fixman88

Wow! I've never seen what a geodetic monument looks like before it's set. I wonder if eBay has a category for these...

I remember seeing a really small detector called the Vibra-Tector. It uses a 9 volt battery, and vibrates when it finds something. It's located at KellyCo Detectors . I hope this helps!

Thanks for the help everyone! I knew you guys would come through!

Wow, thanks! Keyes-Davis looks like an official source (or more likely one of them).

I don't know if this is a silly question or not, but I've been wondering about it. Where does the NGS get the brass disks for the benchmarks from? Do they make them themselves? Do they buy them from someone (if so, who?) I've tried looking on the net but so far no luck. Any info would be appreciated!

I had never even heard of benchmarking until I first visited Geocaching.com. I find the idea really appealing, in fact I can think of a couple of markers to go visit already! I remember seeing one alongside Front Street in Tyler where I live. It was a brass disk set into the concrete next to the sidewalk. It caught my attention, so I took a look at it. I knew what it was but couldn't decipher the numbers on it. Fortunately I remember exactly where it is. I also remember seeing a concrete post with a disk on it at Tyler State Park many years ago, but I don't know if it was a USGS marker or not (I guess there's only one way to find out)!