dew cache

I received my 4 weekly PQ's on Thursday then last Friday I added "My Finds" to up my query and still have not received it even though it ran right away. Unfortunately I can not ask for it again for a week.

I always do and never gave it a thought that a CO would not apperciate it. I always carry different size logs with me and several containers. Just Friday I would have replaced a cache if I had one about the same size it was a plastic nut jar that a critter decided he wanted to see what was inside and chewed the top off in fact half the top was gone but I did not have a container that would fit the swag in so I just told him in the log what had happened. a couple of months ago I came across a cache that had been wet so long it was moldy inside and I had a container about the same size and replaced it and there have been several logs about how they like the cache container. I always contact the CO and ask if he wants the orginal back and I have never had a request for it and all have been thankful that I replaced what was needed.

I usually just use me phone but if I want to take good pictures I will carry my Fuji Finepix S5200 for around $100 on ebay 5.1MB runs on 4 AA batteries. You can go down to the S5100 a 4.1MB for around $50. I have had mine for several years and I am happy with it. I always carry it in a plastic bag to protect it from water.

I am on the bottom end I am only 61 but I can tell I am slowing down and can not do what I used to do a few years ago although I am still in to the harder finds, if it is not at least 1.5/1.5 I will ignore it, I am not into P&G at all. But I am finding myself not able to go out all day and hike in the woods I start getting tired in about 4-6 hours and go home. I go about half the time with my wife and the rest by myself I tend to stay out longer by myself as my wife is ready to quit after a couple of hours she losses interest. I always carry a cell phone and a whistle hung on my front that will be easy to get to just in case I need to direct searchers to me.

I have one I leave a "DEW Cache Tuit" just to spread them around. I want people to take them sometimes I will leave more than one if it is a nice cache. I don't collect them I am not into collecting more stuff I have lived in the same house for 25 years just because I don't want to move my stuff I already have.

I didn't want to take my heavy/expensive DSLR so I bought a Fujifilm FinePix S5200 which is a light weight only 5.1 mega pixel with a 10X optical and 5.7X digital zoom as well as a micro mode and it fits in a baggie in my backpack to keep it dry in case I fall in to some water. I also carry it in my car in the center console just in case I need it like when I am going somewhere and forget my DSLR last week.

I usually don't put a tip on my walking sticks I just let them wear down which takes many years, when I have a real nice one that I have carved and finished I take a washer just a little smaller than the stick and drill a pilot hole in the bottom of the stick and screw in a hex wood bolt just make sure your pilot hole is big enough or you can split the wook. But I only use mine on fairly flat ground we don't have a lot of mountains in Texas or ice for that matter. I think I am going to start using bamboo for all my walking sticks as it is real light and strong, I have been looking for an area that I can get some to start drying it when it wears out I will just toss it in the trash. I know I found a cache in a small bamboo forrest last year but I can not find it again.

That is actually a walking stick with awalking stick - kool

I was going to buy one until I saw $33 something for shipping 3 times the cost of the item for shipping I don't think so.

Well I was a Club Scout in Pack 112 and got my Arrow of Light in 1957 and went into Troop 112 for two years before I went away to a military school and we didn't have scouts there I think I made it to 1st Class. Then when my son moved from Cubs to Boy Scouts they started a new troop and I got involved and after a year became the Scoutmaster for the next 18 years. I just stepped down a couple of years ago but I am still envolved in fact Saturday to help celebrate my 61st birthday I went to an Eagle Presentation. It was the 26th for the troop and I have been to every one of them starting out in 1986.

My son is over there right now at Balad AFB and he is working 12 on and 12 off and after a month of that they started giving him one day a week off which he is using at the hospital and working but he still has managed time to find 20 and hide 2 caches. If you are on the base and want a 4/3.5 check out GC1E8NP and get a FTF.

Well there is still 1000's within 25 miles radius of me but many are P&G which I do not go for and as far a Delorme I will not even start that as there are many parts of Texas I have not been to in the 30 years I have lived here and I do not like puzzles because I can be doing fine on the first stage or two then do something wrong and spend a lot of time going down the wrong trail or get to a spot that I have no idea how to solve the puzzle higher terrain/difficulty is fine with me until last week in AZ the description said do not do in running shoes only hard boots because there are rattlesnakes there so I just looked at the area and moved on with out even trying to find the cache.

Well I just got back from Las Vegas and I had a blast. I managed to get to Red Rock twice and Valley of Fire once. I managed to get 7 caches of which 5 were earthcaches, I looked for a couple more for a little until I decided it was too hot to keep the other people with me waiting around in the car. I would have liked to spend more time at both parks in say October, November, March or April when it was a lot cooler. It was not that bad except there was not much shade anywhere and the sun baked me as I was walking around. I also managed to stop along Route 66 for a few caches on the way there and back I even got some in AZ which I had none in. I also managed to get the Cadillac Ranch which I heard about years ago. I even managed to not lose very much money in the casinos and managed to see 3 good shows including Stomp Out Load. Thanks for the suggestions.

I have never posted a NM log. I have however sent may private emails to cache owners to let them know about a problem after noting in my found it log or DNF log so the next cacher will know about the problems. I agree about the swag if it is empty so be it it is not the owners responsibility to keep it full of good swag someone has not been traiding up or let alone even.

The barometric altimeter I have not used in 2 years of having a GPS with it 76CSx but on the other hand I find the electonic compass very useful, when you stop walking a non-electronic compass stops working so if you get to an area and are looking around for a cache within a couple of feet your compass is not accurate but an electronic will continue to work and that stops the neddle from jumping around like crazy. The non-electronic compass works off of positioning to the satellite and if the change is little it is not accurate. I have been know to set the GPS down to let it settle while I walk around looking and the electronic compass continues to work correct.

