What would you do if you lost your GPSr?

August 8, 2006

Okay. I'm, what, two months into the game so far and I lost my Explorist 500 last weekend. We looked everywhere... At the last cache, the parking lot, the parking lots of places we went to later, the police dept, etc. Nowhere. After berating myself and wallowing in self-pity, my wife and son convinced me to buy another one.

So after reading the reviews I bought a Garmin 60cx which should be in the mail in a few days. Yes it's a costly mistake and we'll be paying it off for awhile, but we go a couple of times a week and it would be a big part of us to give up now if we stopped cold turkey.

Has anyone else lost a GPSr in their years of geocaching, or am I just a lone moron? What did you do?

3.9k · August 8, 2006

Left my old Garmin Vista on the hood of my car. Not a trace of it when I followed my path later to look for it. A week or so later I bought a Vista C, so it worked out for the best! :anitongue: I love the new one a lot more.

August 8, 2006

yea it happens to the best of us you are not alone, i was carrying mine on a strap around my neck while hiking in the adirondacks last winter, I didnt realize it wasnt around my neck untill i got to the bottom of the peak. i wasnt about to hike back up 3 miles with an elevation change of over 3000 ft through 4 foot snow drifts. so i bought another one :anitongue:

August 8, 2006

I purchase little plastic key identifiers at Wal-Mart in which I place a paper that gives my e-mail address and that's all. I use the same for goal tags on my TBs. I attach them to my GPSr and camera etc. That way there is at least a possibility that some honest person can contact me. If you would like, I can send you the details of the table cell that fits perfectly into that key label.

I have a neighbor who found a GPSr that was lost by a guy when his canoe flipped in the Cedar River. The GPSr went over two dams and ended up several miles down stream before my neighbor found it on a bank. It still worked and I discovered that it had a listing for "home." From that I located the guy's house and we got it back to him. Because of the discussion we had when we met the man got into geocaching!

August 8, 2006

I would cry and cry and cry (new owner of Etrex Legend Cx).

I was out caching with another cacher couple of weeks ago and he thought he had left his at the previous cache, but it turned out it had slipped under my "numerous" bags (i only had the rucksack as storage and a waist bag!) in the car, but apparently he does this often, which makes me shudder in terror...

6.7k · August 8, 2006

Haven't lost one, but one died...in a decrepit Atlanta neighborhood graveyard at exactly midnight at the moment my caching partner ran screaming from the cache site! She swears to this day she saw a crypt lid move! We went straight to a 24-hour Wally World and bought a replacement so we could continue caching.

I fell off a mountain and killed one, bought another on the way home.

Stuff happens, you just have to deal with it! :anitongue:

Ed

3.2k · August 8, 2006

I have a GPSMAP 76CSx and I'd just have to hope someone would find it and return it to me. The welcome screen when you start my unit has my name, phone number, and $50 reward listed for return of the unit. I'd be SOL if I lost the thing since I can't really afford to replace it.

August 8, 2006

I have yet to lose a GPSr, but.....

my Vista fell done in between the seats in my work truck and when I slid the seat forward, "CRUNCH" time for a new screen.

my yellow etrex was left in a jacket pocket that went through the washing machine. I thought it was history. I took the batteries out and let it dry. I kept trying new batteries but it wouldn't turn on. It sat in a drawer for about a month and one day I thought, "What the heck I'll try again" and it fired right up.

1.1k · August 8, 2006

I lose my GPSr once a month. My wife usually knows where it is.

1.5k · August 8, 2006

Had mine on the dash once while pulling out of a hotel parking garage near Philadelphia. For some stupid reason I hadn't shut my car door tight, and as I was backing out it swung open. Unbeknownst to me my Legend fell out on the floor of the garage as well. I didn't notice the missing GPSr until I was 2 blocks away. I pulled an illegal U-Turn, floored the car back to the hotel (and almost ran over some slow pedestrian who obvioulsy has no clue about the worth of your only GPSr while on a business trip), turned into the parking lot through the "exit only" road and parked in a "permit parking only" space so I could run in to look for the unit. Sure enough, there it was on the floor just a few feet away from some people unloading a car. A few minutes later and it would have either been run over by a car or scooped up by one of the hotel patrons. That was as close as I ever want to come to losing one.

