GPS / Geocaching

[syoungblood]

Hello all, I hope that the season was a good one for all of you and your families.  Just wanted to ask for help from the members here.  We just read a bit about something called "geocaching" in Pop Up Times magazine.  It sounds like it could be a lot of fun for the family during camping trips.  First off, does anyone here use a GPS or do this geocaching stuff?  Can you tell us a bit more about it?

Second, I guess we would need to buy a GPS.  Oh darn, may need to get a new toy for Christmas.  Does anyone here use a GPS for anything?  Any advice on what to look for or a good place to shop for one?  We would appreciate any input or guidence from the knowledgable people here at PUT.  Thanks

[B-flat]

Mine is a Magellan and it was about $300 several years ago.  You should be able to get a good one for under $140 now.  There's a website at:  www.geocaching.com which you might find helpful if you are interested in trying to geocaching.  Be prepared for exploring some rather remote areas if you attempt it.

[JonesFamilyJayco]

Other than camping in our pop-up & fishing, geocaching has become my family's favorite hobby.  I too learned about it by reading Pop-Up Times.  I checked out the web site http://www.geocaching.com & was impressed from the start.  I use an inexpensive Garmin eTrex (advertised at Target for $79.00) & it is perfect for our needs.  

All of the sites I have visited have introduced me to places that I enjoyed, but would not have found otherwise.  For example, we were in Ashville, NC this October & there were lots of caches all around.  We went on hikes off of the Blue Ridge Parkway, found community parks, etc.  Every site so far has been easy for my two children to accompany me (ages 2 & 5)

I have 2 caches hidden near my home.  I love history, so I have been trying to incorporate my sites with the history of my county, Lincoln, NC.  It is fun to plan, investigate, & find a good site as you are planning your own cache.  I check my email every night to see how many visitors have found our caches.

Also, they have a game that involves a "Travel Bug".  This is a id tag that you buy from geocaching.com & place it on an item (keychain, toy, etc.)  The item is moved from cache to cache & each move is logged at the geocaching site.  Some of these travel bugs have traveled all over the country & to other countries.

Give it a shot! You will love it!

[labontefan]

If I can put in a plug for my employer   :

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/ProdGroup.asp?c=7&g=144350

I'm thinking about getting one for me and one for my brother for Christmas. Just haven't decided exactly which one yet. (I'm leaning toward the Legend.) My brother's getting ready to retire, and I think he would enjoy Geocaching as a new hobby.

I haven't had a chance to try Geocaching yet, but I've registered at the website and discovered there are several in my area. One of my coworkers has found a couple of caches. Said his little boy loves it...calls it "treasure hunting"!

[Steve-o-bud]

This is the first I've ever heard of this! I always seem to be the last to know. :confused:

This is kind of interesting...

[tlhdoc]

This is the first I've ever heard of this! I always seem to be the last to know. :confused:

This is kind of interesting...

Hey Steve it is fun.  We have a handheld unit that we use more in the TV.  I wish now that I would have bought one with more memory.  I down load detailed maps of the area we are traveling to, so I can find my way around better.  Other than that I really like my Magellan.

[brainpause]

It is a great hobby that Holly and I have discovered and started doing within the past 2 months. I had been wanting a GPS for a good while, and finally talked her into letting me get one. I got a good deal on one from ebay.
 
I use a Garmin Etrex Legend, and I love it! It fits perfectly into my cell phone holder in the truck, so I can see/watch it while driving. The Trip Computer is probably the thing I use most when not Geocaching.
 
I have found that this hobby "forced" me to walk and think, 2 things which I probably wouldn't be doing (couch with television) otherwise. It is a fun (and sometimes frustrating, though fun still) hobby.
 
Look for me on the geocaching boards too. Brainpause there also.
 
Larry

[abbear]

Good info posted by all.  I use a Garmin e-trex legend gps and find it adequate for most situations.  //www.geocaching.com is THE website for info on this game.

