+Simply Paul Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 (edited) When failing to get a signal on my etrex, I find popping it on my head for a minute always gets me a strong lock. I have no idea if it's because my skull acts as a booser or if it's just the extra height, but it never fails. A photo taken today, without my knowlege, below: Another Top Tip: No PDA? Just take a photo or two of the cache page on your PC screen with your digital camera before leaving home. In the field you can zoom in to the image and read all the logs, decrypted clue, etc. as you would on a hand-held. You can do the same with Streetmap maps. Simple! Does anyone else have a handy hint or top tip to aid other cachers? SP Edited September 20, 2005 by Simply Paul Quote Link to comment
+Stuey Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 On the same tack... if you have to read information off a plaque for a multi-leg clue, rather than just take a note of the numbers you need, take a photo of it just in case you mucked up when you made a manual note. Quote Link to comment
+Paul G0TLG Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 GØTLG's no. 1 rule for happy caching: NEVER pee in the vicinity of a cache, until you're SURE you know where the cache is. Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 I find popping it on my head for a minute always gets me a strong lock. I'm impressed with your poise and deportment in the pic. Do you use Blutack? Mrs B Quote Link to comment
+Stuey Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 For some caches, be prepared, and wear suitable clothing Quote Link to comment
+Simply Paul Posted September 20, 2005 Author Share Posted September 20, 2005 I find popping it on my head for a minute always gets me a strong lock./QUOTE] I'm impressed with your poise and deportment in the pic. Do you use Blutack? Mrs B No, and I can balance it wearing 5" heels too. Err. Don't ask SP Quote Link to comment
+Haggis Hunter Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 This thread has the hallmarks of a Viz magazine article page. Quote Link to comment
+Learned Gerbil Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 (edited) My top tip is, when setting out on a caching trip, do two things - i) Remember your GPSr; and, ii) Make sure you have some idea of where you are going and what you are looking for. I confess I have not gort a 100% record on either! Edited September 20, 2005 by Learned Gerbil Quote Link to comment
+Simply Paul Posted September 20, 2005 Author Share Posted September 20, 2005 I just remembered one from a few months back, when I was out caching with Lester: "When you glance in your rucksack before going out caching, make sure the yellow object at the bottom of it is an etrex, not a banana". Sad but true! SP Quote Link to comment
+Haggis Hunter Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 Can't find the cache, decided to leave and log your DNF, just before walking off, turn around and have one last glance, this has worked on more than one occassion for me. Quote Link to comment
+Bill D (wwh) Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 Haggis Hunter wrote:Can't find the cache, decided to leave and log your DNF, just before walking off, turn around and have one last glance, this has worked on more than one occassion for me. I had one near-DNF where I gave up after searching for an hour and a quarter in fairly dense woodland with a not-very-helpful hint. I turned away and set off to walk back to the car, and then spotted the cache, not entirely out in the open, but partially visible! And I hadn't seen it in all that time... Quote Link to comment
SlytherinAlex Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 Waypoint your car. - Quote Link to comment
+bobuk Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 carry spare batteries b. Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 When doing several caches... When you've set the waypoint into the GPS and are following the arrow, make sure the other person is reading the same cache page information, and not one of the others you are planning to do!. Quote Link to comment
+Haggis Hunter Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 When doing several caches... When you've set the waypoint into the GPS and are following the arrow, make sure the other person is reading the same cache page information, and not one of the others you are planning to do!. Yep, been there done that. Took us ages to find the simple cache, due to the fact I was reading the wrong clue, found immediately once we realised my mistake. Quote Link to comment
+The Forester Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 I think we've just been given the next "Caption Competition" piccie! So far, SP has the winning entry with "my skull acts as a booser" Cheers, The Forester Quote Link to comment
+The Forester Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 When failing to get a signal on my etrex, I find popping it on my head for a minute always gets me a strong lock. I have no idea if [...] it's just the extra height, but it never fails. but seriously, SP's method works for a good scientific reason. When you hold a GPSr just on front of your chest, you are blocking the signal from about 90° of its antenna's horizon and you are therefore not only losing at least 25% of the available satellites but are also distorting the fix by unbalancing it. It's the satellites closest to the horizon which geometrically give you the most useful infomation for a Lat/Long fix. The inevitable errors from one satellite in one direction are usually cancelled out by satellites in the opposite direction. By holding the GPSr at about 30° above the horizontal in an outstretched arm (or putting it on the shiny and reflective groundplane of a tall slaphead!) you are giving it 'sight' of more satellites. It will give you a much more stable and more accurate fix. Cheers, The Forester Quote Link to comment
The Royles Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Caption : Garmin unveils its range of novelty antenna. Quote Link to comment
+Globetrotter.uk Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Remember where you left your other half, waypoint their position and then when you call the rescue team or police you can direcrt them in the opposite direction. Resulting in peace and quite for a day or so. Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Remember where you left your other half, waypoint their position and then when you call the rescue team or police you can direcrt them in the opposite direction. Resulting in peace and quite for a day or so. Oh! I am shocked , Globetrotter! Speaking as an "Other Half", I'm sure Mr B would agree that we have our uses when out geocaching... after all, I got to call out the Rescue Helicopter when he slipped on a 18" bank on Exmoor and broke his ankle...hence our avatar! Mrs B. Quote Link to comment
