Archive for the ‘Product Reviews’ Category

My friend, Kris, was lucky enough to pick up a new GPS a few weeks ago: a Magellan eXplorist. Since I’m a die-hard Garmin fan, I asked her if she would write up a review of the eXplorist for the Find Your Geocache blog.

If you’re ready to buy, or want more info, here’s a link to Magellan eXplorist on Amazon.com.

Here it in, in Kris’ own words:

 

Paperless Geocaching

 

I have been talking for years about geocaching and my family. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting that my girlfriend Kim of TheOutdoorPrincess.com introduced us to many years ago. With geocaching, you use a GPS, enter in the coordinates and search for a hidden treasure.

 

 

Sometimes those treasures are as simple as a piece of paper that you sign your name on, other times there are little trinkets that you can exchange with your own. Some of the neatest geocaches that our family has found contain travel bugs or geocoins that you can take, move to another location and track online.

There is a local cache just down the road from us that has a history lesson in it that includes a newpaper article. We use geocaching as part of our PE for homeschooling.

Last month, our family researched new GPSs and came across one by Magellan. The eXplorist GC is specifically made for geocaching and you can load on caches that you want to find right from your computer and the geocaching.com website. It is waterproof (perfect for our family of 7) so that we can take it on our camping trips and not worry that the 5 year old is growing the drop it in a stream, after all 5-year old boys are addicted to throwing rocks into water!

 

 

To get started with this GPS, you will need to download the driver to your computer. Visit the geocaching.com site and look for local caches. On the individual cache pages, there is a download to GPS button. Click it and follow the directions. (Here’s an article on Loading Caches Directly to a GPS) It’s that easy!! The geocache coordinates are now on your GPS!!!

With the eXplorist GC, you can mark the ones that you have found, add comments, view the entire file, including comments, hints and description right from your GPS on location. Then you come back to your computer and download the file and it updates your finds and comments online!

NO MORE PRINTING!!

And it is easy enough for a 9-year old to figure out! We are thrilled to find this GPS for our family!!

(Just recently in the news – a local Prescott Geocacher found an INTACT Yavapai Indian pot – check out the post on The Outdoor Princess’ Find Your Geocache tips and tricks blog)

Remember too that Geocaching in a low-cost FUN activity for your family. You can find GPSs on craigslist for inexpensive. Found mine online on AMAZON.com for less than $150. We pack a picnic lunch and plan our caches in order to save on gas money. And you get to SPEND time as a family OUTSIDE!

Readers Weigh In:

• Garmin or Magellan? Why?
• What is your favorite GPS unit?

 

While I was at Dead Horse Ranch State Park this past weekend, I got the opportunity to try out the geocaching iPhone app. Now, I am not an owner of an iPhone personally (the only reliable cell phone carrier in my area is Verizon) so I had to rely on CodeWolf’s phone.

Now, when it comes to cell phones, I’ll admit I’m technologically challenged. I’ve had my new phone for over a week and STILL haven’t activated it yet! So, getting to play with an iPhone was a total treat.

CodeWolf had already purchased and installed the app before our trip. He has an iPhone 3GS (apparently the model of the phone matters!) He tells me that the app is $9.99 through the Apple Store.  The name of the app that he bought is Geocaching by Groundspeak Inc. (Be careful, there are several apps available for the iPhone!)

We tested it out head-to-head against my Garmin GPS on the cache GCN473: Which Comes First?

I was really disappointed to say that the phone allowed him to find the hill top but was no where near the cache. It might work better in a very urban setting but on a hill top in a state park, well, not so much. The analogy I used was that we could find the parking lot but not the car.

However, the app had a redeeming quality after we found the cache and signed the log. CodeWolf was able to post his “Find” log FROM THE FIELD. I think that is totally cool! As somebody who often forgets to post finds for a few days, the ability to give on-the-ground updates about finds, needs maintenance, and DNF is super cool!

Here’s another feature that I really like:

When I’m planning a caching outing, I load the caches to my GPS ahead of time and print out the cache sheets. But, if I end up in a different area than where I expected, I have no way of looking up caches on the fly. But having the geocaching app on an iPhone solves the problem!

We were taking a look at kayaking a stretch of the Verde River and CodeWolf was able to pull up the caches near the put-in parking lot. Very cool! (We didn’t have time to GO after any, but it was neat.) Then, I would just take it from his cell phone and input it into my GPS and off we’d go.

It was also nice to be able to look up cache details from the field and not have to rely on memory or print outs.

However, the app REALLY sucked battery life. And it relies on cell phone towers so we weren’t able to look for any caches near Beasley Flat along the Verde River. (There are two caches at the parking area!)

Readers Weigh In:

• Do you have the iPhone geocaching app? Do you like it? What are the pros and cons of using it?
• Would you ever cache with JUST your iPhone? Why or why not?

As The Outdoor Princess, I realize that bugs are just a part of being outside. But, I will admit, I was surprised at how many geocachers said that they absolutely never go caching without some type of bug spray. Here in Arizona, we have our share of biting bugs, but thankfully, we’re pretty much safe from ticks, chiggers, and no-see-ums.

For all the long-term blog and newsletter readers, you’ll know that I’m allergic to pretty much everything that grows here in Northern Arizona. So, a few weeks ago, I was in my allergist’s office and I mentioned that I wanted to do a product testing article and review on various insect repellants.

Well! Dr. Zeschke got very animated about that subject. (He’s opinionated about EVERYTHING so it wasn’t surprising.) Dr. Z told me that I absolutely had to test insect repellent clothing. He’s an avid hunter and when he told me that a shirt and hat were enough to keep the car-sized mosquitoes at bay in the Arctic Circle in the middle of summer, he had my attention.

