Caching with a Nexus 7

See that little green book I'm holding? That's my new Nexus 7. Well, not new really, it was given to em by my mom's boyfriend who was trying to get rid of it or maybe just trying to make a good impression. He didn't have to give me a tablet to do that though, but I am liking have this handy little device. What do I use it for? Well, email and internet sure... but where I really see it's potential is for geocaching. My primary geocaching device up until now has been my trusty Garmin GPSmap 60CSx. This device has served me well, with topo maps that I download for free, and a nice sized screen to navigate with on those maps. It is limited to only 1000 waypoints, and though there are ways I could import more using POIs, I never have bothered to figure that out. What I bemoan about this device is the lack of geocaching beta. All those waypoints I have in it are "dumb", they contain the name of the cache but little other data. No cache size, D/T ratings, recent logs... Sometimes, geocaching like this gives me a sense of elitism. "Ha, I don't need to know anything about the cache, just the coords, the way caching used to be. The way it is best." More often than not though, I end up phoning home to ask my wife to go online to give me the beta, and hints. What would be ideal would be to have a cellular connected device running geocaching aps, where I could always instantly pull info on caches. The Nexus 7 I have is not that. But it does have a GPS antenna, can run geocaching aps, can store loads of pocket queries complete with all the usual cache information. It can do a lot of what the "paperless caching" GPSr devices do. Just no cellular connection. A step up?

After a little bit of trial with C:geo, I end up going with Locus Pro for a map and geocaching app. I get a chance to try it out a little in Las Cruces, using it to search for a few caches with Levin. While the map and cache selection work great, the compass feature steers me way off. I fiddle with the settings for a bit, switching the "hardware compass" on and off. But it never seems to work well for getting me right to GZ. The arrow almost never points in the correct direction and I end up just walking in whatever direction seems to decrease my distance metric the fastest. Not optimal at all. BUt I'm still learning, maybe there's a trick to it?

The Nexus becomes my primary caching device for our trip from Las Cruces to Knoxville since I didn't bother to download maps or PQs into my Garmin. For traveling along the road it works fine, but I still have a hard time navigating to GZ. But it definitely shines when it comes to browsing a bunch of cache sin an unknown area and deciding if any of them are worth going after. It still lacks some features that I would like to have, number of favorite points for instance. maybe I'll break down and learn GSAK one of these days and get its companion app, but until then I think this will do.

One feature I like but have not fully gotten used to is the offline field notes. I am still terrible at typing out a sentence let alone a paragraph on the Nexus, but once I can manage that, I will be able to write logs in the field and have them synced online when I have connectivity. For now taking brief notes about the cache and fleshing out the logs at home is still my preference, but I can see using this feature more and more, especially for any power caching type trips. And the voice dictation feature provided by the Android OS is very tempting to sue as well, but so far my attempts to use it have been rather hilarious.

Durability and battery life though will never come close to the Garmin. So for most of my hikes, the Garmin will be my main device. Still,. it will be great to have the Nexus along in the pack, for some extra beta when needed.