3.9k · August 8, 2006

I'm like Thrak. I have my name, home, and cell number on the welcome screen of my 60CSx. Good idea on the reward thing!

El Diablo

Edited August 8, 2006 by El Diablo

August 8, 2006

Check out the following service:

http://www.trackitback.com

HOW IT WORKS (from the company's web site):

1. Affix Trackitback privacy protecting ID labels to your personal property and register them through the company's web site or toll-free number.

2. When a registered item is lost, the coded ID label offers the finder a reward for contacting Trackitback.

3. Finders can contact Trackitback either through their web site or 24/7 toll-free number.

4. Trackitback makes all of the necessary arrangements for the item's safe return to the rightful owner - at no extra cost.

5. Every finder receives a Trackitback gift pack of ID labels plus any cash reward the owner may have provided.

August 8, 2006

I mark it's position before I set it down, then I always know where it is. :huh:

August 8, 2006

I lose my GPSr once a month. My wife usually knows where it is.

Amen to that, brother. :huh:

38.2k · August 8, 2006

Haven't lost one yet, though my eTrex Vista did disappear for about 3 months. Found it in the bottom of a pack that I rarely use.

I do know one geocacher who has lost several.

1.4k · August 8, 2006

How about when you take your brand new GPS out for some fun and no more than 5 minutes later you fall and smash it :huh:

misplaced mine once in an open field - grass chest high and I got lucky and found it 3 hours later

5.3k · August 8, 2006

Whaa??? Why you lookin' at me??

1.8k · August 8, 2006

I left my Legend on the roof of my car. Speeding down the highway at 55 mph, I noticed something bouncing in the road behind me. I took me a half mile to connect the dots in my head. I spun the van around, got to it, and pulled it out of the road a half minute before a semi came rolling through right where it had been laying.

It actually still works, probably thanks to the case, although about a half centimeter of pixels from top to bottom on the left hand side of the screen no longer works.

I half wish it had broken completely so I would have had an excuse to buy a new 60CSx... :huh:

August 8, 2006

I have my name, home, and cell number on the welcome screen of my 60CSx.

That's the thing about an Explorist... There wasn't a way (that I knew of) to enter personal details. And that's one of the things that factored into getting a Garmin GPSMAP. There wasn't even a place to stick a keyring tag! Except for maybe on the little screw head that holds the battery compartment closed.

I actually set my home as a waypoint marked "Home" on it, too. I think I would have left it on, though, so if some well-meaning person did find it and knew how to use it, the batter would be dead and they wouldn't have the cable to recharge it.

Well, okay, guess I'm not alone. That feels better!

Edited August 8, 2006 by readmore

5.3k · August 8, 2006

That's the thing about an Explorist... There wasn't a way (that I knew of) to enter personal details.

MENU>PREFERENCES>PERSONALIZE

4.8k · August 8, 2006

What would I do?

"run in circles, scream and shout." :huh:

August 8, 2006

I had my Map60c come off of the belt clip, that it came with, and drop on a trail. I noticed it about a half mile later and went back and found it. On the hike back I was thinking of the newer 76 series as the replacement. I didn't know if I should jump for joy at finding it or not.

You sure do get attached to the little things.

August 8, 2006

I have lost my Garmin RINO twice. Luckily once it was just misplaced in the wrong bag when unloading the car. My wife asked if I had checked the bag and I assured her I never place it in there - as she walked into the room holding it.

The second time was a result of a bike wreck, again I was lucky enough to find it in the dark and rain, so I turned the belt clip into a TB I Lost My GPS

If I lost my GPS for good I would replace it. I don't know if I would replace it with a top of the line GPS unless I got a really good deal on it, because the next one can be lost as well and I would much rather limit the risk to $150 instead of $600. I am frugal and I look for the best deal I can find, so I would go with the best GPS I could get for the best price.

