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Essential extras that you just HAVE to have to geocache


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An now for something really different......

 

Ok a fluff topic.

 

So what are the extras that you just HAVE to have to go geocaching?

 

I got one in the mail the other day. A hiking stick that I won on e-bay. It is most excellant. It has a wood spirit hand carved into the grip area, a compass nestled into the top (great for those of us who are directionally challenged), smoothed out bark that is polished to a nice gloss and a nonskid rubber end. Man I love this thing!

 

I'm wondering what the mailman thought when it was delivered as it is 60" long

 

So anything special that you take when you go out?

Dx

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It's a local critter in Texas, but other places have their own version: we call it a "Mapsco". It's a book of maps that covers about one county. The inside front cover shows the entire area, broken down by rectangular grid. The back half of the book is page after page of each of those grids, further broken down into 25 blocks per page. The front half of the book lists all street names and what page/block they're on.

 

I find it invaluable for navigating to a park in a part of the area I've never been to before. And some local businesses advertise their address and "MAPSCO 29K" to say they're located on page 29, in block K. I have to buy the Tarrant county and Dallas county books to cover the whole Dallas/Fort Worth area, but it's worth it.

 

> Martin (Magellan 330)

Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo!

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During my first weekend long trip of geoaching I wound up either buying or finding the following which I have been using since.

 

A hat. Yeas a simple hat that keeps the heat in , the rain out and the sun away. It has also come in handy when crawling thru thick foliage.

 

A walking stick. I found this at the Johns River Falls cache in OR. It is just some wood that does the trick. I saw it near the riven and simply had to have it:)- I have used it to steady my footing, dig around without having to get mucked up and to poke at possible cache locations.

 

Boots. Truth be told I did my first couple of cache in a pair of ratty old sandals; not what any sane person would think to wear out in the woods. My wife got me a good pair of boots and Im loving them.

 

----------------------------

TeamWSMF@wsmf.org

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During my first weekend long trip of geoaching I wound up either buying or finding the following which I have been using since.

 

A hat. Yeas a simple hat that keeps the heat in , the rain out and the sun away. It has also come in handy when crawling thru thick foliage.

 

A walking stick. I found this at the Johns River Falls cache in OR. It is just some wood that does the trick. I saw it near the riven and simply had to have iticon_smile.gif- I have used it to steady my footing, dig around without having to get mucked up and to poke at possible cache locations.

 

Boots. Truth be told I did my first couple of cache in a pair of ratty old sandals; not what any sane person would think to wear out in the woods. My wife got me a good pair of boots and Im loving them.

 

----------------------------

TeamWSMF@wsmf.org

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quote:
Originally posted by DxChallenged:

I'm wondering what the mailman thought when it was delivered

 

Dx


 

He was probably thinking "dadgum, I'd like one too!'...If not for anything else then to beat evil dogs away...... Just a thought but then again I AM in that business.....lol

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quote:
Originally posted by yrium:

If I can't take my dog Gromit with me I usually don't go.

 

--- yrium ---


 

Same here! The 2 furry brats are part and parcel of a geocache adventure. I've taken them (or rather, they've dragged me off to) 90% of the caches I've logged.

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Oh yeah...

 

I've learned about leaving a dry pair of socks and extra boots in the car. I managed to get wet feet for 2 weeks in a row.A few weeks ago we were driving along with my wet socks waving outside the rolled up window. icon_redface.gif yeah they were red and the kids were trying to crawl under the seat so no one could see them........But hey..another cache was only 7 miles away and the sun was out!

 

Dx

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Oh yeah...

 

I've learned about leaving a dry pair of socks and extra boots in the car. I managed to get wet feet for 2 weeks in a row.A few weeks ago we were driving along with my wet socks waving outside the rolled up window. icon_redface.gif yeah they were red and the kids were trying to crawl under the seat so no one could see them........But hey..another cache was only 7 miles away and the sun was out!

 

Dx

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And...

 

We try to take Foo the wonder dog but of late we have to watch the puddle depth. She went caching with us a few weeks back and ended up looking like a furry tea bag on a leash. And yes she has red hair!!

 

cliffy...the hiking stick arrived in a great long package...sort of mean weapon shaped...Maybe mailmen just sense what's inside? Zen mail delivery type thing.

 

Dx

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quote:
Originally posted by cliffy:

quote:
_Originally posted by DxChallenged:

I'm wondering what the mailman thought when it was delivered

 

Dx_


 

He was probably thinking "dadgum, I'd like one too!'...If not for anything else then to beat evil dogs away...... Just a thought but then again I AM in that business.....lol


 

I'm thinking "Man, I'd like to have one just to beat the evil mailman away"

 

Sorry Cliffy, I just couldn't resist icon_smile.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by cliffy:

quote:
_Originally posted by DxChallenged:

I'm wondering what the mailman thought when it was delivered

 

Dx_


 

He was probably thinking "dadgum, I'd like one too!'...If not for anything else then to beat evil dogs away...... Just a thought but then again I AM in that business.....lol


 

I'm thinking "Man, I'd like to have one just to beat the evil mailman away"

 

Sorry Cliffy, I just couldn't resist icon_smile.gif

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I've been keeping my hiking stick in the trunk of my car since I found it while out caching. It did have a fork on the end, which made it great for moving low branches and overhanging vines out of my way; unfortunately that part was stepped on, and the fork is no more. Its still a pretty good stick just to lean on, and poke around in bushes while listening for that metallic twang or plastic thunk that tells me I've found the cache. icon_smile.gif

Lately, I've also been taking my digital camera - its nice to take a picture of the cache, and there's often some pretty cool views on the way to, or around the cache.

