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Off the grid Geo-caching


ScorpionHunters

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I am doing a wilderness trip this summer and would like to geo-cache.  I uses an iPhone with the app, but there is no cell service where I am going.

 

Is it possible to find caches with an iPhone and no cell service?

 

Is it possible to create new caches?

 

I assume I would need premium membership, but do I need anything else?

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2 hours ago, ScorpionHunters said:

Is it possible to find caches with an iPhone and no cell service?

I don't know about the iOS apps, but the Android apps I've used have worked just fine in areas with no cell service.

 

I did have to download cache (and possibly map) data before going somewhere with no cell service, just the same way one needs to download cache (and possibly map) data to a dedicated GPS receiver, which has no internet capabilities to begin with. Even Groundspeak's Geocaching app works in areas with no cell service, although the other apps I've used have supported offline use much better.

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3 hours ago, ScorpionHunters said:

I am doing a wilderness trip this summer and would like to geo-cache.  I uses an iPhone with the app, but there is no cell service where I am going.

Is it possible to find caches with an iPhone and no cell service?

Is it possible to create new caches?

I assume I would need premium membership, but do I need anything else?

 

No offline use for a basic member, so your assumption is correct.   ;)    I've included the differences here.    Not sure about the other apps...

 

As the finned one said, "vacation" caches are usually frowned on (that maintenance thing...), and need a plan for someone local to help.

Good luck on your trip.  :)

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Thanks for the responses.  I checked the area I am going to Bowron Lakes B.C.   There are a few caches out there now.  It is a 100KM trip and the only way in is by canoe.  So I doubt they are maintained.

 

However I do not want to do anything that goes against the practices here so maybe I will just scout for the ones already there.

 

 

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Someone on the forums here introduced me to Locus Map for the android. It has an addon that can import Geocaches. If you turn your phone on to airplane mode, you can still use it as a GPSr and find the location of the caches and even save your logs to upload later. I use it in the woods here a lot, where signal is non-existent.

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On 6/16/2018 at 3:20 PM, ScorpionHunters said:

Is it possible to create new caches?

 

If in a place you don't often visit, or easily, then you could look into an Earthcache, if you get the necessary permission.

 

On 6/16/2018 at 3:20 PM, ScorpionHunters said:

Is it possible to find caches with an iPhone and no cell service?

 

Fundamentally, yes. The iphone GPS (most any that are not obsolete) will continue to work offline (it doesn't need cell signal). If you need live map tiles, then no; if you want to update cache data via the API, or view the website, then no.  That means, whatever app you're using, test out its offline capabilities before going into an offline area (possibly also map caching, storing for offline use, if you want that).
Find an app with an offline mode you like and can use effectively with Airplane mode on.

Which model do you use?

 

tl;dr:

iPhone hardware? GPS works fine without cell signal.
Geocaching usability? Depends on the offline features of the app you decide to use.

 

I mean, at the absolute minimum you can print off the listings of the caches you hope to look for and just use the phone GPS to navigate :) (but again depending on the navigation app, you may or may not have maps while navigating)

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2 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

Find an app with an offline mode you like and can use effectively with Airplane mode on.

FWIW, I sometimes put my phone in airplane mode when the cell/data service is spotty. If the phone keeps trying to contact distant antennas, then it will crank up is own antenna power and burn through the battery faster. Putting it in airplane mode saves the battery for the GPS functions (which consume enough power on their own already).

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We use our iPhone off grid all the time and it works great for finding caches. You have to make a list of the caches you want to find, download the "offline" data before you leave and you are set. Open your list while you are out and use your map feature. You can log your finds and everything will upload to your account when you get back to an area with cell service. 

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On 6/16/2018 at 3:20 PM, ScorpionHunters said:

Is it possible to create new caches?

 

As Harry Dolphin, nariD, and cerberus1 point out, physical geocaches that are outside of your normal area will require a maintenance plan.  See this article on vacation caches for more information.

 

Non-physical geocaches are an option.  If it's a remote area, an event cache might not be plausible.  But an earthcache might be.  We've placed a few in areas we've only visited.  You need landowner permission (or valid reasoning why there's no need for landowner permission) and need to have visited the site within two months of submitting your earthcache.  If you're interested in this route, I recommend doing some research on the area's geology ahead of time, developing an idea on some possibilities for earth science lessons, and then looking for a site that is a good example of that earth science lesson.  Just make sure there aren't other similar earthcaches that are nearby.  We tried submitting an earthcache for a glacial lake in Iceland, but even though we tried to focus on different lessons, it ended up getting denied because there was another glacial lake earthcache a few miles away.

 

(Theoretically, if you have a Virtual Reward you haven't used, you could also do a vacation virtual cache, but I assume since you have no hides yet that you don't have a virtual reward.)

 

All that said, I do note that you have only two finds so far and no hides yet.  There's no requirement that you have X number of finds before you hide a geocache of your own, but it is recommended that you find more geocaches before you hide any, so you can get a better feel for how geocaching works and develop a sense as to the kind of geocache you'd like to hide.  This is especially true for earthcaches -- they are science lessons, so in my opinion it's a better practice to see how others have set them up before you put any of your own together.  I won't say any of ours are perfect, but I think we've gotten much better at it as we go along.  I've gone back and edited a few times to try to make our earlier earthcaches better.

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p.s. I see Bowron Lake is a provincial park - you'd likely need park permission before submitting any earthcaches.

 

For now consider just going out and having fun finding geocaches.  It looks like a beautiful area to explore.  Have fun!

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I would say enjoy finding a few more before hiding them. I know it's really fun to think about hiding them; but I think it's really beneficial to find a few first; and it's true vacation caches are not allowed.  I admittedly do own a cache that is in California that I placed while I was living there for awhile, and I live in Oregon; but I go down there at least twice a year so I can maintain it still (I just maintained it this last weekend actually); but I wouldn't normally recommend that.  

As far as 'offgrid' caching... am I the only weirdo that uses a regular GPS anymore? I haven't been on the forums in a really long time, and I do cache with my phone most of the time, admittedly.  I use an app that I think might be the one you can't mention on these forums (or at least you used to not be able to) and I can save the cache for offline use with that app.  For use with my handheld (which you can use your phone as a handheld because you don't need cell service to just use it as a GPSr as far as I know); I tend to print out the cache info from GSAK (I know I'm wasting paper, but I do use the backside for scratch paper, so don't be too mad, and I recycle!) and then just enter the coordinates as I go... 

It sounds like a neat area to go; I hope you have a great time!

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6 hours ago, ScorpionHunters said:

Thanks to everyone who took the time to help me better understand how geocaching works.  For this trip this summer I will to finds only.  I am looking forward to this trip and I think recording our adventure in Geocache finds will be fun.

 

 

Recording your adventure in geocaching is great, but be sure to record whatever happens, be it a find or a half-hour search that ends with a DNF. Some of my most memorable searches ended with a DNF. (And please, no throwdowns!)

Edited by K13
speeling era
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