Dedicated GPS or phone - on a budget!

[Team Buggrit]

As a kid I used to love treasure hunts and letterboxing and have now discovered geocaching for my children (and myself) thanks to a travel bug on the back of one of my childrens teachers cars!

 

Problem is, being both hooked and broke I'm not sure which way to jump with regards to getting a starter kit - I have no GPS device at the moment and at present I can only find two choices which I could consider financially, both about £40 delivered here in the UK, either a Samsung Monte s5620 phone or a Magellan 315 handheld - I can see pro's and con's for each and just can't decide.

 

I'd like to both find and place caches, but as said have little money to start out with and doubly want to make sure it's a hobby that sticks before I consider any bigger outlay.

 

Please help!

[+Bear and Ragged]

Welcome!

 

Go ask in the UK and Ireland forum, << Linky! that's where most of us UK cachers hang about!

 

I'd suggest getting a low priced GPS unit.

Why? Better battery life and more rugged. (And you won't worry about it getting wet,if it rains!)

It can be used with a phone with internet access to get cache information 'on-site' if you need to check while looking for the cache.

 

OR. Another option is attend an Event, or try to meet up with a few local cachers, who will be more than happy to answer any questions.

[+FolsomNatural]

No one will tell you this - - and in fact I have not seen it written anywhere - - but you actually don't need anything to get started in the sport.

 

You can locate caches on this site, then simply use Google maps to pin-point the location. Go to:

http://gmaps-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/geocoder/singlegeocode.html

 

You will have to convert the format to decimal, but that's easy.

 

You can then zoom in on the location, mark it on your map,

and go out to Ground Zero.

 

Try a few caches like that, and if it turns out to be the thrill that most of us find, then you can think of getting a dedicated device.

[+Chokecherry]

Google maps is pretty useless here for caches in the woods you get a nice little arrow right in the middle of a big green forest.

[PapaGPS]

Google maps is pretty useless here for caches in the woods you get a nice little arrow right in the middle of a big green forest.

 

Yeah, that is true. And a good number of the caches I have looked up near me are in the woods.

[+niraD]

If you're using the device only for geocaching, then get an inexpensive handheld GPSr. In addition to durability, extended battery life, and accuracy, it will offer you freedom from monthly service charges.

 

Geocaching with a smartphone makes sense only when you're already using (and paying for) a smartphone for other reasons.

 

No one will tell you this - - and in fact I have not seen it written anywhere - - but you actually don't need anything to get started in the sport.

Yep. I found hundreds of caches before finally buying a GPSr. See also:

http://www.cacheopedia.com/wiki/Geocaching_sans_GPS

 

You will have to convert the format to decimal, but that's easy.

Actually, you don't even need to do that. Google Maps understands the decimal-minutes format used by Geocaching.com, or you can follow one of the map links at the bottom of every cache description.

 

Google maps is pretty useless here for caches in the woods you get a nice little arrow right in the middle of a big green forest.

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's useless in the woods, but it's certainly more of a challenge than finding urban/suburban caches in areas with plenty of man-made landmarks visible in the satellite imagery...