Getting Lazy?

[Kermode]

I read questions in here about how to use palms and other devices along with a GPS unit.

 

Personally all I do is get the coordinates and go from there. I dont load maps etc into my unit.

I feel that it really does take all the fun out of the hunt when the equipment does it all for you.

My way is to use the NSEW way of searching and watching the lat/long on the GPS.

I really dont see how it can be all that fun when all you do is look at your electronic map to pin point where a geo cache is located.

 

I compare it to people who work at a store restaraunt etc. who use a till.

Not too long ago a person working a till had to figure out what change to give and count it out. Now it is all done for them. Push some buttons and you dont have to think at all. Same with geo caching . Enter the coords. in and bring it up on your map. No thinking at all the computer does it for you all you have to do is drive to the location.

 

I wonder how many people out there know how to do it the hard way.

[+Renegade Knight]

Well hell. I wasn't having fun? Crap, now I'm bummed.

 

There are as many ways to have fun as there are people trying to have it. I'd love to see you work with your reading of the LL.

[+Team DEMP]

You drive to caches? Why not hike to them? Did the pioneers have motorized vehicles? And why use a GPS... why not navigate by the sun? The GPS tells you exactly where it is - what fun is that?

 

Come on - I could air lift you to ground zero and you'd have a hard time finding many caches. The GPS gets you close - you do the rest.

[+Team Dromomania]

"all you have to do is drive to the location."

 

There are two times I really need to use the maps to get me close to caches.

 

1. In the cities...One way roads, limited or no parking, rough neighborhoods to avoid, dead end streets, etc. I just want to get in close enough to park then let my feet do the work.

 

2. In the country...In my area there are several caches hidden in the mountains. You can either hike the 10 or 20 miles to them from the normal paved roads while avoiding cliffs, private property, rivers, a mountain or two inbetween, etc. or you can look on the map for jeep trails, fire roads and the like to get within a few miles on public land to do your search and hike.

 

Each person has their own way of doing things for their own reasons. IMOHO I wouldn't call that lazy. In many cases it is just the plain smart thing to do. You seem to have the most fun at this game doing it your way without the aid of maps. Other's only geocache at night. Some don't log their finds. That is one of the great things about this game of geocaching - Each person can have fun in their own way while playing it.

[+YuccaPatrol]

You people are using GPSr's to find caches? Cheaters!

 

I don't see how it can be much fun to use military satellites to find caches. I locate the coordinates on a map and then use my compass and my sense of direction, map skills and cache description to find the cache.

 

At least that is what I am doing while my Garmin GPSmap 60CS is being repaired under warranty.

[+Team FUBAR]

 

At least that is what I am doing while my Garmin GPSmap 60CS is being repaired under warranty.

You broke it allready. Didn't you just get it?

[Neo_Geo]

...and calculators took the fun out of finding the square root of a number. CHEATERS!

 

...and these new-fangled automatic digital cameras took all of the fun out of figuring out exposure settings and shutter speeds and waiting for your pictures to be developed. CHEATERS!

 

...and the Internet took all of the fun out of looking up a book in the card catalog using the Dewey decimal system at the Library. (What's a Library?) CHEATERS! By the way, Al Gore invented the library.

 

...and Napster took all of the fun out of going to the local music store to buy music.

 

I THOUGHT THE WHOLE FREAKIN' IDEA WAS TO HAVE A FREAKIN' GADGET THAT TELLS US WHERE THINGS ARE!!!

 

Silly me...

Edited September 7, 2004 by Neo_Geo

[koz]

i don't use any of those new-fangled gizmos (other than my cute geko and this site) 'cause i'm cheap and can't figure out how to use the remote on my tv

[+BlueDeuce]

I wonder how many people out there know how to do it the hard way.

Well considering there are people who hunt without a gps I'd have to say you ain't one of them.

[+YuccaPatrol]

 

At least that is what I am doing while my Garmin GPSmap 60CS is being repaired under warranty.

You broke it allready. Didn't you just get it?

