SilentWolf

Although I own the 300 and may be a bit biased, I would suggest it as well. (If your budget will allow that is) I wasn't willing to spend the extra $ for the 400t since it is basically exactly the same as the 300 just with topo's pre-loaded, and you can get free topo's from gpsfiledepot.com - and although I don't use the compass on mine very much it is a nice feature to have just in case you ever want it. But the biggest thing for me was the internal memory - definitely a plus. I have all my cache's and waypoints loaded on the internal memory, which leaves my 4gig microSD card for maps (I have the entire North America City Navigator maps as well as the free topo's for Utah and Nevada on it right now, and it's only about half full.)

Or the coordinates may be a bit off, I had the exact same thing the other day, GZ had me standing in the middle of a meadow looking for a .50 cal ammo can.... I finally found it about 60' away.

Luckily I haven't been lead to any landfills yet, but I did go looking for one that was hidden (in my opinion) WAY to close to a grease trap out back of a fast-food place.... yea... I almost lost my cookies.

I wouldn't have any problem looking for one on school property as long as permission was obtained.

Wait...... how can you have hidden a cache and not have used a GPS? It's required is it not? I checked the Geocaching Guidelines, they say "You as the owner of the cache must visit the site and obtain the coordinates with a GPS."

Well I finally got around to hiding my first cache today and just wanted to share how fun it was. I already had the general area planned out, so I headed out before work this morning and found a nice spot (left the area at 7:40 am.) Got to work to find that our internet was down due to high winds over the weekend damaging a relay tower, so I wasn't able to submit it until about noon. (I got my confirmation e-mail at 12:16 to be exact.) After lunch I checked my e-mail again and found it had already been reviewed and published - thanks BlueRajah!!! (That e-mail came at 12:46) Before I went home I checked my e-mail again and found that it had been found and logged! (Congrats to WillDrillz on the FTF) I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to hide more!!!!!

It can be done, but I could see it becoming really frustrating really fast. Depending on the "map" you're going off they're not always accurate either. I've noticed like Google maps can be 100's of feet off in some instances.

Yea 20' isn't that bad I don't think.... and Google maps / google earth I would NEVER rely on for accuracy - my hometown on Google is over 100' off in some places.

Sounds like a good deal to me just for the batteries alone... I think I paid like $12-13 for a 4pk of the AA's off Amazon. But I'd also suggest getting a better charger - I also use the LaCrosse chargers.

Oh yea, it' WELL worth the $30 for the premium membership - makes life so much easier And yea, I've found the Send to GPS function works the best for me.

Basically the sole reason I chose the Oregon over the Dakota was the screen size - I think it is nicer to have the bigger screen. I have no troubles at all seeing the screen in the sunlight, and the battery life wasn't a big enough difference to make me sway one way or the other. I also have large hands, and the Oregon was plenty small enough for me as far as that goes. I was slightly intrigued by the 3-axis compass, but I'm glad I didn't let that sway me either. The 2-axis seems to work fine when I want it, but to be honest I usually just leave it turned off most of the time anyway for geocaching.

Heck yea - for me the fun is just in the find itself - I really don't care what's in the cache.

I do it because I refuse to live in fear of such things I like that

LoL...... in southern Utah we just call it "lookin' fer stuff"

Hmmm..... that's a good question. Goes to show that we live in troubled times I guess. Maybe a good reminder that a cache big enough to be considered a "threat" by some should be labeled accordingly on the outside.

Signal Frog?

Huh... wierd - I use Firefox exclusively and don't have any issues.

Yes, please give us some more info - Are you wanting one ONLY for geocaching or do you want it to be able to be used in other situations? What's your budget? Are you in the US? (Geomate isn't very "overseas" friendly yet). Do you want mapping capability?

I got the Oregon because I like the idea of a touch-screen as opposed to the wheel - much faster to navigate through the menu's. If you worry about touching the screen when you didn't want to a simple tap of the power button will let you lock the screen. I'm getting at least 16 hrs of battery time using Eneloop rechargeable batteries, (with the screen at full brightness all the time) and I also decided to buy the DC car adaptor to be used if I'm driving for an extended amount of time. (Along with the RAM windshield mount) Really helps extend the battery life. I'm 100% happy with my Oregon. My uncle has the Colorado and although he likes it just fine, he's told me he wished he would have got the Oregon instead.

I don't know for sure, as I have the Oregon not the Colorado, but the way I've found with mine is when it's plugged into your computer access the Garmin folder, and inside there is a notepad file called Geocaching Notes or something like that, just open that up - it lists the Geocache Code first, then any added info after that.

I've only used two GPS' to cache with, my Garmin Oregon (newer unit) and my bud's Garmin Etrex (older unit) - as far as accuracy? No difference really. They are both good. But the newer Oregon definitely is "faster" in every other aspect - faster startup, faster satellite aquisition, faster map draws, etc.... And of course many more "bells and whistles"

Just my 2 cents on the Oregons (since I got one) I have the 300 and it's awesome. Don't let the touch-screen scare you - I have HUGE hands and have no troubles. I admit I have been known to tap on it with my pen instead of my finger, but since I always carry the pen with me caching anyway I don't consider it extra gear.... nothing like finding a cache, but not having any way to sign the log.... But nothing against the colorado's either - everyone I've talked to that has them likes them.

I don't know what your budget is, but I can highly recommend the Garmin Oregon series - I have the 300 which is my first and only GPS i've owned - it is extremely easy to use and understand, I love the touch-screen, and the paperless caching is awesome!

My time limits are basically only based on two things... First, how much time to I have to cache before I have another commitment I need to get to - since I work full time and have things that need to get done at home my caching time amounts to maybe a half hour before work and a few minutes on the way home from work, but on weekends i've spent the whole day caching before, and usually I'll look until I find it or am almost positive the cache may be missing. My only other "limit" would be if I am in a high-muggle area, I'm not going to linger in one spot looking "suspicious" for too long... i'll spend a few minutes, then move on and come back later.

So far the biggest "help" for me has been to think "Where would I hide something in this area.." When you get to ground zero look around and think where you would hide something if it were you. As has been mentioned, just cause your GPS says you're on the right spot, you could be off where the cache is hidden, since there is a margin of error coming from your GPS as well as the GPS of the person that hid it. I found one just the other day that was 50+ feet from where my GPS had me zero'd.