SG One

I love that Geocaching provides me with a wealth of topics for my college projects and conversations . The ability to find a container the size of a watch battery hidden anywhere in the world by someone I have never spoken to fascinates me. I will never get over the fact that human ingenuity has created such an advanced system. Especially when I think about how only 100 years ago steam ships were in their heyday and the only practical way to go wireless was a telegraph. From 1908-2008 we mastered radio transmission, created computers and the internet, used the power of the atom to make the atomic clock, made reliable rockets, and constructed satellites that could stand up to the rigors of space. When these seemingly different fields combined we got the GPS and later Geocaching. I could write pages about this aspect alone, but I think I have made my point. I am also fascinated by the global community caching has created. Through the game I have met cachers from all walks of life and communicated with people through out the world. Good luck on your paper. I know research projects are no fun. At least you were able to pick a great topic.

First of all I love this thread idea! Kudos to the OP! The most important thing I have learned is that in general MOST people (both cachers and noncachers) are good despite what the news might say. More often than not they are willing to help a total stranger in some way or another. Many times I have stopped on the shoulder of a road to get a cache and haven been asked if I needed help. One time a muggle survey crew took me by surprise while searching for a cache. After telling them about the sport they offered to break out their contractor grade receiver which got 1 foot of accuracy compared to my 20 in the dence tree cover. That it's always best to come clean with muggles if directly confronted. - One time I had to explain to a muggle why people found the stop sign in his yard so interesting. He was not mad in the slightest and said he might become a cacher. - Another time a muggle thought I was trying to steal his neighbor's car. By the end of that conversation they wished me luck and to stay safe. Know how to read the satellite screen before you hide your first cache. I didn't know how to do this and wound up sending a poor would be FTF to coords 60 feet away. Field check your coords and approaches to the cache at least three times. Once you get home check your coords in Google earth or similar program. Only after that is it a good idea to submit. Sun glasses cancel out the spider webs which seem to occur at face level. That I will always find the easy way to the cache as I am leaving GZ. As said by others, always be prepared! Keep a cache bag in the car and plenty of spare batteries. Never underestimate the usefulness of a Leatherman or other multitool. NEVER EVER GO CHEAP WITH EPOXY!! If its not JB Weld or Fast Steel it's not worth using. I thought large tube of the cheap stuff would be alright, and now I have had to do several repairs. If you stop having fun or feel unsafe it's time to go. That the estimated accuracy is often a crock. How to problem solve. The quality of your shoes can make or break you. Snake boots were the best investment I ever made. Never do wilderness caches by your self. Last but not least, pens and pencils will disappear from a cache faster than the best swag. Always bring spares.

Haven't read the whole thread yet but this gave me a laugh!

Any idea what kind of snake this is? It is a scary picture. I have never seen a snake of that size in a tree in North America.

I didn't realize how high the price has gone on these. I just poked around Ebay, and it's downright crazy. I think I paid $120 for mine, about 10 years ago. It's been seriously abused, (as has every knife I've owned), but it survived everything I could throw at it. I did pick up a tiny chip along the edge of the blade when I used it as a hatchet to split a deer pelvis, and I chipped one of the teeth along the saw edge hacking through the door of a Chevy Nova. Yeah the prices have gone way up. A friend of mine got one awhile back and let me use it on a hunting trip. That's where I got hooked. The only one's that are reasonably priced have gotten some serous use. I have no idea how the previous owner took care of it. For all I know they could have been like the people on my camping trip this weekend and used their knives as fire pokers. I always keep eye out though. Also for an M6 Scout folding Survival rifle/shotgun (also discontinued).

I have dozens of knives, but all my GO TO knives are Gerber. All my kitchen knives are Gerber, too. Took me a few years to get them all (expensive, but worth it), but I don't think they make them anymore now. Gerber kitchen knives!?!? Wow those must be some serous knives. I picture steak knives with Gator Grip. Gerber makes a good knife. I hope I don't start a war, but I have to agree. My Victronox explorer was good to me, but I was always afraid of breaking it when tightened down on a screw. The Leatherman feels more sold not to mention the full size pliers are handy.

a "dummy" is an original empty box of a garmin gpsmap 60Cx I'm sure you can find it in US too ... Thanks for the heads up. By box do you mean the housing of the unit?

The CRKT M16-13Z is a great knife. I used one for a while before I got the Leatherman K500x. I have the exact one you mentioned. The steel is soft, but it stands up to the elements very well. After a dip in the ocean it only had some surface rust. Corrosion is the down side of the harder steels including stainless. One thing I found with the M16 is that the internals could be full of sand or dirt and it would still open one handed. I also loved that I could take it apart for serous cleaning. It's a great choice for caching. Plus if it were lost the price is low enough that it's not the end of the world.

Even if it didn't have a knife a Leatherman is still a great thing to have. I would definatly still carry one.

Kit-fox, thats a nice kit you have there. Hope you don't mind that I borrowed a few ideas for my kit. Mr. Riffster, all I can say is I envy you. I love the Gerber BMF and wish they hadn't discontinued them. I have found a few for prices too high to be used as a survival tool (at least for my budget). Needless to say its been on my wish list for quite awhile.

