Any geocachers?

markv · Post by **markv** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:47 am

Did a search and it looks like there are a couple here.

I got a GPS for Christmas and so did my brother's wife. We've been out a few times already and are loving it. Already been to a couple areas I had no idea were there and I've lived in this town for 15 years! Great family activity if you like the great outdoors. Won't be out this week though, were supposed to get about an inch of ice then 12 inches of snow over the next 48 hours!

Thinking about creating a whistle related cache.

If you're not sure what geocaching is go to

http://www.geocaching.com

My user name there is el_tenedor

Mark V.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:57 am

I've had an inkling to try this. The first step would be a GPS.

What model do you have?

markv · Post by **markv** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:55 am

Flyingcursor wrote:I've had an inkling to try this. The first step would be a GPS.

What model do you have?

I just started last week so take any info I give with a grain of salt.

I've got a Garmin Etrex which is the bare bones model for geocaching. My Sister-in-Law has a Magellen Sport(something)pro which has more memory, WAAS (better accuracy, sometimes), maps, and other gizmos. When we went out together this weekend I had no trouble finding any caches and was able to set up a goto faster. The Magellan has downloadable waypoint entry which is nice. I have to create a waypoint then edit it via a scroll up and down pick a letter and enter it one at a time which is slow. The Etrex can connect to a PC but you have to buy a $30 cable.

The Etrex will run about a hundred bucks or less and the Magellan was around $250. At this point, 10 caches, in my geocaching experience the Etrex is great but eventually I can easily see upgrading. If you are in an unfamiliar area the maps would be very handy.

The accuracy on both units that day was within 15 feet or so.

There is a huge amount of info on the geocaching site listed earlier about different models and the +\- of each model.

Can't wait til spring!

I still can't believe I crawled 15 feet into a 3' diameter culvert on Friday to find one! It was a great cache though.

Mark V.

picardy third · Post by **picardy third** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:08 am

Yeah, I geocache. It is a blast and introduces you to new areas you may never have thought to go. I think geocaching in Ireland would be especially fun. I've seen that there are a few caches in Ireland. Now it is just a matter of getting there...

P3

Jeff Stallard · Post by **Jeff Stallard** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:22 am

I don't geocache, but I am a letterboxer. It tends to be a little less...remote, and rather than coordinates, it gives you clues. The easy ones give you paces and directions, but the hard (good) ones make you work for it, either by solving riddles or doing some research before heading out. I don't know how geocaching works, but with letterboxing, you have your own stamp (most people make their own), and when you find the box, you stamp the book in the box with your stamp, then stamp your own book with the stamp in the box. Some letterboxes are literally hidden in plain sight. I found one about four feet from a major footpath at OSU campus. Some letterbox clues don't even say what state they're in; you have to figure it out.

pearl grey · Post by **pearl grey** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 7:26 pm

Jeff Stallard wrote:I don't geocache, but I am a letterboxer. It tends to be a little less...remote, and rather than coordinates, it gives you clues. The easy ones give you paces and directions, but the hard (good) ones make you work for it, either by solving riddles or doing some research before heading out. I don't know how geocaching works, but with letterboxing, you have your own stamp (most people make their own), and when you find the box, you stamp the book in the box with your stamp, then stamp your own book with the stamp in the box. Some letterboxes are literally hidden in plain sight. I found one about four feet from a major footpath at OSU campus. Some letterbox clues don't even say what state they're in; you have to figure it out.

I've heard of geocaching but not letterboxing. Where does one find the clues for letterboxing? Are they posted online? (And are you at Ohio State uni?)

I stumbled upon a geocaching website a while back, and even though I don't have a GPS, I was able to find a nearby cache from clues on the website and coordinates (which I plugged into Mapquest). Very fun. I'd love to hide something myself, but I wouldn't know what the coordinates were!

Jeff Stallard · Post by **Jeff Stallard** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 7:53 pm

Here's a great page devoted to North American letterboxing: http://www.letterboxing.org/. I think it's also pretty big in Great Britain too, and around the world to some extent.

I think letterboxing and geocaching are pretty much the same, but from what I've seen, letterboxing is more creative and geocaching is more about orienteering. Check out some of the clues on that page; they can get pretty interesting.

flatlandfiddler · Post by **flatlandfiddler** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:53 am

Yeah, the girlfriend pulled me into this hobby. I love it. I have a Garmin Legend which I find useful for all sorts of things.

flatlandfiddler · Post by **flatlandfiddler** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:04 am

wow, what a cool parallel universe. I've seen some pretty creative geocaches. There are often caches out there where clues are encoded on the site or found along the way. One of the more vexing geocaches I've found was entitled "Pirate Punishment" and consisted of a smaller than film canister-sized container suspended on string from a wooden plank in the middle of a footbridge. Another, called "Pushing Up Posies" was in a graveyard, hidden within the base of some fake flowers by a gazebo. Not every geocache is simply a tupperware container with a logbook

Ridseard · Post by **Ridseard** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 3:13 pm

Geocaching is fun! I have a Garmin Legend. My wife has a Garmin Etrex.

Finn MacCool · Post by **Finn MacCool** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 2:06 am

Our family both letterboxes and geocaches. I just hid my third letterbox in a library, to create some fun hunting among the stacks.

The geocaching is more fun for my daughter, as she likes swapping out the little trinkets, as is the custom. I am plotting out and gathering parts for two geocaches out here in Los Angeles. I like being able to read the internet posts of other hunter's discoveries on www.geocaching.com, and to maintain an online log of my own finds... two things that letterboxing doesn't offer.

I try to letterbox and geocache when I travel alone on business trips... a great way to see the city.

I'm more than pleased with my Magellan SporTrak Pro, quite affordable with the greyscale screen. A color screen would be nice, but I wanted to get into the sport with a lower initial investment.

BTW, both of my first two letterboxes disappeared, so it's been a frustrating start.

We geocached in Ireland, but were disappointed that there seemed to be no source for letterboxes in Ireland.

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 6:43 pm

Yep, my wife and I have been known to spend a Saturday tracking down caches... Great excuse for a hike, gone places we'd never considered going. I use a Garmin GPSMAP 60C, she uses a Garmin eTrex. If we're really going nuts, we hook an old eMap up to a laptop and display the caches on top of 1 meter USGS satellite imagery while we drive around. That's cheating, sort of, but so incredibly cool!