Cache Maintenance Musings

It's 9pm and 63° in Michigan! I'm not complaining. It's perfect weather for TaGeez and I to take a stroll. Goal for tonight is cache maintenance between 11 and 12 Mile. We also need to plan for HNY18.

Interesting, though. We've trekked up and down Campbell, maintaining a stretch at a time. Several times we've found throw-down containers right next to our originals. Several times the containers are entirely new to us.

I know some cache owners are too uptight - they check the paper logs against the online logs and will delete "couch Cachers". Life is too short for that for me. I figure everybody plays the game their own way.

I guess my only pet peeves are new caches logging "it must be missing." That experienced, eh? I have over 8,000 finds and rarely blame the cache. It normally takes another trip or two before I acknowledge it.

Groundspeak made some changes to their dashboard which is supposed to help hiders. I miss the old old dashboard that listed caches the Needs Maintenance. Don't make me hunt through the attributes. What are you hiding?

Oh, well. It was still a good night for a walk. I hope we have a few more before we settle in for the Winter.

TB Scan - iPhone App

Cleaning out my blog folder I realized these images have been sitting in my to do file for too long...

Have you heard of the TB Scan app?

I believe it was DarrylW4 who shared this with me back in the summer. It's a free iPhone-only app that allows you to scan and mass log trackables and geocoins.

I was very interested in this app as I'm a bit of a trackable fanatic. How cool to scan and go, eh? Sometimes afishoutawater, CITOcacher or The Frito Bandito will show to an event with a bagful? How awesome to go to Midwest Geobash and log as you go? 

First things first... download the app and sign in using your geocaching.com credentials. Once you login, you can Discover or Log trackables.  Discover allows you to lookup/Discover scanned trackables and Log allows you to lookup the mission and log (Retrieve, Discover, Grab, or Write Note) individually.

DISCOVER AWAY!

You can scan or manually enter the trackable code. On the plus side, when it recognizes a code, it is awesome! On the down side, I found that it didn't recognize most. According to their help page, contrast, font and character spacing can inhibit code recognition.  Out of the 10 I tried (dog tags and geocoins), the app only scanned 3.

I do like how clear the mission information appears (though if I'm scanning a lot of them, who has time to read them for a Discovery?). When ready, click Log.

Options, where applicable, under Log include Discover, Retrieve, Grab and Write Note.

One thing that gets my geek on is the ability to save a log template under Settings. Unfortunately....

.... that nifty feature is only part of the PRO version. 

Not sure with the scan fail rate I would be willing to pay to dole out $3. Have you tried it?

+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

I'm not quite to that episode yet but check out afishoutawater and DarrylW4 discussing trackable tools on a recent GeoGearHeads episode 307.

Geocaching Social Media Explained

This cracks me up! 

Speaking of social media, if you are new to the area, we have a very active Southeastern Michigan Geocaching Facebook group.

Shiny New FTF Prizes - WikidKriket Originals

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these swanky FTF prizes designed and made by WikidKriket!

Getting ready to put out the next Uncle Julian geocache, and we tucked one of these prizes in the cache container. 

Limited edition! Get them while they are hot!

What cool FTF prizes have you crossed paths with?

DEFINITELY Winter Friendly

My geocache published! 

A Thanksgiving gift from myself and TaGeez because we are thankful for all the wonderful friends we've made Geocaching!

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Light Up My Life

Out on the beautiful trails with TaGeez today. Lovely hidden park in Birmingham, Michigan. We were excited to find an ammo can until TaGeez opened it and dumped all the water out. See how close to the river it is? 

We were hoping to give or new Cryket flashlights for a spin, but it wasn't dark enough yet. These should be great now that it's darker earlier - geocaching and nightly walks! 

The head twists so you can use it as a forward-facing light, magnetized bottom, and sturdy clips.

• High-power 250 lumen LED spot light

• High-power 240 lumen C•O•B flood light

• High-power 15 lumen C•O•B red light

It has a nice heft to it but small enough to carry in a Winter coat pocket or pocket.

Ready for some night caching!

Shout out to Cachly!

In all honestly, I have not been the biggest Cachly fan in the past. Geocaching Classic and Geosphere were instrumental in my 2000+ day cache-a-day streak.  My two biggest criticisms of Cachly is the response time (C'mon! Open! Open! Open!) and the pale interface (the poor font does not stand out from the background - yes, I just had my eyes checked and my eyesight is deemed perfect).

Periodically, I will give Cachly another chance (especially with rumor that GeoSphere will die with the next iOS update) so when I had - not one but two - AHA moments, I have to share in all fairness.

FTF Flag

The Frito Bandito said he was on a road trip and opened the app in his hotel. The nearest cache had an FTF Flag, and he was able to nab a first-to-find in a new state. When TaGeez and I went on an FTF fun last month, I opened the app for a looksie. There it was! That's not found in the other iPhone apps!

Log a Trackable

Ok, the ability to log a trackable in a cache is nothing new. But in the Cachly app, you can log a trackable into a cache without having to log a Note on the geocache first! Why is this remarkable? Before I send a trackable out into the world, I will dip it into my nearby Fantastic Ferndale cache to start the mileage. Now I can dip it into there without adding yet another "TB Drop" note to the cache page!

This ability is found under the Options menu (three dots in the upper right corner) and selecting Log a Trackable. I know ShelleyJean is going to appreciate this!

Two cheers for Cachly! Now, can we discuss your font selection and coloring?

Marooned Without a Compass Day

November 6th is Marooned Without a Compass Day. No source for its creation, it begs several philosophical questions.

However, to make this geocache-related... what are your best tricks if you are lost in the woods without a compass or GPS? How many of you know how to use a compass? Any of you still use one?

And is it appropriate to wish someone a "Happy Marooned Without a Compass Day?"

#GIFF 2017 and Wallabee Passport

Roll 'em!

TaGeez and I attended Captain O's Geocaching International Film Festival in downtown Royal Oak. There was some good, some indifferent, some huhs. My personal highlights included DarrylW4's cameo in the prelude (he was blushingly humble 3 rows behind me as all cheered) and the film short Geocaching is Free (I can commiserate). 

Darryl handed me a new trackable to move - Wallabee: The Passport! Owned by Munzee, Wallabee is a collecting, trading and forwarding game on your iPhone and Android. I'm scrapcat there, too!

TBGXFH

He brought it back from Going Caching 2017 and handed it to me for moving along! It was sent out from Munzee HQ by Mr V, the President of Munzee, himself!

TaGeez and I have added our stamps and, hopefully, we'll snap a picture of it at Ford Field (it's mission).

This passport has given me a great idea for a trackable of my own!