Team Dredd

Family are on-board but the coworkers not being interested AT ALL makes me wonder what is wrong with them sometimes! ha ha

Being in Law Enforcement I am obviously a bit curious when I see people who just sort of "stand out". I saw a couple lingering around a sign at a boat ramp and saw them put something down by the base of a sign in the middle of the day as I was pulling into the area on patrol. They were older and waved at me as they got back into their car and drove away. I saw no reason to stop them to see what they were doing because their behavior really didn't arouse much suspicion, but it did arouse my curiosity some. I got out and walked to see what they were doing and found a film canister at the edge of one of the rocks that was displaced a bit. I opened it up and read my first cache note explaining geocaching. When I was off duty I went to the website and created an account (JudgeDredd). After I took my wife along caching a few times she also became addicted and we changed the account to "Team Dredd". The rest is history. On a side note as I started talking about it to my fellow officers I discovered quite a few of them already knew about it due to responding to reports of suspicious persons or suspicious containers. I couldn't believe I have been doing this for 20 years and never heard of geocaching prior to last year. I actually put an intel brief together to educatethe officers in my department about caching so when they respond to suspicious person calls and someone tells them they are cachers they will understand.

We do it via notifications as a premium member, which I see you are as well. On your profile page click "member features". Scroll down to "Instant Log Notification Feature" and click on "Instant-Notify" Then set up a notification for any event cache that is published in what ever diameter from you zip code that you chose. Then anytime an event is published in your area you will receive an email notification. I hope this helps with what you are looking for.

We have replaced logs sometimes but sort of do it a certain way. If a log sheet is completely full and there just isn't any place in the log to sign we will put a new sheet and leave the original. If the log is complete mush and cannot be read or dried by the CO we will replace it with a new one. If the log is just to wet to sign but is still legible we have added a new log sheet in plastic but leave the original. When we find a cache that for what ever reason has no log at all we will add one; I know it seems strange but we have found a few of them like that, just no log at all. In all circumstances when we do something like that we always send a message to the CO or at a minimum we note it in the found log on the cache page. We try to think how we would like it done if it was our cache as not to disrespect the CO.

I forgot about one of the worst things we ever found in a cache until I was posting in another thread about garbage in caches. We found a copied porn DVD in North East Florida's Oldest Cache, complete with an inappropriate picture on the front of the DVD case. We took it from the ammo can, broke it, and tossed it in the nearest trash can near the parking lot. Really no reason for that with all the kids that go caching with their parent cachers. I remember we were talking about it and wondered if they made a bunch of copies and were distributing them around, but thankfully we never found any others in the area.

We have about 24 TB's out or in inventory ready to be released to the world, we really enjoy watching them move. I can tell you it does take a bit of "paying attention" and sometimes searching through logs to see who may have your TB. Usually most will answer your messages and let you know if they have or do not have your TB's. I do a high detail scan of the front and back of each TB in case we need to release a proxy some day. So far we only did one proxy because the cache one of our TB's had been put in was destroyed and replaced (according the the CO) right after the TB was placed in it, the laminated proxy is still moving. We also have some very nice Geocoins that are out in laminated proxy. We have bought some nice commemorative coins and geo-achievement coins that we keep for show at events or for friends etc. We put laminated proxy coins out in their place so other cachers can log them too. We have had pretty good luck with our trackables so far but if one does eventually disappear for good it's OK because we can put a proxy out from the high detail scans we made. I see no problem with replacing an MIA trackable with a proxy if they go missing, but as stated above I would wait a good while. Not sure how long to wait because none of ours have just vanished without a trace yet. We have talked about this issue and are thinking if one is MIA for a year + we would probably replace it with a proxy if we could not figure out what happened to it. I can only imagine how confusing it would be if a TB was replaced with a proxy and then the original turned up and started moving too.

Welcome to the fun and oh so addictive game

Smart phones have made sooooo many things obsolete, technology changes so fast it is almost ridiculous. I have problems sometimes narrowing down locations with my phone and was considered getting a GPS, but the more I read about changes in smart phones I wasn't sure. I met a cacher that is local several months ago (and are now friends, cool) who used to use a GPS but now just uses his smart phone because according to him it has become easier and more convenient to cache with his phone than his GPS. This is HIS OPINION not mine. I have never used a real GPS to cache so I cannot compare them. After reading some of these posts we are both of the opinion that we may make more of our caches PMO in the future if we continue to have to replace them and relocate them to their original spot. We knew well in advance that placing caches means maintaining them, but on the flip side of that it still boggles the mind why a cacher (new or not) will find a cache, sign the log, maybe swap swag, and then not put the lids one right, not seal the bag, and worst of all place the cache in a location they believe is a better hiding spot than where we originally placed it! We have found other peoples caches laying out in the open and tried to help by putting it under cover, but not moving it to a location several feet (or further) away just "because"; then we send a message to the CO letting them know. We have yet to have one of our PMO caches get left open or get moved to a different location. So far it has been the regular traditional caches.