I didn't just break one 60CS, I have broken TWO of them in the past month! The one I got for my girlfriend is now also dead. Although I have had bad luck with these, I have had great luck with Garmin in general and am just going to assume that I had miserable luck and bought the only two malfunctioning 60CS's around.

[+AtoZ]

Dang Ill put my sextant away now. Having to rise at midnight was a real pain. Ol well just did my third find with out a GPSr, okay it was underwater and yes I used SCUBA but my airbell was in the shop for repairs, so there.

What is this a TROLL thread anyway. my son always looks for trolls but usually there is a bridge involved??????????????????

Cheers

[+jollybgood]

I read questions in here about how to use palms and other devices along with a GPS unit.

 

Personally all I do is get the coordinates and go from there. I dont load maps etc into my unit.

I feel that it really does take all the fun out of the hunt when the equipment does it all for you.

My way is to use the NSEW way of searching and watching the lat/long on the GPS.

I really dont see how it can be all that fun when all you do is look at your electronic map to pin point where a geo cache is located.

 

I compare it to people who work at a store restaraunt etc. who use a till.

Not too long ago a person working a till had to figure out what change to give and count it out. Now it is all done for them. Push some buttons and you dont have to think at all. Same with geo caching . Enter the coords. in and bring it up on your map. No thinking at all the computer does it for you all you have to do is drive to the location.

 

I wonder how many people out there know how to do it the hard way.

 

Gee, sounds like someone has PDA-envy.

 

Not at all. Tools like a PDA simply help me do MORE of what I love doing. Doing it the OLD way I was able to do around 5 caches a day and usually ended up discovering I didn't have a vital clue once I was several klicks out in a the middle of the woods with no way to find the cache.

 

Now I can do ten even twenty a day if I have a mind to. Not thatt I'm not THAT into cache counts. But I do like spending a full day caching when i get out.

 

Having a PDA simply allows me to have EVERY cache report for EVERY waypoint in my GPS.

Especially nice for those Cache-by-impulse moments when you're driving in an area you hadn't planned on or if you find yourself with an hour or so of free time to kill (such as the wife doing a little shopping).

 

Simply pull out your GPS. Find the nearest cache and look up the cache report on your PDA.

I love being able to do caches on the fly.

 

Certainly doesn't take the fun out of it. Nor is it some sort of cheat as was implied.

 

I suppose you could print out a ream of cache reports and lug those around but that seams silly if you can store them all in your pda.

Edited September 7, 2004 by jollybgood

[+Dog Knows]

I wonder how many people out there know how to do it the hard way.

I approach geocaching as a fun family pursuit. Last week, the lure of a geocache was enough to motivate my 4 and 6 year old kids to join me on a 10 km (6 mile) hike in the mountains. I thought that was an amazing feat for such young kids, and they are very proud of themselves. The fact that we had a GPSr and a PDA with us didn't seem diminish the amount of fun we had, nor did it make the hike any easier.

 

We all find our fun, and our challenges, in our own way.

[4x4van]

Yup, it's like anything else. Equipment simply allows you to spend more time doing what you love doing. I go camping quite frequently, but for me, camping means heading to the desert to ride ATVs or heading to the River to ride Jet skiis. So I camp in a 27 foot motorhome (tent camping in the desert in 120 degree heat doesn't sound all too appealing to me!). Is that really "camping"? I guess you could make the argument that it isn't, but I love the fact that I can pull in and set up camp in a matter of minutes. I have full cooking, sleeping, and bathroom facilities available. The less time and energy I spend "setting up" camp and the more comfortable I can be while there, the more time and energy I have to do what I'm actually there for: TO RIDE!!

 

Using a GPS and other electronic gadgets doesn't change the fact that I still have to physically hike to the cache. If I can make the navigation part of it easier and more accurate, I can spend more time actually enjoying the terrain while on that hike.

[JoeyQuickkey]

Just Remember, if the batteries die, no coverage, or other crap, Need to know how to do it without the gadgets. GPS hand helds are fun, but only useful to a point.