Trouble with nanocache logs

[+Kohavis]

I just received three Nano2 caches I had bought just for fun. They're the little black magnetic caches not much bigger than a pencil eraser.

 

The problem I'm having is with the little rolled up "log" inside. When it's placed in the cap and seated, it can't be removed unless you use a pair of tweezers and grab the center. Then it's easy. But how many cachers carry tweezers. Simply grabbing the outside with your fingernails only makes it seem to grab the inside of the cap tighter. Squeezing too tight might damage the log.

 

I don't want to hide a cache that's going to give some poor cacher fits trying to remove the log. Here are a few grabs. Any ideas?

 

[knowschad]

Glue a short piece of thin wire to the inside end of the log. Some brands already come with that feature.

[+Headhardhat]

This issue also can happen with some micros as well. Simply put in your description to bring tweezers. Most cachers already know that if you are looking for a nano bring your tweezers.

 

-HHH

[+Headhardhat]

Glue a short piece of thin wire to the inside end of the log. Some brands already come with that feature.

 

What a cool idea!

 

-HHH

[+J10fly]

I've never ran into one that I've needed to use anything to get it out. I normally just bang it out. Hold it with my thumb and pointer finger and smack my other hand and normally the center comes out enough to grip it.

[+Kohavis]

I tried the banging and the thing is so new, the paper is stiff and doesn't cooperate.

 

I like the wire idea, but the "bring tweezers" idea is also good. I didn't know that was a standard practice.

 

I found a similar nano the other day and the log was so well worn the paper came out easily. I wonder if this would become a non-issue if I "pre-wear" the log by crumpling and the re-rolling it. If that doesn't work, I think I'll go with the little wire idea

 

Thanks for the advice!

[+MuddyPawPrints]

I use the bang theory as mentioned in the previous post. I have also seen the wire trick. Great tips.

 

We carry a nut pick with us in our bag to help us with micros/nanos. It works wonders.

[+J10fly]

Just another trick too.....use a quilling tool to roll them. Works great and they are relatively cheap at any arts & crafts store. Come to think about it, they would work great for removing the log also.

[+Kohavis]

I use the bang theory as mentioned in the previous post. I have also seen the wire trick. Great tips.

 

We carry a nut pick with us in our bag to help us with micros/nanos. It works wonders.

What a good idea!

 

I've planted four "micro containers already and what I did was fashion some coathanger wire so there's a little loop at the bottom, just smaller than the diameter of the tube. On the top end there's a little handle. Cachers can simply grab the wire handle and pull. The contents slide out nicely.

 

But I'm not sure the nano has enough room for any sort of a handle on top. I think the thin wire idea is a winner

[sdarken]

If the log is jammed in so tight that it can't easily be removed then it might be a challenge for people to re-roll and replace as well so you might want to consider shortening the log to make things easier for everyone.

 

I always get frustrated when it takes me multiple attempts to get a log back in.

[Dinoprophet]

On a slight tangent, I avoid nanos not due to some perceived lameness but because of those log sheets. And it's not so much the removal as the putting-back. I'm bad at it, and some cache owners might be mad at me for mangling their log sheet.

 

So let me suggest not making the log sheet as long as possible. Leave room for less-than-perfect rerolling.

 

Edit: yeah, what sdarken said, too

Edited September 9, 2008 by Dinoprophet

[Skippermark]

If the log is jammed in so tight that it can't easily be removed then it might be a challenge for people to re-roll and replace as well so you might want to consider shortening the log to make things easier for everyone.

 

I always get frustrated when it takes me multiple attempts to get a log back in.

That's the worst. When they're new, the length doesn't really matter, but as the log gets signed more and more, it gets harder and harder to roll up small, causing the log to get stuck in the threads and torn. It's a big mess.

[+TeamAtlas]

Just another trick too.....use a quilling tool to roll them. Works great and they are relatively cheap at any arts & crafts store. Come to think about it, they would work great for removing the log also.

 

Hey thanks for that tip, I just happen to already own one that I never use. It's going in my caching bag now!

[+gmcpower98]

I just put in the description on mine.....

"you WILL need tweezers to remove the log from the container!"

[+ShowStop]

Easy solution is to throw said nano device in the closest trash can.

[+DanOCan]

One of DanOCan's Laws of Geocaching:

 

"The time spent re-rolling the logbook in a micro cache is inversely proportional to the time spent finding the cache in the first place."

