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Microcaches


THarvey3

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IMHO, I believe that geocaching is a great way to bring people to places they either wouldn't visit on their own or didn't know about to begin with.

 

I went to a nice park about 2 miles from my house this weekend. I'm glad I went, nice bike ride. After AN HOUR of looking in a 20 foot radius and fighting some very healthy blackberry bushes (lots of DNA blood evidence left at the scene, that's for sure), I finally gave up in disappointed frustration.

 

To me, geocaching is about being in on a secret that most people don't know about. Caches shouldn't be so difficult to find that after 20 MINUTES of searching they're still unfound!

 

I plan on leaving a trail of magnetic micros on a well traveled path (as soon as the little Magnetos arrive, that is!). Anyone who decides to visit will be taken along a very scenic route...they won't spend more than 5 minutes searching for the micro because they'll know that it's there...99% of the people around won't be aware they're there. To me, THAT'S the fun of geocaching. Being brought to a new location only to leave without the find seems contrary to the whole notion of effort (going to the location) and reward (finding the cache).

 

Currently I have two very easy ammo box caches, people visit these places and thank me for showing them a new area. Personally I'm frustrated when someone logs a DNF on either of these caches!

 

Oh I'm all for the pinecone caches, rocks, or fake sprinkler boxes, etc. If I ever place one of these, I will certainly include a hint that should make sense once the person is standing at ground zero.

 

Why is it that people make some finds so difficult?

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IMHO, I believe that geocaching is a great way to bring people to places they either wouldn't visit on their own or didn't know about to begin with.

 

I went to a nice park about 2 miles from my house this weekend. I'm glad I went, nice bike ride. After AN HOUR of looking in a 20 foot radius and fighting some very healthy blackberry bushes (lots of DNA blood evidence left at the scene, that's for sure), I finally gave up in disappointed frustration.

 

To me, geocaching is about being in on a secret that most people don't know about. Caches shouldn't be so difficult to find that after 20 MINUTES of searching they're still unfound!

 

I plan on leaving a trail of magnetic micros on a well traveled path (as soon as the little Magnetos arrive, that is!). Anyone who decides to visit will be taken along a very scenic route...they won't spend more than 5 minutes searching for the micro because they'll know that it's there...99% of the people around won't be aware they're there. To me, THAT'S the fun of geocaching. Being brought to a new location only to leave without the find seems contrary to the whole notion of effort (going to the location) and reward (finding the cache).

 

Currently I have two very easy ammo box caches, people visit these places and thank me for showing them a new area. Personally I'm frustrated when someone logs a DNF on either of these caches!

 

Oh I'm all for the pinecone caches, rocks, or fake sprinkler boxes, etc. If I ever place one of these, I will certainly include a hint that should make sense once the person is standing at ground zero.

 

Why is it that people make some finds so difficult?

 

Because some people like a challenge. Even with a micro cache. Personally, if a cache is an easy walk away, 1 or 2 in terrain, I want it to be a 3 or 4 in difficulty of finding. Conversely, if the terrain is like a 4, I want a 1 or 2 in difficulty. Some people like 5/5. It's just the way people are.

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;)

 

I'm confused. I thought your post was about not liking hard micros, but you took a left when you mentioned that you were placing a nano-multi. Don't get me wrong, I like nanos. Heck, I happily sell nanos. I'm just a little lost.

 

My VERY point.

 

I want people "in on the secret" that there's a trail of micros out there. Once they're on the physical trail, they'll quickly know that the string of small steel sculptures are where the micros are attached. The fun of it is experiencing a scenic route AND enjoying the thrill of the micro find.

 

Bushwacking for an hour looking for "something not easily seen" isn't my idea of fun. I'll certainly avoid those in the future. :D

 

Perhaps the title of this post should be "Caches that are impossible to find, including but not limited to, micros"

Edited by THarvey3
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You obviously like the scenery. Some like it to be hard to find. Some like it to be a great scenery and be hard to find.

 

Have you ever heard of Shelter II? some spent MONTHS on it and still have not found it. But they enjoy it and keep going back.

