The single most valuable thing I can tell you about Geocaching is the following:

[+Possum Posse]

Bring a First Aid kit.

 

"Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us" - Thomas Paine

[+Hard Oiler]

After 50 or so suggestions I'm surprised no one has yet suggested a key one for both finding and hiding caches:

 

"Use common sense"

 

It usually pays off

[+ZingerHead]

Invest in a set of rechargeable batteries and a charger. You will recoup your investment in just a few months of occasional caching, and the environment will be just a little bit better off as well.

[+RPaske]

Always have a spare vehicle key!

[+Night Hunter]

My advice---Check out this thread

 

Night Hunter

I, Madam, I made radio!! So I dared!! Am I mad?? AM I????

[+BASSETSLAVE]

With all of the excellant advice already given, I guess the best advice I can give is:

 

"Try To Leave Nothing Behind But Your Footprints Take Nothing But Your Memories."

 

Please be kind to the flora and fauna of our great outdoors. If we do maybe they will ask us back again. We are the caretakers of our natural wonders no matter how great or how small.

Be Safe. Good Caching. Hope To Meet You On The Trail Some Day.

BASSETSLAVE

-----------

If you have the nose of a basset there is no cache that you can not find and you are never lost.

[+Metaphor]

Support the website that feeds your addiction.

 

"All of us are standing in the mud, but some of us are looking at the stars." Oscar Wilde

[mtnsteve]

There are at least 360 different ways to approach a cache, if you ALWAYS follow the little arrow, you can turn a level 1 into a level 5.

 

I know one level 1 cache that folks constantly say they cant get to because of high water in a creek, why they don't take the road behind it baffles me.

 

____________________________________________________________

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

[+travisl]

Walk along the trails with your chin resting in the webbing between your thumb and index finger. It makes you look cool, and keeps the Yeti from attacking.

 

I mean, I defy you to find anyone who's been attacked by a Yeti while doing this.

 

WWJD? JW RTFM.

[+ZingerHead]

That was DANGEROUSLY close to a humorless one-liner there, travisl. Watch it!!

[+Mephistopheles]

I would second bringing a second set of car keys. That's how I got involved in Geocaching, picking up a friend who had lost his keys caching. I had to pick him up MILES from home. About an hour one-way so we had 3 hours to discuss "What the heck were you doing way out here in the woods?" (Believe it or not another cacher whom we both work with later found his keys near the cache and returned them!) A cell phone works too, but of course he had one...............................wait for it ....................... locked in his car! Which resulted in a Looooooong walk into the nearest small town.

 

Maybe the Boy Scout motto works for most endeavors, "Be prepared."

[BassoonPilot]

Waypoint your car.

 

(Having a spare key won't do you any good if you can't find the car.)

[+SamLowrey]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hard Oiler:

After 50 or so suggestions I'm surprised no one has yet suggested a key one for both finding and hiding caches:

 

"Use common sense"

 

It usually pays off

---

 

Well, if they possess common sense, they sure don't need to be told to use common sense. If they aren't using it, they don't have it.

[+RJFerret]

All the higher priorities having already been mentioned, when placing/hiding your caches: average the coordinates!

 

Enjoy,

 

Randy

 

(Then test your own coordinates...)

[GrandpaTom]

Cache with a friend

[esqualey]

Brand new to cacheing and have only found 2 but I would say the most valuable to me so far is to read the last few logs in the attempt to ensure the cache may yet exist! Had a nice walk but the kids were a little disappointed by my negligence.

[+fly46]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Markwell:

I'm sorry, I have two:

Mark a waypoint for your car.

Take a compass.

 

---

 

I definately agree with the car waypoint thing... I forgot to do that once and had to improvise by usign the waypoints for a cache across the street from the woods I was in. That was a muddy nightmare.

[+elmo-fried]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ZingerHead:

Invest in a set of rechargeable batteries and a charger. You will recoup your investment in just a few months of occasional caching, and the environment will be just a little bit better off as well.

---

 

I go through the recharhable ones like crazy, so I second your advice. I just bought a GPSr car cigarette power adapter ($13) to try and cut down while driving from cache to cache.

 

Also, always keep two sets of spare GPSr food (aka batteries) as well. I typically have two spare sets of rechargeable AA and two sets of disposable *just in case*.

 

The other reason I carry 'extra' AA batteries is because my FRS/GMRS radio takes 3 AA batteries (has it's own rechargeable ones that I can swap out but they tend to only last half the day if I'm using it much), my digital camera takes 2 AA batteries and eats through them before I can fill 128mb of flash, my mini-Maglight takes 2 AA batteries (even though it lasts forever, but I'd hate to have it die while night cachin').

 

Jason Roysdon

jason.roysdon.net

[+Team Og Rof A Klaw]

The straight-line distance to the cache that is indicated on your GPSr is usually less (and sometimes far less) than the distance you will have to travel.

 

____________________________

- Team Og Rof A Klaw

All who wander are not lost.

[+RJFerret]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Team Og Rof A Klaw:

The straight-line distance to the cache that is indicated on your GPSr is usually less (and sometimes _far_ less) than the distance you will have to travel.

---

 

(Unless you bushwack! {Grin} [Yes, even then it'll be slightly greater due to terrain...])

 

Typically, wouldn't you say 50% greater? I don't think I've found a 1 mile crow-flight that was more than 1.5 miles via trail...

 

Randy

[+Team Og Rof A Klaw]

Walked 4.5 miles on an indicated 1.8 miles on SFR001 once. The path kind of spiraled into it.

 

50% would be about typical.

____________________________

- Team Og Rof A Klaw

All who wander are not lost.