jpthegeek

I bought a 3-LED Energizer headlamp from Target for $14 and it hasn't failed me yet. Takes 3 triple A's. Works great. May not be quite as rugged as a Petzel or something like it, but for a third of the cost...can't really lose.

First, welcome from a relativly newbie cacher... Since you are sharing I will too. Had a car that had a Nav system in it. Got rid of said car because I needed a truck. Didn't realize how much I used the GPS until I didn't have it. Was searching online for a handheld GPS and stumbled across Groundspeak. It took me all of 20 minutes to go out to the local yellow electronix box and get my Garmin. About an hour later I was doing the 'drunken bee dance' in the woods looking for my first cache. Since December I have lost about 40 pounds. That's enough motivation for me. My wife laughs and tells me 'it's nerds in the woods'. I am hopelessly addicted

In my short time caching I have never encountered a situation that I couldn't get out of quickly. However, that doesn't mean I shouldn't go prepared. I always carry my trusty Glock 19 with a couple of extra mags in either a paddle holster or small-of-the-back. I have been licensed to do this since I was 21 so this is not anything new to me. Recently I have also been carrying a fixed blade knife having been trained in it's use as a defensive weapon as well. These are merely precautions and tools for defense. Nothing more. I hope to God I will NEVER have to use either one. Before I started geocaching I carried most of this stuff around with me anyway. It is always better to be prepared. My 2 cents. BTW...Hi, I'm jpthegeek.