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If I had never found geocaching.... I would not have met so many wonderful people both here in Australia and on my overseas travels. The friendships I've made are amazing. Also, as a result of this game, I was invited onto Danish Community Radio in Copenhagen for a two hour program to discuss geocaching in Australia. We even had talk back with people phoning in to ask questions. It was a hoot!!!!!

Right. We archived an entire series because the area was changing, with very-large trees falling (a couple while we were there), and we felt safety a concern. - Attention not a given with many we've seen for a while now. There's more than a few videos on phones and attention... If I'm busy and folks don't know my phone number (I talk on the phone), it might be a day or better before I get back to them. I think it's really odd that someone would assume that I'd "appreciate" whatever throwdown they'd leave "to help me out". We've never used mediocre containers. Since I'd have to go back to replace the container they left anyway, I'd rather they log a NM and move on... - Though we act on logs, fixing 'em before waiting for a NM. "Log damp" not needing a NM a few weeks later to go fix... Now if they're replacing 30/50cals with 81mm mortar boxes, I've still got half a pallet for trade.

I have a cute "getting permission" story to share. We wanted to do a simple light pole cache (a match stick cache we bought on geocache.com). The parking lot it was standing in was a quaint minimall. We asked one of the store owners who owned the parking lot and explained why. He knew about geocaching and was very helpful, gave us the name & number of the owner and also said he would talk to him. We called the owner, explained what geocaching was, and asked if we could leave a "cache" under his light post. It was fine with him and then asked us...who keeps the "cash" people leave behind. lol

Moderators rarely start forum topics, but I hope the community can indulge me this soapbox to mark the occasion of my 20,000th forum post. Here is a collection of things I wanted to discuss. 20,000 Posts is quite a posting power trail. Why, and do you have a life? Those posts accumulated over 16 years. I've been a moderator since the very first day when the forums had volunteer moderators. Those posts are a combination of steering discussion participants towards following the forum guidelines, explaining the cache hiding guidelines and process, and helping people (especially newcomers) by answering questions about how geocaching works. I like that last part the most. I enjoy helping people and, like all who read this, I love reading and talking about geocaching. How are the forums now, versus 2003? When I first became a moderator, the forums were like the wild wild west. It was super busy and super chaotic, 24/7. New flame wars lit up every week. In part, that was because there were no moderators from 2000 to 2003. Jeremy Irish did a lot of the explaining and moderating. His style was blunt and direct, and that tended to stir up the beehive. Also, we didn't have the tools back then to moderate effectively, like permanently locking threads, efficiently stopping spammers, and suspending posting rights when appropriate. Finally, Geocaching HQ has improved greatly since then, with a supportive staff that helps head off problems in the community and to ensure consistency in application of the site terms of use, cache hiding guidelines, and forum guidelines. That wild west label applied in 2003 to site volunteers, too - myself included. My ego thought I owned this place. I didn't. Today, we can go for hours with few or no forum posts, and flame wars are pretty rare. One reason for the drop in traffic is the popularity of social media. Geocachers love to talk about geocaching, and now there are many ways to do that which didn't exist in 2003: Facebook, twitter, blogs, vlogs, etc. This is a good thing. So, how are the forums still relevant? Heading into 2020, in my opinion the two highest and best uses where the Geocaching Forums stand out are (1) helping newcomers and others with questions, and (2) announcing and explaining website features, changes and promotions. Newcomers often find the forums first, and they tend to receive more complete, accurate answers than in other channels. Site features are best discussed here and in other Geocaching HQ social media - announcements can't be posted to hundreds of local Facebook groups. I know that a lot of people read here, but don't post - they link to discussions and carry the news to their local community by posting elsewhere. If that's you, thank you for doing that, and please consider joining the discussions here. How can the forums be better? Be kind to others, especially newcomers. It may be the 132nd thread you've read, asking how it's possible to find hundreds of geocaches in a single day, but the person asking doesn't know that. Don't scare them off. Be nice to veterans, too - it is boring when everyone agrees with you, so keep an open mind when someone expresses an opinion which differs from yours. Finally, stay on topic and keep your posts relevant. Not every remark requires a reply. One of the best features of the forums is that there's an easily searchable, permanent database of answers about geocaching. Don't clog up the search results unnecessarily. Thank you for reading this, and for affording me the privilege of serving the geocaching community as a volunteer forum moderator. It's an honor and a pleasure.

