+3katz Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 We are very new, and we really want to find some of the micros hidden in our city. Among other things the stealth of the situation is appealing. However, we have been to three locations, multiple times, and left each time completely frustrated. In most situations, we know that our coordinates are pretty solid - we have been finding traditional caches on trails, in woods, etc., and are now pretty good with our GPS. We just don't understand the strategy for finding micros, which obviously must involve more subtlety and detail. Can anyone direct us to a good tutorial source? THANKS! Quote
+Snake & Rooster Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 We are very new, and we really want to find some of the micros hidden in our city. Among other things the stealth of the situation is appealing. However, we have been to three locations, multiple times, and left each time completely frustrated. In most situations, we know that our coordinates are pretty solid - we have been finding traditional caches on trails, in woods, etc., and are now pretty good with our GPS. We just don't understand the strategy for finding micros, which obviously must involve more subtlety and detail. Can anyone direct us to a good tutorial source? THANKS! Some hiders are pretty creative with micros. Once you get an idea of the types of containers used in your area, it will get easier to spot them. Try concentrating on seeing what shouldn't be there--things that don't look quite right, or seem out of place. If you want to get an idea of what some people have done, check out this thread. Quote
+Knight2000 Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 Have you only had trouble with one micro or multiples? If it was just one that you have throughly looked for i would wonder if it had been muggled unless the difficulty is 2 or more. It may not be muggled and just be a creative hide. Has anyone else found it since your DNF's? (Did you log your DNF's?) Maybe ask the owner for a hint? Quote
+michigansnorkelers Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 What is the DIFFICULTY of the micros you are searching for? Stick to a 1 or 2 initially. Micros can be VERY EVIL! I have found micros that were simply logsheets pasted to the back of a refrigerator magnet, painted the same color as the metal object they are attached to! Many micros are in plain sight, but are evilly (is there such a word?) camouflaged. I have seen several that were metal bolts, with holes machined through the body of the bolt. When the bolt is one of many holding a guardrail together you are in for a lot of fun or frustration! To see what you're up against, see this tread! And, good luck! http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=62421 Quote
+TrailGators Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 It helps to have these caches loaded into your PDA, so you can review the hints or the past logs when you get really stuck. There are many threads that discuss how to to do this. It also helps to go with other people. The more eyes the better. Good Luck! Quote
+3katz Posted July 21, 2007 Author Posted July 21, 2007 First, we are quite sure that we are just plain not finding the caches, and they really are there, because we watch the logs, and other people go and find them after we looked and didn't. We have a lot to learn, obviously. Thanks for the reference to the thread on containers. That is helpful to see what might be done - but in a way even more intimidating! I will show my little cacher and see if it makes her more, or less, determined! Quote
+Knight2000 Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 First, we are quite sure that we are just plain not finding the caches, and they really are there, because we watch the logs, and other people go and find them after we looked and didn't. We have a lot to learn, obviously. Thanks for the reference to the thread on containers. That is helpful to see what might be done - but in a way even more intimidating! I will show my little cacher and see if it makes her more, or less, determined! Are you giving up on this thread already? What was the difficulty of the cache in question? What is the ratio of find to DNF's? Quote
+TrailGators Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 First, we are quite sure that we are just plain not finding the caches, and they really are there, because we watch the logs, and other people go and find them after we looked and didn't. We have a lot to learn, obviously. Thanks for the reference to the thread on containers. That is helpful to see what might be done - but in a way even more intimidating! I will show my little cacher and see if it makes her more, or less, determined! If you find yourself getting frustrated, I would recommend switching to larger containers or caches with an easier difficulty rating. Quote
+3katz Posted July 21, 2007 Author Posted July 21, 2007 No, not giving up. If we were quitters we wouldn't be wrestling with this problem! The micro we went looking for last night was rated only 1.5 difficulty, and the owner describes it as a "traditional" cache. Most of the logs are finds, including very recent ones. It just looked like a tiny little rest area to us, with a few park benches, pots, and some simple landscaping. The instructions said it is in plain view and you need not dismantle anything or disturb the landscaping to find it. Searched the park benches for magnetic containers. Felt under the rims of the ornamental pots for the plants. Examined every aspect of the trash can. Looked carefully at the trees. Nothing looked out of place except us - we must have looked like kooks to any passerby. Luckily it was Harry Potter night and there were plenty of other strange things happening on the street. Having looked at the thread 2 of you have noted, we are now wondering about the mulch around the landscaping, what appeared to be a fungus growing in the mulch in one spot, the leaves on the trees, etc. Don't recall seeing any bolts, at least none were obvious - clearly we are going to be back at some of these sites, and let's see if we get any better at this. I'd be much happier on a long scenic hike to a traditional cache, but I have a junior partner with strong opinions. Quote
