Silver Springs Park
First I want let you know this is not going to be a technical review (go to stevesdigicams if you want that), this is going to be a review that I feel the average shopper can find useful…
I bought this camera because I wanted something I could take hiking, camping, kayaking, and use every day and not have to worry about it. The Stylus SW line is a water proof line of cameras. The 1050 is water proof up to 10 feet and can be used in temperatures below freezing. The 1030sw is good to 33 feet and adds a shock rating to withstand falls from 6 feet. But you will have to spend about a hundred extra bucks for the features.
Silver River State Park
The 1050sw is a 10.1 MP a few of the reviews I read said that the camera might not Read more »
The last month or so has been a little crazy with lots of overtime, Christmas, vacation, ect. I have been eating poorly and have got back in the habit of dining out… I have to get back in the habit of cooking at home and making lunches for work. I also have to get down to the gym and sign up. So I gained back 8 pounds over the holiday crazyness. I figured I would see 5 or so… To gain 8 pounds and have a great vacation is fine by me… Is this the wrong way of thinking?
I am setting some goals for 2009:
- I want to be at or under 200lbs for 2010
- I want to be able to run a 10k on new years day 2010
So 80 lbs in 52 weeks, I think that is doable. If I follow the couch to 5k program I think a 10k is fairly doable… only time will tell.
Weigh In
Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 279.5lbs
Last weight – 271.5lbs
Lost this week – +8lbs
Total lost – 18.5lbs
What we will cover in this article:
(Part 7) Advanced Geocaching
If I did a super in depth post about even some of the “advanced caching practices” it could fill a book… Here I am going to give you the jist of it and give you a link to go learn more. so here we go…
Travel Bugs and Geocoins – Travel Bugs attach to an item and are tracked at geocaching.com. They move from cache to cache (not for you to keep). When you take a travel bug out of a cache you enter the tracking code on the geocaching website and then you report on the cache page when you drop it off. Geocoins are the same for the most part just they are coin like. more on travel bugs - more on geocoins
Paperless Caching - Paperless caching is just that geocaching without paper. When most people start out caching they print out the cache pages to take with them… This can be a bit much if you plan on trying to find multible caches in a day (cache run). So people have turned to using PDAs to store the cache data. You can read more about paperless caching here & a two part how to here (part 1) (part 2)
Geocaching Bags - Most cachers have a caching bag. Some have this bag with them at all times and in this bag you will find everything would ever need to find a cache plus some. You can read more about what you might find in a caching bag here
Multi Stage Caches and Puzzle Caches – These caches are a little harder than your normal cache… Multi Stage caches you have to visit multiple caches to get the location of a final cache location. and Puzzle Caches off a puzzle that has to be solved to get the location of the cache. You can read all about the different cache types here
That wraps up my how to on caching…
Here is a list of geocache blogs for you to visit if you wish to learn more…
No loss to report this week. I have been eating a little better but not much and exercise part of the plan has been a no go this week.
After Christmas vacation I am going to sign up at the gym and limit my work week to under 50 hours so I can have time to go. I would just go sign up now but with work being crazy till the end of the year and the Florida trip coming up I just would not go…
Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 271lbs
Last weight – 271lbs
Lost this week – 00lbs
Total lost – 27lbs
What we will cover in this article:
Photo by cmiked
(Part 6) – Caching with kids
Geocaching with kids can be tons of fun and educational for kids. Keeping them interested might be a bit of a challenge. I am going to share a few tips that I might help.
Kids these days are very good with computer so let them be part of the of every part of the hunt even learning to use the GPS, finding the cache on line, the hunt, and logging the cache. It will be more rewarding for them. The most important thing is letting your kids find the cache, even if you spot it let them find it. If they are having a hard time give them hints until they find it. Also when it comes trading items you should teach them it is not about what is in the cache it is about the hunt, and being out in the woods. Some caches bring you to places of great history teach your kids the history of the area. Make sure that when you head out that you are extra prepared. Bring water, bug repellent, sun screen, snacks, ect. This stuff will help keep kids happy when the times are getting tough on the hunt…
Things to remember:
- Let them find it
- Let the kids be pare of every aspect of the caching experience
- Teach them about leave no trace
- Teach them item trading is not all that caching is about
- Go prepared
Part 7 – Coming Soon!
What we will cover in this article:
Photo by René Ehrhardt
(Part 5) – The Hunt
Drive near the cache you are trying to find… With your GPS on and satellites found you will want to select the cache waypoint. This will once again vary by model but you should be able to do it from the map screen or the main menu by choosing waypoints. After you select the waypoint (geocache) you want to find it should take you to the navigational compass screen. It will have an arrow (that points in the direction of the cache you are looking for) and some data fields that you can customize.
So here is where it gets fun, At the very least you should be looking at an arrow and distance on the screen. Walk in the distance that it is telling you to go. When you get close, around 20-30 feet start looking for a hidden cache. Places to check, base of trees, in downed logs, the the crevices of large rocks. Once you find a few you will know where to look. Most times the hiding place will look just a little to unnatural, like a pile of sticks, or a leaning log, ect. If you are having a hard time you can decode the hint on the cache page, if that still doesn’t help just move on try the next one and come back for that one after you find a few… Hey! look there you found it! Congrats! Now open it up sign the log check out the contents. Remember you DON’T have to trade items and if you do ALWAYS TRADE UP leave something or equal or greater value to keep the cache contents alive. Next when you get home you have to log your find on geocaching.com. Go back to the cache page on the website (did you save that paper you printed) and click on “log your visit” in the upper right corner. Publish your log and move on to the next. Now you are HOOKED!
