New in town...

[+Sileny Jizda]

My wife and I started geocaching last December. Somewhere along the way we seem to have got another local we have yet to meet addicted as well. We're looking to start our own cache and we had a few questions in relation to it and another not.

 

1) We've seen the sample letter to leave in the cache on gs.com. Are there any other variations that we can look at as well? Multiple language perhaps?

 

2) We've also seen many logbooks as well. Some of them, particularly for smaller caches, look to have been printed. Is there a file somewhere to be found to download and use? Several of our logs may have to be smaller than a tablet and fit in a spice container.

 

Finally, We've been using a Magellan GPS 315 I bought about 5 years ago or so and recently purchased the download cable. Using that thing has proven invaluable and great as far as saving time in regards to entering the information. We also use a Magellan exPlorist 200 however it doesn't have that wonderful feature. We are looking to upgrade to a Magellan 500 LE that does have that and many other features that seem great including downloading maps and such on the SD card. Does anyone here have any advice, suggestions, good or bad experiences with that particular model? We'd like to know from the boots on the ground before pulling the trigger on it. We opted for it since it had a color screen, ran on regular batteries, had an SD slot, and a download cable while other similar priced models in the Magellan line do not.

 

TIA

 

[+StarBrand]

First of all - Welcome Aboard!!

 

The stash note can be found off at the lower right hand side of this page: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/

There are a lot of variations but usually altered by individual cachers.

 

As for logbooks, there are those sold by Groundspeak at: http://shop.Groundspeak.com/productList.cfm?categoryID=4

 

OR

You can make your own or vist any number of the regional site for printable versions - try http://www.wnag.net/docs.htm

 

I can't help you with the Magellean question but I will suggest you look at the Garmin Venture CX - has a color screen, is rugged and can download waypoints. Also includes a micro SD slot for addtional memory and maps.

[+Sileny Jizda]

Those are the same logbooks I've seen. Thanks for the info. ;D If the stash notes were a snake I'd been bit. Those will help a great deal. Thanks for the links.

 

[+T&DJay]

I have the Magellan 500 and love it although it did take me a few hours to learn all the ins and outs.

If you go that route feel free to email me and I'll provide any help I can.

[+avpas]

I vote for the Venture Cx as well. I have had it since Christmas and it is wonderful. The best part is the capabilities that you can grow into over time (such as expandable memory, turn-by-turn routing, and unlimited caches loaded as POIs). It was great for geocaching out of the box, but becomes more and more impressive over time as I have added memory and City Navigator software.

 

I am from Central Ohio, so if you are down this way and want to check it out some time before you buy, just drop me a line.

[+Sileny Jizda]

I'm actually located in the middle of Holmes County. I'm looking at some of the ones you are mentioning as well but I'm still leaning towards Magellan as far as cost and features.

[+Sileny Jizda]

I'm looking online and can't figure out if the 500 LE comes with the usb cable . Anyone know?