Vexidus

I use a Dakota 20 and absolutely love it! Also, don't get the Dakota 10, the extra price for the 20 is worth it for the electronic compass, which is very useful. Here are some of the things I like about it: -The size is nice, it fits in the hand comfortably and when hanging from your neck, it's not TOO heavy -The touch screen is nice and intuitive to use -It's completely waterproof, making stress-free caching in the rain. It supposedly floats, if you manage to drop it in water -Like I mentioned, the electronic compass is very useful, and responsive -Very accurate GPS antenna, I often get +/- 3M with it -Good battery life, I use rechargable batteries and one charge lasts me several sessions of 6+ hours each -Easy to hook up to the computer using usb cable, to load your pocket queries -Paperless geocaching, you can look up the description, hint, logs, difficulty, etc. on the fly -Cool stats features like elevation, barometric pressure, sunrise/sunset, etc. -Slot for micro SD card, to store topo maps and extra stuff like your geocaching photos, pocket queries, gpx files, or other misc things -Easy navigation, you can set it to give directions to the cache, or other point of interest you wish, and have it navigate by road. It even beeps when there is a turn, and does different tones for right and left, so you don't even have to look at the unit to know which way to turn -More things I am forgetting, but I am very pleased with it

Thank you! Part of the fun for me is documenting my adventures, through pictures and nice online logs. I also use a voice recorder while hunting for caches, to help me remember interesting things about the finds, the condition of the containers, funny things that happened to me on the way, swag I traded, etc. The recordings are useful for writing my online logs, plus I can go back and listen to the adventures I had way back when. One time I had my voice recorder on while I was approaching the ground zero of a cache, and a big red fox came up and scared the crap out of me, lol. My reaction was priceless, and it was fun to go back and re-listen to it!

I carry a digital voice recorder with me when I cache. Got one for only $20, and it works great. I start a recording for every cache I attempt, begin by saying the name of the cache, what size the container is, interesting info from the description, etc. All of this info from my paperless gps unit while walking toward the cache. I then pause it until I have something of note to add while hunting for the cache. For example, if I spot a fox, or get my foot wet, etc, I make note of it, to remember for my online log. When I find the cache, I usually record myself opening it up, and going through the swag, to capture the excitement of finding neat items inside. I record what I took, and what I left, as well as the condition of the container. If it's wet inside, or the log book is full, etc, I say so in my recording. When I get home from my adventure, I sit at the computer with my recorder and play back my recordings of each cache as I log them online. I find it very enjoyable, and would recommend it to anyone! The neat part about it, is that you can go back in time and listen to your adventures from way back, and remember your experiences more clearly. Lots of fun!

The Dakota 20 is a great unit, and it's the one I'm currently using. After you hook up the unit to your computer using a cable, you will be able to browse the folders on it. There is a folder called GPX, and that's where your unzipped pocket query files need to be. Keep in mind that the Dakota has a 2000 cache limit, so be careful how many of your PQs are on it at once. After you hit 2000, it'll cause errors when you try to see cache descriptions and things from the unit. I hope this helps, and have fun!

I twisted my right ankle really badly while caching last week. It was so bad that I could barely even bear weight on it. I've been wrapping it with stretchy gauze though, keeping it a bit more stable while it recovers. Feels a lot better a week later, thankfully.

I'd trade for that, and then hang it on my backpack. Very cool!

Thank you all for the helpful replies! I now have enough information to do some good research. For those of you wondering if that was a real puzzle or not, it was indeed copied straight from a cache description. There is a series of over 80 of these exact types of puzzles, but in different variations. GC258ER

You can mark the caches on your Dakota as found, so that you can at least see if you've found it. To do that, set it up to Go To a geocache, and then in the geocache menu, press Log Attempt, and select Found. After you do this, the icon for it will change on the map screen, and it will no longer pop up in the list, when you search for nearby caches on your unit.

I've been caching for a little while now, and am getting into puzzle caches. However, I'm very stuck with a certain type of puzzle, and can't even find information about what type of puzzle it is. Here's an example: You must solve the following. The NINE letters represent the digits from 1 to 9 AB - CD > AD - CB EC - FG > EG - FC FH - AE > FE - AH J > B What in the world? I don't even know where to begin with that. I'd like to know what this type of puzzle is, and perhaps get a link to a tutorial about them, or something. Thanks!

Ugh, I was checking on the site back on my regular computer (viewed the new update on laptop) and I had the old smilies, which led me to believe that they were reverted. Sure enough though, it was a cache issue, because I reloaded to make certain, and the smilies are still ugly and hard to read. Heartbreak.. By the way, here are the actual old smile files if anyone needs them for the script:

I'm also asking nicely! I have sentimental attachment to those buggers! The new smilies look horrendous, and aren't nearly as "readable", if that makes any sense. If I'm not wearing my glasses, they just look like messy smears. Also, I strongly dislike the blue shading on tables like pocket query preview pages. That's another topic altogether.. At first I was excited about the new site, but now I'm just bummed out.

