cathy9887 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Sorry... I'm sure these types of posts are eyerollingly redundant.... however... Brand new to geocaching, and got an eTrex20 for Christmas. What's the best suggested way to get started? Is a Premium membership necessary? What are the biggest benefits to having a premium membership? Can I (should I) load maps of multiple geocaches all at once?? What about hiding our own... I have two boys (5 & 7), and also have an entire den of cub scouts who are eager to do some hiding this Spring. What's the best way to go about that, too? I went thru the FAQ page & couldn't find answers to my first questions, but havent' checked the "hiding" part yet. I'm more than happy to do the footwork & research... but if anyone can point me in a good direction, it would be much appreciated!! Thanks!! Cathy O'Fallon, MO Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Sorry... I'm sure these types of posts are eyerollingly redundant.... however... Brand new to geocaching, and got an eTrex20 for Christmas. What's the best suggested way to get started? There is no "best" way to get started. It's often suggested to start by looking for "beginner recommended" caches. Difficulty/Terrain ratings or 1.0/1.0 or 1.5. Read the previous logs...has it been found really recently? Are there issues mentioned in the previous logs? Sizes can range from no bigger than your thumbnail up to ammo cans or larger. It "should" be easier to find the caches listed as being "small" or larger. I get razzed about constantly linking to the Help Center, but it really is a great resource. Help Center http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php Also, you might want to check this out: Geocaching 101 http://www.geocaching.com/guide/ Is a Premium membership necessary? What are the biggest benefits to having a premium membership? PM is not necessary at all for either finding or hiding caches. We started out as Basic Members and found caches just fine. The benefits of PM can be found here: Help Center → Premium Membership http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=5 Once you've been caching for a while, then you can decide if it is advantageous for you to pay for the PM or not. Can I (should I) load maps of multiple geocaches all at once?? I recommend loading a few caches into your gps to start. You will need to get to know the gps, as well as learn the cache searching bit. Baby steps, and hopefully you won't be disapointed or get discouraged. As a Basic Member, you can load up a lot of caches in one fell swoop. What about hiding our own... I have two boys (5 & 7), and also have an entire den of cub scouts who are eager to do some hiding this Spring. What's the best way to go about that, too? Um, I don't want to be a Negative Nelly, but cache hiding and ownership is considered to be a long-term commitment. I have read a lot of bad things about "scout caches" here on the forum, mainly about the lack of maintenance. Kids grow up, forget about the caches they've hidden, and neglect to do what is necessary. You need to read the Guidelines over and over again. They get updated, so it's recommended to keep checking up on them. Guidelines http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx Help Center → Hiding a Geocache http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=19 I recommend finding a variety of cache types and sizes before considering hiding. Caches come in all shapes and sizes and hiding configurations, so finding a variety will help you understand what you like in caches. Finding a bunch of the same type of hide over and over isn't very educational. There's no need to be in a rush to start hiding caches. Welcome to the hobby. Hope you and your family find it to be fun and fulfilling. B. Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I forgot to ask if you have the full owner's manual, or just a "quick start" one. The full manual can be found here: http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/eTrex_10-20-30_OM_EN.pdf Ignore where you are told to go to Garmin's website. You want to stick with the Groundspeak geocaches. B. Quote Link to comment
+MartyBartfast Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Is a Premium membership necessary? As Pup Patrol premium membership isn't necessary, but you can register your new Etrex here http://www.geocaching.com/garmin/freetrial.aspx and get a free 30 day trial of PM and then you can try out all the features and decide if it's worth $30 to you, you don't need to register it straight away so you may want to wait until you've found your feet as a basic member and then register it a few weeks/months down the line. Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) Is a Premium membership necessary? As Pup Patrol premium membership isn't necessary, but you can register your new Etrex here http://www.geocaching.com/garmin/freetrial.aspx and get a free 30 day trial of PM and then you can try out all the features and decide if it's worth $30 to you, you don't need to register it straight away so you may want to wait until you've found your feet as a basic member and then register it a few weeks/months down the line. Should you decide to try Premium Membership, or even go for it, DELETE all files you added while a Basic Member. Garmins 'default' all files added to Basic Member, should there be a 'Basic Member file on the device... What about hiding our own... I have two boys (5 & 7), and also have an entire den of cub scouts who are eager to do some hiding this Spring. What's the best way to go about that, too? Don't rush out to hide a cache. Go a find a few. Read the guidelines. (Several times!) Find some more. (Guidelines suggest 20 or so caches) Then think about hiding your own cache. Think about how much you tell the cub scouts... How safe will the caches be? OK, the cubs are honest, but they tell a friend, who tells a friend, who tells a friend, who goes and pinches the 'treasure' in the cache. (Not just cubs, it's any group of youngsters) And, there are threads on the forums, WHO is responsible should the group/pack hide a cache? Threads here complaining about caches set for a 'Project/Badge' etc. never getting any maintenance once the cache is hidden. Kind of: Hide it. Forget it. Otherwise, go out, have fun! Edited January 2, 2015 by Bear and Ragged Quote Link to comment
