Search the Community

I got a taste of what when I had a temporary mobility problem. I broke my right ankle while looking for a cache. Finally after almost 3 months I could try to cache again but I had to be careful. So I picked T1 caches. It was a lesson in frustration. I ended up driving sometimes for hours to find a cache I could do wearing an ankle brace and using a cane. I'd walk a kilometre on a nice crushed stone level rail trail and when I was 50m from the cache I'd stare down a steep rocky slope with a little 3 foot wide creek at the bottom that needed to be jumped over. Or I'd get to a cemetery but the cache would be a 50m trek at the back of the cemetery into the woods through thick brush and fallen trees. It happened far too often. I complained here in the forums but got little sympathy. Mostly the talk was about the minutiae of what T1 means. And how handicapped people need to bring someone with them to do the retrieving. Unfortunately few people can empathize with the problem. Why post a cache as a T1 if it isn't actually a flat accessible surface all the way to the cache? At least post a T1.5. Why not err on the side of a terrain rating that is a little higher (a T2+) than too low. It's probably a statistics thing. T1 is probably covetted for grid fillers and challenge enthusiasts. I agree, it is cruel.

I have a real problem with muggles. Not the ones that catch you cacheing as I have only found one cache so far. No, I have problems with them at work; I am afraid they are going to catch me printing out the caches that I am going to look for this weekend! I have to hit the print button and run down the hall to get the printout off the printer before someone sees it. Oh, I could explain what I am doing, but half would think I am crazy and who knows what the other half will think.

FYI, It would seem that the OGA talk list RSS feed has been locked out. A shame that the general public can no longer see what is going on unless they become an official member.

Yes, after my recent run-in with this that saw months of cache preparation go down the gurgler, I'll give it as many up-votes as I can. This is supposed to be the Year of the Hide and there's been much talk about the contribution COs make to the game, but this is something that would actually be really helpful to cache owners. The Help Centre says "Solve nearby geocaches, including Mystery and Multi-Caches, to discover hidden stages" but that's of no help once you've found those solved mysteries and multis because all you see on any of the site's maps is a smiley face at the posted coordinates.

Just like GC didn't update the database with new info from NGS, NGS does not have all the recovery info and pictures that have been posted here. Can't compare the two, sadly. Please note, if anyone submits information, to keep it professional, and only update it if it hasn't been in a year or more, OR, if something major has changed. No names, no funny stories. Those are used by professionals, and whatever you put in there is never deleted, never removed, and will be publicly available forever. I'll be removing the links to the GC site from my Android app and GE plugin then. They were useful before, with additional pictures and all, but if they're all gonna be wiped, there's absolutely no reason to link to GC anymore. Whatever this new project is, I won't even be interested. Frankly, if GC shows it 1/10th the love that it showed benchmarks in the last 22 years, the 'new project' will be gone in 5 years, and I don't have the time to set up a new API and program in new info trading for something that's not gonna last. Sadly, same here. I was a premium member for one time, and when BM code updates stopped happening, it wasn't worth it. I don't geocache, it bores me. (And the one time I DID? Someone stole the geocoin.) While the BM Forum has died down to a quiet whisper, I still checked it regularly, and enjoyed the talk and banter. Disappointed, but not surprised that it was going to happen, just am that it happening this soon. [Edited by Moderator to remove potty language.]

This is just another thing that GC is taking away from me, all of those places and logs and pictures that are just going to be deleted forever. My dead husband and I spent many hours, miles and love of a sport that is now going to be gone. I could come here and at least relive those times he and I had together. So, this is truly goodbye GC. On November 1, without our benchmarking logs and without being able to go to Off Topic to talk to friends that I had made there, there will be no reason for me to return. You have caused me many tears and heartache this year. There is nothing else you could do, as we had archived all our caches before John died in 2019. So this year you killed off, Off Topic and now Benchmark Hunting plus deleting all mention of any of the logs and the Benchmark forum as well. I have a very bad case of heartache right now, thanks to a place that we used to love coming to and where I could come to be with people who remembered John. There, I have had my say, and I know it won't mean a whit to anyone. But, it had to be said. Sincerely, Shirley Bloomfield

Wow, that's impressive. I sometimes wish TB's could talk, and let us know the story of their journey between the logs. Was it someone that simply stopped caching and found the TB's after a while and sent them out again? Someone that passed away and their partner / relative / friend set the TB's free? Did someone buy them at a garage sale not knowing what they were? A TB hoarder who was visited by the ghosts of caches past?