Old topic but it is coming around again. There is again talk of barring anyone that doesn't have a hunting license from hiking on PA Gamelands. Applies year round regardless of hunting seasons.

For me it's very easy to understand. The population is sick and tired of the same to-be-left-unnamed posters dominating and devolving every, single, thread, no matter how benign or useful the original post is. I find myself coming to the forums less and less frequently. I wonder if it's a dip in the interest in the game. Fewer people are passionate about the game, enough that they want to talk about it. Some of those that were passionate and informative have been banned. I haven't seen much talk in any other geocaching forum and facebook sites either. I think there is a combination of the two bolded statements that is killing discussion around here. That, and the fact that those discussed in the former either have no ability to grasp that they are killing discourse, or do see and yet feel the narcissastic need to be "right" anyway. I'm not sure it's an overall dip in interest, but I suspect the fact that one can play this game entirely from a smartphone may have obviated the need for many players to visit the website itself; thus, why visit the forums?

For me it's very easy to understand. The population is sick and tired of the same to-be-left-unnamed posters dominating and devolving every, single, thread, no matter how benign or useful the original post is. I find myself coming to the forums less and less frequently. I wonder if it's a dip in the interest in the game. Fewer people are passionate about the game, enough that they want to talk about it. Some of those that were passionate and informative have been banned. I haven't seen much talk in any other geocaching forum and facebook sites either. I think there is a combination of the two bolded statements that is killing discussion around here. That, and the fact that those discussed in the former either have no ability to grasp that they are killing discourse, or do see and yet feel the narcissastic need to be "right" anyway. I'm not sure it's an overall dip in interest, but I suspect the fact that one can play this game entirely from a smartphone may have obviated the need for many players to visit the website itself; thus, why visit the forums?

For me it's very easy to understand. The population is sick and tired of the same to-be-left-unnamed posters dominating and devolving every, single, thread, no matter how benign or useful the original post is. I find myself coming to the forums less and less frequently. I wonder if it's a dip in the interest in the game. Fewer people are passionate about the game, enough that they want to talk about it. Some of those that were passionate and informative have been banned. I haven't seen much talk in any other geocaching forum and facebook sites either.

I noticed that too. Requiring the event to last 2 hours implies that HQ feels these are elaborate, special events with a lot going on. This seems to conflict with the 20200 number, which implies the exact opposite (widespread, common events). While officially these events will be listed as being 2 hours or longer, the reality is that many will end up being shorter, especially after cachers have attended a dozen of them already. We'll thus have totally expected conflicts as follows: ...10 CC events are held in an area... The 11th CC event in the area is held, with a listed event length of 2 hours 30 minutes into the event, everyone realizes there really isn't much more to talk about since the CC event last month (and the organizer couldn't think up many activities that haven't already been done at the other 10 events). The attendees gradually leave until only the organizer remains. 1 hour into the event, the organizer gets tired of sitting there doing nothing, so they leave. 1.5 hours into the event, another cacher arrives. Not seeing anyone else there, they log that they attended and leave. The organizer, having not seen the above cacher at the event, deletes what they see as a bogus log. Drama ensues. Sure, that might not happen. I bet it does, though.

