That Would Be A 81MM Mortar Carry Tube, Alex.

One of my recent GeoSnippits tutorial videos called "GeoSnippits Geocache Navigator Tutorial Part Two" had an unusual geocache of which I found. It was a large tube that was two feet long, three inches in diameter with a large cap on the top and a nice handle on the sides. After the video aired on You Tube I received several posts and emails asking what this strange tube was. Quite frankly I didn't know.

At first I looked over the internet, called several Army Surplus stores and still couldn't find an accurate photograph or name of the plastic object. Then today I stopped by my local Army Surplus store and there it was. The very item I was searching for. I again asked the store attendent what it was and they did not know but they said they had a few more in the corner and one had a label on it.

It said that it was a Cartridge for an 81MM Mortar M889. There was a bunch of category stuff most likely warehouse information but there it was. A transport cartridge for a mortar.

I purchased one for $7.00 and will most likely use it for a unique cache. Below are some shots to show you the inside and with the cap off.

Why DNFs Are So Important In GeoCaching

Yesterday was beautiful out with all that bright sunshine yet chilly temps. Here in Raleigh, NC we have had a week or so of cold and gloomy days. Not the norm and when I left from work to sparkling blue and that big bright shiny thing in the sky I just had to try for one geocache.

One in particular has been on my radar all last year. It was an exit further than I usually travel when going home and was next to a lake. "Why not?", I thought to myself. The sun this time of year is out just a tad longer so I would have plenty of time to find this regular sized cache.

I was rather giddy when I took my walking stick from my car trunk. This was a nice 300 foot walk in the woods and I could see the setting sun reflecting off the lake. At the very least I can get a couple of good photos. In no time I was at ground zero and poking everywhere with my walking stick. Then I poked some more, even more and more after that.... nothing. I spiralled out from GZ until I had about 45 feet all away around - nada. Checked every possible hole, log, hill, tree, bush and still nothing. With the sun now close to setting the wind had kicked up and it was getting dark. "Well shoot", guess it was time to call it a day.

I hate marking DNFs or "Did Not Finds" at Geocaching.com but I still do. Lets face it, nobody wants to say, "hey look at me, I failed!!!". Many geocachers do not log their missed finds for just that reason but that does not help anybody. I don't care how many finds you have or have not found. Nobody checks your stats that closely and then ridicules you because of them. In fact, DNFs have a very important purpose. I went back and checked the latest logs for the cache and sure enough there were half a dozen logged DNFs for the sight. Now if I had done that in the first place I wouldn't have even tried but this just goes to show you that this cache is either really buried somewhere or just plain gone. Having a bunch of DNF logs is a clue to the geocache owner that maybe they better check and see if it is still there, but they won't know that unless geocachers log their DNFs.

So that was what I did. I logged the DNF, uploaded a couple of my photos that I had taken and then flagged the cache for maintenance. This way I know the owner is aware of the possible condition of the cache. Hopefully I can find it after the all fixed is sounded.

See ya on the trails!

Latest GeoSnippit Out On YouTube - Intro Regular Size Caches

The latest in the GeoSnippits Series is now on YouTube. This quick tutorial goes over one of the most popular of Geocaching classes - the Regular Size. Here you learn about Lock 'N Lock boxes and an inside peek of an ammo box. Host HeadHardHat gives the quick instruction on this interesting subject.