I Do So Love When I Get New Geocaches In The Mail

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!

-HHH
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Our award winning, geocaching based blog:
GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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Out For A Stroll In The Woods, Lake, Swamp and Greenway

Was out enjoying a nice day with my girlfriend Amy and walking around Lake Benson Park. It was a very nice change of sunshine and 60 degree days after a couple of weeks of snow, ice, rain and blech. The sun was out and only a slight breeze the closer to the lake the path took us. There were a couple of new geocaches that I had not picked up before so it was an opportune time to do some filming. One of the cool things about Lake Benson Park are all the different terrains packed in this great place. You have a wide field of cut grass, woods, swamp and beach - awesome.

The concept that both Debaere and I have been working on is essentially creating a 2-3 minute geocaching commercial that we will feature on the show and YouTube. It will be a fast paced overview of our game sport and obsession with the premise of "Geocaching is...". There the viewer will be enticed with a pluthera of factual and comical bits of information about geocaching. 

Because I was taking Amy out for a walk in the woods with me and also have her run the Kodak Sport video camera for me. I tried to get things in one take and not have her have to bushwack through too many briars. She was a real trooper though she did make it clear she was not going to be doing camera work all the time on our hikes. Well noted.

One of our finds in the park was a nano. A fairly fast find but as usual it takes longer getting the log book back into a nano than it does to find it sometimes.

It took me a few minutes longer than I wanted but eventually I got the log into the cap as it should be. 

After several miles of walking in multiple terrains we were able to get the footage that I wanted and were able to head home. I had a great time out today and can't wait until spring gets here in full bloom. Oh and I hope to have our first GeoSnippits Reboot Video out in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned.
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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:
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Watch our NEW videocast and podcast The GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast
http://www.geosnippits.com

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UPDATE: Making Evil Nano Geocaches For Fall Fling Silent Auction

Well guys and gals the Evil Nano Geocaches are done and did they turn out nice!

I went with a green theme and a brown theme which falls in more of a wooded terrain.
The photos of the finished product are just below.
(This will give you an idea of the size of the nano geocaches)

(Is that a piece of bark I see or just some debris from that stump there. Couldn't be an evil nano geocache... nah.)










(Might be tree mold, a rock, anything but an Evil Nano Geocache.)











Here is a link showing then as they were being made.
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/2010/10/making-two-evil-nano-geocaches-for-fall_18.html

I had a real blast making these geocaches and good luck to the winners at the Silent Auction.

-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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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/
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Twitter me at
@headhardhat

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

HHH's Lunchtime GotD - The Complexity of the Nano Geocache

Did you ever contemplate the complexity of the nano geocache? Well not the container per-say but where you can hide one? I mean lets face it, there really is not much to it. A nano container has a lid, a base and a teeny-weeny log book. It's magnetic and about the size of your pinky fingernail.

Because it is so small it can be really tricky to find. Lets take today's Lunchtime Geocache of the Day for example and see just where you can hide it in something simple. Like say a skirt hide.

Yes I know, quit rolling your eyes.. Skirt hides can be really boring but if you include where you can hide a nano in one may spice up your hunt.

So lets go over the easy hides. A skirt hide is usually made up of a light pole that has an apron or skirt at the base which can be lifted. Yes that is where you get the geocaching phrase of "lifting a skirt" - giggle. Anyhoo a skirt hide normally has something like a 35mm film container which sits under the skirt and on top of the metal platform which connects the pole to the concrete base. No biggie to find really and great for a standard park and grab.

To make it a bit more difficult you can hide a nano on the pole itself and five or six feet above the skirt. The poles are metal and the nano is magnetic. This leaves it open but is so small usually undetected. Now back to that metal platform. A nano can sit on top of the platform like the 35mm container but for a bit more of a challenge you can hide it up-side-down under the platform. Pretty good but that is not the best place. Nope, even better than attaching it to the upper inside of the skirt itself. Most of those poles are hollow. Try putting your nano down then up inside the pole itself. This brings on a real creepy factor for me personally. Why, a sense of danger cuz you don't know what is up in there and you still have to reach. Icky.