+Papakas Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Before setting off to the top of a mountain and engaging in a half hour rummage through the undergrowth ensure the cache instructions don't say: "ABOVE CO-ORDINATES ARE NOT THE LOCATION OF THE CACHE" Top tip... read the instructions and note the big print! Long walk back but worthwhile if you like the scenery! Quote Link to comment
+HazelS Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Before setting off to the top of a mountain and engaging in a half hour rummage through the undergrowth ensure the cache instructions don't say: "ABOVE CO-ORDINATES ARE NOT THE LOCATION OF THE CACHE" Top tip... read the instructions and note the big print! Long walk back but worthwhile if you like the scenery! Oh how many times have we done that?? We are paperless, and Phill just marches along with the ipaq, and I rarely get to see the cache page, so I just go along with it.... NOT ANY MORE!!! I have learned to thoroughly read the cache page!! My top tip?? Carry water (what seems like it's a 0.4 walk can often turn out to be a 1.4) take spare trousers (esp in winter when you are likely to to mud surfing like I always do!!) take Tom Tom - the best invention ever! Quote Link to comment
+The HERB5 Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Waypoint your car. - I always do this B4 I leave home, just to be sure. Quote Link to comment
markandlynn Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Our top tips look up from the GPS every so often to look at where you are going. Lear what Frr Cubgb means before leaving home Quote Link to comment
+Sensei TSKC Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 GØTLG's no. 1 rule for happy caching: NEVER pee in the vicinity of a cache, until you're SURE you know where the cache is. I'd like to make a slight amendment to your Rule: NEVER pee whilst caching! the reason for the amendment - read this log JGG was a good 0.1 miles from the co-ords when he went to relieve himself. Whoops... Can't hold it any longer. Quote Link to comment
+stu_and_sarah Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 If you're doing multis/virtuals in Scandinavia in winter... make sure you have an ice scraper. (Or, if you've told them you're coming, you'll find all the clues already ice-scraped for you when you arrive - talk about feeling welcome!) Cheers, Stu Quote Link to comment
+Alibags Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Before you leave a cache site to trek back to your car, check for GPS, car keys, mobile phone, etc to make sure you have not dropped them or put them in the cache. If you have loaned your expensive pen to your companion, make sure he has not left it in the cache!! Don't go 'off piste' following the arrow until you are a lot closer to the cache. How many times have you climbed up banks, through gorse bushes and virulent nettles to arrive at the cache, only to discover the perfectly obvious footpath 5 feet from the cache, which you could have taken. Dur!! When caching with a man with a banana, oops Etrex on his head, ensure that you are far away from your local area and nobody you know will see you! Quote Link to comment
adrianjohn Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 I always carry my spare car keys on a lanyard around my neck with my whistle. Quote Link to comment
+AriExplorer Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 I'm a newbie cacher with less than 10 finds to my name but I've picked up a few things from "learning on the job". 1) Take a pencil with you. Check you have it when leaving the car! walking 2 miles up a 1:4 gradient to find you left it in the car and the cache doesn't have one.. argh. 2) Staple the printed pages off in order so when it comes to deciphering the clue, you dont read the one from a cache you did earlier on (which you found without needing it) and get really confused and spend ages looking in the wrong place. 3) Don't go caching in the sort of shoes you wear to weddings, even if its a city cache with terrain 1. 4) If at all possible, park the car near a pub for post-caching refreshments! Quote Link to comment
+The Forester Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 1) Take a pencil with you. In the 1960s NASA spent more than $12,000,000 researching and developing a pen that would work upside-down and in zeroG conditions. The Russians used a pencil. Quote Link to comment
+Stuey Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 If four of you are going a few hundred feet deep underground into a 5/5 cave cache, don't assume that everyone else has a pencil. It's a long, slow way back..... Or if you are lucky, there is one in the cache Quote Link to comment
+Brenin Tegeingl Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 I f you find a nice car park within 20m of the cache , make sure that there's not a barrier which can be dropped down, which is fastened by a padlock . Otherwise you could send 10 minutes trying to find some one to let you out. Dave Quote Link to comment
+The Forester Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Or if you are lucky, there is [a pencil] in the cache 'cept for viewers in Scotland Quote Link to comment
+The HERB5 Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 1) Take a pencil with you. In the 1960s NASA spent more than $12,000,000 researching and developing a pen that would work upside-down and in zeroG conditions. The Russians used a pencil. I've got one. It's my geocaching pen 'cos it really does work in all conditions and it's shorter than normal to fit in your pocket. Present form the In-Laws, didn't know they were that expensive. Quote Link to comment
NickPick Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 In the 1960s NASA spent more than $12,000,000 researching and developing a pen that would work upside-down and in zeroG conditions. The Russians used a pencil. I've got one of those pens! It's very good, and even writes well on very soggy paper / logbooks. Apparently, it writes underwater aswell, but I can't say I've had the opportunity! Quote Link to comment
