 24/7 and doesn't involve paying an entry fee.
  24. I had a TB that went missing when a cache was trashed, then I got a log on it from someone who had found it on the ground and signed up to geocaching.com just to try and help it's mission, I messaged them for a bit and at first seemed enthusiastic but once I'd suggested dropping it in a nearby cache or mailing it back to me they stopped replying. Fast forward a couple of years and I get a log from an active cacher who had spotted it in their friend's house and recognised it as a TB. They put it back into circulation for me. Since then it's gone missing again. So never give up hope. Although I certainly agree with the advice I've read that suggests not to release anything as a TB that has sentimental or monetary value as TBs do often go missing.
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