Do You Have A Compass In Your Geocaching Pack?

How prepared are you as a Geocacher when going out into the wild?

Last night Darrylw4, The Bad Cop and myself were having our usual good time discussing geocaching. Of course we were doing it while recording The Geocaching Podcast which means the only major difference is the conversation was saved for you fine people to listen to later. Anyways, one portion of the conversation dealt with doing things old school. You know geocaching the way it was back near the beginning. We had printed pieces of paper (if we were lucky) that contained the cache information and the coordinates to find it.
Our GPSr may or may not have much more than an arrow and distance to target. Our logs were usually notebooks hand written with a pen. How primitive that sounds now but it brings up a great point. If you went into a large park, woods or forest and something goes wrong with your GPSr or smartphone. Lets say a few miles into unfamiliar territory. Would you be able to find your way back? Oh sure our ego boasts a hearty "no problem" , but in those circumstances where you are in thick foliage and the sun is behind the clouds and that trail system you are relying on has more twists and turns than an roller coaster ride. You sure you could find your way out?

Hense my suggestion that every Geocache take a note from the Boy Scout Merit Badge requirements and have a good ole standard compass and map of the area if possible as standard issue in your geocaching pack. You may snicker now but a person can get turned around real easy when venturing out. I can remember a couple of times with a GPSr and marking my car but not turning on the tracking function and then wandering off for a mile or so into a thick woods and having a heck of a time trying to refind my original path. All it takes is swamps, hollers and other obsticals to make you zig instead of zag and throw you off course.

Having a compass in your pack will help you find your way back quicker. Especially when your environment turns against you. Storms, nightfall and just being disoriented can get you into a bind really quick. Having the reassurance of a standard compass can give you a great boost right when you need it. We rely on our electronics to get us through which is fine until they fail. Be like the Boy Scouts and for your own sake - Be Prepared!

See you out on the trail!

Andy Headhardhat Smith

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Our award winning, geocaching based blog: GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
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Behind The Scenes: Geocaching Podcast - Ep. 224 - Hosting Geocaching 101 Events

Well for me at least,  the build up for tonight's show was not necessarily because of the content for the show which was about what to do to Host a Geocaching 101 Event. No that was a given for me. Especially since I specialize in creating videos (GeoSnippits Videos) for said subject. What had me going was even before doing the show itself. You see I am almost happy with my Blue Yeti microphone when it comes to doing recordings. It is amazingly sensitive and can pick up a flea breaking wind ten feet away. The problem is that IT IS so sensitive that you can pick up a flea breaking wind ten feet away. I know I need it for when I record Geocaching World (RVNN.tv) because it gives me the freedom to move around in front of the camera and not have a big mike in front of me. What could I do to get a little more mike control? Well I ended up purchasing a M-Audio MobilePre and a new standard dynamic microphone. Now while I do pod-casting I can have a better sounding voice and not have to worry about picking up any more flea flatulence.

Long story short (too late). I purchased everything yesterday and put it together on Computer Number Two. The surprising thing to me is that it all worked the first time. Even when it came to hooking into the show's chat room venue TalkShoe.  I set up the hardware, loaded new software, tested it and bingo-bongo I had a working mike on a boom. No one was more surprised than me but I love it when a plan comes together.

Tonight's show we had the usual suspects of XpunkX, Darrylw4 and myself Andy HeadHardHat Smith with special guest TheBadCop. To start off the show Darrylw4 talked about his heavier than usual set of geocaching activities which included a 5/5 cache along with TeamLegend4. XpunkX discussed all the great weather they had so they could go out geocaching and I discussed the soon to be Geocoinfest 2011 US which is coming up this weekend and the NCGO Fall Fling which is coming up the end of October.

After the News and Geocaching Question of the Day all four of us had a grand time discussing the finer points of presenting a geocaching 101 class. Including the high points and thing to avoid if at all possible. Each of us have hosted these types of geocaching gatherings and had useful thoughts based on the experiences. There was plenty of great discussions that you really should hear the entire episode.

We record the Geocaching Podcast each and every week on Wednesdays at 9:30pm EST.
The recorded episode for this week will be available any time now via iTunes and the Geocaching Podcast website.

