Geocaching with a Garmin nuvi

Geocaching is an awesome sport, that gets technology enthusiasts (and often their kids) outdoors, albeit with a gadget in their hands!

A handheld GPS designed for outdoor use is the best tool for this high-tech treasure hunt, but many GPS enthusiasts only have a car unit. Fortunately for those of you with a Garmin nuvi, a method has been developed to allow you to give the sport a try without investing in any more equipment.

A member of Groundspeak, geocaching.com's message board, has put together a tutorial on paperless geocaching with a Garmin nuvi. By paperless, this means that you can hunt for a geocache without having to print out cache descriptions, logs, etc. I haven't tried this yet with my nuvi, but from what others are saying, it works quite well.

I do have a couple of caveats for those who wish to try it:

• Your nuvi is a fragile device, and even if you don't drop it (touch screen down) on a rock, remember -- it's not waterproof. A ziplock baggy offers some protection when the environment is a little moist, though I wouldn't rely on that in rain.
• Unlike handheld GPS recievers, your Garmin nuvi doesn't have a compass screen to point the way to a cache. Still, the tutorial walks you through how to get around this, and it's a great way to try out the sport.

There's a discussion / support thread at Groundspeak.

Thanks to Mike for reminding me about this.

Related posts:

• GPS for geocachers
• Top ten GPS

Comments

[Harold Coates]

In your evaluation of the new nuvi 800 series you state: ..
The nuvi 850 will include all of the 880's features, minus Bluetooth and MSN Direct access.

The Garmin site has a comparison site that states the nuvi 850 does have MSN Direct access.
Did you error or was this added later after your report?

Harold

[Rich Owings]

Harold,

Both are MSN compatible. The 880 comes with an MSN receiver and 3 month subscription. It's an add-on for the 850. But it may be cheaper to buy the 850 and receiver separately. I *think* you'll get a one year subscription that way too.