Part 6 – coming soon!
Les Stroud
“Survivorman” Les Stroud’s last episode ever will air 12/19 on the Discovery Channel at 9PM. Les told Reuters “it takes a lot out of me as I really do what I do for real, with no camera crew, no nights in hotels like others do and it takes a toll on my body.” Like that little jab at Discovery’s other survival guy Bear Grills of Man Vs. Wild?
The 47 year-old Canadian has put himself through many week long survival challenges. Les also spent about a year living in the remote Boreal Forest of Northern Ontario with his wife. The Documentary film “Snowshoes and Solitude” was shot during this stay in the wild. Snowshoes and Solitude has won numerous independent film awards. Les has added author to his list of accomplishments with the release of his survival book last month titled “Survive! – Essential Skills and Tactics To Get You Out of Anywhere Alive!” Les also told Reuters “You can only go 7 days surviving without food a certain number of times a year. I’m pleased with what I have done, I’ve been copied around the world, but 25 times I’ve not eaten anything for a week while sleeping on rocks… I need to move on ”
Les Stroud has plans for a new show in which he follows the footsteps of famous explorers. So keep your eyes peeled for more from the “Survivorman”!
A book review of Les Stroud’s best selling title “Survive!”
Links for more Les:
Later tonight look for the next part of “So You Wanna Go Geocaching“
What we will cover in this article:
Photo by LollyKnit
(Part 4) – Picking a good first cache to hunt:
All caches are rated 1-5 stars in difficulty and terrain. For your first hunt you are going to want to pick a cache with a low rating, something between 1 or 2 stars would be good. Also you are going to want to pick a cache with a larger container, no micro or small caches they will frustrate you in the hunt. It would also be helpful to pick a cache that is away from populated areas this way you can have a leisurely hunt and not worry about muggles. A muggle is a non-geocacher, you want to make sure a muggle never sees you remove or replace a cache. When a non-cacher sees someone remove a box from a secret hiding place and rummage through the contents and put it back in said hiding place it’s gets their curiosity flowing. They will take it out, look it over, and hopefully realize what it is and put it back. But sometimes people are not so nice and the cache can become vandalized or stolen. Now this location has been ruined for other players. Nothing is worse that coming to a muggled cache site and seeing cache contents strewn about and the cache container smashed to pieces.
Now that you have picked a cache lets get it loaded on your GPSr. Different brands and models of GPS units have different loading instructions, it would be best to look at your user manual for loading waypoints to your specific model. Here I will just go over the basics…
The coordinate info is only available so I hope you signed up for that free account. The coordinates of the cache are located at the top of the cache page just below the title and are formatted something like this “N 42° 21.138 W 072° 40.334” you can enter the coordinates in to your GPSr manually (did you read that manual?), or better yet you can download the GPX file and transfer it to your GPSr using the software that came with your unit. Even better yet if you have a Garmin GPSr you can download Garmin Plugin Communicator and use the “send to GPS” button and it will do all the work for you.
Now it would be a good idea to print the cache page. The info on the cache page will help you in the hunt once you get to the cache site as well as help you find the cache page again so you can log your visit on line after you find that cache…
Part 5 – comming soon!
I managed to lose 1.5 pounds this week. I,ve been working a lot of hours and my eating has gone to shit. Oddly I was hoping for a gain this week, something small to shock me back in to eating the way I did in the start. I need to go back to salads for lunch and a light home cooked dinners. I guess as long as I am losing I am going something right, right?
Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 271lbs
Last weight – 272.5lbs
Lost this week – 1.5lbs
Total lost – 27lbs
What we will cover in this article:
Cache Index Page
(Part 3) Now What – Finding caches on line
Next you need to sign up for an account over at geocaching.com. They offer both free and paid accounts, the free account gives you plenty of access to get started. You can get stated here.
Now lets find some caches on line now that you have your geocaching.com account. Now that you are a geocaching.com member you can view full cache pages. All the info you need to find the cache is on the caches page.
I would assume you want to find a cache close to your home or work. You can search for geocaches from the geocaching.com homepage by clicking on the “hide and seek a cache” button on the left of the page. From the “hide and seek” page you can search by address, zip code, state, country, latitude & longitude, keyword, area code, waypoint, found by user name, and hidden by user name. I would search by address or zip code then click go.
This will bring you to the geocache search index page. This page lists all the caches in the area you searched closest being first. Also on this page you will find the cache size, type, difficulty, cache title, last find date, and whether the cache contains a travel bug or geocoin (more on travel bugs or geocoins in part 7). Clicking on ant of the cache titles will bring you to the cache page. This is the page that has all the info you need to find the cache. From the cache page you can do things such as, read logs from other users, view cache location in a map, get driving directions, and more. I suggest browsing different cache pages to get the feel and learn the layout of the site.
Part 4 – Picking a good first cache to hunt
gear, review | Jim Bradley (Husky Hiker) | 
1/11/2009 7:36 PM | 
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