The news is out! Garmin will soon release a new line of GPS navigation products. Retailers were the ones to let the cat out of the bag. Guess they were so excited, they just couldn’t wait to let the public know.

The new Oregon line will continue along the paths of the current Colorado line of navigation devices designed for geocaching. Garmin’s Colorado products are rugged, all-terrain GPS navigation devices that are made for adventure.

The Oregon will have a touchscreen that can be easily read in the sunlight and high resolution color display. You will be able to choose five different user profiles for the Oregon (automotive, marine, recreation, fitness or geocache). That way you will able to pick the profile that is in line with the day’s activities.

Of course the Oregon line is not widely available just yet and for those of you who are ready to go exploring now won’t want to wait. If you are a “wait and see” type, rather than an early adopter, consider getting a Colorado. You can always upgrade to another product line later. Some of you may also be concerned that the price for a brand new product line may be prohibitive. If that is the case, the Colorado line has excellent products and since it is not brand new, you are not likely to suffer from sticker shock.

For example, check out the Garmin Colorado 300 Handheld Outdoor Color GPS . It has a built-in basemap, high sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, SD card slot, color display, picture viewer and more.

Visit Action GPS to see all of our GPS products designed for geocaching. You are certain to find something to get you where you want to go for this summer’s geocaching missions.

It could be the “Iron Man” of geocaching once it gets up and running. While kayaking along the Alligator River near North Carolina’s Outer Banks last weekend, I met an outdoorsman who is in the process of designing what could be the ultimate geocache experience. Like the Iron Man competition, he envisions a tri-fold caching challenge but with his own unique twist.

His idea is to expose geocachers to the raw beauty of the Carolina coast. The eastern shores of North Carolina encompass a wide variety of natural environments. There are the constantly shifting sandy keys and low dunes of the Outer Banks themselves, the thick marshes that line the shores of the sound, the densely vegetated scrub forests, the old weed-choked logging canals, and the sunken wreckage of ancient ships. Migrating flocks, black bears, red wolves, river otters, snapping turtles and alligators are among the animals that make their homes in this coastal wonderland.

In his dream geocaching event, participants would follow a trail of coordinates by kayak. Each set of coordinates would lead to a remote river site where you’d have to hike and explore to find the next clue. The final clue would lead to a ship wreck where you’d have to dive to find and retrieve the treasure.

Logistical considerations could tank the project. Much of the Carolina coast is protected National Forest or National Seashore. Actual cache containers could not be hidden in protected areas. Creating an underwater cache site also presents unique problems. Maintaining the integrity of the hunt in the storm-wracked waters of the Outer Banks might prove impossible.

A virtual hunt might have to supplant the traditional physical quest. One idea is to create a website where geocachers could track their progress on a map, recording the GPS coordinates of prominent land marks in order to obtain their next clue. If this guy pulls it off, this could be the ultimate geocache challenge.  

To celebrate its Sesquicentennial, the state of Minnesota sent geocachers on a history hunt. Hiding caches in 72 individual state parks, the Minnesota State Park Geocaching History Challenge featured historical statistics about each park. Those who rounded up all the clues from parks became eligible to participate in a regional challenge. Completion of all four regional challenges led to a final state challenge and a gold coin prize. The geocaching History Challenge began May 11 and continues through December 31.

The first cachers to complete the challenge (and to date the only finishers) are Cindy and Allan Habedank and Bemidji, MN. The dedicated geocachers completed the entire course in just 31 days using a handheld GPS. They estimated that they traveled nearly 4,000 miles across the state and hiked at least 150 miles. The hardest cache? One hidden on remote Garden Island in Lake of the Woods. To reach the island they had to travel to Canada, go through customs, take a boat to the island, then search for the cache. Fortunately, not all caches were as difficult to find.

Fairly new to geocaching, the Habedanks began geocaching just 15 months ago. In that time they have logged 173 cache days and uncovered 832 caches. They’ve hunted caches across the country and even found one in Oslo, Norway. “The geocaches really are all around the world,” said Cindy. “You can actually find a geocache in Timbuktu.”

