Kabuthunk

My problem is not so much 'how much detail can I get out of googlemaps (don't have google earth... and the reasoning will be explained shortly), but 'how much detail is my printer capable of printing' Basically... I don't yet own a GPS... so I'm stuck either going on memory, or memory combined with a printout of the map on a very-cheap printer... in which only the red ink works: If geocaching doesn't allow hotlinking, then just click here. And yeah... that's all I've got to go on until I get my GPS Got 9 finds though (and two DNF's) with this method... most of those without even having a crappy printout

Another quick question on this subject, as in a month when I get my GPS, I'll be in the same boat. Now, I have no problem with buying said TOPO and the City Select (I've already decided those would be what I'd want), however, I'm noticing that there's version numbers for these. Which begs the question. When you spend 1/5 of your GPS price on a map... are you for all intents and purposes required to buy said map AGAIN when the next version comes out, or since you bought it, are you given a "subscription" for X number of years to get updates? Or how does the updating it work?

Well, in that case you use common sense. If said person is big enough to break your jaw without blinking an eye, then you probably want to scale that back to just muttering and shaking your head and walking away... and essentially ignore their existance whatsoever thereafter. Item #2 that pompous jack@#$'s hate is being utterly ignored. If they talk to you, pretend they didn't say anything, and that they simply do not exist. The safer, less-potentially-painful jerk-solver

Ok, I'm guessing that I will probably be looked down upon posting in here, but I'm willing to take that risk Note: I only have one find to my name (given I don't even own a GPS system yet), but have looked into this and thought about these subjects quite a bit. My thoughts would be such that: 1. If I find a cache, that means I was able to hold it. If it's meant to be opened normally but cannot (ie: it was in an ammo container, but something bashed the top and the lid is bent, stopping it from opening), I would count it as a find, and add a note to the account that it's damaged. Odds are I would tape a piece of paper with my log to the side of it or something... or somehow leave evidence I was there. I would then email the owner of said damage found. 2. If I find a cache that has a lock on it, such that I need to solve a puzzle or find other parts to open it, I would log it as a 'did not find', and make a more personal note on there as to how far I got on it. 3. If I found it, but the log book was gone/too wet/no pen... I would log it as 'found', but sent word to the owner of the logbook problem. I would however leave proof that I was there, even if it was as little as tearing the tag off my shirt to leave there. I however have a vow such that I will leave a Tetra Orb (see profile) with every cache I come to (except a micro that it doesn't fit in). Hence... since I don't forsee this being done already, it's pretty well proof of my being there. If it IS a micro, then I'll go with the 'shirt tag' or personal piece of paper that can easily fit, and I can easily identify on the site to the owner.

Best thing to do with self-proclaimed experts? Laugh at them. If they make a comment towards you, or give you some advice, laugh your a** off at their expense, then wander off ignoring them and muttering something along the lines of "@#cking loser" type of deal. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that pompous jack#@$'s REALLY hate being belittled when they're trying to be... well... pompous. What are they gonna do, scream at you? Oh no. They're just making themselves look worse, and giving you more opportunity to laugh at their expense. They take a swing at you... well, this guy seems to be fairly well known... so as long as there's any sort of witness around, you can claim assault with the local police. Problem solved with acceptable losses in my opinion

"Battle of the GPS's. Round one... FIGHT!"

First, some backstory: Various siblings in my family have been geocaching for some time now. At one point or another, they told me about this new hobby, and I became vaguely interested. Looking further into it, I discovered that this was quite a bit more widespread than first anticipated (although I wish there was more closer to my apartment ). In either case, the problem remained that as of this time, I did not, nor do I currently as of typing this, own a GPS system. So, after much poking around online to decide on which GPS unit to buy, I eventually decided that for the purposes of camping/hiking/vacations/geocaching, I would save up and get the Garmin GPSMap 60 csx. Anyhoo... in a state of boredom at work, I popped in my zip code and decided to see what was close to me. Well, I've done this before, but never really LOOKED at them... just the distance from my apartment (the closest being about 1km away. When I get a GPS, expect several to pop up closer ). I quickly discovered that one (I'll be seeing you blitz) was about a 1/2 block from the workplace I was currently sitting at (ahh, Shaw). Hence... I noticed the mapquest mini-map located on each of the pages on geocaching.com. Clicking on said map, I was able to zoom in as far as it goes and get a general vicinity of the cache. However, having a previous history of knowing Mapquest can be horribly off at times, I was somewhat skeptical of my chances. It rated it as 1-star easy however, so it was worth a shot. The map gave me about how far down the road it's on, and what side of the road it might be on. So after work today (well... Aug. 12th... it's technically after midnight as I type this), I pull onto that road, and give a quick scan. Note: It was dark, and really foggy, and rather ominous around there. I kinda like that... creeps you out kinda . In either case, there were pretty much only several places it could really be. A few quick glances around and my second guess turned out to be the right one. This cache now contains one more log entry, a chainmail Tetra Orb (see my profile on geocaching.com), and is minus one plastic skull-ring... to be kept as a memento of my first cache ever :} :} :} Aaaand so, I'm now hooked on this more than before, even before owning a GPS system. Who knows, I might be able to find a few more before I get it And that's the very beginning of my geocaching tale.

