HeadHardHat's Award Winning Geocaching Blog is a geocache treasure trove of geocaching information. Years of searchable geocaching insights await you here. HeadHardHat's GeoSnippits Geocaching Videos series can be seen on You Tube. You can also find him on his new GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast series and the Geocaching Podcast. Geocaching the outdoor treasure-hunting game which the participants use a GPS receiver to hide and seek containers called "geocaches" or "caches" anywhere in the world
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Showing posts with label Andy HeadHardHat Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andy HeadHardHat Smith. Show all posts
Wife Amy and I make a cameo appearance plus Joshua the Geocaching Vlogger in this quick closing video of the #MichelinQuest for Adventure. #Geocaching and Michelin Rock.. #MichelinUSA
You Tube Link: http://youtu.be/A6ZROaJKQCE
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In this edition of HeadHardHat's Geocaching vLog, Andy HeadHardHat Smith and wife Amy take on the 7 Souvenirs of August Challenge and complete it on International Geocaching Day 2014. That is all for the total of eight geocaching souvenirs in one day. Not only that, Wife Amy also has a milestone of six geocache types in one day where we trek into multiple woods, swamps and other terrains.
So come join in the fun and watch as this exciting geocaching adventure unfolds.
If you cannot see the video above please use this YouTube link: http://youtu.be/5iVadWM41S4
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In a very interesting fact filled episode of the Geocaching Podcast: Episode 359 - Shrinking Geocaches. Hosts Andy HeadHardHat Smith, Darrylw4 and StevensAdInfinitum discussed some fascinating revelations with regards to the entire geocaching timeline and the trends of geocache size at placement. The data was collected from Project-GC.com for the countries of Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., and the U.S. Note - Data is only available through June 2014.
Below are the graphs for each country. Special thanks to Darrylw4 for the data correlation and graph creation.
We recommend to watch the video-cast or listen to the podcast for all the insights and observations given by the show hosts.
The company Scottevest designs and manufactures a full line of clothing with a conduit system, specialized pockets and compartments, to manage and control wires of electronic devices. Specializing in a brand known as TEC for Technology Enabled Clothing which in laymen's terms means their clothing is made for comfortably holding a multitude of gadges and gizmos.
Basic Overview
I tried out their Travel Vest for over a month and in the following review will give a good overview of the product itself and it's usability for a geocacher. So let's start with the basics.
The travel vest comes in three basic colors Black, Khaki and Navy. I personally chose the Khaki to be more visible out on the trails. Their sizes go from Small to 3x which I found to be very nice. Not many specialty stores carry clothes for larger folk like myself. The vest when you pick it up is very light weight. I wore it everywhere for a month and found it to be warm enough with a polo shirt underneith during the cool fall days and yet not too warm when the temps were in the low to mid 70's(F).
Made For Carrying Stuff
One of the main staples of a geocacher is his or her geocaching pack. Inside is all sorts of needed tools of the trade. For example a flashlight, multi-tool, GPSr, Smartphone, retrieving tools, pens, and the like. The pack can be from the size of a small bag to a full sized backpack. It is necessary because of all the different situations a geocacher faces when out geocaching. The pack in question can be a bit of a pain carrying around. The SCOTTEVEST can simplify a geocacher's predicament by allowing them to carry all of their electronic devices and many of their geocaching tools all in one easy to access spot. I truly believe this travel vest will help many geocachers when dealing with simple park and grabs to several hours out on the trail. So lets take a closer look at this Technology Enabled Clothing.
HeadHardHat Just Before Heading Out Geocaching
Pockets Galore
If you are like me when geocaching you may have a device or two that you use. There is my iPad, Smartphone, GPSr unit just for starts. The Travel Vest has a dedicated pocket for your each of this plus your iPod, eyeglasses, car keys, digital camera plus SD card, passport, bluetooth earpiece, earbuds and change just to name some of them. Some of the cool niceties was an elastic band with a softcloth for cleaning your glasses, elastic band and clip for your car keys, an entire networked system to invisibly integrate your iPod earpod wires directly into the vest. a clear touch pocket so you can keep your phone safe and still see and touch the screen from inside the vest.
So How Did It Actually Do?
If you have read other reviews that I have done with products you know that I shoot from the hip and tell it exactly how I had used it. This will be no different.
Here are my results after continual using the Travel Vest for a month.
