vw_k

Most caches are in publicly accessible places and most don't get stolen or vandalised, the ones that frequently get "muggled" are likely to be badly hidden (by the placer or the last finder) or in an unsuitable area. If you're worried about a cache going missing or getting damaged then another option is to make it harder to find. Make it a multi or mystery cache that requires some brain power to work out the co-ordinates and hide it in a place that it's not likely to get spotted easily by passers by.

Popular location? Am I the only one who HATES grocery shopping?

I tend not to leave swag in urban caches, parks etc but if I'm heading to more remote areas I tend to leave things that would be useful to hikers. Emergency whistles (because everyone should be carrying one) are one of my favourites.

An invisibility cloak!

This has probably been mentioned before but cachers who don't log DNFs! How are people supposed to know if there is a potential problem with the cache? I have DNFed caches whose last logs were "found it" several months previously but the caches on the trail either side of them have been found plenty of times in the past month. This makes me think that people have searched for it but not DNFed it, so a cache has been missing for months without the owner being alerted to the problem! Of course this means the net cacher to come along will be wasting their time looking for it too.

I also have a flag counter on my profile, any visits are appreciated http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?id=673868

Great idea! You now have another UK visit on your profile. I've just added a flag counter too so any profile visits are welcome http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?id=673868

Actually there's one in Gloucester soon too! GC68F6K.

There's an event near you this week, GC68F64. Go along and introduce yourself

Sounds like a good idea. If you host an event then local cachers are bound to show up

Even if the boom in geocaching dies down, the concept of outdoor enthusiasts hiding things for people to navigate to won't entirely disappear. Look at how long letterboxing has existed for. There are certainly people making money from the hobby at the moment but wether they make a living and for how long I don't know. I'd guess you'd have to sell an awful lot of a product/service to a small slice of the population in an already flooded market to make a decent living. If you have an interest in outdoor activities in general perhaps a business aimed at a wider market but with a geocaching section would be a safer bet, however you may have to think about dropping caching and marketing towards a more profitable hobby if interest in it wanes. Whatever you decide to do good luck finding a job in which you feel happy, I know how hard that can be.

I can't find it now but I'm sure I once read somewhere that leaving money in caches wasn't encouraged, the reasoning being that if people thought it was common to find money in them then caches would get robbed and trashed more often. Was this an official guideline at some point? I've found the occasional coins in caches, some people place lottery scratchcards in caches as FTF prizes here in the UK, and you never know how much one of those could be worth!

Or perhaps it's the amount of work involved, I like virtuals but most of the ones I've found only require one piece of information to be collected, "Find the building, e-mail me the date above the door" for example. Earthcaches are more like a mini geology lesson which I think is great but I can see how it might put some cachers off, not all of them are an "easy" find.

I found my first 20 or so caches without using a GPSr. In the suburban area where I used to live it was quite easy to use the satellite images on Google maps and recognise landmarks such as trees, fence lines and corners of buildings. Once I was at the location the hint of the cache page would often help narrow the search down. I still find caches without a GPSr occasionally, if the cache location is on a road then Google street view can be very useful too, often allowing me to see the road sign that a cache is attatched to before I even visit the area.

Do you have a link to the cache page or the geocache code (beginning with GC----) so we can see which cache you are looking for? Cache owners are generally very helpful and friendly so it might be worth messaging the cache owner for an extra hint.

If you do not already have a GPSr then I'll presume you are caching on a smartphone. Depending on what app you are using you may be able to enter the solved co-ordinates as an additional waypoint and then navigate to it.

If you feel that you have found enough caches to know what makes a good and bad hide then go for it. Get accurate co-ordinates and place a decent container in a nice area and geocachers WILL want to come and find it.

I have several hobbies and you'll notice in most social circles that friends who have known each other a long time may have their own in jokes etc, but it's not that they mean to exclude newcomers. Sometimes a person's mood or intention doesn't translate well into written posts on internet groups and facebook but I've generally found that anyone who has a mutual interest in something will be happy to chat about it. From the events I've been to and people I've met on the trails I can say that geocachers are a very friendly community.

Most puzzle cache owners are glad to point people in the right direction and give hints, they'll be happy that you're attempting their cache

Welcome to the hobby If you're thinking of leaving trade items or "swag" just bear in mind that it should be suitable for families and children and nothing that could rot or attract animals. The big no-nos are food, money, sharp impliments like knives or anything not suitable for children. Common examples of good items are things like small toys, keyrings and collectible personalised items like wooden tokens or poker chips with your user name on. As has already been mentioned, there are a few threads on swag and trade items that you can search for on the forum.

Back in the day when I used to print off the cache page and decrypt the hint on the trail using the ROT13 guide (and I bet some people still do this) the thing that annoyed me were long hints with nothing useful in the first 90%. Why make someone decrypt: "If you are having trouble finding the cache and have to resort to this clue then try looking at the base of the birch tree" when all they need is: "base of birch tree"

Physical components of caches (anything hidden by a cache placer) should be at least 161m from any other cache, however if the start point for a mystery or multi cache is something like a recommended car park or a "read the date on the plaque" type clue then they can be closer together. You do sometimes see more than one mystery or multi cache with the start co-ordinates in the same place, but the clues will send cachers in different directions to final caches furhter away from each other. I believe there can be exceptions to the proximity guideline but this is usually only OK'd by the reviewer if there is a good reason the 2 caches won't be mistaken for one another, for example they are on opposite sides of a river with no crossing.

The difference here is that baseball players actually exist and the stats on the back are things that actually happened!

The cache is in a cinema? According to the listing guidelines... "Cache listings perceived as commercial will not be published. A commercial cache listing has one or more of the following characteristics: It suggests or requires that the finder go inside a business, interact with employees and/or purchase a product or service." Is there also something in writing saying that cache owners cannot place restrictions on other people's TBs? Depending on the hours you either have to enter the business premises and interact with an employee or you have to project a waypoint and find a different cache that is offset somwehere else! So this is actually 2 physical caches, one that is against the guidelines and one that is listed as a trad but should actually be a mystery cache! How wrong can this cache get?

I have a couple of GoPro outer cases that I've been thinking of using as geocaches. They are basically a good quality clip lock container with a lens on! I wasn't planning on using mine underwater but have been trying to think of how to make a fun cache that uses the camera like appearance of the container as part of the novelty.