Introduction to Geocaching: What you

need to Get Started

by Mike Petrucci on August 4, 2011
Geocaching Ready - circa 2004
Most of you are probably failiar !ith Geocaching "pronounced #geo-cashing$% one
!ay or another& 'n it$s siplest for, Geocaching is a #treasure hunt$ !here users !ith
GP( de)ices find hidden containers "called caches% and log their )isit&
(oeties there are e)en ites in the caches to trade& 't$s honestly *ust a great e+cuse
to get off the couch and e+plore the great outdoors&
My Geocaching #career$ started in high school& ' picked up a Garin Geko 101 fro
Radio (hack and !hile it !as super entry le)el and didn$t ha)e any bells or !histles, it
did e)erything you need it to do for Geocaching, -ust input the GP( coordinates and go.
/o! ' use y iPhone as y priary Geocaching tool& ' can search for caches based on
y location, find and photograph the, and log y )isit all fro that one de)ice& 0he
official app only costs 110 and is a great !ay to get introduced to the hobby& 'f you get
serious about it, you ay !ant to add a better GP( de)ice to your kit&
2aches range fro the super easy !here you *ust dri)e up in you car, to the all day
ultiple caches that re3uire you finding the in order and fre3uently in)ol)e strea
crossings and rough terrain&
Getting Started
Make an account on Geocaching&co
4uy or borro! a handheld GP( or purchase the iPhone app&
5ind caches nearby and go.
't$s really that easy.
What to Bring With You
Pen or pencil
o 5or logging your )isit or taking notes& /ot all caches ha)e a !riting tool
!ith the&
(crap paper or notebook
o A cache ay be flooded so you can replace the log !ith a ne! one or
you ay *ust !ant to lea)e a essage&
5lashlight
o 6)en though it ay be sunny, you ight need to search dark spaces&
Multi-tool or sall tool kit
o 7ou$d be surprised at ho! any ties a set of long t!ee8ers has coe in
handy&
Any collectibles to e+change
o 'f you take soething fro the cache, be sure to lea)e soething of
e3ual or greater )alue&
4ug spray
2aera
/otes of the cache you are hunting for&
o 7ou can print the fro the site before you go out& (oe cachers keep a
9 ring binder to organi8e the caches and notes&
Types of Caches
0here are o)er 10 types of caches but the ost coon are the #traditional&$ 0he
coordinates usually point to the e+act location and they are either easy to find or in)ol)e
*ust a little searching "no tri)ia%&
0raditional
Multi-cache
Mystery:Pu88le
;etterbo+ <ybrid
;ocationless:Re)erse
Mo)ing:0ra)elling
=irtual
6arthcache
>ebca
6)ent 2ache
>herigo 2ache
Terminology
0here is practically a !hole library of slang and abbre)iations for Geocaching but here
are the ost coon& (oe of these ay be posted on your log:report online or e)en
on the cache notes itself&
Muggle ? /on geocacher
47@P ? 4ring your o!n pen:pencil "cache is too sall to store one%
A/5 ? Aid not find&
505 ? 5irst to find
0502 ? 0hanks for the cache
0/ : ;/ : (; ? 0ook /othing, ;eft /othing, (igned ;og
Mindset
>hen ' started Geocaching, ' noticed soething changing& ' !as looking at things
differently, often !ondering if it !ould ake a good hiding place& >hile you usually
ha)e the coordinates for the cache, it$s not al!ays in that e+act spot& 7ou ha)e to start
changing your indset&
'$ not the only one that no! sees things differently because of Geocaching though&
(ergeant Bent CAocD 4yrd, a eber of an 6@A unit in the Ary, says his skills in
Geocaching help keep hi safe !hile on duty&
@h and if you$re feeling particularly ad)enturousE you$ll notice that soe caches are
uch harder to reach than others& ;ike the one you$ll need to (2F4A di)e to or the one
on the 'nternational (pace (tation& Good luck.
Are you a Geocacher alreadyG 'f so, friend us up here on Geocaching&co. 7ou ha)e to
ha)e an account to )ie! that page or you can search for us under the usernae #ITS
Tactical#& <appy hunting.