Essential Gear for Geocaching

My family and I have been Geocaching for almost three years now and we enjoy it very much. We are always looking forward to the next time that we go.

In case you don't know, Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for GPS users. People and organizations from around the world hide caches everywhere imaginable. They then list the locations on the Internet for others to see. Other GPS users use those coordinates and locate the hidden caches. After a cache is found, the finders trade trinkets or "swag" as cachers call it, and write the find in the cache logbook.

Sounds pretty easy, doesn't it? Let me tell you that sometimes it is like finding a needle in a haystack. While the accuracy of a GPS unit is usually within ten feet or less, varying conditions may make that GPS readout a little less accurate. Weather conditions and tree cover are the biggest influences that will mess with your GPS's accuracy.

Once you have located the coordinates with your GPS, look around and see if you can locate places that may be hiding a cache. The most common hiding places are in natural settings such as fallen trees and stumps, behind and under rocks or camouflaged with grass or sticks. You will hardly find caches high up in the air out of reach for the average person or in any dangerous area where someone may get hurt, unless it is intended to be hidden that way by the placers of the cache.

Now that you have the basic understanding of the sport, let us see what you will need to get started in Geocaching. Some of the items are just suggestions that may make the sport more enjoyable for you and your family.

GPS unit - This is the most important part of geocaching, as it is what the sport is designed around. There are many GPS units to choose from with a starting price range around $100 and up. You should be able to find a decent GPS that will get the job done for under $200. The features of the Garmin eTrex(my family uses the eTrex Legend) are more than adequate to make the sport enjoyable.