What kinds of things do you bring along when you Geocache?

[+JennM]

I'm still a fairly new cacher, but I've found that carrying a "geocaching bag" with me can be helpful. I'll list the sorts of things that I carry, and if you carry a bag, tell me what you carry, so I can be better prepared.

 

I use an old army-style canvas bag that was a trendy purse back in the 80s (don't ask!)... what's funny is when I dug it out of my closet, my daughter (14) said she thought it was a "hot" purse!

 

Currently in my bag are:

 

Extra pens

Extra batteries for the GPS (rechargeable, charged and ready to go)

Compass

Trade items

Note Pad

Geocaching Brochures (in case somebody asks us what we're doing - for any reason)

Hand sanitizer

Tissues or paper napkins

Camera

A couple of empty plastic shopping bags for CITO

Any trackable items we're moving from cache to cache, along with our own personal TB.

 

Cache "repair" items...

Ziploc bags

Empty pill bottles (labels removed)

Empty Altoids tin

Replacement Log Sheets

 

All this stuff fits into this bag - my Mom used to call it a "fishing bag". It's small enough not to be a pain to carry, but big enough to schlep the important stuff.

 

Any other suggestions for 'must have' items in my caching bag?

 

Jenn

[+StarBrand]

Depends on where I am going. These days I keep 3 bags in the back of the Jeep.

 

For Quick caches where I can still see the car: a small nylon bag with trade items, pens/pencils, extra logbooks, sig pencils, extra batteries.

 

For Medium Hikes in town or slightly out in the country:

• Pens/pencils
  
• cache repair kit
  
• duck tape
  
• water bottle
  
• trade items
  
• quick first aid kit
  
• whistle
  
• emergency poncho
  
• Hat
  
• sunglasses
  
• misc
  
• ALL ABOVE in a largeish size fanny pack
  

For longer hikes - out in the country:

In a nice daypack

• All the above plus
  
• rain pants
  
• real poncho
  
• larger 1st aid kit
  
• emergency blanket
  
• waterproof matches
  
• extra water
  
• string
  
• knife
  
• FRS radio
  
• compass
  
• snacks
  
• wind breaker
  
• etc
  

You get the idea....

[+briansnat]

[crtrue]

It seems you forgot your GPSr...I assume that goes in a separate pouch?

[crtrue]

 

I imagine you're not a fan of LPCs

[+JennM]

Wow - I haven't embarked on any caches where I might need survival gear - just stuff in parks around town here - but I can see where on some of the more challenging hunts, all that stuff would be appropriate to have!

 

I've been meaning to pick up a couple of small first aid kids - I carry one in my vehicle, but one to pack in my bag, and they make good swag too to trade in caches, I'd imagine.

 

Looks like I need to go shopping - glad there's some room left in my geobag!

 

Jenn

[+JennM]

It seems you forgot your GPSr...I assume that goes in a separate pouch?

 

LOL I thought of that after I posted. I've usually got that in my hand, or hanging around my neck - but yes, when it's not in use, it's in the bag too...

 

Brain fart...

 

Jenn

[+mikeslomka]

My GPS, extra batteries and a knife. That's all I need to survive in the wilderness!!

 

Ok, I'm just kidding. I carry:

 

Small trade items

Compass

Extra batteries

Hat

Sunglasses

Pens

Cache pages

Good hunting knife(always keep it sharp)

Lighter

ID

Cell phone

Extra socks

Gloves

2 water bottles

All in to a big hunting waist bag.

 

I'm still new, and I haven't done any that are deep in the woods, where I would have to be gone a whole day, but I plan on putting something together for that eventuality.

[GPS-Hermit]

IN addition to all the above mentioned items - I take an LED Headlight that last over 100+ hours and gives light out about 30 feet. It is no trouble or weight to take along, Easy to hike with and I have gotten in trouble twice caching too late in the day to get back before dark. The light bailed me out. The headlight will let you see the GPS without using the battery eating backlight feature of your GPS.

 

Also a fun thing to take, that is not heavy is a animal track chart that shows the paw prints - I see tracks and scat all the time and it fun to try and figure it out. I saw bear tracks in the snow when hiking and the hind foot print measured a 8 inches.