24.7k · August 8, 2006

...Has anyone else lost a GPSr in their years of geocaching, or am I just a lone moron? What did you do?

I've tried. I keep leaving it on top of the rig. Once it fell off and skidded down the road. I picked it up and while it's got road rash everwhere but the screen it works fine.

38.2k · August 8, 2006

I have my name, home, and cell number on the welcome screen of my 60CSx.

That's the thing about an Explorist... There wasn't a way (that I knew of) to enter personal details. And that's one of the things that factored into getting a Garmin GPSMAP. There wasn't even a place to stick a keyring tag! Except for maybe on the little screw head that holds the battery compartment closed.

I actually set my home as a waypoint marked "Home" on it, too. I think I would have left it on, though, so if some well-meaning person did find it and knew how to use it, the batter would be dead and they wouldn't have the cable to recharge it.

Well, okay, guess I'm not alone. That feels better!

The Garmin units have a place to enter contact info on the welcome screen. Before they added that feature I knew one person who hacked his unit to change the welcome screen so it would show his name and phone number. I guess you can also hack a Magellan to do the same thing. He used an app called "Hackman" to do it and gave me instructions, but by the time I got around to it Garmin had added the contact info feature.

Edited August 8, 2006 by briansnat

August 8, 2006

:huh: Well this is my tale of a missed placed / forgotten GPSr. It was back in the days of the Locationless Caches (now they are gone). It was the year of 04 (Feb. 12) was out in the desert west of Yuma, AZ to capture a LC.......... did the picture thing etc. etc. goofing around checking out some of the rock formations, and for got to collect my unit from the sign............. well the next Am we where going to head out to the foothills to capture another cache or two...... no unit, oh what or where is it.........my mind was a blank...............that night I woke from a sound sleep (I had had a vision as to where the unit was). Later in the AM (after first light I went out and retrieved the unit (sure felt dumb)

The Hanging Unit ....... There have been a few other times of simple misplacement....one pack to another / vehicle/ jacket.........just stuff us old guys do. .............

August 8, 2006

Log the DNF :huh:

August 8, 2006

I just lost one to a thief - frankly it was just another bad day. I have already ordered a replacement. I seriously doubt that the perp will return it just because it has my home coordinates marked.

August 9, 2006

Some nameless person :huh: left his Magellan ex300 on the dashboard on a 110f day. It twisted the case pretty bad and destroyed something inside. It will no longer power up at all even after I took the case apart and hooked the batteries up to the pads inside.

I bought a Garmin eTrex Legend, best thing to have happened! No longer do I have to key in the coordinates manually, and the screen has much better resolution. The "find nearest waypoint" feature is great as well, especially in cache dense areas. Huge improvement over the Magellan!

Anybody need a slightly used Magellan?

August 9, 2006

I mark it's position before I set it down, then I always know where it is.

Hey..me too!

I also mark the bottom of the boat whenever I find a good fishing spot

but the mark is never right again.

2.5k · August 9, 2006

I have lost my Garmin RINO twice. Luckily once it was just misplaced in the wrong bag when unloading the car. My wife asked if I had checked the bag and I assured her I never place it in there - as she walked into the room holding it.

The second time was a result of a bike wreck, again I was lucky enough to find it in the dark and rain, so I turned the belt clip into a TB I Lost My GPS

...

What would you do if you lost your GPSr?

Follow Joe around for a while.

No I'd probably have a mental breakdown, dive into deep depression, and have to be moved to the State Mental Institution, where I would go in circles all day holding my imaginary GPS in front of me and digging into the padded walls looking for Tupperware.

August 9, 2006

Update: Well, good things (and good people) can happen! I checked all over the cache site on Sunday and couldn't find it. It was definitely gone. I left my number with a few nearby businesses (one a church) in case someone turned it in. Tuesday night I got a call from the church saying they found it! I picked it up and it was a little dirty but cleaned it off and it's back to perfect condition.