 

Ahhhhhhh......... I haven't checked on the Shelter II cache for quite a while. I used to watch that one waiting for somebody to find it. I remember when it was finally found. I'll have to go look at the page to see how it's doing. When it comes to hard-to-find micros that is one tough cache. I always had my suspicions based on the way the name was written but, not being anywhere near the area, I could never go and utterly frustrate myself looking. ;)

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;)

 

I'm confused. I thought your post was about not liking hard micros, but you took a left when you mentioned that you were placing a nano-multi. Don't get me wrong, I like nanos. Heck, I happily sell nanos. I'm just a little lost.

 

My VERY point.

 

I want people "in on the secret" that there's a trail of micros out there. Once they're on the physical trail, they'll quickly know that the string of small steel sculptures are where the micros are attached. The fun of it is experiencing a scenic route AND enjoying the thrill of the micro find.

 

Bushwacking for an hour looking for "something not easily seen" isn't my idea of fun. I'll certainly avoid those in the future. :D

 

Perhaps the title of this post should be "Caches that are impossible to find, including but not limited to, micros"

I agree with the OP and I think you nailed it in this thread, see bolded text above, I've gotten to the point that I won't search for a micro in the woods. This isn't a rant against micros since I believe they have a place in the game I just chose not to hunt for them in the middle of a blackberry thicket.

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A difficult micro in the woods often invites more frustration for the hunter and environmental impact than is necessary. Some cache hiders get their chuckles out of that stuff, though.

And that is the other reason I say no to micros in the woods, I've seen geo-stumps reduced to a mass of pulverized wood pulp by crazed cachers.

Edited by Recdiver
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Have you ever heard of Shelter II? some spent MONTHS on it and still have not found it. But they enjoy it and keep going back.

 

To each his own, I suppose. Certainly not my gig! Again, I like seeing places that are new to me...logging a DNF once I'm there just isn't satisfying. To make matters worse, it put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day (as I attended to my many bleeding scratches)

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Have you ever heard of Shelter II? some spent MONTHS on it and still have not found it. But they enjoy it and keep going back.

 

To each his own, I suppose. Certainly not my gig! Again, I like seeing places that are new to me...logging a DNF once I'm there just isn't satisfying. To make matters worse, it put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day (as I attended to my many bleeding scratches)

 

I have a friend who delights in placing difficult to find micros in rural settings. However, his coordinates are ALWAYS SPOT ON. I have issues with people who place insane micros (or even full sized caches) and have coordinates that are 65 feet off. It's bad enough with a big cache but, when it's a micro in the woods type of cache, you really ought to spend the time and effort to get the coordinates exact.

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Geocaching is really really easy if you just remember to apply the NHF rule.

When you're Not Having Fun, do something else.

 

Yeah but it's that little green crate on my geocache map that's killing me...I want to put a checkmark there but refuse to spend another second looking for a needle in the hay. I'll have to learn to live with it, I suppose.

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...I plan on leaving a trail of magnetic micros on a well traveled path...

 

Lookup "Power Trail" in the forums before you spend too much time on this.

 

 

I tend to avoid anything with a rated difficulty of more than 3.5 because I too don't like to spend much more than 45 minutes searching.

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...I plan on leaving a trail of magnetic micros on a well traveled path...

 

Lookup "Power Trail" in the forums before you spend too much time on this.

 

 

I tend to avoid anything with a rated difficulty of more than 3.5 because I too don't like to spend much more than 45 minutes searching.

 

I've never heard of that term before now. Thank you for educating me on it. I'll revise my initial idea...it'll still be cool! ;)

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I want people "in on the secret" that there's a trail of micros out there. Once they're on the physical trail, they'll quickly know that the string of small steel sculptures are where the micros are attached. The fun of it is experiencing a scenic route AND enjoying the thrill of the micro find.

 

The thrill of finding a cache when you know where it is before you get to it? ;)

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Wait, I'm confused now, I thought this was another thread about lame micros, instead its a thread about challenging micros. can we get the micro complainers all on one page here?

 

For the record, I like, and hide micros I don't try to make them super hard, but I do like to give people some bit of challenge, and I have yet to hide in a bush.

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Geocaching is really really easy if you just remember to apply the NHF rule.

When you're Not Having Fun, do something else.

That's pretty good advice. Searching for a well hidden cache, micro or otherwise, can be fun. But after doing a few of these, it gets old. If you read the cache logs, you can filter out most of these ... lots of DNF's is a bad sign.

