Geocaching Wales: Read About Our Fellow UK Geocachers on the Other Side of the Pond

I get a lot of requests to add or swap links with fellow geocachers all around the world. Some are quite good and some not so much. Because of that I am a bit picky as to what I add to my blog list. The blog I am going to show you now is very much in the good read category and it comes from some of our fellow geocachers in the UK.

It's called Geocaching Wales and even though the geocacher who created it (Dayle Rees) is relatively new to the game he already has two writing contributors Nitroglysarine and Red Kite. Together they have captured some beautiful photos of the Welsh countryside and also some very interesting new geocache designs. What I think I like the most about this particular blog is that the format is crisp and easy on the eyes.

I highly recommend giving it a try ---> http://blog.geocaching-wales.co.uk/.

-HHH

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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Walking Up to a Trashed Geocache

It is sad when walking up to a geocache that has been trashed or worse. It's easy to blame muggles but other factors can cause it. For example the weather, including wind and flooding. Snow and ice have been known to move or crush a geocache. Then there are the animals who just love getting into or carting off a container.

Many times a flimsy or poor quality container can become easy pickings. As in this case a cheaper Glad container was used and what looks like a squirrel knocked it out of it's home then made short work of it. Even if the big toothed rodent hadn't munched it, the heat and sun already was warping the container pretty bad.

I rescued two Boy Scout travel bugs and cleaned up the rest. One of the travel bug plastic bags had the top sealer chewed off. Just goes to show you that these containers area vulnerable to all sorts of situations. Always consider this when placing your geocaches.

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Geocoin Proxies: Some Things Need To Be The Real Thing

What I really enjoy about geocaching in general is the creativity of our fellow geocachers. The way many of us strive to make the game, sport and obsession better through subtle adaptations. I heartily agree with most of them but not necessarily about this. I am talking about Proxy Geocoins. What are those you may ask? Geocoin proxies are cheap representations of an original geocoin that is sent out into the wild to represent the geocoin itself. A carbon copy if you will, except many times not even that good.

You have to understand this is my opinion and I place a high reverence in regards to geocoins. I am massing a fair collection of which I have purchased over the years and I have sent a handful out into the wild. Geocoins was one of the reasons geocaching appealed to be so very much. The look, heft and feel of a geocoin always brings the pirate out of me. Yes, yes, it's the shiny things that get me going.

Then it happened. If you look at the photo above you notice what looks like three travel bugs, yet in fact the bottom one is a proxy geocoin. Someone took a wooden circle and laminated a wheel on both sides and put the id code onto the side of the wheel itself. I actually went to the geocoin page to investigate further since I had not heard of proxies before. There it showed what I really wanted to see which was some very nice shots of the actual geocoin and then some lame excuse that they did not want to send the real geocoin out for fear of losing it. Wha-wha-wha... Somehow I felt cheated from the experience. I really wanted to see the real thing and some geocoin wanna-be is not going to swing it.

Yeah it's only a geocoin yet more recently I have seen other proxies and they weren't even as good as the one shown above. More like a hand written blurb laminated with the id number. Cheap, cheap, cheap... I have lost some of my geocoins that I placed in the wild and that unfortunately is part of the game. Yet I will put more because I love the connections they make with other geocachers and with the feeling when I find them. Finding a piece of laminate or some other fakery is just not going to cut it. we want the real deal.

That's my opinion, what do you think?

-HHH

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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Twitter me at
@headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
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West Virginia Rest Area Park and Grab.

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So Cool To Do A Multi Geocache Made For HeadHardHat

I was honored when I found out that a multi geocache existed with HeadHardHat in mind. The real kicker is it was in Roseville, Michigan just a few miles from where I was visiting. So I absolutely have to find it.

For those who do not know, a multi geocache is done in stages or waypoints where one location can lead to another and another until the final geocache is found. There can be clues, riddles or coordinates to get you to each stage. This particular multi has three stages.

I want to thank Gsix5666 for making this fun geocache. If you want to check it out. Look up - GC26ZDQ - A Bad Day On The Job with Head Hard Hat.

It has a very creative final geocache that I enjoyed very much.

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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Twitter me at
@headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
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Doing Some CITO While Geocaching

It's always a good practice to do some Cache In Trash Out when geocaching.
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A Geocaching Michigan Trend?

