Things I've Learned As A Newbie

[+alexan44]

I’ m relatively new to the game of geocaching, but this is what I’ve learned so far…

 

1. Always bring your own pen/pencil (BYOP) since many Geocaches, especially the Micros, will not contain these.

2. Don’t rely too heavily on your handheld GPS to get you to Ground Zero (GZ). No matter how great your handheld GPS is you can still be off from your find by as many as 50+ feet if you are under clouded skies or heavy tree and/or buildings.

3. When you get to a cache site start thinking like a “Hider” instead of a “Seeker”. Look for trampled areas that appear like someone has been there before you. If you are a deer hunter you look for “deer runs”…same thing with Geocaching – look for “Geocaching runs”. Look for other obvious signs like trampled vegetation and brush or rock piles that may seem “out of place”.

4. Carry with you “goodies” to place in containers that you find. My “Goodie Bag” contains dollar store items (i.e. toys) CITO containers, and new log books with pens/pencils (in case the originals are soaked or missing entirely). If you take something from a cache you should leave something of equal or greater value.

5. Don’t be sooooo disappointed if you don’t find the cache on your first try. Sometimes the owner of the cache will put in coordinates that are slightly “off” to make the find a little harder and not all GPS devices are exactly “tuned” to the “hiders” GPS devise. (Example: Garmin uses a different mapping server than Magellan does.)

6. Carry “bug spray” with you. I love Deep-Woods Off and also use Repel Permethrin (lasts up to several weeks after you’ve treated your clothes even after several washings). JUST BE SURE YOU DON’T SPRAY PERMETHRIN ON YOUR SKIN! READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY!

7. If you hide a cache be sure that it’s in a water resistant container. There is nothing more frustrating than to find a cache with an inch or so of water in it that you have to dump out in order to sign the logbook (if it’s salvageable at all).

8. If you hide a cache in an area that is protected (i.e. private property, city parks, Army Corps of Engineers land, or Department of Conservation land, etc) make sure you have permission from the powers that be (PTB) before placing the cache.

9. Remember…It’s Just a Game! Yes, that First to Find (FTF) is an exhilarating experience…but just finding the cache at all is a high point in the geocaching hobby.

10. HAVE FUN!

 

Liz

[aniyn]

Sound advise all around.

[+Chrysalides]

I'd like to amend (1) to say bring an extra pen, or two, because they might fail, or run out of ink. Or get lost.

 

Also, before leaving, make sure you have everything with you. Especially your GPSr. Best not to leave it on the ground when searching and / or signing.

 

A pair of needle nose pliers can be useful for extracting log out of small containers.

 

Thanks for sharing.

Edited June 26, 2009 by Chrysalides

[+whistler & co.]

Three more important things to remember:

 

Always mark a waypoint for your vehicle (or the trailhead). It only takes a few seconds to do, but it can say you a lot of trouble if you do happen to get turned around in an unfamiliar area.

 

Read the cache description before setting out! Cache owners often put important info there, such as advice about parking, hours of availability, information about where not to search, etc. By reading the description and heeding this advice, you will save yourself time and trouble, and you will help maintain the integrity of the hide and the environment around GZ.

 

Log your DNF's! Cache owners will not have a clue that the cache is missing (or rated too low for difficulty) unless searchers are honest about logging DNF's. If searchers do not log a DNF, a cache might be missing for months before the owner notices.

[+HayfeverTX]

Ive added my own personal rule to that list: wear gloves, loxoscelism is not fun.

[+BlueDeuce]

Stay on the trail longer than you think you might need to. To this day I'll start bushwhacking only to find the trial again. Oops!

[+mahini]

I've learned I'm not a good judge of distances! My little Junior measures anything under .5 miles in feet, anything over, is well, in miles.

 

I did exactly what BlueDeuce said, just the other night... Junior dropped down to 2000 feet, so I took off, leaving the trailing, only to end up about 2 feet away from the river! Then, the cache ended up being on the other side of the trail all together!

[+BlueDeuce]

Must be an Iowa thing.

[+mahini]

Must be an Iowa thing.

 

Sadly, I think you're right!

[+Wild Thing 73]

I’ m relatively new to the game of geocaching, but this is what I’ve learned so far…

 

1. Always bring your own pen/pencil (BYOP) since many Geocaches, especially the Micros, will not contain these.

2. Don’t rely too heavily on your handheld GPS to get you to Ground Zero (GZ). No matter how great your handheld GPS is you can still be off from your find by as many as 50+ feet if you are under clouded skies or heavy tree and/or buildings.

