[beggymike]

I’ve found that especially with kayaks, purchasing a used boat is a great, cost effective way of getting in, without the initial large investment. I’d much rather not feel guilty about banging, scratching, or dropping a used boat as opposed to being hyper sensitive with a brand new one.

Rutabaga has a great selection of used boats, but their prices are a bit on the high end for used equipment. That is offset by their trade-in program. check out their website @ http://www.paddlers.com

Another place where I’ve had great luck, and is well worth the trip up to the Wolf River is the Bear Paw Inn. They have an ever rotating used boat corral and can be searched online @ http://www.bearpawoutdoors.com/store.htm

Good luck

[beggymike]

Other than a mild case of swamp foot, scratched up shins, a receding rash of Poison Ivy, the lacerations on my palm, toe webbing, and ear, I feel pretty much the same. I guess that’s what makes night time caching fun. I think my 100th was hit at night too, so this just made all the better.

Thanks for the recognition T&tB, and thanks to all of you whose caches I’ve had the fun of hunting down. We couldn’t hit these benchmark numbers if it wasn’t for those who give back by hiding a cache.

[beggymike]

Steve,
I know the Meridian line has some issues with waypoint projection. There has been talk that Thales has been fixing it through newer firmware, but I don’t think they have reinvented the wheel just yet.

I’ve personally tried to do some projections with my MeriGold, and the results were less than fabulous. Todd-O(GM100) and I were marking the corners of some hunting land back in October, and his GlobalMap 100 consitently put him right on the iron pipe. I, on the other hand, was roughly 65-80 feet off at each corner. We both had good signal, but I guess that Meridian thing leaves a lot to be desired.

Beyond that, I personally would still be very interested in doing a cache like that. Nothing that a good compass, the distance unit on the GPS, and some good old Boy Scout orienteering skills couldn’t manage.

Now I just have to head down to your neck of the woods and start tackling all of those Lake Country caches. That darned map keeps getting denser and denser.

[beggymike]

Snoshu:
I’ve had my MeriGold since last August and I have been very satisfied with it’s performance in both caching situations and other wayfinding needs.

I had done a lot of research before I purchased my MeriGold. I looked at the eTrex Vista, iFinder, and the Meridian line. Printed off all the manuals online, weighed apples to oranges, and then went to Gander Mtn. and held all of them in my hand to see what felt the best. The Meridian came out ahead with the most to offer/best feel in my hand. I liked the Vista: nice and small, powerful, good features,but it lacked upgradability. The iFinder, not waterproof enough for the kayak. The Meridian… she had it all, and was intuitive enough to get the hang of it there in the store.

I’ve used an eTrex before for a few caches, and wasn’t entirely satisfied with both the interface, or the ergonomics of the buttons. Overall it seemed clunky on the inputting end, and it is “warm-and-fuzzied” up on the interface end. I personally don’t need my GPS resources used to animate satellites in the air, or a cartoon placing a flag. If others like that, that’s fine. I like all the system resources going to the processing needed for a location accurately.

The Meridian series seemed to fit in my hand better, access to the buttons was easy and natural; it never blocked the screen. The screen size is very much a plus, nice and big. The screens were customizable like my old Lowrance Eagle; which gives you the option of tailoring caching screens to driving screens. The upgradable memory and the waterproofness is what tipped the scales for me.
There are some things with the Meridian I would like different: It takes a lot (4-5) different menu clicks to get to the WAYPOINT EDIT spot. I’ve gotten used to it, like we do with all of our stuff.
Overall, I’d say go with the Meridian, it’s powerful, accurate, and an overall good unit.

[beggymike]

Yo T-man,
I had my box sitting here, and I could find no discernable note stating the loaction of manufacturing. The only thing that comes close is…
“Copyright 2001 Thales Navigation. All rights reserved. Magellan, Meridian, and MapSend are trademarks of Thales Navigation.”

I’ll take Alan’s word for it, this unit is built in the USA. He may not be Malaysian, but I can vouge for his greatness.

[beggymike]

Thanks Ken for the info, I’ll stay posted.

Say… what is your gut feeling with the DNR’s attitude now that there has been a changing of hands with the new govenor? I saw in the paper today that Doyle has appointed his new head of the DNR. Just curious if this change may mean a different direction from where we were headed with them.

I know we’ve run into some word that a few of our projects at work may be on thin ice with the new govenor and staff.

Wondering…

[beggymike]

Seeing these points about MN GCing, and a recent thread on the Groundspeak forum, where do we as the WGA stand currently in our talks with the WIDNR? I’m just curious because I haven’t heard anything lately.

[beggymike]

A little late on this discussion, but I found this link to a wooden nickel site that I was investigating for pricing and quantities. The prices are pretty reasonable.
http://www.wooden-nickel.com/

[beggymike]

Read this in the Metro North section of the paper this morning, just an FYI on the future of this beautiful spot.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/oct02/89951.asp

[This message has been edited by beggymike (edited 10-23-2002).]

[beggymike]

Well…after a long, drawn out researching bender, I decided on going with the Meridian Gold. It seemed to have the most features I was looking for; 12 parallel channel receiver, mapping capability, waterproof for kayaking, reasonable price, and the point that sold me…upgradable memory.

I ordered it through TigerGPS.com on Tuesday morning, and by 9:30am Wednesday I had it in my hands. If anyone is looking for a good recommendation for a place to order online, my hat is tipped to Derek @ TigerGPS.com; great speed, painless ordering procedure, and great follow-up.

I’m still getting acquainted with the MariGold, it’s like we’re on our second date. I’m heading up north for some bug dropping, and geocaching so I’ll be back next week after the shakedown with a report. Thanks for all of your help and input. It’s great to see what works for some, may not work for others. Great discussion!

[This message has been edited by beggymike (edited 08-23-2002).]

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