holy crap, this is by far the longest without an update! yikes! with school starting, i hadnt enough time to gather all those lovely school supplies, so i'm way behind... plus, all those honors and ap classes are gonna whoop my behind. i hate being stereotyped as smart. but hey, this aint my place to complain about that. (though it could be...) ultimately though, i might have to slow down the updates from every four days to every week. i'll try and do it more frequently than that, but its harder for me to find time to do this stuff now.

but anyway, in order to try and get some help getting started, i talked to my good geocaching friends on the geocaching forums. they're a great group of people, who are about as insane as me. or something like that. but anyway, i posted a topic there asking for tips for geocachers for a list (and another potential list for the future...!). the response was overwhelming... i did pick out the best ones, and i hope they'll help you in your cache hunts in the future.

or that you at least laugh for a sec.

25 tips for geocachers

1. Seamus's traditional RULE NUMBER ONE: caches are not airlifted in. if there's a trail, follow it. it will save you a lot of heartache and scrambling through greenbriar.
2. bring water. (renegade knight)
3. always carry a first aid kit. (taltosvt)

4-7 by virgo91967...
4. do mark your caches clearly as a geocache
5. do leave phone # or email address incase somone needs to contact you about your cache. hopefully BEFORE the bombsquad finds it first.
6. do research location of cache using available map services (topozone, mapquest, etc.)
7. do tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back... add an extra hour just in case.

8. never set anything (especially your GPS) on top of your vehicle
9. bring a walkingstick! :p (8 and 9 by team walkingsticks... go fig.)
10. bring a couple of trash bags with you so you can CITO (cache in, trash out) if need be. i keep them plus a pair of latex gloves in a ziploc bag in my caching bag. (peachypa
11. always have the proper equipment to do the cache. like if i made my paintball cache and you came unprepared. (shoobie and the sand crabs)
12. dont pee anywhere near the cache coordinates! (divine)
13. always carry a flashlight (team fubar)

14. the most direct route is often not the easiest! (says marcb)
15. webfoot responds with a perfect example:

16. but then shop99er counters: no, i think this one should read "the most direct route is never the easiest!"
17. learn to triangulate. (prettynwitty)
18. bring your kids... they have sharper eyes than you do. (papade)
19. if possible leave a friend at the vehicle with a radio or cell phone when hiking to a cache. then, after you find the cache you can call them and tell them to come pick you up on the road that comes right by the cache! (bamageek)

and to close it out, more good tips from seamus...
20. 1/1s arent.
21. make a checklist of stuff to bring.
22. USE said checklist.
23. neverunderestimate the ability of the human foot to seek water.
24. mosquitos only bite on days that end in "y".
25. before telling yourself "no, the cache couldnt possibly be hidden there," look again at who placed it.

thanks again to all the people who helped on this list! regular updates should start again... soon.
questions? comments? insults? lists or ideas for lists? partridges in pear trees? send them all to twentyfivethings@hotmail.com!
  ¶ 9:28 PM