Totally new to geocaching; how do I use a trackable?

[happydaysfamily]

Hi everyone,

 

I've never done geocaching before but I know my nephews love it. I've bought them personalised trackables for a Christmas present and have followed the activation instructions. What do I do next?! I was hoping to hide them somewhere for them to then locate with the GPS etc at Christmas but have no idea where to start or what to do! Any advice appreciated, thank you.

[+TriciaG]

You've got a couple options of what to do with the trackables themselves:

 

1. Have your nephews put them in caches and watch for travel logs online. Beware, though, that many trackables go missing, which would be a disappointment to the boys.

 

2. Have them carry them along while they cache, and they can log "visits" to the caches they've visited when they log the caches. This keeps a record of which caches they've been to.

 

As for hiding them and having them find them: you could do that by making your own personal, unlisted "geocache". Put them in a container and set them somewhere. Use your GPS to get good coordinates of the spot. SEE HERE for info on how to get good coordinates. Then have your nephews "add a waypoint" to be able to navigate to that spot. (How to do this depends on what they're using to find caches - a GPS unit, a phone, what app on the phone, etc.)

 

When they find it, take away the container and all.

 

Since you're not a geocacher yourself, perhaps you could find someone in your area to help you out with this?

Edited December 17, 2015 by TriciaG

[+T.D.M.22]

Hi everyone,

 

I've never done geocaching before but I know my nephews love it. I've bought them personalised trackables for a Christmas present and have followed the activation instructions. What do I do next?! I was hoping to hide them somewhere for them to then locate with the GPS etc at Christmas but have no idea where to start or what to do! Any advice appreciated, thank you.

 

You probably should have asked first, as it seems you have no idea about any of this. If your giving them the trackables you shouldn't have activated them, as they would now show up as being yours. The person who activates them "owns" them.

 

If you want to stick to geocaching, you don't hide the trackables. You have to place them in a cache, and log them in. They ar eonly tracked from cache to cache, geocacher to geocacher. It's not exactly a good idea to do this either because another cacher could find that cache, take the trackable, and your nephews could never see it.

 

Good news is it can be fixed. After Christmas you can adopt the trackables to them that way they own them, they can follow them and do what they want with them (not all trackables travel. Some people keep special ones, perhaps it looks cool, or they got it for a gift and don't want it gone.)

 

You could just be boring and wrap them up, but that's no fun. If you want them to find the trackables hide them in the tree, or even in the yard were nobody else will find them (not in a cache, as I mentioned above.) Give them clues how to find it, or even gps co-ords in the backyard. Just remember it won't be on geocaching.com

 

And it seems I'm saying this to alot of people, but if you don't know what your doing, ask first. Better to ask what you think might be a dumb question and get the proper end result, than not ask and screw something up. Good advice ein caching, and life in general.

Edited December 17, 2015 by T.D.M.22

[Pup Patrol]

Hi everyone,

 

I've never done geocaching before but I know my nephews love it. I've bought them personalised trackables for a Christmas present and have followed the activation instructions. What do I do next?! I was hoping to hide them somewhere for them to then locate with the GPS etc at Christmas but have no idea where to start or what to do! Any advice appreciated, thank you.

 

If you want the trackables to belong to your nephews, you are going to need to adopt them over to their accounts. As it is now, only you can do anything with those trackables.

 

4.7. Adopting or Transferring a Trackable

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=249

 

I wouldn't put the trackables into a cache in the hopes that your nephews find them. Someone else could find them first and take them.

 

I would just give them to the intended recipients. They are gifts, and should be treated like that.

 

The new owners can then decide what they want to do with them. They could release them into caches, or they can keep them and use them as personal mileage trackers. They could log "visit" for each cache they find, if they want.

 

B.

[+Justin Of Terrytown]

This video Geocaching.com Presents: Travel Bugs might give you some more information about trackables. Also want to check out

and