I am not sure if this is a Michigan trend or not but I do not remember seeing this in other states as much. I am talking about the use of plastic containers to keep the log books dryer. I have seen it here all the time and feel it is a great idea. What do you think?
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Doing Some Geocaching in St. Clair Shores, Michigan

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Wow A Geocache I Haven't Found

Thought I had found all the geocaches at all the Ohio Turn Pike Service areas. Yet here this one was.
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Driving Thru The West Virginia Clouds.

It is so cool to me when you drive in an area of mountains that has no wind to speak of and low flying rain clouds. Very beautiful here with the lush green foliage below it.
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Dropping Bubba's Teeth In Virginia

At Virginia's welcome center dropped of travel bug as promised.
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Working With Geocaching Camouflage Ideas

While I am waiting to get on the road to start filming Treasure Cache TV (there has been an unexpected delay) I have been passing the time working on different ways to camouflage a geocache.

Sure there are tons of geocaches out there where the geocache is hidden inside an object like a tree stump, pvc pipe or other clever technique. My challenge was to hide a geocache in plain site or at least close to plain site and still hide it enough for muggles to miss it. If I was able to create a hide that was more difficult for a geocacher to find as well then all the better.

One of the techniques I have been working on is the use of camouflage netting for larger geocaches. The issue that comes to mind for a larger geocache is how good can a camouflaged geocache really be to fool the average geocacher? We are giving the coords to where this larger hide is and unless the cover is flawless it will get found. I guess the best we can hope for is that the geocache stays out of site of the muggles and is a bit of a thrill for the geocacher. So how can we hide it good enough to present a challenge?

Above you see a basic example of camouflage netting utilizing pine needles and leaves for cover. Below this mask of brown is a medium bright green ammo box laying on a 4'x8' netting which has been folded over top and covered with the nearby terrain. The nice thing about the netting is that the leaves and needles easily trap in the netting itself and stays there even with heavy wind. From a distance of 10 feet this is almost impossible spot so the geocacher would have to basically kick the geocache to find it.

If you read my blog post: HeadHardHat's Resin Clup O' Dirt Nano Geocache you will see how the use of resin can create creative camouflage covers for small geocaches like nanos. This can no doubt create even more challenging hides to infuriate the masses. To prove it if you look at the first photo of this post and see if you can find the nano geocache hide. Draw a circle around where you think it is and send it in to me via email ( headhardhat@gmail.com). The first five people to correctly do so will win a GeoSnippits path tag... It's right there... Really.

Good Luck!

-HHH

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------
Twitter me at
@headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
http://www.geosnippits.com

HeadHardHat's Resin Clump O' Dirt Nano Geocache

I want to thank Seth Jones who sent in a photograph a few weeks ago of a modified version of my bondo Evil Ant Hill geocache. You can see it here: ClickMe where you will note that instead of bondo, a resin was used to create the geocache.

Over the weekend I wanted to see if I could make a geocache that was thinner than my ant hill geocache and use something really small like a nano. Below are the steps I took to make it.

As usual I fully expect my readers to come up with a zillion versions of this and add their own twists. I say go for it but before you do check out my version. FYI - You can get resin at many craft stores near you.

I started out by taking some Styrofoam and scraping out an area that would have a very rocky or dirt clod look to it. About two and a half to three inches in diameter.

When it comes to using resin there are many different ways of making a mold including plastics, Styrofoam and plaster of paris. Try different ways and see what works best for you.

Next, make a small portion of the resin and fill just enough of the very bottom to create a base for the nano to sit upon and yet not fill up the entire mold.

Let the resin harden over night or until it is not tacky to the touch.

Set the nano on the hardened resin base and then fill to just under the lid of the nano with more resin.

Let harden again over night.

Carefully remove the hardened resin from the Styrofoam and pick as much of the mold away from the resin as you would like.

Personally I wasn't sure if I liked how it was looking at this point but the longer I played with it the more it really started looking like a rock, bark, a stone, etc.

Use your favorite combination of base spray paints and stone textured paints to colorize this geocache. I used a green and brown base with grey stone to give it a mold or bark look to it.

Note the bottom of this geocache and the nano cap is sticking out for easy access.

After playing with several different camouflage combinations of paint colors and the nice texture of the Styrofoam for the top section I was amazed how quickly I could closely duplicate a look of tree bark, moss, mold, even old asphalt.

This is a great addition to my Evil Ant Hill collection of geocaches and I hope it inspires you to make all sorts of variations for your geocaching enjoyment.

Have fun!

-HHH

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?

http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------
Twitter me at
@headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
http://www.geosnippits.com