We usually clean the garbage out of any cache we find. Only "garbage" or inappropriate items though (trash, candy wrappers, beer bottle tops, old food, bullets) not anything we just consider worthless swag because that may only be worthless in our opinion of the swag. When we found the oldest cache in North East Florida it had a homemade copy of a porn DVD in it with an inappropriate picture on the case for a child. Although that may be cool swag for someone we removed it, broke it, and through it in the trash can near the parking area.

I use a Motorola Razr Maxx and wife use and HTC something or other. We have all turned on and have no problems IF the phone is working right. Don't know what kind of phone you are using but some Motorola phones (including mine) have terrible sensors that always stick and make using compass impossible sometimes. Dumb question but do you have some kind of compass installed to make sure all the axis sensors are not stuck on the phone? Just a thought, when mine are stuck it messes up everything.

Welcome We are not the most experienced cachers here, and only use phones to cache with (but we do just fine) so we cant help much with equipment, but we are also a husband wife team (few others sometimes). Not sure where you are located but you may want to post your general area so maybe someone from your area will see your post; we are far north east Florida. We will certainly help anyway we can. If you ever have any questions you need help with from an average experienced cacher team feel free to contact us. We have helped a few newer cachers and they have ended up surpassing us in numbers lol. Team Dredd

Is the owner still active in caching? If so post a needs maintenance and contact them through messaging, maybe they will allow you to adopt it or will voluntarily archive it. Doesn't sound like they are active though if they have not logged in since 2012. If they will not reply to maintenance requests or are no longer active, and you are sure it is missing post a "needs archived" log in the cache logs and that should alert a reviewer. Explain in detail in the log that the you are positive the cache is missing and the CO is not maintaining it and is not responding to maintenance requests. It should get archived and when it does put your cache in it's place since it is already gone. We have two caches that are placed where other ones once were because we really liked the cache location but the CO hasn't been active in years and they got muggled. We also have three that we adopted from a cacher that could no longer maintain them; two are still there. Hope this helps.

I am not sure of other areas but theft of caches and vandalism seems a bit to popular around here. We have a few cache containers that we went through a lot of effort creating or making, one or two even cost some $$ to make. One cache we changed to premium because it was a commemorative cache and continuously got taken. The other few are because of effort or $$ put into the specific containers. We figure people who spend money for a premium account will be more respectful of the cache itself and the area it is in to be honest. Anyone can go find a non-premium. Thant being said, out of 26 hides I think only three are premium.

We have been caching for a little over a year and began placing some months ago. We have talked about this very subject recently in our county. Not sure of the exact number, but we have notifications set up anytime there are new caches in our area, and we get some notifications but most are in the high populated city to our south (they show up in notifications due to their distance from our home). In the time we have been caching there is only one cacher we know of placing caches in the rural western area of our county and only a couple. There have been a few new ones on the more populated side of the county but most of them were placed on a creek and can only be reached by small shallow boat like a kayak or canoe. We do have quite a few listed in the area. What is troubling is that most of the caches around here are placed either a long time ago or by cachers that are no longer active and are not being maintained so they are slowly degrading and or being archived. We have adopted some caches to keep them going but most of the CO's no longer answer emails when maintenance is needed. We have fixed up some caches just to keep them going as I have seen some others do. We have a lot of good cachers around here and we have met some of them personally. What we don't have is a lot of people who hide and maintain caches. We both wish more cachers would hide caches and maintain them along with finding them, especially in the rural areas. Looking at the cache numbers in the area they haven't decreased that much, but the number of ACTIVE cachers sure has went down.

I have to agree with almost every post in here. Reference to animals, when we first started hiding caches in cleaned out food containers (peanut butter jars or coffee creamer jar) they disappeared a few times. We found one about 50 feet away one time all chewed up and realized animals smelled the ex contents. now if we use that kind of container we let it soak with vinegar then clean it really well with bleach, haven't had any get "chewed" since we started that. Reerence new cachers, after reviewing the log for another one of our caches that disappeared twice (a commemorative cache too) we believe brand new cachers with unverified accounts may have carried it away because the new TB we put in it showed up in a cache that was the same new cacher's second find, and in our log they thanked us for the cool container and items they would use. After it disappeared three times (only twice by new cachers) we moved it about a hundred feet and changed to to a premium cache; it is still there it just doesn't get as many hits. In reference to wooded area caches, although we are NOT veteran cachers or hiders, when we put one "off the beaten trail" or find a real old one out in the wilderness the best hides seem to be ones that cant be seen unless you are looking, and are not under strange looking piles of sticks and such; they seem to stay the longest. I like putting and finding them on the backside of something or under something completely natural that even someone exploring would be unlikely to locate. Putting a cache under a pile of sticks that wouldn't occur naturally, lor lean a big rock against something will draw anyone's attention. Also, if you put a cache back in an area that has tall grass on the way there will inevitably be the "cacher trail" of stomped down grass on the way that will also draw attention because curious George will be curious as to why so may people are walking to this specific spot. Sorry for the long post, lol got carried away.

