So you've decided you want to have a go at Geocaching.
You've signed up to the website, located your home and seen a few caches in your local area. So what next?
Well, for starters, you need to be able to locate those caches on the move. Its all well and good sitting in front of the PC looking at a vague google map, but that doesn't get you very far in the field.... so where do you start and what do you need.

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
At the heart of every modern Geocacher is a very modern device. The GPS system.
Most of us know them simply as a TOMTOM or Garmin, or Sat Nav to give its usual name. And many of us have them lying about the house, waiting for that car journey to the back of beyond (so you may find it collecting dust in the understairs cupboard).


THE SAT NAV SYSTEM
A standard satellite navigation system such as a TOMTOM or Garmin will, depending on the model you have, usually be sufficient to take you to within a few yards of the cache site. Their accuracy is, in my opinion, not an essential feature of their planned everyday use. You travel on roads that are 4 metres plus in width, so the Sat Nav unit only really needs to be that accurate to know you are on any given road at any point in your journey.
That said, why on earth would you go out and spend more money on a hobby you've only just begun to experience. So for the first timer, I would recommend utilising any Sat Nav equipment you may already own.


THE MOBILE PHONE SYSTEM
You can also find Sat Nav systems built in to some of the more modern mobile phones out there. Many TouchScreen or SmartPhones, either Windows Mobile Based, Symbian or Android based now support GPS software. If you have one of these in your possession, you could utilise this too. Again, my personal experience shows me that these phones are great little machines capable of getting you to within a few feet of a cache location (with the right software).
Setting them up can be a bit of a trial.


WINDOWS MOBILE PHONES - MORE INFORMATION
Lets take the Windows Mobile based phone for example. In my case, I have used an HTC Touch Diamond and a Samsung Omnia (both windows mobile based).
The start of the trials was to find a program that would work with geocaching.com.
There are plenty of programs out there on the web, some free, some pay... but not all of them are directly compatible with the geocaching website.
I trialled CacheMate and GCZ with my phones (and a few others that really are not worth mentioning they were so substandard). I have to say, pound for pound, GCZ punches well above its weight.
GCZ is FREEWARE. The Author has just released GCZII which again is freeware. CacheMate is pay to use... and whilst I was initially very happy with the Cachemate software, it was forever being re-invented and updated, and was rather long winded to start up and connect.
Now, on the connecting side of things, GCZ fairs no better. But its quick to start, and it allows you to do almost everything you can do whilst sat at your PC logged on to the site. Best of all, after all the features, its free.
The features include: Logging your finds, Reviewing previous logs, Viewing the hints, Viewing Waypoints, Viewing the cache in google maps and direct GPS navigation to the cache site. Its built with touchscreens in mind, so the buttons and interface are big and easy to navigate.
Anyway, I digress. I downloaded GCZII from the NICQUE software site. It came in a .cab format which you place directly onto your mobile device and extract (double click to install).
Once installed, it set up the GPS, and I had to enter a few details such as my geocaching.com log in details, and I also had to agree to geocaching.com's waypoints agreement - which is displayed in the internet browser on the device. That was the most tricky part to set up, but you only have to do it once.

After that, once you start the program it locks onto the satellites and loads up. You can then search for caches in a variety of different manners. By post/zip code, caches nearby your location, by another location, by username, by cache name... and more.


THE DEDICATED GPS HANDHELD SYSTEM
If you are fortunate to possess one of these dedicated units, they are the best thing you can use whilst out caching.
GPS Handheld's are manufactured by many companies, but the main two to look for are Magellan and Garmin.
You can pick up a cheap GPS Handheld on Ebay, or at Argos in the UK for about 80 quid.
These units vary greatly in price. Generally (but not always), the higher the price, the more satellites they will detect at any given moment (called channels), and the more accurate a location you will get out on the trail.
Ideally, as a basic minimum when looking to purchase, I suggest you should be looking for a unit that will pick up at least 12 channels, with the ability to enter co-ordinates into them whilst on the move (you would think this a standard on all handhelds, but cheaper units dont always allow it - some require you to "load" co-ordinates before you leave the house), and have the ability to "track" where you are using a system known as trails (trails plot where you've been so far - so if you get lost you can return on the same path).
You should also consider battery life and PC connections. If you opt for a monochrome display, this will usually preserve batteries far longer than the colour equivalents. Try to go for a USB connection device to work with modern PC's. Some older or cheaper units have a manufacturers own connection which can be fiddly at best.



IN CAR EQUIPMENT
The second things you should be looking for after locating a suitable GPS system is your in car equipment. Since your car will be your second home throughout a day of caching, you need to make sure you have everything you may need out on the trail to hand in the boot. To this end, I have compiled a list of things I carry, or suggest you at least consider before you trek out.


BOOTS
Number one on the list. Without a decent pair of boots in your boot you aren't going very far very comfortably.
True, many caches out and about town are easy to find, easy to log and take little effort. But you may find yourself out in the countryside trekking across muddy fields, running from livestock and traversing nettle strewn areas in the corner of fields.
Boots are a must. Comfortable, Dry and Hard Wearing. Those Shoezone loafers will have to go!


WATER
The second must. You don't know how long you'll be trekking. There may not be any local shops available in the middle of the countryside - and even if their are, not all countryside folk accept Mastercard! Food is also good if you're planning a day of it. But if you are planning a day of it, you would have already considered this point, so its moot.


