Boy, has geocaching changed! Microcaches everywhere!

[+sbell111]

One that popped up today they cache page was a 1/2 mile walk each way and said something like "at first I was going to place an ammo can or something and then I found a place that would allow me to place a micro like I had been wanting to place." nothing else along the walk and I think it's along a drainage ditch. Maybe the view is worth it, but I have a toddler with me most of the time. Besides if there were places to put a larger cache why use a micro? ...

You answered your own question in the bolded bit.

 

The person wanted to hide a micro. He found a perfect place for it, so he hid it.

I love micros, but I'm not such a big fan of the park & grab.

 

I've been blamed for some of the micro proliferation in our area because I was one of the early micro hiders... .

You have something there. People tend to hide the kinds of caches they find. ...

The bolded bit is only true if the person liked what he found.

Not true. I asked the question

If your first hide was a film canister micro..., Tell us what motivated you to hide it?

 

The general response was that people hid micros as stages in a multi and/or because it fit into the place they wanted to hide the cache and/or because cost was low or free. Not because they like micros. One person said he didn't like micros but he hid a lame [his word] micro on a sign to bring people to a scenic barn.

First, BS and my reply spoke to people's tendency. Coming up with one or two examples that run counter to the hypothesized tendency does not disprove anything. It should be noted that your only example that ran contrary to my hypothesis was the one guy who hid a micro to show off a barn.

 

Second, if one is to believe BS's theory, one must believe that people try out the game and find only caches that they do not enjoy. Rather than quitting this activity that hasn't brought them enjoyment, they hide caches just like the ones that they don't like. If these people were being paid to play the game, I might buy into the theory, but since it is a voluntary activity I believe that if people initially found only caches that they didn't like then they would merely quit wasting their time with the activity and, like BS, take up golf.

Yes, what is this people hide caches because they like to find them stuff? My first two caches in 2003 were Tupperware containers. I hid them because I thought Geocaching was pretty cool, I figured I should start contributing to hiding, and to take people to 1) a nice Island Park many might not have known about, or 2) an abandoned Zoo inside a County Park, which many of the locals remembered as kids.

 

And yes, I had found a few Tupperware containers before then. I did like finding them, but believe me, hiding them for that reason never once occurred to me.

I never suggested that people hide a cache solely because they would like to find that cache. I merely believe that when hiding caches, people tend to hide what they would like to find. Your post would tend to support this belief since you did hide caches that you would have liked to find. Edited May 14, 2010 by sbell111

[+Team Cotati]

There are waaaaayyyyy too many micros.

 

Micros are, in general, an embarrassment to the game and it's participants.

[+briansnat]

I love micros, but I'm not such a big fan of the park & grab.

 

I've been blamed for some of the micro proliferation in our area because I was one of the early micro hiders... .

You have something there. People tend to hide the kinds of caches they find. ...

The bolded bit is only true if the person liked what he found.

 

Not true. I asked the question

If your first hide was a film canister micro..., Tell us what motivated you to hide it?

 

The general response was that people hid micros as stages in a multi and/or because it fit into the place they wanted to hide the cache and/or because cost was low or free. Not because they like micros. One person said he didn't like micros but he hid a lame [his word] micro on a sign to bring people to a scenic barn.

 

Interesting that in your poll not one person said it was because he preferred micros. As I mentioned earlier, micros are only 15 percent of the caches in my area. We also have very few puzzle caches in my area.

 

Now if you go 40 miles west and cross the Delaware into PA, the percentage of micros increases dramatically.

 

Go 30-40 miles south into central Jersey and puzzle caches abound.

 

Was there some sort of anomaly that caused people who prefer puzzle caches to happen to live in central Jersey, people who prefer micros to happen to live in PA and people who prefer traditional, regular sized caches to live in northern NJ? I doubt it.

 

Some of the pioneer cache hiders in central Jersey were known for puzzle caches. Ekit10n, Natureboy44 and others. As new people entered the sport they encountered all those puzzle caches, so that's what they started hiding.

