mintfresh

It was a combination of this show and seeing an article on 'top 5 things to do with your GPS smarthphone' that got me into geocaching. I agree that it maybe misrepresented it a bit, but then that was for the fun of the challenge they were doing. I was pretty realistic in my expectiations of real geocaching, as I'm sure most people would be! Off to the Gadget Show live this year, maybe they'll have a cache there!

Thanks for all the replies. Might take a trip to Stockport as I've also been recommend 'Go Outdoors' there as well. So many options to take in though! Think a fabric shoe would suit me best, but will give some of the lighter leather options a go. On the Salomon thing, I saw a feature on the Gadget Show (I know not the best place for reviews!) that had a pair of these come out top. Brian Blessed was a big fan of them! Apparently he does alot of walking. Sounds like its best to avoid this brand though, so will probably ignore these.

Ok, maybe not the most Geocaching related topic, but here goes. Getting into walking more due to the Geocaching, and would like some sort of walking shoe, probably not a heavy boot though. So, 2 questions 1)Any recommendations? I'm not doing anything too serious, so am just thinking of a shoe/trainer type, with the usual waterproof/breathable material. 2)Any good shops in the Cheshire area to go try them on? Thanks for any input.

Just to add to the debate. You may find an Android phone is a cheaper alternative. I'm using it to cache, and so far its pretty good. Theres a few apps around that will allow you to cache on the fly like the iPhone, although one that I'm not allowed to mention breaks the terms and conditions of the website. You can also download offline files to it easily. My phone is a T-mobile pulse, and was £90 for the phone on PAYG, theres often offers on it at T-mobile. At this price, its about as cheap as the low end GPS devices I think, and they don't seem to have as much functionality. Hopefully the offical Geocaching app will be released soon, which should be just like the iPhone. Its just in beta at the moment. So far the iPhone does seem to offer the best Geocaching experience though, since only the offical app is allowed to have the full access to the data! I've tested it out on my iPod Touch, and hope the Android one matches it.

Hi, I'm new to all this as well, so thought I'd pop into this thread. Done a few caches in the local area, and then a few more in the Lakes this weekend. Dropped off my first TB (TB33MPJ), and am happy to report its been retrieved. Hope to hear from it soon! So hello to everyone. Really enjoying this so far, hopefully will continue to get more caches found soon. I'm using a combination of apps on my Android phone to find caches, seems to work well. Hopefully the offical app will make the phone even more useful

Back from the trip now. Only a brief vist unfortunately! Got quite a few caches done, maybe not as many as an experienced user would. Thanks for all the help! Took loads of printouts in the end and used these to backup my positions on Geobeagle., all in all worked well. Had a few I had a try at but didn't find, suppose I should log DNF for all those? Not sure if it was just me not looking hard enough or what though. Dropped of my own travel bug (TB33MPJ) and picked up a geocoin and another TB. Didn't get chance to take the local ones. Also logged all my visits with my new Gecko geocoin (TB3AT69) Thanks again for the help everyone, thanks to you and geocaching I'm sure I had a much better expereience on my visit to Windemere.

Been giving this GCTour a go, but having issues with the print view. It opens a new window, and I can see a list in the background, but there is an overlaid progress bar and it never seems to finish. Even just doing one cache it never seems to finish. Any ideas what could be up? I've tried on 2 machines and had the same thing happen. Thanks

Thanks for the further information Guanajuato, lots there for me to look into. lakeuk, this information sounds very handy, will have a look at your tutorial. mtn-man, I was not aware of the issues with this app (when I posted the inital post, have since read otherwise!), I've found it very useful in starting me out caching, so its a shame to hear. I will not mention it again, hope the offical app is out soon!

Thanks alot for the comprehensive reply. I don't suppose you have links to the particular caches you mention? I plan on downloading the files for offline use just in case. I've had a quick look for the apps mentioned, didn't get on too well with Geoshrine, not tried Trek Buddy though. Think I'm covered for offline caching with Geo Beagle. and another app I've found today (forgot name). I'm stuck with LOC files for now as I'm not a paying member. Havn't had chance to revist the local caches yet. but hopefully will be able to take them on the trip! Anything in particular I need to do in terms of logging for these? I'm very new to this and havn't quite figured it all out yet. Thanks again for the reply.

Hi all, just started out geocaching and thought I'd drop into the fourm. Anyway, I've done a few caches in my local area, and am going up to Windemere for a few days soon, and would like to maximise my geocaching when there. At the moment I have found all my caches using (unauthorized application mention removed) on my Android phone. If your not familar with this, it allows you to geocache 'on the fly', so it does all the work of finding caches in the location you are currently. Anyway, to the point. 1) Can anyone recomend some good caches in and around Windemere. I quite fancy a long walk when there, so a few that provide a good walk would be good. Also possibly any to check out on way up (From Cheshire) 2) Any recommendations on equipment or preparation I should do. I suppose mobile coverage will be poor, so I can't rely on c:geo to search for nearby caches! I have Geo Beagle as well, which can import LOC files. 3) I've seen both a travel bug and a geo coin in the local caches, am I ok to take these on my journey in the hope of dropping them off in a cache I find?