Essentials & Etiquette

This section will give you some of the necessities that you need to have the best possible geocaching adventure. Also, there are some tips about geocaching etiquette to ensure that we don’t bring negative attention to this great activity.

Essentials

Whether you are a first-time geocacher or a veteran, it is important to carry your geocaching bag. What is that, you say? Your geocaching bag can be some kind of carrying bag such as a knapsack that you use to carry all of the necessities for a fun day of geocaching. Here is a basic list of items you should carry:

• Pens and pencils – very important for signing those logs and taking notes.
• Batteries – nothing can ruin a geocaching day than when your GPSr dies. Always carry spares batteries.
• Swag – for trading from cache to cache.
• Tweezers – for retrieving logs from nano caches.
• Flashlight – necessity at night but also useful in the day.
• Paper/Log Books – to replace any logs you find wet.
• Camera – capture scenery, unique containers or nice places to place a cache.
• Cache Containers – in case a container is broken or missing.
• Water – to replace water lost while geocaching.
• Snacks – make sure they are nutritious.
• First Aid Kit (small) – for those cuts and scrapes.
• Survival Kit – only if going on a long hike.

Etiquette

Geocaching is meant to be a fun and rewarding activity that should never cause any adverse effects to others or the environment. Here are a few etiquette rules that should ensure that you never create negative attention to this great activity.

When placing or searching for geocaches, ensure that you always do the following:

1. Do not endanger yourself or others.
2. Observe all laws and rules of the area.
3. Respect all property rights and seek permission where appropriate.
4. Avoid causing disruptions or public alarm.
5. Minimize your, and others’, impact on the environment.
6. Be considerate of others.
7. Protect the integrity of the gamepiece.

To see more details on each of these aspects, visit the Groundspeak forums here

Let’s all do our part to make geocaching the best it can be!