wrightexplorers

It depends on your budget and what functions you want. I think the Dakota 10 is the cheapest GPS worth considering, and it's worked just fine for me. If someone lent me an Oregon I might yearn for one, but to some extent what you've never had you don't miss. You can get a Dakota 10 for £95 on Amazon, the Oregon 450 is well over £200, as is the 62S. The etrex 20 is a bit more expensive and has some better features than the Dakota 10, with the main other differences being GLONASS compatibility and the joystick rather than the touchscreen. For each person there's a different answer...

I agree with that as well. If I didn't have a GPS, I would have got through a few phones by now. It can be round my neck on a lanyard, it works in the rain and in the cold (even with gloves on), I can give it to my kids to use, it has a regularly updated PQ of my nearest 1000 caches, I can use it abroad without incurring roaming charges, and probably a few other things I've forgotten.

Of the two you've selected, the Dakota has the better spec, because it can hold more caches (2000 vs 1000), plus it has a colour screen and you can load (free) maps onto it. I have the Dakota, and the other main difference between them is that the Dakota is a touch screen device like many of the other, more expensive Garmins, whereas the etrexes have a joystick. It depends what you prefer. As stated, above, most people tend to go for an etrex 20, but that will take you above the price of the Dakota 10, so it depends what you want and how much you want to pay. Similarly, a Dakota 20 gives you the better 3-axis compass and an SD card slot that you can use for caches and for maps. Personally, I've been very happy with my Dakota 10.

You don't need any special maps. I've used the ones here and they've been great: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

I've got a Garmin Dakota 10 that I use occasionally in the car but mostly for caching. The windscreen mount is excellent, but I would prefer a larger screen in the car (I think the Oregon is a bit bigger so would second the recommendation above). As for power, you should have a spare set of batteries if you're out caching anyway, so don't bother with a power lead getting in the way with your driving. You can get worldwide OSM maps for free at the link below, and they're routable: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

I can recommend these. We used them this summer when we were in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The maps are routable as well, so you can use your GPS as a sat nav if you want to.

The etrex20 is widely regarded as a good, reasonably priced GPS. You can either save individual caches, or if you're a premium member you can run pocket queries of up to 1000 caches at a time to download from your PC. As well as the talkytoaster maps, which are excellent, you can get worldwide maps here: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ so you can cache overseas without incurring roaming charges. As far as batteries are concerned, a GPS is miles better than a phone. Get a couple of sets of rechargeables. One set should last you a whole day, and carry the second as backup.

I've had a Dakota 10 for about a year and I've been very pleased with it. It's much better than my phone in every respect, apart from the fact that it needs to have the caches loaded onto it. However, even then I sometimes do a search with my phone and then create a waypoint on the Dakota to go hunting. Talkytoaster maps are great, and so are the maps from this website http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ I have a PQ of my nearest 1000 caches that I upload regularly to keep up-to-date. Battery life is more than enough for a day's caching, but I carry a spare set. It's pretty robust, but I recommend using a lanyard, as that prevents it hitting the floor. In winter the touch screen will still work through gloves. It's pretty logical to use, but I'm still finding more. Maps are routable, which can be useful, and you can get bike mounts and windscreen mounts if you want them. Just play with it, the more you use it, the better you'll get.

And if you want worldwide OSM maps, you can get them here: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

There are some good instructions on how to load maps onto your GPS here: https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=60639.0 However, talkytoaster maps are only for the UK, so you'll need to get them from another site. For non-UK maps I've always used this site: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ You just need to follow the instructions, choose the tiles you want, and then it will generate a map for you once it's your turn on the server. Hope that helps.

As others have said above, the Talkytoaster maps are very good. I also use this site for overseas maps, which were good enough for me to use my Dakota 10 as a sat-nav in the US: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ Just follow the instructions and it's pretty straightforward. If you're considering buying a GPS, this website provides a really useful comparison of the features of the different models: http://www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk/resources/gps.html#whichgps Most people seem to assume the etrex is the way to go, but don't discount the Dakotas. Personally, I like the touchscreen, which is of the old variety and can be operated using gloves!

I've used the maps at garmin.openstreetmap.nl and they've worked fine for me. They're routable, so you can use them as a sat-nav if you want to. How good the paths are will depend on people's contribution to OSM.

But is he going to go out and pick up all the old boxes? If not, then they will always be an issue, as will all the other caches that just get archived by pressing a button on a computer somewhere and forgotten about. There have been over 400 caches archived in the last seven days, quite a few of them 'enforced' archivings by our Reviewers. I wonder how many of them are now just so much non-biodegradable rubbish littering up the countryside? Is there a means of viewing archived caches without specifically knowing their name? If you know the cacher's name, you can go to their profile and all of their caches, archived or not, will be available there.

