Tips for finding cache's

[kvhollis]

I was wondering what everyone does to find caches? Ie, do you take notes on the cache page before you leave? Do you take your laptop with you? I find it very hard to take my laptop with me to get info on the cache, cache size, maybe a hint or two, etc.

 

What do you do to minimize printint out pages, or not downloading to a pocket PC or other PDA, etc?

 

Thanks for any tips.

[+briansnat]

I use GSAK to change the waypoint ID for the cache to reflect the type, size, difficulty and terrain.

 

For instance if GC12345 is a traditional cache, regular size with a difficulty of 2 and terrain of 3, the waypoint on my GPS will say TR12345 23

 

If GC34567 is a multi cache, small size with a difficulty of 1 and terrain of 2 the waypoint name is changed to MS34567 12. (half diff/terrain stars are reflected with letters 1.5=A, 2.5=B etc...)

 

I also use Cachemate on my PDA so I have all the caches pages for the waypoints on my unit. The above method is helpful however for the many times I forget to bring my PDA.

[+cmiyc]

I have MacCaching export my caches to my iPod (they show up as Contacts) and my GPS. Then on my GPS the caches show up by their waypoint name, GCxxxx.

 

On my iPod, I can look up the same waypoint name pretty quickly since they end up getting alphabatized.

 

If the pocket query that generated the data is somewhat old, I have a book mark on my phone's web browser. I edit the bookmark with the waypoint name and go directly to the cache's page.

 

The iPod method is nice, but doesn't give up the latest log entries. It does tell me what kind (size) I'm looking for, description, and hint.

[+StarBrand]

I take along my Pocket PC most of the time but I have also been known to simply print out the 1st page of the listing and go from that. Just a handful of times I scribbled a few notes on scrap paper and took off. Worked out ok - I found them.

[lagagnon]

Personally I think PDA's are a waste of time for Geocaching. I simply go to the cache description page and I copy and paste only the relevant info about the cache into a text editor (notepad is fine!). I remove all extra line breaks and extraneous detail. I can fit about 10 cache info sections for just one page of paper (20 if you have a double sided printer)! I then fold it in half and put it in a plastic sleeve that has been cut in half. Fits in a large pocket or pack. EASY!

[dale hollow lake]

Personally I think PDA's are a waste of time for Geocaching. I simply go to the cache description page and I copy and paste only the relevant info about the cache into a text editor (notepad is fine!). I remove all extra line breaks and extraneous detail. I can fit about 10 cache info sections for just one page of paper (20 if you have a double sided printer)! I then fold it in half and put it in a plastic sleeve that has been cut in half. Fits in a large pocket or pack. EASY!

 

Glad to see IM not the only one still in the dark ages, guess i wont make any body's "lets ask Mikie" list.

For those who have the knowledge, balls. bells and whistles and all that go for it! Your the ones I ask for all the tech info.

[+Syndam]

I use GSAK to change the waypoint ID for the cache to reflect the type, size, difficulty and terrain.

 

Personally I think PDA's are a waste of time for Geocaching. I simply go to the cache description page and I copy and paste only the relevant info about the cache into a text editor (notepad is fine!). I remove all extra line breaks and extraneous detail. I can fit about 10 cache info sections for just one page of paper (20 if you have a double sided printer)! I then fold it in half and put it in a plastic sleeve that has been cut in half. Fits in a large pocket or pack. EASY!

 

I'm new to this but so far I have used the Waypoint ID, like briansnat to indicate the cache info. My code is a little different but I actually like his better. I also agree with lagagnon. Using paper is much easier for me. I learned early on that you should always take a print out with you, there is no issue with the batteries going dead on your printed paper notes during a long day looking for caches in the woods.

 

Having a few pieces of paper on a clip board makes you look all that more official while looking for those urban caches too. Everybody knows that clip boards are for official use only. Be sure to stop and inspect a few meters, power boxes and stuff like that while jotting notes to further your official look.

