Caching Tools?

[highlighter1]

What are some useful caching tools? I've seen post with talk about caching tools. I'm thinking a multi-tool?

[+cb461]

Tweezers for some of the micros and the evil nano caches.

[+StarBrand]

My hiking staff has been useful a number of times. So has the swiss army knife (tweezers, knife, toothpick). Duck tape is good for retrieval and repairs. My multitool came into play a few times. String, short lengths of rope. Paperclips.

 

and...

 

Don't forget natural tools - long sticks and branches, rocks, pine needles etc.

[+NicknPapa]

If you follow everybody's advice here you will need a small truck to haul it all. I would suggest a pair of good gloves, a small flashlight, one of those telescopic magnets, a map and compass, a telescopic mirror as well as the multi tool you have already mentioned. I am also better at giving advice than following it, I usually have two or three of those with me. I do consider the map and compass a requirement especially in areas I am not familiar with. GPSrs are great things to get you where you need to be, until they break. Like all electronics, that's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when".

[+StarBrand]

If you follow everybody's advice here you will need a small truck to haul it all.

...

Like this??

[+Har_D]

A multi-tool is an absolute must! Don't wonder about it anymore. Just go get one. I carry a UTG tactical messenger bag to carry all my junk in. I'm not going to list everything I carry but there are few things that have come in handy. Also, it is good to have a few survival items in case you find yourself in a bad situation:

-walmart sacks for cache in trash out

-zip lock bags

-a small, multi-head screw driver

-super glue (cache repairs or to seal up a deep cut or gash)

-a small first aid kit (I have two young kids so I use this a lot)

-a lighter (always have a source of fire)

-2 flashlights (always have a spare)

-an exacto knife (I actually have about 4 different knives in my pack and one in my pocket)

-a space pen (great for writing on soggy logs)

-extra batteries for flashlights and phone/gpsr

-paracord

-small package of kleenexes

-a journal or a note book

-hand sanitizer

-package of wet wipes

-trail mix and or power bars

-WD40 no mess pen (I had to use this recently on an ammo can that refused to open)

-small pencil sharpener (for golf pencils)

Edited March 4, 2011 by HardyHar

[+Kryten]

I recently acquired a small circular magnetic "grabber" with built in LED flashlight, mounted on a telescopic shaft. Don't leave home without one.

[+briansnat]

Other than my GPS, I don't bring any caching specific tools. I do always carry a Swiss army knife, caching or not, and it has come in handy on occasion. My backpack also always has a small flashlight that I have whether or not I'm caching and I've found myself using it fairly often for caching. In fact I when I do urban or suburban caching I don't carry my backpack and have found myself wishing I had the flashlight. My aluminum hiking pole (aka trekking pole) has also come in handy for poking around deep leaves and snow and into dark places where I don't want to put my hand without checking first.

 

So if I was to make up a list of essential caching tools it would contain:

 

1. A Swiss army knife (a model that comes with tweezers)

2. A flashlight

 

Also good to have:

 

1. Collapsible aluminum trekking pole. This is better than a wooden stick because it will fit in your pack and when metal makes contact with something you're going to feel and hear it more so than you would with wood.

2. An extendable inspection mirror.

3. a small cache repair kit with about 2 feet of duct tape rolled around a Popsicle stick, extra Ziploc bags in several sizes, some golf pencils sharpened on both ends (or break a regular pencil in half, pull off the eraser and sharpen all ends), and maybe an extra logbook or too.

[+angevine]

From my book, "Open Your Heart with Geocaching":

 

Don’t depend solely on your GPS receiver to get you in and out of anywhere. Batteries fail; devices are dropped and broken. Bring a compass (I have one embedded in the top of my walking-stick) – but take the time first to learn to use it. Pay attention to what is around you: trail markings, trees, anything that can act as a landmark. You don’t have Ariadne’s thread to help you out, and anywhere that you’re lost can feel very much like a labyrinth indeed.

 

Perhaps too obvious to mention (but I’ll mention them anyway) are your organic or chemical companions: sunscreen and bug spray. Not having either can make your geocaching experience extremely unpleasant. Also bring a small first-aid kit, either one you purchased (I carry one meant to go on a small boat, for example) or one that you put together. Always bring a knife of some sort and a whistle.

 

Be prepared for inclement weather. An all-weather hat may be a better choice than a baseball cap; bringing a light fold-up poncho in your backpack is another option. In the fall and winter months I always slip a chemical hand-warmer into my backpack, just in case; I also always have a so-called “astronaut’s” blanket folded there. It adds practically no weight or bulk and could very well save your life if you are hurt and stranded somewhere.

