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Is there anyone here who can share some experiences with Geocaching?


Guest inoubliable
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Guest inoubliable

DS7 turns 8 in about a week. This weekend has been chosen by my parents as the weekend they'd like to come up and visit for his birthday. Naturally, they wanted to know what DS7 would like for his birthday. He talked it over with me tonight. Seems that my parents are pressing to take them all to a movie on Friday night but DS7 just isn't feeling it. He'd rather go to Harper's Ferry on Saturday and turn in his Jr. Ranger booklet, pick up his badge, and grab his very own Jr Passport (so he doesn't have to share with DS12 anymore). I like the idea of this. My parents are okay with this, it seems, but she wanted to know what *they* could give him for his birthday then. DS7 thought a little more and came up with Geocaching.

 

Geocaching is something we've looked into a few times, but not in any depth. For instance, we registered an account on the website (a free account) but it looks like we *should* get a premium account. We've looked up some local geocaches and there's one at the end of our street practically. We're hoping to go look this weekend. We get that the general idea seems to be that you look on the website for caches that are near you, you use your GPS device to get you close, and then you get to looking around rocks and trees and whatnot. After you find it, there's a log book or some trinket or whatever that you sign, take, exchange, leave, trade, etc.

 

So. Questions.

 

1) We need a GPS device. We found the Geomate Jr. Anyone have experience with this? Is it truly easy enough for an 8 year old to use?

2) What is the easiest/most inexpensive item we can leave in a cache that we find? Does it need to be something specifically from the Geocaching store?

3) Have you ever left your own cache? What do you typically put in the box?

4) Any extra items you can think of to have on hand when you go looking? DH and I thought to add flashlights and maybe bug spray. Small first aid kit for scrapes? Baby wipes for cleaning hands afterwards?

 

Anything else that I'm totally missing?

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Can't tell you about the device. My kids borrowed one from other people in a local club.

 

You can put anything in a cache. My kids have seen a bubble blower, someone's old hall pass!, lip gloss, or a dollar. . . If you don't want to take something, you don't have to. You can just leave a small paper with your name to show that you found the cache if you want.

 

What to take with you depends on where you are. My kids have gone in suburban trails and parks. They didn't need anything other than what you would normally have for a walk in a suburban area.

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Guest inoubliable

Cool! We were looking at the site and there are a lot of neat looking things you can buy to put in the cache when you find one, but I wasn't sure what my parents' budget is for all of this. We were hoping we could put things like stickers or pins or keychains in there if we had them. DS7 just came up with an idea to create a sort of coupon and print it out with our "team name" and a cool quote, and then leave one in each cache we find. I'm really impressed with the ideas he's coming up with. Thanks for confirming what we can leave in a cache.

 

You know, I just looked at our local area and I'm a little surprised to see how many are being listed as in parking lots and playgrounds. For some reason, I was assuming that most would be on hiking trails. I mean, there *are* a lot on trails, but plenty are in areas we could look just while doing some weekend errands. Neat!

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DS7 turns 8 in about a week. This weekend has been chosen by my parents as the weekend they'd like to come up and visit for his birthday. Naturally, they wanted to know what DS7 would like for his birthday. He talked it over with me tonight. Seems that my parents are pressing to take them all to a movie on Friday night but DS7 just isn't feeling it. He'd rather go to Harper's Ferry on Saturday and turn in his Jr. Ranger booklet, pick up his badge, and grab his very own Jr Passport (so he doesn't have to share with DS12 anymore). I like the idea of this. My parents are okay with this, it seems, but she wanted to know what *they* could give him for his birthday then. DS7 thought a little more and came up with Geocaching.

 

Geocaching is something we've looked into a few times, but not in any depth. For instance, we registered an account on the website (a free account) but it looks like we *should* get a premium account. We've looked up some local geocaches and there's one at the end of our street practically. We're hoping to go look this weekend. We get that the general idea seems to be that you look on the website for caches that are near you, you use your GPS device to get you close, and then you get to looking around rocks and trees and whatnot. After you find it, there's a log book or some trinket or whatever that you sign, take, exchange, leave, trade, etc.

 

So. Questions.

 

1) We need a GPS device. We found the Geomate Jr. Anyone have experience with this? Is it truly easy enough for an 8 year old to use? no advice with that device but when the kids were little we got to "ground zero" with the gps and then the kids looked...the gps hardly ever gets you right on top of it

2) What is the easiest/most inexpensive item we can leave in a cache that we find? Does it need to be something specifically from the Geocaching store? stuff can be anything except food and things that can't handle heat (like crayons would melt all over everything and ruin the cache)...small stuff is good because caches are different sizes...we have used happy meal toys, state quarters, matchbox cars, keychains, army men, beads etc. Once you start caching you'll see the types of things that people trade...always trade, sometime people just take and then the cache is empty.

3) Have you ever left your own cache? What do you typically put in the box? We're hoping to hide our own eventually but haven't come up with a good spot.

4) Any extra items you can think of to have on hand when you go looking? DH and I thought to add flashlights and maybe bug spray. Small first aid kit for scrapes? Baby wipes for cleaning hands afterwards?

