Geocaching

[ScoutMomGWRC]

9. Plan a geohunt for a youth group such as your troop or a neighboring pack, at school, or your place of worship. Choose a theme, set up a course with at least four waypoints, teach the players how to use a GPS unit, and play the game. Tell your counselor about your experience, and share the materials you used and developed for this event.

Was wondering if any other boy has had a bit of difficulty with access to GPS units for his group to use?
My son has decided on a theme and a course for his next campout for the boys of his troop...however, when he asked if anyone had a GPS they could bring, no one did. He asked the parents, and no one has one either.
So he is going to teach 15 guys how to "play" this game with one GPS... I am afraid that he is setting himself up for disappointment...

How has anyone else handled this?
Thanks

[ThunderingWind]

Depending on the location of the camp out, there are iPhone & Android apps for GPS-geocaching that are free and that work reasonably well. I have not personally used any of them but I have heard from Geocachers that have. Google is a good search engine to use to find them.

[ScoutMomGWRC]

Thanks!
The boys are not permitted to bring phones on campouts...

However.. my son has come up with a solution. He is going to send them out in groups of 3.. they have all weekend to find them, he decided...
so whoever wants to participate will just go for an hour.. come back and let the next group go.

[smtroop168]

And the MBC offered what help?

There are Geocaching clubs all over the place as well that might have units to borrow.

[ronin718]

It is also highly likely that a lot of parents have portable GPS devices in their cars that can be used. When the boys get their accounts on Geocaching.com, the listings for geocaches provide the necessary coordinates that can then be entered into the GPS devices.

Scouts are not typically allowed to take phones on campouts, but why can't they used them on a patrol activity during the day.

As a geocacher myself, I use a combination of a handheld GPS and my smartphone with the c:geo application to do my caching. The phone is my primary device, and the GPS is used to lock in on the location if I can't find it from the phone GPS. I'm a relative rookie with only 200+ finds in seven states, but my mentor and fellow Scouter uses his iPhone, and he has over 1000 finds internationally without a regular GPS device. It can be done.