Absolute Beginner

[garyo1954]

Spent the day reading and exploring geocaching.
Not sure what to think of it at this point.
I purchased a Garmin Etrex 10 to give it a try.
Any words of wisdom?

 

[+niraD]

A common recommendation for beginners is to stick with small size, regular size, and large size caches. Until you're more experienced, avoid micro size caches, some of which are smaller than most beginners can imagine (sometimes called "nanos"). Save those for later, after you have some experience.

Also, stick with caches that have a difficulty rating of no more than 2 stars . Save the more difficult ones for later. You may also want to choose caches with easy terrain ratings. (The difficulty rating tells you how hard it is to find the cache once you get there. The terrain rating tells you how hard it is to get there.) And it is often best to start with traditional caches, which will be at the published coordinates. Multi-caches or mystery/puzzle caches or other cache types can require more work just to figure out where the container is located.

Under ideal conditions, a consumer GPSr will be accurate to about 3m (10ft). That applies both to your device, and to the cache owner’s device, so you may find the container 5-6m (16-20ft) from ground zero under ideal conditions. Under less than ideal conditions, both GPSr readings can be much less accurate. Once you get within that distance of ground zero, put your device away and look around for places where a container could be hidden.

Where would you hide something? Do you notice anything unusual? Is anything too new, too old, too organized (e.g., UPS: an Unnatural Pile of Sticks/Stones), too symmetrical, not quite the right color or shape, etc.? Don’t look only on the ground; the cache may be knee-level, waist-level, eye-level, or overhead. How might the container be secured in place? With magnets? With a hook? With string? With fishing line? With something else? Does anything move when you touch it? (Be careful when touching things though.)

Go ahead and read the cache's additional hints (if provided), and read the past logs and look at any photos in the cache's image gallery. They may help you understand what you're looking for, and how/where it may be hidden. It may also help to look at some of the cache containers available online. For example, check out the cache containers sold by Groundspeak. Also, take a look at the Pictures - Cool Cache Containers (CCC's) thread in the forums, and check out some geocaching videos on YouTube.
 

[+Touchstone]

Along with niraD's great advice, I also suggest getting in touch with locals, or attend a nearby Event.

[garyo1954]

niraD, you calmed my fears about the Garmin. I have a smartphone (LG made Alcatel powered by Android)), but I am deaf without hearing aids so I am not a phone person. That's why I chose to go the Garmin route.

I've looked at the map of my small town and already know the area where they are located. I've been there many times (surprise) and never seen anything out of the ordinary, of course I didn't realize there was anything there to find. So this should be fun. One is basically in the center of town no less. Shocked me to learn that.

So yes! I appreciate all the advice you posted.

Touchstone, I'm meeting with a local geocacher tomorrow at the public library. So that's good advice as well. 

I sort of backed into this, it wasn't my plan at all. I do woodwork and made these little boxes that I felt  would be good treasure hunt treasures for kids.

I posted on Facebook and was contacted about geocaching. That's where we are at now.

 

 

[+justintim1999]

10 hours ago, garyo1954 said:

niraD, you calmed my fears about the Garmin. I have a smartphone (LG made Alcatel powered by Android)), but I am deaf without hearing aids so I am not a phone person. That's why I chose to go the Garmin route.

I've looked at the map of my small town and already know the area where they are located. I've been there many times (surprise) and never seen anything out of the ordinary, of course I didn't realize there was anything there to find. So this should be fun. One is basically in the center of town no less. Shocked me to learn that.

So yes! I appreciate all the advice you posted.

Touchstone, I'm meeting with a local geocacher tomorrow at the public library. So that's good advice as well. 

I sort of backed into this, it wasn't my plan at all. I do woodwork and made these little boxes that I felt  would be good treasure hunt treasures for kids.

I posted on Facebook and was contacted about geocaching. That's where we are at now.

 

 

What's the dimension of that box?

[garyo1954]

That one is 2 3/4  long X 1 3/4 deep  by 2 1/4 high. No problem to change in Inkscape.  The trouble with it would be the glue in the Texas heat. Picking up some acrylic/ plexiglass to see how that looks.