Sinver

The iPhone 3GS has an awful accuracy. I used one and it made my life difficult to find the tricky caches. However, upgrading to the 4S was unbelievably better. The accuracy is fantastic, and the clean, user friendly app from Groundspeak combined with this makes geocaching a joy. I too would love a gps unit that had the user friendly style of the Groundspeak app. That said, combining the two seems the best bet. As for battery, I bought one of these and it is fantastic: Pebble

Hi all, recently my wife and I did a series of caches in North Devon. The walk took us through some challenging and varied terrain, and while we had an utterly FABULOUS time, we thought perhaps a stick might have helped. My wife especially, as three years ago she had a serious ankle break and thus isn't as able as she used to be! The question is, is 135cm a "standard" height, as most I see, apart from stupidly expensive ones, seem to extend to this. However when we tested one in Go Outdoors, it seemed a bit short. We are both just over 6' tall, maybe that is why! I saw some "Leki" ones that went to 150cm I liked that height but they were prohibitively expensive! Can anyone recommend a seller/brand that is 150cm max height, in the UK, that isn't stupidly expensive?

When I oringinally posted this thread, I had no idea how big a debate I would start. However, this is a very good, no, BRILLIANT post and bruce, you are my new favourite geocacher. You make some very good points, and I have to agree the iPhone 4S is amazing, especially when you compare to the old 3GS. (by the way, I once dropped my 3GS in a river in Exmoor, and although I had to disassemble it, dry it, then reassemble it, it was fine). Would you agree bruce, or anyone for that matter, a dedicated gps alongside an iPhone 4S would be a good thing™? Oh, and as for choosing one, I quite like the look of the Dakota 20. Is that useful?

I hear all the time that the iPhone is not as good as a dedicated gps device, but am needing convincing! Can anyone show me a picture of a gps device, with an ON SCREEN shot of its accuracy? I find it terribly suspicious there are no actual quoted figures of accuracy or proof. My iPhone has a great official app, easy to use, and accuracy to within 5metres. Can any device beat this?

So the iPhone is seen as the geocachers enemy, apparently. What I want to know, what is the typical accuracy of your avergage gps device in comparison? I wonder if the dislike of iPhones for geocaching (specifically placing them) is down to the early devices? I remember my "3gs" had terrible accuracy, to within 17m at best tho usually no better than within 47m! Now I have the "4S" I get to within 5m. Is this still unacceptable? What accuracy would say, a dakota 20 give?

Some interesting points raised there and I would like to clarify some from my point of view if I may! I never took pictures of the cache situated in gz, usually I moved to a more open area (checking for muggles of course!) but concede it never entered my head I might be spoiling. Naive of me I know, and I now don't publish photos. I'm not a "stat padder" so don't really care about that little number next to my name, I do it to make walking the dog more interesting Totally agree on just conceding the point and getting on with it. I genuinely don't know which we're deleted ( I know it was 3 ) as I received no email. If I work it out and they're available I'll do them again!

Clan, you are of course correct. My fear/lack of knowledge regarding multi caches was my initial undoing, and quite rightly could have been avoided. I will chalk that up as experience. The unpublished one, just unlucky I guess. You are totally right, it is all good experience, and the reviewer has been very helpful and supportive. J, as for renaming the cache, I love that idea. I think I may well do that! The place I finally settled on is great, and a good hide, so I am happy to wait for the reviewer to contact the other guy, and see what happens, but if I have to move, it isn't the end of the world, I have a backup location! I am a positive glass half full sort of guy, so look at this as a positive experience, and also am happy it made me break my duck on finding a multi cache!

I found one with a Gareth Gates cd in it once. I logged that as a "TNLN" despite the temptation!

So I hit another snag! This time the reviewer informed me there's an unpublished cache in my proximity and if they want to publish they will get priority and I'll need to move. This is despite they've been place holding there for a year apparently, grrr. Well they've been contacted by the reviewer who will give them 2 weeks to state if they intend to publish, if not then he'll archive it and mine will get published. I've waited this long I guess another 2 weeks won't hurt What a pain!

Thanks for the clarification guys, it is appreciated. Turns out I was falling foul of stage 3 of a 6 part multi cache. Unluckily for me, stage 3 was the only physical stage, and I managed to stumble my hiding spot 80m from it. The only solution was to find the multi. So, today, in the rain (!) I set about it. It was my first multi, so I didn't know what to expect. The first clue made no sense, until I got to the coordinates. I am guessing that is usually the way! Anyway, I found the final coordinates, signed the log book and then set about finding a place to hide my cache that was far away from the physical stage and the end cache. Here is hoping third time lucky with my first hide!

Well going on what you all say, it is likely I have had logs deleted by CO's that maybe think I was spoiling it, as I used to picture my finds with my faithful geosidekick dog. I never thought it gave anything away, but clearly this upset someone (I really cannot be bothered to go through the list) so will be careful not to do this in future. Bit petty though if you ask me.

Some good replies, I appreciate that. You're right, I have restricted myself on types of cache I find, perhaps I need to overcome my fear of change and look at others. Interesting that on a multi only the final stage is the one I need to avoid, kinda makes sense. Amusingly ironic I have managed to get closer to it without trying, looks like I need to get over my fear of multi's and find this one! Regarding the clues and how its written, milksomas is a well respected local cacher, so I can agree the clues probably ARE well written, I just need to learn how to interpret them. I can always mail him for help I suppose!

