Anrx4you

I have a small collection of coins that I have acumulated over the past few months. I have been entertaining the thought of activating them, but I don't exactly want to do something that can't be un-done. I'd like as much input as possible so that I, and others can make a decision on whether activating or not is indeed the best. Reasons to activate: 1) Geocoin (or Travelbug) Manufacturers may go out of business without notice, leaving you without an activation code. 2) Missing coins can be tracked 3) Activated coins can be 'adopted' by others Reasons NOT to activate: 1) They reduce the value of the coin 2) GEOCACHING.COM can go out of business leaving your activated coins... 3) Activated coins are a hassle to trade Are there any other pros/cons in activating?

In a game which rules are enforced by the "honor system", the temptation to take geocoins can be overpowering. Collecting geocoins can be addicting. My wife sometimes jokes that Geocaching is a "rich mans sport", and I can't necessarily disagree... if you want to play the game the way it's intended. How exactly is the game intended to be played? Eveyone has their own rules on how they play. Some think it's a game of hide and seek, swap some stuff and gain numbers. Others (myself included) search only for geocoins or TBs. I wont bother explaining the satisfaction of holding a cold, heavy, beautiful geocoin in your hand, but it sure is rewarding. When I play 'the game', I have a few geocoins in my pocket. If there is one in the cache, I'll trade one for one. If it's missing, I don't. I always trade up in swag. My experience has been most people trade down if they even trade at all. The impression I have is some people feel they should be rewarded for their 'work' and forget they're participating in a game. That's just an opinion. I went on vacation during the holidays in '07, San Bernardino in So. California. We went on 15 or so hunts and EVERY SINGLE ONE had been pilfered, and destroyed. It only takes one person to destroy the whole game, and no-one can deny the fact that there are just some angry people in the world. Now, for my opinion: I've come across proxy geocoins in the past, and I just pass 'em by and not even bother logging them. I think half the value of a geocoin is in the unique coin code. The problem is anyone can copy any number of "proxys" as replacement(s). The ones I've seen are printed on lables put on poker chips. Not too hokey, and much better than simply a piece of paper run through an inkjet printer. But it's better than nothing. The alternative is to not put anything in at all. I don't really understand how anyone can be bummed out because they didn't find something that wasn't theirs to begin with. I THINK UNTIL THE GAME IS MORE REFINED, PROXY COINS ARE BETTER THAN NOTHING.

Ok, it seems getting favorites into the NUVI is the easy part. Now HOW DO I GET THEM OUT?!? I can erase FAVORITES one at a time, but I have like 500 now which means I have to press 2000 times on a touchscreen which has, I'm sure, a limited lifespan.

I second that

I've always wondered why those things cost so much It's nice not having wires hanging in the wind, but not $2,000 nice. You can buy alot of GPS's with that.

I own a Cobra100. Problems I have: 1) low battery life 2) no maps 3) software freezes I don't recommend it for geocaching unless you just need to get co-ordinates of where you are stashing a cache. It is a pretty out-dated piece of equipment. On the plus side: 1) It's built like a Sherman tank 2) It has an altimeter I think a fair 2008 price is maybe 25-35 U.S. dollars. Garmin and Magellen are quality machines (I prefer Garmin), and everything else will "get you by".

Thanks for tips! I've been drudging around in schools and parks and don't get me wrong, I love the hunt, but I'd love to see some cool sites. I'm thinking about hitting all my favorite awe inspiring sites and dropping off some caches. I'm in zip code 95403 and will go within a 30 mile circle for some good sites. I love taking landscape photos and visiting archaeology or historic sites. I'm thinking Gold country would be a great area for caching. Maybe on my next trip to Reno. Thanks for the consideration Regards, Michael S (Anrx4you)

Looks great! Thanks for the info. I wouldn't have found it otherwise.

I'm trying to download cache sites on the Nuvi 660. I successfully downloaded the first one, but the next download asked if I wanted to overwrite the first. I'm assuming downloading the 2nd will erase the first. Is there a way to download several cache sites so I don't have to go home and download a new site after each hunt? I am using the "Send to GPS" function. -Michael S.

I'm looking for some team cachers. Mostly Sonoma County. Want to look for site with historical significance? Archeology site (respected of course), and some backwoods Caches? Datums sound a littl blah to me, but maybe some antique buildings and architecture of famous architects. Regards, Michael S.

Stick with Garmin. Any reason you're upgrading? Garmin V isn't pretty (by todays standards), but it should get the job done. I just picked up a Garmin Nuvi 660 on Black Friday for 400 dollars and I'm blown away at the features. I can't even fathom what the future will bring... maybe photo mapping. Anyhow, anything that gets you there with Coordinates is fine. One thing I think is most important is battery life. I had a Cobra GPS that would burn through AA batteries in half an hour. Not nearly enough time to even get to a cache, much less get you back home. Garmin Nuvi will give me about 5 or 6 hours with a bright LCD touchscreen. However, the Nuvi probably wouldn't take a fall or dunk in water too well. I hear the eTrex is a common GPSr and pretty inexpensive. I wish they had built in digi cameras like cell phones have. Good luck, -Garmin Lover