BlueDamsel

And it won't prevent you from completely missing the point, will it? Over and out.

Somehow I knew that I'd get a Vinny response. I'm smiling now. Rant over! I thought the OP was pretty much about the proliferation of rural roadside micros, not urban micros. But I guess if the OP didn't correct Vinny, I must have been wrong. I have, for the record, seen an explosion of rural roadside micros, and I'm sure I will continue to. Blue Damsel, you won't get much sympathy from the staunch defenders around here if you are finding these caches, or like to "clear out an area" a term I hear so much. Ignore, Ignore, Ignore. This was partially my point. I can really understand micros everywhere in urban spaces where other things can't be hidden... but it's just kind of a waste of good real estate to put them every 10th of a mile in places such as I described, where more variety is possible. I'll still look for and log these sorts of micros when I feel like it, but it seems like a waste to me to having NOTHING but this type of cache in this type of location, and will continue to seem like a waste, despite the comments to ignore.

You know, this was actually a useful suggestion unlike some other replies here. You'd probably be a fun person to cache with. And you're correct, even the most boring hide is a lot more fun with fun company along. I think some folks really misread my original post. I wasn't making excuses or even asking for advice. You know, I usually don't even dislike stop sign post micros.... it was just this last trip went kind of over the top. Sort of like having the lunchroom serve eggs every day for a month. Even though you might like eggs normally, the mundane menu of only eggs could be enough to make you not want to eat eggs again for a little while! (Yes, we have a lunchroom here. And this problem actually happened in our lunchroom... they served a meal that everyone liked, and the feedback was positive, so they started serving this same meal about twice a week for a loooooong time. Now, whenever I see it on the menu, for some funny reason, I get a bad taste in my mouth.) Anyway, thanks for the truly helpful suggestion. It's refreshing to read some positive replies instead of the snarkiness that seems prevalent on these boards. I always love it when people start complaining about someone making a complaint. BlueDamsel

Somehow I knew that I'd get a Vinny response. I'm smiling now. Rant over!

My usual caching procedure is to drive to an area and clean up every cache there, to save driving time and gas. I also don't usually look at the cache notes until I get to the site - because I usually like surprises. Unfortunately, Friday's caching was just not a good surprise. As Vinny mentioned, excluding all micros from a pocket query up front would also exclude micros that are well thought out and well placed with unique containers. I don't necessarily want to exclude all micros for this reason. However, I will have to say that Friday's experience definitely changed my caching on Saturday and Sunday. I found myself looking at the cache notes up front to see what size the container was. However (and this is the problem with excluding micros) I did visit one micro which was nearby a larger cache just because it was there and a very short walk from the larger one, and it turned out to be a nice little micro that was a bit of an unusual find in a park I would enjoy visiting again, that I didn't know was there. I would have missed it if I'd just ignored it. Therefore, excluding all micros isn't really a good option. However I might start excluding all caches by one particular person

Ok folks, be prepared for a short, but heartfelt rant. This past Friday after work, I took off to go caching. I drove about 15 minutes northwest of my house, which is enough to get you into a semi-rural area... lots of country lanes, big fields, horses, goats, country houses more than a mile apart each, few cars and people. As I started caching, I realized that literally every single cache in this area was placed by the same person and of two types: magnetic nano or plastic micro seed tube, and in one of two locations: stop sign pole, or attached to the underside of a fire hydrant. After finding 17 caches, of which the two notable exceptions were a decon box at the beginning of the hunt and a giant bucket at the end, it seemed as if EVERY SINGLE cache within three square miles was a micro of this type. Given the undeveloped country location with soooooooooo many good places to hide something bigger, something more interesting, something more fun to find..... WHAT IS UP WITH ALL THE MICROS??? I'm not fundamentally opposed to micros - when well thought out and interspersed with other types of caches they can be a nice challenge and change of pace, but really.... three square miles of the exact same hide? I realize this has all been addressed before, but I just had to vent. I return you now to your regularly scheduled program - BlueDamsel

I second Tequila here. Get the Oregon. I have heard way too many rumors that Garmin is dropping support for the Colorado, plus if you do a search on these boards you will find that many users have had problems with them (to be fair, some really love them as well). If you do decide you are leaning to the Colorado, it would pay to investigate these issues to make sure you can live with it if they are true. I have an Oregon and LOVE it. It's the best geocaching device I have ever used, and with City Nav NT installed, it makes a great auto gps. I have nothing but good things to say about it, as I've not found anything I don't like about it yet. I love the touchscreen, and the touchscreen really has advantages when panning and scrolling on a map. Email me if you'd like more feedback on this device. BlueDamsel

