First played in the year 2000, there are now 5 million geocachers throughout the world.

But you probably already knew all that.

You’re probably here because you’re looking to get a GPS so you can play.  Fear not, I’m here to help you out.

We’ll explore budget options and higher end, paperless geocaching devices.

I was a bit of a latecomer to geocaching.  I didn’t find my first cache until 2007 and to do that I used a Garmin Rino GPS (they have a built in GMRS/FRS radio which can certainly come in handy) to help me locate it.

These days, however, there better options.

Best Budget Friendly Geocaching GPS Devices

While Geocaching doesn’t technically require a GPS device to play, you’re probably going to want one or you’re going to have a hard time navigating to coordinates of each cache.

Fortunately, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get started.   A quick search of Craigslist and eBay displayed several handheld units that will run you less than $40 for a used unit and if you look a little harder, I’m sure you can pick something up for less than $20.  And all you really need is a GPS unit that will allow you to input coordinates which is any handheld GPS device.    Beyond that, everything else is just a bonus.

You Can Use Your iPhone or Android Phone

If you already have a smartphone, you already have a suitable GPS device and both the iPhone and Android operating systems have free Geocaching apps you can use – GeoBucket for the iPhone and OpenCaching for Android – while the official Geocaching.com app will run you $9.99 in the Apple App Store and Android Market.

So that’s yet another very cheap option and, by far, the cheapest option if you want to do paperless geocaching though I would recommend getting a rugged case for your phone if you plan on doing a lot of geocaching with your smartphone as they’re usually not nearly as durable as a true handheld GPS is going to be and remember that smartphones aren’t nearly as forgiving about getting wet and when you’re out and about in wooded areas, you’ll probably get wet at some point.

Budget Friendly Handhelds We Like

For those who are on a tight budget and want a dedicated handheld GPS for geocaching, we really like the Garmin eTrex Venture HC which can be purchased for about $120 if you do a little searching online.  You can load maps and the device is capable of navigation.

Garmin eTrex Venture HC GPS Receiver Average Rating: 331 total customer reviews...

If you don’t care about maps, waypoints, or a color screen, The Garmin eTrex H is a no frills alternative and you should be able to get a brand new one for about $75-$80.

Garmin eTrex H Handheld GPS Navigator Average Rating: 146 total customer reviews...

Geocaching For Kids

Another low cost option is the Geomate.jr which is built to do one thing – find geocaches and with 250,000 caches built into the device, it’s about as simple as it gets and will only set you back $50.

Check it out in action in this video:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYML8baqGDI

Geomate Jr. Geocaching GPS Average Rating: 72 total customer reviews...

Best Handheld GPS Units For Paperless Geocaching

If you’re serious about geocaching and are looking to upgrade to something a bit more robust and won’t require you to carry about piles of paper with coordinates and notes on them, fear not, there are some excellent options.

At the low end of this list is the Magellan eXplorist GC  which is built to be a dedicated Geocaching device.  It has a full color screen, is waterproof, and costs less than $150.   Note that if you don’t’ use geocaching.com, this device won’t work for paperless geocaching as it’s only designed to work with their database.

Magellan eXplorist GC Waterproof Geocaching GPS Average Rating: 95 total customer reviews...

High End Geocaching Devices

At the high end of handheld GPS units, the units themselves start to resemble rugged smartphones more than GPS units.  The Garmin Oregon 550t has a touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera designed for geotagging, and comes preloaded with a topographic map of the entire United States.  Of course, all of this awesomeness comes at a price… about $500.

Garmin Oregon 550T 3-Inch Handheld GPS Navigator with 3.2MP Digital Camera (U.S. Topographic Maps) Average Rating: 170 total customer reviews...

If you prefer your GPS to be sub $500 (and you think all GPS units should have an antenna visibly poking out of the top) and don’t really care about having a touchscreen, the Garmin GPSMAP 62ST  has pretty much every feature you could ask for on a handheld GPS including a very accurate GPS antenna – most users report accuracy of about 10 ft which make finding those caches a whole lot easier.  It’ll run you about $450 brand new, and while you can get it for less if you buy a used one, make sure you update it to the latest firmware or it might not accurately report your altitude.

Garmin GPSMAP 62St Handheld GPS Navigator Average Rating: 82 total customer reviews...

