New to hiding and some swag questions

[HappyHikerTx]

Just a few questions to help me process this.

 

Question Number One:

 

I consider myself a newbie still. I have only found 204 caches and have never hid anything thus far. I would like to do about a half dozen hides in my area, as there are not a lot around here and would like to start putting back into the game and let some others enjoy some new caches in the area. I have some really neat hide ideas to place in some interesting locations in my area. I have the caches planned and ready to go, but I have had mixed feelings about whether to do it. I have an older Garmin gps unit for my vehicle, but I almost exclusively rely on my Smartphone. I have NEVER liked GPS units and my smartphone always gets me to ground zero where I then rely on my eyeballs to do the rest. However, I know that many geocachers will avoid caches that are hidden with smartphones. So my dilemma is do I go ahead and hide the caches using my Smartphone and add a few more creative hides to the game? Or just continue to be a searcher and give nothing back to the game. I really want to hide and I do feel like my GPS on my phone is pretty accurate. I sat still in my living room (I live in a very rural area btw) for about 10 mins and let the GPS gather my current location on my phone and input the Coordinates into a website that specializes in GPS coordinates and it mapped me right in my living room, which was spot on. I plan on doing this experiment in multiple locations before I decide how accurate the GPS on my phone is. It is a 2013 smartphone so it has all the updated software and I feel like it will do, but I also don't want to irritate my fellow cachers. They are not micros or small caches. I would like for the people in the area to be able to trade some swag and move some travelers along, but I am really torn. Any feedback, positive or negative is welcomed. I want to do this the right way. I am not in the game for numbers or statistics. I LOVE the thrill of the hunt and this game taking me to places I never would have discovered before had I not been looking for caches. I love to hike and I love exploring back roades, rural areas, and nature. I want to expand on all of this in my area.

 

Question Number Two:

 

I have some swag questions. I always try to carry some kids toys and things like that for the younger cachers involved, but I also try to carry some things that I feel like adults will enjoy too, such as Keychains, Camo Playing Cards, Small Kleenex Pouches, Rubber Wrist Bands, Holiday Items (Halloween, Christmas, 4th of July, Etc), and things like that. I have also created a homemade Signature Coin that I make from Cedar gathered from my farm. I slice the coins to a thin but sturdy width and draw on the coin my username HappyHikerTx and have created a logo and I usually put my hometown and the year that I placed the item in the cache, but I dont know if this is appropriate or if anyone would like getting something like that. The cedar is very nice to look at, durable, and smells wonderful, and I feel like my logo is pretty neat looking, but I am no artist. LOL Anyway again any feedback would be great.

 

Any other cool swag ideas that you enjoy getting would be great help. I am always looking for new ideas of things that I can leave in caches that others will enjoy. I don't want to leave junk!!

 

Thanks in advance for any and all feedback. Love this game and the people I have met doing it.

 

Happy Hunting!!

HappyHikerTx

[+L0ne.R]

Just a few questions to help me process this.

 

Question Number One:

 

do I go ahead and hide the caches using my Smartphone

 

Question Number Two:

 

I have also created a homemade Signature Coin that I make from Cedar gathered from my farm. I slice the coins to a thin but sturdy width and draw on the coin my username HappyHikerTx and have created a logo and I usually put my hometown and the year that I placed the item in the cache, but I dont know if this is appropriate or if anyone would like getting something like that. The cedar is very nice to look at, durable, and smells wonderful, and I feel like my logo is pretty neat looking, but I am no artist. LOL Anyway again any feedback would be great.

 

People on the forums have suggested the Perfect Mark app: https://itunes.apple...d327378629?mt=8 for more accurate coordinates.

 

Your cedar slices from your own trees sound great. Very personalized. Lots of people collect signature items and will appreciate those.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Löne r

[+niraD]

So my dilemma is do I go ahead and hide the caches using my Smartphone and add a few more creative hides to the game? Or just continue to be a searcher and give nothing back to the game.

First, there are ways to "give back to the game" other than hiding caches.