[+Lovey Pigs]

We have a 5x7 paper, yes paper, 'log book' that we write at least the basics of the cache and simply bring the log book along. And we have found we can place our GPS on top of the log book while looking around, seems to do well, with muggles vs. just a GPS in our hand. and with the log book, we can write down our find, any notes, what we took/left & we actually use a real pencil to do this! it is a weird concept, i know, but we are getting by with this method! good question!

[+stoneswivel]

Personally I think PDA's are a waste of time for Geocaching. I simply go to the cache description page and I copy and paste only the relevant info about the cache into a text editor (notepad is fine!). I remove all extra line breaks and extraneous detail. I can fit about 10 cache info sections for just one page of paper (20 if you have a double sided printer)! I then fold it in half and put it in a plastic sleeve that has been cut in half. Fits in a large pocket or pack. EASY!

 

GSAK can automate that process as well. To really scrunch it down to the fundamentals, you have to do some tweaking; the defaults include pictures and more stuff than is necessary.

[+briansnat]

Personally I think PDA's are a waste of time for Geocaching. I simply go to the cache description page and I copy and paste only the relevant info about the cache into a text editor (notepad is fine!). I remove all extra line breaks and extraneous detail. I can fit about 10 cache info sections for just one page of paper (20 if you have a double sided printer)! I then fold it in half and put it in a plastic sleeve that has been cut in half. Fits in a large pocket or pack. EASY!

 

Waste of time? I bet it takes me less time to load 1,000 cache pages into my PDA than it takes you to create printouts for 5 caches.

 

Using paper is much easier for me. I learned early on that you should always take a print out with you, there is no issue with the batteries going dead on your printed paper notes during a long day looking for caches in the woods.

 

I was a diehard paper user for a long time. It was a great system, until I would get to a cache where I forgot to print out the page. I would run a PQ of 100-200 caches and print out the pages of the 20 or so I was most likely to do. It always turned out that I was near a cache that I neglected to print out.

 

The system was so good that I eventually had hundreds of cache pages that I printed out and never got to. They were in my glove compartment, in my trunk, in my daypack, in my overnight pack, in my suitcase, on my desk in work, in my home office, on the kitchen table, my workbench, you name it. Cache pages everywhere! I haven't used paper in 2 years and I'm still finding stacks of cache pages around the house.

 

Having everything on my PDA is a whole 'nother world. Every PQ I run for my GPS also goes to my PDA. Using Cachemate I can have a thousand cache pages loaded in 2-3 minutes and I know I will have the cache page for every waypoint that is on my GPS. All of this in a unit not much bigger than half a deck of cards. The battery life on my Palm is measured in weeks. I probably have to charge it 2-3 times a month, so running out of battery power is not an issue. I can get several days of geocaching out of a single charge. My GPS is more likely to die while caching than my PDA.

Edited January 11, 2007 by briansnat

[+stoneswivel]

I use GSAK to change the waypoint ID for the cache to reflect the type, size, difficulty and terrain.

Make me #3. But I like to put as much of the cache name in the waypoint as possible--just the way my mind works. I use the "smart name" algorithm to strip out junk and create 15-character names. Helps with child waypoints as well. For example, My Skittle-ly Goodness becomes SkittlelyGood, and the parking coords are SkittlelyGoPA. Then in the "Note", I include size, Ter/Dif, last 4 logs, and the cache owner, ie "S (2/:) FFOO by stoneswivel". There seems to be lots of good ways to do this; it might deserve its own thread.

 

I also carry a notebook with me. I occasionally include pre-find stuff like cache page redirects ("From Stage 2, take a bearing of 237 for 1.4 miles"), but mostly it's so I can record my thoughts at the find. I do mostly longer caches these days, and the old noggin' doesn't retain that stuff over the walk (or paddle) out.

[+Syndam]

Waste of time? I bet it takes me less time to load 1,000 cache pages into my PDA than it takes you to create printouts for 10 caches.

Oh, I didnt realize this was some kind of race , but since I wont ever need 1000 caches ready for a days adventure is it OK to think PDA's are a waste of time?