+Papakas Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 When caching 790m up the side of a mountain and continuing to the 1174m summit trig I think one is quite entitled to a rest on return to the nearst track at 350m prior to returning to the car parked next to the road at 160m. However, don't leave your specs on the rock at 350m it's a long walk back from the car to collect them! Top tip... secure spectacles with retainer hangcord or invest in contact lenses - recommended! One couldn't even admire the view as it was the middle of the night and without one's specs what could one see anyway! Quote Link to comment
+Another Mr Lizard Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 When failing to get a signal on my etrex, I find popping it on my head for a minute always gets me a strong lock. Thought it was just us that did that...! It really does work and its probably good for the posture We have both mastered the art of walking with a TomTom balanced on the head, while reading the PDA screen at the same time. Quote Link to comment
+third-degree-witch Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Make sure all valuables are removed from car,leave glove box open Quote Link to comment
+The Forester Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Pencil writes as well at the Murricane equivalent, Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Before you leave a cache site to trek back to your car, check for GPS, car keys, mobile phone, etc to make sure you have not dropped them or put them in the cache. Ah yes, the ol' 'slap check'. Wallet in back pocket, keys in front, cell phone on the side, gps hanging from neck. Quote Link to comment
+Learned Gerbil Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Another hint - when you find a clue, calculate the coordinates of the next leg, and input them in the GPSr - remember to actually tell the GPSr to go there! More than once I have found myself mysteriously drawn back to the site of the last clue before the "Doh!" moment hits. Quote Link to comment
+Simply Paul Posted September 21, 2005 Author Share Posted September 21, 2005 Thought it was just us that did that...! It really does work and its probably good for the posture We have both mastered the art of walking with a TomTom balanced on the head, while reading the PDA screen at the same time. Oh thank gourd it's not just me! I'd been hoping someone else would own up to GPSr balancing. Another Top Tip: A 50p lanyard from a mobile phone shop's bargain bin works just as well as a fancy official one, and is a worthwhile investment as it leaves both hands free to fend off happy-to-meet-you dogs, very tall nettles, hold a map (can be used as a hand fan or emergency umbrella in a hail storm) or to pull you up an unexpected cliff/bank/tree. SP Quote Link to comment
+Us 4 and Jess Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 when do a multi check where the next part is...... last weekend we did the first part of a multi walked back to the car to get the next sheet only to find the second part was a little bit further along the same path DOH Quote Link to comment
+darus67 Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Ah yes, the ol' 'slap check'. Wallet in back pocket, keys in front, cell phone on the side, gps hanging from neck. Or, to borrow a punchline from an old joke, "Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet, Watch" Quote Link to comment
+Sensei TSKC Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Before you leave a cache site to trek back to your car, check for GPS, car keys, mobile phone, etc to make sure you have not dropped them or put them in the cache. If you have loaned your expensive pen to your companion, make sure he has not left it in the cache!! If you cache with me - best you don't do this: Log Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Ah yes, the ol' 'slap check'. Wallet in back pocket, keys in front, cell phone on the side, gps hanging from neck. Or, to borrow a punchline from an old joke, "Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet, Watch" Great, now I have to clean coffee off my keyboard and monitor! Quote Link to comment
+mongoose39uk Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Waypoint your car. - This for me is the most important one. Quote Link to comment
+Alibags Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 1) Take a pencil with you. In the 1960s NASA spent more than $12,000,000 researching and developing a pen that would work upside-down and in zeroG conditions. The Russians used a pencil. That's the fella! Very annoying when your highly expensive, NASA designed, special birthday gift from your father, pen gets left in a cache by your dopey companion. I had to revist the spooky graveyard by myself a few days later (having searched high and low round the house for the pen) in the dark and recover the thing. The story about NASA spending all the money on the all singing all dancing pen and then the Russians simply issuing their cosmonauts with a pencil makes me laugh every time! I still like my pen though. Quote Link to comment
Dave from Glanton Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 In the 1960s NASA spent more than $12,000,000 researching and developing a pen that would work upside-down and in zeroG conditions. The Russians used a pencil. Apparently, it writes underwater aswell Hmmm... wonder about the cost of developing paper that works under water Another camera-related tip: when doing several caches in one day I take a quick photo of my entry in each log book. That makes it easier to remember what to put in the log when logging the find on PC back at home. Quote Link to comment
+Frodo13 Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 (edited) After my Wife, the most important cache tool costs less than $1 - Peanut M&Ms. Here are a few reason I always carry the small yellow bag candies Quick Protein Quick Sugar Bribe for anyone who challanges your navigational prowess Diversion for small furry critters who pose a hazard to health or life (you have to carefully suck the chocolate off for this one) Emergency Ammunition (thrown or slingshot) Temporary trail markers (color coding system is up to you) Ear plugs (temporary, not advised unless dire emergency) Wrapper can be used as: Emergency writting material (logs, coords, etc) Extreme Emergency TP substitute Trail marking if tied to bush or tree branch Signaling for aircraft (if held up above head in clearing during daylight) Edited September 21, 2005 by Frodo13 Quote Link to comment
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