You never know what you might need when out caching. Having a caching bag that fits every possible scenario makes it so much easier when you’re out and about and find you need something specific.

Before heading out for a caching trip today that ended with about 13 km of walking, 4 finds and one hide I took a few pictures of the caching gear I carry with me. There’s a flashlight, leatherman multitool, band aids, allergy medicine and painkillers, spare batteries, USB charger for the iPhone, sunglasses, Viliv S5 UMPC, electrical tape, TB tag, dental mirror, notebook, spare logs, magnets, pencil sharpener, nano caches, swag for trading and pens- plus the GPSr of course. I also carry a camera and a Gorillapod tripod that aren’t in the picture, and my caching bag has two thermos bottles on it.

The worst thing is that all of that is necessary. Today for instance, I needed the tape to make a “sticky stick” to get a hold of a cache that was pretty inaccessible with your bare hands as it was hidden in between a sign and a wall with only an inch between them. I also had to leave new logs for two caches and two pencils, I got a headache from the heat and needed a painkiller and of course the water bottles were empty by the time I got home. I also used the dental mirror to find one of the caches and hid a nano on a bridge I walked across- you never know when you come across a location that deserves a cache.

The contents of my caching bag is constantly evolving as I discover new needs, like when I got a heel blister a few weeks ago and added special band-aids for that to the bag. Going caching with only a GPSr is never a good idea as you might find yourself needing something to find, extract or repair the cache and going back a second time prepared or leaving a cache in bad condition is unnecessary when it can easily be avoided.