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I've been keeping my hiking stick in the trunk of my car since I found it while out caching. It did have a fork on the end, which made it great for moving low branches and overhanging vines out of my way; unfortunately that part was stepped on, and the fork is no more. Its still a pretty good stick just to lean on, and poke around in bushes while listening for that metallic twang or plastic thunk that tells me I've found the cache. icon_smile.gif

Lately, I've also been taking my digital camera - its nice to take a picture of the cache, and there's often some pretty cool views on the way to, or around the cache.

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Depends on where I'm going. I've got a backpack that's preloaded with everything I'll need, within reason, for a long day hike. I take my backpack with me on every outing.

 

But I absolutely won't leave without my Brunton compass, a leatherman m and my copy of the DeLorme Atlas & Gazeteer for Oregon.

 

When I recently went after a geocache without a copy of the Avantgo page for that particular geocache, I ended up regretting it. So there's another thing. icon_smile.gif

 

"Strictly hand-held is the style I go." --Beastie Boys

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Depends on where I'm going. I've got a backpack that's preloaded with everything I'll need, within reason, for a long day hike. I take my backpack with me on every outing.

 

But I absolutely won't leave without my Brunton compass, a leatherman m and my copy of the DeLorme Atlas & Gazeteer for Oregon.

 

When I recently went after a geocache without a copy of the Avantgo page for that particular geocache, I ended up regretting it. So there's another thing. icon_smile.gif

 

"Strictly hand-held is the style I go." --Beastie Boys

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quote:
Originally posted by DxChallenged:

 

So what are the extras that you just HAVE to have to go geocaching?

 

So anything special that you take when you go out?

Dx


 

I have a small backpack ready to go with:

-trade items of varous sizes

-couple of energy bars

-waterbottle in it's holster (I can put bladder in the pack for long hikes)

-swiss army multi-tool type of device

-pen or penciel

-small notebook (to remeber what I took)

-my handspring (with all downlaoded info)

-extra batteries

-an extra shirt in case it turns chilly

-gps

-MAPS!

 

george

 

-

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quote:
Originally posted by Rybren:

I'm thinking "Man, I'd like to have one just to beat the evil mailman away"

 

Sorry Cliffy, I just couldn't resist icon_smile.gif


 

hehehe Jerry......... Honest we're NOT evil......THEY make us take out all that junkmail icon_smile.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by Rybren:

I'm thinking "Man, I'd like to have one just to beat the evil mailman away"

 

Sorry Cliffy, I just couldn't resist icon_smile.gif


 

hehehe Jerry......... Honest we're NOT evil......THEY make us take out all that junkmail icon_smile.gif

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I bring a fanny pack with my digital camera, batteries, a note book, some trade goods and stuff for Cocoa and Hunter my two Labs. I picked up a day pack the other day cuz the fanny pack is getting too small. I want a hiking stick also but I torn between commercial telescopeing type or a good old wooden one. Should I make it or buy it?

Bob

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quote:
Originally posted by cliffy:

hehehe Jerry......... Honest we're NOT evil......THEY make us take out all that junkmail icon_smile.gif


 

Liar, Liar, pants on fire! I know better! I can come out of the closet now and admit that I was once a...... dare I say it..... mailman. icon_smile.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by cliffy:

hehehe Jerry......... Honest we're NOT evil......THEY make us take out all that junkmail icon_smile.gif


 

Liar, Liar, pants on fire! I know better! I can come out of the closet now and admit that I was once a...... dare I say it..... mailman. icon_smile.gif

Link to comment

After doing 8 caches in 2 days...with children....I an seriously considering investing in a boot scuffer scraper.

 

It was a GREAT day to geocache here in WNY. The temp got up to 71 and the clouds hung back until we were finished. But by the time we were done along with the treasures we that we found we also entered the van with 5" of mud on each of the 10 boots = a whole ton pf mud.

 

Cache on!!

 

Dx

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Whoa!! Great idea! We have a set of these but forget to use them. Last summer we did a cache at Stony Brook park in NY. Fearless trudged up the evers so muddy hill and the rest of the tribe went with me to the top of the hill. Kept yelling down to locate him. Eventually did but it was a little worrisome. I get lost 5-10 minutes from home. We're doing a multicache next weekend so the 2 ways are going with us!!

 

Thanks for the idea!!

 

DxChallenged

 

BTW we had a family reunion to go to right after the caching......we were just a bit muddy icon_wink.gif

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