But... again... IF Groundspeak publishes events where socializing is not a requirement let alone even suggested, then events aren't fundamentally intended to be "social". Events are just events. How do you define social, even? To what degree? Do you have to talk to everyone to be social? What if you only talk to one person? What if you go with a friend, stay the whole time, but talk to no one else? "Social" is so arbitrary it makes sense that Groundspeak hasn't required that events be "social". It would be ludicrous to verify and police. I'm amazed this discussion of the social aspect has gone on for so long without the relevant guideline being quoted: As for defining which events are "social", that's up to the judgement of the reviewers, possibly with some guidance from HQ. I haven't looked at the event listing in question, but if it was published, the reviewer has deemed that there's enough of a social aspect to qualify as a Geocaching.com event. It seems to me that as long as the event organizer or his representative is present, then there will always be a social element because an attendee will always be able to stop by and visit.

But... again... IF Groundspeak publishes events where socializing is not a requirement let alone even suggested, then events aren't fundamentally intended to be "social". Events are just events. How do you define social, even? To what degree? Do you have to talk to everyone to be social? What if you only talk to one person? What if you go with a friend, stay the whole time, but talk to no one else? "Social" is so arbitrary it makes sense that Groundspeak hasn't required that events be "social". It would be ludicrous to verify and police. I'm amazed this discussion of the social aspect has gone on for so long without the relevant guideline being quoted: As for defining which events are "social", that's up to the judgement of the reviewers, possibly with some guidance from HQ. I haven't looked at the event listing in question, but if it was published, the reviewer has deemed that there's enough of a social aspect to qualify as a Geocaching.com event.

But... again... IF Groundspeak publishes events where socializing is not a requirement let alone even suggested, then events aren't fundamentally intended to be "social". Events are just events. How do you define social, even? To what degree? Do you have to talk to everyone to be social? What if you only talk to one person? What if you go with a friend, stay the whole time, but talk to no one else? "Social" is so arbitrary it makes sense that Groundspeak hasn't required that events be "social". It would be ludicrous to verify and police. We want them to be social, and most if not all are in some manner social. But if "being social" is not a requirement for an event, then Groundspeak's made that decision. It would only be a matter of time before sometime tries some form of overtly non-social event (effectively a drive-by). Which... again... has not even been demonstrated with an actual example

Quick to blame, slow to learn. How the system behaves is because of Garmin firmware and has NOTHING to do with GS and little to do with the hardware as firmware is needed to make the hardware able to communicate. The first thing that happens when you plug a USB cable into your GPS and it is NOT in Mass Storage Mode(MSM), is the GPS will ask you if you want to change mode. If you don't do so, even the OS will not be able to talk to the GPS. So tell me how it is the fault of GS if the OS can't talk to the unit. When you change the setting to MSM you will find that the OS can now talk to the GPS, and you can put files on the GPS without the plugin. Select Send GPX file and then tell the OS to save the file to the appropriate folder: [GPS DRIVE]\Garmin\GPX. Again GS has nothing to do with this. Or download a PQ, extract the file(s) and drop and drag the files to the GPX directory. Or you can install the plugin, put the GPS in the MSM mode and send the individual file directly to the GPS. The failure for it to work was because YOU did not have it set properly despite being prompted to do so. GS is responsible for many issues but this isn't one of them. As you continue to learn the features and intricacies of your new unit, I'm sure you will really like it. Have fun.

Actually, yes they do. I was asked by the BLM to Archive 3 of my EC's due to concerns regarding foot traffic to geologically sensitive areas (I was allowed to keep three others in less sensitive areas). These were EC's I had permission to place by the previous Resource Ranger, but was subsequently revoked due to impact concerns. It's there land to manage, so I grudgingly complied (courteously of course). My original point is that the EC Reviewers were merely complying with stated polices that are readily available in links I provided. If you have a problem with the policy, talk with the Land Manager to change it. There's nothing in their public facing document that addresses EC's or Virtual caches, so I can't blame the local and EC Reviewers of taking the default position that regulates physical caches. In other words, I would not presume. But as barefootjeff stated, maybe I'm just misunderstanding the situation.

