Geocaching GPS, websites and apps?

[TPMB12]

6 year old has NT book, 50 things to do before 11 3/4. It has geocaching in it. He's interested in it so I figure a bit of navigation training would benefit. We've just introduced him to map and compass, IMHO the bedrock of navigation skills even in the modern age. Any advise?

I'm thinking a basic touch 25 with 3 way electronic compass and os mapping at 50k for whole of the UK. Cheap enough but I believe it has better navigation like road GPS units in cars. Plus I read that the latest (2018) os mapping is better. Makes it more usable route setting on the fly instead of at home hooked to a computer.

How to find the geocaches? There's a geocaching.com website. Easily links to Garmin units. I think the touch 25 links to phone via Bluetooth, if that's right does that make disclosing caches easy when away with only phone connection?

Should I bother with premium membership of that website?

Are there apps for the main caching websites. Which is the best? Are they worth using?

Any other suggestions? Not cycling related but I'm sure some on this subthread will be into geocaching.

[Kim]

Have a go using whatever GPS receiver you already have (which may be a smartphone) and only buy something if you really get into it?  Geocaching was invented when the state of the art was a mono screen with only waypoints and bearings, so none of this mapping stuff should be necessary.  That said, a receiver with a magnetic compass is good to have when following a bearing to a nearby point on foot, especially over rough terrain.

It's been a few years since I had a proper go at it.  I wouldn't be surprised if a geocaching-oriented smartphone app gives a better usability experience (eg. for adding new cache locations on the fly, perhaps based on clues found at a previous one) than a proper GPS receiver.

IME many geocaches in rural areas can be found with nothing more than a decent map and a well-tuned spidey sense for good hiding places.  (Top tip: Head towards the nettles)

[fuaran]

Geocaching.com (Groundspeak) is the biggest website, way more caches listed than anywhere else. So you're probably stuck with it, whether you like it or not. Seems they are becoming rather commercial, and encouraging you to pay for premium etc. But most of it still works fine with a free account. Premium can allow bulk downloads of cache details, which may be useful for loading onto a Garmin etc.

Can also try Opencaching UK. https://opencache.uk/
It now has quite a few caches listed, but nowhere near as many as Geocaching.com. But maybe they are better quality, more interesting etc. And it is all free.

For apps, try C:geo. https://www.cgeo.org/
It is free/open source. It can get caches from a variety of sources, including Geocaching.com and Opencaching.

[TPMB12]

Thanks.

As always the smartphone is an easy opening into geocaching / GPS but I'm of the opinion when out and about the phone is used for phone duties and the leisure activities (usually GPS) is better coming from a dedicated device. I've used viewranger on my phone but the battery ticks down as you watch. Battery packs work but we go away without easy access to n recharging. AA batteries are a easier option with dedicated GPS units. Hence our looking at getting one.

In my research I've read it is cheaper to buy a unit with mapping bundle. I've also read you really don't need the bells and whistles of the expensive gps units. Touch 25 comes with a bike mount too. Should make a decent touring GPS too.

You can get free mapping but being used to os mapping I reckon we'll find it worth buying with the GPS. I've heard that a unit like the touch 25 and latest 2018 version of os mapping you get a turn by turn direction advice too.

[L CC]

OS maps on the phone (£24/yr) and a cache battery(max £25) are tons better than any handheld unit for a similar price, assuming you already have the phone.


Like many of your queries you seem to be seeking affirmation for a decision you've already made.

[TPMB12]

Wrong. It's your opinion and I never asked for confirmation on anything. I've decided I'd rather have a dedicated GPS for my own reasons. It works better for me. But of course you seem quite happy with your solution and are heavily promoting it even in threads. Like this where I'm not asking for such information. So let me bullet point my questions for you. Perhaps you can answer them if you have I clearly put. I am certainly not very clear at times so I'm assuming that's the reason for that post.

Any advise on geocaching with young children.

What is the best way to find geocaches where you're going? Geocaching.com, app or other?

What is the best way to upload caches to a GPS?

