The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The scientists who developed global positioning satellite (GPS) technology probably never thought it would develop into a sport, but that is exactly what happened..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

There are treasures to be found...

They're hidden in city and state parks, outside of nearby buildings, alongside hiking trails and exercise routes, and even in local neighborhoods. This is geocaching, an adventure-based game involving intentionally hidden treasures, i.e. caches, and a standard handheld global positioning system (GPS) unit. The idea behind geocaching is for people to set up caches all over the world, and to then share the GPS coordinates of the caches via the Internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches, and once found, a cache usually provides its visitor with a wide variety of rewards available for the taking. Authored by a renowned expert on GPS usage and the editors of Geocaching.com, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching is a comprehensive yet easy to understand guide for getting started and having fun with geocaching. AUTHORBIO: Jack W. Peters, a nationally recognized leader in GPS navigation training, has been an active participant and promoter of geocaching since its inception. Certified by the state of Oregon as a search and rescue officer, Jack is the co-founder and manager of an off-road vehicle search and rescue team for the Lane County Sheriff's Office known as the Special Vehicles Group, publisher of GPS Navigator Magazine.com, and the author of The GPS Navigation Guide and the soon-to-be published Off-Road Field Guide.

The Staff and Editors of Geocaching.com have been involved with geocaching since its inception, and are widely recognized as pioneers and custodians of this rapidly growing adventure-based activity.

About the Author

Jack W. Peters, a nationally recognized leader in GPS navigation training, has been an active participant and promoter of geocaching since its inception. Certified by the state of Oregon as a search and rescue officer, Jack is the co-founder and manager of an off-road vehicle search and rescue team for the Lane County Sheriff's Office known as the Special Vehicles Group, publisher of GPS Navigator Magazine.com, and the author of The GPS Navigation Guide and the soon-to-be published Off-Road Field Guide.

The Staff and Editors of Geocaching.com have been involved with geocaching since its inception, and are widely recognized as pioneers and custodians of this rapidly growing adventure-based activity.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Alpha (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592572359
• ISBN-13: 978-1592572359
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #152,888 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything You Need To Know, and then some, February 16, 2005

By	S. N. Gaines - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you've received a GPS unit, for Christmas, birthday, whatever, and you've been wondering what you can do with it, this book is for you.

The book is written by the people who run www.geocaching.com and it is to say the least, complete. It covers what geocaching is (sport, hobby, excuse to go outdoors and play with electronics), what you need to have, what you need to bring, and techniques for geocaching.

As far as I am concerned, this book should be required reading for anybody who wants to go outdoors and have fun. Geocaching is sort of a treasure hunt, orienteering, hike in the woods thing. The book takes you through the whole thing.

The section on how to use a compass along with your GPSr is worth the price of the book by itself.

I highly recommend the book.

If you go on the website, or come across a cache I've visited, just look for Scott9282, fearless leader of Team9282.

I'll be waiting.

Bring the book.

71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on Geocaching., April 18, 2005

By	FOX (USA) - See all my reviews

I just read through and reviewed two other Geocaching books, including the "for dummies" version, and none of those two books had any information that you can't figure out yourself just going out and doing geocaching.

I expected the same from this book, but the "Idiot's Guide" is excellent!

Everything from TIPS on how to get more accurate measurments from your GPS unit, to much more information on things you may not have used or done geocaching, everything you want to know about Latitude/Longitude and the many different formats you see them listed as, in addition to the history of how and why they came about.

Everyone may think they know how to use a compass, but this book covers things most may not know about using compasses, and how they can help with geocaching.

Even if you have been geocaching for a long time already, there are some helpfull hints in this book that can even teach the experienced geocacher a trick or two.

The history is interesting all on it's own, what a great bonus!

I am going to keep this, it is a great reference book!

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get Lost...or Having Fun While Getting Lost, March 28, 2006

By	Virginia M. Cannon (Concord, NH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My wife wanted me to become more active and knowing my desire to buy another electronic gadget, she suggested we look at geocaching. I had never heard of this activity before but since it meant getting a GPS unit, I figured "what the heck". Before making my purchase, I needed to know what to look for so i needed more information on the sport of geocaching. This book was the most informative book I found and was easy to read and hard to put down. I found the information extremely useful. And, yes, we have gone geocaching and have found our first 3 caches. Without the knowledge gained from reading this tome, I would still be out in the woods looking for my way home.