Highland Horde

Thats what I started with. I found it a good starter unit. It will hold up to 500 caches but does not do paperless so you will need to take a look at the cache pages some other way (either a smartphone or printouts).

yes you need to use a computer to load the caches to the venture. I am sure someone will show up that will tell you what program to use. I have a mac and when I had my venture I used maccaching. once the caches are loaded you will be all set. you are limited to 500 caches/waypoints on the HC. I always limited the pocket query to 495 incase I wanted to mark a waypoint or went for a multi.

I've been looking at the redwings for a while too. I agree that steel toe boots arent the best for hiking and ya the insoles that come in them suck but when I get a new pair of work boots I buy a new pair of insoles (I've had the redwings and I was happy with them). I try to replace my insoles every 6 - 9 months. I do have a pair of designated hiking boots but a lot of the time I just finished work and head out for a hike to get some caches. All the work boots that I have had have been great for hiking except in the snow. In the snow the steel toes get really cold. I went snowshoeing once with my work boots before I got my good hikers. that was a huge mistake. I agree that the boots should be snug but from the start they need to be comfortable. When I get new boots I am wearing them for 10-12 hours the next day, I dont have time for them to "break in".

no it doesnt have a spanner mode. unless you are using the garmin power adapter when you plug it in it will go into mass storage mode...if it is just plugged into the lighter plug (with another power adapter - like the one for my Blackberry) just wait a minute or two. It will realize that there is no computer on the other end and come out of mass storage mode and allow you to use it as a GPSr plugged is. The only downfall is every time you plug it in it will go into mass storage then you have to wait for it to come back out. It isnt a huge deal but it was annoying enough for me to buy the garmin cord.

I started with the Venture HC. It was a pretty good unit but I wanted something that could hold more that 500 caches so I upgraded to the Dakota 20. Before getting the Dakota a tried the 62s and the Oregon 550. All 3 of the newer units grabbed sats quicker, got waas lock (which the venture hardly ever did) and just seemed more consistent. The Dakota is the cheapest of the units I tried and it seemed to be the bells and whistles that made the difference in price. There may be a difference in reception under heavy cover with the 62s as it has a different antenna than the oregon/dakota but I haven't had any issues. The only time I lost reception was when I was at GZ and my dakota was in my front jacket pocket. I was crouched over the cache under heavy tree cover so I am pretty sure any unit would have lost reception. As soon as I stood up it grabbed sats again. It took a minute or so to bring the accuracy down but not too bad since I couldnt see the sky

Sounds like fun. I'm in 1. Highland Horde Signed up: 12/4/2010 Received Name: Sent Package: Received Package: EDIT: email sent

I got an Atlantic Canada Geocaching Association Coin in the mail today. Just the coin, no letter, no note, no nothing. I have no idea why I got it but I dont care. It just kinda made my day

The other thing that can mess up the dakota seeing the gpx files is if you accidentially rename the folder from /Garmin/GPX to /Garmin/gpx. I did that somehow when I was putting the GPX files on the sd card. Once I made sure that the capitalization was correct there was no problems.

When you run your Pocket Query you will be able to download a zip file. Once you extract the zip file you will get a folder with two GPX files in it. You can just move the whole folder into the /garmin/gpx folder on your dakota.

no. the dakota cannot view photos. I am pretty sure that you can transfer a photo waypoint from the Oregon to the dakota but it is just regular waypoint when you view it on the dakota.

Well it doesn't always make others smile but it always makes me smile... "two wrongs don't make a right, but 3 lefts do!" Movember is a big awareness month here in Nova Scotia. Canada too. One of the local radio stations slogan for Movember is "Grow a Mo, Save a Bro"

go into setup - geocaching - chirp searching off - on then you should be all set Edit: If you dont have the option...upgrade your firmware then you will be all set

I've got the dakota 20 and its great. Personally i love the 3 axis compass but as far as topos go I'd just go with the free ones.

I've got a TB that I log through every cache I visit (although i cant remember why?) and one for each of my 2 boys so they can see the caches they have been to. The other 4 hordlings havent gone much so as of yet they dont have a tracking #. I kinda hope they dont...logging 3 TB's through a cache is enough...7 would be CRAZY

well that figures...lol...i am maybe 10 minutes away from E&Cplus3 so it will probably be a few more days....funny how its quicker to ship to ontario than across town...lol...Hopefully monday or tuesday Just got my coins hand delivered today. They look awesome.

yup its cool. I've got one that has gone almost 40000 km ...but then i've got another that went 162 km and disappeared

Honestly the only thing you can do is wait and hope. I wouldnt send another email for a while. It seems they havent been on since the end of august. They are probably in school. All you can do is hope that they will regain interest in caching or run into another cacher and pass the bug along. Thats the thing with travelers...you just let them go and hope for the best. Caching sometimes takes a back seat to everything else for a while but who knows...maybe over the christmas break they will break out the GPSr and get your bug moving... I know it can be frustrating...I have a couple bugs that have been sitting for a while too All I do is release more bugs...lol...i figure it ups my chances of one achieving its goal

That's not always true. There are lots of places that are considered public property where geocaching is not allowed. As I understand it, most if not all Canadian provincial parks do not allow geocaching nor to most U.S. National parks. Yes there are a lot of public places that do not allow geocaching...but Nova Scotia Provincial Parks are working with the Atlantic Canada Geocaching Association and placing LOTS of caches in the parks. We had a NS parks challange this year. There was just and event with a bunch of caches placed in a national park in Nova Scotia. I really think the key is to seek permission. To make sure someone knows that the cache is there whether its on public property or not.

Just a question....How would anyone (even a seasoned cacher) know that your plate # is trackable?

I had a coin of mine placed in an unpublished cache. It was in Germany so I just waited...it sat their for a while and I just assumed there was a problem and hoped it would surface. After deciding that it probably wouldnt move again, someone found the unpublished cache and picked up the coin. about a week or two after that the cache was published. Its funny that nothing happened until I kinda gave up on it. Edited for Speeling

well that figures...lol...i am maybe 10 minutes away from E&Cplus3 so it will probably be a few more days....funny how its quicker to ship to ontario than across town...lol...Hopefully monday or tuesday

ya like said above keep an eye out for sales. I got the dakota 20 as i got it cheaper than I could get the oregon locally and wasn't impressed with the other units i looked at. I've had it about a month or so and I love it. I had tried out the oregon 550 and it it very similar to the 450 (the 550 has a camera) and there were a couple features that I did like but it wasn't worth the extra cost for me. I had a chance to look at the GC last week and I really didnt like the setup but that was only after looking at it for about 5 minutes. I really like the oregon/dakotas if you get one on sale I am sure you will be pleased.

I had tried out the 62s and my Blackberry adapter worked fine but you had to go into the setting and change it over to "spanner" mode. Then when you plugged it in it would ask if you want to go into mass storage. If you are in your car you select no, if you are connecting to your PC select yes.

You can charge a Venture HC? Mine uses AA batteries. Are you saying that if you connect to the unit's USB port it will charge the batteries? What happens if they are non-rechargeable? no not charge...most GPSrs cant be charged with a car adapter...it is just a power adapter to conserve battery power and allow the back light to stay on while in a vehicle. What I meant was that a car charger for a phone "MAY" work as a power adapter for the GPS not as a charger.

So heres close to my place. I couldnt get a different zoom level because I kept getting the error that it "exceeds 500 caches"