Shortleaf
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Posts posted by Shortleaf
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I too would like to see the DNF symbol instead of just the cache icon.
I also wish the map would show all of my finds, including ones that have been archived.
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Hiking, caching, photography.... I like doing all 3 together. Some really amazing shots posted on this thread.... here are a few I've taken while out caching around here:
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I had a fruitless effort awhile back trying to find a micro that I later realized had been placed by someone who had a total of 3 finds and hadn't been active in about a year. Based on the profile it appeared to be a teenage girl who probably downloaded the intro app and found a couple, thought it would be fun to hide one on a sign post in her neighborhood, then moved on to the next app of the week.
On the other side of that argument, I hid my most popular cache after maybe not even a dozen finds. Though in those days a dozen finds was more than it is today.
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I found a cache that had 7 favorites, which is pretty respectable for this area. It turned out to be 'hidden' behind an air conditioner in the side yard of a business. It felt awkward enough traipsing around the yard of a business wondering who all was looking out the windows at us. The worst part was that not all of the employees know about the cache... I should have looked closer beforehand and noticed the 2% favorite ratio and all the other logs mentioning employees coming out to ask what they were doing. Why even 1 person would favorite that cache is beyond me, let alone 7, but clearly the ratio comes in to play there to paint a more accurate picture.
I agree with the comment that it would be nice to be able to list or sort by ratio, not just quantity of favorites.
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I have of cache that generally gets good logs, and a couple of cachers have said that it was one of the best caches they've ever found. It still gets an occasional TFTC log.
I also have a cache that is difficult to reach and only logs a few finds per year. It often gets positive comments and long, descriptive logs - because getting to GZ is an adventure in itself. Occasionally someone will log TFTC, but not often.
But a cache that has 90% TFTC logs is bound to be a magnet on a guardrail or sign post along a forgettable stretch of roadway or a strip-mall parking lot. It probably logs lots of quick finds, and quick logs to go with it. Nothing wrong with that. An effortless hide, and effortless find, and an effortless log. The trifecta of easy caching.
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I would like to see the site change the logging requirements to be at least ten words long.
I agree short logs are annoying, but they are useful indicators of a bad or thoughtlessly placed cache. When I see a cache with a log full of "TFTC" only logs it I know it's probably going to be forgettable. On the occasion that I find it anyways, I have always found that to be true. A thoughtless cache deserves a thoughtless log and it helps tip off others of the quality so they can avoid it if they want.
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I placed Rattlesnake Canyon 11 years ago on 3/31/2003. Just recently replaced the container because it had deteriorated and only the lid was left.
Also placed John Ritter about the same time, but it's container has been replaced twice.
When I placed them I was in college and naturally used the cheapest plastic container I could come across. Wish now I would have spent a few dollars more on something that would have lasted.
There are a few caches left around here from my first days of caching but not many.
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The TB system is a legitimate problem in my opinion and it's degrading the credibility of the game by seeding so many caches with false information. I used to love TBs, but since getting back into caching lately, I have quickly discovered that the TB system has completely fallen into disarray. If I do happen to find one, great (I haven't in a long time), but I no longer seek them out, and I would absolutely not spend money to buy one. Not anymore. The more people that lose interest, the worse the problem gets. The worse the problem gets, the more people that lose interest...
I think it's going to be a challenge, if even possible to keep them from disappearing. But it's totally possible to keep cache information credible. It's been a really long time since this idea was posted. I really hope it eventually gets some attention before the TB system dies on it's own from neglect.
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This is definitely on the radar here. As a start, I would personally like to see this idea implemented.
I would love this idea too, but it was proposed 2 years ago and hasn't been implemented.
If one of the stats was how many TB miles you've logged that might keep some people from hanging on to them, but unfortunately I suspect there really isn't much that can be done to keep TBs from going MIA, whatever the cause.
One thing that can and should be done is make it easier/possible to remove ghost TBs from the system. If the system were at least cleaned up, that would restore some credibility. Leaving all the ghosts to clutter up the game just further perpetuates the TB decline.