 -HHH

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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GeoWoodstock IX - Media & Podcast Studio Schedule Is Here!

Well it is almost here. The largest Geocaching event in the world is about to invade Warren, PA. Geowoodstock IX looks to be a whole lot of fun and judging from the schedule for Saturday July 2, 2011 we are going to have a whole lot to do.

What is extremely important IMHO will be what is going on from 11am EST to 5pm EST in the Live Media and Podcasting Studio. Why you ask? Great question. There you are going to be able to watch many of the top media personalities in the Geocaching world as they do their respective shows LIVE right there at GeoWoodstock for you to enjoy. So who is scheduled to be there. Let's see:

There will be famous podcasters like Darrylw4 and Firefly03, The Bad Cop and Sonny, Sandy and Sean. Then from the video and television side of things will be yours truly HeadHardHat.
It will be a full afternoon of great conversation and engaged audience participation.  Check the complete schedule for the entire day with all the details.

Oh and you may want to take the occasional break and see the other GeoWoodstock activities that are around too.

9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
GeoWoodstock IX (GC2AZ7G) Warren County Fairground; Pittsfield, PA
9 am to 3 pm Registration Bldg. open
9 am to 6 pm Drop off and pickup trackables at Travel Bug Exchange
9 am to 6 pm Rainbow the Clown
9:15-9:45 Bird banding demonstration activity
9 am to 3 pm Silent Auction for some great prizes donated by sponsors and fellow geocachers
9 am to 3 pm Event Store open for business while merchandise lasts
9 am to 3 pm GPS Accuracy Game
9 am to 4 pm Geo-Bingo Icebreaker game
9 am to 6 pm GeoWoodstock Jr. Fun Zone for Kids activities
10 am Official Opening Cermony -Welcome to GeoWoodstock IX
11 am Meet the Reviewer Panel
11 am to 2 pm Searching for the Lost Dutchman's Treasure
11 am to 2:30 pm Official Meal Service Available

11 am to 5 pm Live Media and Podcasting Studio Open:
11: Cache-A-Maniacs (Darrylw4 and Firefly03)
12: GeoSnippits (HHH)
1: Geocaching Podcast (Darrylw4, HHH, & The Bad Cop)
2: Podcacher (Sonny, Sandy and Sean)
3: Caching Northwest (The Bad Cop)
4: Cachers of the Round Table (Darrylw4, Firefly03, HHH, The Bad Cop, & Sonny, Sandy and Sean)

11 am to 4pm Educational Classes in 2 separate classrooms
11 am Introduction to Geocaching and Introduction to Whereigo
12 pm GSAK 101 and Advanced Whereigo
1 pm Advanced GSAK and Caching with a Droid Phone
2 pm Make the Most of Your Premium Groundspeak Membership and Geocaching Etiquette
3 pm Sponsor Showcase by DeLorme and others TBA
1 pm to 4 pm GeoPoker Tournament
2:30 pm to 5:30 pm Live Music with Temple Gray
5:45 pm Closing ceremony
(SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Now there is a really good possibility that we are going to be able to Ustream during the day. This means that you will be able to see some live video during the shows and as we go around the Geowoodstock event. It will all depend on the quality of the feed and the signal strength. If all goes well everyone around the planet can stop in and see what we are up to. Keep coming back for more details as we iron them out. Note for myself and many parts of the day I will be streaming live on RVNN.tv's Ustream. This is the same one we use when taping Geocaching World Live. Here is the link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rvnn-live you will get direct access there.

ALSO!!! If you want all the latest information about GeoWoodstock IX, what is going on during the day and where you can tune in for all the audio and video feeds remember to bookmark my blog and follow me on Twitter @headhardhat and Facebook. I will keep you informed from now to right up to the event and all the time during GeoWoodstock. Don't miss out on getting the inside scoop even if you can't be there. Tell your friends, family and any other geocachers out there that we will be doing something never done before! Be in on the fun.

-HHH

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------
Twitter me at
@headhardhat

Friend me at Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/HeadHardHat/

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
http://www.geosnippits.com