Thanks for the reply J, at least now I know where I stand! As for the multi's, perhaps I am just being a bit thick, but the one in particular (GC264ZG, Harry's walkabout no2) makes no sense to me on paper. Perhaps I need to get out there and look. There are 6 stages listed, and a final 7th. I assume any new cached cannot be within 528ft of any stage, which seems a bit daft as the iphone app does not list any of them. Without giving anything away, looking at the cache in question, does that look like it might make sense to you? for example, the first stage clue is "Stage 1.N50.58.034.w001.22.391 - A = terrain 100.4 bs en 132A?". Am I missing some geospeak here?

So, after over 80 finds, and receiving a cache kit for christmas, I finally decided to try and place a cach of my own. My first attempt sadly was rejected by the reviewer, as it was 150m from an already existing cache. (ironically, the cache nearby was my first ever find!). So, I replaced it, and according to my geocache app, it was not within 500m of anything, however, it was rejected AGAIN as apparently it is within 80m of an existing cache. Turns out the cache in question is a "multi cache" so I have inadvertently located my cache near the end result. How on earth am I to know this? I genuinely admit to not being able to do multi caches, the one in question makes no sense to me. Do all the stages of this multi cache count as points to avoid when placing a cache? If so, then this is silly, the park in question has barely any actual physical caches, yet because of ghosts I cannot place mine. I guess, getting to the point, do I need to actually find the location of a multi cache to be sure of not placing too close to it? Also, do all stages count as waypoints I cannot place a cache within 161m to?

Thanks for the replies so far. As far as the photos are concerned, is it really a point I could spoil it enough to be deleted? I never photographed the cache "in situe" as it were and only did it for fun as I liked to enjoy my caching with my dog. Can I look at a list of my caches so as to be able to determine by means of deduction as to what has been deleted? Seems a bit petty to be honest.............

Over the last day or two I have noticed my "finds" have gone down from 83, to 80. Why would this happen? I always sign the log books of every one I find, (with one exception, and this was noted in the online log with a reason). Is it possible some were archived? I know of two in my area I found that are no longer there. Is there any way to find out which were removed? I am just curious!

Thank you! Just confirming, thanks to this thread I ordered a Veho, and it arrived today. It was already charged just needed topping up. I am charging it from the USB on my Sky HD box Gonna go out in a few minutes and put it to the test, however, first impressions are superb, and its a very nice compact bit of kit. It even came with a carry case.

Even the ones on ANTARCTICA are not rated 5/5, so that should tell you enough

Ooh great tip on the Veho, I use my iPhone 4s, and while it has the best gps yet on an iPhone, the battery life does diminish what I can do in one session. Only yesterday, I set off on what I hoped would be a figure of 8, 36 cache trek, but it became clear the battery would never last despite turning the app off when not needed, and closing the screen too. I did 15, and went home. The Veho will arrive tomorrow, so I shall be out there testing it!

The winner is: Dakota 20. As a new geocacher, and currently using an iPhone, this one is looking good, especially at the price of around £165. The reason I chose it over the Dakota 10, was the card slot, and electronic compass. Any particular problems of this unit I should be aware of? Also, a link for the best free maps to load in to it would be appreciated, there is no way I am spending silly money for a Garmin map!

Sounds like you need something like the Dakota 20, or Delorme PN-40. If you look around you can find them for around $200. I should point out I live in "Rip off Britain" and would never get those for under the equivalent of $200. However, that said, the Dakota 20 does look nice. Is the buying of extra maps vital for geocaching? From what I read, Garmins base maps are terrible?

Thanks for the replies, it is as always appreciated. Paperless caching is a vital function, so that pretty much rules out the legend. That said, there's no rush on buying one at the moment, so I will watch out for the new legend range, and also look at the more expensive units, and once again pester you in here. My main issue is I am too tight to spend loads on a unit, but am increasingly seeing the simple rule of "you get what you pay for". I genuinely don't see a possibility of getting what I want for under £200. That is: electronic compass, reasonable map, and paperless geocaching. The iPhone does all this, but has the distinct disadvantage of poor reception in woody areas, and of course a shocking battery life.

Is this handheld a decent starter? I am new to geocaching, and was originally looking at the standard eTrex but the serial connection was pointed out and this made it a non starter. I cannot see anywhere that the legend hcx has an electronic compass. Does anyone know if it does? I have found using this feature on the iPhone geocache app very useful!

Hi folks, I am new to the geocache game, as you can see by my outstanding 2 finds so far I am using my iPhone at the moment, but it has a big limitation in the fact the battery runs fast when using gps. I have to admit, and I know this makes me sound tight, I was amazed at the price of gps units! When using the iPhone the accuracy was never below 17m, and often 47m in lower signal areas. If I buy a gps unit is it a lot better? Also, is the battery life better too? The iPhone lasts 3 hours approx if using the gps! I am really skint at the moment, so wondered if the Etrex H was ok to use, taking in to account the comments above. Or is it really not that much better than the iPhone? Also, can the Etrex download the geocache files from my computer? I know the bigger flashier colour touchscreen jobbies are lovely, but I really don't have that money to spend right now

The two I found today were as follows: hidden under twigs at the base of a birch tree, and right inside a hollow of a tree (I really had to rummage on that one!). So, yes, they certainly can be.