We carry a bag with pen and pencil, ziploc bags in case we need to put the trading item in a bag (some caches have water issues), bug spray, tweezers for micro size caches (the tiny ones are hard), stuff for trading, small garbage bags and extra batteries for the gps. We also like to print out the cache info so that we have the hints if we need them.

 

Anything else that I'm totally missing?

 

 

We like geocaching and don't go often enough...haven't been in a while. We've done plenty without the paid membership.

 

The ones in parking lots etc are probably micro caches that don't have things to trade. On the sight you should be able to see the size of the cache. I think there is a button to click that will mark the ones that are good for beginners and kids.

 

I have seen some "cards" like you describe in the other post. In our area this isn't common but I'm sure it varies. Around here, most have a log book to sign with your team name. You also 'sign in' on the website.

 

Travel bugs are kind of fun. We have moved some along and hope to send some out this year. A travel bug is a dog tag that you buy and attach to an item that you want to track as it moves from cache to cache. Sometimes these go missing so it really depends on the kid if this is a good fit.

 

We have always liked the secretive part of geocaching...finding and returning the cache without "muggles" (non-geocachers) seeing us. Secretive is important so that caches aren't moved or taken.

 

A favorite aspect is finding little places that you wouldn't otherwise know about. At least around here, geocachers like to hide caches in places they want to share with others.

 

Another thing I appreciate is "Cache in, trash out"...an encouragement to pick up trash along the way (being very careful, of course, we have stumbled on to obvious party areas with all the predictable gross garbage)

 

Hope that helps!

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We geocache ALL THE TIME in the spring and fall. We love it!

 

We have a garmin something or other. I can't say anything about gps's because I am a tech-idiot, but you can leave anything that will fit in the geocache. We typically leave little trinkets and toys. The courtesy rule is that you leave something that is "better" than whatever you take.

We usually go to the caches along trails and in the bush. We have bushwhacked so much! We have discovered beavers and walked across beaver dams, crossed streams by throwing in stepping stones, found old wasps nests and studied them, fed chickadees from our hands, collected moss, seen deer, found animal skulls, traipsed around old settlers cabins, been completely lost, found machine graveyards, and tons of other fun things...all within our city. We even once found a geocache when we weren't out geocaching by accident.

 

We always wear jeans, even if its hot, and always runners...no sandals or crocs. And now we always bring extra batteries for the GPS, and snacks and water. Sometimes we are out for 6-8 hours by accident. I have seen great improvement in my boys physical stamina and I love that they are getting exercise and out in nature. We usually skip the micros as part of the fun for us is finding "treasure".

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Last summer we looked for some in a state park and really enjoyed finding some beautiful spots we wouldn't have found otherwise. We also found a few letterboxes and we actually like doing the stamps better than the useless trinkets.

 

My son started a geocashing merit badge at camp one summer so we were trying to finish it up. Unfortunately we don't have an actual GPs device. We used Dh's new camera that, after you take a picture you can look at it and find the GPS coordinates where the photo was taken. With that and a compass we were able to get close enough to find the caches.

 

Because Dad won't let the kids touch the new camera, I wanted to find an inexpensive, simple gps for them to use. I was thinking along the lines of something that would just show coordinates where you are at and you use a compass to help you find where you are going. I haven't found anything under $60. I didn't expect them to be so expensive.

 

For items I just gathered miscl. small items around the house and I also found some party favors at walmart to put in - tiny nail polish, mini whoopie cushions.

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Guest inoubliable

I usually have a pair of gloves in my bag....helpful in muddy spots or prickly bushes/trees.

 

 

 

Oooh! Excellent! Going on the list. :)

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Guest inoubliable

Last summer we looked for some in a state park and really enjoyed finding some beautiful spots we wouldn't have found otherwise. We also found a few letterboxes and we actually like doing the stamps better than the useless trinkets.

 

My son started a geocashing merit badge at camp one summer so we were trying to finish it up. Unfortunately we don't have an actual GPs device. We used Dh's new camera that, after you take a picture you can look at it and find the GPS coordinates where the photo was taken. With that and a compass we were able to get close enough to find the caches.

 

Because Dad won't let the kids touch the new camera, I wanted to find an inexpensive, simple gps for them to use. I was thinking along the lines of something that would just show coordinates where you are at and you use a compass to help you find where you are going. I haven't found anything under $60. I didn't expect them to be so expensive.

 

For items I just gathered miscl. small items around the house and I also found some party favors at walmart to put in - tiny nail polish, mini whoopie cushions.

 

 

Just wanted to say that the Geocache Jr. GPS I mentioned upthread is no longer supported by the company that developed/manufactured it. I'm not sure why it's still for sale on Amazon. :( I found a Magellen xPlorerer (or something like that) for $111. I think we're going with that.

 

Excellent idea about the party favors. We have a Party City here and I know you can pick up little trinkets there for as little as $.10 each. Keychains and bubbles and glow sticks and such.

 

This is going to be so much fun!

