[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Geocaching. (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 7/12/2015 7:59:24 PM EDT
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I had some time today and decided to give this little hobbie a shot.
It is pretty awesome. 
I went looking for two caches but ran out of time and did not find the second one. I think I might leave a few LaRue Dillos in the caches. I found a collectable coin that started off in Germany in 2009 but the owner gave up on it so I can not update its location. 
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How does this work anyway? Is this on public land? The two I went after ealier today were in a state park. Texas state parks maintain a lot of caches and give awards for finding them. The one I found about an hour ago was beside a county rode. There is one at our local wataburger but there were too many people standing around to try and find it. (you dont want random people finding them because they will steal everything in them). http://tpwd.texas.gov/spdest/activities/outdoor_recreation/geocache/ |
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I used to love geocaching with the kids. Now that they are older we don't do it much. I was surprised that my wife was really interested after I showed it to her earlier today. I would have bet money she would have just laughed it off as another one of my stupid hobbies. |
| A friend of mine is really into a GPS-based game called Ingress. |
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I stumbled upon on of those at the top of a rock formation out in the forest. Was very random 
There is one maybe 100 feet from my mothers house, from the discription I think it is on the traffic island at the end of the street. She had no idea. She told it couldent be there because she walks there everyday. It was last found 4 days ago.
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Thanks for bringing that up. I remember when this game came out but it was only for android. Looks like it works on apple products now.
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I've done it a bit in my spare time. I like finding geocoins and moving them on, but apparently there are assholes out there that get their jollies finding geocoins and keeping them for their collection. 
The owner of the coin I found today gave up on it. I figure he thought it was stolen.
Next time I find a larger cache I will put it in there. |
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So what's this hobbie all about? Its like a treasure hunt. You get coordinates, and sometimes clues. Then you have to find the logbook and sign it. Sometimes they have treasure in them. You can take items but need to leave something of equal or greater value. Glancing at youtube some of these damn things are VERY evil in how they are hidden.
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Dad and I hid one in 2002. Someone at the nearby police academy thought it was a bomb. For some reason it didn't get blown up, just confiscated. They let us come pick it up and had placed some patches and coins inside. Yeah, the way I understand it you want to make sure that is says geocache on it legibly if there is any chance someone would stumble apon it. I don't think I would have found the first one that I did today if it were not for the lock and chain securing it to the tree. I walked past it a few times. 
The box was a camoflauged ammo can. |
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Dad and I hid one in 2002. Someone at the nearby police academy thought it was a bomb. For some reason it didn't get blown up, just confiscated. They let us come pick it up and had placed some patches and coins inside. There are several stories of various geocaches being "blown in place". Now they have a nifty sticker you print out, or can buy, that they are all supposed to recognize. It's very easy to start: go to geocaching.com and create an account Install c:geo on your phone, and enter your login info start geocaching. All you need is your phone and a pen to start. When you get more complex, you'll want a mirror stick, step ladder, rope..... It's the 15 year anniversary of geocaching this year, so they have a lot of events going on too. Super easy way to get a big boost is to go to an event, explain you've never done any geocaching, and see if there's a group going out after the event. You'll have your first dozen finds in a day (the event even counts as a "find"). |
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There are several stories of various geocaches being "blown in place". Now they have a nifty sticker you print out, or can buy, that they are all supposed to recognize. It's very easy to start: go to geocaching.com and create an account Install c:geo on your phone, and enter your login info start geocaching. All you need is your phone and a pen to start. When you get more complex, you'll want a mirror stick, step ladder, rope..... It's the 15 year anniversary of geocaching this year, so they have a lot of events going on too. Super easy way to get a big boost is to go to an event, explain you've never done any geocaching, and see if there's a group going out after the event. You'll have your first dozen finds in a day (the event even counts as a "find"). Quoted:
Quoted:
Dad and I hid one in 2002. Someone at the nearby police academy thought it was a bomb. For some reason it didn't get blown up, just confiscated. They let us come pick it up and had placed some patches and coins inside. There are several stories of various geocaches being "blown in place". Now they have a nifty sticker you print out, or can buy, that they are all supposed to recognize. It's very easy to start: go to geocaching.com and create an account Install c:geo on your phone, and enter your login info start geocaching. All you need is your phone and a pen to start. When you get more complex, you'll want a mirror stick, step ladder, rope..... It's the 15 year anniversary of geocaching this year, so they have a lot of events going on too. Super easy way to get a big boost is to go to an event, explain you've never done any geocaching, and see if there's a group going out after the event. You'll have your first dozen finds in a day (the event even counts as a "find"). I have not had much luck with my phone. The app and phone do not seem that acurate. I carry a cheap Daokota 10 handheld GPS. |
