tools

Must-Have Geocaching Tool Kit

Most cachers have a geocaching “kit” that they take with them on the hunt. It was born of the “I really could have used a _________ on this find” reasoning that always seems to strike.

My “kit” not only includes my writing stick of choice (blue ball-point pen) and my trusty camera but also a few choice items that make retrieving caches much more user-friendly.

  1. Walking stick. This is a must for Arizona where all manner of creatures (usually that bite, sting, are poisonous or all three!) like to live around caches. So a walking stick is perfect for jamming into a likely crevasse or flipping over rocks. Keep Reading!

6 years ago • • Tags:

Carrying water while geocaching: How much and how to carry it

I got asked the question:

What’s the best way to carry water while geocaching. A Camelbak seems like overkill!

~ Roger

Great question, Roger!

You might not know this but I spent about 10 years volunteering for Yavapai County Search & Rescue. One thing that was common was that people didn’t carry nearly enough water!

While geocachers probably AREN’T hiking 10, 12, 15 miles in a single stretch water is something that you should always have plenty of.

Jess carries a TON of water with her all the time!

Jess carries a TON of water with her all the time!

It’s important as well to know your personal water needs. My friend Jess needs about double the water I do. On a recent 10-mile day hike, she carried SEVEN LITERS! But she knew she needed it! I’m typically good with 3.

And don’t forget to take weather and activity into account as well. If it’s hot you’ll want more water. If you’re exerting (up and down hills) you’ll want more.

Here are my top tips:

Keep Reading!

8 years ago • • Tags: , ,

Geocaching Supplies Checklist

Ealier, I posted about my geocaching tool kit; these are tools that I take with me to actually FIND and RETRIEVE the cache. I got so many comments on that post about what people have in their kits, I though I’d better do a follow-up article!

To Retrieve The Cache

  • Walking stick. This is a must for Arizona where all manner of creatures (usually that bite, sting, are poisonous or all three!) like to live around caches. So a walking stick is perfect for jamming into a likely crevasse or flipping over rocks.
  • Gloves. My garden gloves do double duty in my caching kit. This is nice when I’ve got my fingernails painted a la filming for The Outdoor Princess Productions. Or when locating the cache requires me to move plants with thorns.
  • Small mirror. I finally got tired of sticking my head under cattle guards looking for micros! Now, I just angle the mirror under so I can see BEFORE I stick my head into anything!
  • Needle nose pliers. For when you can SEE the cache, but you can’t get your fingers in there! Pliers are tough and portable!
  • Forceps. Yep, I carry BOTH. Sometimes the pliers are too big to extract the log sheet from a nano. And the forceps can be too delicate for leveraging a good-sized cache container out of the hiding spot.
  • Flashlight. Sometimes shining a light into a likely spot will show the cache reflecting back at you. And sometimes it shows the eyes of whatever critter is living in the hole!
  • Telescoping Magnet (or a magnet on a string). Sometimes, you can fish a cache out with that! Just make sure the magnet is tied on tight! (Thanks to GC Addicted)

Keep Reading!

13 years ago • • Tags: ,