[chrisday4064]

Geocashing has been mentioned quite a few times but i don't get what it is.

I thought it was somthing to do with finding "treasure" using a GPS, but what has this got to do with survivalism. (Google was no help.)

Any help?

 

[Maurepas]

Geocashing has been mentioned quite a few times but i don't get what it is.

I thought it was somthing to do with finding "treasure" using a GPS, but what has this got to do with survivalism. (Google was no help.)

Any help?

Burying a cache of supplies in various locations, marking the GPS coordinates for retrieval in case of emergency.

 

[HammerHand]

It's actually "geocaching"... Like a cache - or a store, a hiding place.

It's basically pirate map, x marks the spot stuff - but with GPS.

It's usually done openly, with people posting stuff on the internet... Like co-ordinates where they've put something, so somebody can go find it. I don't get it myself...

Edit: Geocaching for survivalists is stupid if you're relying on GPS instead of a good old compass and map. The GPS satellite system needs to be constantly monitored and adjusted. If left alone for as little as two to four hours, the system becomes unusable. So in a SHTF/TEOTWAWKI situation - your conveniently GPS located stuff is gone.

 

[chrisday4064]

I suppose burying supplies is a good idea, i don't have a GPS myself but i could get maps and bury some food/ammo/water.

 

[HammerHand]

I suppose burying supplies is a good idea, i don't have a GPS myself but i could get maps and bury some food/ammo/water.

All I have to say is - backups... Just like people usually carry several methods of firemaking, water and water filters/containers/purifiers... Who amongst us would go out in a SHTF situation without a backup weapon?

Don't rely on GPS. Maybe you could use GPS to help locate where you are when you bury it - but I'd put that info on a map right away.

 

[dirtyape]

So....do people ever leave cool stuff in these cache sites?

And if you find one are you a thief for taking it?

I dont get it either.

 

[Swamp Shuck]

Like it was said, geocaching is a hide and seek game played by finding a clue which leads you to another clue which lead you to another clue until it leads you to the treasure site. I did it once and had a good time but it was more the people I was with instead of the actual geocaching.

If you are practicing tracking skills though, tracking the geocachers is fun. We have state land a few miles out of the valley and they do geocaching there. We have often used these people to practice our tracking skills. Now that's a good time.:thumb:

blt

 

[lrsu121]

I use geocaching to teach land navigation to kids. Instead of using GPS and Lat/ Lon, you can get UTM coordinates ( very similar to the MGRS system used in the Mil). I give the students an 8 digit grid coordinate, they navigate to the point using a map and compass, and once there we use the GPS to find the "treasure".

 

[N3HCP]

It's actually "geocaching"... Like a cache - or a store, a hiding place.

It's basically pirate map, x marks the spot stuff - but with GPS.

It's usually done openly, with people posting stuff on the internet... Like co-ordinates where they've put something, so somebody can go find it. I don't get it myself...

It's a high tech scavenger hunt. Someone hides a "cache" and posts a description and the coordenets on the GeoCaching web site. Other Geocachers then find and log the cache. Here's the web site:
http://www.geocaching.com/

As an example, here;s the web page for one of my caches:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=94b51d70-a19f-4dd0-a86c-f6d034b15e4c

It's just a game where the object is to log as many finds as you want. It gives you the opportunity to go places and see things you might not otherwise find.

 

[Swamp Shuck]

I use geocaching to teach land navigation to kids. Instead of using GPS and Lat/ Lon, you can get UTM coordinates ( very similar to the MGRS system used in the Mil). I give the students an 8 digit grid coordinate, they navigate to the point using a map and compass, and once there we use the GPS to find the "treasure".

I set up a compass course for my son to learn how to use the compass many years ago. His friends still like to do it at least once a year so I have to change the course every spring.

blt

 

[norcalmom]

Geocaching can be fun. My family started going letterboxing a few years ago. Letterboxing is like geocaching, but you use printed clues vs. gps coordinates. The printed clues can be easy, or very difficult. We bring a picnic lunch and spend the day in the forest searching for letterboxes. We carved our own stamps, they are like a personal signature. You stamp the letterbox notebook when you find it. Then you take the stamp in the letterbox and stamp your own notebook/log. My kids love it.

http://letterboxing.org/ Check to see what letterboxes are in your area.

http://www.atlasquest.com/

 

[test]

A friend told me about his "Cache plans". His BOL is in the outback of Australia.
On his families way to their destination they pass several old farms and mines.
In the past when someone died in a remote area thats where you were buried.
The farms and mines had their own grave yards.
In he research found that not one had ever been vandalized. So thats where his stashes are at. In an unused corner with a piece of sheet metal over the top and under the ground , which he can find with his GPS and a small metal detector.
Just another idea......

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

Why can't you use a map, and compass to find the Lat. and Long. of your Cache?

 

[lrsu121]

On a 7.5 minute USGS topo map, Lat/ Long is not accurate enough. UTM/ MGRS is much more accurate on a 1:24k or 1:25k map. It is very easy to get an accurate 8 digit (10m x 10m) grid square with a corner ruler using UTM.

 

[lrsu121]

Here is a good site for a primer on UTM/ MGRS.

http://www.maptools.com/UsingUTM/UTMcorner.html

 

[Denny367]

A 1:24k and a 7.5 min map are the same. You can do just as well with lat/long vs. UTM.
UTM is very simple as it is based on the metric system. But if you practice with lat/long (used by sailors for centuries) is gets easy too. When I teach land navigation, I cover UTM, lat/long and township/range (used by the feds to correllate with all the tags they place on trees in the Nat Forest and developed by Thomas Jefferson). I would never geocache any of your stores. That info can be retrieved by other folks who control the gps system (feds). If you cache stores in the boonies, use a USGS 7.5 minute map and create your own encryption that only your family/group knows about.

 

[borenbr]

I'd definitely add that this is a great way to teach land nav. My wife knew maps were made out of paper but relies far to heavily on googlemaps or mapquest for knowing where she's going.

We took up geocacheing and it's been the easiest way I could think of to get her involved and aware of her surroundings.

Some caches can be as small as a quarter (Found one in an eyeshadow container Velcro'ed under neath a pew in a church) so thinking outside the box and working on situational awareness also come into play.

 

[KaBar67]

I started 3 years ago as a way to keep kids involved in outdoors, check our gear, shoes, packs etc. I thought it was a part of their training to lean about makeing a lean to, eating wild rasberries etc. Waht I did not expect was how much fun it would be. We regularly use the Geocache website when we take car trips. Visit Penn, go Geocahching. Visit family upstate and in Connecticut, Geocache. Great fun. Adults should open those caches first however, just in case.

 

[ltsubaru]

i've done some geocaching. it can be fun. some of those things are way out there and hard to find (the only one to go for!). I just change the output of the GPS from lat/lot to MGRS and break out my map and protractor. compass in the bag jic. i like using them all together.