 

Take a small ruler to show size of things you take pictures of - wierd bugs and stuff.

[chuckr30]

Headlights are great. I have a Septor light with 7 LEDs, but there are 3 different brightness settings, so you can save power by only using the lowest setting (3 LEDs).

 

I also take those hand warmers in the winter. The disposable kind. A water bottle for the summer. Electronic mosquito begone (yes, they really work, but only on one side of your body so you need 2.)

 

Sunglasses, a few bandaids, pocket knife, bandanna (has many uses). Suntan lotion. Lighter. My car keys has a microlight (LED based) for a spare light. I've had the microlight 4+ years and haven't changed the battery yet, but I haven't used it much either.

[Shiraz-mataz]

I usually cache pretty lite with all my cachin' gear stuffed in my son's retired Harry Potter backpack.

• GPSr
  
• Compass
  
• Handheld metal detector (Really! I've used it to find carabiners!)
  
• Pens/Pencils
  
• Spare baggies
  
• My signature stamps and ink pad
  
• Camera
  
• Walkin' stick/Root hole poker
  
• Bug spray in the summer
  
• Water/Snacks if it's going to be a long hike
  
• Cell phone
  
• Any swag I plan to trade
  

Geez, that's a lot more than I thought! It all pretty much just rides around in my truck in case something comes up.

[+mikeslomka]

Headlights are great. I have a Septor light with 7 LEDs, but there are 3 different brightness settings, so you can save power by only using the lowest setting (3 LEDs).

 

My headlamp is made for coon hunting. It has to be worn on a belt, and comes with a hard hat. On the high(bright) side, I get about about 3 hours on a full charge. On the low side, I get about 12 hours. It also has a walking light that I can run for about 4 days. That hard hat does come in handy. There have been quite a few times when I took the pointy edge of a branch right to the hat. I may have been very painful had I not been wearing it.

 

The downside is that it costs about $325. The upside is that the highside makes it look like daylight in front of you.

[+briansnat]

 

I imagine you're not a fan of LPCs

 

That is for LPCs. You should see what I bring when I go after caches in the woods.

[X-isle]

Yup...proper outfitting is necessary. I find Geocaching expeditions to be a mixture of paramilitary recon, jungle survival, and high tech mountain man excursions. And if the ladies think they have cornered the market on accessorizing...they have another thing comin'. I can max out the old card in minutes in the sporting goods section. I too, have a quick pack and an expedition pack. And I may even do a bit of metal detecting while I'm there, so that is a totally other pack. And if it's a nice day, I love to eat lunch on an old bridge in the forest. Down in these parts, you better have some quality snake proof boots, and some bigfoot repellant. I pack a survival knife large enough for hand to hoof buffalo hunting, too. I don't usually pack it in, but I leave a rope and rappeling rig in my truck, just in case. You never know when you might fall into one of those pesky limestone caverns. Oh, I'm hurting all over just thinking about it. Now a sixer of your favorite beer is always nice on those warm, sunny days. And I like to have a little viagra handy, just in case I hook up with some hillbilly babes. Caution tho...it's not wise to mix the two.

[AlBundy69]

A couple of you mentioned that you have 2 or 3 different bags depending on how rugged or long the cache adventure will be. Good idea, i'll have to get on that. I have the standard bag with all the needed stuff for the long adventures and can be too much if just going on a short hike, then i either bring the darn thing, or not at all, and end up forgetting something like trade items or pencils or even enough water. But around here i've pretty much done all the shorter ones and the longer ones are mostly the only options so i recently bought another "geocaching bag" but this one is for water only. One of the group carrys it and another person carrys the geocachin bag. Cache on!

[+Shadowjackal]

Hello, everyone! New to the forum here. I have been caching for awhile now (found 124). I just want to say hello and thanks for the good ideas!