 

Just Joking around, but honestly, I find plenty of time to print cache info and input data into my GPS manually the night before I plan to go out. I take a few extra cache data sheets, in case plans change, for the region I'm going to. I have plenty of time to input new data on the drive out. The planning, making notes, printing regional maps, writing out the best route, and marking locations (preferably the right locations...) on my USGS maps the night before are as much fun to me as the actual hunt for the cache... but maybe that's just me.

[+spazz191]

I use my laptop. I have a travel plug for it, so I keep it plugged in, in my truck I plug my GPS into the laptop so it doesn't use batteries until I am looking fora cache outside of my vehicle.

Before I leave my house, I just make sure I do a PQ and upload it into GSAK, sync both my GPS and Garmin map software so everything has the same info.

When I outside of my vehicle looking for a cache the laptop stays inside under the drivers seat till I get back and update GSAK.

Edited January 11, 2007 by spazz191

[+briansnat]

Oh, I didnt realize this was some kind of race blink.gif, but since I wont ever need 1000 caches ready for a days adventure is it OK to think PDA's are a waste of time?

 

Well you said it was a waste of time and my point was that it takes less time than your method. When Method A takes less time than Method B then method A is a time saver, not a time waster.

 

I admit that I have way more cache pages in my PDA (and unit) than I will ever find. What it allows for is flexibility. Having every cache in the region on my unit and every page on my PDA allows me to make last minute changes to my itinerary. If say I wake up and it's foggy and raining, I may change my mind and put off those ridgeline caches with a view and hit the swamp or deep forest caches.

 

It also allows for a lot of spontaneous caching. I could be driving to a friends house, or home from a Dr appt or work and I flick on my unit to see what is nearby. Or I could be out for a hike or doing trail work and when we stop for lunch I can check the GPS to see if there is anything close by. And its a bonus having all the pages on my PDA as well.

 

Before I had the PDA I found myself doing this spontaneous caching sans any information beyond the coordinates. I would approach the cache site and not know if I was looking for a regular or a micro, multi, traditional or virutal, and if it was a virtual what verification info I needed to log it. And of course I wouldn't have the hint. Now its all there for me in the PDA.

 

I was once in your camp and thought paper was fine and using a PDA was overkill. Then I started using one and I'll never go back.

Edited January 11, 2007 by briansnat

[+gof1]

I used to print cache pages, scribble notes on slips of paper, and in little notebooks. I had stacks of paper all over the place. Then my wife talked to another local cacher and he mentioned his PDA. She loved the idea and basically told me that if I wanted to keep caching I had to get a PDA. I wasn't sure it would be all that big a deal outside of having another toy. Now I can't imagine going without it. I can carry all the cache info for all the caches in the area in a shirt pocket. It has opened a whole new level of caching. I carry the PDA and my GPSr with me all the time. I don't have to plan my caching down to the smallest detail any more. As an example, I found myself stuck in traffic not to long ago, looking at my GPS I saw that there was a cache nearby. Checking my PDA I knew what cache it was, size, type, who placed it, all the relative info. It takes only a few minutes to update all the info on both units, less time than I used to spend making notes for a half dozen caches.

On the other hand, if you enjoy the planning aspect, making all the notes on maps, printing pages, planning routs, then it may not be for you.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

Personally I think PDA's are a waste of time for Geocaching. I simply go to the cache description page and I copy and paste only the relevant info about the cache into a text editor (notepad is fine!). I remove all extra line breaks and extraneous detail. I can fit about 10 cache info sections for just one page of paper (20 if you have a double sided printer)! I then fold it in half and put it in a plastic sleeve that has been cut in half. Fits in a large pocket or pack. EASY!

 

After a little over a year of caching and one broken DPA later, I'm back to this method as well. We typically only make it to 3-5 caches on a good day and actually being forced to read the cache page before bothering to print has saved on too many times to count. I'm a little jealous of Briansnat's ability to hit caches anywhere he goes, but then I don't have that kind of time anyway. Besides, I like to keep track of trades, cool spots along the way and other notes on those pages. They become a sort of diary over time. I work 10 hours or more a day and escaping from technology (with the exception of our gps) is part of why we go caching. So just do what works for you.