cathy9887 Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 This is why message forums are so wonderful! I had no idea "maintenance" would be required on a cache. In my little brain, I figured... hide it, log it, watch it.. and if someone claims its gone, we'd go search for it & if it IS gone, delete it. Is that not how it'd work? What about an "internal circle" of caches, so to speak? For the boys' benefit only (and to not start off "breaking" courtesy guidelines within the GC community), maybe we could just create a little Wolf Den log of caches of our own & not register them on GC. Even if they're just for our cub scout pack. Then, if they disappear, or don't get maintained by anyone, it's our own fault & no one is sent on wild goose chases. (or is that a community no-no?) Heading to the provided links to start my research reading... I appreciate the info & links!! I'll be able to go over the info and share it with other newbie parents who aren't on Groundspeak (yet?). :-D One thing... are registered geocaches "national"? Someone mentioned staying with Groundspeak caches & not Garmin (assuming that's geocaching.com). Is there a difference in the actual geocaches?? Or just the app/website that lists them? Thank you all so much for your info!!! Cathy Quote Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) This is why message forums are so wonderful! I had no idea "maintenance" would be required on a cache. In my little brain, I figured... hide it, log it, watch it.. and if someone claims its gone, we'd go search for it & if it IS gone, delete it. Is that not how it'd work? Yeah... setting a cache out is not a do-it-forget-about-it sort of thing. What about an "internal circle" of caches, so to speak? For the boys' benefit only (and to not start off "breaking" courtesy guidelines within the GC community), maybe we could just create a little Wolf Den log of caches of our own & not register them on GC. Even if they're just for our cub scout pack. Then, if they disappear, or don't get maintained by anyone, it's our own fault & no one is sent on wild goose chases. (or is that a community no-no?) This is done, often enough for special activities, giving classes, birthday parties, etc. Go for it! Actually, when finished with them, you really ought to pick 'em up -- not doing so gives geocaching a bad name (geo-litter). One thing... are registered geocaches "national"? Someone mentioned staying with Groundspeak caches & not Garmin (assuming that's geocaching.com). Is there a difference in the actual geocaches?? Or just the app/website that lists them? Actually, it is a GLOBAL activity, not just "national". Geocaching.com and the Garmin website are just... different. Think of marketing your product line..., and you can see why Garmin would be interested. Edited January 2, 2015 by Gitchee-Gummee Quote Link to comment
+Chief301 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) This is why message forums are so wonderful! I had no idea "maintenance" would be required on a cache. In my little brain, I figured... hide it, log it, watch it.. and if someone claims its gone, we'd go search for it & if it IS gone, delete it. Is that not how it'd work? Yes, that's basically how it works. Except you don't necessarily "delete" (archive) the cache just because someone couldn't find it or it goes missing. Essentially, you own the cache....you can archive it if it's run its course and you're not interested in maintaining it any longer, or you can perform maintenance like replace it, go fix the broken container, replace a full or wet logsheet, or whatever else it may need. Cachers who find your cache can also log a "Needs Maintenance" to notify you that the cache needs attention. What about an "internal circle" of caches, so to speak? For the boys' benefit only (and to not start off "breaking" courtesy guidelines within the GC community), maybe we could just create a little Wolf Den log of caches of our own & not register them on GC. Even if they're just for our cub scout pack. Then, if they disappear, or don't get maintained by anyone, it's our own fault & no one is sent on wild goose chases. (or is that a community no-no?) You can do it that way too if you want. The cubs would learn what Geocaching is, how to use a GPS, etc. but nobody would be committed to maintaining it. Heading to the provided links to start my research reading... I appreciate the info & links!! I'll be able to go over the info and share it with other newbie parents who aren't on Groundspeak (yet?). :-D One thing... are registered geocaches "national"? Someone mentioned staying with Groundspeak caches & not Garmin (assuming that's geocaching.com). Is there a difference in the actual geocaches?? Or just the app/website that lists them? Thank you all so much for your info!!! Cathy Geocaches are INTERNATIONAL! There are over 2 million Geocaches listed on Geocaching.com, on all continents and in most countries around the world. A couple of years ago Garmin started their own Geocache listing service to promote their Geocaching-friendly GPS devices. It didn't exactly take off and it has a tiny sliver of a fraction of the caches listed on GC.com, but that is the Geocaching website they recommend on their website. Their devices work perfectly well with Geocaching.com, though. There are other listing sites out there too, but Geocaching.com is kind of the 800 pound gorilla Edited January 2, 2015 by Chief301 Quote Link to comment
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