I absolutely hated the Zaggs I bought for my cellphone. My cellphone is touchscreen also and the surface texture of the Zagg was just.... icky.... plus I noticed interference with the touchscreen functions as well. After having a bad experience there I bought a completely different brand for my Oregon. I wish I could remember the manufacturer of the protectors I replaced it with.... something bought online.... Lexovo, Lexoro, something like that (drat... I can't remember)... but I love them... very thin and light and I can't tell the difference between function in having or not having it, yet it is thick enough that it protects against scratching. I wouldn't buy a Zagg again. Sorry. BlueDamsel

Arrgh... this website has been driving me nuts lately with timeouts and double posting!

I'm just the opposite. I love the touchscreen. I own several touchscreen devices and they are really easy to use. I've had problems with physical buttons actually falling off a previous GPS device so they aren't any more fail proof than a touchscreen. But, you'd be wise to check out touchscreen vs. buttons side by side at a store since this seems to be a very personal decision (you either love touchsreens, or you don't, you either love the rock n roller or you don't). There are several advantages to a touchscreen: it's good for left handers, of which I'm one, it is easy to operate one-handed, map scrolling is so slick, plus you can select cache icons on the map with just a touch and the info window pops up, allowing you to do an immediate go-to if you decide to change caching destinations on the fly... plus the main advantage to the Oregon (and I don't know if Colorado has this or not) is the profile system. Basically you can set up different profiles for different uses on the same device, allowing you to change multiple settings with the touch of one button. This makes it an ideal device for switching from auto-routing to off-road use with a minimum of effort and time. I've really fallen in love with my Oregon. I haven't had any accuracy issues with mine, and it's definitely more accurate than either of my other two GPS units. I have heard of stability issues with the Colorado. I don't have first hand knowledge of this, but you'd be wise to read up on it before buying and make sure it won't be a problem for you. And agreed with this poster... you will need NiMH rechargeable batteries and a car power adapter to see good economical battery life with either unit. But, with those additions, you can't beat them for paperless geocaching. BlueDamsel

Yup, I second this. Very good advice, esp. when a good handheld can be modified to do autorouting very successfully and is then extremely functional for both purposes.

I'd rather not have to work with two units when one will do the work good enough. Now, if I had to rely on my GPS for routing, I might think about buying a separate unit. Also, this just means more chances of losing a GPS due to theft (unless you want to carry the car GPS with you or can hide it well). For the OP, not sure how well the 60CSx works for routing, so I can't say if it would be worth buying software for it. I'm with Roddy on this point. I much prefer having one unit that does everything I need it to do. I also don't like leaving my GPS in the car, so once I leave the vehicle, the GPS has to come with me anyway. Might as well just have one device that does both functions. Regarding routing on the 60CSX, it uses the same City Nav software that the Oregon does. It works great and is well worth the cost.

This is the exact situation where I live, with a pair of cachers being FTF on nearly everything that comes out. I don't mind leaving a small something for the FTF on a cache, but I wouldn't put a lot of money into it on the average difficulty cache. However, on a puzzle cache I've done, that's proven to be difficult enough it hasn't been found for 4+ months, I have an unactivated geocoin for the first person who finally figures it out. But, having lately been FTF on several puzzle caches with a high difficulty rating (two that went 11 months without being solved or found), I can guarantee you that the FTF reward for me was the actual solving of the puzzle and finding the cache, not any reward that was within the cache itself. On the last one of these puzzle caches, our team actually left better stuff in the cache than we took out. My team partner left an unactivated geocoin in there, to encourage people to keep trying to solve it, even though the FTF is now history. I agree with this poster... if you're in it for the stuff, you're bound to be disappointed. If you're in it for adventure and exploration, pretty much every cache out there can offer that much. Even the most lowly lamp post skirt nano has the ability to take you to a place you've never been before. BlueDamsel

Dang! I wish I'd thought of this. I'm stealing this idea.