One thing I learned quickly was that a pocket knife is an invaluable tool for caching. Since knife collecting is another hobby of mine I'm curious to hear about what other cachers are using. Currently I carry a Leatherman k500x folder. It's a no frills kind of knife, but the 154CM steel makes up to the lack of aesthetic appeal. This knife has stood up to a lot with very little maintenance. It really comes in handy for the many spider webs we get down here. For wilderness caching I carry a USMC Ka-Bar or a Ka-Bar Warthog both are work horses that have taken everything I could throw at them. The other tool I always have is my Leatherman Blast. Although this one has many uses its main function it to get the logs out of poorly thought out containers. I also use it to get caches out of the dark holes where many caches are hidden. Down here we have black widows, brown recluses and several kinds of poisonous snakes.

JB is good stuff. I thought about using it, but wasn't sure if it would bond to the rubber. Since I only have one shot I figured I would ask before I went that route.

I used my limited knowledge of French to translate the site but had no luck finding the "dummy".

Well, basically I was out fixing a cache and decided to stop at a store on the way home. Since I didn't want to get my GPS stolen I put it in the arm rest storage. It turned out that the antenna was wedged between the lid and the rest of the box. When I came back to the car I leaned on the arm rest and heard a sickening noise. I opened the compartment I saw that the rubber on the back antenna had been torn slightly by the pressure. Luckily the antenna is still ok and the GPS works very well. I am concerned that the water resistance of the unit has been compromised. I see a seal running down the sides and I'm hoping that it continues under the rubber of the antenna. I am hoping some one can tell me if this could be a serous issue or just cosmetic damage. I'm also looking for recommendations to seal the tear. Thank you for any and all help.

Most of this has been said, but I have to add my two cents. Around here we have ONE pm only cache out of 1000+. This is a great feature and one I have not used yet. However, I am debating whether or not to make my TB motel PM only. I had two newbie's clean it out about 2 weeks ago. They have not even logged all the bugs they took. I'm giving them a little more time before I mark them missing. I digress... I have to agree with basically everyone else. PM caches are a nice perk for paying members and one that is entirely optional.

I will be going in December. Hopefully it moves by then. How far from the dock are the caches? I really want to do them, but I going with my family full of noncachers. I want to plan as much as I can in advance.

I had always thought FTF was an offshoot that happened later. As far as I knew the only real rule was first to sign = FTF. I am also a firm beleiver in waiting till a cache is published. Which this one was. I am pleased to report the this dispute was settled. Thanks for the help.

Awesome! Thank you very much for your help. That exactly what I thought. Spelling edit

I am trying to figure out if there are any. Long story short I am tring to get all the facts. There is a small dispute with another cacher I am trying to settle. A google search turned up nothing, but I may be blind. I always thought FTF was just another off shoot of the game. Thank you for any and all help.

Caches in peoples front yards that were placed without permition bug me. One of these was hidden on a stop sign in somones front yard. The instructions said to reach it from the street inorder to stay off private property. I went to go check this one out. When I saw the home owner and decided to talk to him. It turned out this poor fellow and thought that people were trying to vandalize or steel the sign. I explained the situation and he seemed ok with it, but this should have been done by the hider.

Interesting cache, I wonder if the hider is a teacher. Sections A and B remind me of high school english . I'm going to have to grab that one when I'm down that way! Nice to know I'm not alone.

Interesting cache, I wonder if the hider is a teacher. Sections A and B remind me of highshool english . I'm going to have to grab that one when I'm down that way! Nice to know I'm not alone.

It seems like there was some misunderstanding. I am not looking for praise. I would be pleased with anything. The logs are and excellent source of information for other finders. I often use them to determine how I will go about finding a cache. It’s too bad I would have to make them puzzles. If that happened I would never get any logs. I guess this will never get further than the vent stage Also I was referring to the online logs. That’s too bad about the person who posted “None”. I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean.

The reason I am posting this is because I am tired of logs that consist of nothing more than six letters. I.E. “TNLN SL”. Since I began caching this type of log has become more common and I think they are rude. The reason I go to the trouble of hiding caches is because I want to hear the experiences of the finders. I understand that often times cachers have many caches to log and very little time to do so, but would a sentence or two be that much to ask? I would even be happier reading negative comments over abbreviations. Because of this frustration I have been thinking about making a SHORT comment a requirement for logging a cache. I would accept just one sentence. Including logs like "#14 on our trip thought the Orlando area". I wouldn't delete the logs of cachers who didn't read, but I think a requirement would at least cut back on short logs. My thinking is that if enough cachers did this it would curb this trend. My question to all of you is weather I should do this or just let it go. Am I asking too much? The last thing I want to do is become the cache Gestapo. I guess if anything it was a chance to vent.

A 2009 Subaru Forester. So far its been the perfect caching machine. It has served me well on urban cache runs and jeep trail caches. I loved the mobile geocaching comand center someone posted a few pages back!