Ironic that you include Wherigos on there. Talk about something you all have let stagnate forever that had so much potential that just became quizzes and reverse solvable before you go junk. Benchmarks are a part of history. No move of a level playing field, actually. It's there or it's not. Just like a cache. OMG what a concept. And even when it's not people still log it as a cache. Cool - so other parts of the world don't have benchmarks. SO? Kinda like a HQ or Maze or Giga icon. Sure, maybe they get around, but to the masses? Rationale for this is weak. Nobody: Nobody: Cachers: Benchmarkers: Newbies: Literally nobody ever in any way shape or form: Groundspeak: Yeah, let's go ahead and stop doing something that takes us literally no effort and that, while only a small group of people love it they really do love it, and just up and cancel it for no reason whatsoever with nominal notice and call it 'progress'.

I should clarify: the OP is more than welcome to learn how to tree/rock/whatever-climb. I'm not trying to gatekeep this sport. But because it's being presented as "I want to find a couple caches that are high up in trees, where can I buy rope?", I am anxious for the OPs safety. It is not the right mindset here. The question they really should have asked is "where can I learn how to climb trees/rocks/whatever safety." OP: Learn how to climb rocks/trees/whatever in a rock/tree/whatever-climbing class. Use the gear provided by instructors. Make sure you are comfortable. Talk to the instructors. They will be more than happy to help you find rope, harnesses, etc. They are the experts, not random strangers on a Geocaching forum.

The moderator may move or delete this, I don't know, but our magnetic compasses (if we carry one) are as much a part of our gear as our GPSr. I am curious as to what make and model magnetic compass people are using. I have a Suunto M3G with the global needle (I am in Ecuador). Turns out the little Silva starter compass I carry every day in my backpack worked just fine. But I like the larger dial and needle and the luminous dial on the more expensive model. Looking through the catalogs, you sure can spend a lot for a compass! I Remember years ago Silva was the only game in town.

This puzzle cache was a 5 difficulty and went unfound for a couple of years. It was eventually found, and has since been archived. I have what I believe are the right coords. Any one know what the GC number was, and anyone know anyone who found it, who I can bounce my coords off of, and talk about how they solved it? I have picture of the puzzle, it was a short story, with the coords buried in it.

Then you should be here----> http://forum.geocaching.com.au/ Mix

I have a Pioneer XM Radio Inno, with car kit, home kit, remote, and portable speakers. I am looking for a Magellan Roadmate 2000 or 3000. May be out of the ball park here, but I firgure it never hurts to put it out there. Thanks for looking, The Miller Family

Not wishing to sound negative, but these days that's not as easy as it looks. Some years back, a large multinational media company bought up all the regional newspapers in Australia and, under the pretext of COVID, shut down the print editions and put the online editions behind their national newspaper's paywall. Notwithstanding, though, there have been occasional radio segments about geocaching, both on the local radio stations and the state-wide broadcaster, and I think at one time a presenter on one of the local stations was actually a geocacher. We also had a mega nearby in 2018 that got a lot of local publicity and I'm pretty sure Geocaching NSW ran a series of newcomer-welcoming events in recent times. As far as I can tell, though, this type of publicity has a pretty low success rate, with most of the longer-term cachers around here coming into the game by either knowing an existing cacher or discovering it through their own browsings. I saw it in an article in an outdoor adventure magazine, though I'd heard of it prior to that but hadn't paid it much attention, but it was only by actually going out into the bush on my own terms and finding some caches that I really got hooked. Just reading about it, listening to a talk or even watching a demonstration won't do that. I don't know what the number of cachers as a percentage of population is nationally but I'd imagine it'd be pretty low, probably about one in ten thousand. The muggle population of my local area (the Woy Woy Peninsula) is about 36,000 and the whole of the Central Coast is about ten times that, so our number of cachers probably isn't that low as a percentage, it's just we don't have very many people to start with. I think the bigger problem we have here is that the focus of the game has shifted from outdoor adventure to quick points-scoring. The newer P&G caches around here don't seem to have any shortage of finders, like GX8P7PD at Terrigal that was published in April and has 23 finders, or GC92TXE at Mooney Mooney that was published in February and has 21 finds. Top of the list on the Central Coast is the Adventure Lab bonus cache GC9M49Z that was published in January and has 35 finds. It's the bushland hides that are really languishing, like GC9QR5W that's only had one finder (me) since it was published in April, yet I really think it's the non-P&G hides that keep people in the game long-term. For me at any rate, if the only caches available in 2013 had been mint tins in parking lot guard rails, I'd have lost interest in a matter of weeks.

