Micros

[+aquafuzz]

Please help me out. Im new and need help with finding "micros". Ive gotten there but cant find them. What do I look for? Should I have to over turn mulch or other things? Generally, are they in plan sight?

 

Thanks,

aquafuzz

[bogleman]

a majority of micros are magnetic. As for helping, just think if you were going to hide something here where would you hide it. It all depends on the location and what is in the area. Micros can be just about anything from a fake bolt to something actually built in to blend into the location. Dont forget to check out the cool cache container thread - sooner or later the hider will have to brag about that really good hide.

[+DeskJocky]

Look for hide-a-keys, film canisters and the such and where they could be hidden.

 

Be for warned, you will encounter many uncreative micros hidden in shopping centers, near dumpsters and stuck on guide rails.

[+Kabuthunk]

Well... the guardrail/dumpster/parkinglot ones depends on where you are. In Winnipeg, I have yet to hit a single one of any of the above

[+DeskJocky]

Well... the guardrail/dumpster/parkinglot ones depends on where you are. In Winnipeg, I have yet to hit a single one of any of the above

 

Consider yourself lucky that the micro spew isn't in your neck of the woods yet.

[+Confucius' Cat]

You might also be looking for an ultra-micro like a nitro-pill bottle (a stainless steel, oblong cylinder about 1/2" X 1") or a breath strip container (flat 1x1x1/8"). These containers are very popular. Some micros are even smaller.

 

By far the most common seems to be the 35mm film can, followed closely by the waterproof match box and the (pertineer always wet) magnetic key holder.

 

Look for the magnet key holder especially in areas that are naturally dry if the hider is experienced. Sometimes they are used in non-magnetic places with the attachment of a small piece of steel to hold the magnet, so don't count out the magnetic cache just becaus there is no metal structure nearby.

 

Woe unto you if you are looking for one in the woods... give it a quick hunt and move on unless you are "obsessed" with finding it for FTF or tclear off one that has been bugging you for SOOOO long.

 

Most hiders don't put them on the ground under mulch, but it has been done. More likely they will be in some natural hole in a permanent or semi-permanent "fixture" like a pole, tree, or fencepost.

 

Good luck in your hunts.

[+Somalicat]

The micros are driving us a little batty. We were out today looking in the woods for one. Now that we're home we checked logs that say "we sat on it", "I kicked it", "I walked on it". Still don't know if I'd have any better luck finding it.

 

The one thing that did strike me was that the micro could not be attached to something that could easily be moved -- right? Otherwise the coordinates won't work. So in the woods, that means a tree that is in the ground instead of one laying on the ground (unless, of course, it is a huge fallen tree). But, what about a picnic table? My husband actually picked one up so I could see under it -- I think that was my first clue that it could not be there -- anyone could move the tables with a little brute strength.

 

Is my logic sound?

Thx!

[+Confucius' Cat]

The micros are driving us a little batty. We were out today looking in the woods for one. Now that we're home we checked logs that say "we sat on it", "I kicked it", "I walked on it". Still don't know if I'd have any better luck finding it.

 

The one thing that did strike me was that the micro could not be attached to something that could easily be moved -- right? Otherwise the coordinates won't work. So in the woods, that means a tree that is in the ground instead of one laying on the ground (unless, of course, it is a huge fallen tree). But, what about a picnic table? My husband actually picked one up so I could see under it -- I think that was my first clue that it could not be there -- anyone could move the tables with a little brute strength.

 

Is my logic sound?

Thx!

No.

I have found many that are in "portable" objects. Some are not even micros- some portable "landmarks" like unrooted or fake tree stumps are big enough for a regular cache.

 

The hiders trust that finders will put them back exactly where they found them (naive assumption).

 

They also often trust that the local flood waters, which are oftentimes seasonally predictable, will not carry them away. This results in a lot of archived caches- again, even regulars.

 

This is part of my reasoning for my statement to "give it a quick hunt and move on". This type of hide is characteristically poor and not worth a lot of time (in most cases). (did I put in enough disclaimers there?)

Edited September 18, 2006 by Confucius' Cat

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

There is a thread here named Creative Cache Containers that includes some descriptions an pictures, that might help.

 

Micros and the even smaller Nanos are, as the names imply, very small. The only requirement for them is that they contain a log to sign. That means the log may need tweezers to extract! Nano-containers might be the size of your pinky fingernail or smaller!

 

I am an old crippled coot that caches on crutches, so I chase micros by choice, as wooded paths are both dangerous and difficult for me. I have, therefore, seen quite a few of them!

 

Read the description and the past finders logs, as well as the hint if you can't find it, and you can often get a bit of info that will help you determine what you are looking for.

