View Full Version : What do you take when caching in Maine.
lefty 04-04-2005, 08:49 AM What do you carry in your pack while caching. I have read the article at the http://factsfacts.com/geocacher.htm link. But wondered what you guys carry up here with you. I am in the process of putting one together.
Thanks Lefty
I carry a camel bak and a few munchies and depending on the cache, a change of clothes. Depending on the season I carry blaze orange.
I also always have a compass and a firearm. Never know what your going to run into. What I would recommend is what ever you need to get through the night in the woods
And the most important of them all. SPARE BATTERIES
WhereRWe? 04-04-2005, 11:16 AM We like to be "cache friendly", and always carry extra log books, pens, pencils, and ziplock bags to help a cache when needed.
Other than that, RULOST2? carries our geocaching bag which contains the usual trinkets, copies of our signature Maine Geocacher Permit, and any TB's we need to place. We try and keep an assortment of cache items so that we can replace a nicer item with one of similar value/interest.
We're committed paperless cachers, so I carry the GPSR and Palm Zire 71 PDA.
brdad 04-04-2005, 12:10 PM I should carry more. I usually carry more than enough batteries, my camera, trade/sig items, a little knife, pen, PDA, and of course my compass and GPS.
I often find myself wishing I had more water. A few times I wish I had brought some T.P.. Sometimes I have a second set of shoes in the car, but that's about it for extra clothes. And I should carry more in the line of cache repair - duct tape/zip locks/towel/etc.
parmachenee 04-04-2005, 12:24 PM I have two geobags. One, a small fishing tackle bag converted to my "ditty" bag, and a larger knapsack. For most caches I just use small bag which contains our sig stamps, compass, butane lighter, camera, cache exchange items, replacement notepads and pencils, ziploc bags, towel, a small flashlight, batteries, gpsr and pda. The knapsack has everything I need to spend the night. I usually use the bigger bag for longer hikes to caches or when we plan to spend more time in an area and take food and drink. We've encountered moose, coyote, hawks, eagles, squirrels, chipmunks, snakes, and so far I've been able to scare them away with my pocketknife and my walking stick. :)
WhereRWe? 04-04-2005, 02:11 PM We've encountered moose, coyote, hawks, eagles, squirrels, chipmunks, snakes, and so far I've been able to scare them away with my pocketknife and my walking stick. :)
Yup. Maine has a serious chipmunk and squirrel situation. Glad you go well armed... ;)
Team2hunt 04-04-2005, 06:39 PM We carry with us the necessary stuff. The backpack has a rubbermaid container FULL of trade items. including our " almost signature item " the key chain compasses, camera, spare batteries, pocket knife w/attachments, GPS'r, a pda, (not sure why), paper printouts (still), laptop with mapping software, trek poles, snowshoes, boots (two different heights), gloves, extra mittens, extra clothing for changing weather conditions, geocaching propaganda (2.25 per copy), first aid kit, walkie talkies (for my navigator), cell phone, compass, extra cache maintenance items, a DNF stamp for my paper printouts, bottle of water, and munchies. And once I had to carry my navigator. Boy kids grow up fast. There's a geocaching story in here somewhere.:D We love this sport. What may be the real question? What don't we carry? Like common sense. Going to any length (or depth), to reach a cache. Driving long distances for a sport most people do not understand. We are " Crazy cachin Maina's "
Mainiac1957 04-04-2005, 06:59 PM I have gotten by with a small LL Bean lumbar pack so far. It will hold two water bottles. One for me and one for the geopups. My signature items, stamp and ink, extra ziplocks, pens, pencils, Swiss Army knife,headlamp, and CITO bags. Then depending on what time of year it is I also have an emergency blanket,tick and mosquito spray,calamine lotion(yuck) matches or a lighter, cell phone snacks, and anything else I might deem nescessary for the particular day. I need to get my regular compass in there for backup too. I don't really want to go to a day pack, but I may need to if I keep adding to it. I wear my GPSr on a lanyard (from Groundspeak) and my PDA goes where ever. So far this has worked well.
Beach Comber 04-04-2005, 07:50 PM Along with my car keys and GPS, I bring bug spray, sig items, pencil, batteries, pepper spray and a roll of Charmin-on-the-Go - LOL. I should add water and some sleeping gear given the number of times I lose my bearings and have forgotten to waypoint my car!
attroll 04-05-2005, 12:56 AM We carry a small backpack with the following:
Geocache items (trinkets)
Travel bugs if we have any
Pen
Trash bag
Water or soda
Snacks sometimes
Toilet paper
GPS
Spare batteries
Palm Pilot (Palm Zire 71 PDA)
Flashlight
Bug dope
Cell phone
I am sure I left something out. I do not have the pack in front of me right now so I am just going by memory and I don't have much memory either. I wish I could buy more like you can with a computer.
When I go caching armed it's not because of the Chipmunks, It's the Freaks in the woods or the Irresponsible dog owners that assume that every one likes dogs and there dogs will always be friendly. Remember maine has a leash law. Have you every been to the bangor city forest. That is reason enough to go armed
attroll 04-05-2005, 01:35 PM No need for guns where we cache. If you are that worried and someplace looks suspicious then don't go there. That is our rule of thumb. But we have never been any place that scares us yet. All the caches we have done have been cache friendly. LOL
we3beans 04-06-2005, 12:55 PM Most of the stuff people have mentioned are things that I carry in my purse!
I carry
paper cache copies
goodies
sharpies (instead of pens/pencils)
extra zipper bags
notepads
batteries
bug spray
first aid spray
waterless hand sanitizer
flashlight
leatherman
one recommendation for the flashlight...get one of those that you shake to recharge....that's come in handy more than once...and D batteries are sooo heavy (like all the rest of that isn't!)
Water and snacks and spare shoes stay in the car.
Never thought about carrying a gun...I can run faster than Wudeater.
Wife
Ye Olde Prospector 04-06-2005, 02:09 PM Those shake to recharge flashlights are are great inovation. My daughter got me one for xmas. Just be aware they have a very strong magnet inside and if you are using a magnetic compass in your search or to navigate your way,be sure it is far away from the flashlight or you could have problems.
Something to be aware of.
YOP
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