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Geochaching is great fun! You will have a ball. :)

 

We do tiny trinket type toys, too.

 

One silly warning: pay attention to the type of cache you are hunting. We recently spent hours hunting for a cache, and *finally* realized it was a virtual cache. We had been circling it for hours, literally, looking for something tangible. :laugh:

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You can use buttons, plastic animals, pins, beads or old costume jewelry, super balls, small toys, painted rocks, fridge magnets, etc. We've never bought anything - a house with kids seems to naturally breed this kind of thing - just divert from your Goodwill pile. Since you trade, you only need a few, because you can re-trade the things you get.

 

If you have a removable GPS for your car, you can use that.

 

No need to spend $$$ on this hobby!

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Um, dumb question. We have a Garmin for the van. Can that be used to Geocache?? I'm trying to look it up online and it seems like it works, but I'm so tech-challenged that I am not for sure.

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Dd and I plan on trying it this spring too:) I have the geocaching app on my phone. There are apps for both iPhone and android. I have iPhone, dh android. I'm not sure how well the phone GPS thing works but will find out when it warms up and the snow melts. I live in a touristy area so there are lots of caches around like within 15 miles of my home. In my phone I have geocaching intro and geo bucket, don't remember the exact name on dh's phone but its something like cgeo.

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1) We need a GPS device. We found the Geomate Jr. Anyone have experience with this? Is it truly easy enough for an 8 year old to use? I think the least expensive GPS receiver that's currently fully supported is the Garmin eTrex 10. It's about $110. If you get the Geomate Jr you'd need to get an add-on kit to update the info that comes on the device. Otherwise the caches that come pre-loaded on the Geomate Jr would be pretty out-of-date. New caches are being placed constantly and old ones get archived. You want to have fun and not waste your time and energy looking for something that is no longer there. Oh, and the add-on kit description isn't clear about whether you can add totally new caches or if you can only update those that come pre-loaded on the Geomate Jr. If you can't add new ones, I would TOTALLY avoid buying the Geomate Jr.

2) What is the easiest/most inexpensive item we can leave in a cache that we find? Does it need to be something specifically from the Geocaching store? For a while when we were new cachers we left colored "gems" -- you can get bags of them at Michaels. Other ideas: marbles, dice, little plastic animals... think stuff that kids would want. No adult cachers that I know are interested in any of the swag stuff unless it's tech trinkets (flashlights, thumb drives, etc.) Just don't leave food/candy or anything that can leak or melt.

3) Have you ever left your own cache? What do you typically put in the box? Yes. I put souvenir pins, beads, etc.

4) Any extra items you can think of to have on hand when you go looking? DH and I thought to add flashlights and maybe bug spray. Small first aid kit for scrapes? Baby wipes for cleaning hands afterwards? Flashlights, walking stick to probe places you might not want to put your hand, water if you're going to be gone for a while, tweezers, leatherman type tool, plus anything you'd normally take with you for a similar outing (for example if you're going hiking for the day).

 

Anything else that I'm totally missing? Always bring your own pen! Some cache containers are too small to hold a pen, and other times the pen in the cache doesn't work. I love my space pen -- it even writes on wet paper and on waterproof paper that some people use to make their logs. Ballpoint pen is a good choice too.

Have fun caching! I go all the time -- well, this year I'm trying to be good and focus on school during the week, and I'm succeeding, but in previous years... I kinda did a lot of caching during the school week :001_cool:. I find it to be rather an addictive "hobby" and my kids and I regularly remark on the places we've gone that we'd never have known about if it weren't for caching.

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That's a great idea Terri. I need to make up a letterboxing bag. We haven't tried do do any of them in Nevada yet...so being prepared would be good!

 

 

We have a Letterboxing bag :-) It has our stamps, a stamp for the dog (for when we bring him), stamp pad, log books, a large garbage bag so we can spread out on the ground and keep things clean while we open the box and log in, a plastic baggie that holds a wet cloth for cleaning stamps, and a compass.

 

I love having the logbook with all of those amazing hand-carved stamps. We have to letterbox because we need accessible trails. We also live in the suburbs and don't want to trespass.

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Um, dumb question. We have a Garmin for the van. Can that be used to Geocache?? I'm trying to look it up online and it seems like it works, but I'm so tech-challenged that I am not for sure.

 

Try it. My Garmin lets you put in coordinates for your destination. It also has a "where am I" function which shows your current location in coordinates. Choose a location in a small park or somewhere not-remote, and try it. OR - find a location you choose on Google maps, and put in the coordinates and see if you can find it. (Pull up the map, right click on the location - center of a park, say - choose "what's here", then hover over the location - the coordinates should come up.)

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Check your local pawn shops for used GPS units, too.

We have released a few travel bugs. Two are missing, but our latest (released on vacation in WA in April) is in Germany right now. http://www.geocachin...tracker=TB4Y1YK

The great thing about travel bugs that make it to Germany: they never seem to end up going missing. But they also never seem to ever leave Germany. They just travel around and around... One of my travel bugs has been in Germany for the past few years and has visited a bunker and some other cool places.

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