 

Second, if you don't trust your coordinates, then test them. Enter the coordinates you have into your device, then use your device to navigate to the location. Approach the location from at least 100ft away: the arrow should point at the cache location as you approach it. Repeat the process a few times, approaching from various directions. The arrow should point at the cache location regardless of the direction you approach from.

 

If the arrow does not point at the cache location as you approach, then adjust the coordinates accordingly and test again.

 

Bonus points for repeating the test on a different day, when the satellites are in a different configuration.

 

I have also created a homemade Signature Coin that I make from Cedar gathered from my farm. I slice the coins to a thin but sturdy width and draw on the coin my username HappyHikerTx and have created a logo and I usually put my hometown and the year that I placed the item in the cache, but I dont know if this is appropriate or if anyone would like getting something like that.

I would trade for a signature item like that in a heartbeat.

 

Actually, the only things I trade for are personal signature items left by other geocachers.

[HappyHikerTx]

I definitely plan on doing multiple GPS accuracy tests on different locations and different days to see how accurate it seems to be.

 

Like I said, I just want to be respectful of the game and other cachers.

[+KazumiSun]

Just a few questions to help me process this.

 

Question Number One:

 

I consider myself a newbie still. I have only found 204 caches and have never hid anything thus far. I would like to do about a half dozen hides in my area, as there are not a lot around here and would like to start putting back into the game and let some others enjoy some new caches in the area. I have some really neat hide ideas to place in some interesting locations in my area. I have the caches planned and ready to go, but I have had mixed feelings about whether to do it. I have an older Garmin gps unit for my vehicle, but I almost exclusively rely on my Smartphone. I have NEVER liked GPS units and my smartphone always gets me to ground zero where I then rely on my eyeballs to do the rest. However, I know that many geocachers will avoid caches that are hidden with smartphones. So my dilemma is do I go ahead and hide the caches using my Smartphone and add a few more creative hides to the game? Or just continue to be a searcher and give nothing back to the game. I really want to hide and I do feel like my GPS on my phone is pretty accurate. I sat still in my living room (I live in a very rural area btw) for about 10 mins and let the GPS gather my current location on my phone and input the Coordinates into a website that specializes in GPS coordinates and it mapped me right in my living room, which was spot on. I plan on doing this experiment in multiple locations before I decide how accurate the GPS on my phone is. It is a 2013 smartphone so it has all the updated software and I feel like it will do, but I also don't want to irritate my fellow cachers. They are not micros or small caches. I would like for the people in the area to be able to trade some swag and move some travelers along, but I am really torn. Any feedback, positive or negative is welcomed. I want to do this the right way. I am not in the game for numbers or statistics. I LOVE the thrill of the hunt and this game taking me to places I never would have discovered before had I not been looking for caches. I love to hike and I love exploring back roades, rural areas, and nature. I want to expand on all of this in my area.

 

Question Number Two:

 

I have some swag questions. I always try to carry some kids toys and things like that for the younger cachers involved, but I also try to carry some things that I feel like adults will enjoy too, such as Keychains, Camo Playing Cards, Small Kleenex Pouches, Rubber Wrist Bands, Holiday Items (Halloween, Christmas, 4th of July, Etc), and things like that. I have also created a homemade Signature Coin that I make from Cedar gathered from my farm. I slice the coins to a thin but sturdy width and draw on the coin my username HappyHikerTx and have created a logo and I usually put my hometown and the year that I placed the item in the cache, but I dont know if this is appropriate or if anyone would like getting something like that. The cedar is very nice to look at, durable, and smells wonderful, and I feel like my logo is pretty neat looking, but I am no artist. LOL Anyway again any feedback would be great.

 

Any other cool swag ideas that you enjoy getting would be great help. I am always looking for new ideas of things that I can leave in caches that others will enjoy. I don't want to leave junk!!

 

Thanks in advance for any and all feedback. Love this game and the people I have met doing it.

 

Happy Hunting!!

