HedgeMage

523 ounces 21 inches

I'm a newbie geocacher (still debating which GPS to buy), but an old-timer when it comes to Linux. I've been at it since early 1996, and have tried a few dozen distros in that time. Slackware will always hold a special place in my heart, as it was my first distro, and is one of the oldest still standing. My current set-up includes a couple of Debian servers, and boxes running Gentoo and *buntu. I'm watching with interest to see what apps you all use for your geocaching.

I try hard to strike a balance, which means taking about half of whatever I come up on my first packing list, but more than some of the more seasoned hikers I know. Of course the length and difficulty of the hike and who is coming along makes a big difference, too. I'm just getting going again after a long break from hiking and camping, partly thanks to my son's interest in geocaching. It's amazing how much of my gear was lost, given away, or ruined in the intervening time. I guess I'll be a very light packer until I can get around to some serious shopping! --Susan

My son is already used to using USB mass storage devices, so that's no problem, just an extra step. It's good to know that the Colorado (over which I've been drooling) is so easy to work with. I wonder whether the Garmin tools would work well under Crossover Linux -- it's at least worth a try. A quick search turned up several GPS-related apps available from the Ubuntu repos. Have you tried gpsbabel, gpsman, or viking? Thanks for the info!

I'm thinking about purchasing a first GPSr. We are a strictly M$-free home, and will stay that way, so Linux compatibility is imperative. I'd like to find a used "starter" GPSr, but I've *almost* talked myself into waiting and shelling out for a Garmin Colorado 400t. Has anyone used these with Linux? Have you run into any issues? Two of the main reasons I am looking at the Colorado are the ability to do "send to GPS" from geocaching.com (I think this will make it easier for my son to help pick caches), and the Wherigo player -- so it's not worth the heavy price tag to me if these can't be made to work. Of course, I'd like *everything* to work seamlessly with Linux, but these are most important to me because of the kid appeal. Also, what GPS or geocaching-related apps should I know about? Is there a Wherigo builder for Linux, or can it be done by hand by someone who already knows some lua? Is there a different GPSr I should be considering? Thanks in advance!

New/potential geocacher here... Last Sunday I took my 6yo son to a family Easter party at my aunt and uncle's house. In addition to the decorations and great food and company, my aunt and uncle went above and beyond the call, providing *two* Easter egg hunts for the kids. For the first, the kids followed a series of clues from point to point to find a gift at the end. For the second, my uncle stashed some Silly Putty eggs in the wooded part of their property, and set the kids loose with his GPS to find them. My son was thrilled! He tried to talk my uncle into taking all the eggs back and hiding them again. All I've heard from my son since is that he wants a "treasure hunting computer" like [uncle]'s. We plan to do a trail walk with them when some of the younger cousins are in town for some more serious geocaching, and I've been thinking seriously about investing in a GPS and taking up the hobby. I could certainly use the exercise, and haven't done much hiking or any backpacking since I became a mom. So, here I am. I must admit that I'm almost as excited as my son -- I just spent some time researching GPS units online, and (just musing out loud here, feel free to jump in with opinions) am trying to decide between nabbing an inexpensive used unit on ebay or similar (it seems there are some that regularly go for around or under $50 US), and saving up to go all-out with a new, more feature-ful unit that will last us a long time and perhaps be a little easier for my son to use. I will be calling my aunt and uncle tomorrow to find out their user names and tell them what their Easter game started!