What are the most useful gadgets for finding and hiding geocaching [Fr]

[MisterLogik]

Good morning,
Some time ago I started looking for geocaches. With the phone it's good but not always accurate. So, I would like to know the most useful tools to be able to find and hide geocaching.

 

Thank you in advance, and good luck.
MisterLogik

[+Jayeffel]

I guess the most basic would be the phone which should get you within 30 feet. A handheld GPS receiver like a Garmin Etrex will be helpful. The most important tools is an observation and eyes that look for something out of place. Think "where would I hide it?".

[+K13]

 

On 6/23/2018 at 7:12 AM, MisterLogik said:

Good morning,
Some time ago I started looking for geocaches. With the phone it's good but not always accurate. So, I would like to know the most useful tools to be able to find and hide geocaching.

 

Thank you in advance, and good luck.
MisterLogik

 

A GPS, whether in your smartphone or a handheld consumer-grade unit, has 10-meter accuracy when in perfect conditions. That applies to the hider and you as the finder.  If each of you are on the edge of those perfect conditions, your device may zero at a point up to 60 feet away from the hide.

 

No device will take you to the exact hiding place, so you need to start looking when you get within that 10 to 15 meter area.  Good luck.

 

[+cerberus1]

54 minutes ago, K13 said:

A GPS, whether in your smartphone or a handheld consumer-grade unit, has 10-meter accuracy when in perfect conditions. That applies to the hider and you as the finder.  If each of you are on the edge of those perfect conditions, your device may zero at a point up to 60 feet away from the hide.

 

No device will take you to the exact hiding place, so you need to start looking when you get within that 10 to 15 meter area.  Good luck.

 

No offense, but I believe that's incorrect. 

Civilian GPS is "accurate" to around 10 feet , or roughly 3 meters on a perfect day.   That applies to the hider and finder having a perfect day.  Rare.

Where many seem to have issues is "location" +/- data.   I think they just don't notice.

A handheld GPSr or phone (there's little to no difference these days) may show 12 feet from GZ, but have a location accuracy of +/- 23 feet, it may be a good idea to expand out a bit. 

[+cerberus1]

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 8:12 AM, MisterLogik said:

Some time ago I started looking for geocaches. With the phone it's good but not always accurate. So, I would like to know the most useful tools to be able to find and hide geocaching.

 

You don't say what phone you have.   There is little difference in phones or handheld GPS today, other than battery usage and "ruggedness".

[+Team Christiansen]

2 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

Civilian GPS is "accurate" to around 10 feet , or roughly 3 meters on a perfect day.   

 

Of course that is just temporary, whether your device is more accurate or less accurate. If your device has the ability to record tracks, turn it on, sit still for 5 minutes, and zoom in and watch. Even though you are sitting still, the tracks look as if you are wandering all over the place -- some times hovering right over you or a few feet out, sometimes it would go out quite a distance. If I can remember correctly, discussions of this topic in the forums back in 2006 or earlier (before smartphones were used for caching) phrased the phenonema "satellite drift." Bottom line is that whatever the device's accuracy is, it is always changing. That is why whenever I place a cache, I don't just push a button and I have coordinates, I turn on "waypoint averaging" and let it cook for a while.

 

But ultimately, I agree with @K13, that when you get within a certain distance, sometimes it is best to just put your device away and start looking. If you keep the device in your hand hoping the compass will bring you to the spot, you will suffer the affects of satellite drift.

Edited June 25, 2018 by Team Christiansen

[+NYPaddleCacher]

On 6/25/2018 at 12:01 PM, K13 said:

 

 

A GPS, whether in your smartphone or a handheld consumer-grade unit, has 10-meter accuracy when in perfect conditions. That applies to the hider and you as the finder.  If each of you are on the edge of those perfect conditions, your device may zero at a point up to 60 feet away from the hide.

 

No device will take you to the exact hiding place, so you need to start looking when you get within that 10 to 15 meter area.  Good luck.

 

 

Another way to think of this.  The accuracy of a GPS is just providing an estimate for how close the lat/long coordinates on your GPS are to a set of "target" coordinates (those published for the cache).  However, geocaching isn't a game where the goal is to get as close as possible to a set of lat/long coordinates.  The goal is to find a geocache, so when your GPS is telling you that you're "close" to GZ, start looking for places where a geocache might be hidden.  "Close" could be as much as 100 feet away or more, depending on the environment.   Some hiding spots may be real obvious from even 200 feet or more away.  

[+arisoft]

2 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

Another way to think of this.  The accuracy of a GPS is just providing an estimate for how close the lat/long coordinates on your GPS are to a set of "target" coordinates (those published for the cache).  However, geocaching isn't a game where the goal is to get as close as possible to a set of lat/long coordinates.  The goal is to find a geocache, so when your GPS is telling you that you're "close" to GZ, start looking for places where a geocache might be hidden.  "Close" could be as much as 100 feet away or more, depending on the environment.   Some hiding spots may be real obvious from even 200 feet or more away.  

 

When I notice that coordinates are not very close and I still manage to find the cache, I will enter better coordinates into my log. Sometimes a new CO has innocently thought that the idea is not to enter the best coordinates available but something nearby in 10 meters range.  This is not the case in geocaching because coordinates must be as accurate as possible.

[+Harry Dolphin]

2 hours ago, arisoft said:

 

When I notice that coordinates are not very close and I still manage to find the cache, I will enter better coordinates into my log. Sometimes a new CO has innocently thought that the idea is not to enter the best coordinates available but something nearby in 10 meters range.  This is not the case in geocaching because coordinates must be as accurate as possible.

 

Yeah.  I found one today with the coords off by 100'.  Posted new coords with my log.

[+grimpil]

I found a cache recently & regretted not having an extension ladder in my backpack as part of a cachers toolkit!  I could see the cache - 12 feet up in the air attached to a telegraph pole!  No way to sign it but reading previous logs I can see people have gone with steps/ladders/ piggy backs/leg ups & even climbed on a car roof or two.  So equipment for all finds has to be diverse & inventive.

 

A while back had to also admit defeat when I knew my tree climbing days were 5 decades ago!

[+MNTA]

I have a pair of needle nose pliers in my car. Sometime caches get pushed in a little too far for my fat finger to reach. Though if you don't have one on you you can improvise with sticks sometimes. 

 

Best tool is a huge pack of extra pens. They seem to always go missing or get broken.

[+cerberus1]

Bought a pair of AG Russell cooking tweezers years ago, after having their quality field tweezers for years (sometimes put field tweezers in caches).

Everything's permethrined,  but if I ever happened to get a tick on my back when solo, it'll reach.  Stays in the truck.     

[+Team Christiansen]

13 hours ago, MNTA said:

I have a pair of needle nose pliers in my car. Sometime caches get pushed in a little too far for my fat finger to reach. Though if you don't have one on you you can improvise with sticks sometimes. 

 

Best tool is a huge pack of extra pens. They seem to always go missing or get broken.

If you don't have tweezers or if the pens and sticks are too fat, then an unbent paper clip works incredible magic.