I had a 76CSx that I used for over a year that I gave to my son after I bought a new ETREX VISTA HCX. I really like the Vista even though I am having a hard time remembering which button does what now that they are all on the side and I can not see them. I never tested the floating aspect of the 76 I just did not feel like dropping an expensive electronic device in a bucket of water so I will take Garmins word on it. I liked the lay out of the contorls of the 76 over the Vista I guess because that is what I got used to first. The reason I got the new one it seemed like the eletronic compass started acting up and it was out of warranty. My son is over in Iraq using it right now without any problems though. The 76 is a lot heavier than the 60 but it is just what you want. I do not regret getting the Vista for one minute it does everything the 76 does just different.

Well I am older than most of the repliers in here. I was drafted in the US Army Apr '68 but enlisted my first day hince my number of RA 68002875. I went to Ft. Leonard MO for basic then to Ft Bliss TX for my IAT in 16C Nike Fire Control. After my training I went to Travis AFB CA for 3 years and re-enlisted and went to Ft Monmouth NJ for a year of training as a 34D DESTE repairman it tought me a skill I have used to make a living since computer repair. I spent 3 years stationed at Pirmasens Germany so when I got out I spent a total of 7 yrs 8 months and 10 days active duty. If I would have re-enlisted one more time I would have stayed for 20. My son is in the USAF rigtht now and is a crew chief on F-16 and he just got his promotion to E-7 he has been in for a total of 14 years so he is going for at least 20 years. He is on his third tour in Iraq right now he was there when the war broke out. My Father was T-Sgt in the Army during WWII landed D-Day plus 4. He did not like to talk about it much other than say he was in the battle of the buldge. So my family is now in the third generation service.

One thing I do is search for one someone else has made. I go to find a route and seach for a town I am starting from or ending at and look for an esisting routes then you can make a PQ out of the route and change any of the types of caches you want to include or exclude.

I am not getting mine and I am using Verizon FIOS there where 4 send today that I didn't get I did get two yesterday and I have not got my weekly report 3 out of the last 4 weeks. I just checked it out and I have not got my Fridays email since the 6th. I went to my Verizon email and turned off spam filter just in case. Update 6/28 I reran the PQ today that I did not get yesterday and they came through fine. I think they are just getting too many emails on Friday, I have changed my day to Thursday and will see how that works as I can't wait until 11:00 AM to get the PQ it is getting too hot to go out now.

I am in it for the love of the hunt/find but I watch my numbers. I could care less how many numbers anyone else has they do not effect me in one way or another. If someone else get 1000000 finds good for them if someone else only has 10 finds and they are happy good for them. The only reason I care about my numbers is so that I can obtain my goals not any one elses goals. If I was in it for just the numbers I would go for more P&G and LPC. One of my goals is to average 2 in terrain and difficulty and you can not get to many 1/1 to keep your average up. That is how I use my numbers some day I may hit 1000 finds when I do I will be happy. But if someone else gets to 1000 in 6 months great for them but I don't care it does not make me better or worse than them. The great thing about this hobby/sport is it is what YOU make of it for YOURSELF and not what someone else make it out to be for you.

But they are hard to get a magnet on. I found my first one the other day and it was dry but the log was not very easy to get out. The logs are always easy to get out of an Altoids tin even being wet I had an Altoids tin (BOO HISS) that I gorilla glued a strong magnet to and it lasted for about 9 finds before the glue gave way. I have another to replace it with that I glued on the inside which is a better design as someone else stated I should have read this before The tin is hidden on the bottom of a solid metal table with a lip that is deeper than the tin and should not get wet, time will tell how long it will last, I also put the log in a baggie.

Thanks for all your input he has not had time to try again. I also send him the pointer to this thread, form an email from him: I will try to recaliblate it. I haven't had time to leave it on more than 5 minutes and it says accuracy to 38 but I didn't look to see if that was feet or miles. I will try again tomorrow. I will try to go to the site again. I need to print out the description/hint pages. I tried to use the palm pilot but the screen keeps messing up and won't hold a calibration more than about 10 minutes. Oh well, I appreciate the thought, thanks for trying.

Thanks for the ideas I will try to get some of the latest loggers to help him. The GPS is a Garmin 76 CSx. This is what I was telling he but just wanted to make sure I was not forgetting anything. Here is what I told him - I think something in wrong have you tried to recalibrate the unit yet, you might turn it on and leave it for an hour or two make sure it is outside. What is the accuracy? The coordinates you gave me puts you about 10-20 miles southeast of the airbase across the Tigris River before you get to Al Khalis. The ones I sent you are on the Air Base I can see them on the Satellite picture. Friday Night Lights is right next to the swimming pool by a track/football field and its coordinates are N 33° 56.902 E 044° 23.193

My son just got to the Air Base by Balad Iraq which has 50 caches on it. I loaded his (my old system) with the caches before he left he turned it on today and said the closest cache was 40 miles away even though they are on the base with him. He gave me his coordinates and they are off the base on the other side of the Tigris River about 25 miles away. Is there anyone on the same base that reads this fourm that may be able to help him? Is there any way the GPS can be off that far? Does he just need to leave it on for a while? He really wants to do the caches while he is over there when he gets time off. I even gave him 4 TB to drop while over there.

What I did was make 4 regular caches with part of a set of coords for a bonus cache in each one so you had to visit each cache to get the coords for the bonus which was a mystery cache. So I had 4 micros that you had to find to find the one ammo can and you would get 5 smiley faces.