Bassbully

I use any app that makes my caching easier to do...period!

Actually, no. The smartphone can use cell tower triangulation (and wifi network locations) in addition to using real GPS satellite triangulation. Unless you've turned off the GPS antenna, which some people do to conserve battery life. Whatever the smartphones uses it tracks better and is much more accurate than my GPS. I use it in urban areas and for short searches in the woods. I also bring it with me when I use the GPS only and have search issues to see how close I really am to the cache. Many (most) times the GPS is off sometimes... way off. The other day I had a park and grab on a guardrail. The were no hints and and really no discription. I jumped out of my truck when my GPS showed me I was at GZ. This was a long gaurdrail mind you (couple hundred feet) and I searched but no cache. After a little while I'm like... really? So I used my cell phone app and found I was 35-40-30 feet away from where the tiny micro tube with magnet was tucked away. I like the GPS better since its rugged long battery life and its waterproof but its not as easy to use and is off track most times. I will continue to use both and hope to get my skills with a GPS better.

Challenge, Multi's ,earth or puzzle cahces I ignore. I only work towards single caches for now. My time caching is limited enough.

One tip I learned early on about Geocaching was to avoid Micro's and nano's when starting out..Really? If I did that in my area I would have less than half the caches found than I do now and I'm only a little over 100 in not even 2 months. I think allot of owners feel a lock in lock or other larger cache is just to much work and my area is overdone with micro's and nano's. Although I like them they are getting to be a PITA.

I have a decent GPS (handheld) and it works pretty good. The GPS however is nowhere near as easy to use and does not update or track as fast as my smartphone and I own a cheap one. My GPS will get me 15-20 feet from GZ..the smartphone 1-5 feet always.

You have to log the two separately. I usually log my "found it" and then post a "needs maintenance" log afterward. Ahhh.... thanks figured it out before I saw your post. Wish we could log a found and needs Maintenance in one post. Others have said the caches need Maintenance in there found posts but know I see the owner will get notified.

I posted a maintenance needed but then did not get the find. I went back and posted a "found it" but could not figure out how to add a Maintenance log also.

There is a series of caches in my area all are easy finds and close to home. The issue is they were put out well over a year ago in a geocaching challenge but some are not been looked after since. I found a few that were ok but some are disgusting in overgrown places, containers are wet, gross with logs that are unsignable... just bad. I put it in my log that they need attention ASAP or should be pulled. I'm not trying to come off to the cache owner as a tough guy but come on these are terrible and a true let down when you spend the time and gas to find them. So Do I contact the owner or just log it and let them see themselves. A few have logged that they need maint but others just say they tried to sign and TFTC......

Mine has a two way meaning. Bass... as I am a musician and Bass player in a bands..many bands thru the years. I also am a fisherman and Bass fishing is my fav but fish for allot of other types. I used to fish semi- professional but now it's just for fun.

I understand those who don't like TFTC put in for a log but sometimes it just fits. I mean If you find a hide with little effort, in no place special and it appears it was just stuck there for numbers? What else is there to say? I'm sorry I have things to do and time is always flying by. Giving a long log for a cache that is not in an interesting area or is not creative in the least needs a TFTC.

A little update on my Magellan 310 GPS. Although it sometimes still has me wondering I have finally almost got to the top of the learning curve. Moving with this GPS is a must.If you stop it will not track and then it is toast. I use it to get to GZ and then put it away. It is pretty good at getting me to GZ but a little slow. Overall it works well when I have used it. Now with the phone it is what it is. I have little problems with it and it gets extreamly close to true GZ. It also updates quickly and works moving or not. The phone app is much easier to use but as I said the GPS unit is gaining. I am starting to find I am using the GPS more and more and feel it will replace the phone soon. I really think using both is an advantage but the phones battery and signal life is an issue I do not have with the GPS. With the 310 it is as easy as pulling up the cache, hitting go and following the directional arrow to the finish flag until it flashes red...GZ. At that point I put it away and start looking...oh don't forget to keep moving if you want it to track right.

It's not easy that is for sure. Try mornings, late evening or maybe Sundays since allot of buisnesses are closed then. I always scratch my head at hides that say this is a heavy muggle area so please use stealth when looking.. There is a cache that sounds interesting by me that was until I went to it. It is a tree on a fenced in Fast food joint property. The tree with cache is about 10 feet away from the sign where the drive ups order their food....um..really?

I think Semper Questio may be on the right track here....although I'm not familiar with Magellan, my Garmin Oregon 550 has settings for both on-road and off-road navigation. Sometimes I'll be using it in on-road mode for auto routing while driving to the cache, then forget to switch it back to off-road when I get out on foot. So the GPS will be trying to bring me to the nearest street location. If the cache happens to be right near the street it could get you fairly close, but once you get off the road it will keep wanting to bring you back to the street. Could this be the problem? Thanks...it's getting clearer now. I will check the unit to see if there is an on-road or off road setting. I would understand it if there is and pretty sure that's the problem.

