TheBelwits

Again, all great advice - thank you all for taking the time out to reply. I think I'll bide my time on the GPSr and use the iPhone for the time-being and just enjoy ourselves, and maybe pick up a bargain in the New Year. I like the idea of taking a bag of swag to avoid disappointment. Good tip to check the maintenance logs when choosing caches - thanks Blue Square Thing. I don't think that's too onerous, and I'd rather put the time in beforehand and avoid the kids being disappointed. I'll also have a look at National Trust properties - I had no idea, but that sounds really interesting. Thanks again.

Thank you all for your replies, and great advice. It's all really useful and all very valid. Maybe expectations were too high as to what to expect from each cache, but we will - as suggested - perhaps stick to the premium caches to keep the kids' interest up. Thank you Jochen for your comments - those were my concerns about continuing to use an iPhone. I would like to get a GPS to minimise the risk of my iPhone being dropped, lost and/or waterlogged, but based on the comments here, I think maybe an Etrex 20 or 30 is worth considering. I shall have a look at the other threads on this forum for some further advice. Thanks again all!

At the moment, my cache-sense is limited! I think we'll stick to the iphone for now, and then see what happens - thank you.

Ok, will do, thank you. As I say, still very new to all of this!

Thanks kzoi. The iphone is suiting us for now but while looking for easier caches, many of which with very kid-friendly hints. I have no idea of the accuracy of a GPSr vs an iphone. Will keep looking on ebay for noe. The owner of our last find hasn't been active since 2015. I'll message the owner, and if no reply, I guess I'll give it a clean-out. Thanks again, Steve.

Hi all, We're very new to Geocaching, based near Southampton. Kids are 9 & 11, and really enjoying our walks, and the dog's pretty happy about it too! I'm amazed by how many caches there are within a mile of our house! Apologies for some newbie questions, and if they're in the wrong place, but some advice needed please? 1. I'm thinking of buying a Garmin Etrex 10. Seems to be well suited to beginners. Hoping to get a bargain on eBay but they seem to hold their price - which seems to endorse my choice. I've been using my iphone so far. Is it worth getting the GPS (other than battery life, being able to download cache details etc) to improve accuracy? Don't want to spend £75 and then kids aren't enjoying themselves any more. 2. The last couple of caches were quite disappointing for the kids. Found one last night which was waterlogged, the log book was black with mould and wet through and the box contained 3 pencils, a latex glove and half a pack of tissues. What is it with packs of tissues in caches?! That's about 3 or 4 we've seen; is it a thing?! Should I report this to the person who left the cache or will I put someone's nose out of joint if I cleaned-up myself? Many thanks, Steve.