I do a little geocaching now and then. Started about nine months ago and logged some 70 finds since. Quite an interesting way to lure computer geeks like me out into nature - just give them a reason to go there and take their geek stuff with them
.
Most of the time, however, I don't take one of my hpc's out, but a 'HTC Magican' pocketpc smartphone instead. Its 320x240 screen is big enough to display maps
(OziExplorer
), cache descriptions
(which I copy-paste at home to a text file
) and spoiler pictures. When searching for a multi cache with several stages to visit and some mathematics to do before one gets the final coordinates, I usually prepare an excel sheet and simply fill in the numbers on the way. Since the 'Magican' is a GPRS powered smartphone I sometimes even take the chance to go online and read recent log entries when standing stumped in the middle of nowhere.
GPS is either a Garmin eTrex Venture or a cheap Taiwanese model named 'Fortuna GPSmart', the only GPS handheld device I know of with both its own display for basic navigation and a bluetooth port instead of serial or usb cables. Bad luck neither Garmin nor Magellan have anything similar available, cable connections are a little obstructive out in the woods.