Do you enjoy summer adventures and a good geocaching road trip? We have just the treat for you! Geocaching has teamed up with Airstream for a trackable tag designed for those with a penchant to roam, a heart for exploration and a willingness to Find and Go.
The Airstream Silver Bullet Trackable Tag will make its debut at select Geocaching events in the United States in August. 2,000 tags will be released among the events. If you can’t make it to the events, keep an eye out for Airstream Silver Bullet Trackable Tags in the wild as they make their way from geocache to geocache and travel across the country. Find one and take it some place incredible, whether it’s a big city or the great outdoors, it’s all about having an experience and sharing it with others.
Submit photos of where the Airstream Silver Bullet Trackable takes you for chances to win prizes from Airstream. Photos of the trackable can be submitted to the Airstream Facebook Page. A winning photo will be selected each month starting in August, for Airstream prizes including a t-shirt, a journal, a flashlight, and more! See contest rules for details.
Geocaching Premium Member, FluteFace, is planning to attend the Airstream event in Redmond, WA. “As both a geocacher, and an Airstream (1984 Sovereign) owner, I’ll be there! What a great combination!!” She adds, “We have enjoyed caching with our Airstream and, since we’ve recently equipped it with a solar panel, we intend to find more caches in cool places, off the beaten path.”
To make things even sweeter, geocachers can earn the Socializer Souvenir for attending an event in August as part of the 7 Souvenirs of August program.
A photo of FluteFace’s Airstream on a caching/camping trip with other geocachers in Washington State’s Deception Pass State Park, about a month after she purchased the Airstream
Not all of these containers we specifically developed as geocaches.
Even though some geocache containers seem like they were handcrafted specifically for geocaching, most of them have been repurposed from something else. With things like Ammo cans, it’s pretty obvious what they used to be. For others, it requires a little bit of a deeper look into history:
These small, waterproof, durable containers are perfect for micro-sized geocaches. They can be attached to different camouflage and will last a long time. Plus, the larger tubes can hold both a logbook and a pencil. But their story isn’t just geocaching. In fact, you’ve probably used these hundreds of times and not even know it. Hint: There’s a key word in the heading to this section, “preform”. These small tubes are manufactured to be heated and expanded to form plastic bottles. Check out this video to see an animation of the process:
An example of a similar LED light.Nano geocaches in Shop Geocaching
Oft-maligned in the geocaching community, these smaller-than-small, magnetic geocaches are popular for high-muggle areas and urban geocaches. With so little room inside, it’s hard to believe that these geocaches were actually created for a reason other than geocaching. Mark Yvanovich, one of the early makers of these containers told us a little bit about the history, “These containers were originally LED blinking jewelry. The space where the log sheet is stored was where the button cell batteries went. They came with a separate rare earth magnet that could be used to attach it to clothing, etc…” Once these lights obtained new lives as geocaches, Mark and his wife made thousands of these, hand rolling all of the logbooks!
What did the buffalo say when he dropped his kid off at school? Bison. #dadjokes
It’s no secret that these tubes look nothing like real bison. Not even close. So what’s the reason behind the name? These containers were originally created by a company named Bison Designs. The company originally made aluminum carabiners in multiple shapes, including dog bones, mouse ears and more. Seeking out new things to create out of aluminum, the need for a small, waterproof container to carry medicine in arose—and thus, the Bison Tube was born.
Have you repurposed a container originally made for something else as a geocache? Tell us in the comments.
I can’t see my friend’s/spounse’s/brother’s/pet’s 7 Souvenirs of August Trophy Case. What’s up with that?
You can see all of the souvenirs that you friend/spouse/brother/pet has earned on their Public Profile under the Souvenirs tab. You can find their Public Profile using this tool.
How do I delete these souvenirs?
You can hide a souvenir from your Public Profile on Geocaching.com by selecting the “Hide This” button below the souvenir you would like to remove on your Private Profile. Please note that this will not remove the souvenir from your Private Profile or the mobile app. You can make the souvenir visible again at any time by selecting “Show This”, underneath the souvenir in your Private Profile.
Oh no, it’s the end of August and I just signed up. Will there be another opportunity to earn the 7 Souvenirs of August?
Well, well… we have no plans now, but who knows? This challenge might come around again.
There’s no way I can find them all. Can I have an exemption for X souvenir?
Geocaching is about exploration and discovery. Unfortunately, exemptions are not being issued.
I have the Geocaching Intro app and I can only see traditional geocache types. How can I participate?
You can earn the Explorer souvenir by logging a Traditional geocache in the Intro app. You’ll then be able to see this souvenir in your Trophy Case, which is mobile-friendly. To earn the other souvenirs and unlock the special 7th one, you can use the website or upgrade to the Geocaching Pro app.
I found all the souvenirs in August, but I didn’t log my geocache finds until September. Do I still earn the souvenirs?
You’ll be able to receive the first 6 souvenirs by back-dating your logs to the correct date. However, the Achiever souvenir will only be issued to those who have earned all 6 souvenirs and then visit their Trophy Case during the month of August.
Break it down for me. How do I earn each souvenir again?
The Nature Lover = Log a Found It on an EarthCache or an Attended for a CITO event.
The Explorer = Log a Found It on a Traditional geocache.
The Sightseer = Log a Found It on a Multi-Cache.
The Puzzler = Log a Fount It on a Mystery Cache.