Firstly, we have no idea who it is that's saying these caches are unauthorised, let alone which ones. It may or may not be the landowner themselves, and there's a multi that states that it has the permission of The Lookout. Secondly, there is more than one CO with caches in Swinley Forest. 4wheelin_fool has been posting 'needs archiving' logs mainly for those with 'Swinley Forest' in the title. Thirdly, why archive caches if they're still out there and in good condition? Or do you propose that all the CO's caches be archived because you're not confident he'll maintain them. Firstly someone has stated that the caches are nolonger there, they've been moved to the Discovery Centre. It's most likely that the OP is someone from the Discovery centre who's discovered the caches, removed them, and come on here to let us know. Secondly I looked at several (not all) caches in the forest, they're owned by "Lord Of the Cachers", who's pretty renowned for chucking out hundreds of caches, none of which have permission, and never performs maintenance on them. Thirdly, they're not still out there (the OP says they're in the Discovery centre), and the ones that belong to LOTC are probably not in good condition anyway as he never maintains them. As for the other COs with caches in the forest, presumably if they placed their caches with permission then they will still be out there, but if not the OP will have lifted them too. I agree that it sounds like a good place for caches, and if they have a "Discovery Center" then geocaching should be right up their street, all it needs is for someone to approach them with a view to placing caches with their approval and then there will be a bunch of new smileys to be had for everyone. They haven't been removed, the OP clearly states that they "will be removed". LOTC is well known, but I am more concerned by an unknown person suggesting caches will be removed and a cacher living the other side of the Atlantic requesting that caches be archived to boost their NA stats, than someone who doesn't maintain their caches.

Firstly, we have no idea who it is that's saying these caches are unauthorised, let alone which ones. It may or may not be the landowner themselves, and there's a multi that states that it has the permission of The Lookout. Secondly, there is more than one CO with caches in Swinley Forest. 4wheelin_fool has been posting 'needs archiving' logs mainly for those with 'Swinley Forest' in the title. Thirdly, why archive caches if they're still out there and in good condition? Or do you propose that all the CO's caches be archived because you're not confident he'll maintain them.

I suggest you try Facebook as well, as there's a lot of activity on there. There's a group called Geocaching in Kent that might be useful.

The point about paying in USD isn't about paying the VAT or not, it's about GS now forcing us to pay in £ (or Euros), but them paying the currency conversion charge and charging it back to us, plus a bit extra "just in case", when most of us have been happy all along to pay in USD and make our own arrangements to cover the currency conversion and which now results in some people taking a double hit - but GS still pocket that little extra fiddle factor the added on! Fair enough. £23.99 would equate to $29.99 at 1.5 + VAT, so GS are definitely making a quid or two out of us by switching to Sterling.

In response to some of the points above: 1. VAT may have been due since 2002 and it sounds like GS were non-compliant with VAT legislation for a number of years. Now that they've been found out they're having to charge VAT. Perhaps we should consider ourselves lucky that they haven't had to pay VAT they should have charged us, as then costs would have gone up further or GS might have gone out of business. 2. Paying with a USD credit card or paypal does not change the fact that you're a UK resident, consuming the product in the UK. Therefore UK VAT applies. 3. As far as the Americans paying less is concerned, watch this space. On 6 May the US Senate passed a bill that would make online retailers subject to sales taxes. Whether this will apply to GS remains to be seen, but it would put the base cost up for US consumers, as well as the admin costs for them or for all of us.

I use Windows on my phone, and the app is free, although I believe you only get limited access if you're not a premium member. I know you have to pay for the iphone app, but you can trial it by downloading your first 3 caches (I think) for free. For me, the 2 best things about a GPS rather than a phone are far better battery life (and the ability to carry spare, readily available batteries), so you can cache all day without a problem, and having a pocket query for my nearest 1000 caches to home that is available almost instantly.

If you can stretch to a Dakota, it would be worth it, especially if you can pick up a used one. The touchscreen is the old-fashioned pressure-sensitive type, which means you can operate it in winter with gloves on, and compared to the etrex 10 it takes 2000 caches instead of 1000 and you can download free maps for it as well. And the touchscreen works fine in the rain.

Although the keyword search no longer works on the GC.com search page, it works just fine on the WP7 mobile app. It will only search for caches within the normal 35 mile radius, but it's better than nothing. I wonder if this still works on the other mobile apps?

Ahhh, and you are also aware of the fact, that Geocachers in an EURO-Country are abused (intentionelly, I guess) to pay more for a premium membership than others. And don't explain this with taxes and bank charges! A US resident pays 29,99$ + VAT (9.5% = around 3$, right), in sum 33$. In Germany, or any other country within the EURO zone, people have to pay around 29,99€ = 39,14$ (1 EUR ~ 1,31 USD). Off topic, but well spotted. Last year I paid my premium membership in USD, this year I will have to pay it in GBP. £24.99 is an exchange rate of 1.2 compared to a realistic rate of at least 1.5. Could someone explain what I get for my extra £5? Oh, and back on topic, I completely agree with all the comments about the cache name searches. Just this morning I heard about a series and tried to find it, but because the CO had used an abbreviation at the start I was unable to find it. This is a real backwards step.

Mine's not working properly either. Admittedly I seem to have an older version of GME, but it seems that yesterday's update has caused the problem. I have no option to change the map type, and if I click on Search or Pocket Queries I lose the map view and get a screen all about configuring GME

You can download openstreetmap maps for your Garmin from this website: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ I don't know what they're like for Bali, but I've downloaded them today for Hong Kong and Shanghai, and they'll do me just fine.

Isn't it the terrain that the other cacher should be challenging, not difficulty? Difficulty is about how hard the cache is to spot/locate/get coords for, whereas terrain will be influenced by how far you have to walk. I think most people give terrain ratings to series that are decided more by the terrain of the walk or how far off the path the cache is, rather than distance, which isn't strictly in accordance with the GS guidelines that talk about how far you have to walk to get to a cache. But as you say, one cacher may do a cache as a C&D, whereas another may have walked 3 miles already, picking up the other caches in the series. I think the problem is that you can't please all of the people all of the time, and as long as you can justify what you've done, don't worry about it too much! As long as cachers know how to interpret your D/T ratings, that's the main thing!