Your town has caches owned by several different folks that are at least logging into the website in the last few weeks and granted 200ish caches within 30 miles is not a large amount I bet the number of folks that feel similarly are higher than you'd guess. My point is business as usual is not going to change things so try something different, all we hear is doom and gloom. From old GS blog: "`But there might be one you own that most local geocachers have already found and the location is not frequented by tourists. It could be time to archive it and free up the area, or you might consider creating a new and improved cache!" As I recall this blog post was not well received here, but I agree with it. Talk to the local hiders. Try something new something different. Encourage your unknown neighbors to hide new caches. Not everyone goes to events so they may be out there. Take that rusty tin with mushy log and throw it away and replace it with a shiny new cache. I had a local cacher approach me if I wanted to join their competition to find lonely caches as I had recently found 2, do something with hides maybe. Click on any new finders and see if they are local and encourage them to join. Just trying to help

Why do some people drive 10 mph under the speed limit in the left lane? Why do some people sit directly behind you in an almost empty movie theater, then talk throughout the movie? It's because they're jerks, and they're doing it because they can. If they get a reaction from you, it's all the better for them. Sadly, there's not much you can do about them - jerks will always find a way to be a jerk.

Nothing personal of course but as from tomorrow I shall be on holiday and out of contact for a couple of weeks. If you have any questions, comments etc. please contact either Eckington or Deceangi in my absence. I'm hoping to have limited internet access from 22nd March and I'll be back as normal from 30th (or more likely 31st allowing for jet lag). If anyone has a TB or Geocoin that wants to go to Grenada in the West Indies be sure to put it in Gatwick Bug Hotel MK 2 (West Sussex) by tomorrow morning as I'm hoping to bag a few caches on my way to the airport tomorrow afternoon. Be good while I'm away Byeeee

When I try to upload or download waypoints from GSAK to my GPSMAP 76CSx from GSAK, a "sending waypoints" or "receiving waypoints" dialog box comes up with a gas gauge that goes from empty to full over and over and over and over and over, ad infinitem. It seems like it isn't communicating with the GPSr at all. USB connection. I can upload and download fine with Mapsource. The only way to get GSAK to do anything is to end task in task manager. Help!