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Thanks, either way it's easier than manually entering coords into my GPS V! Still undecided between the two units, or if I even need/want a new one at all. I really like the simple interface on my old one. It may sound silly but I think a lot of the newer devices have kind of a cartoony looking interface, though not as bad as most vehicle navigation units.
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I have had a hard time figuring out how caches are transferred to the newer GPS devices. I am looking at a oregon 600 or montana 600 and I saw a video showing how they can be transferred using a cable. I have also seen transfer between GPS devices using wireless. Is it possible to transfer from a bluetooth laptop to either of these devices?
Right now I still use my ancient GPS V, which I actually love and sometimes my iphone. But I am considering getting one of the above mentioned devices to double as a caching tool and vehicle navigation.
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I was going to post a similar feature request but fortunately I see others want the same thing! Some may want to search specifically for these, though I would love the ability to completely hide from my account the 'numbers run trails' or whatever the terminology is determined to be.
I would like to see it work where caches can be marked as part of a group, with groups being classified in a few different ways "numbers run", "theme series", "power trail", etc... This would make it easy to find the other parts of an interesting series or for those that want to do numbers, they can easily seek those out.
In my case I would want to hide the 'numbers run' type of groups completely. I don't want them to clutter my map view, I don't want them in my search results, I just want them all completely invisible to me. I realized how annoying these were to me when I was looking at the map view of a rural area I am going to be traveling through and wanted to pick out a couple caches... I was having a hard time because one resident has completely saturated the whole area with over 150 micro caches, mostly as part of numbers series, and several others have also added in numbers series...making it tedious to find the one or two that might be placed in an old cemetery or site of interest.
The classic definition of the 'power trail' along a hike sounds like something I would like, so I would not want to lump them together. I just have no interest in driving and getting out of my car every .1 miles to grab a magnet from a guardrail or sign post. A lot of people may enjoy that, and that's great, but it's just not for me.
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The best cache I have ever found was this one in South Central Missouri: X-Treme 11 Point Overlook
It was just an ordinary container but the location and hide was unforgettable. Unfortunately it's been archived for years now, but I still remember it as my favorite of all time.
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There is a guy around here who hides these tiny 1/2" x 1/2" magnet 'caches', on road signs, at gas stations...conspicuous, sometimes high muggle areas. I think they are pretty crappy, but some have a number of favorite points and quite a few positive logs. I don't really get that, but clearly not all cachers enjoy the same things and have the same definition of a good/crappy cache.
To each his own... though I think a "rate this cache" feature might be nice, but again, there are varying definitions of what is good. Reading the logs can often be helpful and others often post issues with the container or location that helps me avoid it. If the log has lots of "TFTC" only posts, then it probably wasn't a very memorable find for anyone, and wouldn't be for me either.
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136 here in SW Missouri, which I thought was kind of a lot until I see what some areas have!
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I have always preferred winter caching. I enjoy being out in the woods in the quiet of winter when I may not ordinarily think to go for a hike or do some other kind of activity. Here in Missouri summer can be unbearably hot and humid, plus there can be a lot of undergrowth, ticks, mosquitoes and the like to deal with. Winter can be cold, but dressing appropriately easily overcomes that issue. Snow can be a complication but we don't often get a lot in this part of the state.
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Along the same lines, I recently placed a new TB in a remote cache that typically sees only a handful of visits per year. Within a few days at least two dozen people had "discovered" it, many from other countries. I can't really understand the fun in logging a TB that I didn't find. The fun isn't clicking the "found it" button, it's the hunt and discovery, seeing where it's been, and deciding where to take it next.
Did you happen to post a photo of the TB and accidentally show the tracking number? I don't see any recent TB's in your profile, so I wasn't able to check for myself.
Yes I had a photo with the number visible which I deleted after doing a little investigating on this forum. I used to find TBs and log photos and that was never a problem. But I guess there are people out there now with nothing better to do than troll the image galleries looking for TB tracking numbers so they can falsely log it. It may now show up as recent because I bought the TB several years but only recently put it in the wild.