Yes this is true, was not saying anything otherwise: I was just replying to the ownership of the road and right of way in my county. Placing a cache on any property where it is not wanted IS disrespectful as <4wheelin fool> stated. I think we got king of "off topic" lol.

I have deleted very few notes or logs from our caches, but there have been a few. If we hide a good cache and someone posts a picture of the container in its hiding spot I will send a message asking them to delete the picture (only if it takes away from making the cache fun for the next cacher). If someone posts smart assed or derogatory comments about something I will send a message asking them to revise it. Or if something is revealed in a log that our cache page specifically asks not to be revealed, then we will send a message asking for the log to be amended. Only on very few ocasions has it been an issue. An example is a multi we have out that we put quite a bit of work into, the surprise third container is a big part of the way the area is layed out and the cache is designed. You wont know it has three stages until you get to the second stage and find a surprise rhime. We specifically ask that the surprise at the second stage not be revealed, but you guessed it someone did and in pretty good detail. Sent messages to the finder to please amend the log for weeks with no response and no corrected log. We deleted it. I guess what I am trying to say is we should be respectfull in our logs and notes. If we post something derrogatory, ruin a multi, log the same cache as found multiple times and then we ignore messages from the CO we may get our posts or notes deleted.

Business cards for a shop, some small business or a local politician 500 miles away. Do I really need a business card from a kitchen cabinet shop from Montana when I am out caching in Florida? And to make it worse we ususally find business cards stuffed into 35mm film canisters (or other small containers) that a log barely fits into. I can see a card that has something to with caching, or a mugle card from a caching team or something, but a wet and mushy business card from Farmer Johns Toilets in Alaska? Business cards or political candidate cards from miles away are pretty darn worthless pieces of swag.

"That's interesting. In most States in the US, there's a thing called right-of-way. Property owners usually own (and pay taxes for) to the public road. The right-of-way is for road crews and utility workers, not public acc. ess. Can't tell how many hides we've seen dropped directly in front of no trespassing/posted signs, like the CO thought he has a right to be there, when it was simply the only/nearest tree the owner could hang it 10' from the road." That seems strange to me here in Florida, at least this county. Unless it is in a private housing area or gated community where the roads are not maintained by the government, the county owns a certain amount of land from the centerline of the road. The default distance in this county is 30 feet from the centerline (I have worked for this county over 20 years). Of course there are exceptions but the right of way here does not belong to the peoperty owner. If the property owner "owned" the right of way, which would include the sidewak and drains, they could do what ever they wanted to it; not to mention could be held liable for anything that went bad. Also thouh, our property borders stop prior to reaching sidewaks and such our surveys and tax asessments so we are paying for acres we really don't own.

Put it up for adoption. We have adoped some, IMHO it is better than just archiving them. I hate to see good caches disapear if there may be someone willing to take it over. Just a suggestion.

I know this is like beating a dead horse, but I sure wish we had this ability.

We use Android phones and dowloaded an average gps app. We have found that the walk away and come back to gz seems betternthan the app to average. Have also found that asnstated above coming diffent days if you can really seems to narrow the average tight. Even coming back and getting more averages several hours later helps. Our problem is dense tree coverage, can never seem to get very acurate with our phones.

When we are caching all we use is the oficial app. Not to fond of compass mode but hat is partially due to sensors in my smart phone being sticky. We use map mode and sometimes satalite if it is a tough one. We due a lot of rural caching so if its a planned day I save the really rural caches to offline because we tend to loose cell data coverage too. Like someone else posted above, if you're having fun and finding them . . . . . . .. . .

Thanks for the quick answers Been considering a PM and this is one more reason. Thanks again.

I am new to these topics and pretty darn new to geo-caching. Me and my wife are having a blast caching and plan on putting some caches out soon (as soon as some ordered supplies and TB's come in). When we were just starting out we found a cache that I want to mark as a favorite; I didn't do it when we found it because I was so new to caching. My question is - is there a way to mark the cache as a favorite by editing the log I posted when we found it? I can post another found it log but would rather go back and correct my original oversight. Thanks.