[+TeamHarrison]

Briansat, are you loading the waypoint name (GCXXXX) as the "Name" in the GPSr?

 

I have a Garmin 76CSx and use GSAK. I use GPXSonar on a PocketPC for cache information in the field. I could never go back to paper-based caching. Having your whole pocket query at your disposal allows you to be MUCH more spontaneous on your caching outings.

 

I find that when we talk about caches, we refer to the "friendly name", like "Wilbur Creek Cache" or whatever, rather than the cryptic GC numbers. Wouldn't having them loaded by GC number in the GPS make it harder to find caches, using the GPSr's "Find" feature?

 

I really like how you have compressed a LOT of good information (Terrain/Difficulty, Cache type, etc) into a little bit of space, though!

 

Hmmm. So, one could have the GPSr's waypoint "Name" in the format you've shown above and then have the "friendly" name in the GPSr's "Note"?

 

Hmmm. Really got me thinking about different ways of using GSAK and my GPSr to put more information readily at my fingertips. Would you care to elaborate more on how you have things setup. Feel free to PM if I'm dragging this one off-topic.

 

Thank you!

[+briansnat]

Briansat, are you loading the waypoint name (GCXXXX) as the "Name" in the GPSr?

 

I have a Garmin 76CSx and use GSAK. I use GPXSonar on a PocketPC for cache information in the field. I could never go back to paper-based caching. Having your whole pocket query at your disposal allows you to be MUCH more spontaneous on your caching outings.

 

I find that when we talk about caches, we refer to the "friendly name", like "Wilbur Creek Cache" or whatever, rather than the cryptic GC numbers. Wouldn't having them loaded by GC number in the GPS make it harder to find caches, using the GPSr's "Find" feature?

 

I really like how you have compressed a LOT of good information (Terrain/Difficulty, Cache type, etc) into a little bit of space, though!

 

Hmmm. So, one could have the GPSr's waypoint "Name" in the format you've shown above and then have the "friendly" name in the GPSr's "Note"?

 

Hmmm. Really got me thinking about different ways of using GSAK and my GPSr to put more information readily at my fingertips. Would you care to elaborate more on how you have things setup. Feel free to PM if I'm dragging this one off-topic.

 

Thank you!

 

The way I always did it (because EasyGPS does it that way) was have the waypoint name (GC#) in the waypoint name field. That field was limited to 8 positions in my earlier units. When I got the Garmin 60 I kept that format, but because the 60 has a note field (my Legend and Vista didn't) the actual cache name (or friendly name) and owner name would appear in the notes field. I kept that format when I started using GSAK, but decided to update the waypoint name field with the cache info.

 

I guess there are numerous ways of doing it. I use my method because its what I'm used to.

[+ditchmedic]

Here's what works for me....

I go to geocaching website. Open my palm program on in another window. select all of geo page, and copy, open memo on palm program and paste. Oh yea, I forgot. I always make geo page printer friendly, uncrypt hint and include logs, then copy and paste. Sync my pda and voila.

I'm very saavy with my pda since i use it all the time, so I throw it in my cache bag. Off to cache. This works for me. Since i'm pretty OCD i also number them in order of discovery. Then I've got my cache run for the day.

[+cmiked]

I've got one of these handy dandy Cingular deals with GPXSonar on it. If I don't have a current page in GPXSonar, just click the waypoint and BANG I'm connected to the realtime cache page. I have been in out of service areas that screw this up, but I've got the thing strapped to me anyways, might as well use it. I've even occasionally done the nearby caches search and gone after one I hadn't previously bookmarked.

 

But sometimes I print the cache page and hit the road, manually entering the waypoint as I drive. LOOK OUT!

[+barkbox]

Here's my method using GSAK, Cachemate, and Microsoft Streets and Trips:

1. Generate PQ and send to GSAK (usually about 100-200 caches centered in areas where I frequent-home work-relatives homes). I don't get into changing the waypoint names thru GSAK, but may look into it after reading this post.