Too bad the TBs have gone extinct more or less... that was always one of my favorite components of caching.
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Funny, I just posted elsewhere about how I suspected this might be a cause of a problem I've noticed since getting back into geocaching ...travelbugs are almost never in caches that show them containing a TB. Right or wrong, I attributed it to someone hearing about GC, downloading the app, finding a few caches and picking up a TB as a souvenir along the way, then forgetting about GC altogether.
The problem is that it creates temporary players with no investment in the game who don't understand the rules or anything about the GC community. It allows new cachers to bypass everything they need to know about how to enjoy and contribute to the game.
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I don't remember you but I am kind in the same boat. I hadn't found a cache in 7(!) years until a couple months ago when I had the idea to introduce my daughter to it while on a hike. Years ago my GPS broke, then I got married, had kids... just got busy.
An overall difference I have noticed is a preference towards easy quick caches and less people seem to be finding the 'good' ones where you may have to hike a bit, but are rewarded with a good quality cache/location.
Another thing I've noticed is that it seems like the travelbug thing has fallen apart. LOTS of caches (here at least) falsely show they contain TBs. I wonder if the problem with the TB's is someone with an iphone downloading the GC app, finding a few caches, keeping a TB as a souvenir along the way without ever knowing the rules, and then forgetting about geocaching altogether a few weeks later.
We have enjoyed getting back into it and while a lot has changed, some good, some bad, it's still more of less the same and a lot of fun!
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It's been mentioned, but I really hate the "numbers" oriented caches and cachers, and everything that comes with that. There are roads in my area which have micro caches placed every .3 miles. There is nothing interesting about the road, the cache, or each location, it's just a way for someone to bag a zillion caches without having to put forth much effort. I wouldn't care if some people want to play that way, except these caches flood search results, clutter up the map, and degrade the game overall in my opinion. Ignoring micro caches isn't really a solution either because I have enjoyed finding many "good" micros and they do have their place.
Along the same lines, I recently placed a new TB in a remote cache that typically sees only a handful of visits per year. Within a few days at least two dozen people had "discovered" it, many from other countries. I can't really understand the fun in logging a TB that I didn't find. The fun isn't clicking the "found it" button, it's the hunt and discovery, seeing where it's been, and deciding where to take it next.
While I am on TB's, I was annoyed the other day when I found 3 caches that supposedly contained TB's - only to find ALL of them were missing and upon further investigation, some had been missing for over a year. Apparently that has become fairly common.
In spite of those annoyances, I still think caching is super fun and has helped me discover a lot of neat places I would have never discovered otherwise!
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Is there a way for someone other than the owner to mark a TB as missing from a cache so that it won't continue to show up as containing a TB that isn't there?
I haven't cached much in the last few years but have started again lately. I used to never have this problem, but today I took my daughter to find a few caches and of the 3 nearby that showed TB's... NONE of them actually had the TB. The cache was in good condition but somehow the TB had been swiped or something. I didn't realize this had become a common problem that TB and cache owners were no longer actively tracking them and marking them as missing when appropriate. Kind of frustrating.
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Nice.... never thought of that....
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I would like to see an option on cache pages to search for only caches of a certain difficulty. Or also a way to rate the landscape scenery of a cache. Personally I only like to find caches that are in natural areas with cool scenery. In fact I normally don't take or leave anything, I just like seeing new places. I would like to be able to filter out all the caches that are in city parks or urban areas in general, Call it a "nature/scenery factor"!
Battery Problems with Oregon 600T
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
I have experienced the same issue. I keep the backlight off at all times, and use alkaline and start getting the low battery notification after maybe 2-3 hours. Except for short hikes/outings I almost always have to change batteries at some point in the day. It's maddening. My ancient GPS V would easily last 20 hours or more with alkaline batteries. I didn't try the garmin battery pack or the more expensive batteries because I never needed them with my old unit, but maybe I should get it a shot.