[Rain Gear Recommendations]

check out Eastern Mountain Sports at EMS.com. 100% satisfaction gauranteed on anything you buy. The thunderhead parka is a great jacket. You could also go with the Wildcat Ridge Jacket that also allows for a liner (fleece, softshell, etc.) to zip into the inside for warmth during colder days. Plus, you can also find some good geocaching tools at EMS. Hope this helps. I love EMS gear, it's great. They also sell the name brand stuff.

 

There is also another jacket, very inexpensive, not sold at EMS. The RED LEDGE jacket and pants. It is treated with a waterproof membrane. Great service from that company too. Can usually find at an outdoor shop.

 

And don't forget the waterproof footwear. Nothing worse than cold, wet feet.

[Natural Disasters]

I've recently moved up the East Coast and it seems that every time I find a great cache to go after, Hurricane Ivan has taken it. Many of the caches don't seem to be updated since the many hurricanes that have struck. I know many of the people have better things to do than geocache when crisis strikes but it would be nice to not go after three caches in a row that have been taken by the flooding. Just checking to see if any others have been having the same problem. It would be nice to kinda have an update on the storm damage to the caches. I assume that hundreds of caches have probably been affected.

[T-shirt For Diehard Cachers!]

I work at EMS, think It would help me sell GPS units? I might just have to get one, I love it!

[What Is The Best Gpsr For A Starter??]

I bought the Garmin geko 101, not computer linkable but I love the little thing. I would go for the 301 if I could. I love the size, smaller than my cell phone. I'd rather be in th woods typing in coordinates than sitting in front of a computer. I do the computer thing enough at work already. I would recommend for a starter unit the base model Etrex or one step up. Unless you are going to be doing a ton of hiking, biking, or flying, the Vista is not needed. the only advantage of the vista is the electronic compass, barometer, and altimeter. I doubt you will be forecasting weather while geocaching and most geocaching that I have seen yet involves hiking tremendous mountains. Stick with a base model that is computer compatible. Have fun. Garmin All The Way!