Because the vest is so light my first thoughts were I thought the vest would not do well with wear and tear. After a month of use including while out geocaching I did not see any wear except I feel the Velcro that keeps the Clear Touch Pocket that I kept my smart phone in may not last to the three month mark. It warped into a 'U' shape after a while and I would suspect it giving over time.
When it comes to weight distribution with all the "stuff" inside. Scottevest boasts a "Weight Management System" which with such a light weight piece of clothing there is not much to really work with. When I had my iPad2 in the left pocket and my smartphone and GPSr unit in the pockets on the right side of the vest there was a lot of noticeable weight on the back of my neck near the collar. Not enough to be a show stopper but common sense will dictate that all that weight has to go somewhere and if you were going on all day hike, this may be a factor for you. On the flip side if you didn't have a heavy tablet like the iPad2 on such a hike and had the smartphone on one side and the GPSr on the other it would not even be a factor. In fact when I go to lunch being able to keep my iPad hidden in my vest is a very nice feature.
Out in the field I found having 50% of my pack items in the vest was a good fit. Not too much weight and yet all of my most used tools had easy access and I did not have to go digging through my pack searching for particular items. Everything had its own place and more importantly to me, the outside of the vest was not all bulked out and looking like I was carrying a lot of stuff. I found this to be very handy.
Dislikes:
There only a couple of things that basically annoyed me about the Travel Vest. They are not show-stoppers but worth noting.
If you do try using a water bottle in the vest pocket that is cold, there is nothing waterproof enough to guard against water condensation.
In the collar there is a flap to hold the earbud wires in place. This flap is held down by two strips of Velcro. The flap needs to protect the neck better at where the Velcro resides which scratches the back of the neck at times.
The top front flaps of the collar never really set right when unzipped. Not a big thing but somewhat annoying.
Likes:
Here is a list of things I liked most about the SCOTTEVEST Travel Vest:
Lightweight and breathable feel when wearing in varied Fall time temps.
Comfortable fit even when many of the pockets had items within them.
There is a pocket for just about every need including holding a bottle of water.
Handy elastic band with clip for car keys.
Nice integration for iPod and earbuds.
Pockets in Pockets for specialty items.
I knew where everything was and did not have to fumble to find needed items when geocaching.
Summary
So there you are. I found the Scottevest - Travel Vest to be a very comfortable and useful item when it comes to geocaching. It is far less bulky than a fishing vest and created to house our electronics devices. I recommend you check out this and many of the other clothes items from SCOTTEVEST by going to their website at http://www.scottevest.com. There you can see all their special offers engineered for men and woman.
If you have a product, application or device you would like for me to review. Please send an email to headhardhat@gmail.com
You have heard Andy HeadHardHat Smith state on his videocasts, podcasts and videos to always check before reaching into an unknown or unseen area. HeadHardHat always tells fellow geocachers to "Poke It With A Stick".
Well when you check out the photo for today's geocaching adventures you can see why.
Young Female Black Widow on Geocache
This is a young female Black Widow that was clutching it's nest which just happened to be on the lid of a geocache HeadHardHat was going for today as #14 of the 31 Days of Geocaching. Fortunately it was on the opposite side of the geocache that was reached for but could have very easily bitten when attempting to take off the top.
The episode should air later tonight (8/14/2013). So keep and eye out or subscribe to HHH's You Tube Channel to be sure and get all of his geocaching videos.
See you then!
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GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast Trackable T-Shirts ORDER HERE!
In last night's episode of the GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast co-host Debaere and I discussed a pluthera of geocaching topics including how to handle individuals who destroy geocaches, GPSr vs. Smartphones and other great topics. It is a fun filled, geocache packed episode you will not want to miss. Check out the videocast and podcast links provided below.
Enjoy!
HHH
If the video viewer is not present above please use the link below to see the entire episode.
http://youtu.be/53Yqvq4_qpE
The GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast: Geocaching Insights -- A tutorial podcast about geocaching.
Sponsored by: Cache-Advance.com, CoinsAndPins.com and RHPromos.com
Recorded LIVE at the GeoSnippits Studios in Raleigh, NC on June 13, 2013
Tonight's show — Geocaching is it all about the numbers? Well this heated debate will go on and on and this of course is totally up to you. So if you do want to know a number of different ways to work with geocaching statistics. This means there are tons of ways to use geocaching and combine those geocaching statistics for good ole fashioned bragging rights. Listen on fellow geocaching to learn about all sorts of goals, challenges and other cool ways of sharing our geocaching exploits. Listen on.
