What to Bring Geocaching ?

Written by Old Navy

You decide to go geocaching, gather up your GPS, and plan to head out to your target destination. What else to bring? The following list of items may be helpful to insure you have a good geocaching experience. You may not need everything on the list, some are important and some are essential. It may be a good idea to make yourself a basic geocaching pack and bring these items with you.

Cache Page: The first essential item is your cache pages, downloaded or paper. You need to know where you are going, parking coordinates and cache information are very important to make your geocaching day successful.

Cell Phone: Take along your cell phone for safety and emergencies. Also, for those important phone-a-friends calls for cache information.

Water Bottle: Bring along ample supply of water. For long hikes take a camelbak hydration water pack. It is very important to stay hydrated and keep your body healthy during any hike.

Nutrition: Pack a snack for a long adventure to keep your body well fueled.

Maps: A good trail map and a topo map will make your navigation easier.
Compass: Not essential, but helpful knowing which direction is North when you are trying to navigate to a cache.

Flashlight: It's important to bring a flashlight, many times you need that extra light to shine into that tricky cache hide. For safety, be prepared as dusk falls sooner than you expect when out on the trails.

First Aid Kit: Your pack should include the basic first aid kit.

Insect Repellent: NJ mosquitoes, say no more. Always spray your pant legs with any product which contain deet, this will help to keep the ticks away. Ticks are out all year, even in the winter months. You may also consider clothing which repels the bugs and screens the sun, Buzz-Off™ apparel from Ex Officio.

Camera: Always a good idea to have a camera to capture a great geocaching moment. You never know when that Kodak moment will present itself, a beautiful view, a bear or proof that you saw bigfoot.

Extra Batteries: Carry spares for each device you take along, such as your GPS unit, flashlight and camera.

Proper Clothes / Outerwear: Depending on your adventure, make sure you are properly outfitted. Depending on the climate, wear the correct clothes and proper hiking shoes. Bring some outerwear and a hat for unexpected rain. A good hiking pole is helpful on the different terrain you may encounter.

Sunglasses: It's important to protect your eyes from the ultraviolet light and glare on those bright days. Longer hikes in the snow glare and wind may require wraparound glasses for added protection.

Sunscreen: Apply before you go out and bring it to reapply along your hike.

Notebook & Pens: Micro caches do not have pens or pencils, regular caches do contain pens, but in the winter the ink is frozen and sometimes the pencils are missing their point. A notebook is a good idea to record cache information and field notes. You can record waypoints, coordinates, discover tb's and geocoins, and record what you left in the caches.

Cache trade items: Caches contain various trade items, bring along an assortment of items of different value. Trade like for like value when trading at each cache.

Miscellaneous: Tweezers for retrieving those nano logs, a small magnifying glass for those hard to read geocoin numbers, and a whistle to signal for help or scare that curious coyote.

So, build yourself a geocaching pack and keep it ready for your next geocaching adventure. Advance preparation and the safety of having these essential items will make the unexpected a safe experience.

Have a great adventure.

Old Navy