Geocaching and my first full day kilted

**beowulf67** · 16th May 07, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by ccga3359

Just realize that you don't need all the bells and whistles when buying a gps. The pre-installed basemap will still show you where your destination is just like the $100 topographical software they expect you to buy. It just doesn't show all the roads, rivers and the like. One thing I would recommend is a rechargable lithium battery as a gps can eat regular batteries. Garmin and Magellan are two good makes. For info and deals on gps equipment search here(keep in mind this is a Canadian site, you'll probably find better deals in the US and no duty). And please, please, please do it kilted. It's the only way to go!

Thanks for the info.
A friend at work has a Garmin, not sure what model, but it seemed pretty cool. It has all the bells and whistles. Does the basemap include local roads or just the main highways?

**ccga3359** · 16th May 07, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by beowulf67

Thanks for the info.
A friend at work has a Garmin, not sure what model, but it seemed pretty cool. It has all the bells and whistles. Does the basemap include local roads or just the main highways?

Only some major roads! You'll have a choice of software. With my Magellan I could get marine, road or topographical. Although I go kayaking, marine software would be so much overkill. I rarely use these features when on Coast Guard duty (local knowledge and all)! This is only for your serious mariners.
The road software will tell you turn by turn from A to B. For a hand held this might not be that great as there are dedicated units with larger screens and voice commands that are quite reasonably priced. With the hand held unit it is harder to navigate various screens or input addresses and stuff.
I have the topographical software that greatly enhances the basemap. It shows all roads and geographical infomation. As with all software (except driving) puting in a goto gives you a direct line to the place you want to go (as the crow flies) regardless of any physical object that is actually in you path be it a mountain, skyscraper or lava pit.
As I said the basemap installed on a handheld will be adequate for geocaching. The topo software isn't going to make finding the cache easier but it does make the gps more useful in the end. You'll find though that in the end you could've bought yourself a nice kilt for the price of that gps peripherals

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**beowulf67** · 17th May 07, 05:58 AM

Thanks for all the info ccga. Hmmm, another kilt or gps unit to play with? Decisions, decisions....

**Alan H** · 17th May 07, 01:55 PM

Great pics...great kids and the kilt looks good, to!

**tomcherv** · 18th May 07, 10:28 AM

Geocaching is great fun. When you start getting into it, you'll start finding the travel bugs. A travel bug is an item that has a numbered tag attached to it. You pick it up and move it to a different cache.

I released a travel bug about a year ago in Minnesota. Since then it has gone to Alabama, Mississippi, several states in New England (northeastern US), Utah, and just a few days ago it landed in Scotland.