Dj Storm

I'm a FTF hound. 40% of my finds were FTF's (9 out of 22). My fastest FTF was 12 days after publishing, my slowest - 273 days. I like to go to these out-of-the-mainstream caches. Out of my 9 FTF's, 5 are yet to be STF-ed. I plan to get another couple of FTF's in April, and several more in August (after the snow melts).

From what I remember, the majority of the APE caches were archived during their first year. I guess the APE caches became popular later in the game. I'm from Europe, I have to travel 10000 km to get an APE cache. In the distant future, I would like to find the one in Brazil, if it remains active.

When looking at the container, I thought it's one of those painting/drawing/plans carrying tube. At 2 feet long, a format A1 sheet of paper (european format, slightly less than 2*3 feet) can be rolled up and fitted inside. I'm not an architect nor a soldier, but I saw more architects carrying plans than soldiers carrying mortar shells, so I'm biased towards 'container for civilian use'.

Placing the cache in a remote area doesn't guarantee that the cache contents will remain high quality. If an urban cache is filled with mcToys (or worse) after 10 finds, the remote one will have more-or-less the same fate after, let's say 20 finds. It only takes longer (years compared to days). Point in case: in 2007 I found a cache with only 12 finds in 2+ years of existence. The only value item in it was a pre-euro austrian banknote, the rest were small trinkets in various stages of degradation. I left a small ship-in-a-bottle, took nothing because the cache was pretty empty. I was considering going back with more trinkets and getting the banknote (I collect coins, and thought the banknote would be a nice addition). The next finder, 10.5 months later, took the banknote and the ship, left a kinder toy and a piece of plastic (fake mini sd card). Even if it's not my cache, I felt the same (I think) as you felt when reading about the swapping of the iDog and Joshua Tree for $3+trinkets.

I subscribe to the idea of 14 caches, 7 traditional and 7 puzzles. Because there are 14 containers and 14 logbooks, it makes sense to have 14 listings. The caches in the puzzle series will have increasing difficulty ratings, because to find one the cacher will have to find all the previous puzzles and traditionals. Some cachers would love to hunt a puzzle series like this.

My personal rating of caches, from 0.0 to 5.0 stars (5.0 being the best): 1 star for location. The view, the history, the journey, all these count in this category. An area filled with garbage gets 0.0, uninteresting parking lot - 0.1, and so on; the top of a hill with a nice view over the countryside, from where lieutenant $so-and-so defended the region in the battle of $name, gets 0.9 or 1.0 1 star for the container. The weatherproofness (water, heat, ice, flood-proofness), the right size for the location, the camo, the specially designed container counts in this category. A single use take-out food container is 0.0, film cans about 0.2, tupperware a little above, ammo cans without military markings about 0.7, the most intricate and innovative container gets 1.0 1 star for the hiding. The precision of the coordinates, the permission (hint hint), the muggleproofness, the cacher friendlyness (can be found without trampling around, and without rising concerns from the people around) count in this category. A cache thrown from the car window gets 0.0. 1 star for the cache page. Indicating correctly the terrain, difficulty, cache size, attributes, writing the relevant information in the cache description, a good hint, all count in this category. For puzzles, the solvability of the riddle, eventually a coordinate checker adds up. This is the easiest star to score for traditionals, and one of the hardest for earthcaches and puzzles. 1 star for maintenance. Rate according to your own standards. I think the location deserves more than 1 star, but I keep it this way for simplicity. You may adjust the maximums according to your own standards. Now rate the caches you found (or the caches you find from now forward, if you don't remember the past ones). No need to make the rating public. When hiding your cache, rate it the same way, and try to have a higher score than the average of the caches you found.

Go for it.. as it was said above if you enter the correct dates it should make sense to the owner. My wife had close to 100 finds when she decided she wanted her own account. We entered them all over a week or so and not one was questioned. If your online logs mention making the find together with your kids, then everything is OK. If your logs don't mention that, you may want to modify them (at least some of them), to "confirm" that the new logs from your kids are valid.

I'm waiting for a cache (puzzle, Wherigo or whatever type suits you) in the idea of "Harajuku Fun Madness" - a LARP game from Cory Doctorow's book "Little Brother" (the book is free on the web). It's been a year since I read it, still only a cache by the name "Harajuku", no connection with LARPing. Even if it's unlikely that a cache like this will be made in my area, I would like to read the description and the logs!