Before I get a ton of emails I will put the warning everybody was going to send in. Skirt hides are notorious for spiders so remember to wear your gloves before sticking your hands in any skirt hide.

Well that's more than enough for now. Off for a chicken wrap before going back to work..

Have fun and be safe out there.. Nano - nano!

You know I had to say it...

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HHH's Lunchtime GotD-Remember Your Thing-a-ma-bobs

I was lucky today. A quick 1.5/1.5 micro park and grab off of a ball field parking lot. Easy one right? BuZzer! Nope.

As I drove up to the spot I knew exactly where the geocache was. I tried for several minutes and even thought I could feel the nano I couldn't get it out of it's hidey hole.

Lucky for me my cache mobile was only six feet away - this time. If I had to walk a goodly distance and then have this happen (and it has in the past) the experience would not have been so pleasant. Once I grabbed my handy dandy tweezers it was out in a flash. Come to think of it I used them to get the log out of the nano cap as well..

So do yourself a favor. Always take your pack full of geocaching goodness no matter how easy you think the geocaching hunt will be. Cuz you never know what you are going to run into when you go geocaching.

Check out our GeoSnippits Video: What's in Your Geocaching Pack?

http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/2010/01/geosnippits-whats-in-your-geocaching.html

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HHH's Lunchtime Geocache - The Nano

The photo above demonstrates one of my favorite must have thing-a-ma-bobs while geocaching. The humble tweezers will get you out of many a situation. Not only great for thorn and splinter removal they are very useful for retrieving log books from nanos and other small caches.
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Tweezers, It's Not Just For Plucking Eyebrows Anymore

There are key essential items that you absolutely must keep on your person when geocaching.

One of my top five would have to be a good pair of tweezers. Not only are they great for getting that unwanted thorn or splinter out but they are fantastic to get log books out of nanos.

So remember to always keep a pair of tweezers nearby.

-HHH


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

It Is The Size That Counts

Nano found near Raleigh coffee house. Just to show you the size to scale. That is the writing end of a pen on the right and the magnetic nano to the left. Figure it the equivelant to your pinky fingernail in size.

Below shows what a nano looks like when taken apart to sign the log.

Nano - Nano, Shuzbott and Stuff

For a quick lunch time grab this was a great day. One particular geocache on my way to work has plagued me for almost a year now. This little bugger geocache has caused me more Did Not Finds than a guy trying to seek Paris Hilton's virginity... Just popped in my head don't ask...

After way more attempts than I will ever admit I went out today during lunch and took another stab. Then as if by magic there it was, just sitting there. Now I know I have looked there before. I know I have and yet, BINGO - Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, there it was. How weird is that? Could I have been so obsessed with trying to find this nano that my mind blocked it when I looked in that area? Dunno but it is signed, resealed and put back in place.

Really does make me think that some caches do have mini cloaking devices and only reveal themselves when they want. It would explain a lot...

Quick Snapshot in Front of the Garner Police Department

Always looking for a photo opportunity while caching. Cache Found in Garner!

Yep that's daughter Geopants and I taking a quick snapshot in front of the Garner Police Department. The sun was going down so the shot is a bit blurry but hey ya have to have some fun while caching.

We picked up a quick five caches tonight including two beautiful areas by Lake Wheeler.

Just having too much fun and still keeping legal.

Post From HeadHardhat's Phone

Cache Found! Henderson, NC

I am not even going to go into this interesting cache. 'Cept note the use of tweezers. Many times you are going to run into nano sized caches which usually need tweezers to get the log out. A very good item to have in your backpack.

BTW all the hoopla over this particular cache site can be read about by looking up Reminiscing ( GC1BHRB ). All I can say is, memories......