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How do you handle all your stuff


Qbar

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First off, I admit that I'm a shove it all in my pockets kind of woman, even though items I'm carrying might start off in my purse or bag, the pockets are where most of it ends up. So I'm heading to a cache, gps in hand, pulling my iPod touch out of my bag to read the description and past logs one more time. I find the site, then I have to pull out swag to put in the find, sign the log and remember to put it and the pen back in the cache not in my pocket, add or remove any TBs or coins, make a note to myself about the log. I'm crouching there trying to keep all these items accessible, digging thru my 4? 6? 8? pockets to find where I slipped the pencil/TB/GPS or whatever and I can't help feeling that other people must do a better job of it than this. And if it's wet or raining it adds an even extra element of fun to my juggling, sigh. So how do you keep everything accessible, and safe? I sometimes think the only reason I haven't lost my Garmin yet is that I've trained myself to turn around and look at the site after a couple of steps and gather up anything I have left behind. There's gotta be some way I can structure this better.

Edited by Qbar
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I have a bag set up with all my caching supplies. Pen and notebook easily accessibly on an outer pocket.

The larger main pocket holds my swag and other items. There is a side zipped that opens to a fairly flat pocket along the back that i have my folding saw in. For when i find a fallen branch or tree that would make a nice carving. Up near the strap in a small pocket that holds extra batteries and film cans with plastic grocery bags for CITO opportunities. This is a single strap sling bag. Just over the shoulder sits a D-ring handy for clipping things like my GPSr too so i don't loose it. Generally the GPSr stays around my neck on its lanyard. My ipod touch stays clipped to my belt. This bag also has a strap to go around your waist. Only thing thats missing is a convenient place for a bottle of water.

IMG_1444.JPG

 

But if i'm not looking at any sort of hike or the cache is a small or micro then i only have a pen, GPSr and iPod Touch and thats it.

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I have a small backpack type bag that I leave in the truck. It has anything I would need to make or repair a cache as well as pens, notepads, a hunter orange lightweight vest, a flashlight, trinkets, batteries and a small toolkit with tweezers. If previous logs read like I may need to repair a cache I'll bring the bag with me to the cache. What I usually take is my iPhone (left pocket), my Delorme pn-40 (left hand), my truck keys, (right pocket), my walking stick if it's a hiking cache (other hand), an extra set of batteries for my GPS, a notepad and a couple of pens in my coat pocket.

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e of water.

IMG_1444.JPG

 

 

Nice bag. Where'd you get it?

 

I have a backpack that I've used when I know I'm going to be going to be hiking a bit to some caches and a "man purse" I picked up in Barcelona that use otherwise. I can't keep a folding saw in the latter but it's big enough to hold my old GPS (a Garmin 76Cx, the behemoth of gps receivers), a few pens, tweezers, and a bunch of small trade items. Since my new GPS (Garmin Oregon 450) has a nice carabiner that attaches to it a bag like yours with a D ring on the front would be really nice.

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Nice bag. Where'd you get it?

 

I have a backpack that I've used when I know I'm going to be going to be hiking a bit to some caches and a "man purse" I picked up in Barcelona that use otherwise. I can't keep a folding saw in the latter but it's big enough to hold my old GPS (a Garmin 76Cx, the behemoth of gps receivers), a few pens, tweezers, and a bunch of small trade items. Since my new GPS (Garmin Oregon 450) has a nice carabiner that attaches to it a bag like yours with a D ring on the front would be really nice.

In 02 i was working as a Department manager at Wal-Mart in the electronics department. Often the video game venders would come in with promotional items to hand out to costumers. Course the employees would have first pick on the good stuff. She only had 2 of those bags and she gave them to me. We use to use them to carry our game systems around on vacation. Now that one is my Caching bag. The other one is starting to fall apart and has been used to store old controllers from our Gamecube and PS2. Stretching the seams too much on that one.

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hmmm - my favourite ideas are the husbasnd and the daughter to pack and pick stuff up. I have one of each, but they are rarely with me caching. I think maybe a lanyard would be a good start, then at least the GPSr is secure. I've thought of the fishing vest before, but I think all those pockets would only add to the frustration. The situation is compounded for me because I only get to cache a few times a year when out of town, so I haven't had a chance to develop any habits. Any I do develop, are long forgotten a few months later when I get to go again. I do have one of those over the shoulder sling type bags. Maybe I'll move everything into it and play with it a bit, (at home, before my next trip) and see if I can find a logical way to stow/remove/re-stow everything.

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I have a bag set up with all my caching supplies. Pen and notebook easily accessibly on an outer pocket.

The larger main pocket holds my swag and other items. IMG_1444.JPG

 

But if i'm not looking at any sort of hike or the cache is a small or micro then i only have a pen, GPSr and iPod Touch and thats it.

 

I pretty much use the same type of Bag, just a different color (sort of a Desert Tanish) for mostly the same stuff...

 

What do you use the Ipod touch for while caching??? Music, Geocache app or???

 

Currious as I have one, but I never take it... I'm afraid, I'll lose it, break it or something and the twigs always end up ripping my earbuds out when doing some heavy bushwacking...

 

Jus curious...

 

PS. I still ose stuff, even with the cool bag and cargo pants...

 

For me never to lose something, I'd have to just stay at home, wait, that doesn't work either...