 

Invest if you can in good footwear. What you buy depends on the level of geocaching you want to do. Most into-the-woods-but-not-scaling-rock-cliffs geocachers find that a pair of hiking shoes or boots works well. Do not buy them and immediately set off on a ten-mile walk; break them in gently and gradually and only go geocaching when they’re comfortable. Wear wool socks and bring an extra pair in your backpack; I don’t know any geocacher who has not gotten her feet wet at some point, and dry socks are one of life’s more comforting pleasures.

 

A lot of people find that sticks or staffs are useful geocaching tools, even beyond their conventional use as aids to hiking. There are times when the search for a cache involves poking in a hole, under a log, in a stump – in other words, in places where you might not wish to blindly stick your hand. Your staff is then your friend. Geocaching in the winter in snowy places also quickly shows the value of a staff that can clear away snow or “feel” places where, again, you don’t want to use your arm.

 

You might want to bring some trinkets for exchange when you get to the cache. There is a great deal of discussion about trade items on the geocaching forums, with many people expressing frustration over what they find in caches – usually the kinds of toys one receives in a fast-food restaurant as part of a kid’s meal, or, worse, those same toys, only broken. For reasons beyond my understanding, golf balls are also a typical find in a cache. After a while, you’ll decide whether the trinket exchange is important to you or not; but always have something nice with you, just in case. The conventional wisdom is to trade up – leave something nicer than what you took. Many geocachers develop signature items, trinkets that they buy or make en masse and place in every geocache they visit; Mary Votava spoke of a signature item she creates to leave in caches in her conversation found between the first and second chapters of this book.

 

Finally, spend some time with maps. The better you can read a map, the more you’ll enjoy and feel proficient at geocaching. Topographical maps are the best; while each geocache includes a terrain rating, these ratings can be subjective and your idea of a tough climb may be very different from mine. You can get online topo maps at topozone.com, which you access by following the link on the cache page: learn to read them and pay special attention to elevation and bodies of water.

 

And I can fit it all (with the exception of the stick) in my backpack!

 

Enjoy!

 

Jeannette (angevine)

Open Your Heart with Geocaching: http://tinyurl.com/6ysw4lo

[shadleyhax]

meow

[g_o_caching]

I bought a tool at Ace hardware that I used yesterday for a cache. The tool has 4 teeth that will extend out of a cable when you push on a plunger, opens wide to grab the item you are after, and closes on it when you let up on the plunger. It worked great for reaching a bison tube hanging above me out of my reach. Getting the split ring on the bison tube to go back on the nail was a little tougher but in 3 tries I did it. I also carry a multi tool, and a swiss army knife. The swiss army knife has a cork screw on it that works well for getting rolled up logs out of containers. I have a telescoping handle with a mirror that works well for checking the bottom of railings etc. I carry duct tape in case my handle is too short and I need to use a stick taped to the handle to get the reach I need. I have a telescoping magnet with the led built in the head too. Needle nose pliers come in handy at times. You will quickly learn what you may want to have with you in various retrieval applications. I carry a back pack if I am going to be away from my truck and don't want to walk back for a tool. In the backpack I carry maintenance items for caches like: extra zip lock bags, pencils, zip ties, small diameter stiff wire, log sheets of different sizes, bison tubes, magnetic keyholders, film canisters, matchstick holders etc. I know I would appreciate someone doing a quick fix on one of my caches, saving me a trip, so I try to help them when I can too.

[+skullsoup432]

meow

 

 

No no.

 

When the OP asked about "caching tools", they meant what tools are useful for caching, not for a tool who caches.

 

I felt compelled to reply, so that makes me a tool, also, I guess.

[+foxual]

I carry a UTG tactical messenger bag to carry all my junk in.

 

Can't recommend that bag strong enough. It's just about perfect as a caching bag.

[+Har_D]

I carry a UTG tactical messenger bag to carry all my junk in.

 

Can't recommend that bag strong enough. It's just about perfect as a caching bag.

 

Honestly, it us by far the best $25 I ever spent from amazon. I am amazed at how much I can stuff in it. I'm never concerned with how much it can hold, just how much it weighs! Also, with the MOLLE webbing I have attached my first aid kit & my multi-tool case to the outside for easier access. Anyone who owns this bag isn't regretting it!

[+NicknPapa]

If you follow everybody's advice here you will need a small truck to haul it all.

...

Like this??

 

Hummmmm.... Since there is only one of you maybe I should have said "large" truck

[+LDB415]

A lanyard from these guys makes a great way to carry your GPSr and in a worst case scenario provides the rescue paracord you may need.

 

http://www.survivalstraps.com/

[+Chrysalides]

What I consider useful most of the time :

 

1. Flashlight

2. Multitool

3. Spare pen

4. Spare batteries

5. Wet wipes

 

Among all that, if I have to pick one, I'll pick the wet wipes.

[+DonB]

Among the other tools I carry, one has surprised me how often I have used it. I bought a pair of those kitchen thongs at Dollar General that are made out of heavy wire and look like scissors, I remodeled the ends a little so they weren't so bulky and have used them numerous times.