HappyHikerTx

Regarding. swag. love you making your own, I,m a coin collector so I sometimes lieave a coin mark with year the cost is justa few dollars, I buy the pens used for iPad, and some jump drives, however, I mostly leave small toys. But you got me thinking maybe I can make something. hummmmmm

[+5 of 5 Ds]

My personal preference is for geocaches where you have to use your head to find them. If the coordinates are close enough to know you are in the right area, and there is a good description, story, clue, etc., then you can go there and find the thing. If the cache relies exclusively on coordinates, it can be unfindable because my GPS disagrees with your GPS. Please place your caches, making sure you have coordinates that are good enough, and enough information to make the find even if they are not perfect. There may be others who disagree, but they don't own the place any more than you do or I do. If you get a bunch of comments that tell you the hide is no good, then rework it until people start liking it.

 

I would definitely make your signature cedar "coins" and drop them all over. People who like them will move them around or keep them. People who don't can leave them where they are. Have fun!

[+SirDonB]

As to placing the caches, I use my Android smartphone to place my first, granted it is not that difficult of a hide to find, but used the smartphone none the less. It was hide on the property at which I work, and choose to hide there for ease of maintenance and to cache the occasional cacher in the act and have some fun at the same time, since I am the security guard at my site. Here is my thing, unless you tell people that you use a smartphone to get your Lat/Long, how are they to know what device was used? For all the know you could have used a laptop with a GPSr plugged into the USB to get your numbers for the cache page.

 

If you have an Android powered phone, I suggest "Geocache Placer" as that is what I have used, and tested by plugging the Lat/Long into Google Maps and have been pretty darn close to where I was actually standing. I have also targeted my cache from home, followed it and been right on, as would be expected using the same device on different days.

[+Chief301]

You didn't mention what kind of smartphone you have. There are many apps out there for waypoint averaging, which is what you want to do. Accurate coordinates are not as much a result of the device used as of the care and patience of the hider.

 

I think the reason smartphone hides get such a bad rap is because they are most often done by new cachers who don't understand the limitations of a GPS (any GPS) and don't know how to get accurate coordinates. There is a technique involved, which includes taking multiple readings and calculating the average. Just hitting "Mark Waypoint" is going to yield crappy coordinates, even with a dedicated handheld.

 

Do a search in your App Store ( whichever OS you are using) for "waypoint averaging" or something along those lines. There's some decent free ones out there. If you have an iPhone I recommend Perfect Mark

[+fbingha]

You can always hide your caches to be found. By that I mean, you want them to be found, don't want to see DNFs. Don't hide micros and leave a hint that makes the location obvious so coordinates down to 6ft aren't required.

 

That said, I have found caches hidden by smartphones using my Garmin and found the coordinates pretty dead on. I know this from the hiders find logs on other caches that they use a smarphone to cache.

 

Worry less and just go hide a cache and see what the feedback is. You can adjust from that and plan more. Don't say anything about 'smartphone' in your cache listing. I think you will just do just fine with your phone.

Edited September 4, 2013 by fbingha

[+SirDonB]

as to the comment about averaging the coords, the app I use, I have it set to take 100 readings, I set it down in place as close to the cache as i can get, hit the start button and wait for it to be finish. even though I have only placed one cache, the coords listed hit the mark for everyone who has looked so far.

 

See my previous post for the app I use.

[HappyHikerTx]

Thanks for all the encouraging responses. I had read some previous forum threads and had gotten a bit discouraged about the possibility of hiding for myself. But most of the threads I located had been probably 2012 and earlier and I certainly know phone GPS systems have improved significantly.

 

I went out yesterday and took some more GPS readings and so far everythings looks to be pretty close. I am going to do some more research and I plan on hiding at least 3 - 5 caches in my area and paying very close attention to the Logs and make the necessary adjustments, as suggested. Thanks for all the help everyone!!

 

Happy Hunting!

HappyHikerTx

 

Geocaching = Hiking with a Purpose

[+kunarion]

tested by plugging the Lat/Long into Google Maps and have been pretty darn close to where I was actually standing.