The Habedanks have found geocaching to be the perfect activity to do together. “It’s like a pirate treasure trail, Easter egg hunt and crossword puzzle, all in one,” explained Minnesota State Park naturalist John Fylpaa who set up one of the regional caches for the History Challenge. “Once you get started, it’s addicting. You’ll be looking up geocaches at every place you travel,” the Habedanks said. With the History Challenge under their belts, the Habedanks have set their sights on tackling the multi-state Great River Road challenge which involved geocaching up and down the Mississippi River. Happy hunting!

Choosing a new GPS just got a little easier. Like many people, I’m a careful shopper. I spend hours checking out products from different vendors, reading Consumer Reports, pouring over product reviews, evaluating features, and charting the pros and cons of my top choices. When I buy, I like to get the biggest bang for my buck!

ActionGPS made buying my latest GPS unit a breeze. ActionGPS carries all the big names in portable and handheld GPS units: Garmin, Mio Tech and TomTom. You can search for products by manufacturer or type: automotive, outdoor, fitness, marine, motorcycle, recreational, geocaching, etc. But my favorite feature is the instant product comparison (click the link to view a comparison of two of our hot new arrivals).

Here’s how to make your own product comparison on ActionGPS:

• On the homepage of our website, click on one of the categories in the right-hand column.
• Read the summaries that accompany each product and click the item to peruse the details, specs and reviews.
• Once you’ve decided on your top contenders, check the box next to each item you want to compare.
• Click the orange oval “compare selected” button under the category title at the top of the item list.
• ActionGPS pulls up a nifty chart that compares all the major features, including price.
• Place your order.

It’s that easy. ActionGPS takes the guess work out of shopping for a new GPS. Visit the ActionGPS website and try it for yourself.

Another great summer weekend is approaching which means it’s time to load up your GPS and hit the trails in search of geocaching treasure. Started in 2000, geocaching is a relatively new sport/hobby that uses GPS equipment to find hidden caches — kind of a techno-treasure hunt. Similar to the orienteering you might have done in your younger days as a Boy Scout or Girl Scout, geocaching replaces that boring old compass with a cool electronic GPS unit.

Over the years people have gotten creative with geocaching. There’s the traditional cache that started the phenomenon: coordinates that lead you to a container with a log book and maybe a few trinkets. But geocaching has evolved and now reflects the unique creativity of its enthusiasts. Today you can track multi-caches where one cache provides clues for finding the next cache until you finally ferret out the final cache. There are mystery or puzzle caches that require you to solve a puzzle to gain access to the cache coordinates. Cipher caches allow you to channel your inner Bond as you decode clues that lead you to cache coordinates. Every year there are new and creative developments in the sport. Geocaching has become so popular that many areas have clubs where cachers meet regularly. Event caches organized by local and regional clubs draw geocachers for a day of discussion, training, sharing and caching. Mega-event caches can attract hundreds of geocachers from all over the world.

You’ll find a number of great websites that tell you how to get started, where to find caches, how to create a cache in your area, and more. Our favorite is Geocaching.com which is a great starting point for enthusiasts new to geocaching. You’ll find an easy to use cache-search feature and plenty of information about the hobby. On our website, you’ll find GPS units to fit every budget.  Right now you can get a great deal on a refurbished Garmin GPSMAP 60 CSx portable handheld outdoor color GPS (shown above). So click on, load up and get out there!

With obesity reaching crisis proportions in America, I’m always looking for ways to drag my kids away from the video games and get the whole family out and moving. We recently discovered the fun of geocaching. Geocaching combines GPS technology with the fun of a treasure hunt. All I have to do is pick up our GPS unit, jingle the car keys and the kids dash for the car, eager to hunt down the next cache.