If you buy the Micro SD card version, you can swap the card out between the units depending on which one you're using, but you can't make 3 cards out of it because it cannot be copied. If you buy the DVD version, it is specific to the unit it was bought for, so yes, you'd need to buy three. This is one aspect of Garmins that I hate, but it's really not Garmin so much as the people who make the mapping FOR Garmin which require this. IMHO, if they unlocked these maps or allowed a multipile installation code for each map copy, i.e., each map could be used on up to 2 units which is a common practice among software makers - for example, my Adobe Creative Suite allows it to be installed on up to two computers per license, which means I can use it at work and at home - I think Garmin would see a lot more customers and satisfied customers if they did this. It seems after reading these boards, that there's a husband and wife, or family team with 2 GPS between them that it seems ridiculous to have to buy more than one copy per family of this type of software. I did see someone mention on another thread that there is a cheaper route than City Navigator which can be installed on the Garmin units, but I can't remember what the software is called. If I can find the thread I'll come back and edit it into this post. update: Check out the thread called "Auto Routing for Less" in this same forum. The stuff I was referring to is in that thread, about 3-4 posts down from the top. BlueDamsel

Yeah, baby. Now there's the ticket. I'd buy such a device in a heartbeat.

This might be because Garmin has so many really good models from which to choose, in all price ranges and several different configurations. This makes it easy for people to get a unit that applies to their needs. I actually bought a 60CSX after some stellar recommendations from several friends who all use them and love them, but sent it back and went to the Oregon because I just love touchscreens. There wasn't anything wrong with the 60CSX. It was a personal preference issue. Not dissing the Delormes at all. They're a good unit from the research I did on them.

I went the opposite way... I bought the specific unit I wanted for geocaching, then put the auto routing software on it as an extra. Been very, very happy with the result. The auto routing doesn't talk you through directions, but it does beep before a turn is coming up and then again right before you need to make the turn. It reroutes quickly when needed and the maps are as accurate as I could expect. It's worked great. I have a very good gps for geocaching which is my primary need, so I don't have to compromise there.

I was kind of coughing up at the price of this one too... although I got my City Nav card for free, after having used it for a while, I feel like it would have been worth the money. I really literally use it every single day and it's been very useful in helping me find addresses and businesses that I wasn't exactly sure where they were. It's saved me enough wrong turns and backtracking on geocache runs that I'm sure it would have paid for itself in gas by now. It routes well, the road map is fairly accurate (the only major road missing wasn't opened until last Sept., so I can't fault them much for that) and it reroutes very quickly if you miss your turn. I've been happy with it. BlueDamsel

Which is one advantage to buying a card vs. a DVD. Not that I had a choice... the card was free... but it's nice to know I can move it to whatever unit I want without needing a lock code. Yes, I can't do stuff with the maps on the desktop, but I haven't needed that feature yet so I guess I don't miss it.

Yeah, this description is nearly identical to my experience with an Oregon. I love mine, and have not had accuracy or screen issues as some people report. The paperless geocaching is the best out there, and since I use mine 80% for geocaching, that's a big deal. And I can't say enough good things about touchscreen operation. I thought it might have problems, but it doesn't.... and the pluses of a touchscreen are just too numerous to mention. BlueDamsel

I've found the Oregon is really easy to use with one hand and this is no small feat, since I am a left-hander and most devices of this type are designed with right handers in mind. Having used GPSrs with physical buttons, I much prefer the touchscreen. The "buttons" on the touchscreen are very large and easy to see, so it really doesn't take much effort to use it while driving. It's about as distracting as checking your rear-view mirror. (OK, I can say I haven't even gotten close to being in an accident yet while using it!) As with any device, buttoned or touchscreen, you should make your settings, Go To, or whatever BEFORE you put the car in drive, since both types of devices will require some looking to make sure you pressed the correct thing in the correct sequence to get what you want. The only thing I usually need to do while driving is zoom out to see the map better, since City Nav does the zooming in automatically. I have a Ram mount right next to the steering wheel, so I don't have to glance very far from the windshield to see the GPSr screen. One thing myotis mentioned is being able to easily move around the map via the touchscreen. IMHO, this is one of the Oregon's biggest features and one of the best reasons to have a touchscreen. It is really nice to be able to just swipe your fingertip over the map to check out adjacent areas next to the current cache without having to zoom, click or scroll. If you see a cache icon on the portion of the map you've swiped to, you can just touch it and the cache info page pops up (the icons are small, so a stylus helps here, but I can do it with a fingernail). If you decide you want to find that cache, you just click Go and you're on your way. As for visibility problems with the Oregon, I suggest you compare it with other units, turned on of course, at the local sporting goods store if you think this will be a problem. I haven't found it to be aggravating in any way whatsoever, in any light conditions. Yes, it is somewhat dimmer than other GPS screens, but it is still quite readable for any use I've put it to. However, it is not everyone's cup of tea, so if you're considering this unit, make sure you like the way it looks (with backlight turned on... I agree it's absolutely atrocious if you don't use the backlight all the time) before buying. And remember, if you use NiMHs, the cost to power it with full backlight on is negligible. BlueDamsel