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I have not had much luck with my phone. The app and phone do not seem that acurate. I carry a cheap Daokota 10 handheld GPS. I use the phone GPS to get within 20 feet. I then flip to the Aerial View with the marker where the cache was placed to know exactly where to look, i.e. Fourth Tree from the corner, etc. I then go looking with eyes. |
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There are several stories of various geocaches being "blown in place". Now they have a nifty sticker you print out, or can buy, that they are all supposed to recognize. It's very easy to start: go to geocaching.com and create an account Install c:geo on your phone, and enter your login info start geocaching. All you need is your phone and a pen to start. When you get more complex, you'll want a mirror stick, step ladder, rope..... It's the 15 year anniversary of geocaching this year, so they have a lot of events going on too. Super easy way to get a big boost is to go to an event, explain you've never done any geocaching, and see if there's a group going out after the event. You'll have your first dozen finds in a day (the event even counts as a "find"). Quoted:
Quoted:
Dad and I hid one in 2002. Someone at the nearby police academy thought it was a bomb. For some reason it didn't get blown up, just confiscated. They let us come pick it up and had placed some patches and coins inside. There are several stories of various geocaches being "blown in place". Now they have a nifty sticker you print out, or can buy, that they are all supposed to recognize. It's very easy to start: go to geocaching.com and create an account Install c:geo on your phone, and enter your login info start geocaching. All you need is your phone and a pen to start. When you get more complex, you'll want a mirror stick, step ladder, rope..... It's the 15 year anniversary of geocaching this year, so they have a lot of events going on too. Super easy way to get a big boost is to go to an event, explain you've never done any geocaching, and see if there's a group going out after the event. You'll have your first dozen finds in a day (the event even counts as a "find"). Use L4C for iPhone |
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Is anyone a premium member? Is it worth it? I might pay up as my GPS supports the paperless info stuff. YES! It is way worth it. There are tons of "Premium Only" caches, they usually have the geo coins and trackables in them since the "public" ones get muggled. You'll find the number of caches around you double or more once you are a premium member. It's worth that alone. Add in being able to watch caches and other features and if you have kids, one person should have a premium account. I found a cache a day for 63 days (half of March, every day in April, bit of May). Lastly, do NOT bother with the $10 Geocaching.com app for phone! IT SUCKS. c:geo is free and does far more. I haven't used a piece of paper for geocaching in the past 4 years! Everything is done right there at the cache, including photos if you want. |
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YES! It is way worth it. There are tons of "Premium Only" caches, they usually have the geo coins and trackables in them since the "public" ones get muggled. You'll find the number of caches around you double or more once you are a premium member. It's worth that alone. Add in being able to watch caches and other features and if you have kids, one person should have a premium account. I found a cache a day for 63 days (half of March, every day in April, bit of May). Lastly, do NOT bother with the $10 Geocaching.com app for phone! IT SUCKS. c:geo is free and does far more. I haven't used a piece of paper for geocaching in the past 4 years! Everything is done right there at the cache, including photos if you want. Quoted:
Quoted:
Is anyone a premium member? Is it worth it? I might pay up as my GPS supports the paperless info stuff. YES! It is way worth it. There are tons of "Premium Only" caches, they usually have the geo coins and trackables in them since the "public" ones get muggled. You'll find the number of caches around you double or more once you are a premium member. It's worth that alone. Add in being able to watch caches and other features and if you have kids, one person should have a premium account. I found a cache a day for 63 days (half of March, every day in April, bit of May). Lastly, do NOT bother with the $10 Geocaching.com app for phone! IT SUCKS. c:geo is free and does far more. I haven't used a piece of paper for geocaching in the past 4 years! Everything is done right there at the cache, including photos if you want. Thanks for the input! I may get my son a premium account. My wife wants him to have one (she will also use it while I am away). |
After my wife and I split up, my kids and I (oldest was 13 youngest was 8 or 9) spent many, many enjoyable hours geocaching. It was the one hobby that all three of them enjoyed and that we could do together. We found nearly every cache in our county and all of the counties bordering the one in which we live. We used to go every time we had an extra hour or so to kill. Geocaching took us to some of the coolest, most off-the-beaten-path, places that I've ever been and would have never known about or had reason to visit otherwise. We also placed (hid) several caches of our own that I believe are still in place and still active.The price of gas, my kids getting older and going in different directions, and the fact that we had found nearly everything within reasonable driving distance of our home, spelled the end of most of our geocaching. I still check online occasionally and look for new caches that have been placed around home, but I haven't actually gone looking for any for a few years now. The memories that I have of the time spent geocaching with my kids are priceless. I encourage everybody that asks me about it to jump in and give it a try. It's a lot of fun. 
