UK_Explorer

I have to say I'm very impressed with Garmin. I emailed them to complain that my City Select v5 which I only unlocked on 9th June was going to cost $75 to upgrade to v6, and the next day they emailed me an unlock code for v6, no hassle. Way to go, Garmin!

in my (admittedly limited) experience, it's rarely a walk in the park either....

Add me to the list of Left handers, although I do use a knife and fork right handed (and in the British way). I also bat right handed when playing cricket, but bowl left handed. Stuart.

Thanks everyone for the replies. It's good to know I'm not alone! Of course, we both have fun while we're out, and having something to tease me about just adds to her enjoyment, so I suppose if you look at it that way, we both get something out of geocaching....

because that would involve going hiking without her, and that would be far worse.

My wife and I are both keen hikers, and have been for many years. I convinced her that we *needed* a GPSr, and while investigating which unit to get (60CS), discovered geocaching. I was hooked immediately, but my other half is not interested. We combine geocaching and hiking, and that keeps here happy, and the disparaging comments she makes while I'm hunting for caches seem to keep her occupied. A typical cache hunt goes: Her: are we there yet? Me: 30 feet to go! Her: I bet it's un der that tree there. Me: Well, the GPS says its a bit further on. Hang on... Her: OK. I'll just wait here then. [insert 10 minutes of me searching under all obvious (to me) locations] Her: haven't you found it yet? At which point, I look under the tree that she first suggested, and of course it's there.... So, my question is: how do you all deal with lackof interest from your better halves? I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation, am I?? Stuart.

I have both a Leatherman and a Gerber. The Gerber is on my belt all the time, the Leatherman is in a drawer somewhere. The prime reason being that most Leatherman tools I've used or seen require the outer sheath to be folded "inside out" to use the pliers, which makes for a very uncomfortable grip. The Gerber's design is in this respect much better. Of course, this is merely my opinion, and I'm not trying to start a religious war or anything. I also own a Garmin....

It's giving you rate of ascent/descent....i.e. feet per minute...not "fathoms". You are of course correct - next time, maybe I'll just read the manual!

well, your response prompted me to go have a closer look at what I was doing. I was apparently just getting confused by too many options. Instead of "Ascent - maximum", which is always in Fathoms (same with "Descent Maximum"), I'm just as happy using "Elevation - maximum", which can be configured to feet or meters. Guess the 60CS just has too many options.....or maybe I'm just a bit too dumb at times... Thanks for the input, Stuart.

Just took mine out for my first ever geocaching expedition around Will Rodgers State Park in CA. It worked perfectly. Took me to within 15 feet, and then the electronic compass game me enough info to home in on the location of all 3 caches I tried to find! No one should ever regret buying this model GPSr!

whether I set the units for elevation to feet or meters, the "Max. Ascent" field always displays its value in Fathoms (Fm). I also checked the units for Depth, and changing them doesn't change this either. Does anyone else see this, and does anyone else think it's a bit wrong...? Stuart.

It was a rhetorical question..... I'm guessing, but I'm pretty sure it is simply that Garmin have to buy the map info from whoever owns it, and in Europe that would be each of the individual governments, or private companies who've surveyed the countries themselves. As there aren't many to choose from, I guess those who own the source data can charge whatever they want... It's very frustrating to know how much I was getting ripped off with every purchase I made in the UK. I simply couldn't afford a 60CS if I were in the UK, even with out the nosedive the dollar has taken recently to help, I'd be paying $750, instead of $400 + tax..... So is it too late to join the revolutionary army? MAny of them were Brits too, I believe! BTW - this is getting rather off-topic, isn't it....?

I was, to an extent, being ironic. I assume the cost is as you said down to the amount Garmin has to pay to obtain the source data. As for your point about the data belonging to the crown - exactly who's tax pounds are they using to pay the folk to create the mapping data in the first place? BTW - I'm British, currently living in the US, and am *so* jealous you managed to get rid of the royal family over 200 years ago. We're still stuck with them! I have emailed Garmin to see if they still sell partial unlock codes, but as they don't seem to be advertised on either their site or any 3rd party seller's sites, I remain doubtful. Thanks for the suggestion, and apologies to all for the anti-royalist rantings!

I have a Garmin 60CS, and I bought City Select North America for $120. I'm heading over to the UK in a few weeks, and was horrified to see that the best price on City Select Europe is $300! Is it not possible to buy just the unlock code for the UK portion of the European maps? I really don't want to have to spend 75% of the cost of my GPSr on software I won't use most of. And how come the European version is so much more expensive? Europe is smaller than North America, right? Does anyone know if I can buy the UK-only maps, or do I have no choice? Thanks.

Hi, I've been lurking for a week or so. I was only going to buy a GPSr because I'm a geek, and it was a toy I did't have yet. I was checking out the Garmin site, which led me to geocaching.com, and here. I think it took lewss than a minute to go from "what the heck is geocaching anyway?" to "Way cool. I want to do that!" The amount of information available here is amazing. It made my decision on which unit to get (Garmin GPSMAP 60CS) very easy. Thanks everyone! My GPSr arrived yesterday evening (I was outside at 11PM walking in small circles calibrating the compass!), so I haven't had time to locate any caches yet, but as there are a few within walking/cycling distance of home, it won't be long! I'm currently living in Marina Del Rey, CA, but I'm from the UK. I'm just over here helping our clients install some software, so I have a couple of months to find some caches over here before heading back to the UK. If I can find any travel bugs that want to go to Dundee, Scotland, I'll happily take them with me!