Nun, bis auf die Möglichkeit, mit dem Händi auch mal OHNE Vorbereitung loszuziehen und ein paar Tradis am Wege abzugreifen - gerne auch mal anlässlich eines Muggelausflugs, wo man sich erst im Auto klar wird, wo es überhaupt hingeht (Elsass, Schwarzwald, Kraichgau, Pfalz...) - mach ich das heute noch so. Auch mit demselben Gerät. Und ehrlich gesagt - ich finde die Behauptung, anders wäre einfacher, Ergebnis einer Art Hirnwäsche. Jede "Abkürzung" oder jedes "bequemer gehen" bedeutet erstmal mehr Aufwand in Form von Equipement, Proggies, Einarbeiten. In zum Teil völlig abstruse Gedankenwelten, die an Umständlichkeit oder der Problematik, dass genau DAS am umständlichsten ist, was am greifbarsten als Grundfunktion benötigt wird, nicht geizen. Dem, dem das quasi körperliche Schmerzen bereitet, der wird das so weit es geht meiden wollen Das alles mag ab "stufe 7" einen Sinn geben - aber die Stufe 7 ist die Ebene, in der man anfängt, alles zu nutzen, was als Ergebnis von ganz viel vorheriger Umständlichkeit erzeugt wurde. Die Ernte eines vorherigen Aufwands. Neolithische Revolution, sozusagen. Dem User, der als Ergebnis auf Stufe 3 stehenbleibt, ist das alles ein grosser, unnötiger Rucksack. Und die Diskussionen um deren Genzen für BMs - ich bin von der GC-Vergrämungstaktik nicht begeistert, aber eine Beschränkung für ne App ist doch keine Beschränkung, solange die andere komfortablere Möglichkeit noch funktioniert. Mittlerweile hat man den Eindruck, es existiert nichts, wo es keine App dafür gibt. Aber selbst die ist auch unterhalb einer gewissen Nutzungshäufigkeit resp. - frequenz - völlig unnötig. Unnötig, aufwendig, umständlich, umweltfeindlich Was ist einfacher, als auf der Karte gucken, was da iiegt, wo man hinwill und dann per "send to GPS" bzw. leider nur noch per "gpx downloaden" die Koords aufs Gerät zu schieben, ne kleine Übersichtskatre auszudrucken, ein paar Hints drauf zu notieren und dann loszuziehen? 1 Cachetag, 6 Stunden unterwegs, Rüstzeit 15 Minuten - und zwar zuhause, aufm grossen Bildschirm, mit Talk Talk im Ohr und nem Glas Primitivo. Geht schlechter. Gruss in den wilden Süden Zappo

OK, who has an opinion on handheld compass's to share. I'm looking for a good mapping compass primarily to use with 1:24K topos and aerial photos. So far I've been looking at the Brunton 8096 Eclipse GPS compass Brunton and the Suunto GPS-Plotter G compass. Suunto. What do you think about the quality of these manufacturers, features these offer, other options, or ??? I haven't seen a Silva with similar scaling features for my purposes, am I missing something? Thanks for your comments

I notice the card option on the forums. Could we get a google talk line in there?

I've been geocaching for a little over a year now...not too religiously, but enough that when I travel, I take a quick look at what caches are in the zipcode I'm going to. It looks like the hot setup is to download all the specific cache info to a PDA and use the PDA in conjunction with your GPS. There's a lot of good and bad to every PDA I've researched. Anyone have a "most bang for the buck" story related to their PDA. BTW, I just "upgraded" from a Garmin 76CS to a 60CSx and LOVE IT, now I want to get the most out of it by throwing some cash into a reliable and functional PDA. Comments? Fire away!

tell me about them

My ladyfriend and I went caching today at a spot just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. After we had located the cache and hiked back to the parking lot, I unlocked the car and laid my brand new GPSr (A Lowrance Expedition C) on top of my old Taurus wagon because I needed to put my backpack in the back seat. As soon as I had done that, we hopped in the car and headed home. After eating dinner, I went in the den and reached over to pick up my GPS carrying case and thought to myself, "this thing feels awfully light." Then I felt a sick feeling beginning to well up inside because I didn't remember getting my GPSr back off the roof of my car. Thinking that I may have just laid it in the back seat, I raced outside and there sitting on the top of my Taurus wagon was the Lowrance, just where I left it. I picked it up and stared at it in disbelief. I had just driven about 30-35 miles on an extremely curvy road at speeds of up to 50 mph and the thing hadn't moved. The only thing I can figure out was that the Expedition has some tiny rubber feet on the back of it that must have kept it from sliding around. Man, what a lucky break!!!

Just a place to talk about cache problems and other random cache stuff please feel free to post anything cache related!! Such as Problems you have had in the past with your caches and the odd stuff you have found in them and make it so this is a non judgmental place to talk no bashing other players about what they think speak your mind!!! and have fun!!