[+DeRock & The Psychic Cacher]

Hemostats - a must have tool for every well equipped caching bag. Especially if you're on a numbers run or it's below zero (fahrenheit).

 

Just ask an old hippie - they'll have a pair laying around!

 

Deane

AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

[+StarBrand]

I try to skip such caches so no issues for me...........

[+BuxCamper]

Carry a Swiss army knife and you'll have miniature tweezers available. I always have a Victorinox Classic with me.

 

I don't mind pulling the log out of a nano or re-rolling. What I hate is trying to sign that thin strip of paper!

[+infiniteMPG]

Carry a Swiss army knife and you'll have miniature tweezers available. I always have a Victorinox Classic with me.

Lost my nice Gerber pocket knife and in searching for a replacement found a Gerber Clutch, a totally cool miniature multi-tool. One of the things I absolutely love about this sturdy little tool is the fact it has a micro miniature pair of tweezers in it. It's also smaller and lighter then my pocket knife was, and a 1,000 times more handy (especially with nanos).

 

Nothing worse then sitting in a kayak on the middle of a river paddle, trying to construct a mount for a paddle only cache and needing to cut a piece of strong bailing wire and nothing but a pocket knife... did the old bend-back-and-forth-until-it-breaks routine and burned my fingers from the heat, slipped and dropped the whole wire into the drink. Not anymore

[+team moxiepup]

On a slight tangent, I avoid nanos not due to some perceived lameness but because of those log sheets. And it's not so much the removal as the putting-back. I'm bad at it, and some cache owners might be mad at me for mangling their log sheet.

 

So let me suggest not making the log sheet as long as possible. Leave room for less-than-perfect rerolling.

 

Edit: yeah, what sdarken said, too

 

Making a nano log by gluing 3 or 4 shorter length strips of paper together, ideally with the above mentioned thin bit of wire, works really well.

 

We've been taking sheets from a small water proof Groundspeak logbook, & cutting 3 inch strips. This way, there isn't a 9 inch long thin sheet to try to roll back up, which tend to get mangled after a lot of use. The 3 inch long strip "logbook" seems to hold up much better than when we used one long rolled up strip.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I can usually get them out with my pocket knife. What I like about the Geocaching nanos is the resealable tape used on the log. Much easier to roll back up, seal, and put back in the nano.

[+9Key]

I can usually get them out with my pocket knife. What I like about the Geocaching nanos is the resealable tape used on the log. Much easier to roll back up, seal, and put back in the nano.

I gave up trying to make my own nano logs so I buy the ones that have the wire and the reuseable tape. Of course you don't have such problems with ammo cans or lock-n-locks.

[+catsnfish]

Here is a silly thing I wrote awhile back. :)

 

Nanos! Great challenges to find but the challenges don’t stop there. Ever had a log that seemed to be glued in and no tools at hand to get it out with? I’ve tried the inertia methods where I either tap the edge of the nano, hoping to creep the log out enough to grab it with my fingernails or the more vigorous thumping hoping to get it to fly out altogether. Usually my bruised knuckles give out before the tiny log does. One day after several tappers and thumpers and tender digits I decided to apply my noggin to nano logging.

My first thought was that a handle would be nice, so I went to my eclectic library and dug out the old origami book. Well a paper swan log would be really cool but wouldn’t fit in the nano, so I just folded one end at a 45 degree angle and then folded the small vertical tail in half. That left me with a thin flag sticking up that was slightly stiffer yet still flexible enough to give when the nano was screwed back together.

The next revelation came when I was rolling the log up with its little tail in the center and aah aah sneeeezed. Well that sneeze was a doozy and my hands pulled away from each other, pulling that little flag out of the center of the roll quite a ways so that it looked like a paper corkscrew. Ok I roll it back up real small and place it in the nano and the flag just jumps up at me. I push it down and it springs back up. So I pulled the center all the way out and then re-roll it. It sprang up even higher. Screwed the base on the nano, unscrewed the nano and the log jumped up like a soldier at attention, waving the little flag. Wow! I think I’m on to something!

A few hours later with cramped fingers from opening nanos and re-rolling them it dawned on me (literally, I had spent all night playing with paper springs and having paper soldiers salute me) that if I rolled the log up in a cone shape, that I had more” handle” and could roll it up quicker and tighter without developing nano claw in my rolling hand.