3. When you get to a cache site start thinking like a “Hider” instead of a “Seeker”. Look for trampled areas that appear like someone has been there before you. If you are a deer hunter you look for “deer runs”…same thing with Geocaching – look for “Geocaching runs”. Look for other obvious signs like trampled vegetation and brush or rock piles that may seem “out of place”.

4. Carry with you “goodies” to place in containers that you find. My “Goodie Bag” contains dollar store items (i.e. toys) CITO containers, and new log books with pens/pencils (in case the originals are soaked or missing entirely). If you take something from a cache you should leave something of equal or greater value.

5. Don’t be sooooo disappointed if you don’t find the cache on your first try. Sometimes the owner of the cache will put in coordinates that are slightly “off” to make the find a little harder and not all GPS devices are exactly “tuned” to the “hiders” GPS devise. (Example: Garmin uses a different mapping server than Magellan does.)

6. Carry “bug spray” with you. I love Deep-Woods Off and also use Repel Permethrin (lasts up to several weeks after you’ve treated your clothes even after several washings). JUST BE SURE YOU DON’T SPRAY PERMETHRIN ON YOUR SKIN! READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY!

7. If you hide a cache be sure that it’s in a water resistant container. There is nothing more frustrating than to find a cache with an inch or so of water in it that you have to dump out in order to sign the logbook (if it’s salvageable at all).

8. If you hide a cache in an area that is protected (i.e. private property, city parks, Army Corps of Engineers land, or Department of Conservation land, etc) make sure you have permission from the powers that be (PTB) before placing the cache.

9. Remember…It’s Just a Game! Yes, that First to Find (FTF) is an exhilarating experience…but just finding the cache at all is a high point in the geocaching hobby.

10. HAVE FUN!

 

Liz

Very nice and informative information...very helpful....Stay safe.

[+4boehms]

The thing I've learned as a newbie is that my daughters are quite adept at "forgetting" to bring with them the trade goods that they've had to buy with their allowances. Then, once we're at the cache, they realize that they've forgotten their goods, so they subject me to their best We Love Daddy grins to compel me to hand over MY trade goods for them to carry away shiny objects!

 

So -- the advice I have is this: Have your kids collect their caching gear into some carry-along item that is reserved exclusively for geocaching. When you're heading out, make sure they've got their bags, and you're good to go!

 

(Another thread in this forum is exploring what most of us carry as standard equipment and what we use to carry it, so it may bear on this discussion as well.)

[+Paul n Susan]

Be able to identify poison ivy.

 

Keep your reading glasses on an idiot string.

 

Don't climb fences.

 

More personal experiences to follow, I'm sure.

[+popokiiti]

I would like like to add

 

Flashlight - for those dark holes

 

Walking sticks - great for me and for poking around until you hear that wonderful "knocking on cache" sound

 

Mirror on telescoping handle - great for looking around, up and under things

 

And my reading glasses are on idiot string too...

Edited June 28, 2009 by popokiiti

[+TnAMurphy99]

Be able to identify poison ivy.

 

Keep your reading glasses on an idiot string.

 

Don't climb fences.

 

More personal experiences to follow, I'm sure.

 

Just earlier today I taught a friend of mine what Stinging Nettle looks like... sadly it was after he walked thru about 30+ feet of it. lol

 

You should also know what poison oak looks like if you're caching on the west coast

Edited June 28, 2009 by TnAMurphy99

[+Wintonian]

Carry twezers for nano logs.

 

Use a pointy stick for proding in thick undergrowth or dark holes.

 

And I carry some of this as you never know what gunk you will find in some of those holes.

[+webscouter.]

5. Don’t be sooooo disappointed if you don’t find the cache on your first try. Sometimes the owner of the cache will put in coordinates that are slightly “off” to make the find a little harder and not all GPS devices are exactly “tuned” to the “hiders” GPS devise. (Example: Garmin uses a different mapping server than Magellan does.)

Liz

 

One extremely small correction.

 

Although the maps are different the coordinates should be the same between receivers, different generations might have lower sensitivity but two same generation receivers should have the same coords.

 

I have an opinion about hiders that don't post correct coordinates but that would get me banned from the forums.