I bought a yellow etrex 2.5 years ago. The data cable is serial only (you need a serial port or an adapter). I use very rarely the cable (only to download manually entered waypoints, once every blue moon). Even when geocaching, I enter the waypoints manually. Field testing the GPSr: Go out and mark the coordinates in front of your house. Go to a park, and mark the coordinates of the car. Go inside the park, and mark some landmarks (bench, fountain, statue, tree, etc). Now try to "find" those landmarks by hitting "goto $waypoint". Try finding the car. Driving is trickier, but one of the boys can use the GPSr and give directions while you're driving. You are now ready for your first geocache hunt. Edit the coordinates of a waypoint to match those of the geocache you want to hunt (it takes 1-2 minutes to set and verify the coordinates), then go find it! Your first geocaches should be ones with a larger container and a lower difficulty. After a few days, you can decide if you'll stick with the etrex (with or without a data cable), or upgrade to a model with more features.

Micro or Regular? - Regular Traditional or Multi? - Traditional & short distance Multi Mystery or Earth? - both In a group or alone? - alone Hiding or Finding? - finding Virtual or Webcam? - both Letterbox or Wherigo? - letterbox Favorite GPS? - any Social(event) or not? - yes FTF'er or not? - FTF'er Podcast listener or not? - not Out of state or In state? - both "Extreme/Hardcore" or Layed back? - terrain 4, difficulty 2.5 Urban / Rural? - rural & remote

I go by the same philosophy. I do my own beta testing (not only in geocaching, but in other aspects of life, too). I take the FTF seriously, and I won't hide while hiking with friends. If I'm the friend tagging along, i wont seek the cache, even if invited, but will travel back for the find once the cache gets published. If the hider insists, I might go find it, sign on page zero (the page containing $cache_name, hidden on $date, hidden by $hider, beta tested by $me), and log online as a note; will never log a find it in this case. If the cache I find was, for example, placed on the 16th, found on the 16th, published on the 19th, I'm a bit annoyed, but I won't claim the FTF. Most probably in this case the first finder is friend with the hider, and was either present during the hiding, or waited for the owner to hide and pass the coordinates. If the cache was placed on the 9th, found a dozen times on the 16th and published on the 19th - then the cache was an event cache, and I'm ok with that (the finders had to work from the same information, nobody was served a free FTF. If the cache was placed in 2006 and published in 2008, with several finds during this time, then I would conclude that the cache was previously published on another site, and don't have any problem with that - same as the paragraph above.

or: http://futurepig.com/fut008.html

Clever ideas to thwart the PAF network: - for multis: move the final, and spread the new coordinates across the stages; put the logbook(s) in some intermediate stage(s); (both ideas come from posters on this thread) - for puzzle caches, I saw an interesting hide on this forum; didn't remember the cache (to give proper credit): the puzzle was a Mastermind game, web based, on an external site; each solver got a different code to break; this way the cache owner (and every cacher) can see if the finder solved the puzzle. I don't mind if someone uses $$ power, hires a helicopter and drops the terrain rating from 5 to 1.5; or if he bushwhacks and rises the terrain from 2.5 to 4; or uses his mental abilities to solve the puzzle in an easier way, or to shortcut the multi. All of them have worked for the cache. I am somewhat bothered when a finder gets the coordinates from a friend, without solving the puzzle or the multi. They didn't 'find' the whole cache if they do this. If I hide a high terrain or high difficulty cache, I somehow expect the finders to walk the walk, and/or do the required brainstorming. I would like that every finder (even those part of a group) does the requirements before signing the log. Having the logbook effectively handed over to sign cheapens the hide. My hide. If I put the cache in a tree, it's there for those who will do the effort of climbing the tree; or bring a ladder; or a jetpack; or a fishing rod with some sort of claws, etc.

--emphasis mine-- I think it's better to wait a little before marking a trackable missing. Here's a situation in which I was involved: Retrieved a coin while on vacation; next day someone posted on the cache page and coin page that it's not in the container (although I wrote about retrieving it in the physical logbook). I logged online 5 or 6 days later, when I got near a computer. Had the owner marked it missing, I would had to do extra work to clear things up, and some cachers don't have the knowledge or willingness to do that. I dropped the same coin in another cache. Two weeks later someone logged online his visit, but didn't grab the coin, and didn't mention it being in the cache. I started to feel guilty, as I retrieved the coin 1 day before someone who could move it 1500 miles, only to put it on wait in another cache. 5 weeks (!) later, somebody logged their visit and coin grab, pre-dating it to few days after mine, apologising for the long delay (he broke his leg, also his computer crashed); he helped the coin to get from Europe to the US, so all for the better. Had the coin been marked missing, extra work again would be needed. Sometimes the cachers are on vacation, with no internet access; sometime life gets in the way of caching; patience is a virtue, so wait a little before acting.