Now I've got that GPSMAP on the way... I guess I'll sell the Explorist and try to recoup some of the money I paid for the new one.

August 9, 2006

I left my Legend on the roof of my car. Speeding down the highway at 55 mph, I noticed something bouncing in the road behind me. I took me a half mile to connect the dots in my head.

This just happened to me this weekend. I would have felt much better had I tripped and broken it rather then doing something so stupid. And what really kills me is that I had many chances to rescue it. First I hit a pothole as I'm leaving the parking area and hear a couple of bumps; had I pulled over then I would have saved it. Next I'm going down the main road when I hear something and look in the rearview mirror and see something tumbling in the road. Had I pulled over then I may have been able to salvage it with a few scratches, but I don't put two and two together yet. Just as I figure out what's going on I am on the on ramp to the interstate so I gun it and turn around in the next u turn. When I get to the spot there are pieces of 60C everywhere. On the bright side I know that the antenna looks like a piece of gold foil with etched circuitry and I have a 60CSx on the way with a 1GB microSD to fit all my maps. On the down side I'm out some bucks and I don't have a spare receiver or one for a friend to use when introducing caching. Oh well, it's only money.

August 9, 2006

Lost a Magellan and replaced it with a Garmin? Consider that God smiling down on you!

I lost my $200 Maui Jim sunglasses bushwhacking...that was painful. Then I went and bought an even nicer pair so you just gotta roll with it. :laughing:

1.1k · August 9, 2006

I'm like Thrak. I have my name, home, and cell number on the welcome screen of my 60CSx. Good idea on the reward thing!

El Diablo

I had my Legend set up that way but I haven't found the right screen yet to set up my 60csx. How do you do it? (Gonna go look again and see if I can find it before you reply. ) :laughing:

August 9, 2006

Lost a Magellan and replaced it with a Garmin? Consider that God smiling down on you!

Yes, and I've already been accused of setting the whole thing up. I swear I didn't! :laughing:

August 9, 2006

Here's my lost GPSr story from last year:

Link

Last Sat, my Garmin died. It's been eating batteries at an increasingly alarming rate; I knew it wasn't long for this world. Finally, last Sat I stood in a sunny open parking lot. My geep was inexplicably in night mode, and though it said it was seeking satellites, the bars for the birds were a flat line. Not a twitter.

Monday, I called Garmin and described the symptoms. He said he could see that this was a re-furbished unit that they sent me last Nov to replace antoher non-working unit. He said never mind that te re-furb only had a 90 day warranty. and never mind that the original receipt for the purchase was almost 2 years ago. He said 'A GPSr that can't seek birds is just a paperweight.' And then he told me he'll send a replacement in the mail in 2 weeks. Free. Again!

Gotta love Garmin.

1.2k · August 9, 2006

A sad story that ended OK:

2 years ago, I went on vacation with my proud, brand-new Meriplat. I usually carried my GPS on a lanyard handing from my left hip. I usually drive a large vehicle, so no danger of it getting caught in the door or anything.

So what happens? I go on vacation, rent a small car, find my first cache of the day, got back in the car...

...and the corner of the car door went crunch on the new Meriplat.

Broken screen. :laughing:

Well I cried for help on geocaching.com, and a local named Lyndy felt my pain and loaned me his Rino. <_<

Lyndy saved my vacation!!! MY HERO!!

I cached down to Mt. Palomar and down in San Diego and back up again. I was EXTREMELY grateful. I returned the Rino and made sure that Lindy got one of my hand-made Star Collage t-shirts before I went home.

A year later, I sold the busted Meriplat on Ebay to an Australian who had a similar unit with a good screen and busted electronics. He was able to assemble a whole unit out of the 2 broken ones. He was happy, I was happy.