2. Import .pdb files to Cachemate and sync with my Palm z22;

3. Import .csv files to Microsoft Streets & Trips. This adds "pushpins" onto Microsoft S&T for the cache locations. I can then easily see the areas that have high concentration of active caches to see where I'd want to go that day.

3. On cache day, I'll take my laptop in the car, connect my Magellan Meridian Gold to the laptop and go. I can use the pushpins on Microsoft S&T to create a route to the cache and I'll get turn by turn driving directions to close to the cache. (Note: I live in primarily a low crime area so I don't necessarily mind leaving the laptop in the car when I cache).

4. At the cache site, I disconnect the GPRr from the laptop, find the cache (hopefully) and go back to the car. I like to have the Palm handy when I'm in the field, but I don't necessarily keep it out all the time. I'll pull it out for hints or to check the container type, hints, or prior logs. This prevents wear and tear and the possibility that I'll drop the Palm in a river.

5. I'll go back to car, reconnect the GPSr to the laptop, look at the map for the next cache (pushpin) I want to find, then create a new driving route in Microsoft S&T. Repeat steps 4 & 5 until I'm tired and want to go home.

 

One thing I know that sucks about this method is that MS S&T supports decimal degrees, but not decimal minutes. I'm sure there is a method to convert it, but I haven't found it yet. So, say I'm in the field and I get a multi cache and I need to drive to the next stage...I'll add the waypoint to GSAK, then import that into MS S&T. That will automatically convert it.

 

This is what has worked best for me after trying paperless & Palm-less caching, paperfull caching, and caching with Mobipocket Reader. That was okay, but I like Cachemate better.

[+nytrostarss]

I am new to Geocaching and happened to already have a Treo 650 as a personal phone, when I heard of paperless I had to try it out, so i paid 8 bucks for the cachemate download, along with gsak(free), there really is no argument between going paperless and manually printing pages...im out the door with my 500 PQ's loaded in the PDA and my Garmin, it really is worth the 8 dollars the program costs.

 

I wont ever go back!

[+jeffrey.bean]

I am new to Geocaching and happened to already have a Treo 650 as a personal phone, when I heard of paperless I had to try it out, so i paid 8 bucks for the cachemate download, along with gsak(free), there really is no argument between going paperless and manually printing pages...im out the door with my 500 PQ's loaded in the PDA and my Garmin, it really is worth the 8 dollars the program costs.

 

I wont ever go back!

So you can load your PQ into your gpsr? I was under the assumption that your loaded them into your palm from gsak and them manually entered them into the gpsr. I also have a garmin, how do you load them?

[+gh patriot]

Man, I dont even know for sure what a pda is!!! I can barely get this computer to turn on!!

[+gh patriot]

I have mastered the use of PQ's however. I ALWAYS plan my caching excursions using a variation of a PQ.

[+mamid]

my kids destroyed my pda. Now, don't freak. It was an older model and, although it worked, it had a few bugs. I think it was a first or second generation Palm.

 

Anyway, I used to write them out longhand in a notebook and put everything I needed to find it - decoded hint, coords, etc. and included the cache size and any other hints I thought I might need.

 

My first cache I found without a gps. My second one if I had been a bit brighter - the hider was ingenious - I could have found that same day. After I got my gps, its still just a matter of going out and looking.

 

So I think to myself - if I was hiding a cache here, where would I put it? My kids distracting me are not a help. Nor is using the arrow once I get to within 10m. Sometimes as much as 20m. At that point, switching to satelites helps.

 

Since then, we have gotten a printer. So keeping it fed with ink and paper is the plan.

Edited January 26, 2007 by mamid

[+Wild Thing 73]

I was wondering what everyone does to find caches? Ie, do you take notes on the cache page before you leave? Do you take your laptop with you? I find it very hard to take my laptop with me to get info on the cache, cache size, maybe a hint or two, etc.

 

What do you do to minimize printint out pages, or not downloading to a pocket PC or other PDA, etc?