Used the GPSr while flying over Europe, had no problem. But two weeks ago, a friend of mine was using a phone with GPS capabilities, and was told to turn it off, because of the phone aspect.

Around here all the caches in the woods are regulars (or smaller regulars); I would hate to search for a micro/nano in remote areas (also I don't enjoy finding them in urban areas -- they're just OK). After reading the cache page, I wouldn't even try to find that one. It looks too much like a needle in the haystack...

Wolves are shy and avoid humans during the summer, when they find food in the forest. But in winter they pack together to be able to hunt large animals. They even visit the villages during the night, attacking any animal they get access to, or "lure" the dogs out and eat them. I heard wolves howling several hundred meters from my grandparents' house in a January night, several years ago. Now it's only the beginning of the winter season, probably won't attack humans yet (temperatures above freezing during the day), but I don't want to take risks (I'm a lone hiker).

Maybe the two activities are related: Put mile-markers every 0.1 miles, then hide a film canister behind each one!

What nobody mentioned, wild animals, especially wolves. Because of them, I'm a little afraid of going into the woods during winter. When the wolves visit the villages during the night, it's risky to hike one hour into the forest. I'm not afraid of beasts during the summer (encountered bears 3 times this summer, while hiking solo), but I respect the hungry wolves and keep my distance. It snowed yesterday, so I canceled my plans for 2 caches, 45 minutes and 2 hours in-and-out of the forest respectively. Cache safely!

Back on topic: When I started geocaching, I promised myself to log all DNF's. Later, I didn't log a DNF for a cache where I didn't arrive to GZ; after that, a cache where I chose not to search; after that, a cache where I called off the search early, because of muggles, and a difficulty 5 micro, because of high difficulty. Now I log all my DNF's. I still consider the above reasons in favor of not logging a DNF, but they no longer apply to me. This new change of my view occurred after a similar topic, in which Briansnat told about him logging a DNF on every cache he hit "goto" for. Without those lines, I probably would have more unlogged DNF's. Someone told about not logging a DNF in order of not scaring away future cachers. I'm guilty myself of canceling a 36-hour trip after someone posted a DNF on the cache I intended to find (yes, two days and a night for 1 ordinary traditional cache). However, one of my DNF's (the only DNF since May on that cache) was probably what caused the owner to do a (needed) maintenance visit, so now future cachers have a findable cache.

If I'm the hider, I won't hide a cache while hiking with friends. This way I avoid delaying them while hiding the cache, also I avoid having to deny them a quick find. If I'm the friend tagging along, i wont seek the cache, even if invited, but will travel back for the find once the cache gets published. If the hider insists, I might go find it, sign on page zero (the page containing $cache_name, hidden on $date, hidden by $hider, beta tested by $me), and log online as a note; will never log a find it in this case. If I'm a seeker, won't claim a FTF; I'm slightly annoyed when I see a cache placed on the 16th, found on the 16th, published on the 19th. If the cache was placed in 2006 and published in 2008, with several finds during this time, then I would conclude that the cache was previously published on another site, and don't have any problem with that.

When I started geocaching, little more than 2 years ago, there were 47 caches in my country. There were probably 5 hiders, and another 5 or so seekers. Many hides were vacation caches, left by tourists or by people working abroad, while visiting their relatives. More than half of the finds were made by foreign geocachers. Now there are 300 caches, and the number of local geocachers is slowly, but constantly rising. I'm sure geocaching in Armenia will have a similar evolution. Don't get disappointed if your caches get only 1-2 visits per year. Once the number of local cachers increases, so will the number of finds. When hiding, make sure your cache has the following characteristics: - muggle proof: avoid high traffic areas, like cities and urban parks (it isn't fun when the cache disappears more often than being found); hide the caches in the mountains and in the low traffic forests around the cities. - weather proof: the container should be watertight, and sturdy so it won't crack in the heat. Make sure the hiding spot don't hold water (avoid vertical holes in trees or ground), also that a flash flood won't wash away your cache. - animal proof: caches in the wild will have animals nearby, so this goes more on a trial-and-error basis; a cache in an area without vegetation (like a boulder field) is more animal proof than one hidden in a forest. - most importantly, geocacher friendly: choose regular containers (1-2 liters), choose a hiding spot with a scenic view and/or with some historic landmarks (like the ruins of a castle); give a good hint, and even a spoiler photo, so seekers can find it on the first try. For now, hide only traditionals. In 2006 I paid half my monthly net income for a Garmin Etrex (bought it for hiking); if the price of a GPSr is prohibitive, nobody would buy one only to find some caches. The best groups to recruit geocachers from are hikers, outdoorsmen and the like - some of them might already have a GPSr. Approach them, introduce them to geocaching, some of them will like it enough to join.

