Buzzy204

Before I had a GPS and was working from my phone (very poor GPS) I was walking circles in a local park when this kid playing basketball walked my way and said "it's in that tree over there dude". He was right.

Wearing eye protection seemed like a huge hassle when they first started making us wear them for SAR years ago but a pair saved an eye once so now if it's too dark for sunglasses I wear a pair of clear glass cheaters (with reading bifocal) because I have to admit my eyes have gotten a bit old and it's easier to read with them at night. I also have to admit that since I grabbed a possum's butt checking for a cache I also wear gloves too.

I bought a Etrex 10, opened box but unused for $81 and honestly it's great for Geocaching but it has no maps and would be poor for hiking. So you get what you pay for I guess.

Plus they will have an address that you can write to requesting permission to place a cache on the land.

Your country tax assessor has that information and a lot of them have it online.

With anything the rule is once it stops being fun you need to step away from it for a while. Even though I'm nowhere near rich I understand the $3 a month this PM cost me is less than a gallon of gasoline.

Only two kinds of snakes, the ones with rattles are Rattlesnakes and the others are Cobras. Snakes make me run into trees.

Yeah, it is a Captain Hindsight type of thread

Oh crap. Bet you carry a stick now.

(Note to self, carry wet wipes)I was wearing gloves and happily grabbed him by the non biting end but man was he upset. I turned loose faster than the speed of light, screamed likea little girl.

While out looking for a cache I reached up in a log and grabbed something that moved, yeah it was a possum and he didn't play dead at all. What's the worst thing you've grabbed?

I'm new too and not in your area but honestly I sucked at this until I started going to web sites that sold caching stuff. I found out these folks hide stuff in fake bolts, empty sprinkler heads, holes bored in electric poles, down the tops of sign posts, in fake rocks and yes even a fake critters. Some of these folks have very inventive minds and it pays to learn everything you can about it. There are some good Utube vids too. I'm new too so I'm not the one to tell you what to get but I did buy a Garmin Etrex 10 for a little over $80 (opened pkg but unused)and used it today for the first time. The Etrex 10 has very little memory, holds only a few caches (20 I think) and doesn't have a map but it worked well today and it was something I could afford this month. I didn't like using my phone app but yours might be a lot better. Mine needed WIFI signals or it told me I was miles away.

I can tell you that the original Samsung Galaxy S is not accurate unless you have several nearby WIFI signals, turn off the WIFI and it refuses to hold a GPS lock. I'm waiting for delivery of a Garmin standalone unit and hoping it's a bunch better than this phone.

I'm still struggling along with my Android phone GPS and program but I have downloaded Base Camp and some maps. Guess now I need to decide how much GPS I really need.

I was afraid they were 1 unit upgrades but thanks a lot for the reply. What is a good choice for free maps for say a Etrex 20 etc?

I have a Garmin Zumo 660 for my car and motorcycle and bought the lifetime map updates. Does anyone know if those would also apply to any other Garmin GPS units I might buy? I'm thinking of getting a standalone GPS for geocaching and it would be nice to not have to buy more maps.

I'm 99% sure it's the phone. Phone GPS, while perfectly adequate, does not have the reliability of a standalone GPS. I've used several of the geocaching apps and this occurs in all of them. For me, c:geo is a little less buggy in compass mode than the 'official' geocaching app...but only a little. I don't have a standalone GPS device (I can't really justify spending the money on one of those at this time), but I gather they have greater accuracy and stability. What I tend to do is just get close and if I need that compass, I'll get within ten feet...then back away about 30 or 40 feet and come at the location from a different angle. Sometimes I have to do that a couple times to zero in on the hide if it's not obvious where I should be looking. Probably a very good way to hunt them. Thanks

I used C:geo w my Samsung SCH 1500 yesterday and honestly something was messed up. From minute to minute the compass would point one direction and then another and give from 1 meter to 70 meters to target. Was this the program or the GPS in the phone? I'd like to stay with the phone if I can but not if it won't get me where I need to go.