Edited by CharlieP
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...I plan on leaving a trail of magnetic micros on a well traveled path...

 

Lookup "Power Trail" in the forums before you spend too much time on this.

 

 

I tend to avoid anything with a rated difficulty of more than 3.5 because I too don't like to spend much more than 45 minutes searching.

 

I've never heard of that term before now. Thank you for educating me on it. I'll revise my initial idea...it'll still be cool! :anitongue:

 

Bringing me to a great location is one of the things i like best about geocaching. However, a challenging cache can be just as much fun. I'm not talking challenging as in placing a micro cache in a forest or in a fake rock in the middle of a big pile of rocks. Those needle in a haystack type of caches aren't my thing but a well camoed, unique container, and/or different type of hide technique is.

 

I'll be honest with you and of course this is just my opinion. Your idea of putting out a trail of magnetic micros doesnt sound appealing to me. I know it does to others but for me it would end up being a bit boring, the same thing, over and over type hide.

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...I plan on leaving a trail of magnetic micros on a well traveled path...
Lookup "Power Trail" in the forums before you spend too much time on this. ...
I've never heard of that term before now. Thank you for educating me on it. I'll revise my initial idea...it'll still be cool! :anitongue:
Making them into a multi would still be fine.

 

If it is so easy to find, or you know it exactly where it is before you get there, doesn't that DEFEAT the purpose rather than enhance it? In fact, isn't that Waymarking?
I remember when most caches were an ammo can next to a tree under a pile of sticks. I pretty much knew what to look for before I left the house, but it was still fun.
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If you like to see/find new places, why should finding or not finding the cache change that? A DNF brings you to the same spot a smilie does.

You're absolutely correct. Unfortunately, if I can't find the cache, I keep looking until I get frustrated and give up (truthfully, it doesn't take me long), forgetting to enjoy the location.

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If you like to see/find new places, why should finding or not finding the cache change that? A DNF brings you to the same spot a smilie does.

You're absolutely correct. Unfortunately, if I can't find the cache, I keep looking until I get frustrated and give up (truthfully, it doesn't take me long), forgetting to enjoy the location.

 

Yep, same here. Its very similar to the point made in old quote of Mark Twain about golf: "Golf is a good walk spoiled.” Adding a touch of failure and frustration to a nice walk is not a positive addition.

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I want people "in on the secret" that there's a trail of micros out there. Once they're on the physical trail, they'll quickly know that the string of small steel sculptures are where the micros are attached. The fun of it is experiencing a scenic route AND enjoying the thrill of the micro find.

 

The thrill of finding a cache when you know where it is before you get to it? :anitongue:

 

The thrill of going down a trail you didn't know existed that happened to include some very cool sculptures? Being in on the secret of some micros? Sounds fun to me.

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Perhaps the title of this post should be "Caches that are impossible to find, including but not limited to, micros"

The truth is, I completely agree with you.

 

I tend to think caches that area impossible to find are thiose with faulty coordinates... or ones placed in areas that have been completely changed since the last aerial photos were taken. .... but assuming perfect coordinates, I would rather hunt for a micro in the woods than on a busy corner or parking lot.

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I think it's a lot easier to hide a micro, than a regular cache.

 

If you're hiding, it's no challenge to hide a micro and make it hard.

 

I think that's why there are lots of folks who don't like micros. Because it takes tons of work to find them, when the work put in to hide them was minimal.

 

Since it takes little work, more get placed. The result is more micros get placed than are desirable.

 

Whereas, if you can hide a 5 gallon bucket and have it be hard to find, you've done something noteworthy.

 

If you like hiding micros, you should appreciate where you are in the pecking order of quality hides.

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I think it's a lot easier to hide a micro, than a regular cache.

 

True

 

If you're hiding, it's no challenge to hide a micro and make it hard.

 

Then you haven't done many of the micros I have - a lot of work and creativity went into them!

 

I think that's why there are lots of folks who don't like micros. Because it takes tons of work to find them, when the work put in to hide them was minimal.

 

It takes tons of work to carry an ammo box into the woods and pile sticks on it?

 

Since it takes little work, more get placed. The result is more micros get placed than are desirable.

 

Two bad assumptions! And, the result may be that more get placed than is desired by you as opposed to 'desirable'.

