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Geocaching.com Premium


matbluvenger

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Posted

GO FOR IT!!!

 

Premium membership has its small priveleges

 

Pocket Queries are great - you can search for caches and create downloadable files of multiple caches to send to your gps. that alone is worth it.

 

when you do the pocket query you can filter out all of your finds and your caches and get the ones you haven't done.

Posted

It isn't about the benifits. Websites like this one are like TV shows on PBS. If you like the show you contribute during a fund drive. If you don't contribute you risk the chance the show won't return for another run. Geocaching.com isn't going to go broke if you don't buy a membership, but if you want to ensure the site stays around then I'd suggest becomming a member.

Posted
It isn't about the benifits. Websites like this one are like TV shows on PBS. If you like the show you contribute during a fund drive. If you don't contribute you risk the chance the show won't return for another run. Geocaching.com isn't going to go broke if you don't buy a membership, but if you want to ensure the site stays around then I'd suggest becomming a member.

DITTO!

Posted
It isn't about the benifits. Websites like this one are like TV shows on PBS. If you like the show you contribute during a fund drive. If you don't contribute you risk the chance the show won't return for another run. Geocaching.com isn't going to go broke if you don't buy a membership, but if you want to ensure the site stays around then I'd suggest becomming a member.

Very well said!

Posted

I cached for about four months as just a Member. I was just interested in visiting areas of interest that happened to be located near caches, so I'd carry printed pages of the caches that I wanted to find, usually less than 10 per area. I would miss many nearby caches because I didn't have the waypoints or any other information about them.

 

Now, as a Premium Member, I carry very little papers. With the Pocket Query feature (PQ), certain software tools (EasyGPS, Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK)), and a Palm compatible PDA with the CacheMate software, I download hundreds of waypoints per area with descriptions, hints, and previous finder logs. With PQ and GSAK, you can apply your own filters to customize a lot of things, for example, removing "GC" from the waypoint name and adding a shorthand description of cache type, container size, difficulty, etc. This saves a lot of preparation time before you head out the door.

 

I remember you started the thread on "Most Finds in One Day." You'll likely increase your finds per day per time period by becoming a Premium Member and using the Pocket Query. Think of it as a $3 per month donation to the site with the benefit of making your caching experience more efficient. You'll of course have to spend a bit more money initially (CacheMate and GSAK licenses, and a PDA) but I think you can fit all that in a student budget. Keep in mind that even an old Palm III with 2 MB of RAM can handle about 400 waypoints.

Posted
You'll of course have to spend a bit more money initially (CacheMate and GSAK licenses, and a PDA) but I think you can fit all that in a student budget. Keep in mind that even an old Palm III with 2 MB of RAM can handle about 400 waypoints.

registering GSAK for $20 was perhaps one of my best purchases for geocaching. the guy who created it said you can put it on as many machines as you want and provides updates free to registered users before updating the website. I love this program. i use a HP Ipaq for caching and carry around with me about 1000 caches in it.

Posted (edited)

This reminds me; gotta renew my membership!

 

The little features are nice but it's more about contributing to Jeremy and his staff to make the website a more efficient and well oiled machine. If no one paid, we would have slower servers and lots of crashes.

 

Another benefit not mentioned above, and it's generated its own discussion threads, are the subscriber-only caches. As a primium member, you have the option of registering a cache for premium members only. Some cachers will avail the cache for members initially, then open it up to the public after so many finds. Other cachers will only create members-only caches. This is not without its controversy, but the point is, as a member, you may have access to a bit more caches.

 

And if you want to get in on the FTF races, the pocket queries are indespensible. With the click of a button, you get all the unfound caches filtered by various variables: terrain/difficulty rating; container size; distance from home coords, or a particular zip code; etc...

Edited by Chuy

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