Map Only

Nope - they didn't have GPS. Maybe when we buy a new GPSr we should donate the old ones to our town rescue ambulances. Hey! I kinda like that idea. But then, if the person in trouble doesn't have a GPSr or know their coordinates they still wouldn't be able to find them. My cell phone has GPS capability which is a real good thing. GPS and SAR are a poor mix, at least in my region, IMHO. (Hence the screen name) Great fun for urban micros, however.

.150 I really don't understand why my ex-wife thought I was untrainable I'm much happier, now

I've met plenty of hunters in the woods around Western WA, but more often I see folks target shooting without a backdrop - maybe OK with shotguns but not so OK with rifles. So far I've only heard rounds going past once, and that in a popular area. Four rounds hit within 40 feet of my group. I'm sure orange vests are a good idea, but I'd rather avoid target shooting areas.

As a favor to those who don't like rock piles, you might include the phrase "micro in a rock pile" in the description. Thank you and everyone else who has placed a cache!

BOOYA!

Black Diamond Flicklocks. Had Lekis and I wasn't sorry when they were stollen, because you really had to twist hard or they would collapse when you most wished they wouldn't. When I was a poor student I used old one piece ski poles - $2.00 and they worked great

This isn't crazy but I did amuse a muggle that happened by.

I've looked at a few maps. Repetitious painful stimuli have taught me to use a map every time I go somewhere new in a hurry. I do sometimes go new places mapless. Douglas Adams described "Zen Navigation" as the act of finding a car that looks like it knows where it is going and following it. As he suggested, you might not end up where you expected, but probably in a more productive location. I once even used this technique to get out of lower Manhattan - just followed all the Jersey license plates.

Is it ever "necessary" to use a GPS?

4 Radios (hardwired) (usually two ON and two OFF) Phone Computer GPS (sometimes) Winch (on good days)

The cache owner probably appreciates the feedback. I do try to be nice and note that I didn't spend much time looking when that is the case - and thank them for hiding the cache. I spent many hours looking for small items hidden in the woods years before Geocaching was invented and now there are days I just wish it was a friggin' ammo can under a piece of bark....... I guess I'm not a fan on caches designed with the idea of each finder spending an hour looking.

I've updated to 10.3.9 and will try a program from mesa dynamics called amnesty which claims to run third-party dashboard stuff..... Anyone tried it yet?

Doh! I feel evil! Time to put out another easy GPS-free cache!

I haven't changed lat/long to a distance and bearing, except by plotting each on a map. My usual method is to plot the cache coordinates on a map and go there. With geocaching, realize that usgs maps and many others use the NAD 27 datum, which can be scores of feet different that wgs84. I often use the topo map on my computer, which does the plotting for you. The only time I use a GPS for Search and Rescue is while driving. It is just not efficient to navigate by terrain features at 40 mph on logging roads

Way to go! I've found about half of mine without GPS, and my buddy "map and compass" is fanatical about not using the little nuisance. I have a rant about people using the gps instead of map skills, but I strictly reserve it for SAR folks in my area - gps is a good tool for some situations, and finding a micro in an urban park is one of them, if you ask me. People have been finding things for a long time without gps. A map, your skills and perhaps a compass and altimeter is always good for knowing your location within 300 feet where I play. Besides, I love machinery of any kind!

I've been using national geographic topo with an iBook G4 and (on the road) a Garmin III - they all get along much better than the SONY laptop did. Only the scroll feature runs slowly, perhaps due to a slow processor? Still, I am very happy

I too have been guilty of many tnlnsl logs. I usually do this out of laziness, or because what I brought is not nearly as cool as what I found. All my hides are in really cool spots, so the caches are more about the location that trading, and unfortunately the locations sometimes make micros necessary. My apologies to toy-traders!javascript:emoticon('')

If the worst should happen, I guess we could fall back on maps....