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I'm 77yo, started Geocaching in about 2008, got away in 2020, and started back today, finding 4 out of 5 on my list.

In the past I used a Garmin 60csx or something like that, then sold it in 2020.  DO you folks prefer your cell phone & the app or do you prefer a Handheld GPS????

 

Thx

Cherokee Bill

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I prefer using my iPhone with the Cachly app.  It's just so easy to open the app and see what caches are around me.  If I travel to another country I'll download the caches onto my phone and I don't even need cell service.  I log all my caches using the website as I don't like typing my logs on my phone.

 

I started with a Garmin eTrex H and had to type all the coordinates in manually.  Someone gave me a Garmin Montana 680T I believe and I've used it a few times but I don't like having to download caches onto it when I can easily bring up caches on the app and they're automatically up to date.

 

Cachy FTW (for the win)

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This is an age-old question, with many firm believers on both sides.  Someone will, I'm sure, post links to a few past threads.

 

I used to say, you'd have to pry the 60CSx out of my cold, dead hands.  That was then, this is now.  All 3 of my 60CSXs are now doing a multi-year dust experiment on the top shelf.

 

Now, I think using a modern phone with a quality app (there are multiple choices!) is the best way to go nowadays.  I recommend Locus Map 4 (Android) on a rugged phone, but there are other amazing choices too.  Here's the (outdated) list of official partner apps:  https://partnerships.geocaching.com/geocachingapi  You might come across a "rogue" app that's not on the list; ignore that one.  Anything on this list has official blessing.

 

EDIT: Groundspeak, please do your partners a favor and update those links!  Roughly everything about the Locus entries is wrong, just to quote the example I'm familiar with.

 

Edited by Viajero Perdido
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I'm in the other camp, as I almost exclusively use a Garmin for caching. I started off with a GPSMAP 62S that I just about wore out in my first five years of caching, then bought an Oregon 700 at a mega in 2018. That was great until I made the mistake of leaving it sitting on a rock in the hot sun while I spent about half an hour searching a cave for a cache and burnt the screen, so with the Oregon discontinued I bought a GPSMAP 67 to replace it. What I like most about the dedicated GPSr is the daylight-readable screen that doesn't need a backlight, so it's always showing and doesn't need to be constantly woken up like a phone app, and the 67's extraordinarily long battery life between charges. With my typical usage I get three or four months between charges, and that's with putting it on charge when it gets noticably below about 50%, so there's no danger of running out of battery in the field. Ruggedness is also a factor, as a lot of the caching I do involves scrambling around rocks and phone screens don't like bumping against those. Also, unlike the official app, the Garmin's map has a scale on it, which I'm constantly using to get a sense of where I am in my surroundings.

 

I guess, for the sort of caching I do where I'm typically only going for a small handful of caches (or often even just one) on a day out and get everything prepared beforehand with GPX files, PQs and printouts to write on for multis and ECs, the Garmin is a better fit for me than a phone app.

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Mostly a Garmin GPSMAP 66s, but also eTrex 30 and eTrex 20 (the most expendable as it’s the oldest and came to us with case damage) sometimes. We don’t have a smartphone and like it this way. The 66s does wireless downloads, which can be pretty helpful, especially when traveling without a computer. 

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I MUCH prefer a handheld GPS. Mine is a Garmin Etrex 30. It fits in my hand better than my bigger phone. On a recent trip to South America where I was warned about phone snatches ("Don't let others see your phone." Told this several times. Warned about bag snatching too.), my GPS could be hidden in my hand better than a phone, and I used the map on that to get around (or arrow in Chile, as none of the map loads worked for Chile. They worked for other countries though.) I kept my phone out of sight. My small GPS held in my hand against me, was not easily visible, where a phone would have been. Caching, I was out and about a lot.

My small GPS also fits safely in the pockets of female jeans, where phones don't. The GPS screen doesn't suddenly go black, as the phone does. I don't have to recentre the map on the GPS, as I continuously need to do on the phone. The GPS is just more robust and steady. I have dropped my GPS several times, including on rocks or concrete and it was okay. A phone would not be so lucky. In fact, I once dropped my phone on a Hong Kong footpath and it didn't survive.

I can carry spare batteries for the GPS, and I find it more accurate*.

*The exception is in some CBDs with tall building and narrow streets, and then the phone can be better, but most of my caching is not done is such places. Occasionally I refer to the phone to see a better map, but for most caches, that isn't necessary.

 

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10 hours ago, Cherokee Bill said:

I'm 77yo, started Geocaching in about 2008, got away in 2020, and started back today, finding 4 out of 5 on my list.

In the past I used a Garmin 60csx or something like that, then sold it in 2020.  DO you folks prefer your cell phone & the app or do you prefer a Handheld GPS????

 

I started with a blue Legend, in '05 (still have it), then "upgraded" to a 60CSx.  I've used a 60CSx ever since.

