Snifferhound

After I had found a few useful things in caches, I decided I would "upgrade" some of the swag I left. A couple of things I leave have been well received, like bug repellent wipes and small first aid kits. I found a wholesaler that will sell them to me in quantity very reasonably.

Using track up or north up is a personal preference. Myself, I like north up, so it's like looking at a paper map. As far as the compass page goes, remember that you need to hold the unit flat, like when you calibrate the compass. With the 60CSx, you don't have to be moving for the compass to work.

I dropped a TB in a cache in December, and even though several people had found the cache afterwards, nobody picked up the TB. After about six months, I went back to the cache and grabbed the TB, just so I could get it moving. I don't see anything wrong with that since TB are made to travel, not sit.

If you "save" the trtacks, you should be able to load the maps and keep all of your data with no problem. I have a 60CSx and a 276C, and can do this on both.

I've only found one of the plastic ammo boxes used as a cache, and I wasn't impressed. The problem was that the latch wasn't very strong. After only a couple of months, it had broken and wouldn't keep the lid sealed. You still can't beat the metal ones!

I use ammo boxes and pelican-style cases. Both very waterproof. I hate finding caches that have soggy contents! The only wet ammo box I have found was one where somebody forgot to close the lid.

Neat test! I don't consider myself very proficient at using a compass and map, but I got an A! Most times when caching, I still have trouble trusting the GPSr as far as directions (mine has an electronic compass), so I still rely on an old fashioned compass (I carry three different types)!

I also cache alone, without kids, so I consider each cache on its own merits. If it is a cache that is geared more for familys with kids, I leave something for them. In others that I think would be more adults than kids that would visit it, I leave something I would like to find. I leave carabiners, insect repellant wipes, and in some, personal first aid kits or ponchos. It all depends on what I find in the cache that makes me decide if I leave swag for kids or adults. Many times I will leave something, but take nothing, just to leave it richer than I found it.

I think what you are thinking of is the Podcaching network. I don't have a link to it, but have heard some that somebody had recorded to a CD and left in a cache.

There is a cacher in my area that uses junk container, too, like soft drink glasses from fast food places and such. After sending emails about the specific condition of a container and not getting a reply, I just ignore all of their hides. It's not worth the angst.

I also find it offensive. I would continue to try to contact the reviewer, as well as the cache owner.

I agree that the best thing to do is buy a ready made one, then just add or remove what you don't want. I keep a small one in my pack that I modified, making sure that I did leave some things for emergency wound care, not just bandaides. I just came across a small first aid kit from a safety supply house I deal with that I'm going to start using as swag. It's small, waterproof and has most of the basics. You can carry it in your pocket, or it even has a key ring on it. I'm going to talk to my rep and see what kind of price I can get on them buying a couple dozen of them. It's something that I think a lot of cachers would like to find!

I think a lot of people make the mistake of buyin a BIG knife, which for most purposes is overkill, and in most cases just plain unhandy. No mater what the knife, keeping it sharp is the key. Besides whatever knife I'm carrying (along with a multi-tool), I also carry a small diamond sharpening steel. I aso prefer a straight blade over a serrated one because I can sharpen a plain blade a lot easier and quicker.

Well, I guess I should add to this! I use a multi pocket waist pack to organize all my stuff, but don't wear it unless I'm going to be hiking a ways to the cache. What's in it? 2 or more bottles of water 2 different types of compass' monocular (smaller than binoculars) mini mag light LED flashlight multi tool extendable mirror flexible mechanical fingers tweezers counter (very handy) individual packed hand scrubs TP first aid kit bug repellant hand sanitizer cell phone camera maps for the area I'm going to PDA duct tape a couple of geocaching brochures zip lock bags note pads pens and pencils (with sharpener) calculator couple of clean rags GPSr hiking staff swag and maybe TB's Now that I think about it, it's no wonder my back hurts by the end of the day!

My favorite will always be the ammo can. One container I've used for my caches is a pelican style case, which is very weather proof, but is expensive. I came up with a few that were used as electronic instument cases. The instruments were junked, so I grabbed the old cases for caches! I've gotten a lot of compliments on them, too.

For getting the grease off of metal, go to any auto parts store and get some spray brake cleaner. It will cut anything loose, so you just wipe it off with a rag. It dries very fast, so you can paint right away.

For anything other than a park and grab, where I do any amount of hiking, I've gone to a Fieldline Ultimate waist pack. It's kind of a cross between a fanny pack and a day pack It has a wide belt and detachable shoulder straps. The belt and pack are both lined with mesh and it's very comfortable. I don't know how to post a pic, but it has 10 different compartments, 2 zippered mesh pockets, two mesh water bottle pockets (with bottles) and will hold 1420 cu. in. It's 13" high, 14" wide and 7" deep. Here the website: http://www.fieldline.com/proddetail.aspx?sku=QC17UBL

You can always go to EBay, then go to the compass section of sporting goods, then type "lot" in the search for that catagory. It will bring up all items that are a "lot", or several items in one auction. I've done this several times for swag and if you watch, you can sometimes get a pretty good deal.

I'll weigh in on this, for what it's worth. I know the series that 3AMT is talking about. They bring attention to a function called "Trail Daze" where the parks departments want to get people out on the trail system. I've found two of these caches, and tried to find three others (DNF). No two of them are alike, in container, size, name, or type of placement. They are also on different trails, but some of the trails are interconnected. They couldn't be made into a multi because of being so different and haveing nothing in common. I think they are all great hides (some I would even call evil) and are fun to hunt one at a time, or pick a general area and see how many you can find.

Had it happen several times. A couple of them were when I first started and I thought it was just me not knowing how to find them. After a couple of DNF on the same caches, the owners went out and checked, and sure enough, they were gone. The owners even emailed me to say that they were sorry for not checking on them when I posted my first DNF.

If I want to take a particular route, I set several waypoints along the roiute to force the unit to follow my route. This seems to work for me, as I normally don't like the routes the unit chooses.

I guess that I do a lot of things differently than other cachers. I got into this sport because I WANTED to be led to areas and vistas I would never have known were there. I go to enjoy the walk, hike or whatever it takes to get me to the cache. I also do it a lot more slowly that others because I'm always finding something interesting to look at on the way. I also love the history related caches. I have done a couple of multi caches that took me on a history trip around the county where I have lived for over 10 years. I found out things about this county that I never heard of. They are now in my top 10 favorites. I have only placed one cache, but it takes the finder to an area that they would never go to, unless it was for the cache. I've gotten a lot of compliments on it. I have a couple more ready to go, that I plan on putting on a little used trail in a nearby park that has some fantastic views of the river valley. I hope they are as well received.

Any time I've done a multi, but wasn't able to finish it, I just posted a note, saying how far I got. If I got to the end, but wasn't able to find it, it was of course a DNF. This would be different that a puzzle cache, where each part of the puzzle was its own cache cantaining a clue as to the final location. These would be logged as finds.

As an interesting asside about fawns. My folks raised exotics for many years, including white tail deer. If you take the fawn away from its mother before the 7th hour after birth, the fawn will not have aquired the mothers sense of fear. We bottle fed several fawns, and they all ended up as tame as a pet dog. It was fun to take deer hunting freinds out there, and have an 8 point buck come running up to the fence when you called his name!

I have several Leki's and love them. I like that you can colapse them so they don't take up as much room in the car and can be carried easy on the motorcycle. My favorite one is the Wunderfruend, which has a cane style grip and can be used as a walking cane, or extended to staff length for going down steep banks.