Well... random note... I've decided to save up for a bit... and go for the Garmin 60 csx. The theory being the usual 'why get something less than specifically what I want, and then be disappointed X number of months/years/whatever down the road'. Offhand, I can't even see what other features they can cram onto there other than longer battery life or being lighter or some such... so it should be a good investment to hold me for a fair number of years. So hence... the decision has been made. And I shalt geocache. In around 1-2 months :{

Blagh. Alrighty, it looks like the price of the CX or CSX is a little out of my price range (seeing it online for about 500 american... meaning like... a kajillion canadian ). There anything offhand that has most of these features for preferably a lot less $? Edit: Hmm... looks like the Garmin GPSMap 60 looks not too bad. I'll have to kinda cross my fingers on finding it though, since Garmin has yeah... as Vertigo said... discontinued dang near everything. Blah. I need a good side-by-side stat comparison page for a ton of gps units. Any suggestion if I rip off of my 'needs', the compass, expandable memory, and pretty much ignore most of the 'wants'?

Actually, that does help quite a bit. Also because your mention of 'altimeter' reminded me that I'd want 3-D waypoints if possible, so I added that into the optional section Otherwise, I'm still open to suggestions from anyone, or thoughts as to what else I should look for. Man, I SO want to go out and start this... but at the same time, I'm trying to avoid rushing into buying a GPS that doesn't fit me

Long story short, I've been pondering getting a GPS unit for quite a while now. Mainly, I was pondering it for camping and when going on vacation and the like (ie: where the #@$#@ is that dadgum hotel?!?). However, as of late, a number of my family members have gotten into Geocaching (purplemonkeydishwasher is my brother... can't remember the usernames for the others). Looking into it, it looks like it'd be quite fun to do while biking around and soforth. Hence... researching into this, I've come up with some things that I would like a GPS unit to have if possible, and some features I would absolutely want it to have. What I'm needing is for suggestions as to which I should get and whatnot. Basically, I'm looking for preferably mid-range. Not bottom of the line, not top model. Just... something fairly decently good. Absolutely need to haves: Submersable - Last thing I need is to trip and drop it in a puddle and have it not work again. Never mind this water-resistance, I don't want to worry about puddles or... yeah, you get the idea. Basemap - Want to be able to download maps for it. Yeah. Channels - I think pretty much everything is 12-channel, but I'm not sure. Memory - want to be able to expand the memory. Nuff said. WAAS - Or whatever that extra-accuracy thing is. I think most GPS units have this as well. Paths - Track-back, routing, whatever it's called. Where it can show me the path that I travelled, and not rely on me just setting a waypoint somewhere and I have to find my way back to it myself. I have no clue what this feature is even called. Rocker keypad thing - That type of 'rocker' keypad or whatever else it's called. Apparently infinitely easier to work with the GPS, and from what I've played with in stores, they're right Computer interface - When I hook it up to my computer, I don't want it to be a horrible debacle to try to work with it. Nothing too fancy needed, just not a frustration. External antenna jack - Just... yeah, really want to have that. Want to haves: Bike mount - I don't know if all units are able to fit into some generic bike mount, but yeah... would be nice. Moving map display - Would be nice, but if it doesn't have it... eh. Optional power source - Some systems apparently you can tell it what type of batteries you're using, or to go from the car outlet instead of battery or some such. What type of display - I've heard black and white saves a lot of battery life, so I'd probably want to avoid colour. Also, I've heard it's easier to see b&w when it's sunny. I wouldn't want to bother with buying a colour with that fancy nonreflective screen. So B&W if possible. Also, preferably not a stupidly small screen. Not obnoxiously large, but not microscopic. Waypoints I think everything comes with 500. I'd want no less than that, but more is always better if there's a neglegeable price difference. 3-D waypoints - get both horozontal and vertical saving of the point. Yeah... it'd be nice. Ability to hold it vertically - The guy at S.I.R. was telling me some GPS systems have to be held horozontally, and some can be held pretty much any which way. Preferably, I'd want the latter. No clue if he was just BSing me though. Aaaand yeah, that's all the points I know offhand. I'm sure there's other things I should be looking at as well. Hence... if anyone has any suggestions as to what other aspects I should pay attention to, or know of any brands/etc that fit what I want... please reply with some info. Also prices if possible (even more if possible in Canadian, as I'm in Manitoba ).