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I use the caching app so i can go paperless. My iTouch sits in a flip case made by DLO that has a belt clip. It goes with me just about everywhere i go. So i'm use to having it with me and its engraved into my mind so it never gets left behind. I gotta have my games, music and pod casts with me. Not to mention all the PDA functionality it offers. If i didn't have my iTouch i'd be lugging around a day planner. Palm getting sold to HP almost forced me into it but luckily i got me an iTouch. Usually when i'm caching the ear buds get left at home. But any other time and the ear buds are always with me. They stay slung around my neck with the beds dangling off me left shoulder. Often the left bud will be in my ear while i listen to music/pod casts. I like keeping one ear open so i can multi-task by listening to my stuff as well as other people.

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yep, me too - the touch is for geosphere. Like mpilchfamily, my touch is always with me, that's usually secure in an inner pocket. Because I always have it with me, I do have some routines & habits for it. Aside from the very first 2 caches I found, I've never done anything but paperless. My Palm TX was my previous external brain, and for me it was an automatic response to find an app for all the details.

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It all depends on the cache hunt. This past weekend I found a cache on a mountain summit in Vermont. In my pack was everything I needed to survive the night if I encountered a misadventure. It included fire starters, flashlight, extra clothing, an emergency shelter and other survival items.

 

Not long before that I found a cache along a road. All I carried was my camera in my pocket and my GPS.

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briansnat....just read your post on the Haystack Hide. The camera is the kind of thing I forsee repeated in my future. Glad you found it allright and got back in decent time.

 

I learning from the comments here that I just have to dig in and develop a habit of zipping pockets and putting stuff back in it's allotted place. The best bag in the world isn't going to help when everything from it is dripping out of my pockets. :blink: And trusting my memory a bit more so I'm not always digging out my touch. And for sure the lanyard idea.

That would leave me arriving at a cache site empty handed. When I locate it, I would then start to pull out the other stuff I neeeded. I think I juast needed to think this thru better, sounds so easy to be organized now.

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I made a lanyard out of paracord for my old GPS, after leaving the previous one on top of the Jeep and driving off. :( My 450 came with a clip. I keep the GPS clipped to my belt loop. I carry a backpack with me if I'm going any distance from the Jeep, otherwise I take the cache back to the Jeep to sign and look through.

 

I'd recommend a Otterbox case for you touch if you're taking into the woods with you. They are $30 on Ebay and someone told me Wal-Mart carries them now, worth every penny. Very tough case! I got one for my iPhone and I dropped it off the top of an 8 foot ladder at work, on to the concrete floor :surprise: , didn't hurt it a bit. A guy at work is constantly tossing his into the air and letting it hit the floor to show people how good they are, I'm not that brave though. :laughing:

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We have a small backpack (Like, purse-sized) that we keep everything in. The swag is in the main compartment, wallet & keys in another, and there's a pocket for GPS & cords & such. Pens, extra batteries, and CITO bags are in the very front pocket.

 

While in use, my GPS in on a lanyard (that I got from a cache, incidently, LOL) around my neck. :)

Everything we need, all in one place. :)

Edited by MamaKatO
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For urban caching, which we do most often, we park as near to the cache as possible. Our goal is to sign the log quickly and move on in order to minimize the interest of muggles. If the car is close and in sight, we leave the keys in the car and the doors unlocked. While in the car, I take off the cap to the pen and place the pen behind my ear. GPSr is in hand and I have a flashlight in my pocket (boy, those come in handy).

 

When I find the cache I put the GPSr in my pocket or hip holster, open the cache and pull out the log. I retrieve my pen from behind my ear, sign the log, put the pen back behind my ear, close up the cache and replace it. This system works pretty good as it is quick and I have my hands free to manipulate the cache.. If I need to do any cache maintenance or wish to swap swag then I return to the car to do that. (on urban cashes).

 

For non-urban caches, I keep whatever I think I might need in various pockets. I have a geocaching bag, but only use it in rare circumstances.

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Ecylram - very nice breakdown, I was hoping for a couple of responses with this kind of detail. I like the pen behind the ear, hadn't thought of thst, and if I'm in the habit of reaching for my own pen, then I can start ignoring the one in the cache (if there is one) and then I won't find it in my pocket later on. I've gone back to a few caches to return writing implements.

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I have a bag that is similar to the black one pictured. It has two pockets and a pouch on the strap. I love the fact that it is a sling type - and I can just slide it around when I need to access the pockets. It is important to see if you are more comfortable with it slung from your right or left shoulder, and check getting in and out of it - and the pockets!

I got mine at Mountain Equipment Coop - here's the link http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302699713&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442419239 . I have seen one a bit larger, with an additional pocket. That'd be handy for my camera - it is inside the smaller pocket, fighting with my purse.

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For car-caching, I usually only need a pen, a set of tweezers and a note pad to go along with my GPSr. I stuff them in my jacket pockets as needed. I keep everything else I might need in a trunk organizer.

For long backpacking trail hikes and biking, I use a camel-bak backpack to carry water and whatever else I need. You can find these just about anywhere.

For shorter trail hikes and urban caching, I have a shoulder sling bag similar to what was pictured previously but smaller. It has a pocket designed for a cell phone on the strap that I keep a Gerber tool and an outside pocket that I keep a pen, small tick tweezers, and a notepad. It has a small outside pocket on the top that holds my GPSr perfectly (when I'm not using it). The large interior pocket holds gloves, headlamp, point-and-shoot camera, gorilla tripod for camera, swag, travel bugs, travel first aid kit, and anything else I'd like to carry (such as munchies for the trail). The sling bag also allows me to wear a camel-bak or backpack if I want or need it.

 

For most situations, I prefer the sling bag because then I don't need to take the bag off to access whatever I need to reach and not having my pockets stuffed with junk. I should note that I was using one of those bags you clip around your waist, but then saw this bag at REI and knew it was perfect for geocaching.

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