I've taught geocaching to kids at church a few times. I try to keep it simple, and make it as "hands on" as possible. Here's what I do for a 1-hour intro to geocaching: In class, I start by explaining the basic concept: someone hides a container and publishes the location, then others go to the location and look for the container. Then I briefly explain coordinates, using a globe to explain longitude and latitude. I briefly explain how GPS works as follows: Before the class, I hang brightly colored yarn from the ceiling. During class, I explain that GPS receivers use radio waves to measure how far away they are from GPS satellites. Then I use one of the pieces of yarn to show that a distance (the length of the yarn) from a satellite (the spot on the ceiling) defines a circle. Then I show that two pieces of yarn define two locations (where the circles intersect). Then I show that three pieces of yarn defines which of those two locations it is, because the three distances match at only one point. All this takes less than 5 minutes. It's much easier to show it than it is to explain how to show it. Then I show them different containers—at least one container of each size, and at least a couple that are camouflaged. I pass around a few of the containers, and then we look at what's inside an example container: a stash note, which lets me talk about the basic rules printed on my stash notes:If you take something, then leave something. Sign the log. Put the container back where you found it. [*]a log, which lets me talk about geocaching.com account names ("Mine is 'niraD', which is just my first name spelled backward.")[*]trade items, which let me talk about trading fairly, and what kinds of things should not be placed in caches[*]TBs and geocoins, which lets me talk about the rules for trackables I also pass around all these things as we discuss them. Then I show a cache page, emphasizing the type, size, difficulty, and terrain. I explain briefly what each of these things mean. For example, I explain that 1-star terrain is easy and wheelchair accessible, and that 5-star terrain is very hard and probably requires you to know how to use special equipment like scuba gear, climbing gear, or a boat. I don't try to cover what all the terrain ratings mean, let alone what all the terrain ratings mean in detail. Finally, I take them outside to an area where I've hidden more than a dozen containers. I have them stand behind a line and raise their hands when they spot a cache. (This is just basic crowd control.) I call on the ones who raise their hands and have them point to the caches they saw. The first several caches are spotted quickly, but I make sure there are a few really challenging ones. Depending on the time remaining and their interest level, I may offer hints for these last few caches. I print Groundspeak's PDF brochure and have it available for any kids/parents who are interested in pursuing geocaching further. All this fills an hour class nicely. When I have more time, I take them on a hike so we can find actual geocaches, and so they can take turns using a GPSr. I specifically do not take them to the neighborhood caches near the church.

This is not an announcement of a fix. This is just about what I believe is the cause. In technical terms, Groundspeak discontinued their WCF service earlier this year, replacing it with a REST API. Developers had a year's advance notice to update their applications. In non-technical terms, Groundspeak updated the way applications talk to their services; the Wherigo application, which is not maintained directly by Groundspeak, was not updated. When using the app, I've always just downloaded cartridges via a browser instead of directly through the app. I can also download them from the WF site or through my NAS (think like Dropbox or Google Drive, but with about 36TB currently at my control and room to double it). Either spstanley will update the app or the entire Wherigo developer community will wait to see if Groundspeak wants us to do anything with Wherigo.

Another thing to consider, winter sun in snowy areas has almost twice the UV as snow reflects almost 95% (talk to some mountaineer's that have gotten sunburn on the roof of the mouth from panting on a snow/glacier climb or up the nostrils).