Well, being exhausted and suffering from nano claw anyway, I went to bed and slept fitfully but at least my hand uncramped. After a cup of coffee I decided to cut new logs because if I could roll them up easier I could make them longer and have to replace the log less often. I folded up my tails, did the initial flat roll, pulled out the center by the flag stretched it out into a good spring, rolled it up like a cone and placed it into the nano. Grabbed another cup of coffee and opened the nano up. Oh nooo! My little soldier was barely peeking his head out over the bunker and if it wasn’t for the flag I would have had to tap or thump it out. Hmmm my greed or laziness in making the log longer was causing too much friction for the spring effect to work Easy fix, snip off a bit and it was jumping higher than ever.

Ok I had this mastered and replaced my first nano cache log with my new sprung log and waited for the next finder to extol the virtues of the wondrous self extracting nanolog. Hmm a few weeks went by before it was found. No mention of the log’s action. Ok a few more finders and still no mention so I went to check on it, opened it up and the log just sat there, no salute, nothing. Grrrr I sprung it out re-rolled it and it worked beautifully again. I guess paper just doesn’t have the tensile memory of steel but if the twist is reapplied it will work a bit longer. I might have to try again with rite in the rain paper as it is a stiffer paper to begin with it may retain its springiness longer. In the mean time until my nanolog theories catch on, I carry a sewing pin with the big ball on one end, about 2 inches long stuck in my cache hat and haven’t bruised a knuckle since.

[Neos2]

We wouldn't dream of caching without tweezers. There is a pair on the multi-tool I carry clipped on my pack.

 

We also have a flexible grabber tool, a mirror on a flexible stick, a small hand mirror, a magnet on a telescoping rod, some string, some duct tape rolled on itself, and small, medium, and large flashlights.

 

I can add that there have been at least three times we were caching in a rental car and wished we had also carried along a nice pair of channel locks. (We do keep one in the trunk of the car we usually use to cache).

 

I count those as typical tools of the trade, not special equipment.

[+WRASTRO]

We usually have tweezers but have also had good luck with the tip of our pen or pencil. A few times a small twig has done the trick. One time we rigged up a way to literally suck the log out without touching mouth to the container. Use less log length and include the bit of wire. All finders will appreciate it.

[+3doxies]

Hemostats - a must have tool for every well equipped caching bag. Especially if you're on a numbers run or it's below zero (fahrenheit).

 

Just ask an old hippie - they'll have a pair laying around!

 

Deane

AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

 

Absolutely! We were at a gun show not long ago, and a knife vendor there had a large tub of hemostats priced at $1 each - beats the Wally World fishing versions at $4.95! Had straight and curved, varying jaw lengths as well as overall lengths. Got several pair (have lost a pair or two over time, so it seemed like a reasoable investment). They make quick work of nano logs, blood centrifuge tube logs, and various other bothersome tasks.

[+twotfd]

A paperclip will work too...

[+Trail Cachers]

One of the things that we are trying with our nano's is having no log at all. We have found that as has been mentioned that logs are hard to remove and the log fills up fast and has to be replaced often. What we are doing is removing the log and using a label maker putting a number in either the cap or base and in order to log it just send me the number that you have found. So there is no more having to constantly replace logs and there is no need to fight getting it out.

[+trainlove]

The simplest way to not have to have cachers carry tweesers with them:

Do not completely fill up the cap with the log, i.e. when rolled up it does NOT have to be a snug fit.

Whenever I can , I tear off an inch or so from other peoples way too big log sheets in nano's. The finders after me would thank me if they knew how I saved them the trouble of getting the log out themselves.

[+benh57]

 

I don't want to hide a cache that's going to give some poor cacher fits trying to remove the log. Here are a few grabs. Any ideas?

 

 

Well if you don't want that, then the best idea is: Don't place them.

 

No matter what, the log will either get full really fast, or be impossible to remove from the container eventually.

[+benh57]

One of the things that we are trying with our nano's is having no log at all. We have found that as has been mentioned that logs are hard to remove and the log fills up fast and has to be replaced often. What we are doing is removing the log and using a label maker putting a number in either the cap or base and in order to log it just send me the number that you have found. So there is no more having to constantly replace logs and there is no need to fight getting it out.

 

That is called a 'code word cache', and is explicitly disallowed by Groundspeak. There was a big to-do about them a couple years back.

 

Having a log is the absolute minimum requirement for any cache.