 

Thanks for any tips.

I use a PDA, but from time to time I use the "bookmark & cache page method" this involves cut and paste...but is very good, it only involves 1 or 2 pages in the field....Try it.

[+gpsgek]

What to do to find some caches?

 

1. Take your GPS always with you, like your mobile phone...

2. Put as much as possible cache-descriptions on your PDA

3. Buy a large bag. All the cache-tools ànd your schoolbooks will fit in it.

4. Check the locations you're visiting for work or something like that. Not a cache? Not a nice day

 

And so on...

Yes, we're crazy....

[Fat Tayls]

Im new! less than a week and have only looked for 3 and found 2 caches with my wife and 7YO son.

What I found so far that works best is to run a PQ that will list out 200 caches w/ in a 5 mile radius of my house (there are a couple thousand w/ in 10 miles)

have then sent as a gpx format AND mobi pocket (just for the look)

I use the software that came w/ my magellen (geocache manager) and drop them all in there (it has all info on the query page here including hints decoded and logs (I choose the last 5) and then send it to my unit. Whole process takes only 5 min MAX.

I sync the gpx file onto my Clie and import it with cachemate. (again all info needed from the query page)

then I sort them by distance from my home and pick what we want to look for. Cachemate allows me to MAP the waypoint direct to mapopolis and they show as nice little red marks on the map.

I can pull up my geocache POI on my magellan and hot go to and it tekes me right there.

 

still learning the ins and outs of using the diff nav screens to get to the exact spot but that will come in time and all the excellent help found here

[+spazz191]

I am new to Geocaching and happened to already have a Treo 650 as a personal phone, when I heard of paperless I had to try it out, so i paid 8 bucks for the cachemate download, along with gsak(free), there really is no argument between going paperless and manually printing pages...im out the door with my 500 PQ's loaded in the PDA and my Garmin, it really is worth the 8 dollars the program costs.

 

I wont ever go back!

So you can load your PQ into your gpsr? I was under the assumption that your loaded them into your palm from gsak and them manually entered them into the gpsr. I also have a garmin, how do you load them?

GSAK has an option to upload your waypoints from GSAK to your GPSr

[+Pegasi]

I follow the minimalist rule. I use a PDA with a Bluetooth GPS. The PDA currently holds 3000 +/- caches, has GPS enabled Topo maps from Delorme for my usual caching areas, and the GPSr is WAAS enabled (although it rarely locks).

 

I use Cachemate and GSAK to bring it all together. The whole bundle was less than $300 and is something I use everyday for work and play. Everything has rechargeable batteries which last from 4-8 hours of continuos bluetooth navigation. Both units will recharge in less than an hour from a car charger or regular outlet.

 

I figure I am not wasting paper, batteries, or my own time trying to organize everything.

 

Before going this route I used a Palm III for the cache descriptions and a Garmin 12xl for the GPS. This method was fine and I would still be using it if I had not had to get the new palm for work. The bluetooth GPS was less than $50.00 on ebay and has exceeded all expectations.

[Neos2]

I use a Garmin map 76cs, a PDA, city maps and topo maps, PQs, Cachemate, and GSAK.

 

The GPS will hold 1000 cache waypoints sent to it through PQs and GSAK, so I only load caches I might really be interested in doing at some point. I typically run a new local PQ every week for the nearest 500 I haven't done, and that leaves me 500 open for a spur of the moment adventure. I leave the caches listed under their waypoint ID, because that is how I have them listed on my PDA as well. The notes area of the GPS gives me an abbreviated smart name, the GPS also shows the difficulty and terrain and the size and type of each cache.

 

The PDA can toggle between name of cache and ID of cache, so if I know I want a certain cache by name, I can find it that way, learn it's ID and plug it into the GPS to see where it is compared to where I am---or I can use my GPS to show me which caches are nearest me.

 

Since the GPS has autorouting and I have loaded both topos and city maps onto it, I can use those maps and the autorouting to see how to get to the cache. At the cache, I can make notes into either the GPS or the PDA and save them back to GSAK if I like, or to a text file. I usually carry a small notebook as well, just because that is what I am like.