Note pad for hints and anything special/odd, and load caches I'll do manually.  I don't do less than 2T unless the other 2/3rds asks me to.

I've used an iphone 13 mini twice IIRC.  Phones do a lotta things.  I prefer something that my life may depend on someday to do one well.

 - It needs to be rugged, and the ability to change batteries in the field.

 

Now I gotta look into at what date Viajero Perdido will be done with his experiment...   :laughing:

 

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Thx a million for your responses and Time, all great opinions!  I sold my Garmin 60 CSDx back in 2020 when I strayed away from caching.  Now returning, Ill probably purchase a refurbished 60CSx (cost).  Now Ive got to relearn the steps for downloading from Geocaching to the 60GSx.

Thx again

Cherokee Bill

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Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

Now I gotta look into at what date Viajero Perdido will be done with his experiment...

 

Indefinite, until I die and someone else cleans out the house, or until I get a housekeeper and forget to mention, don't dust that shelf!

 

IMG_20240701_095020.thumb.jpg.98a54d2be5fde922cc8bd7655d48a520.jpg

 

The third unit is clean, acting as a control.  It's the only one that still works, and I tried to see if I could repurpose it as a time source for a project.  Ah nope, a $10 dongle is a better tool for that job.

 

PS, I love a great map.  This is why I use a phone:

Screenshot_20210528-212312.thumb.jpg.1c42223ae9102774e011e70a74c98753.jpg

(Phone screenshot, app that works without cell signal.  Click for non-blurry version.)

 

Edited by Viajero Perdido
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Posted (edited)
22 hours ago, Cherokee Bill said:

went out in the County today Geocaching and cell-phone reception was spotty and accuracy was poor


Download a map and the caches you are interested in doing and you not need cellular reception. I use a Ulefone without any cell connection, but recently got a plan for a Pixel to make it easier when traveling.   
 

Accuracy can vary with the phone — like with many things, higher priced phones will have better accuracy.  Many phones support a number of constellations (GPS. Galileo, glosnass, etc) and should get you where you need to go.  I am a fan of dual frequency units which offer further refinements when reception is limited, but it is not a necessity for this game,

 

I started using Locus Map a few years ago and never looked back.  I sold my Garmin handheld. But I have fond memories of the 60 csx and if you do not want all the bells and whistles of the newer models it will do its job.

 

 

Edited by geodarts
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I use my iPhone and love the convenience. I started out with an odd choice of a Garmin that was for both car and handheld use. It actually worked great (until it told me I was 300 feet out in the Atlantic Ocean). Had a larger screen than most GPSrs. Once there were caching apps for phones I started using those. I like the maps better.

 

And long live Cachly! I hate "the official app". 

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I use both my Android and an Etrex 22x. I've been checking out different apps on my phone. I've been bouncing between Geooh Go and the regular app. Geooh Go has some cool features the regular app does not have. I like having access to Wherigo and Project-gc directly in the app. I don't like the GPS function so I use my Etrex 22x for gps. I use my phone to log caches in real time with the talk to text feature to create my logs. 

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I use both, but probably 90% of the time with my Garmin Oregon 450.  Gonna be a sad day if that ever croaks.  I tried the Garmin 700 0r 750 and really disliked it.  Many times, for no reason I could figure, it would just stop working.  As for the phone (iPhone) I always use that to get directions to the next cache.  My first Garmin was a Legend CX.  Kind of wish I had kept it.  

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Smartphones are just as good these days, but they're easy to 'get wrong' if you're not using them optimally, which is why I think a lot of people still believe smartphones are awful.  That said, dedicated devices should always on principle just be better overall at GPS - they are dedicated to that as their top function. But for geocaching, smartphones are absolutely more than sufficient if used to their strengths. I've only ever geocached with an iPhone, starting with a 3GS, and now with a 14 Pro Max; over 20,000 smileys, and a very well rounded stats chart. Which device is "better" is, ultimately these days, entirely personal preference. But this comes up every time there's a 'smartphone vs gpsr' debate :laughing::drama:

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I currently cache with an iPhone and Cachly after a long history with Garmin of various sizes, shapes, and screen quality.  Most of the Garmins eventually died or wore out (the power buttons on the Dakota 20 were a particular weak spot).  The two remaining advantages a dedicated GPSr has compared to Cachly and an iPhone is it's ability to draw a track on the map combined with the Trackback feature and push buttons when it's cold enough to need gloves.    Otherwise the larger variety of preloaded maps, larger screen size, ease of entering a log and images in the field, access to caches anywhere, and ease of use of the touchscreen makes the cell phone the clear choice for me unless the temperature is below freezing.  (I've tried the "touch screen" gloves but haven't found they work well).  Once I figured out that you do not need a cell signal to cache if you plan ahead, the Garmins were retired from the Game.

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