 

Some of the items I always carry with me are my Crawford Survival Hiking staff, My Cold Steel Vaquero Grande knife (where permissable...) and of course my GPS. On longer hikes I carry water and a few emergency items like a first aid kit. Also any trade items. I found a nice GPS pouch in Bass Pro Shops catalog and I always have spare batteries and my Silva Compass in it.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Oh Ok, I've been ignoring this thread for a long while now. So here's my 2c

 

For most of my cache trips I carry just the stuff i always carry. No pack, no purse, no bag, no swag (I pretty much always TNLNSL anymore).

 

My standard equipment includes a cellphone, knife, camera, torch (that is a flashlight for those of us who kicked the bloody British out of here a few hundred years ago ), spectacles, testicles, wallet & watch (ref: Rabbi making sign-of-the-cross joke ), and something that hasn't been mentioned yet (to my surprise) and which generally derails threads on this subject in short order.

 

Oh, and car keys so's i don't gotta break in to go home.

 

I do, however, pack a few more things, like swag, water and cache repair items for PLANNED caching trips where i am wont to go out all day and hike a ways, or when I go letterboxing (gotta have my personal log book and stamps then). My "cache pack" is really pretty much my "letterboxing" pack nowadays.

Edited March 4, 2007 by Confucius' Cat

[+avalanchewolf]

I usally cache with the kids i tow so we pack light as I will end up carrying it all afte about 4 minutes.

 

GPS on the belt

Laptop with internet card i(left in the truck) to get us around the streets

Xtra batteries in the truck X2

3 bottles of water

Army on the belt first aid kit

Cell phone

2Pens ( in first aid kit )

And swap swag which is usally left up to the kids but if they take they have to leave.

[+TexasGringo]

I carry my GPS and a cell phone so I can order pizza.

[+Jhwk]

condensed version

 

First aid kit: Instant ice pack, Smelling salts, Ace bandage, Band-aids, Tylenol, Aspirin, Motrin, Butterfly closures, Gauze, Chapstick, Adhesive tape, Moleskin, Antiseptic, Snakebite kit, Bug bite swabs, Alcohol pads, Iodine swabs

 

Other: Rain poncho, Roll of TP, Mylar survival blanket, Washrag, Soap, Light sticks, Small flashlight, Hand warmers, Bug repellant, Compass, Signal mirror, Sunscreen, Leatherman, Whistle, Cable saw, Fire starters, Duct tape, Waterproof matches, Rope (50 ft, 1/4 in. nylon), Sweat shirt/jacket

 

For Geocaching: Ziploc bags, Trash bag, Logbook/pencils, Map/cache notes/PDA, Small calculator, Batteries, SWAG, Cell phone, Camera/mini-tripod, Walking Stick, Beef jerky, Granola bars, Trail mix, Water

 

GPSr!

[+paul-3]

Well, we seldom go on caches longer than 3 miles round trip so we travel light. Usually bring gps/fully charged, compass, camera, binoculars if justified, and cache info. We seldom bring the cellphone as most of our caching is in mountain areas with no service.

[+Aiden's Cachers]

I carry most of the stuff others have mentioned and also carry 1 30cal ammocan cache, 3 lock-n-lock caches, and 2 micro caches. Just incase

[+archi77]

 

Geocaching Brochures (in case somebody asks us what we're doing - for any reason)

 

 

Just curious, where do you get some geocaching brochures? I am the leader of a Boy Scout Venture Crew, who has shown some interest in getting into caching (they've even signed up...Venture 270, I do believe, is the login name...) Anyways, having some brochures might make it easier to get support, explain things, etc. for them.

 

Thanks!

Archi77

[+bronzey214]

 

Geocaching Brochures (in case somebody asks us what we're doing - for any reason)

 

 

Just curious, where do you get some geocaching brochures? I am the leader of a Boy Scout Venture Crew, who has shown some interest in getting into caching (they've even signed up...Venture 270, I do believe, is the login name...) Anyways, having some brochures might make it easier to get support, explain things, etc. for them.

 

Thanks!