If you try this and like it, the next step is to something called orienteering.  Orienteering is one of the biggest participant sports in Europe.  You use a map and compass to search out control points on a course.  Many times families wiil take a lunch and make a day of it.

Have fun geocaching!

[syoungblood]

Thanks for all the great input.  I appreciate the comments from all of you.  Anything furth would be great.  Hopefully, we can start this geocaching stuff this winter.  It really sounds fun.  Take care.

[tlhdoc]

I use a Garmin Etrex Legend, and I love it! It fits perfectly into my cell phone holder in the truck, so I can see/watch it while driving. The Trip Computer is probably the thing I use most when not Geocaching.
 

Larry I bought a dash mount holder and a 12 volt adapter for my GPS so I can use it in the car.

[2manytoyz]

I started with a GPS that plugs into my laptop (Garming Tripmate).  Works very well in the tow vehicle during travels.  This one will be heading for Ebay shortly.

I then purchased an Etrex Legend, as others did here.  This one sees a lot of use.  I take it with me in my kayak, onboard our pontoon boat, on the dash of my tow vehicle, and on the handlebars of my mountain bike.  This one is especially useful as very detailed maps can be loaded into the 8MB onboard memory.  That equates into 1/2-2/3 of FL.  The base map of the entire US isn't part of that memory.  I'll be keeping this one as it is completely waterproof and very tough.

The next one I plan on buying in a month is a Garmin iQue 3600.  It's a PDA with a built-in GPS.  Very slick, very small.  A coworker has one.  Color screen, and will take a 512MB memory card.  That equates to the entire SouthEast, and still have room for programs, and MP3 files.  Got to sell some toys to be able to afford it!  This one sits in a cradle on the steering column of your vehicle, gives you detailed routing of your trip, and actually talks through a speaker (similar to a wife backseat driving).  

[labontefan]

I gave my brother the Garmin eTrex Legend for Christmas--also gave myself one! Crutchfield has "employee shopping days" for about two weeks in late November/early December where they give us a bigger than usual employee discount. Very nice for Christmas shopping--and shopping for new toys for yourself.

So far all I've done with it is sit on the front porch with it so it could "find" the satellites and check out some of the features.

I bought the car mount for it also. Guess I need to mount it and take a few test trips!

For those of you that have the Legend, did you also purchase the accessory CD with the street maps? Does that make it more useful?

BTW, 2manytoyz, about the iQue--since we just recently started carrying the handheld GPS units, our Tech Support department got test units of several of the models, so they can research them. One of the ones they had was the iQue. That one is VERY cool! One of the tech guys said he mounted it on his dashboard and drove around with it for awhile. He entered a destination and the iQue would tell him when and where to turn. A couple of times he took a wrong turn deliberately, and the iQue immediately readjusted the route, and told him how to get to the destination from his new location. That one was a bit out of my price range--maybe next time we have our Christmas shopping days!

[brainpause]

I have the Legend, but haven't purchased any CD's yet. I don't really plan to in the near future, so I can't comment on it.

However, go to the boards at geocaching.com and look up Legend. You will find lots of comments about the software, good and bad.

Larry

[2manytoyz]

If you have a Legend, you NEED the Mapsource CD!  You only have a very tiny fraction of the available maps.  The best one for this is the Roads & Recreation CD.  There are a couple of others, but this one has very detailed maps, and limited information on points of interest.  The result is rather small files and maps down to residential street level.  My coworker has multiple Mapsource programs, we've tried them, and with only 8MB of memory, this is the best choice in our humble opinions.

If you don't have Road & Rec yet, and want more info, contact me directly...

I've used my Legend for several cross State trips.  Nice, but the map is a little difficult to see.  My buddy used his iQue this past week to drive from FL to NY and back.  The screen is incredible, and as you mentioned, the auto routing works great.  He took no other maps, and was able to drive around NY using only the iQue.  Brave man, or smart toy.  Once you see it in action, you'll be selling toys on Ebay like me.