We're looking at Garmin touch 25 which seems to have Bluetooth. Does that mean you can upload via Bluetooth from a laptop or phone? Ditto from apps or websites via device.

PS I do appreciate advise. I got a fair bit on my earlier thread including advise I took such as Montana and touch 25/35 plus the GPS teaching website. We're opting for the unit they recommend for users like us.

However I got a strong feeling that I was not allowed an opinion that separating GPS battery demanding use from our communication device was what we needed / wanted. It feels like one of those offering such advice is now accusing me of only looking for validation of my opinion. I have always had the opinion that a phone in the outdoors is mostly for communication only. I have never asked or needed validation for that opinion.

I have asked for advise on GPS units but naively didn't specify dedicated units only. Although I doubt that would have stopped the repeated insistence from some that I really only needed a phone and battery pack. Answering a question I thought I hadn't asked.

[L CC]

If "I decided I need a handheld unit" isn't having already decided, I don't know what is.


If I were Geocaching with a small child, I would not buy a dedicated device as in my experience of my small children they usually had only a transient interest in anything. I would use the phone I already own, with OS maps.
If I were to use a handheld GPS device I would insist, for hiking /walking /Geocaching in the UK, for one that had OS maps. The screen on an etrex is too small to show OS detail and that would rule it out for me.
Given the easiest way to start Geocaching is via a phone app, that would be another vote against a dedicated device, for me.

That better?

[Phil W]

OS detail napping doesn't really work on small GPS screens and will not really help that much with geocaching.  Many NT properties have GPS and notes you can borrow to find geocaches on their properties.  Worth starting there to see how you get on. Don't get too enthusiastic with a six year old. They will tire quickly. Maybe combine he geocaching with a picnic or messing about in a nearby stream / meadow.

I've found best approach is a copy of a traditional map with geocache locations pencilled in. Then just use the electronics for the final approaches.  Battery life really shouldn't be a concern.

[Kim]

The screen on an etrex is too small to show OS detail and that would rule it out for me.

While, almost paradoxically, the OS map is too lacking in detail to be useful on an eTrex.

I've tried the OS 1:50k mapping on my eTrex 30.  It's very occasionally useful, in that way that only an OS map can be.  But most of the time it's hopeless, because the map is a bitmap that only really works at 300m zoom or less, which means you don't have enough precision for knowing eg. which of two adjacent turnings to take.  Also, being a bitmap OS map, it only really works properly in 'north up' mode, which doesn't make the best use of a portrait-aspect screen.  The rendering is also tediously slow, but that's largely offset by the low zoom level.

For most practical purposes, an OSM-derived vector map (or for on-road use the old City Navigator maps) is usually superior on an eTrex-like device.  For 'big picture' stuff I use OS maps in Viewranger on a 10" tablet.

But I don't think a map actually matters for geocaching, because - by its very nature - you already have precise coordinates for the point you're trying to get to.  All a map can usefully add is how to get from where you are to that point when there's an obstacle (fence, river, hedgerow, cliff edge, etc) blocking the direct route, and - at least in the early days - finding your way around that sort of stuff when all you had was an arrow saying "327m that way" was a large part of the fun.


The eTrex is an excellent unit for walking and geocaching, as it's a sensible handheld size, rugged, and the AA batteries last for ages.  Which by no coincidence is why I own one for navigating and recording bike rides.  And when I first tried geocaching, one of its predecessors was the only option, because pocket computers didn't have built-in GPS, telephony or cameras in those days.

I've never actually played with the eTrex's geocaching-specific features.  I assume they amount to a special form of POI with geocache descriptions included, or something.  Probably means you have to use Garmin browser plugins or something Windowsy to upload them.  If the modern stuff can talk to a smartphone via Bluetooth, then all the better.

[drossall]

I've done geocaching occasionally with Scouts. Initially I built a small collection of donated monochrome-screen GPSs. However, I have to agree that a smartphone app is better. You get the description of the cache and the GPS directions all in one place. I also use c:Geo. This is a non-expert view though, as I just dabble in this from time to time.