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Because jellis is using a small stamp, and he (the CO) hasn't said anything about size being the problem, I think his reasoning against the use of stamps is that people are using the 'divide-and-conquer' group caching style of play in his area. It's done to get more smiley points. A stamp with the groups name is made and each member carries a group stamp. The group's ethos is that at least one person did get to ground zero and found the cache (or in some cases depending on the ethos of the group, at least one person got to ground zero and left a throwdown with the group's name). Sometimes this behavior is assumed by the CO when the group find a huge number of caches in a day and all log generic logs not mentioning a visit to each of the caches. Sometimes the CO hears about the groups practices through the grapevine from other sites like Facebook, or perhaps talk that goes around at events. The CO cannot do anything about this practice. They must allow it. They can not insist that finders write their individual trailnames as more concrete proof that they actually visited the cache.

That's true. I can't promote directly. But if all fails just let me know and I will talk with Groundspeak to get the new officer promoted.

Well, there's Cindy, a TB made from a cinder block, but we don't talk about her weight. There's also "Barry", a 3 foot long piece of railroad track.

The first hands-on videos, the Garmin press videos and the Garmin news mail only talk about GPS and glonass.

I have an idea for an earthcache based on one I found in another state, but which can easily be replicated in my home state. I have a location and some general information, but I'd like to discuss my topic with someone who is knowledgeable about earthcaches before I go through the process of writing it up and submitting it, in the hopes that I can do it right the first time. Are there any earthcache 'mentors' out there who are willing to talk about submission guidelines and offer pointers on what makes a good earthcache? I know that there are websites and some FAQ pages available, but I work better with discussion and feedback.

If it is a right of way easement, then the land still belongs to the landowner, the government just has the legal right to build and maintain a road there, and people have the right to drive on it. So you'd ask the landowner then. Sometimes the property might actually change hands, though. For interstate highways, it's normally not just an easement, the government takes title to the land through eminent domain. So if you wanted to put a cache in, say, a rest area, In those cases, the state department of transportation might need to give permission. It may be worth it to reach out to some of the local cache owners to get a feel for what they had to do. One last note - the caching guidelines talk about "adequate" permission, not explicit. So if a county has an open geocaching policy on park land, you don't need to ask, just make sure your cache follows whatever rules the county put out there.

Hi RaeRobyn, you could create an event in your area to meet up with other local cachers and talk to them directly. I was thinking of doing this. I went to school in Gloucester which isn’t relevant to your question but partly why I posted a reply!

I have set up three Geocaches to talk about Benchmarking. I even made benchmarks for containers (you can get a better look at what I did at this cache.. Let me know if there is anything you think I should add to any of the three. I will make some more containers and plant some Benchmark UnChallenges to continue the trail along that dirt road they are on. HtBMS 1: Benchmarking Basics - KCC PBCC HtBMS 2: Benchmarking Sites & Apps - KCC PBCC HtBMS 3: Benchmarking Advanced Tips - KCC PBCC

of course I don't want to risk my expensive device, as I told before geocaching is specific activity, that could really benefit from watch app since in normal circumstances I wouldn't walk on rocky cliff with smartphone in my hand, but when geocaching I don't really have a choice.. You shouldn't drive and talk with your phone at a same time, but if you have to, if your work is to drive and talk to clients at a same time, you have a safer option of buying hands free set, but with geocaching there is no safer alternative.. and its not all about risk of braking device.. do I really have to give an example of every possible scenario? ok, lets say you're geocaching on that rocky cliff with smartphone in your hand and you slip, you're falling.. you'll probably by reflex going to try to safe not only your self, but your device to and by doing that your injuries may be bigger, but if you would have an extra free hand to grab on something, you may end up with lighter injury.. ok, ten-thousands.. how much do you think it costs? millions? billions of dollars? its just an app, not a space rocket, it shouldn't be unaffordable for descent company so far I've heard only one decent reason not to make watch app, its technical reason of apple watch not having magnetic compass, although it still would be nice to at least have watch app for reading hints, descriptions, logs... all other reasons is basically stating that Groundspeak is barely making a living and just can't afford such big luxury like creating simple app.. that makes me feel like I'm getting into lost cost, like windows phone users did..

Can you talk to the cache owner again? Since they know it's not there anymore, if they'd archive it, that would save you a lot of steps.