I contacted the great people over at Insect Shield to see if I could test their products and see if Dr. Z was right or if his success was an isolated incident. Not only are the Insect Shield shirts insect repellent, many are also rated at 30 SPF. Very cool!

The Test

My Insect Shield long-sleeved shirt arrived via UPS (happy). Of course, it arrived on the Tuesday before Labor Day weekend so there was no way I could test it until the holiday weekend.

Test 1:

Sunset picnic at Fain Park

Fain Park has a small trout pond so I thought it would be PERFECT for an evening test. I sat at a picnic table for a few minutes (munching KFC chicken) and looking for mosquitoes. The light breeze would have been great on a normal night but not when I was LOOKING for bugs! I finally found one buzzing around and then ran to my truck to put on the Insect Shield shirt. I never saw that mosquito again, or any others, all evening, even when I walked by the water.

Test 2:

Morning kayak at Lynx Lake

Lynx is a beautiful lake here in Prescott. I really wanted to try out the SPF 30 rating on the shirt so I made sure NOT to put any sunscreen on my arms under the shirt. It took a while to get used to wearing long sleeves in the heat, but after ten minutes or so, I really didn’t notice if I was hot at all. I didn’t see a single bug all trip so I don’t know if it was the Insect Shield technology or if it was just a bug-free day. I can say that the SPF 30 worked like a charm though. I didn’t get any color on my arms but I DID get pink on my hands. I’ll remember next time to put sunscreen on my hands!

Test 3:

Morning kayak at Goldwater Lake

I was determined to find mosquitoes at the lake so I could really test the insect repelling properties of my new shirt. I saw several swarms buzzing around various trash cans and signs, but they were all too far away from my kayak. Then I hit the jackpot! I large swarm of mosquitoes buzzing along the shore, about a foot over the water, near a tree. I kayaked over and held out an arm. Poof! All the mosquitoes got near the shirt and then promptly took off. Gone! Outta there! Adios!

Test 4:

Afternoon geocaching in Prescott National Forest

In my area of Arizona, it seems the nastiest mosquitoes are the really hungry ones that lurk on the sides of the trails. So I went geocaching along trails, in bushes, and over boulders. No bugs. Even when I could see them up head on the trail, by the time I got close: gone! The closest I came was when I brushed a bug off a bush I was pushing through and onto me. The clothing not only repelled bugs, it also held up well to sweat (breathable and not too hot) and didn’t snag or catch when I was pushing through scrub oak. I was still careful with it as I bushwhacked, but I didn’t feel like I needed to find a path AROUND the bushes!

The Results

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit, I figured the clothing would work (truth in marketing) but I wasn’t prepared for how WELL it worked. When I saw all those mosquitoes head for the hills on the lake, I was sold on the Insect Shield Repellant Clothing right then.

I hate getting bit by mosquitoes. Like when I went camping with Nicole — mosquitoes turned our trip from “Great!” into “Okay”. But with this shirt… I’m 100% sold. This is a must-have for any adventure weather it is geocaching, camping, kayaking, hiking, hunting, biking, fishing, bird watching… (you get the picture!)

Pros

• The clothing repels all types of bugs: mosquitoes, chiggers, black flies, ticks, ants, etc.
• SPF 30 (not all clothing, but a lot of styles)
• Very stylish (pockets, breathable, variety of colors)
• No mosquitoes! It even kept the flies away.
• Excellent construction (I didn’t worry when I was pushing through the brush going after geocaches)
• Comes in a variety of styles: shirts, pants, socks, bandannas and more
• Lasts through 70 washes. Which, when I sat down and did the math, comes out to be 3 years or so. I wore it as a shell (over my tee shirt) so even though I wore it 4 times, I don’t feel it needs to be laundered.
• Not a bug bite all weekend (while I was wearing the shirt. Without…well, that’s another story!)
• Wash at home like any other piece of clothing. In fact, if you dry clean an Insect Shield product, it removes the bug repellent!
• Not putting chemicals onto your skin. (That’s a big thing that Dr. Z really liked about the clothing!)
• Kid and pet safe. Tie a bandanna around your dog’s neck, or over your kid’s head and you’re good to go!

Cons

• Price. Clothing ranges from $20 to $80. My shirt was $80, so it can be kind of spendy. BUT, when you figure that on a per-wearing basis (maybe wear twice before washing?) then it comes out to be about $0.57 per use. Not bad!
• You have to wear long sleeves in the heat. Of course, if you’re in an area with ticks, you probably wear long pants and long sleeves ANYWAY so it probably doesn’t make much difference.
• You have to remember to bring it with you AND to wear it. Trust me, insect repellents (of any type) don’t do much good sitting at home!

About Insect Shield Technology

Insect Shield uses a man-made version of a natural insect repellent found in certain types of chrysanthemum flowers, like an African Daisy. There is a patent-pending process and proprietary formulation that secures the active ingredient to the fabric fibers. It lasts through 70 washings which would be more than the life of the garment.

Please check out Insect Shield on Facebook or directly on their website.

Where To Get The Clothing

• Amazon.com
• ExOfficio
• Orvis
• Eastern Mountain Sports

If you follow any of these links and purchase your Insect Shield clothing, then I get credit as an affiliate. And that’s a GOOD thing!

Future Testing

ESP Boss & I will be kayaking the Colorado River next month. We each have our Insect Shield shirt, socks, and bandannas so we can see how they perform over extended conditions.

Plus, a friend of ours, Dee, will be wearing the bandanna on her nightly walks and will report back. She says that she gets eaten alive each night and is really excited to try something different.