High End Alternatives

Yes, the GPS units above are rather pricey, and to be honest, I’d actually recommend buying a rugged Anrdoid phone without a contract instead.  A phone like the Motorola Titanium or Casio Commando will cost about the same amount of money but pack a lot more features in and still have the same rugged touchscreens as these devices.

Here are a few other rugged Android phones if you want high end geocaching devices – keep in mind that it doesn’t matter which carrier the phone is designed for since you’ll 1) be buying the phone without a service plan since it’s not necessary as the GPS antenna doesn’t need service to work and 2) if you’re geocaching right, you’ll be spending a lot of time in areas that don’t get cell phone service anyway:

Casio G'zOne Commando Android Phone (Verizon Wireless) Average Rating: 40 total customer reviews...

Pantech Crossover Android Phone (AT&T) Average Rating: 6 total customer reviews...

Motorola i1 (Boost Mobile) Average Rating: 26 total customer reviews...

Motorola Defy Android Phone (T-Mobile) Average Rating: 28 total customer reviews...

Geocaching crazy – join the hunt!

I’m a self-confessed technophobe. I have never sent a text message or taken a photo with a cell phone; played a video game or watched a movie on a personal DVD player. In fact, I never quite mastered working the video machine so I could be a lost cause altogether. But not quite…not since I discovered geocaching – the latest outdoor craze to hit treasure hunting enthusiasts across the world. Because, to be successful at geocaching you need to be familiar with a global positioning unit or gps for short…and I am pleased to say, I not only have said unit, but I can use it!

So what is this activity that crumbled my technical resistance? Well, to start with it’s a great way of getting out and about with the family, the dog, or just for a solo outing. And it’s a treasure hunt as well.

In hundreds of thousands of locations across the globe, people have hidden small containers in which they’ve put a logbook or notepad and a few trinkets such as small toys, key rings, fridge magnets etc. The co-ordinates of the cache locations are then recorded online so that geocachers can download the information into their gps units and go out and search for them. Seems simple? Not always the case as some caches can be tucked away in some very obscure spots. And as gps units are only accurate to around 7 metres, it can be challenging when you are looking for a cache in a heavily wooded or rock strewn area.

We spent 2 hours with some friends, in a California redwood forest on a sun drenched day in September, scrambling up trails and around rocks, searching for what turned out to be an Altoids tin tucked into a hole in a tree. You would think we’d found real buried treasure with the whooping and hollering that went on. Neatly folded inside the tin was a thin strip of paper to record our name and date of the find, a little brass dog and a Grand Canyon key ring. After much consideration we took the key ring, and left in its place a CN Tower fridge magnet. Back at the car we made a note of what we had taken and left behind in the cache for later recording on the geocaching website.

Finding a Travel Bug adds interest and fun for all. This is a dog tag obtainable from Groundspeak, the company behind geocaching.com. Movement of these traceable tags from cache to cache is recorded online so they can be tracked around the world. We brought a tag back to Ontario, Canada that we found on our California vacation that had originated in Hawaii. It’s now been placed in a new location for the next geocacher to find. We left a bug of our own in a cache in Jenner, California. When we recorded its location on the website we gave it a goal to find its way back to Ontario via at least 5 US states. Each time it is moved, we get an email to let us know where it is now. This is such a great way to get the kids learning geography!

Geocaching has an etiquette of its own and enthusiasts are careful not to disturb the environment. Here’s a few steps to get you going.

Log onto the geocaching website – www.geocaching.com – and look for caches near where you live

Never move a cache, and if you search for one and find it damaged or can’t find it at all, let the cache owner know.

If you take something from a cache, always leave something behind.

Caches are graded in degrees of difficulty of terrain and access – start with the easy ones.

If you find a Travel Bug don’t hang onto it for long. They should be traveling, not sitting in a glove box or drawer at home.

Enjoy geocaching. It’s great fun and will get the whole family out into the countryside whatever the weather. And if you come across a Travel Bug called Ice Cube, last reported in a cache in northern California, please help him on his way back to the frozen north.

Special thanks to Heather Bayer for writing up today’s post.  (video provided by Gary Ruplinger from CampingEarth.com) ]]> http://gpsmaestro.com/geocaching/feed/ 1