 

My GPS will run about 20 hours of constant use with new batteries, even using the light at night. If I put it in the charger while I am in the car, that time doesn't count as battery drain time. My PDA needs to have the batteries changed about every 10th outing, depending on how much I use it.

 

I can decide that I want a new PQ for 500 caches, set it up, run it, load it into the PDA (which is slow) and the GPS, grab my swag bag and be out the door in five minutes. I love the set-up and wouldn't go back to using paper again for anything!

 

Of course, it took me about three months to decided that I liked caching enough to invest the time and money to get that kind of knowledge and that equipment. It helped that the printer I had at the time hated me, and refused to play right.

[+hukilaulau]

Man, I dont even know for sure what a pda is!!! I can barely get this computer to turn on!!

I hear ya! After about 300 finds I finally got a cheap pda from e-bay, after asking people at work, "What does a pda do?". I got a Magellan Sportrak to replace the eXplorist 200. I kid you not, it took me almost a YEAR to get everything to work together!

Then a few months ago I bought an eXplorist 500 and now I hardly even carry the pda or use GSAK.

Downloading the PQ's to the magellan geocache program and then uploading directly to the 500 usually gives me everything I need. Granted, when the clue says something like, "The cache is located somewhere in the vicinity of the.." then I'm out of luck, and I don't have previous finds, but so far that has only cost me two finds. I also got a street mapping program for the first time. So I'm almost up to speed with the bells and whistles! One thing I still do, though, is read every cache page I download to see if it's really something I want to look for. I did a PQ for all the caches within a certain distance of a particular point exactly once. I was so frustrated with all the trash I ended up looking for that I never did it again. If I'm going to be in a new area, I find a likely starting cache on GoogleEarth maps, open that cache page, do a search for nearest caches, read each cache page and if it's something I like, put it on a boomark list. With almost 1000 finds now, I've never had more than about 100 loaded on my gps at any one time.

Ummmm..... what was the question?

[+Fuchsiamagic]

I know I'm rather late at joining this discussion, but for the record I simply use a basic Garmin GPS60 and the map software which comes with it on my PC. I download the PQ into the GPSr from directly from my PC USB port, decide which caches to search for, and off I go, following the arrow on the screen. At the moment I don't see the need for a PDA as there is a limit to how many caches you can find during one session!

[+HercMaster]

Sometimes I print up cache descriptions and bring them with me. Other times, I simply load my GPS with a new round of unfound caches, skip reading even the cache description, and simply hunt using only the coordinates. It adds to the challenge, not even knowing what size container I'm looking for, and most of the time I can find the cache anyways. For those I can't find, I *may* read the cache description and hint when I get home, and head back out for those caches another time.

[crawil]

I use GSAK to change the waypoint ID for the cache to reflect the type, size, difficulty and terrain.

 

For instance if GC12345 is a traditional cache, regular size with a difficulty of 2 and terrain of 3, the waypoint on my GPS will say TR12345 23

 

If GC34567 is a multi cache, small size with a difficulty of 1 and terrain of 2 the waypoint name is changed to MS34567 12. (half diff/terrain stars are reflected with letters 1.5=A, 2.5=B etc...)

 

After about 6 months of manually figuring out where to go and which caches to find, I finally saw the light. I do almost the exact thing. A PQ of the closest 500 caches (all within about a 10 mile radius) goes into GSAK. The name gets massaged and since my Lowrance can't talk to GSAK, I have to export to a *.gpx and use EasyGPS to load up the SD card. The eBook file goes onto my Axim and I'm ready to go.

 

It used to take me up to 1/2 hour once someone said, "Let's go caching!" until I figured out where, planned the route, printed the pages, downloaded and loaded the waypoints. Now I'm ready at the drop of a hat. We've been very happy with this setup.

[+ClydeE]

The name gets massaged and since my Lowrance can't talk to GSAK,

 

Try, "GPS=>Export to Lowrance USR..."