See this is where I'm confused. If the cords were done right and say behind the house in the park the directional line and finish flag will be there or close to where the cords were waypointed. I have found a few caches where there was homes ,buildings, streets etc between me and the cache but the directional line went thru them and finished at GZ. When this happened I knew to park at the building ,parking lot and that the cache was a distance off on foot and it always was. These two times however the GPS had me stop at what it said was true GZ with the finish flag showing and flasheing. This normally tells me I am at the right cords the cacher placed...not true. That is the confusing part. Why can my phone app take me directly to the cache but the GPS this time was way off 200-330 yards away from GZ?

The flashing means you are at GZ. This unit has a checkered flag for the finish point (GZ) and when you hit GZ the markers flashes with a red circle telling you arrived there. The idea of maybe the car coveing the GPS is one I also thought about. The only question is how does my car Tom-Tom like device work inside the car..are hand helds different? Overall the unit has performed well and I'm keeping it. This issue just popped up and had me wondering.

I have a new Magellan 310 which I am starting to like allot. I would love it more if I could get my laptop to download PQ but that is my fault not the GPS. So last night I'm out caching and my 310 is working great. I used it to get me to a cache a few miles away using it to track me to it by car as I drove. I knew there was an issue right away when it flashed GZ and GZ was somebodys front yard. It was the right street but not near the cache site. I knew this was a problem since I had attemped this find before using my phones app and was only returning to the hide after I was drove off by those blood suking buzzing things a few weeks ago. I was only using the GPS to get there and to just get more used to the driving directions from it. Knowing GZ was down the street (200 yards) I used my phone app and it took me right to the original spot...the phone was right. I kept using phone app, walked in and found the cache. I checked my GPS unit then and it was flashing GZ???? So I figure "oh well" and again used the 310 to take me to another cache down the road a few miles. I was again taken by the GPS route to another homeowners front yard on the right street but clearly not the cache site. Although my GPS was flashing GZ I knew the cache spot was down the road a hundred yards or so from the cache clues that spelled out it's location quite well. So again I went there with the phone app, made the find and again checked my GPS. It was again flashing GZ??? So confused and wondering what was up with the GPS I headed to another cache site on my way home to make one more check. I knew the cords and area for this cache and this time both the GPS and phone worked and took me to the site. The GPS performed well with no problems. Is this normal?. Just a weird blip/problem from the satellites? Or something to worry about with my GPS. I have used this same GPS to take me to sites by car before and this has never happened to me. Thanks.

That is a very strange one for sure.

I log a DNF one time. If I return to look and still do not make the find I don't leave another DNF since of course I still DNF it. I will log a find if and when I do ever find it. I have two DNF on my list I must now that I will go back for another try on.

It is fun and addictive. My 8 year old Daughter loves it and really enjoys trading swag, trinkets.

I don't understand why anyone would log a find if they did not have it in hand or log it. I have never done this and although I am new will never do it. I had an area I looked in the other day that the cache was not a tough find but they had cut and removed allot of brush right on the hide area. I did not log a DNF but told the owner to check it since I think it was removed with the brush cleanup.

When I was new it was difficult to gauge several factors. Was I exposing the cache to muggles? Was I stepping too far into the decorated landscape to make a search? Am I on private property? Just how hard is a 3 star cache? When should I log a DNF? To name just a few. Fortunately I hooked up with more experienced cachers who guided me better than the fun method of caching. Edit: then/than Good points. I have had the same feelings and in a way still do. Thoughts like this is what had me make the post in the first place...thanks.

Wow! That's crazy how could that of got there? You think somebody would of noticed the smell

All of them or the ones I find are my fav's Seriously thou I hate to say it but Nano's and micro's are special to me although they drive me nuts.

I just looked for over an hour for a cacher with pretty cool hide history. I wouldn't give up but finally did. It broke my streak of 21 finds in a row without a DNF.

Not an FTF you want.. to be sure... A guy posted a couple of weeks ago about something he "found" - a copperhead snake! He reached into where he thought the cache was and the hidden snake bit the hell out of his finger. He posted a photo of his finger in his forum post. From the tip to the first joint was swollen to triple size, & black. The doctor lanced it to drain it. It's still numb weeks later. Whew! Clarification, it was still swollen and bruised weeks later. Today there is some minor scarring and loss of sensation at the finger tip due to nerve damage. The incident took place in 2008. Back OT-in addition to the snake, I have found a busted open and empty safe in the woods behind a restaurant. I have found porn stashes, and at another location a very large sex toy that had been repaired? with duct tape. I've also found amazing vistas, beautiful architecture including a college campus with several Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings, strange and unusual bits of local history, and several scoreboards. That's a very weird and rough place you cache in that's for sure.