 

Whereas, if you can hide a 5 gallon bucket and have it be hard to find, you've done something noteworthy.

 

True... with over 1500 finds I have never seen a 5 gallon bucket hidden yet, so that would indeed be something noteworthy.

 

If you like hiding micros, you should appreciate where you are in the pecking order of quality hides.

 

Yup, you would be right near the top of the favored hiders in my area!

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Janx,

With all due respect, I don't agree with all the assumptions you made.

 

It is not easier to hide a micro well than it is to hide a large cache. There are exceptions to every rule, and the Difficulty level should be appropriate. A 5 gallon bucket, well hidden, will usually approach the "needle-in-a-haystack" type of cache. (See gripe #12 in other posts.) I have found many large caches thrown into a large pile of boulders in an area where coordinates always wander around. I had fun, but in quality-of-hide it was equivalent to the micro hidden under a 400 foot pile of rocks on the shore of the river.

 

What is a "desirable" number of micros. Some would say the first micro crossed that line; people that like to geocache tend to go out and find them - no matter how many there are. I'm afraid that people will seek them.

 

I've only hidden a few caches, small, large and micro. The ammo cans don't get much traffic because you have to hike uphill to get there. One micro gets a lot of praise. I spent more time on hiding the micro because I had to work at quality. I had an easier time with the ammo cans because I hid them, but made them findable. The views are spectacular and the climb is worth it so they are good caches by most people's expectations. But it is the micro that gets the hits and the good comments.

 

Again, I respect your opinion, but don't necessarily agree with you. I do have one question, though: Where do I fit in the pecking order? You make it sound like I'm pretty low. I don't agree. Even my wife likes me after 26 years (I think).

 

edited to acknowledge slow fingers. Yeah, what TAR said too.

Edited by boda
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Many of the caches on the top of my "favorite finds" list are micros. I've seen quite a few micros hidden in manners that have astounded me with their creativity--and I've got enough caches under my belt that few types of cache hides surprise me these days.

 

Many of my own micro hides have required more effort creating, more time maintaining, and even more money preparing than my ammo can hides. I've gotten fantastic reviews on those hides--definitely more than the average Rubbermaid container with a pile of rocks on it would.

 

I've seen many lousy micros, sure, but I've seen just as many regular-sized caches that were just as uninspired.

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And that is the other reason I say no to micros in the woods, I've seen geo-stumps reduced to a mass of pulverized wood pulp by crazed cachers.

 

Seriously! What is wrong with some people!

 

One of my caches is called "Stumped?" and when I placed it, one of the key parts of the cache was the whole "not-where-you-think-it-is" twist. Near ground zero there was a HUGE hollow stump that practically SCREAMED, "the cache is in here!" -- but, of course, it wasn't. It was a medium-sized jar that was safely hidden a short distance away (and if you followed the GPS, it would zero out over here). I thought it would be a cute gag, particularly since any experienced geocacher would probably know it's not going to be in a place THAT obvious.

 

I went back to do maintenance and that stump was GONE! In it's place was pulverized wood shards where the stump had once been. Was that really necessary? All you had to do was peek inside, say "nope" and keep moving.

 

That really disappointed me, not just because it ruined the theme of my cache but just that people could be so wantonly careless.

Edited by GreyingJay
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I've enjoyed everyone's perspective on this but want to clarify my gripe: it was searching for a non-descript micro with jumpy coordinates that had me whacking in two separate blackberry bushes within a 20 foot radius. Blackberries or not, however, I still did not enjoy the DNF after searching for over an hour. I now wonder if it was even there.

 

Many micros are quite a lot of fun - they don't deterioate like the ammo cans in the woods and, in an urban setting, are quite cool. I found one in New Zealand on vacation last year with people everywhere. I concluded it had to be stuck under a mailbox right next to a popular boathouse...sure enough, it was a film cannister with a large magnet taped to it.

 

I just rec'd my Mr. Magneto's and am excited to place a few. My point is that I'm not going to have people search more than 10 minutes for it. BEING IN ON THE SECRET that a micro is attached to the, in this case, big metallic sculpture along the trail is THE FUN OF IT. If it's not challenging enough for people, they don't have to come find it.

 

To restate, to me the fun is being taken to a place I would have never gone to - and there's a reward at the end - the secret that a cache exists and finding that secret. To spend an excessive amount of time looking for the "reward" is not fun. Not finding it at all defeats the whole purpose of going, IMO.