This is not reliable. Most places in my local area seem OK, but one of my caches is not in the spot Google says. So be careful about that.

 

I have also targeted my cache from home, followed it and been right on, as would be expected using the same device on different days.

This is a good idea. It's also the way to use the averaging Apps, run them at different times on different days.

Edited September 5, 2013 by kunarion

[+kunarion]

Don't say anything about 'smartphone' in your cache listing.

If the coords prove to be wrong, the OP may need a little help before hiding more. There are a couple of local hiders that had initial coords as far as 2 miles off, and they didn't need to type "hidden by smartphone". Everyone knows these people as the ones that have coordinates way off. In most cases, I don't think it's truly an "accuracy" problem, since veteran cachers will likely find the cache anywhere in the general vicinity (maybe not 2 miles away ). I guess sometimes, its due to taking a quick reading, not allowing time to get a good reading. Or it's just a mistake in transcribing the coords. Find some caches, get an idea of how the device works. I don't think there will be a problem.

 

As mentioned, a great hint helps. I located one cache with the hint, after the locals had scoured the 30-foot radius of GZ -- the cache was 70 feet away. It can be fun to deduce where a cache is, 2 miles from the coords, but I'd suggest trying everything you can to be sure the coords are right.

Edited September 5, 2013 by kunarion

[+u1bd2005]

I use my smartphone to hide my hides, my co-ords aren't always spot on, but alongside the descriptions and hints they're found just as much as other hides.

 

I use an external app that just pulls the coords, I usually visit GZ a few different days and get a few different reads before setting the final average coordinates, I also double check online using google maps just to make sure that it looks roughly in the area I chose.

 

Just a little of an added check.

 

----

 

And with regards to your signature items, I love the idea, it's signature items that I look out for most, I like seeing the way people leave their mark on a cache, all with one exception, whoever it is in my area who uses the ps/2 to usb mouse adapters as his/her signature item, they're just annoying lol.

 

[mac367]

Hiker, to me the fact that you are asking, and have waited until you found 200 says a lot. Your future hides are the type I would enjoy finding. Depending on the age of your car GPS and potential battery life, perhaps you could use it as the final check to make sure you have a good set of coordinates. I have a Nuvi 205 that we used for a number of finds before I picked up a hand held. That unit is quite accurate. I say do what you are planning to do and go for it. A half dozen quality caches added!!!

[HappyHikerTx]

Hiker, to me the fact that you are asking, and have waited until you found 200 says a lot. Your future hides are the type I would enjoy finding. Depending on the age of your car GPS and potential battery life, perhaps you could use it as the final check to make sure you have a good set of coordinates. I have a Nuvi 205 that we used for a number of finds before I picked up a hand held. That unit is quite accurate. I say do what you are planning to do and go for it. A half dozen quality caches added!!!

 

Thanks Mac! I have a TON of respect for the game and all other Cachers. I have been doing research for my hides for the last few weeks and am waiting to submit them until I come back from Colorado in towards the end of September. I do have a Garmin Nuvi, so I will take your advice and use it for a double, triple, quadruple checks before I submit the coordinates. I want to contribute quality and original hides that are not just nanos or micros so people in my area and passers by can pick up and trade out some good stuff. I'm getting really excited about being able to hide some cool caches! I will put the caches close enough to my home and work so that I can tend to them regularly and add some trackables and cool items from time to time. Thanks for all the amazing input!!

 

Side note...I purchased a wood burner to add some texture to Homemade Cedar Coins. So far I am very happy with the results, but man o man its a lot more time consuming!! But I love it, so I won't complain.

 

Happy Hunting!!

HappyHikerTx

[mac367]

Hiker, I agree on wanting to contribute nice hides. I am at about 390 finds and my second hide was published yesterday. I have had some nice logs on my first cache placed in July. If you are ever in NE Ohio we have some awesome parks with plenty of caches.

[+joshuar9476]

As mentioned in another thread, I have started leaving band-aids. There have been a few times this summer that I needed them too. In the future I might even order some funny themed ones like bacon looking band-aids.