Geocaching for beginners

I’ve been geoaching for about 7-8 months now and approaching my 200th find. I don’t claim to be an expert on the subject, but do feel that I can give some help and tips to people looking to start out with geocahing.

This isn’t a total guide, but designed to help new beginners from an iPhone app user. I’m also writing this on my iPhone, so sorry for any spelling mistakes etc for early readers.

If you are not sure what geocaching is, there is plenty of information on the website. However it is basically like a treasure hunt using a gps device to locate the hidden item. Exactly what you are looking for can vary, but I will cover this off in more detail later.

Before setting out on your first trip there are a few things you will need to do:

1 – Sign up to a free account on Geocaching.com. This will allow you to search for caches in your area and also log your finds. You and upgrade to a premium account for a small fee later, if you decide you like the hobby.

2 – Choose your search device. It is possible to use a dedicated gps device. However these can range from £70 for a basic device to a few hundred for a more tecnical, which will include maps etc. Personally I use my iPhone and the offical geocaching app that was about £5. It is a very well designed app that this has all the required needs for a beginner. If you don’t own an iPhone then something like a basic gps device will allow you to locate the area, but will not include maps. There are plenty of people on the geocaching forum that can help answer your queries.

3 – Planning before your first trip out is a must. It is best for you to choose somewhere local to you. Make sure you know where you are going to park (most will include details of parking and travel to and from in the description). Take a drink and light snack. Also better for a friend to travel along with you. They will be able to help locate the cache and also from a safety aspect.

All set and ready to geocache? But what are you looking for? What do you take?

If this is your first trip out in to the geocaching world, then don’t worry too much about swaps etc. It is better to get used to finding the items first. Once you have found a few, then you will have a better idea on what items can be traded/swapped. The rules say it should be something of equal or better value. But realistically it’s small items like keyrings, Happy meal toys are very popular for kids to swap.

As for what you are looking for.. This is where the fun starts. There are a number of different sizes that geocaching can be. They range from what is known as a nano (very small and normally found in more urban area), then a Micro cache (normally the size of a 35mm film holder), then there is a middle size (normally about the size of a sandwich box), next there is the ammo can size and then a size above that, but I’m yet to find it.

So now you know what you are looking for. Spotting them will all come down to experience. For larger caches hidden in wooded areas, the tell tale sign is a pile of logs next to a tree stump etc. Some times the owner will include a hint to help you find the gz (geo zone)

Some geocaching terms that will help include:
tftc – Thanks for the cache (always nice to thank the owner)
tnln – took nothing, left nothing
sl – signed logg
gz – geo zone (location of cache)
Muggle – someone that doesn’t geocache
Doggle – dogs and dog walkers

This isn’t a full list, but a quick guide to new geocachers.

This was some Civil War reenactment that was taking place while I was geocaching

Near here we found a Church Micro

This was an old tree trunk that I like the look of

Some muggles helping me try and find a nano geocache in a phonebox.  Never did find it, but I think it had been muggled. (it’s actually my brother and his mate looking to see if they can spot the cache)