GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right? HeadHardHat's Geocaching Insights: August 2010

Friday, August 27, 2010

Next Season of GeoSnippits on Michigan Magazine TV Starts This September

To say that I am excited about filming the next season of GeoSnippits for Michigan Magazine TV is a complete understatement. I am down right geeked about it.

It is so cool to be part of the Michigan Magazine TV family and having the ability to reach out to geocachers in all 50 states is a real working pleasure. Last season we made 26 episodes and expect to make at least that this year as well. I want to thank MMTV's host and co-creator Barry Stutesman for the opportunity to spread the word.

Enjoy this 20 second promo spot and see you on Michigan Magazine TV and the RFDTV network.

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

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

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Bulgaria Geocaching Commercial - That's some funny right there...

This You Tube video was sent to me by Ivelin Mollov and is a geocaching commercial for Bulgaria. You have to see it to believe...

Here is the link if the viewer is not above:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLcLczyK1hU

Travel Bug Wolfgang Von PitterPat is now in Europe

On an April day in 2008. I believe the sun was shining and the air smelled of honeysuckle. My then 11 year old daughter looked at me with her crystal blue eyes and said, "Daddy, Wolfgang Von PitterPat is going to be okay, right?"

I smiled at my child and said, "Why sure darling, this little travel bug will see the world and go places you might want to visit some day. It will be just fine."

So we took little Wolfgang (a Chinstrap Penguin) to it's first drop off point which was one of my nearby geocaches and it disappeared into the wild.

Little did I know then of the life expectancies of a Travel Bug or Geocoin in the geocaching world. For many, the fates cause them to be lost, stolen, destroyed and just plain misplaced for years at a time. I know of several geocachers who have put out hundreds of travel bugs only to have just a few still in circulation. Then there are the others who chug along happily as they get picked up from one geocache and dropped back into another as they attempt to reach some goal. As far as Wolfgang goes he is on one crazy ride to Antarctica where he wants to meet up with some of his real time buddies.

Until recently Wolfgang has stayed in the United States traveling from one coast to the next. He made it big when his travels included being with the Subaru Leave No Trace gang for a month or two and was given a whole new set of bling.

They took him all over the place on the west coast and even wrote a couple of articles about him in their newsletters.

You can check them out here.

http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/2009/10/update-to-tb-wolfgang-von-pitterpat.html

Now after 10510+ miles Wolfgang Von PitterPat finds himself in the United Kingdom. Who knows what adventures await him overseas? What I can tell you is every time I give my now 14 year old daughter updates about it. Her eyes sparkle just a little more blue than usual. Sure bad things can happen to these travelers but the fun of watching them go over the years is worth the risk.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

GeoSnippits: Making Your Own Emergency Geocaching Repair Kit - EGRK

It happens in geocaching, when you walk up to a geocache and find it in need of repair. If you are like me you hate to see swag, log books, travel bugs and geocoins getting damaged because the geocache they reside in is allowing the elements to get in. Wouldn't it be great to have a self made kit that contains items where you could fix the geocache until the owner could come out and replace it? The GeoSnippits video below shows you just how you can do that.

If you cannot see the viewer above, click this link and it will play on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUOMdW4JzFc

Too Cute For Words - Micah Makes An HHH Fire Hydrant Geocache

This is just too cute. If you have ever listened to the Geocaching Podcast with host XpunkX and Darrylw4 you will hear much and many valuable insights about geocaching.

Yesterday XpunkX sent me this 20 second video of his son Micah just after making one of my Fire Hydrant geocaches. I smiled ear to ear when I saw this. Just click the link below to see it.

Micah Fire Hydrant Geocache Video Link

Be sure to stop on by the Geocaching Podcast for some great geocaching insights - http://geocachingpodcast.com/

Monday, August 2, 2010

Adding Some New Geocoins To My Collection

I do not get the chance all that often to add to my ever growing geocoin collection. Yet when I do I am a kid in a candy store. To date I have over one hundred geocoins and growing. Today in the mail I have now added four more and put one extra into my unregistered pile for trading or possible swag. These particular geocoins were purchased from the Geocoin Store and the Geocoin Club (GCC) of which I am a member.

Wanna see? Well of course you do. Geocoins are one of the points of interest that make geocaching fun and interesting for many of us. Here is what I purchased.

I really like this one. It has a nickel finish with 3D shull and ship in a deep blue resin. The back of a coin is a compass set in the same blue. Why did I buy it? I love the whole look to it with the pirate theme. The coin itself has a good heft to it and feels right when you hold it.

I also purchased another with a red background and copper metal instead of the nickel. It is a good looking coin but for some reason I really am liking this one better.

I love Sherpa geocoins. In case you don't know a Sherpa geocoin has a whole on one side with a strong magnet in the middle. There you can place a pathtag that gets carried along with the coin as it travels. This green themed geocoin is geared to showcase pathtags but I have other types of Sherpa geocoins as well. Again great weight and feel when you hold it.

Take a chance, you never know what you might get. With GCC you can purchase what they refer to as their grab bag. In it you have a chance to pick up three random geocoins for the price of two. You don't know what you are going to get but that is part of the chance of a grab bag. In my case I lucked out. The first coin goes back to May of 2007 with the Hide and Seek geocoin. It didn't make me go all goo-goo or nothing but it was cool to be able to pick up a geocoin that you can't get anymore except in something like this.

Now this geocoin made me smile. Not because the coin itself is overly amazing but because when I first started joining the GCC was back in May of 2008 which was the Brings May Flowers dual geocoin. In other words the shape of the April geocoin fits into the May geocoin which was my first. Now my geocoin set is complete which I was rather pleased to receive this unexpected geocoin.

My third and final geocoin was the June 2008 Copernicus geocoin of which I already have so that will be in my trade-able geocoins collection or possibly given away as swag to some geocaching find that I am impressed with.

So there you have it. A small but very recent sample of my geocoin collection. Everybody collects one thing or another. For me these geocoins are something that brings out the pirate in me and also can fill a rather large treasure chest display. How cool is that?

What is your favorite geocoin? Send in a photo and it may make it on my blog or an upcoming GeoSnippits video. Email it to: headhardhat@gmail.com