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YES! It is way worth it. There are tons of "Premium Only" caches, they usually have the geo coins and trackables in them since the "public" ones get muggled. You'll find the number of caches around you double or more once you are a premium member. It's worth that alone. Add in being able to watch caches and other features and if you have kids, one person should have a premium account. I found a cache a day for 63 days (half of March, every day in April, bit of May). Lastly, do NOT bother with the $10 Geocaching.com app for phone! IT SUCKS. c:geo is free and does far more. I haven't used a piece of paper for geocaching in the past 4 years! Everything is done right there at the cache, including photos if you want. Quoted:
Quoted:
Is anyone a premium member? Is it worth it? I might pay up as my GPS supports the paperless info stuff. YES! It is way worth it. There are tons of "Premium Only" caches, they usually have the geo coins and trackables in them since the "public" ones get muggled. You'll find the number of caches around you double or more once you are a premium member. It's worth that alone. Add in being able to watch caches and other features and if you have kids, one person should have a premium account. I found a cache a day for 63 days (half of March, every day in April, bit of May). Lastly, do NOT bother with the $10 Geocaching.com app for phone! IT SUCKS. c:geo is free and does far more. I haven't used a piece of paper for geocaching in the past 4 years! Everything is done right there at the cache, including photos if you want. Signed up for a year and immediately saw two that were not originally displayed.
Thanks again for the info. |
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After my wife and I split up, my kids and I (oldest was 13 youngest was 8 or 9) spent many, many enjoyable hours geocaching. It was the one hobby that all three of them enjoyed and that we could do together. We found nearly every cache in our county and all of the counties bordering the one in which we live. We used to go every time we had an extra hour or so to kill. Geocaching took us to some of the coolest, most off-the-beaten-path, places that I've ever been and would have never known about or had reason to visit otherwise. We also placed (hid) several caches of our own that I believe are still in place and still active.The price of gas, my kids getting older and going in different directions, and the fact that we had found nearly everything within reasonable driving distance of our home, spelled the end of most of our geocaching. I still check online occasionally and look for new caches that have been placed around home, but I haven't actually gone looking for any for a few years now. The memories that I have of the time spent geocaching with my kids are priceless. I encourage everybody that asks me about it to jump in and give it a try. It's a lot of fun. That sounds awesome. I hope my son will love it and start to enjoy nature more. Thanks for the story.
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Those are called "Blinkies" or nano-caches. Can be a total pain to find. There are a TON of caches that use centrifuge vials, 2.5mL, so they are a small plastic cylinder with a flip top that also only holds a log. About 3/4" long and 1/4" diameter. Film canisters are next common around here, then you get to the metal "bison" tubes, metal pill saver containers, and the larger centrifuge tubes. The small vials fit in nail holes and such and are a bit of a pain. There's also a number of magnetic ones that hold just a small ziplock with the log behind it, and random reflective numbrers on the front (weathered, corners peeled and all..). They stick those to utility transformers and you wouldn't know it was a cache and not the utility company reference number! |
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This one was a pain to find. GPS showed it being 11 feet away. Pretty heavy brush. http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e308/rdxfusion/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpslvxlidvg.jpg I've pretty much quit going to the exact GPS coordinates. I read the description (title usually is a bit of a hint too), go to roughly "The Spot", then look around and think "Where would I hide a cache"? Look for anything that is out of place. Ends up being faster than trying to get within 5 feet. A lot of cache coordinates posted are also only with 3+ foot accuracy, so keep that in mind. Not many people use DGPS when placing a cache... Add in your 3+ foot error and you end up with a pretty good radius. I usually point it on a map for the exact coords when placing, rather than averaging on the spot. I'm not above following footprints/broken branches of prior searchers to locate a cache, sometimes it's the only way, especially when it is in trees. One was a fake rock at the base of a tree, GPS coords wouldn't get you there in summer, found it in winter when the leaves were gone, though. Be careful making "evil" caches, it's not very fun to make one and have nobody find it and assume it was taken.... |
| There was a cache on one of the disc golf courses around here. I had a disc land in some bushes and I saw there was a .50cal can in there. Picked it up and opened it t find a bunch of random crap. I put it back where I found it once it dawned on me what it was. |
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Its like a treasure hunt. You get coordinates, and sometimes clues. Then you have to find the logbook and sign it. Sometimes they have treasure in them. You can take items but need to leave something of equal or greater value. Glancing at youtube some of these damn things are VERY evil in how they are hidden.