What is WITH this website lately? I am getting all kinds of double post issues. Sorry.

No problem, you're welcome. I've never had problems with Garmin customer service, in fact, they've usually been quite helpful with any questions I've ever had. I think when people run into trouble is when they call up ready to be angry at whoever answers the phone at customer service. I've learned if you ask nicely but firmly, and aren't trying to necessarily get something for nothing, most businesses want to make you happy if it means they can retain your goodwill for future purchases.

I have really loved using my Garmin Oregon 300. It's probably got the best paperless geocaching functions out there, so if you're planning on using it primarily for geocaching, you might want to seriously look at this device. It's a little spendy, but it is a great unit - I used to use a Legend and the difference in time-saving that the paperless caching provides is well worth the extra cost. I am also a big fan of touchscreens and the Oregon's is no exception. If you also decide to use this unit for road routing, a touchscreen makes ALL the difference when trying to operate the device in the car while driving, vs. buttons which can be awkward to access. I love the Oregon with City Navigator. It seems to be accurate as far as current roads, and it reroutes very quickly if you happen to miss a turn. One of the best features of this device is the profile system. You can set up separate profiles for geocaching (i.e., topo map turned on, lock to road turned off, etc.), for automotive (topos turned off, lock to road on, automotive view on, etc.), or any other particular use you have, and to switch between these different setting setups is one touch of a button vs. going in and changing everything manually. So, when going to find a cache, I do a Where To, select the cache I want to find, and route to the general area using the Automotive profile. When I get to the approximate site and get out of the car, I switch to the Geocaching profile, which automatically turns on my topos and direct routing, and go from there. It makes things SO easy. The Oregon can hold up to 2000 caches, of which you can load Groundspeak's maximum of 500 at a time via a pocket query. The cache info on the device includes waypoint name and number, who placed it, when, difficulty and terrain ratings, general description, hint, and last five logs, and it is graphically similar to the geocaching.com website. It does not hold any pictures or images on the cache page, but if they are critical to your find (such as a puzzle cache image), you can load them separately onto the Oregon using the Image Viewer function. Some users have reported difficulties with the screen dimness. I agree, the screen is dim when you first take the unit out of the box and turn it on. However, this issue is easily remedied by doing the following things: Replace colored backgrounds with all-white backgrounds (instructions at gpsfix.net). Then, keep the backlight on full/constant. If you keep the backlight on but use NiMH rechargeable batteries to get good battery life, enable full GPS function until they are drained, and keep expense down, you will not notice much screen difference or battery life between other GPSr devices. My NiMHs are 2700 mAh and I am getting around 11-12 hours of use per set before they run out. One advantage of the Oregon's screen is that it is bigger than most other GPSr units, so you can see a lot of map at once. The information panels are also transparent over the map, so you can still see what sits underneath them. As for accuracy, I think this unit is FAR better than my old Legend and as good as any other GPS device I've personally used. I am noticing under 10 feet accuracy on most caches and within 20 on any others. (You have to remember when judging accuracy finding caches, that a lot of how close you are to a cache depends on not only your unit's accuracy, but the also unit of the cache owner, and whether his waypoints were averaged and how accurately, so take all comments like this with a grain of salt. I am just reporting on my own casual observations of my experiences with my own unit.) There are also a lot of FREE/shareware topo maps available for Garmins (gpsfiledepot.com) which a lot of folks feel are better than Garmin's topos (I personally think they look pretty good), and if you are into aerial imagery, it can be uploaded to this unit using ExpertGPS or a similar program. Anyway, feel free to email me if you have any questions. Hope this helps. BlueDamsel