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... To restate, to me the fun is being taken to a place I would have never gone to - and there's a reward at the end - the secret that a cache exists and finding that secret. To spend an excessive amount of time looking for the "reward" is not fun. Not finding it at all defeats the whole purpose of going, IMO.

Just mention that it is magnetic in the hint. It's pretty likely that this isn't even necessary. If my GPSr zeroed out near a statue, I'm going to check the statue.

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THarvey, I know exactly what you mean, and even agree with you. My very poilte advice is this though. Geocaching is a very wide open game that different people play different ways. Everyone has a different expectation from the game. So while we share the same idea of the ideal game, not everyone will. Expecting everyone to have the same concept of the ideal cache is just going to be an exercise in frustration, and we don't want that to spoil our fun.

 

So just remember, the perfect cache will be described 20 different ways by 15 different people. Just go with the flow and enjoy the moment. And if you can't find it, remember that sometimes it's the looking, not the finding.

 

Best,

Osoling

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I've enjoyed everyone's perspective on this but want to clarify my gripe: it was searching for a non-descript micro with jumpy coordinates that had me whacking in two separate blackberry bushes within a 20 foot radius. Blackberries or not, however, I still did not enjoy the DNF after searching for over an hour. I now wonder if it was even there.

 

Many micros are quite a lot of fun - they don't deterioate like the ammo cans in the woods and, in an urban setting, are quite cool. I found one in New Zealand on vacation last year with people everywhere. I concluded it had to be stuck under a mailbox right next to a popular boathouse...sure enough, it was a film cannister with a large magnet taped to it.

 

I just rec'd my Mr. Magneto's and am excited to place a few. My point is that I'm not going to have people search more than 10 minutes for it. BEING IN ON THE SECRET that a micro is attached to the, in this case, big metallic sculpture along the trail is THE FUN OF IT. If it's not challenging enough for people, they don't have to come find it.

 

To restate, to me the fun is being taken to a place I would have never gone to - and there's a reward at the end - the secret that a cache exists and finding that secret. To spend an excessive amount of time looking for the "reward" is not fun. Not finding it at all defeats the whole purpose of going, IMO.

 

That last sentence is, for me, at the heart of the issue! Micro or bucket the trip is the thing!

 

The expectation of finding something certainly adds motivation and excitement, but for me it is secondary to the visit itself. While I prefer a large family-friendly traditional, I hunt them all, so container size really isn't relevant to me.

 

I hate to DNF a cache, it is a waste of time. Especially if I am away from home and not likely to revisit soon, or ever. I want a nudge (or warning about where it isn't) in the description, or a clear hint.

 

On the other hand I do have an evil hide, GCMB22, Rambler's Only Micro, that gets DNFs more than half the time it's hunted, unless the hunter calls me or someone else for a clue.

 

I rated it a 1 terrain because I can easily get to it on crutches on level ground - but most folks don't see that access and climb a steep hill to get there. It's a film can in the woods, but I don't tell them that either.

 

So, how to balance the fact that if it was someone else's cache I might have issues with it? I don't know - folks seem to like it, 85 posts and counting.

 

As in the quote, spending excessive amounts of time looking does not interest me, nor do DNFs, but some folks do like the challenge, so I leave it out there.

 

But, to say that a DNF spoils the whole thing, to me, isn't right either - everyone that looks for this cache, found or not, seems to like the location and thanks me for taking them there.

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As others have mentioned, micros can be very fun caches to find, both in the overall location and the method of hiding. I'm surprised noone has mentioned that each difficulty level description includes an expected time frame. If I remember correctly, a Level 2 is 30 minutes or less. There are a number of cachers who enjoy the challenge of a hard find. I have done several caches that took multiple attempts before I located the cache. If you happen to just like the ambience of going someplace interesting and don't want to put a lot of effort into searching for the cache itself then I would suggest you check out the difficulty ratings and only attempt caches rated accordingly. If, however, a cache which is rated as 30 minutes or less takes you longer, you should notify the cache owner. I have seen several caches where the owner bumped up the difficulty rating after some cachers stated it was harder to find. As someone else mentioned, the location can change as well making it more difficult to find than when the cache was placed.

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