SWAK9802

I would think your best bet is to talk to friends and see if they or their kids would be interested in Geocaching. Maybe if the parent goes along as well to see what it's about and see that it is a safe activity they may be more willing to let their child/children wander through the woods with you.

I had my cache go missing and I replaced it with a new container in the exact location of the old one. I kept getting logs of people finding two caches and signing both so I went to look for the old one, I couldn't find it! It was a bit embarrassing that I couldn't even find my own cache! On a second trip out I finally found it and it was moved and rehidden in a way that was not originally intended. I replaced it and just chalked it up to a cacher that didn't want too much of a challenge. My Dad, Sister and I decided to hide a cache close to my Dad's house. It was hidden in the nook of a split tree at the base and covered with pine straw and a few broken limbs as camo. You could not see it from the street side, but it was not a difficult hide at all. Two finds and it went missing. Very frustrated on that one. You take the good with the bad.

Turn the GPS on and wait until you get at least three satellites locked in. That way you can triangulate your coordinates and have a more accurate reading. I usually turn mine on five to ten minutes out. Are you downloading the coordinates and using the Go To function of your GPS?

I used the customize fields option on my Magellan and it doesn't have the ability to show both my location and the coords on the same screen. I tend to use my compass a lot more than I thought I would, and it works really well. Ah well, it was just a feature I have on my wish list. Thanks for your responses.

Is this not a feature others are interested in?

I have a Magellan 500LE and one of my dislikes on the unit is that I can't have the cache coordinates and my location on the same screen. I want to be able to see the coords I am looking for on the same screen as where I am currently standing so that I don't have to keep switching screens to help remember the numbers. Is there a GPS unit out there that has that option? I haven't seen one yet, but I know the screenshots shown in the product descriptions don't show all the screen views. Thanks

My Dad, Sister and I are all Geocachers and live in different States. We have a friendly competition going and like to compare strategies and types of hides. We have had the opportunity to cache together on 3 occasions (vacations in each others State during the holidays) and loved the camaraderie. Enjoy the game the way you play it, share your stories big and small with your caching family, and don't worry too much about the numbers. I rarely go out solo caching, it's just not as fun for me. My kids usually tag along or my husband if he is off work, but I am the only one in my immediate family that really enjoys the hobby.

I would have no problem with it either. Just leave a quick explanation in your online log so that the CO knows you aren't a fresh find, it also helps so that others that are going after the cache won't read your log as a current assessment of the hide. I enjoy looking at the map with smileys as well. I don't care as much about the stats as seeing the map filled in. It also helps me plan my route for future hunts. Happy Caching

Thanks for the info.

My family recently moved to Fort Drum, NY and I would love to meet up with some other Geocachers in the area. I see there isn't an active Caching organization, but there are quite a few caches hidden in the area. Any others, local or transports like me, that are interested maybe we can do a meet and greet sometime in the near future.

I spent three months talking to Magellan to get mine. They kept sending me the wrong parts. I finally got the battery clip and it is a really tight fit that it's a bit of a pain to remove when I need to get to the memory card.

I really like the topo map screen shot. I also like the fact that the coords show up at the top of the screen. That is one of the complaints I have about my old Magellan Explorist 500. Thanks for the review.

Explorist cables, IMO, are really crappy. I went through two of them in a little over a year (both had open circuits internally) I'd guess that would be your trouble. Ebay a new one. I had the same problem. Replaced my cable and it's been working fine ever since. Ebay has them at a good price, that's where I ended up getting mine.

I use GSAK for my Magellan unit and it works great. It has made downloading caches to my unit so much easier and faster.

I will be moving to Fort Drum in September. Belair56, is it a group of you that already knew each other that get together? With no active group where do you post your gatherings?

They can also be a flat plating that looks like the access panel to get inside to the wiring, attached magnetically.

My family logs as a team. We have two young children, ages 10 and 5, who enjoy caching, but only go with Mom or Dad, obviously never on their own. My husband only caches with me and the kids, and I've gone with just me and the kids without him a couple of times. He prefers to let me do the online logging and didn't want a separate account.

I have a 500 LE and I really like the unit itself. There are a few things to consider before purchasing one, however. Magellan customer service isn't exactly supportive to the customer. The Explorist line has been officially discontinued, so there will be no more updates in the future. If you have a computer with Windows Vista expect to have problems with your computer recognizing your Magellan GPS when you connect to the USB. When out in the field hunting Geocaches mine works wonderfully. So far my coordinates have always been spot on with the hiders. I like the button setup, and I've figured out how to toggle my screens as needed pretty easy.

I put in my reservation today for the batch due out at the end of May. I really like the look of the coin, the cause it is associated with, and the support shown here from everyone. My husband is in the US Army and lost a dear friend in Iraq a couple of years ago. Knowing that all those that served and died are being honored in this way really hits close to home. Thank you for creating such a wonderful way for this to be done. dflye, I hope you don't mind, when I get my coins in I want to copy your idea and put an info sheet with a picture of the soldier as well.

When I first started caching I took the kids with me to purchase a handful of swag items. It was a great way to see what kind of things they would like to find in a cache container as well as what to leave. Have your kids find small treasures in their rooms they would like to pass on, or take them with you to the store to find small things that peak their interest. I tend to have both kid friendly and adult friendly items with me when we are out caching and try to trade accordingly.

I still have a ton to find in under a 5 mile radius, so gas hasn't been a factor yet. I also tend to look for caches that require a bit of walking, so we park at the entrance and the rest is footwork.

I see nothing wrong with it. When my family comes up to visit I plan to take them to known caches first, as I'll be more familiar with them than others, then we can venture forth to ones I haven't found either. I like the idea of revisiting the ones I've been to to verify they are still there, but I'll likely only do that if they haven't been found in a reasonable amount of time prior to when I take the family. Since my father is an avid Geocacher I don't think I'll be adding SWAG to them, he knows what to expect. Since your friends will be new to the sport I can understand wanting the reward at the end to be appealing, but don't underestimate your friends enjoyment of the hunt. If you've talked about it enough I bet they've picked up on several aspects that make Geocaching fun for all walks of life.

I sincerely hope it all works out for you. My experience with Magellan's Customer Service wasn't all that great. Every sentence spoken took 5 mins worth of "documenting", it took 2 shipments of the wrong part before they finally understood what a AAA battery adapter was, and a total of 2 1/2 months before sending me the correct part. All the while I was given new transaction numbers, customer ID numbers, tracking numbers, etc. It seems their tech support is a bit more organized and helpful than the other departments, but I'm really hoping I don't come across any other problems that require me to make the dreaded call again. I like my Magellan unit, but that doesn't mean I have to like the Customer Service the company tries to provide.

I use the hints to help. My 10 yr old likes to decrypt them first, so I let her have fun with that while on the way to the cache location. I will also read some of the logs if it's in an area I am unfamiliar with. I've found a few clues for parking or some other points of interest that may help lead me in the right direction without giving too much away.

Welcome to Geocaching and the Forums. We're still very new, with only 5 finds under our belts. I'm not sure when I would consider myself non noobish anymore, but I think it's different for everyone. For me I still get close to GZ and have to figure out which side of the trail to go off to get my coords in the right direction, where my oldest daughter can head off in the right direction without a second thought, and she's only 10. I noticed your in Woodbridge, VA. That's a hop, skip and a jump away from me. If you haven't already, you should check out the local Geocaching Organization at http://www.novago.org/ Nice group of Geocachers and it looks like there are events and such held throughout the year. Happy Hunting.