[+michigansnorkelers]

One minor and one major addition.

 

minor: Add pencil sharpeners to your goodie bag. About 25 for a buck at the dollar store. Toss one in each cache that has a pencil, which is probably dull or broken.

 

MAJOR: Sure wish I had a cell phone when I fell down a hill and broke my ankle 8/10 of a mile from my van! I crawled around and found a sturdy branch to use as a crutch and hobbled to the car in just under three hours. NOW, I take along a phone and a sturdy hiking stick, along with lots of Motrin.

[+Wintonian]

One minor and one major addition.

 

minor: Add pencil sharpeners to your goodie bag. About 25 for a buck at the dollar store. Toss one in each cache that has a pencil, which is probably dull or broken.

 

MAJOR: Sure wish I had a cell phone when I fell down a hill and broke my ankle 8/10 of a mile from my van! I crawled around and found a sturdy branch to use as a crutch and hobbled to the car in just under three hours. NOW, I take along a phone and a sturdy hiking stick, along with lots of Motrin.

 

First Aid kit!

[+mickaxl]

Excellent topic. At the risk of being presumptuous I'll add one of my own that is not geocaching related directly but related to this forum where a lot of cachers end up anyway. It is one of the things I've learned as a relative newbie myself.

 

First this poster certainly followed the advise I present here.

 

"Make your topic title precise so that people know what the exactly topic is about. use the topic description entry to expand on the title if necessary."

 

With about 10 pages of forum topics each day to skim thru I've take to ignoring the ones that give me not much information to go on between the title and description.

 

Examples:

newbie question

help me - please!!!!

PQ issue

[gojkgo]

All great suggestions! Thanks for the thread.

[+Pat in Louisiana]

Not too sure about #5.

I think the majority of cachers try to be as accurate as possible.

And then make corrections if someone says they are off?

[orangecamper]

LMAO! Also, I have learned that just because there "appears" to be a trail leading straight to it, that doesn't mean it's the RIGHT trail! 2 times on the same cache, saw deer trails off the main trail, and followed them... Took about 2x as long to find it as it should have!

[+4boehms]

Dang deer - you wish they'd get themselves a GPSr.

[+RS67Man]

I am going to add a walking staff. I am finding that I am not as nimble as I used to be, and It helps to have something to lean on to keep myself shiny side up on the trail. It is also handy to push branches and brush aside when looking for that cache.

[+RayandLynn]

Thanks for this thread!! As newbies, we never go without each other, we carry water, for us and the dogs, Sandwiches in the car, cell phone is a good idea, and I like the mirror idea. We have 2 binder, one is our "found" binder, the other is our "Need to Find" We print out the cache's, and carry them with us. Are we alone on that? Oh..we also learned what geosence is. Especially after I sat on a cache for 5 minutes, and the dogs layed on top of it before that. Oh...and one more thing we make sure we bring with us is a sence of humour. Lot's of FUN!!!!

[+simpler1773]

We have 2 binder, one is our "found" binder, the other is our "Need to Find" We print out the cache's, and carry them with us. Are we alone on that?

 

We do that too except I still need to get binders!

[+BlueDeuce]

We have 2 binder, one is our "found" binder, the other is our "Need to Find" We print out the cache's, and carry them with us. Are we alone on that?

 

We do that too except I still need to get binders!

 

I carried papers at first. A cheap PDA taught me that electronic data is much, much easier to carry!

[WYstargazer]

Great posts. Very helpful tips for a newbie.!

[+Jeep4two]

Nice thread - all good advice.

 

I'll agree that most cachers don't intentionally post incorrect coordinates, and all GPSrs should have the same Coordinates - regardless of mapping databases used.

 

I'll add my most recent favorite as a noob.

 

Get a good swag bag and keep it stocked. All the necessities as others have described, extra batteries, trade items, etc...

 

I just picked up this little goodie as discussed in another thread (which I can't find since search is disabled).

 

I love it - desert camo isn't too crazy, but its available in many varieties of camo if you want digital camo, woodland colors, plain tan, green, black (no blue, pink, green or other non military style colors). It has tons of pockets, place for small camera, GPS, loops for hooking carabiners on to carry stuff, water bottle and is really comfortable and easy to carry. Adjustable straps make it good for all sizes and ages. I love it.