It is an episode you do not want to miss.
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions for the show you can call our voice-mail at (919) 341-9519 or send a voice-mail for free from anywhere around the world by going to www.geosnippits.com and clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on the right side of the screen.
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The GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast is a brand new tutorial show designed to educate and entertain geocachers of all experience levels. Each Thursday at 8:30PM ET, Co-host Dave DeBaeremaeker and GeoSnippits founder Andy HeadHardHat Smith discuss interesting aspects of Geocaching in an easy to understand tutorial manner. Giving advice and insights to our game,sport and obsession in ways only they can provide.
GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial videos have over 500,000 views from around the world and have been teaching geocachers since 2008. You can see our live show and dozens of our free archived videos at GeoSnippits.com.
Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at http://www.geosnippits.com
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
W00t! -- Here is the schedule for the Main Stage for GeoWoodstock XI - This Saturday. Check out 2pm!
Yep Debaere and I will be doing a question and answer session right on the main stage. So be sure to come on by and say hi! Can't wait to see you all there.
Debaere and HeadHardHat
Here is the schedule:
Schedule of Events
9:00-12:00 Registration
9:00-4:00 Vendor Exhibits
9:00-3:00 Travel Bugs
9:00-3:00 Chinese Auction
9:30-9:45 *Welcome Ceremonyv
9:45-10:15 *Podcachers Q&A
10:30 Group Photo
11:00 and 2:00 Reptile Presentation
Gator Presentation
Florida Panther Presentation
11:30 *Pathtag Discussion
12:00-2:00 Lunch 2:00 *GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast Q&A
3:00-3:45 *Meet the Reviewers
4:30-5:00 *Closing Ceremony GW XII Announcement
Yes I am one happy geocaching hider. After all the work and investigation along a nearby greenway I finally have all of the coordinates in place for my geocaching series There Be Dragons Here. So all of the ammo boxes are ready, filled with swag, FTF prizes, notebook and proper signage. The coordinates have been registered in the four listing services and just waiting final approval from two of the sites. The geocaches get hidden tomorrow and once all are approved I will officially publish them to be found. I am very excited and also interested if geocachers will just go for the ones on their listing site and ignore the rest or go for the whole series. I now have officially placed a hide on all the main services.
Will let you know when it is ready and the GC number for the first of the series. Good luck everyone and I hope you enjoy the quest.
I placed this particular Munzee on a nearby greenway about 19 months ago and after all this time the plastic strap holding it looks a bit sun worn but the Munzee itself is in great shape. I used a standard printer and business card lamination to create this series. The secret was making the Munzee small enough to fit and have enough room for a punch hole that would keep it's seal and not be anywhere near the actual paper of the Munzee.
I will most likely be putting more out in the not too distant future.
On Saturday, Amy and I went for a geocache known as Hotel Illness which has 22 favorite points and now i know why.
After arrivimg near ground zero we scoured the area for about half an hour with no apparent spot around big enough to hide a large lock n lock box. We needed a little help on this one. Fortunately cache owner HillbillyHermione happened to be nearby and was very gracious to point us in the right direction. After making the find we got to spend a few minutes to talk and it was very cool to meet her and see this excellent geocache. Its GC36NA5 if interested in learning more.
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Our award winning, geocaching based blog:
GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right? http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
Get our RSS feed for this blog here: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/geocacheimnotobsessedright/
Recorded LIVE at the GeoSnippits Studios in Raleigh, NC on April 25, 2013
Tonight's show — You our viewers asked for more advanced episodes with the GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast and both HeadHardHat and Debaere deliver. Discussed is many of the things you should consider when planning a geocaching trip. Pocket Queries, Generating a Geocaching Route and other most talked about topics are discussed.
To have a successful geocaching adventure it is important to be prepared and plan accordingly. All of this and more is talked about in only the way HeadHardHat and Debaere can do. You will be informed and entertained at the same time.
It is an episode you do not want to miss.
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions for the show you can call our voice-mail at (919) 341-9519 or send a voice-mail for free from anywhere around the world by going to www.geosnippits.com and clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on the right side of the screen.
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The GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast is a brand new tutorial show designed to educate and entertain geocachers of all experience levels. Each Thursday at 8:30PM ET, Co-host Dave DeBaeremaeker and GeoSnippits founder Andy HeadHardHat Smith discuss interesting aspects of Geocaching in an easy to understand tutorial manner. Giving advice and insights to our game,sport and obsession in ways only they can provide.
GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial videos have over 500,000 views from around the world and have been teaching geocachers since 2008. You can see our live show and dozens of our free archived videos at GeoSnippits.com.
Recorded LIVE at the GeoSnippits Studios in Raleigh, NC on April 18, 2013
Tonight's show — Hosts Andy HeadHardHat Smith and Dave Debaere pull out all the stops in this very informative episode of show and tell while demonstrating how to create clever geocache hides. Not only do they go over five different geocache containers they also give great wonderful suggestions on how to make a quality placement as well. HeadHardHat also gives a detailed accounting of how he made his brand new "There Be Dragons Here" geocaching series. This is something to see and then try yourself.
Our latest episode of the GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast: Episode 013 - Geocache Maintenance and Swag in now available for all your video or audio podcasting needs.
Enjoy!
-HHH
If the viewer is not available above use this link here to see the entire video: http://youtu.be/OyzyfWaAgs0
Muhahahaha, Lookie what just was delivered to my door. Found a really great deal on pill container micros and nanos recently. Ordered five in green, black and cammo plus some more nanos. Just luv'n it!
Recorded LIVE at the GeoSnippits Studios in Raleigh, NC on March 21, 2013
Tonight's show -- The Geocacher's Creed. Both Andy HeadHardHat Smith and Dave Debaere go over this amazing reminder of geocaching sportsmanship so that the geocaching community can understand the importance of such a creed. They also learn an interesting fact about the geocaching creed and it's tie with Sponsor Cache Advance and their role. Geocachers are encouraged through the creed to take common sense to heart while geocaching and have available answers when the question of "What should I do in this situation?" arises.
It is an episode you do not want to miss.
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions for the show you can call our voice-mail at (919) 341-9519 or send a voice-mail for free from anywhere around the world by going to www.geosnippits.com and clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on the right side of the screen.
——————————————————————-
The GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast is a brand new tutorial show designed to educate and entertain geocachers of all experience levels. Each Thursday at 8:30PM ET, Co-host Dave DeBaeremaeker and GeoSnippits founder Andy HeadHardHat Smith discuss interesting aspects of Geocaching in an easy to understand tutorial manner. Giving advice and insights to our game,sport and obsession in ways only they can provide.
GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial videos have over 500,000 views from around the world and have been teaching geocachers since 2008. You can see our live show and dozens of our free archived videos at GeoSnippits.com.
HOT OFF THE DIGITAL PRESSES - The Latest Episode: 010 - Geocacher's Creed of the GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast Now Available Here:
Here is episode 009 of the GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast.
Recorded LIVE at the GeoSnippits Studios in Raleigh, NC on March 14, 2013
Tonight's show -- It's the hitchhiking guidelines of our favorite geocaching game pieces the travelers (travel bugs, travel tags and Geocoins). Host Andy HeadHardHat Smith and Dave Debaere discuss a full hours worth of geocaching insights dealing with travelers. So what are they? What do they do in the geocaching world? What makes the difference between travelers and geocaching swag? All of this is discussed and more. So everything you want to know about travel bugs, travel tags and geocoins and so much more.
It is an episode you do not want to miss.
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions for the show you can call our voice-mail at (919) 341-9519.
You know that everyone gets the spring fever the first sign of a 65 to 70 degree day rolls around. I was amazed as we pulled into the B Umstead State Park and there was not a single spot available. People were starting to park along the side of the road which is what we did. Within minutes there was not a single place to park anywhere and people were parking outside the park - Crazy.
I love long shadows when doing photography.
Plenty of sites and sounds once we hit the Loblolly Trail which goes for 2.7 miles and is considered a moderate difficulty terrain. There was some good stream crossings due the the bridge being out and it was actually more green the deeper into the hollers you went.
Andy HeadHardHat doing some rock jumping over a stream.
The lower into some hollers the cooler it became but also more green.
Had a great time hiking today with girlfriend Amy. There were only a couple of geocaches that I have not already found in the park and they were on the other side. So today's adventure was getting good shots with the camera and enjoying the company.
Saw this little guy warming his wings in the sun.
Amy showing her little known tree bending skills.
All in all a great hike with a lovely lady. I planning on doing much more now that the spring time weather is coming back.