 

The film can velcroed under a park bench and keyholders stuck to something magnetic as mentioned in previous posts are the most common micos and most easily found.

 

After that it could be anything from a hollowed-out bolt on a train to an itty-bitty glass ampule stuck in an old wasp nest!

 

Micros, like all caches, vary from one area to the next. How this game is played is often determined by the strongest voice in an area - so film can or keyholder micros that are hidden under light-pole skirts may be common in one area and totally devoid in another.

 

You will hear a lot of whining about micros, but it's really what each geocacher enjoys - you may find fake leaves on trees, pinecones with a small tube inserted in their base, fake snakes and so forth.

 

Micros can be and often are far more of a challenge to find than any other size of cache, so looking for something out of the ordinary, like a pile of sticks or rocks, won't be of much help when hunting micros.

 

Look instead for detail - and hope the hider slipped up! A small breat-mint container might measure 1" square by .25" thick and be inserted in the crack between rocks in a rock wall - incredibly difficult to find unless the hider didn't paint it the right color or a piece of velcro that holds it was left showing.

 

Micros can be anything that will contain a log and could be anywhere!

 

Have fun,

Ed

Edited September 18, 2006 by TheAlabamaRambler

[heckle]

I have one cache that is a multi. On one stage, I took to magnetic strips about 2" x 1/8", wrote the coordinates on a strip of plastic and put it between the strips (good thing that one side was sticky). Then I put it to the inside of an old rusty metal fence/sign post that was in the woods. My clue? "Magnetic but not a keyholder".

 

So, this just goes to reinforce that a micro can be just about anything!

[+GreyingJay]

Well... the guardrail/dumpster/parkinglot ones depends on where you are. In Winnipeg, I have yet to hit a single one of any of the above

 

Kab,

 

I wouldn't necessarily characterize all of these as micros, but give these a try:

 

The Forks (GCM256)

 

On the Waterfront (GCNFAB)

 

No 1. Northern (GCPZDF) (currently disabled)

 

Elm Park Bridge (I see you've already found this one)

 

Those are the sorts of mindsets you use when hunting micros and small urban caches... Elm Park Bridge and The Forks are not that far off of a "guard rail hide"...

[+Thrak]

Beware of misleading "hints" and descriptions with micro caches. I've seen a few where the hint was "magnetic" or the description said the cache was a magnetic keyholder and then the cache was a magnetic keyholder that was attached to a wooden item with velcro.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Oh, heck. I hide a fake rock in a woodpecker hole in a tree. Gets quite a few laughs.

[+cimawr]

Please help me out. Im new and need help with finding "micros". Ive gotten there but cant find them. What do I look for? Should I have to over turn mulch or other things? Generally, are they in plan sight?

 

Thanks,

aquafuzz

 

I'm fairly new to caching myself; 2.5 months, about 32 finds, of which I think about 2/3 have been micros.

Most have been either 35mm film containers or magnetic key holders that were concealed in or on man-made items - billboards, walls, drainspouts, light fixtures, etc, etc - at rest stops, behind stores, on parking lots, and so forth.

However, I've also seen things like a plastic tube buried in a hole with a rock on top, a golf ball-sized object with a small tube inserted into it (e.g the actual container was "nano" sized, then concealed in something "micro" sized), and the like.

And only two have been somewhat "in plain sight" - one on the ground behind an A/C unit, looking like something that belonged there, and one in a magnetic key holder on the underside of a roadside fixture, but visible from a distance if you were looking for it.

[+KA7CJH]

Unless your in a paved parking lot, You could always look for a well established trail. My last trip to Sacremento that was the method we used to find alot of caches.

 

And another thing. When your GPS'r says your within 5-10 feet,, Put the GPS'r away and start looking.

 

Some micros are also velcro'd to larger objects.

 

Chris - KA7CJH

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Oh, heck. I hide a fake rock in a woodpecker hole in a tree. Gets quite a few laughs.

 

Yep, cachers can be evil! One multi-cache here describes a stage as magnetic - it's a magnetic keyholder, hidden in a hole in a rock face 20' from the nearest metallic object.

 

It does get found regularly, and from the logs folks like it!

[+Confucius' Cat]

Oh, heck. I hide a fake rock in a woodpecker hole in a tree. Gets quite a few laughs.

 

Yep, cachers can be evil! One multi-cache here describes a stage as magnetic - it's a magnetic keyholder, hidden in a hole in a rock face 20' from the nearest metallic object.

 

It does get found regularly, and from the logs folks like it!

Ah, yes!

The Red herring.

Beware the ubiquitous red herring.

 

I love it when the location is "obvious" and then the cache is really somewhere else and "right under your nose".