Archi77

 

I'm pretty sure you can get that from the Geocacher's Creed website.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

A standard answer :

 

LIST OF USUFULL GEOCACHING ITEMS

I can’t say that mine is better than any other because I have only used 1 other. But my Magellan Meridian Color with Mapsend Software gets the job done. I can carry the whole Southeast US on my 500 mb sd card and have plenty of room for more. That includes dirt and gravel roads. Last summer, I lead a column of cars carrying 19 people across the Florida countryside in the middle of the night for 4 hours, and I did it from the rear of the column via CB radio. Missing signs were not a problem. That’s real-time mapping capability in a practical application. Superior signal stability under harsh conditions, etc, etc. So Watcha, what kind of Magellan are you using? And what did you do to provoke it?

 

Doggy is right.......again.

Bamette and I each use a Meridian Platinum ( Magellan) with Directroute Software and I have a Platinum for a spare. With the SD card capability you can store maps, lists of caches, etc. ( an immense amount) and you also have an electronic compass, big screen, easy to use buttons, and maintain a lock under heavy canopy for hours. I also have two Garmins but the Platinums are the way to go.

Grab you a couple of Palms on ebay, download spinner and plucker, and you're good to go. On a cross country trip you could load dozens of spinner files ( one for each city?) on your Magellans SD card and use plucker to put each one on your Palm, charge your batteries, and you're ready for weeks of caching ( you can also get the Platinum GPS on ebay w/ lots of extras for about $150.).

 

A convenient holster will give you a place to carry and protect your gpsr. A PDA holster will do the same for your PDA. An adaptor for your cig lighter will stretch your batteries life. A probe will help you avoid biting varmints. A mirror with an intense pocket flashlight will get you past those out-of-sighters. I like to use a lensatic compass for precision. I also use a wrist compass clipped to my watchband for qlance orientation. That’s just on the weekends of course. I like it so much that I’m looking for 2 more, one for my dress watch and the other for my son. I guess they’re out of season? If you are really loaded for bear, bring along a metal detector. If the cache has a coin in it or is made of metal, it will give you the edge. I guess that’s about it. I’m not saying I do that. It’s an interesting thought though

 

To add to the geocache tool list you must buy a top of the line MAHA battery charger ( I use three) and a supply of MAHA POWERX Ni MH batteries .....these are the best made ( don't take my word for it, look it up ) then you will have plenty of batteries for your digital camera ( my wife and I each carry one), GPS unit, flashlights etc.

For a small , powerfull flashlight you can't beat a Surefire L4 Digital Lumamax ( 5 blinding watts of LED driven by two 3 volt lithium batteries.....the batteries are $15 for a box of twelve and have a 10 year shelf life....kind of pricy but well worth it...will light up the woods.

I don't know if the most important thing was mentioned....a good walking stick. Local cachers and special guests can get one free at the View Carre' cache.......don't leave your car without your stick.

Also a small pocket screwdriver for digging out micro logs and other probing.

AND DON’T FORGET TO BRING A PENCIL.

LIST From Above :

 

1. Magellan Meridian Platinum GPS Unit + Belt Holster (EBAY- If you will have a regular partner , get two )

2. Palm M500 PDA and case ( ebay- buy an extra for backup )

3. 12” metal probe for searching tree cavities etc. for micro caches

4. 2 “ or 3” extension mirror

5. Small, intense flashlight ( Surefire L4 Digital Lumamax )

6. Pencil

7. Sharpie ( Fine Point)

8. Cotton Gloves

9. Pocket Screwdriver

10. Walking stick

11. Plastimo Iris 50 Hand Bearing Compass ( Great for offset caches)

12. C401FSDC MAHA NiMH Battery Charger

13. Maha 2500 mAh NiMH PowerX AA Batteries (GPS,camera,flashlights,etc. )

14. Digital Camera

15. Access to computer w/ internet connection ( premium membership in geocaching.com is best )

 

INFORMATION ON PAPERLESS CACHING

 

I got started with step by step info. I got from the Florida Geocaching website and I keep copies here at my View Carre' cache to hand out to others. I am not hi tech and can't quite use my cell phone but this guide is can't miss. If you can't find it email me and I can fax it to you.

 

http://www.floridageocaching.com/paperless.htm = step by step instructions.

[+JennM]

 

Just curious, where do you get some geocaching brochures?

Thanks!

Archi77

 

Here you go...

 

http://www.geocacher-u.com/resources/brochure1.pdf

 

Jenn