August 10, 2006

I'm glad I looked at this thread. I'm getting some fantastic ways to hide a GPSr upgrade from the wife. I just wonder if she'll believe any of them... :laughing:

August 10, 2006

Sadly I lost my first Legend before I could put my hands on it. :laughing: I'd picked one up of EBay (July. 03) and got it send USPS (insured) to NZ. After 9 weeks of waiting, the seller claimed insurance, and sent me another via courier - arrived 7 days later. Somewhere, someone got a cheap GPS I'd say.

August 10, 2006

Geocaching is an expensive hobby, don't let anyone tell you differently! I've lost my GPSr twice, and luckily FOUND it twice. One of my first weekends caching I dropped it out of my jacket pocket in a field of waist high ferns... whcih I only discoverdd back in the truck. With a sickened feeling in my stomach from losing a very thoughtful gift from my wife, I finally found it. Next, I lost it last weekend, again, jacket pocket, while scrambling over some rocks. Luckily I felt it mssing and guessed that's where I lost it and I did finally find it.

Okay, BUT I did lose a GREAT cell phone caching. I revisited ALL the caches, and no luck. On all my finds that day (about 6) I put a note that I lost my phone. 3 weeks later, and after I bought a cheap replacement, an honest cacher called me and returned it in working order. It spent a lot of nights in the woods, but it worked fine.

So, if I lost my GPSr, I would post a note for all the caches I visited. Chances are, if I walked there, so will other cachers. Maybe they will find it and contact you, maybe some will go out to get a free GPSr! :laughing:

Cheers!

Generok

9.3k · August 10, 2006

"run in circles, scream and shout."

I think Carleenp said it best.

(BTW, that's my favorite Heinlein book!)

When I killed my Magellan, the 12 or so hours preceeding buying my Garmin were very long indeed.

August 10, 2006

I've learned from a number of near-misses that I should never set down my GPS to free my hands for something else. Instead, I'm self-trained to always put my GPS in my pocket (geko) or in a small camera-bag that is looped to by belt with a carabiner. Same with camera - back in the pocket, and palm - always in the bag. In addition I have am self-trained to do an equipment check after every cache. GPS? camera? Palm? - ok, good to go.

GPS's do break though, my 301 has been in the shop twice due to overuse. I have a geko 201 as a backup, it's very small and easy to pack. $75 off craigslist.

August 10, 2006

Been there done that. I think I left it on the hood/fender of my car. Went back next day and checked along road for about 5 miles. Didn't find it. Started bidding on e-bay until I finally got a replacement. I need to buy a back-up for just in case.

August 10, 2006

My wife is constantly misplacing things, and often I get a phone call from her asking me where her keys are (even though she got home and was about to leave again while I was at work). The scary part is that most of the time I can get her to the right place to find them. She hasn't lost her GPS [yet], but she has had it "bugger-up" on her. When that happened, she almost took mine while we had hers repaired, that is until I got hers working again several hours later that night...

9.4k · August 10, 2006

Okay. I'm, what, two months into the game so far and I lost my Explorist 500 last weekend. We looked everywhere... At the last cache, the parking lot, the parking lots of places we went to later, the police dept, etc. Nowhere. After berating myself and wallowing in self-pity, my wife and son convinced me to buy another one.

So after reading the reviews I bought a Garmin 60cx which should be in the mail in a few days. Yes it's a costly mistake and we'll be paying it off for awhile, but we go a couple of times a week and it would be a big part of us to give up now if we stopped cold turkey.

Has anyone else lost a GPSr in their years of geocaching, or am I just a lone moron? What did you do?

THe same thing happened to me when I started. I didn't get another GPSr for 5 or 6 months. I think I posted a few times in the forums to make up for my lack of caching

August 11, 2006

Hmmm....how does one lose their GPS when they have had it surgically implanted in their body.

August 11, 2006

The welcome screen when you start my unit has my name, phone number, and $50 reward listed for return of the unit.

Hmm. Excellent idea. I'm going to steal that.

'Course, I'll put my own name and number on it - no reason you should get a spiffy new 60CSx for $50

August 11, 2006

What would I do if I lost my GPS? I would have to find a new hobby! Do people still collect stamps these days?

What would you do if you lost your GPSr?

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