FIRST AID KIT
Again, you may be in the countryside surrounded by stingy and scratchy things. Any good car will have one of these anyway... but take a small carryall with you containing the following: Elastoplast strips, Scissors, Antihistamines (for you hay-fever sufferers), Bite/Sting Ease spray, Aspirin and/or Ibuprofen, and sunblock - it can get very hot very quickly in the middle of a field full of rape seed.


CASH
Take some cash with you. You remember that stuff. It has pictures of a very much younger looking monarch on it. (or in the case of US visitors, Dead Presidents). As mentioned earlier, not everywhere in the country accepts Mastercard, and you may just see a couple of pubs on your travels that you wouldn't mind a cold one or two in.


PHONE
If you are using a phone as a GPS system, you've got this one covered - just make sure you have a good charge before you set off. Take a phone for two main reasons. The first, obviously, is to contact people - and mainly the emergency services if you get into the brown sticky stuff. But also, most phones have built in cameras on them. Take pictures whilst you go! Upload them to geocaching. let others see the great day you've been having.


IN CAR CHARGERS
Keep these in the car! But take chargers for your phone, sat nav devices etc.... You may even need to invest in one of those cigarette lighter sockets adapters to fit three plugs into the one socket. Sorry, their called car power points these days. I still use mine for lighting up.


A COAT
Yes, even in the middle of the summer, we all know the British weather. Keep that option covered with a cover in your boot just in case.

(and the list goes on......)


PAPER/PENS AND SUNDRIES
Take a pen where-ever you go. This should be number two on the list really. Waters a close second. Not all caches have pens in them for you to log a find when you finally do get to it. Take a pen to make sure you can log your visit. Theres nothing worse than trekking a mile across the field to realise you have no way of marking your presence at the cache site (in a nice way I mean).
Some of us take rubber stamps with us as well (self inking variety), to make our mark either quickly (in stealth mode) or if we have no pen to hand.
Take paper as well. Useful for notes. Also useful to leave your mark in a cache if the log book is full or wet through (some caches get very wet).
Sundries.... Well, I mean things to put in the caches you visit. Some people leave their own personalised calling cards. Most people will leave little trinkets and games in caches for others to collect as they pass through. The golden rule with these sorts of items is that you should always put something in to take something out.
There is an exception. Travel Bugs (TB's) are not classed as "trinkets". They are released by their owners with missions to undertake. You can take these without leaving something so long as you help it on its mission (whatever that may be).


TORCHES
If you plan to cache in the evening or night time, take the torches. Ideally, ones you don't have to hold, headlamps. This leaves both hands free for caching - one to hold the GPS unit, the other to steady yourself on the trail.


RUCKSACK
You'll need a rucksack to fit in the water, food, sundries, etc....


CACHE PRINTOUTS
Ok. Our electronic equipment is the best thing in the world, but what happens when it fails. Geocaching.Com allows you to print off hardcopies of the caches you plan to visit. You can include previous logs in the printout if required (sometimes these are useful to locate a particularly tricky cache... hints sometimes available). We recommend you print off cache listings for the more difficult looking caches - such as multi stage caches, or puzzles.
So the equipment fails mid cache expedition - you can revert to paper copies and either program a handheld device with your destination or rely on the clues and map on the printout to assist you. Its not been unknown for us to rely on this method to find a location or two. But you'll need luck on your side as much as anything else.


SEAMANROB'S QUICK TIP
Ok. One tip any orienteering person should perhaps remember. You're out in the middle of a wood, and you've lost your way. The sat nav is playing up and its getting a bit too much like Blair Witch. How do you find your compass bearings now?
Obviously, you need to know the rough area you are in so NSE and W will be of use to you. But if you know that you want to head north to get to safety, or east or whereever.... you just need to know which way north is.... A simple trick for you:

Take your wristwatch. Point the hour hand at the suns location. Make sure you point the "standard time" hour hand at the sun. If its daylight savings you need to take off an hour. Now locate 12 on your watchface. directly inbetween these points is DUE SOUTH. So if the hour is five pm, due south would be at roughly 2.30 on the watchface. From that, you can find the rest of the bearings. In the northern hemisphere, the angle points to due south. In the southern hemisphere, its due north. And dont expect complete and utter accuracy using this method. Due to your watch settings, the angles of the sun etc, the time when you do it (early and late times in the day are less accurate) it may be a few degrees off, but its close enough when you're in trouble.


SO YOU'RE ALL SET
You've got your log on to geocaching sorted
You've got your GPS system at the ready
You've packed your car with all the essentials you may possibly need on the trail
You know how to find your bearings...

So you're all ready right!?

Well, certainly - you're set for a caching adventure. But you may also like to "bone up" a little on the area you are about to visit. In the UK were pretty blase about safety issues. We don't think about stuff like that much because, well, its the UK... what is there to think about.
But a couple of pointers to keep you safe.

Woodland areas are probably the most beautiful places to visit, but they are also home to some creatures you may want to avoid.

SNAKES
The UK has three types of indigenous snake. The Grass Snake, Smooth Snake and the infamous Adder, which is a viper. It is also our only poisonous snake, and it generally reserves that for smaller mammals but don't be complacent on the trail. Adders have been known to kill humans. Granted, none on record for the last 20 years - and lets keep it that way. Keep an eye out for these snakes with their distinctive diamond markings and inverted V's on their necks, and pay them the respect they deserve if you do find any.
Be VERY WARY of putting your hand into tree trunks and other areas that you can not see into or around fully.
Remember also that all three are protected against harm from humans in law.