Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Geocaching Tools

One of the most frequent questions I see on geocaching.com is "What should I Carry When Caching/". There are thread after thread discussing what people carry when out caching. I will start this off by discussing what I carry when I go geocaching. I recently purchased a cheap fanny pack at an Army Surplus store to carry my caching "goods" in while out caching. I think it cost me a total of about $9. I quicky disocovered that I needed a "butt" pack to accompany my fanny pack. A butt pack is a military issued pouch that attaches to a belt, such as the one on my fanny pack, and is about 6 inches, by 10 inches. They run about $3 at an Army Surplus store. See below for my list of what I carry:

  • Fanny Pack
  • Swag(also known as trade items)
  • Cache restocking items like spare notepads
  • GPS, of course, iFinder H20
  • Friends to keep me company
  • Gatorade...I always need something to drink!
  • Cache printouts, although, that is about to change(paperless)
  • Cellphone, just in case
  • Pen, to document my finds on the log and my cache printouts....I can't remember everything !
  • The Groundspeak Geocaching Printout in case I run into any police
  • Zip lock bags in case a cache is wet
  • Signature items
  • digital camera


That sums up what I carry. Now for some items that other cachers carry:

  • a hand towel to dry soggy caches
    extra ziplock bags
    extra pencils
    extra batteries
    a notebook to help me remember condition of caches and what I traded
    a separate container or bag or something for TB's so they don't get lost in the shuffle of stuff
    kleenex would have been useful today


  • a pair of tweezers (for getting logs out of very small containers)
    a mirror (for looking where you don't want to put your hands first)
    a flashlight
    a multi-tool
    my digital camera and an extra battery for it
    a "bag of swag"
    plastic bags for carrying out trash, cans, and bottl

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great information. I need to put a kit together because sometimes I forget things, important stuff like swag and my camera!

GeoJono said...

Hello. Thanks for the list.

The only things I carry that aren't mentioned here are:
Work Gloves (for reaching where I can't see)
Poncho (for those sudden or constant showers)
Small Travel First-Aid Kit (just in case)
Binoculars (to see the sights)
Multi-tool (for multi-tool tasks)

I'll have to start carrying Geocaching brochures for the quick easy pacification of the badge-wielding muggle.

Thanks again!

GeoJono

Unknown said...

Another thing i use is a break down metal rod with a hook on the end for probing under and unseen areas first. also i carry a compass

Unknown said...

I use a break down metal rod with a handle and a hook on it. for reaching high places or places i don't want to stick my hands untill safe. also i carry a compass. some poison ivy cleaner like tecknu is always helpful and a hand towel.

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