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What tip, trick or homemade gizmo do you use that is an absolute must while geocaching?
Make sure you have spare batteries in your pocket and a tweezers can be helpful for retrieving logs or tiny caches. Most of all….if you’re having fun, keep on going. If it’s not fun anymore, quit for the day!
My must have kit includes:
A spare set of batteries, a pen, and a few business cards or small notebook (for writing down offset coords / calculations – it’s painful to have to return to a prior WP when you think something might be wrong with the coordinates).I always have a few business cards in my wallet and they are heavy weight cardstock which works nice for taking notes. The notebook is nicer because everything stays in one place vs the cards which can get lost more easily.
Other than that – you’ll bit your “kit” as you go. I keep a whole variety of stuff in the car (flashlights, hip boots / snowshoes depending on season, more batteries, forceps, first aid kid, pliers, wire, various sized plastic bags, spare logs, spare containers, … you get the picture)
A “Leatherman” style multi-tool is a very handy thing to bring along… Also, spare Zip-Locs, spare logs, a small roll of camo duct tape, and a black “Sharpie”, for cache/container repairs…
Everyone’s “kit” is different. I think when you start a GPS, pen/pencil, and some batteries are more then enough to have some serious fun. As you find more caches, you will figure out what works for you. If you decide you really like Earthcaches, you may need to add a thermometer, PH strips, and a tape measure to your kit. It depends on how you play the “game”.
A roller ball pen. It rights on any log sheet, even damp ones! My walking stick comes in handy also, for those hard to reach caches. With a little practice, it also comes in handy when replacing them.
A couple more musts:
1. Bug spray
2. Compass
3. Garbage bag to pick up trash to and from the cache!FIRST AID KIT there are lots of ways to get scratched priked or cut while caching. Do not forget your FIRST AID KIT
@rcflyer2242 wrote:
FIRST AID KIT there are lots of ways to get scratched priked or cut while caching. Do not forget your FIRST SID KIT
Ain’t Duct Tape the First Aid Kit 😀 LOL.
Here’s a few items that haven’t yet been mentioned. For me, these are musts.
– A hat (prevents scratches and bug bites when in the woods). I hate getting bugs in my hair.
– Safety glasses (unless you already wear glasses, prevents getting your eyes scratched or poked when in the woods bushwhacking)
– Camera. Granted that’s not a must for everyone, but it is for me. I take a picture (usually) of every cache, every waypoint, and that’s what I refer to when it’s time to log my finds. The pictures show me, in chronological order, all the needed details of finds and DNF’s, as well as any WP coordinates along the way. I like to take a spoiler picture (which I can’t post) and a non-spoiler picture or two (which I usually post). I can also refer to them later if needed for PAF situations.We carry the usual items that have already been mentioned; none which I would describe as homemade gizmos though. The concept however is intriguing.
Good question.
I made a homemade gizmo that I just finally took out of my caching bag. I had taken a piece of stiff wire and bent it like a hook so I could put it around a stick to retrieve those high caches. This is helpful for those of us who are vertically challenged. But I just took it out of my bag because I was tired of getting poked. It came in handy a time or two though.
Not all who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien
I carry a SwissCard in my wallet.
Because my wallet is the one thing that I will always have on me, this comes in great handy–a tweezer, knife, pen, screwdriver, scissors. I use it regularly and not just for geocaching. It’s the perfect in-a-pinch tool.
On the Left Side of the Road...I carry a cotter pin to roll those awesome nano caches its on a keychain for easy carry
Gloves – for any season. I hate reaching into places without my gloves one…yuck! One of those handy dandy mirrors on the bendy arm is helpful too for lookin under hard to see places…..such as…well…can’t say…love my needle nose pliers also…
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
As far as a homemade gizmo, I used to have a homemade conversion strip that I used to plot coords onto the gazetteer before GC.com mapping got as advanced as it is, but I don’t use it anymore.
In the winter I carry a garden trowel which is very useful for unearthing those caches buried by lots of snow and ice.
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