The Socializer = Log an Attended for an Event Cache, Mega-Event, or Giga-Event.
The Collector = Log a Found It on a Virtual Cache, Whereigo, Letterbox Hybrid, or Webcam Cache.
The Achiever = Visit your Trophy Case after earning the 6 other souvenirs. To learn more about geocache types, go here.
What’s a souvenir, and why do I want one?
Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art displayed on your profile page that you can earn for various geocaching achievements, like finding a geocache in a new country. The 7 Souvenirs of August are extra special, as they only available during the month of August. To learn more about souvenirs, visit our Help Center.
Do I need to find the souvenirs in a specific order?
Nope! Bonus points if you do though! (Just kidding. There are no bonus points for earning the souvenirs in any particular order.)
I’ve heard rumors that Geocaching HQ has developed a very scientific quiz to reveal my geocaching alter-ego. Can you confirm these rumors?
Yes! The rumors are absolutely true. (Well, not the *very scientific* part.) Discover what type of geocacher you are: http://bit.ly/1z8vjKz.
When exactly will I be able to start earning the souvenirs?
RandolphAgarn and I camped out to (sneakily) watch the FTF in action.
2 x 2 Makers and Hiders Unite
It takes all kinds to make geocaching the quirky, wonderful, interesting hobby/game/community that it is right now. Some like to solve puzzles, others like to trek across mountains; some are serial geocache finders, and others are serial geocache hiders. Altogether, these different types make for a healthy (and fun!) geocaching ecosystem.
Within this geocaching ecosystem, I’ve always considered myself your everyday, traditional finder—like moss (a little bit boring), but surely important for some unknown, ecological reason. That is, I used to think of myself like moss. Then, a few months ago, I attended a Maker Madness event hosted by Geocaching HQ. I walked out of the event knowing that I too wanted to create great geocaching experiences for others to enjoy… But I didn’t want to hide just any old geocache. I wanted to hide the Mona Lisa of geocaches.
There was, however, one small problem. When it comes to any and all geocache making skills…well, I don’t have any. I never took woodshop. I don’t know anything about Arduino computers. And (much to my puzzle-loving grandfather’s disappointment), I cannot solve the Monday crossword puzzle, let alone design a worthwhile puzzle of my own.
Hiding without Making
So how does one hide a masterpiece geocache without having any relevant Maker skills?
Luckily, I discovered that geocache hiding, like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, has a built-in Phone-a-Friend option. You see, like the broader geocaching community, geocache hiders come in all shapes and sizes. There are the Makers, who imagine (and implement) the future of geocaching containers; then you have the location hiders, who have a knack for finding breathtaking hiding spots; and finally, there are folks like me. I am nothing if not reliable, which as it turns out, is a key ingredient to a great geocache. (Ahem, you’ve heard of a little thing called geocache maintenance? No one likes a soggy log.)
RandolphAgarn makes final adjustments to our geocache.
So, I used my Phone-a-Friend card to call up my friend and Geocaching HQ mobile developer Arne Moen (Username: RandolphAgarn). He is everything that a Maker should be: creative and innovative with more than a few DIY tricks up his sleeve. And fortunately for me, he enjoys making geocaches more than maintaining them, so we formed a geocache hiding partnership. He built the container and I will be in charge of maintaining his creation going forward.
RandolphAgarn and I were so excited/nervous about putting our geocache out in the wild that we decided to sneakily camp out on a nearby bench to watch the FTF (first-to-find) in action. Given our geocache’s proximity to Geocaching HQ (home to 70 plus geocachers with instant notifications set up), we weren’t shocked to see the FTF go to a couple of HQ staffers within 20 minutes of publication. ScatterMyCaches and ReidSomething were pumped to earn their first FTF (but less excited to FTF the giant spider that had been quick to make the geocache its home). A big congrats also to MedicineManOfSeattle and TrailGourmet for the STF (second-to-find).
Okay, so our geocache may not be the Mona Lisa of geocaches, but it sure feels good to have played a part in creating a quality experience that many will be able to enjoy. And, unlike moss, it’s nice to know that we all have the ability to choose what role we’d like to play in our geocaching ecosystem.
3 reasons to hide a geocache with a friend
It’s more fun. ‘Nuff said.
You can share the workload. From building a container to maintaining it, hiding a geocache can be a lot of work! Splitting up or sharing responsibilities makes it a whole lot easier.
Collaboration inspires creativity. The brain is a wonderful thing. Two brains are even better.
The FTF team!RandolphAgarn and I talked the FTF’ers into taking a celebratory selfie with us!Early finders Jwlatona and COOP.
GeoTours Deliver Geocaching Adventure Around the Globe
In the time-honored geocaching tradition, it’s a map that helps tell the story. Check out the blue pins scattered across the world on the Geocaching GeoTours map. Each marker is a GeoTour location. Each GeoTour is a chance to explore a unique destination as only geocaching can unveil it. Local experts in each destination pick out the best places to hide new geocaches, including historic sites, parks, cities and more.
Nearly 40 GeoTours offer geocachers custom-crafted adventures in locations like the Islands of Bermuda, New Caledonia or the Hochkönig region in Austria. And if you’re interested in a driving tour of North America, more than two dozen GeoTours provide unforgettable experiences.
Where will geocaching take you this year? Let us know in comments below.
THE HIGHKING CODE GeoTourPasseport pour le Nord GeoTourBermuda Conservation GeoTour