Hello there, I am a fellow Dakota 20 user and it's a wonderful unit! First of all, you do need to hook it up to your computer using a usb cord. I believe the wireless only talks to other gps units, to send/receive stuff. Secondly, I see that you are a premium member, so you need to take advantage of Pocket Queries (PQ). To do this, go to your profile page and "Build Pocket Queries" and follow the directions. This lets you put up to 1000 caches at a time onto your gps. You can filter results by size (for example, I don't go after micros, so I filter those out), type, difficulty, attributes, anything. Start the search at your home location, and play around with the options. Once you have a PQ downloaded, take that GPX file (you don't need the waypoints one) and put it onto your Dakota unit in the GPX folder. Once you put the pocket query into your Dakota's GPX folder, unplug it and fire it up. Check out the map screen and you should see tons of caches. I hope this helped, enjoy the convenient paperless caching!

My main hobby other than geocaching is landscape photography, so I leave a 4x6 photo print in every cache with a container big enough to hold one (most are). I put them in the sandwich bags logbooks are usually in. On the backs of the photos, I write the title of the piece, where and when it was taken, my signature, and website url where more photos can be seen. I prepared over 100 to be left, and carry about 20 at a time in my backpack. I figure it's a neat thing to leave in caches, alongside my usual trading swag.

I guess I set unrealistic expectations for myself, thinking that the bug would be hopping from cache to cache and I would be seeing new logs of its journey everyday, lol. I have to accept that it may be a long burn, especially since caching in my area seems to be a little stagnant compared to others. I have other sets of new TB tags to use down the road too, if I feel like taking the plunge again! Perhaps next time I'll use an item I care less about, so I'll have more fun instead of worrying about it being treated well. Thank you very much for the advice and kind words! Looking back on things, it really hasn't been that long, although it feels like an eternity. I'll try not to stress much about it, and just give it a few months, and see what happens!

Well I sent the person a very friendly email instructing them on how to log a TB and haven't had a response in the week since. I've been watching their profile, and they haven't logged any cache finds since they presumably took the TB. They had 11 finds when I first realized they took the TB, and still have the same amount, 2 weeks later. I guess they aren't very active. I attached the tag to a $5 mini beanie baby I bought, because I thought it would be nice. I feel like this inexperienced and inactive cacher has cost me $12 (including the TB tag). All I can do is hope that this person caches ever again, and brings my TB along for the ride, to drop off. Then at least someone else can discover it, and get it in circulation. Right now, my very first TB is in limbo after not even being logged as picked up ONCE. On its page, it still says it's in the same cache I put it in to start with. This is absolutely torturous, and has really soured my outlook on TBs as a whole. I realize there was some risk involved with it, but man!

I started my very first TB going a few weeks ago, and placed it in a geo-post office, figuring someone would pick it up and get it going. There have been two logs at the cache since I placed it, and the most recent log stated that there were no trackable items in the cache, and my TB is still in the cache inventory. I have to assume that the log in between is the person who took it, and it happens to be a brand new cacher with only a handful of finds. I've been watching the cache and my TB for the past week and a half with no activity. I find this amazingly frustrating, but I guess there isn't much I can do except perhaps send an email to the person I think took the TB without logging it, and ask them to do so...

I find manually logging finds to be very enjoyable. I love to give details of my adventure, to share the unique experience I had during the hunt, etc. There are always things to say, about the weather, the difficulty or ease you had finding the cache, the wildlife you saw, any muggle situations that may have come up, what you took, what you left, etc. I always look at my pocket query results for my found caches that have also been found in the last week, to read new logs that were written after my own. Also, after I log my finds, I read the entire log history for those caches. I find it fascinating to read about the adventures of others. There's nothing I dislike more than seeing a short "TFTC" type log. I find it disrespectful to the person who hid the cache. I don't care if it's a log for a nano, there are always things to say. I have to say, I really don't like the idea of automated logging, of any sort.

Fantastic camera, but it's the complete opposite of what this guy is looking for!

I am just getting into geocaching and am adding items to my backpack every day, lol. Here's what I carry with me when I cache, either in my backpack or in one of my pants pockets: -GPSr, cell phone, compact point n shoot camera -Digital voice recorder for taking audio notes while I cache (what I took/left, etc) -Small bright flashlight -Extra rechargable batteries -Small road atlas book, just in case -Clipboard with blank paper -Pens, pencils, pencil sharpener -Small pair of scissors, pocket knife, lighter, small first aid kit -A couple cheap towels to wipe my hands off if they get dirty/wet -Bags to CITO -Some small freezer bags and extra log books for cache repair -A couple bottles of water, I usually drink at least one during a hunt in the woods -Tons of swag of different sizes, my TBs, and signature items to leave I take my good dslr camera with me in the car, but I don't take it to go hiking for caches. I like to bring it just in case I'm in a nice area, but I would never cache with it. It's too heavy and expensive! I've broken one compact camera already during the hunt, and that's enough for me!

I've been into geocaching for years now, although I just recently purchased my first gpsr. Prior to this, I've just been tagging along with others. Now that I'm seriously invested in the hobby, I'd like to start contributing to it as well! I have this idea for a cache, but I'm not sure if it's acceptable or not. The cache would be a "favourite songs" cache. In preparation of visiting the cache, you would burn a cd-r with your favourite music songs on it, label it with your geocaching name, perhaps what genre(s), and an optional message on the disc itself. When arriving at the cache, you would then select a person's cd to take in exchange of your own, and listen to it in the car or wherever. I personally love this idea, and I would be thrilled to start a cache like this. I would seed it with discs from several other cachers I know, and also supply general traders for the people finding it on a whim without preparing a disc. I'm wondering about the legality of something like this. Nobody would be making a profit from the discs, or anything like that. I don't see any harm in this, but I'd like some other opinions!