I'm not afraid of human stalkers in remote areas. The bears keep their numbers down. Encounters with a wild animal, now that's a completely different story.

I bought my yellow etrex in 2006, it was 149 euro, half of my monthly net income at that time. Bought it for just a capability: the ability to know my coordinates. Once knowing where I am, I could look up my location on a map, to determine which trail to take (or which way is the closest trail, in the event of bushwhacking). The Garmin Etrex doesn't have a map, and nowadays you could buy one from ebay for less than 50$. A paper map is still needed (although I go sometimes on 20+ km hikes in the woods without any map, in unknown territory). You could hike using a map and compass, but for geocaching in the backcountry I consider a GPSr essential. It takes you to the general area of the hide (within 20-30 feet); sometimes the cache is offtrail, difficult to locate using only landmarks, trivial to locate even with the most basic GPSr. All the other capabilities are bonus. Very important: don't trust the GPSr with your life. It's just a tool, it has limitations, it might have errors, it might fail. Learn its limitations (it might pick up a reflected signal, giving an erroneous reading), use your brain to determine how much trustworthy a particular reading is.

My name is Dj Storm, I'm a geocacher, and I maintain a cache who's owner is missing. I started geocaching in late 2006, and put on my todo list a cache placed in 2001. A few months later, someone bragged about destroying it, followed several weeks later by a found it log, saying that the cache is still there, logbook and swag, but the cache container was stolen (only the lid remained). As nobody replaced the container (the finders suggested that the next seeker should bring one), I brought a tupperware with me for my find. When I found the cache, I decided on the spot to unofficially 'adopt' it. There were many reasons for my decision: - it was the first cache placed in the area; - it was in a scenic location; - it was in a historic location; - the hiding spot was excellent (the logbook was dry after going through a winter in a plastic bag); - the hiding spot was well chosen - not far from the trail, but not visible from it; also, the area around the cache could support extensive trampling without being affected. I decided at that time to ask for a forced adoption after my third maintenance visit, to prove that I have the will and possibility to maintain it; unfortunately, forced adoption was banned a year later. If the ranger emails the cache owner, he won't receive an answer, no matter if the cache is maintained or not. However, if he uses the info inside the container, he could email me. On my second maintenance visit I replaced the container with one matching the description. If the seeker did a minimum of work, he would have noticed the hint, and the spoiler photo. Some less obvious hints can be found in the logs of the other finders. If I receive a request for help, I will direct the seeker to the cache page. I I receive a "send me the codez" type email, I will ignore it - I'm not helping lazy people (or arrogant ones). The fact that the cache description was correct was one motive in favor of not asking for immediate forced adoption. Minor events (like a downed tree) won't affect the geocaching experience, and major ones (like forest fires) are rare enough, and I will deal with that when (if) the situation arises. There were only 3 fake finds: 1 from Germany, 1 from the US, and one from UK - the UK one is actually a second online "found it" for a valid find. By a twist of fate, as several finders didn't log online, the number of physical finds is equal with the number of online finds, so this doesn't really bother me. My cache had the "needs maintenance" attribute (ironically placed by the cache muggler); after the second maintenance visit I politely asked the reviewer to remove it (and he did - many thanks!) I won't maintain every cache I find (will add ziplocks and dehumidifiers if needed, but the rest is up to the cache owner). I definitely won't replace a missing cache, and I recommend archiving for these ones; I have no problem letting or requesting a cache to be archived when the cache needs to be put out of its misery. But if someone considers a cache significant enough to maintain it, I say: DO IT! Thank you for caring!