+knowltonGeo Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 (edited) I can't think of a way to do this that makes sense...but I'll ask the question anyway. Has anyone ever made use of a USB drive (thumb drive) as part of a cache, or used as a "log" ??? Do the caching rules and guidelines prohibit or discourage this? I was thinking it could be a travelling type thing...people take it from the cache...go home...put their names on it...perhaps some pictures of them holding the thumb drive or some such....and when I get it back....instant "photo montage" of the journey my little thumb drive has taken...kind of like a "Flat Stanley" type thing (if you don't know about "Flat Stanley" see this link:) http://www.flatstanley.com/about.php?nav=about Thanks, Tom Edited August 19, 2010 by knowltonGeo Quote Link to comment
MisterEFQ Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Personally I would avoid a cache like that. There is no way I would have something that could read the USB drive in the field. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 A lot of people would avoid it because of the potential for it having a virus. Quote Link to comment
+Semper Questio Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Yeah, this idea has been brought up a few times in the past. The biggest problem is that once it is out of your hands you cannot control what someone else puts on it. Next thing you know you could be getting accused of distributing viruses or porn. Quote Link to comment
+JasNBex Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 I had thought of this as well, but then quickly dismissed it as you never know if and when you would get the USB drive back and there is NO telling what people would put on it. It sounds fun in theory, but I wouldn't advise it. I would like to think that generally Geocachers are a great group of people, but you never know what might happen if some sort of weirdo got a hold of it and put something questionable on it. Quote Link to comment
+Mezgrman Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 What about using a SD card and permanently locking it? (For example, by removing the write protection switch and replacing it with a wire) - and using an old, cheap 256 MB-Card where it wouldn't be that bad when it gets lost... Quote Link to comment
Orly Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 (edited) I did one with CD roms. Edited August 19, 2010 by Orly Quote Link to comment
+Mezgrman Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Oh yes, of course, one could use a CD - then no one could modify the data... Quote Link to comment
+Ecylram Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 I suppose you could do a Travel bug version of your idea. But I wouldn't grab something that requires me to return to cache. From the perspective of a cache owner I suspect it would have a high disappearance rate. Quote Link to comment
+Team MacKenzie Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 It would stay on my ignore list for a long, long time if I had to go to the cache, return home with it to sign the log and then drive all the way back to it to put it back. Either that or I might have it in my possession for a few weeks till I was headed back that way. But then I live out where there's more forest,rocks and lakes than there are roads and buildings. An average days caching is 90 to 125 miles to get 12 to 15 caches. An expedition starts at daybreak and goes til after dark to net 18 to 20 caches. It might work if it were in a major city and most of the local cachers are within a small radius. But then what about those travelling through the area. And how would more than one cacher find it in a day...dunno, maybe you might want to rethink the whole thing from a finding perspective rather than a hiding one. Quote Link to comment
+knowltonGeo Posted August 19, 2010 Author Share Posted August 19, 2010 I appreciate the feedback. I was just thinking about micro caches...and a usb drive seems "made for" something like that. Fun and clever on the surface....horrible in actual practice, even as a travel bug. Muggles could make this a very negative experience if I tried it. I like the idea and concept of travel coin, etc. I am going to look into doing that instead. Quote Link to comment
+HlTMAN Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 As a cache I agree, not the best idea. As a TB I think it's a fun idea. I have been thinking about doing this myself, since USB drives are very cheap these days. Check out this USB Drive TB. It's been out there for about 3 years, and from the logs it seems to be doing fine. Quote Link to comment
GOF's Sock Puppet Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 As a cache I agree, not the best idea. As a TB I think it's a fun idea. I have been thinking about doing this myself, since USB drives are very cheap these days. Check out this USB Drive TB. It's been out there for about 3 years, and from the logs it seems to be doing fine. I'm still not gonna stick that in my computer. Would anything happen if I did? Probably not. But if I don't plug it in nothing can happen. Quote Link to comment
+Prime Suspect Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 I fail to see how a TB is any better than a cache. It's a bad idea all around. Quote Link to comment
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