So, suppose I tell you that your proposed location is 110m northwest of the final coordinates for "Cacher Conundrum," a five-star puzzle cache that only four people have ever solved and logged in the past three years. Armed with that intelligence, you track down the container and sign the log at the same time when you move your cache to a spot that's 162m away. What do I get for being helpful? A flaming email from the CO of "Cacher Conundrum," who also posts to three Facebook groups, and files a complaint with Geocaching HQ that I gave away secret information and ruined the puzzle cache. Having had that happen to us enough times, reviewers nowadays are constrained to be less forthcoming with details. Depending on your reviewer, you may get a hint, like "you are less than 161m from "Cacher Conundrum," GCABCDE, or you may get a hint that you should strongly consider moving to the southeast, or you may not get any guidance at all. So, that's how come. In a world where people hack lab caches and share the final coordinates of puzzle caches in Facebook groups, the inevitable outcome of such a feature would be to spoil every puzzle cache, multicache and Wherigo cache, plus a fair percentage of letterbox hybrid caches. There are people who like placing and finding these cache types. Geocaching.com has chosen not to alienate them by ruining the ability to keep the actual locations a secret. "But all I need is a distance and direction," you might say. So, the cheater simply enters enough coordinates into the planner tool to permit them to hone in on the actual location through triangulation. Think that can't happen? Talk to the travel bug stalkers who watch for drops of trackables in unpublished caches so they can figure out the locations and log a pre-publication "FTF." Talk to the group of cachers who hid traditionals in every conceivable spot within two miles of a 5-star puzzle, knowing they'd eventually "battleship" their way to a hit, and then they could do a scorched earth hunt within that area. I foiled them by publishing their cache even though it was 200 feet away from the puzzle final. Reviewers are smart humans*, you see, and that is better than an automated system. *Many reviewers are dogs.

Same here. I receive and send on average five emails a day in this hobby. Most are people who don't/won't enter the forums. All my other communication is by email as well. People talk to me on the phone too.

Maybe you are right. I encountered these two phrases in some kind of a corporate talk and they were used interchangeably there.

The bit I've highlighted in red is probably what scares me most about this cache quality push, not so much for my own hides which I visit fairly regularly anyway just for my own satisfaction that all's well (and because I put them in places I like to visit), but for some of the excellent ones I've enjoyed over the years that are well-made, well-concealed from muggles and simply don't need regular maintenance. A nano in a busy city might need its log scroll and/or seal replaced every few months, but the same isn't true of a remotely-placed rugged cache with a proper logbook that might only get a couple of visits a year. To fill in a dull evening last week (and to avoid all the endless political talk about our Federal election), I went through the hundred caches I've given FPs to. Of those, 9 have been archived, 23 have had some maintenance done during their life, but the other 68 as best I could tell have never had any maintenance at all (no NMs logged and the only OMs just said everything's fine). They're still the original container with its original logbook and are still in great condition. These aren't just all new caches either; of the ones that haven't been archived, 41 are more than 5 years old and 9 of those are more than 10 years old. The oldest was placed in 2001 and, after being replaced in 2002 following a fire, hasn't had or needed any attention since. A good container in a hiding place protecting it from the elements and muggles will last pretty much indefinitely without any owner attention, so it really doesn't matter whether the owner is responsible and still active or not, the cache remains there to be enjoyed by generations of cachers to come. I'd hate to see any well-intentioned enforcement of regular maintenance designed to rid the world of decrepit micros result in the loss of many of these fine caches either because their owners have left the game or are unwilling to put in the often substantial effort needed to visit them regularly when there's no need to.

But what if I really really need to talk to you? Just kidding. It would be nice if there was an Ignore All Messages option.

I like it. Until I don't get drawn and then I will talk mad trash about everyone who got one! ;) Actually, the nice thing about 2.0 is that won't be the case. I will know I didn't randomly get drawn and there isn't anything you can do about it. However, I would like to see this applied to webcam caches. People with over 25 webcam caches and who opt in get drawn to make a new list of webcam caches. I would love that...because I have found over 25 webcam caches! However, that took a lot of miles and work. It was not easy. I love webcam caches!

Yeah that is really frustrating. :-( I am not 100% certain I will be at GW yet, but if I am I will for sure look for you again. If you want I could be a wing man if you want to talk to them.

