Questions about ratings.. Could you dumb it down for me?

[+Hellolost]

Could someone please dumb down the rating system for me. I get the general idea. Once is easy Five is hard.

But since I am new would you mind giving me a little more general idea.

 

For example:

For container size

1 micro... Something the size of a ladybug???

2

3

4

5 An elephant can hide in here???

 

and

 

Difficulty

1 Plain sight

2

3

4

5 40 foot up a tree and you need to carry a ladder over 6 miles??

 

AND

 

Terrain

1 Walk through the shade flat

2

3

4

5 You are climbing to the top of mount everest???

 

I am just trying to figure out exactly how to read this. Since I am new I don't want to go to container size 1 if really is the size of a ladybug.

I also don't want to climb trees lol. Well .... I have already dug around in a tree..lol

[+darklighter]

Micros can be extremely small, but the smallest I've ever come across is a bison tube, which is somewhere around the size of a small pencap. Most micros, particularly magnetic urban ones, tend to be a bit larger -- up to the size of an altoid tin.

 

Finding micros is probably going to be a gigantic pain in the butt for you if you're caching outside of an urban area, though.

 

As far as difficulty goes, the easiest caches won't be in plain sight, otherwise they'd get muggled! They are usually pretty simple to find around ground zero, though. They might be placed under a tree, or behind something, but they don't require great cleverness.

Edited May 22, 2008 by darklighter

[+briansnat]

Micro is roughly film canister or Altoids tin and smaller

 

Small is about the size of a sandwich sized Tupperware container

 

Large is a 5 gallon bucket and larger

 

Regular is everything betwen small and large.

 

As for ratings you are pretty close with your guesses. Here are the widely accepted definitions:

 

Difficulty rating:

* Easy. In plain sight or can be found in a few minutes of searching.

** Average. The average cache hunter would be able to find this in less than 30 minutes of hunting.

*** Challenging. An experienced cache hunter will find this challenging, and it could take up a good portion of an afternoon.

**** Difficult. A real challenge for the experienced cache hunter - may require special skills or knowledge, or in-depth preparation to find. May require multiple days / trips to complete.

***** Extreme. A serious mental or physical challenge. Requires specialized knowledge, skills, or equipment to find cache.

 

Terrain rating:

* Handicapped accessible. (Terrain is likely to be paved, is relatively flat, and less than a 1/2 mile hike is required.)

** Suitable for small children. (Terrain is generally along marked trails, there are no steep elevation changes or heavy overgrowth. Less than a 2 mile hike required.)

*** Not suitable for small children. (The average adult or older child should be OK depending on physical condition. Terrain is likely off-trail. May have one or more of the following: some overgrowth, some steep elevation changes, or more than a 2 mile hike.)

**** Experienced outdoor enthusiasts only. (Terrain is probably off-trail. Will have one or more of the following: very heavy overgrowth, very steep elevation (requiring use of hands), or more than a 10 mile hike. May require an overnight stay.)

***** Requires specialized equipment and knowledge or experience, (boat, 4WD, rock climbing, SCUBA, etc) or is otherwise extremely difficult.

Edited May 22, 2008 by briansnat

[+ncfinn]

Nano is the size of the eraser at the end of a pencil (and generally magnetic).

[+Rattlebars]

"Nattering nabobs of " nano caches... yes, this is a magnetic nano cache with a log book inside.

 

[+MountainRacer]

For rating the terrain and difficulty of your caches, there is a link on the page where you register your new cache that sends you to a very useful utility; when hiding my own caches, I go through the questions it gives me and adjust what it tells me according to my experience. I seldom need to adjust it much, perhaps half a star in either direction.