+imajeep Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 (edited) We went 0 for 5 the first morning we went out hunting for micros. It takes a few trips to get the hang of how these things are hidden. Some tips: -- Lamp posts are popular hiding spots (and considered lame by many). Most lamp posts (and flag poles, and bike racks) have 'skirts', metal collars that fit over the bottom to hide the bolts that attach them to the concrete. These collars generally slide upwards, which is why they are popiular hiding spots. -- Park benches are popular hiding spots. Sometimes a micro will be a magnetic key case that is attached to the underside of the bench. Other times, velcro is used. These hides can be quite clever (for example, a set of coordinates to a second stage on a flat magnet on the inside of the tube that makes up the frame of a park bench), and you have to look pretty closely to find it. -- Fence posts are very popular. Most people dont realize that the caps on chain-link and plastic fence posts lift off. We've seen all kinds of micros, and even some minis, stored there. -- Camoflouge is always popular. We've seen micros inside fake residential doorbells attached to the side of commercial entrances, fake pieces attached to waste bins, and a micro made up to look like a sign on a fence--it folded out to reveal the log. -- Guard rails are popular. We've found a bunch of micros in magnetic key cases slapped to the back of guard rails. -- Small trees are popular hiding spots. We seen micros attached to fishing line and dropped down knotholes, with the fishing line anchored to the tree by a very small eye-hook, and another micro in an abandoned birds nest. -- Sometimes, hides will be 'evil'. We did one recently where the GPSr pointed directly at a lamppost, but nothing was there. We found the micro stuck up the inside of a park bench fifteen feet away. I don't know if the cache owner deliberately provided red-herring coordinates, but sometimes one wonders. That should be enough to get you going. Once you have found a few micros, you will start developing a geosense for them. Lamp posts will be come so obvious that you will groan every time your GPSr leads you to one. Edited July 21, 2007 by imajeep Quote
+Miragee Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 I have found a few caches that are just a flat magnet sheet attached to a metal object, such as a recyling container in a small park. On the back of the magnetic sheet is the log -- a piece of "Rite in the Rain" paper. Those are truly evil. One of those here fits in so well that when the maintenance people repainted, they painted very carefully around the magnet . . . Quote
+TrailGators Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 I have found a few caches that are just a flat magnet sheet attached to a metal object, such as a recyling container in a small park. On the back of the magnetic sheet is the log -- a piece of "Rite in the Rain" paper. Those are truly evil. One of those here fits in so well that when the maintenance people repainted, they painted very carefully around the magnet . . . I woudn't give away all the secrets! Half the fun is dicovering those clever caches! Quote
+Miragee Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 Yeah . . . but even after I had found two like that, I never would have found another one like that in Colorado if the cache owner had not been standing next to me giving me "Hot"/"Cold" hints. When I was a brand new cacher, I had to have a big hint to learn the caps on fence posts lift up . . . And, wasn't that a clever hide the first time you found out those "skirts" on lamp posts in parking lots lift up . . . Quote
+michigansnorkelers Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 Yeah . . . but even after I had found two like that, I never would have found another one like that in Colorado if the cache owner had not been standing next to me giving me "Hot"/"Cold" hints. When I was a brand new cacher, I had to have a big hint to learn the caps on fence posts lift up . . . And, wasn't that a clever hide the first time you found out those "skirts" on lamp posts in parking lots lift up . . . Yeah, but I learned THAT after I learned NOT to unscrew the wiring access panels on the side of the lamp poles! Quote
+Knight2000 Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 I have found a few caches that are just a flat magnet sheet attached to a metal object, such as a recyling container in a small park. On the back of the magnetic sheet is the log -- a piece of "Rite in the Rain" paper. Those are truly evil. One of those here fits in so well that when the maintenance people repainted, they painted very carefully around the magnet . . . I like those. The only one like that though was too easy. I was expecting a hide like this and it was the first placed i looked. Couldn't sign the log though- it didn't have one. It was a password cache. Quote
+Team Cotati Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 (edited) We are very new, and we really want to find some of the micros hidden in our city. Among other things the stealth of the situation is appealing. However, we have been to three locations, multiple times, and left each time completely frustrated. In most situations, we know that our coordinates are pretty solid - we have been finding traditional caches on trails, in woods, etc., and are now pretty good with our GPS. We just don't understand the strategy for finding micros, which obviously must involve more subtlety and detail. Can anyone direct us to a good tutorial source? THANKS! Your experience is the exact reason that The Team filters out micros. We only look for them when hunting with others and then we usually give them the "pleasure" of finding them or when on a training run with friends. I only have one geocaching buddy who enjoys hunting micros and I seriously think that he'd hunt for an 'evil' hidden up a pig's butt. Love the guy but truth be told he is a micro hunting slut. ;-) Edited July 22, 2007 by Team Cotati Quote
+ScarabDrowner Posted July 23, 2007 Posted July 23, 2007 And, wasn't that a clever hide the first time you found out those "skirts" on lamp posts in parking lots lift up . . . I finally found one of those recently. Now I understand why LPC is a bad term around here. It must have been the most soulless, least challenging cache I'd ever hunted. I have forever sworn off hiding one like it, unless I can find a way to make it truly evil and challenging. Quote
+Trucker Lee Posted July 23, 2007 Posted July 23, 2007 The one that gave me the most fits as a newby was a matchstick holder, tied to monofilament line, anchored to a bolt, and dropped down a signpost. Wife and I went 3 times looking for this, checked every inch of the brick wall near it for loose mortar, checked the grass parkway, even went across the street and checked some bushes thinking coords were off. The most evil micro............ haven't found it YET!! Quote
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