Paper caching for me!

[+slukster]

I have read the threads on going paperless and find that trying to use my NUVI to hold my cache description info is a pain in the butt. Having to use both my handheld and the NUVI at the same time doesn't work for me. I like to have the paper in hand to write notes on the find and trying to type info on my Legend HCX takes more time than it is worth. And thinking about dropping an electronic device that isn't built for the rugged outdoors isn't something I want to worry about. Now for those who have the Colorado or better who are able to have everything in one device... I am jealous. I ran into one cacher who had a Colorado and he showed me how it worked and I was drooling. Maybe one day...

 

Now this thread isn't meant to start a discussion/ argument on how great/ bad paperless caching is. I just wanted to bring up a suggestion on how to use paper but cut down on the amount of sheets you have to carry. What I do is open up Microsoft Word (although any word processing type program should work) to a blank document. I then go to the cache description and copy only the info I need from the description (cache name, coordinates, only the key info from the descrition, the hint and any log entries I might find useful) and then paste it into the Word document. I can usually fit around 4 cache descriptions on to one sheet of paper. When there are more than one cache I am seeking in the same park, I try to list them in the order that I think that I will find them so I can go right down the page but that isn't important. Then I have all of the information easily available when I get home to log the finds.

 

Does anyone else have any suggestions on how to make caching more efficient? Paperless caching is great and the person who came up with all of the programming to make it possible is a genius and has done a great service for the caching community. But a this point it isn't for me.

[+Walts Hunting]

Got to eBay and get a Palm M515 (There is one as low as $60). Get GSAK and Cachemate and follow instructions found all over this forum. Also if you have VISTA go to the Palm site and get the 6.2 VISTA certified desktop otherwise it won't sync right.

[+Lord Cadogan]

I have started using CacheMagnet for the times that I need to have it on paper. ie. I had 22 caches that I wanted to try in a single day. This program will take a PQ file and produce a report that has multiple caches on it. You can also edit some of the information for a cache to either delete info that you do not need or add info of your own.

[+deejay44]

If you wanted paper details on the cache page you will see

PDF: [No Logs] [5 Logs] [10 Logs]

select the 5 logs and in most cases it will print out on one sheet.

 

Job done paper saved.

 

Dave and Jean

 

Edit corrected typo

Edited October 8, 2008 by deejay44

[sanramonhunter]

Print on both sides of the paper. If your printer doesn't have a duplexer just use the manual feed tray. I don't know how well this would work with an inkjet, but you could give it a try.

[+Eaglecacher55]

I used a Cache Trip Book up until the last few days. I have just finished setting up a Palm M125 with Cachemate, and a 64mb or 128mb memory card and now have about 10,000 cache ability that I can sync to my Palm as easily as I download them to my GPS. Total cost.... $40. In the trip book I always printed out the 2 pages of a cache and folded them in half and put them in vinyl sleeves. it makes a smaller notebook that will go in a pack easily. I also use GeoBuddy to print some maps also, so I could navigate easily or see terrain, or other various reasons. (always good to have map and compass backup if you are going very deep in the wood like I prefer to do when I can) I'm sure you could do it with one page, but the time doing it becomes difficult if you have very many caches. Paper caching is something that I am looking forward to evolving away from, but I held on to if for a little while. I'm not sure there are as many people trying to discover better ways of paper caching as there are working on paperless caching methods

[SiliconFiend]

Print on both sides of the paper. If your printer doesn't have a duplexer just use the manual feed tray. I don't know how well this would work with an inkjet, but you could give it a try.

Here are a few tricks I use:

1. Collapse the useless zoomed-out map to help ensure the "print-friendly" version will fit on one page.
   
2. Print 4-up--4 pages tiled onto one.
   
3. Print both sides.
   

My printer happens to have both a 4-up feature as well as a duplexer, but you can accomplish the 4-up using Adobe Acrobat, too. I'm not a premium member, so I can't get a straight PDF from Groundspeak. But I do have the full version of Acrobat, so I can print the cache pages to PDF files, then combine the multiple PDF files into one for printing. Then you can use the scaling dropdown in the Acrobat print box to print 4 pages on one. That way you can get 8 cache descriptions onto one 8.5 x 11 sheet (4 front, 4 back).