Geocaching has added a fresh element of fun and excitement to our weekends. The whole gang races through Saturday chores so we can seek out a few caches before dinner. Sometimes we take a picnic and make a day of exploring a new area. Even on hectic days, there are plenty of quick-find caches right in our neighborhood. We’ve discovered all manner of interesting places geocaching. Who knew there was a pre-Civil War cemetery just steps from our local K-Mart or a gushing waterfall tucked into a quiet glen under the freeway? We’ve come upon a gaggle of fuzzy goslings as we geocached along a previously unknown river trail. Burping bullfrogs surprised us as we walked through a wetlands just minutes from our home. For our family, the fun of geocaching is as much the discovery of new places as it is the thrill of the hunt.

Geocaching is a great hobby for anyone. You don’t have to be a rugged hiker. People hide caches along public pathways and in many community parks where the terrain is easily navigated. All you need to get started is a portable GPS unit and a computer. We started with an easy-to-use, inexpensive, refurbished GPS unit, the Garmin Etrex Legend CX Handheld Outdoor Color GPS. Rugged and water-resistant (essentials with our active kid crew), the Garmin Etrex is lightweight and slips easily into a pants pocket. The 256-color display is sunlight-readable, and it didn’t take long for our kids to get the hang of using the unit. With a 10,000-point automatic track log that allows for 20 saved tracks, you can trace your path in both directions. To date we haven’t gone on that extensive a geocache hunt, but summer is coming and the kids are itching to give it a try!

As I explained how to use the Garmin Rino 110 GPS FRS/GMRS two-way radio, the boys exhibited an intensity usually reserved for captured toads and hook-nosed beetles. Moments later, they were off, absorbed in the 10-year-old version of Indiana Jones, James Bond, cops and robbers, soldier or whatever game had currently captured their imagination. As we walked along we could see them up ahead, lurking behind trees and crouching behind rocks, chattering away on the radios to plan their next ambush. We had never had so much fun on a family outing. The boys were industriously occupied, and we were able to amble along and enjoy the peaceful scenery without a cacophony of questions and complaints.

We’ve found a lot of uses for our Rino 110 which combines the features of a two-way radio and GPS unit. It’s a fun way to keep track of the kids when we hike or camp. We can let the boys check out the nearby trails without worrying about where they are or how to contact them. With one unit at home base and the other out on the trail, it’s easy to round everyone up when it’s time to hit the road.

The Rino 110 has become part of our family’s standard gear. Outside of slimy things that slither, our sons have markedly different interests. Now it’s easy to find each other when we split up the family at museums, zoos, amusement parks and even Costco and Home Depot. The rugged, waterproof Rino 110 can stand up to the slippery fingers of excitable little boys, unlike our more delicate cell phones. And the search and find GPS feature is invaluable in unfamiliar surroundings. Every outing becomes a treasure hunt when we take along the Rino 110 GPS two-way radio.

The Rino 110 can save up to 500 of your favorite places in memory as waypoints so you can visit them again. It has a built-in city point data base, and its 1 MB internal memory allows you to load other points of interest from MapSource-compatible products.

This blog is here to give the basics and the latest about GPS devices, but that doesn’t mean we can’t tell you how to have a little fun. We like to make the most of technology, so that the devices we use can be both fun and functional. Geocaching is one way to make a very useful GPS device into something that can be used for amusement (and prizes).

Geocaching is like a high-tech scavenger hunt. In fact, another name for it is the GPS Stash Hunt. People and groups put things all over the world and inform people about where they’ve hidden their stash on the internet. If you have a GPS device, you can find the cache, using the location coordinates provided.

You never know that your reward will be, so it is definitely worth it to try to find a cache. In the spirit of camaraderie, you are asked to leave something for the cache, you know, to keep it going. More often than not, the cache has trinkets and a log book in a waterproof container. The log book is important because it is a record of who has been there. If you find a cache, you can also alert the cache’s owner via e-mail that you’ve found it. The fun is in the game, so you don’t do it for the prizes, you do it for the adventure. It may sound easy, but it is not. A cache can be buried deep in the ground. They cannot be hidden in obvious places because then they’d be easily disturbed by animals or by passersby.

So if you find a cache, you get the ultimate prize: bragging rights.