[+Cherokee Bill]

Yep! Micro's and that tight fitting log I just ordered two "magnetic-bolts" considered "nano's" to use as cache containers. Took me 10-minutes, using a "metal dentists dental-pick" to pry the log out!

 

Looked nice on the web site I ordered the "bolts' from, but truely" I am disappointed.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Metal darts are my tool of choice.

 

They are cheap, long, thin and have slots in the end that are perfect for retrieving and rolling nano and micro logs.

 

Screw an eye hook into one end to attach to your key ring and you always have your nano roller with you.

 

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/g...a_2017_16028431

Edited September 10, 2008 by TheAlabamaRambler

[+Wild Thing 73]

We call these caches containers....Pica. Nanos, I thing are just a bit larger, like the container inside a bison tube. But what ever....I luv um....I always look forward to finding picas or nanos....I have never hidden a "pica", but just today, I did hide a "nano", which I have hidden many. I guess I'm just to cheap to buy a pica. A bison tube you get a twofer... Bison tube and a nano tube...nano's are easy to attach a small magnet. Which means you can place them almost anywhere...Happy caching.

[+Kohavis]

I try to skip such caches so no issues for me...........

Around here that would eliminate about 75% of the caches. They're by far the most popular ...at least in my neck of the woods.

 

Problem solved, and thank you for all the good suggestions The cache is waiting to be reviewed now.

 

I crumpled the log up over and over, rubbed it between two fingers, to "break" the paper grain and stiffness. Like with a new dollar bill. Then I rerolled, and amazingly, the paper still remembered which way it had been rolled, but was no longer the consistency of fine sandpaper, and it slid out of the cap with just a couple of taps Nano log paper is tough stuff, so you can do all this without worrying about tearing it.

 

BTW, I like the origami "flag" idea. I'll use that if I ever get super-stubborn paper.

[+MSalisbury]

The best answers are usually the simplest. The original post showed a new nano with the metal core that the log is rolled around. So think about this - In one hand you have a small piece of paper rolled around a small bit of metal (the ones I recently bought were magnetic to help keep the paper in the lid) that is inside a lid. In your other hand you have a case WITH A STRONG EARTH MAGNET in the base.

 

Use the earth magnet in the base to grab onto the piece of metal in the cap and pull it out. Much easier to use and handier than toting around a pair of tweezers.

 

Of course this doesn't work on older caches where there is no metal insert, but the original post showed a new nano. For older caches with just a piece of paper where the log is jammed in tightly I find that spitting into the case and mushing the log around with a stick until you can pour it out like a big spit-wad makes it easy to extract. Kinda hard to write on though... (just kidding of course)

[+Kohavis]

The original post showed a new nano with the metal core that the log is rolled around.

Nope. No metal. Only paper with a tight fold at the log center.

[+teamdjpizza]

I say outlaw them, I hate 'em. Edited September 14, 2008 by djpizza

[+Kohavis]

I say outlaw them, I hate 'em.

Unfortunately, in many urban areas, this is the only hide type available. Pretty hard to hide a coffee can in Times Square

[+3doxies]

Similar to the attached wire, we've seen some folks glue a short piece of a toothpick to one end of the log, making it a bit easier to roll it. Works for nanos as well as vial and centrifuge tube logs. Have also seen folks place logs for those slightly bigger containers inside a piece of plastic soda straw - cut the straw slightly shorter than the log to make it easy to remove (Hardee's straws work well!).

 

And for making nano logs, a chaep straight-cut shredder works wonders. Print lines extending perpendicular to the feed direction on a piece of paper, feed it to the shredder and you get a bunch of nano logs ready for use.

[Mushtang]

We call these caches containers....Pica. Nanos, I thing are just a bit larger, like the container inside a bison tube. But what ever....I luv um....I always look forward to finding picas or nanos....I have never hidden a "pica", but just today, I did hide a "nano", which I have hidden many. I guess I'm just to cheap to buy a pica. A bison tube you get a twofer... Bison tube and a nano tube...nano's are easy to attach a small magnet. Which means you can place them almost anywhere...Happy caching.

Actually, they're all called Micros.

[Mushtang]

I say outlaw them, I hate 'em.

If a container was outlawed just because someone hated them, we'd have no allowable containers to use and the game would get shut down.

[+Renegade Knight]

Nano cache logs normally get destroyed in short order. It's the nature of the best. All you can do is swap it out every now and then, or hide it so it can't be found and nobody logs it.