No - it isn't. Only a blank sheet of paper would be less rigid. Is your system a blank sheet of paper? I start to think that our understanding of what rigidity means differ, or maybe rather we differ with respect to what concept we apply the term rigid to. Somehow your point seems to be that using the existing system (without the need of using any feature one does want to use) would have effects on the creative process of cache hiders and would them make think in certain directions only they have seen in classical caches. My way of thinking is very formal. I argued about the available tools that make setting up certain ideas convenient and not on the process of coming up with ideas. So I applied the term rigid to the technological tool and its limitations and you applied to something different. Not in my understanding of rigidity. As complexity is regarded, I just have in mind to allow everything from very simple to very complex. If you look at the matter from your point of view, yes. If you look at it from the technological point of view, no. See the above. You talk about coming up about the phase of coming up with ideas and I talk about the phase of making the implementation of already available ideas reasonable convenient so that people will not throw them away just due to implementational inconveniences that do not seem to make sense to me. I think that limiting the description to 1000 characters, no option for waypoint up and download etc will discourage some people from implementing some of their ideas for lab caches. Suppose there existed no computers. Then many ideas never would be checked as only a small group of people would be willing to get involved in cumbersome manual work. Of course that's only an analogy that does not match the lab cache case 1:1, but maybe you get that from the example that we talk about two different things. That certainly could be. There also could be other reasons we are not aware of. Asking the question why there is this limit is legitimate in any case. I would be happy anyway if the lab experiment is not central for how the future of geocaching will look like. This is certainly nothing one can argue about. It is hard to discuss only about facts if Groundspeak is promoting lab caches in the way they are doing it. Actually, the main issue I have is not with their experiments and how it is set up, but with the language with which it is promoted. Cezanne

If signing your name is a pointless exercise, how do you feel about actually opening the cache? I mean, if you Found the cache and it's in your hands, you can still talk about it online. For that matter, why even pick it up. Once you see it, you can still talk about it. Right? So just look around for it and once you spot the hiding place you're good to go. Actually, I guess there's no reason to even see the cache. If you're not going to pick it up, or open it, or sign the log, why even bother putting your eyes on it? I think you should be able to find the place you think it's hidden in and then talk about it. You could probably even talk about it without going so far as to get out of your car. Why take the hike, or lift the lamp post skirt, or look under the bushes, etc. These require you to leave the nice cool air conditioned car. Perhaps you could just drive up to where you'd need to get out of your car if you were going to sign the log, and then turn around and go back home. Now that I really think about it, with gas prices so high, and signing being so pointless of an exercise, there's really no good reason to drive all the way out there. I say, since we're playing the game just so we can talk about caches, a lot of information is on the cache page itself, and that should give us enough to talk about. I wish these cache owners would stop being so self righteous and give up the "little man syndrome" about their power, and cut us some slack!

That's a definite "maybe"! Anyway, if it's a general question about possibilities, I can tell you that I tried setting the Waze and Geocaching Apps in split screen on my Samsung tablet, and it looks about right! I don't know which modern "tablets" have split screen. This is a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. It actually is more promising than I expected. I first set up Waze as the default navigation App. Next, with both Apps running, I used Geocaching to select Navigate by car to a cache, and Waze picked up the route in its own screen! So the Apps talk to each other and get along. There's a funky landscape view going on, but I'm guessing I can get them both in portrait side-by-side by holding the tablet just right and starting the Apps with care. But I didn't fully test this setup. I don't have a great spot to mount a tablet in my car for navigation. I barely have a spot for a phone. And I don't mess with "Apps" while I'm driving, so having two Apps to mess with while I'm driving is out of the question. With someone else navigating, "split screen" would be overkill because people can switch between running Apps. So there's a very particular niche where this could even apply. I didn't test how well both Apps get along with using the compass simultaneously. It's a whole new ballgame. But initial tests seem... OK!