 https://youtu.be/6R6ItZhHRGI
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So what's this hobbie all about? Its like a treasure hunt. You get coordinates, and sometimes clues. Then you have to find the logbook and sign it. Sometimes they have treasure in them. You can take items but need to leave something of equal or greater value. Glancing at youtube some of these damn things are VERY evil in how they are hidden.
https://youtu.be/6R6ItZhHRGI
That's just stupid. Trying to show how smart you are and how dumb others are. That's not about playing the "game" |
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Yeah, the way I understand it you want to make sure that is says geocache on it legibly if there is any chance someone would stumble apon it. I don't think I would have found the first one that I did today if it were not for the lock and chain securing it to the tree. I walked past it a few times.
The box was a camoflauged ammo can. Quoted:
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Dad and I hid one in 2002. Someone at the nearby police academy thought it was a bomb. For some reason it didn't get blown up, just confiscated. They let us come pick it up and had placed some patches and coins inside. Yeah, the way I understand it you want to make sure that is says geocache on it legibly if there is any chance someone would stumble apon it. I don't think I would have found the first one that I did today if it were not for the lock and chain securing it to the tree. I walked past it a few times.
The box was a camoflauged ammo can. Yea, we were new and dumb and didn't really know what we were doing. User name: GlockGuy...I keep waiting for them to go anti and ban my name. I'm a premium member, it's pretty cheap and worth it for us. |
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YES! It is way worth it. There are tons of "Premium Only" caches, they usually have the geo coins and trackables in them since the "public" ones get muggled. You'll find the number of caches around you double or more once you are a premium member. It's worth that alone. Add in being able to watch caches and other features and if you have kids, one person should have a premium account. I found a cache a day for 63 days (half of March, every day in April, bit of May). Lastly, do NOT bother with the $10 Geocaching.com app for phone! IT SUCKS. c:geo is free and does far more. I haven't used a piece of paper for geocaching in the past 4 years! Everything is done right there at the cache, including photos if you want. Quoted:
Quoted:
Is anyone a premium member? Is it worth it? I might pay up as my GPS supports the paperless info stuff. YES! It is way worth it. There are tons of "Premium Only" caches, they usually have the geo coins and trackables in them since the "public" ones get muggled. You'll find the number of caches around you double or more once you are a premium member. It's worth that alone. Add in being able to watch caches and other features and if you have kids, one person should have a premium account. I found a cache a day for 63 days (half of March, every day in April, bit of May). Lastly, do NOT bother with the $10 Geocaching.com app for phone! IT SUCKS. c:geo is free and does far more. I haven't used a piece of paper for geocaching in the past 4 years! Everything is done right there at the cache, including photos if you want. you keep saying "install c:geo" so i walk over to my phone, and magically it happens? or do I have to say "install c:geo" ? to it? |
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Yea, we were new and dumb and didn't really know what we were doing. User name: GlockGuy...I keep waiting for them to go anti and ban my name. I'm a premium member, it's pretty cheap and worth it for us. Quoted:
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Dad and I hid one in 2002. Someone at the nearby police academy thought it was a bomb. For some reason it didn't get blown up, just confiscated. They let us come pick it up and had placed some patches and coins inside. Yeah, the way I understand it you want to make sure that is says geocache on it legibly if there is any chance someone would stumble apon it. I don't think I would have found the first one that I did today if it were not for the lock and chain securing it to the tree. I walked past it a few times.
The box was a camoflauged ammo can. Yea, we were new and dumb and didn't really know what we were doing. User name: GlockGuy...I keep waiting for them to go anti and ban my name. I'm a premium member, it's pretty cheap and worth it for us. I signed up for a premium account after the first or second one I found.
I was tired of copying the waypoint to bootcamp and the to my gps. The ability to just click send to GPS alone is worth the price for me. |