Geocaching

[bocky]

Geocaching has been mentioned a few times on this forum, but there is no "official" thread about it. So, here it is!

Ask anything about GC, tell your stories, ask for the best caches when travelling to another country...



I bought a used GPS receiver about a month ago (a Magellan Meridian), and since I don't have much free time because of university, I have only found 4 caches so far. On one of the hunts, I was in the middle of nowhere and I see someone approaching. It was the guy who sold me the GPS who was also looking for the cache I had just found!!

By the way, if you come to Portugal and want to find some caches, check www.geocaching-pt.net for some stats and there is also a very useful map showing the location of every cache in the contry! (click Stats on the left and then Maps - or click here - click on the boxes to zoom in). Are there maps like this for other countries?

[milanocapitale]

Hi brothers!Someone knows about my passion for horseriding and I am a rally raid worker so orienteering and adventure is something I like.I'd like to begin with geocaching and I need a gps for my excursions by horse(to map my club, my way home and how many km I do and my speed too) and to be a Geocacher too.If someone wants to help me...Thanx!

[bocky]

One of the things I noticed when I was looking for a GPSr is that there is no perferct GPS receiver. When you think you have chosen the right one and ask someone for his opinion, most probably he will tell you that there is a better one for only more €15, no matter what GPS you choose.

So, first you need to decide weather you want to buy a new or used GPSr. There are good deals on used GPS receivers and usually it won't make a big difference if it is used or not. You can buy a good used GPSr with the money you would spend on a basic new one. Second, do you want a GPSr with mapping capabilities? Of course, it is much better if you can actually see the roads and the name of the places near you, lakes, etc than just your coordinates and your path, but they are more expensive. Try to decide what is the maximum you want to spend on the GPSr, then compare the GPS receviers that don't exceed that price. As I said, also look for used GPSrs, you may find someone selling one near you (I did, I met with the guy, watched how the GPSr worked, he explained me what I needed to know and I bought it. Nice.)

It took me a year to buy a GPSr after I knew about GC, so good luck!

[milanocapitale]

It's true I think...I have spoken with my friends pilots and navigators in Paris-dakar(I am a team manager in training) and they told me about martian functions, I spoke with my girlfriend a very good horserider and she told me that I need just to know how many kms I do in my excursions by horse so an etrex is more than perfect, a friend of mine works in China and he tld me that there are really cheap but he doesn't know if they works there and now u spoke me about your point of view I think it's the best one...But geocaching is not so popular in Italy so nobody sells it...

[Dakkus]

But geocaching is not so popular in Italy so nobody sells it...

But you don't live /that/ far away from places such as Switzerland and Austria, where there might be more geocachers. Just do a nice little dothunting tour there and come back with a GPSr. :D

[Dakkus]

Are there maps like this for other countries?

http://brillig.com/geocaching/finland.shtml
There you go :)

[milanocapitale]

But geocaching is not so popular in Italy so nobody sells it...

But you don't live /that/ far away from places such as Switzerland and Austria, where there might be more geocachers. Just do a nice little dothunting tour there and come back with a GPSr.

good idea!Lugano(switzerland) is at 30 min of car from my home!And then with my new GPS u'll bring me to see Santa Claus home, ok?

[SUp3rFM]

I'm addicted to geoching. So far, I found 65 geocaches and have hidden 1, in Portugal.

Guess what, in www.geocaching.com there's a link for EBT.

If you want to check geocaches in any place in the world, use the network link for google earth. It will show you where are they!

I have a Magellan Sportrak Pro.

[Fjon]

Great! I am also a geocacher. Irish geocachers hang around here.
I've currently found 174 caches, and hidden 5.
Anyone starting out with little money should definitely buy this GPSr - it's basic, but it's good, and does everything you need. Any more money and you will just get maps, and other stuff you probably won't need.
Another good hint for finding geocaches in a particular country is this:

http://www.geocaching.com/map/ireland.asp

Replace "ireland" with whatever country you want. Some countries are there, some are not. Try it out. Or else use:

http://www.geocaching.com/map/europe.asp

And zoom in

For anyone thinking about doing geocaching - DO IT! You will see the most beautiful parts of your own country, you'll get fit, you'll always have somewhere to go on foreign holidays.
BTW - my geocaching name is, funnily enough, Fjon

[milanocapitale]

Is there any geocacher from spain?

[bocky]

By the way, 2 months ago I released a TravelBug, his mission is to visit Santa Claus in Rovaniemi I hope someone from EBT helps him if he ever reaches Finland. Here's the link. It's still in Portugal, though.

For those who don't know, a TravelBug is a dogtag with a tracking number (just like the notes) which you can attach to an object and then follow its route from cache to cache until it reaches its destination (if there is one).

[Fundamental]

I think I have to make a confessional.. geocaching is taking all my spare time and is also the reason why stoped tracking euros It's just so much more Fun!!!

[tiura]

I think I have to make a confessional.. geocaching is taking all my spare time and is also the reason why stoped tracking euros It's just so much more Fun!!!

I thought it was your and Venlis's baby that took all your time.

[bocky]

@Fundamental: Thanks for sending those cool geocoins to Portugal! I haven't seen any of them yet (only pictures), but I hope I manage to get to a cache with one of them soon.

These are the geocoins Fundamental mailed to Portugal:

Grand Experiment...
#19, #20, #21, #32, #33, #34

[Fundamental]

I think I have to make a confessional.. geocaching is taking all my spare time and is also the reason why stoped tracking euros It's just so much more Fun!!!

I thought it was your and Venlis's baby that took all your time.

That was only an excuse