You can add me to the list. I am EFHutton (geocaching) and my call is N7SMT. I have several handhelds, including two Baofeng portables (2 meter and 440 MHz) and two Wouxon portables (2 meter and 220 MHz). I have used them all to coordinate geocaching excursions with other ham friends who cache. The Baofeng radios are small, powerful and very inexpensive....almost disposable! At around $40.00 each, they work well for the price. A bit difficult to program with repeater frequencies, but once you get the hang of it, it is ok. The Wouxon radios are a bit more rugged and a bit easier to program too. I dropped one of them in Puget Sound after a fishing excursion and it took on some water and stopped working. I dried it out thoroughly and turned it on and it has worked fine ever since. You can't do that with most cell phones! As far as using them hiking, camping or, of course, geocaching....they are more than a life saver. Both radios have a built in FM broadcast receiver that picks up local radio stations fairly well. If there is no one to talk to, you can still listen to music. The batteries last a decent amount of time and are easily re-chargable. The drop chargers that come with the radios work on both 120VAC and 12VDC, not to mention that they both have AA and AAA battery packs that you can buy separately if you want to go that route. The Baofeng radios can be programmed with all of the FRS/GMRS frequencies and with the higher wattage, they work very well on road trips between cars or in thick woods hunting for that elusive 4 difficulty cache. If you have non-ham friends along on the trip, you can talk to their FRS radios without too much trouble. I have been known to use my handheld radios to talk to friends in Eastern Washington while they were camping.....and I was in Seattle! Where they were, there was no phone service, but a ham radio was able to get there no problem. Granted, I was using a simplex repeater system that forwarded my signal over the mountains, but it worked great anyway! I have also noticed that most ham radio operators that you will run into are just as friendly as most of the geocachers that you have run into. They are more than happy to help you out with your set up, as a geocacher would be to help you find that tough cache. They pretty much go hand-in-hand! Another interesting tidbit about ham radio is that most NASA astronauts are also ham radio operators. Kinda makes me proud to be a part of such an elite group. I just HAD to put my two cents in. Thanks for creating this thread! -Dave (N7SMT and EFHutton)

" Talk like the no sound came out of your mouth but the action speak so loud than the mouth " How about this, Deafhunt? "TALK-TALK-TALK! NO SOUND FROM MOUTH! ACTION BETTER THAN TALK-TALK!"

Three strategies have been recommended in posts - ignore them or talk or call authorities. Talk is least advisable - the 15 minutes of fame, etc. Ignoring them is simple, easy and effective. For hard-core violators, a run-in with the law can be a good thing. Some municipalities use a scared-straight scenario for first time violators. It's: we can prosecute you now based on what you did. But you can redeem yourself. Do xyz act of community service, obey the law, and offense is cleared. HOWEVER, show up here again and we'll throw the book at you. Edit: leniency for violation #1 and a second chance is generally for minors. First time adult offenders get a break, but not as much.

During the Euro Mega event in France GC5YFA8, I met three times Dave Ulmer. The first time i talk to him about Waymarking, i spoke about the "huge" (exactly what i said) waymarkers community in Europe (France, Switzerland, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, etc.) and i asked him to invest more resources in Waymarking because we are the poor parent (french expression) of Groundspeak. He said France is a nice country to play Waymarking and he played Waymarking also and the best waymark for him was where Bonnie and Clyde where shot. The next day he said, I thought last night of what you said, there were a long long time that someone talk to me about Waymarking... but there were too many people and not possible to continue the discussion. The last day he was enjoying watching people playing with zip-line (one of my next waymark) and he said in his house in Oregon in his garden he's got his own zip-line for his children and grand children. But i was geocaching and i could not stay. In conclusion the best way to promote Waymarking is to speak about it, especialy if the guy works in Groundspeak

Yep I've tried Overcast and a couple of others. I couldn't quite get the same experience as the old podcasts app. (and there were a lot of complaints about their updates to that app in iOS11) As for GS, oh there are loads of differences. Part of it is workflow, part just mentality, but there are features that were around since its beginning that I vastly preferred. But it's way too late to talk about them now and I'm already changing my workflow habits. Other apps just developed from different directions and processes. It's not that I don't like any other app, right now it's just mainly that I have my entire caching career in there, and it's frustrating that there's been no way to easily transfer it, or just allow the app to work on 64-bit. If Geosphere comes back, we'll see how it works. But it's unlikely. So I'm moving on. As a side note, I also regularly experience that my 6S+ seems to be more accurate (precise/speed/something) than my 8+, but I haven't diagnosed whether it's the app, the hardware, or my case on the 8+ (mainly because it's insignificant enough a difference not to truly bug me or affect my caching) But yes now I'm pretty much caching all with Cachly, and a bit with the official app, and reworking my workflow to use the website more than the offline database as GS was so excellent at.