I updated the WF site to use Groundspeak's new API. Let me know if anyone experiences any issues. Here's something funny: I was asked if I wanted to list Kit (and perhaps the WF site) in the list of API partners. Uhh... Groundspeak, not unless you want to thoroughly confuse the mess out of the community, listing third-party Wherigo services as a partner on one hand and reviewers saying you can't talk about it on the other. That might not be the best of ideas until you lift the reviewer ban.

I was inspired once again to come here to the forums to discuss maps after attempting to plan a hike for this weekend. To find new caches I need to hike in unknown areas. If I were doing a small area city cache adventure then the current maps might suffice. To find new caching trails in many miles of mountains, I need a big view of the available caches. I find trails by looking for cache trails. It is very frustrating to keep having to reload the caches. My internet connection can get bogged down and what is supposed to be a few fun moments of searching for new cache trails turns into a long frustrating exercise in testing my internet speed. I end up thinking about quitting caching and stop my search early. I suspect new cachers who use their phones may not care about the new map differences. But it's the old cachers who find a lot of caches who are the ones who pay to keep the electricity on at Groundspeak Headquarters, so I would hope that they will pay attention to how many people are reporting in on this. Pay attention to what exactly people are complaining about, and who is not happy. I am considering writing an old fashion letter, this issue is so important to me, since it doesn't seem to draw any attention to talk about it on the forums. Anyone else who wants to join me on this: Groundspeak Headquarters 837 N 34th St #300, Seattle, WA 98103

I can't listen to the Geocaching podcasts or the advertised "10 Best Geocaching Songs" while I'm using the app to geocache? That's crazy talk! What's the point of a Geocaching Mix tape if I can't listen to it while I look for geocaches? https://www.geocaching.com/blog/2018/03/the-top-10-best-geocaching-songs/

Thank you for your quick reply. I disabled the Cachetur Assistant and that did produce the desired results on the map. Now to talk with Thomfre.

I don't see why the event wouldn't be published, if geocachers can attend and at least talk about geocaching; that's sufficient to be geocaching-themed. But the souvenir, yeah, almost certainly wouldn't get one. The Geocaching In Space promo a few years back was because of the ISS geocache and TB travels, so there was reason to hold official events and provide a souvenir.

I might never have met them and have no idea who they are or how to find them to talk to them. It might not even be in my country. That could be considered storking too. Besides, I consider the comments written in a log as 'talking' to the CO. It's like the old fashioned letter that 'talked' to the recipient. I read my logs and take them seriously. If the coordinates were regularly being mentioned as off I would investigate. I don't need someone to track me down and talk to me, even at events. If they waited to do that and not write what was wrong in a log, I would find that very strange and unhelpful, as I should have been told earlier. If it's only one person's comments, say the coordinates are out, that might not be enough to go on (although that is affected by how experienced they are), but after several comments, time to act and go check those coordinates. I found several caches recently by a CO whose coordinates were often out. It was not only me mentioning this, but others too. After I logged NM explaining the problem, the CO checked and did a OM, saying log and cache good. That wasn't what the NM was about, but the off coordinates. I messaged the CO and explained the problem again (politely). They said they would check this. Nothing has changed. The coordinates are still not fixed. I don't want this archived, so am not going to log a NA. Besides, I find that sort of rude if the person is at least looking after the cache and log. People are still mentioning the cache is not being found at GZ.

I said talk to the CO, not post yet another log. Your initial note made it sound to me more like you've occasionally run into COs that made a mistake, not that you were talking about COs that willfully and regularly post bad coordinates. So I suggested you focus more on fixing the CO so he doesn't keep doing that instead of focusing on getting each individual cache archived which you'll be doing the rest of your life if the CO isn't educated. My experience is just the reverse. First, COs normally post good coordinates so it doesn't come up very often. More often than not, it's the person complaining that has the bad coordinates. Second, when there really is a problem, the COs in my area will quickly adjust the coordinates. That's why I'm suggesting you teach your COs to be more like mine. Now if a CO is clearly making a game of posting bad coordinates, refusing to listen to reason, and deleting any logs that post the correct coordinates, then feel free to talk to the reviewer about them. GS will be interested if they insist on breaking the rules on purpose.

Why do you care if the reviewer picks up on it? The CO's the one that can easily fix these things. Talk to him, not to the cops.