 

So - get a good swag bag. I have the one linked above plus a Lowepro Inverse AW for when I take my Digital SLR and a few lenses out (it's a waist/belt pack - room for SLR body with lens attached, a few lenses and some swag - and an all weather cover if you get caught in some rain). Wife takes the shoulder tactical bag when I carry the Inverse AW.

 

EDIT: I'll add that the seller I delt with was great. I was nervous at first, but the cost was low enough for the shoulder bag that it was worth a gamble and other cachers had used them before as well. It arrived in about a week and a half, so that's not bad when shipping from China (Hong Kong) even though the seller is listed in Australia.

Edited July 2, 2009 by andynshe

[+ssoutherngurll]

thanks for all the tips!! Going on my first all day hunt on Friday!

[FarleyFinders]

The thing I've learned as a newbie is that my daughters are quite adept at "forgetting" to bring with them the trade goods that they've had to buy with their allowances. Then, once we're at the cache, they realize that they've forgotten their goods, so they subject me to their best We Love Daddy grins to compel me to hand over MY trade goods for them to carry away shiny objects!

 

So -- the advice I have is this: Have your kids collect their caching gear into some carry-along item that is reserved exclusively for geocaching. When you're heading out, make sure they've got their bags, and you're good to go!

 

(Another thread in this forum is exploring what most of us carry as standard equipment and what we use to carry it, so it may bear on this discussion as well.)

 

 

I hear you! Mine keep theirs in the car now...

[Hunts with Wine]

Be able to identify poison ivy.

 

Keep your reading glasses on an idiot string.

 

Don't climb fences.

 

More personal experiences to follow, I'm sure.

 

I've always known what poison ivy looked like but I DIDN'T know what poison oak or poison sumac looked like. I actually printed out pictures and put them in my geocaching 911 kit!

[+RayandLynn]

I've always known what poison ivy looked like but I DIDN'T know what poison oak or poison sumac looked like. I actually printed out pictures and put them in my geocaching 911 kit!

 

Excellent idea!!!

Edited July 3, 2009 by RayandLynn

[+alexan44]

I've always known what poison ivy looked like but I DIDN'T know what poison oak or poison sumac looked like. I actually printed out pictures and put them in my geocaching 911 kit!

 

Excellent idea!!!

 

I just printed out a really cool picture that shows all three. I'm gonna laminate it and pop it in my geocaching bag because quite frankly...I'm Tired Of Itching!

 

Liz

[+Sparky&Squeak]

Can you post a link to the picture?

 

I've always known what poison ivy looked like but I DIDN'T know what poison oak or poison sumac looked like. I actually printed out pictures and put them in my geocaching 911 kit!

 

Excellent idea!!!

 

I just printed out a really cool picture that shows all three. I'm gonna laminate it and pop it in my geocaching bag because quite frankly...I'm Tired Of Itching!

 

Liz

[+Malrose01]

Here's a useful bit of info I've learned as a newbie: Even if you are distracted by something, such as a bee sting or a general feeling of irritation that you could not find the cache, always make sure that your GPS is in your bag. Do NOT leave it, for instance, on top of the car.

[+tennisgirl42]

Just wanted to add some of mine -

 

*If previous logs say "wear pants", WEAR PANTS! lol! 500 feet through blackberry brambles can do a number on your legs! (experientially speaking!)

 

*Bring water if you're walking any distance in the summer. It's amazing how fast you can dehydrate, especially if the hunt takes longer than a few minutes.

 

*Cell phone is a necessity b/c you never know what will happen out there! But since you might not have signal, always let someone know where you're going.

 

*Don't forget to turn of your car when you go to get the cache. Don't ask. It's too embarrassing.

[+popokiiti]

I have learned that stinging nettles here look the same as in the U.K. And they sting the same too....but where are the Dock leaves? They used to grow nearby nettles in the land of my birth.....

[+ekhoc]

I could add a couple of things, especially if getting into a larger forest or wilderness area:

 

- have a compass, in case the GPRs happens to hit the ground a bit too hard, or you run out of spare batteries (yes, having a spare battery set is also a good idea )

 

- a paper map of the area to know where not to head.

 

- when heading to a cache, turn back every now and then to see the route where you should be heading back to the vehicle / road / trail head (of course having the location marked in the GPSr ) It is rather embarrassing to have to find the way back while having no idea where to go to. Sometimes it could also be helpful to take photos every now and then of the trail back.

Edited July 5, 2009 by ekhoc