Geocaching

[JR]

1.) Dump a cache box at a dg course containing a good starter disc and instructions on how to play.
2.)???????
3.) Grow the sport.

That's a cool idea.

[AciDBatH666]

Sought out 4 with my gf yesterday. Found 3, too dark for the 4th one. I went search for one easy one on my lunch break about 30 minutes ago. Easy find. Me and my gf finally have something that she's kinda interested in that we can do together. I'm anxious to get some of my own containers to get more people onto our disc golf courses.
Found a Nano one last night too. Super small, painted the same color as a fire hydrant. We looked at this thig for 5 minutes till we realized it was staring back at us in plain site. It's just cool to think that thousands of ppl are around this thing every day yet none of them will ever notice it.

[Jsw]

Not that I need another effing hobby, but can someone point me in the direction of a good affordable hand-held GPS that I could use to get into Geocaching with?

Would be nice to have something to do with the girlfriend, she likes hiking with me - are a lot of these woods/hiking based? I don't want to be wandering around urban sprawl looking for a coffee can under a dumpster or something. I just will take any excuse I can to get out in the bush.

Thanks.

[dgdave]

If either of you have a smartphone, the mobile app is under $20

[Jsw]

She has a Blackberry, I'll look into it.

I just surfed some Geocaching forums, bunch of people bitching about which $500+ GPS is better. Yeesh - maybe I'll just stick to hiking without a tangible goal.

[AciDBatH666]

You really dont need to spend a ton on a gps. You can even get a Garmin and do it with that. I think you can punch in coordinates with it. I have my garmin in my car and haven't tried. But I'm debating it. I have the iPhone ap, it was 10 bucks. It's WELL worth it. But it does suck juice from your battery pretty quick. It's got everything you need from the website tho. Logs, hints, description... But sometimes the map takes a while to load (Im assuming that's what burns battery life)... And around some areas the gps will ping really bad and confuse you. It did it to me. I was about 10 feet from a spot I was supposed to be looking and all of a sudden it jumped to 35ft.

I was thinking of seeing if my garmin would let me punch in coords that I'd get from my iphone and use the Garmin for the gps instead... ALso because the garmin has a compass... My 3g iPhone doesn't have a compass.

[sunspot]

I foresee a horror movie about this.

[dgdave]

If she has a BB, you can download Blackstar for free, but its not great. The Geocahing Navigator is great and is $20.I didn't like Cacheberry at all.

All of these are on BB App World.

[Jsw]

Interesting, So basically I download a $20 app for the blackberry and i'll be set for paperless Geocaching? Won't I have to buy some sort of "maps" package as well? I'm completely new and oblivious to all this. The only GPS I have is a Garmin for my car that I use to "geocache" a good place to take a dump on road trips

I'll check it out - thanks a lot Dave.

**EDIT** just googled "Blackberry Geocache Navigator" - Found a good site with some videos and other information. Thanks a shitton Dave, now I have a plan.

1. Make girlfriend buy app for her Blackberry. "Baby its something we can do together!"
2. Save the hundreds of dollars I would have spent on a nice GPSr.
3. Succeed.

[Dogma]

can someone point me in the direction of a good affordable hand-held GPS that I could use to get into Geocaching with?

are a lot of these woods/hiking based? I don't want to be wandering around urban sprawl looking for a coffee can under a dumpster or something.

Any of the handheld Garmin or Magellan models work well. Both companies have models starting under $100. If you want good info/debate about GPS models go to http://www.geocaching.com and check out their forum. They're dorky about that stuff the way we are about discs. A car one would possibly work, but only if it has an internal battery and you can carry it as you walk. Also, it can be worth getting a Topo program for your GPS to show topography in wooded areas (some cheaper GPS don't have the ability to load maps).

As far as the actual caching goes, visit http://www.geocaching.com/about/ for a great overview and instructions on getting started.

Many caches are in wooded/hiking areas, but caches can be urban, rural, underwater, or just about anywhere. The description page for each cache gives you a sense of what it's like. In addition to different kinds of terrain, there are different kinds of caches. Some are hidden boxes. Some are hidden notes. Some (virtual caches) are just coordinates of places that don't have anything hidden but are cool to visit like a waterfall or cave somewhere in the woods. Some caches are even multi-step treasure hunts where each cache gives you clues to find the next cache.

[Jsw]

Thanks Dogma, I'm all over it.

Looks like the Geocaching navigator is actually $40 per year for the blackberry. Won't prevent me from getting it but, food for thought to anyone else interested.

[Dogma]

I should add that there are pros and cons to smartphone/blackberry GPS setups. The paperless aspect is great, as is the internet access if you realize you need more info when you're out wandering. But having done some caches that were quite a few hours long, it is important to think about battery life. A traditional handheld GPS usually takes AA batteries and it's good to be able to carry extra batteries with you for those times when you get lost or have some other delay. Especially important for caches in terrain where the GPS is just as important to get back to where you started as it is in finding the cache itself.

Don't forget to mark your parking area as a waypoint on your GPS when you start your hike so you can find your way back to it.



IMPORTANT NOTE:
If your goal is to use geocaching as a way to get a wife/girfriend to go hiking with you I have one piece of advice: Let her carry the GPS. It's not nearly as fun to be the person who is standing around with nothing to do, waiting for someone else to point the way. This became a big enough issue in our family that we finally ended up with two GPS so my wife and I could each 'drive'.

[Jsw]

Fair enough, not a bad idea. She loves to hike with me as it is, so this is just to enhance the experience if anything.

I just checked and Trimble(the company that does the Geocache Navigator app for blackberry) only works on the Blackberry Storm model, she has one of the newer models which isn't supported by their stuff. So looks like I'm SOL for the time being unless I want to purchase a GPSr.

[jnecessary]