trickortreat

Soooo "Need to blend in while urban caching? There's an app for that!" You iPhone cachers are so lucky. It's like a GPSr, paper instructions, pen, and camera all rolled into one. Definitely would lighten the load, and help eliminate the need for 8 arms just to juggle everything. When I cache with my iPhone-owning boyfriend, he's certainly a lot less encumbered. He's used to having his wallet, coins and keys in his pockets, and caching with just the iPhone in his hand. I'm envious. You know, part of the problem seems to be Ladies' wallets with their built-in coin purses don't fit in jean or trouser pockets so well. So for me the choice has been either bring the whole purse along or clumsily hand-carry the wallet. I*must* have my wallet with me. (Long story: my friend Esther had her purse stolen from her car while jogging and the ensuing problems of identity theft were just hellacious and a big lesson to the rest of us. Example: even though she filed all the proper reports, as she was about to leave for work one morning, the police came and searched her house (!!) because the thieves had used her ID to establish a checking account and the went and bought expensive electronics. The checks bounced, so the store filed a theft report and a request for a search of Esther's home to recover their stolen electronics. The judge somehow didn't see Esther's ID theft reports in the system, and so a search warrant was issued. This kind of accusation nightmare went on for 2 years. I now keep a close eye on my wallet.)

Thanks everybody for your great answers. It's helping me refine what I want: I'm just looking to find something practical to use while caching in local parking lots, city parks, along the sidewalk... that sort of urban area, without appearing too hard-core. I want to be able to cache spontaneously, so it should be versatile enough to be an everyday accessory...something that fits in when going to work. I want some way to have quick access to several categories of things (the most important being TOTT, swag, pens, camera, keys), and yet not have them spill out on the ground if I bend and twist while searching. Taking your answers, I've concluded it should be a large bag in a material suitable for work, that has a long shoulder strap so I can wear it diagonally and search with my hands free. There should be many pockets inside, hopefully secured with zippers or Velcro to keep things from falling out, and it would be good to keep some geocaching necessities in a smaller zippered bag that can fit inside the large bag, then it can be moved easily to a backpack for when I'm hiking in a more rural situation. And if I were a designer, I might design a long black vest that has many secured pockets on the inside and be somewhat plain on the outside…so it would function for caching as well as a fly-fishing vest, but would look elegant enough to go to the PTA in! Thanks again for your contributions!

Great tips, there Desert Trailblazers! So nice of you to help others with the maintenance. What about your TOTT? I keep extendable magnets, an extendable mirror, and long handled tweezers on hand, but recently I had to use duct tape (which was supplied) to retrieve a cache. I had not one like that before.

You made that? So pretty! Looks comfy, too.

Just got a suggestion from someone else who uses a large camera bag, the kind with many pockets for different lenses and a zip top. Says this gives her the excuse of telling people she's looking for her lens cap, LOL. A camera bag is actually a great suggestion too!

JJball, sounds like you have a very effective wardrobe for caching. I will look into getting some cargo pants for sure. My pens like to pop out of the back pockets on my jeans when I'm crouched down searching. I tell ya I keep dropping stuff!

You wear it diagonally? My cute designer handbag has a short strap and barely holds my day-to-day essentials. But I would like to be able to cache spontaneously.

This thing rocks: www.cyclegear.com ogio 450 waist pack I was caching a few feet outside the open back door of a cycle shop yesterday, maybe I should have gone inside. Agree that fanny packs are the best for hands-free caching, they're just not seen much around my area anymore. I do like the zippered pockets though, too.

Yesss! A bag with zippered compartments for regular items and geocaching items would be nice. I just checked Healthy Back bags online. The one-strap style would avoid creating the Dolly Partonization, so that would be good. Does it slide off your shoulder when using your hands to do searches?

Thanks for your answers. I suppose I'll start noticing backpacks everywhere, now. I'm not exactly slender so I think people would avoid whatever gym whose logo might be on my pack! The thing I worry about with backpacks is that they make me look like Dolly Parton on steroids, but without the little middle.

I am in need of a more efficient way to carry the stuff I need while caching in suburbia: the geo-info on paper, my GPSr, my purse with wallet and keys and pens and sunglasses, trinkets to put in caches, my reading glasses, TOTT, etc. How do you manage all this gear and still blend into urban environments?

Aha! So there's one in the Las Padres National Forest. Good to know. Thanks.

Agreed! Taoiseach, EaOnt I think you are referring to a post of mine. I've lived in Southern California all my life, and SoCal is a commonly seen and accepted diminutive. Same with "So. Cal." or "So. Calif." I'm sorry if it confuses anyone not from the area. My post was actually asking about caches in that area, so it's fine if those readers from other areas overlook the question.

Letterbox caches are supposed to be contain a special stamp you use to stamp your notebook or whatever, and in turn, you are supposed to have a personal stamp you bring to stamp the log with. Correct? Then why are people creating caches that never had a stamp, don't even MENTION stamps, and yet they call them Letterbox or Letterbox-hybrid caches? If stamping isn't involved, the cache is a Traditional cache. So, are there any REAL Letterbox-that-includes-stamping caches to be found in SoCal? (Hoping especially for San Gabriel Valley area.)

I have had some trouble both yesterday and today. The site is not running slow for me, but I have trouble with a link. I go to: Hide and Seek a Cache then: First time? Learn How to Hide a Geocache. then: under Step 2 Preparing Your Cache, where it says Cache Contents in bold, it says "Include a note to welcome the cache finder." The word "note" is supposed to link to a copy of the "Congratulations! You have found it -intentionally or not" note. Instead, it opens a new display of the same Hide and Seek a Cache page I started with. Did the note disappear, or is this another site problem?

Hmmm, how about: "How many finds should someone have before they really should give back to the community by hiding a cache?" If I were a person with 6822 finds and NO hides, I'd certainly be feeling guilty. It's sort of like having fun at someone else's expense, in my mind. Hiding is definately a good thing, and I think some of the most creative ideas might come from those who haven't "seen it all", and can come up with a fresh vision. Personally, I had a unique idea early on, but since then, I've read how certain plastics will not stand up to sun exposure, and that idea got put on hold. So waiting some time/having some experience can be useful. But wouldn't it be nice if everyone with 100 finds had placed some caches? PS- I WILL place that cache after I tweak it. Got some other ideas too, all of them not run-of-the-mill.

Such helpful answers! I already feel the frustration slithering away. StarBrand, I'm glad you agree it's not terribly intuitive- that means my Legend-induced migraine was somewhat justified. BlueDeuce, I thank you for topping it off with step-by-step instructions; it gives me confidence. Next time, you should write the manual for Garmin! I appreciate both of you taking the time to answer forum questions. This is going to be fun!

How do I program coordinates for finding a geocache into a plain Garmin eTrex Legend? It is not the Cx or Hcx model, it is the translucent blue Legend that does not have a color screen. It seems I can only mark where I am as a waypoint and can't enter in coordinates for where I want to go. Is this model just used for "leaving breadcrumbs" for hiking/hunting and not used for geocaching? I now see the Cx model has a geocaching treasure chest icon but my model doesn't have that. The Find Menu only has: Waypoints (that you've previously Marked), Favorites, Cities, Exits, and Points of Interest. I see no place to enter coordinates. The computer cable the seller gave me doesn't connect to the Legend without an adapter -which I've ordered online- so I don't mind hand-entering coordinates for now. I just want to get caching asap! And yes, I've read the manual but I still don't see how to do it- maybe it's the terminology? Thanks for answering what may seem like a very basic newbie question...you'll ease my frustration tremedously! Here's the online manual: http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/eTrexLegend_OwnersManual.pdf