 

In northern NJ, the major early hiders like Cache Ninja, Skully & Mulder, Bassoonpilot, Artful Dodger and Waterboy were placing mostly regular sized, traditional caches. Those where the first caches I found and what I placed when I decided to start hiding caches. Had my first few finds been micros, I probably would have started hiding micros.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I ran a PQ based around the last cache you found.

 

Of 1000 caches nearest you 461 or 46.1% are micros.

 

If micros are spoiling your game it's because you are choosing to hunt them instead of the majority of nearby caches which are non-micro.

 

Get GSAK and PQs and you can choose to never see a micro again while still being able to hunt most caches.

[+DragonsWest]

June 1, 2003 I placed an ammo can on the top of a mountain. Not a particularly big mountain, at that. Since the hide it has been found about two dozen times.

 

I've hidden micros which have racked that up in a year.

 

I think the trend is most cachers go for the quick and easy.

 

On another tack - if all caches were trade caches, how much trading would you do?

 

Most of the time I go out with groups the swag is left as it was found. Once I remember someone trading for a pin he found in a decon. The total trades I have made in the past month I can count on one hand. Most of what I take and put is trackables - Love to pick them up and move them around, very rewarding to play a small part in their travels.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Most of the time I go out with groups the swag is left as it was found.

Same here. I rarely trade any more. Instead of the swag I used to carry in a hip pack I carry a single geocoin in my wallet just in case I see something I want to trade for.

[+briansnat]

June 1, 2003 I placed an ammo can on the top of a mountain. Not a particularly big mountain, at that. Since the hide it has been found about two dozen times.

 

I've hidden micros which have racked that up in a year.

 

I think the trend is most cachers go for the quick and easy.

 

As I said earlier its not a matter of cache size, it's a matter of accessibility. Easily accessible caches will always get more finds simply because they are accessible to more people. If it were possible to replace those micros with a regular cache you might get even more finds because all the people who filter out micros will be finding them too.

 

Place an easily accessible cache and you get finds from:

-The numbers hounds

-The radius clearers

-The just passing through cachers

-The cachers who don't have a lot of time

-Mobility challenged cachers

-Vacationers

-Cachers who prefer longer hikes

-The opportunistic cachers

 

Place a cache where there is a longer hike over somewhat challenging terrain and you get finds from:

-The radius clearers

-Cachers who prefer longer hikes

-Some vacationers

-Some numbers hounds

Edited May 14, 2010 by briansnat

[+DragonsWest]

I placed two small caches in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and they are less than 2 months there and are approaching 50 finds each, averaging about 1 find per day. Pretty easy access, but also in a fairly popular place for geocachers to visit.

 

(Massive props go out to Irwin Sports for his efforts to constructively place caches around the park, to make it a pleasant and educational destination for geocachers.)

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Most of the time I go out with groups the swag is left as it was found.

Same here. I rarely trade any more. Instead of the swag I used to carry in a hip pack I carry a single geocoin in my wallet just in case I see something I want to trade for.

 

You've been around long enough to know that geocoins don't count as trade items.

[+GoosenKitty]

When we started hiding caches (2008) we made sure ours were a good size (at least small ammo can) and we packed it full of goodies, including a camera in some. Every single good-size cache we placed disappeared or was destroyed within a few months. Then, the replacement (smaller) caches started to disappear as well! Come to find out that the police in our town and the management of our HOA were simply "confiscating" our caches - along with all the content. Apparently they were also just tossing them as we couldn't get them back. Talk about a killjoy!

Add to that the fact that many of the good-size caches we find are *literally* filled with trash, and you have enthusiasm that naturally wanes. We got bags and bags of fun pins (some just regular pins, most are reproductions of geocaching coins) that we started leaving in caches. Cachers would simply take them and leave nothing or just leave whatever trash was in their pockets.

Last gripe against putting out good caches: our effort feels completely wasted when now we get numerous logs with simply "TFTC" on them! I understand that for many cachers it is the hunt for numbers & stats - however this attitude is really affecting the entire sport. We've only been caching for a couple years - but have seen this effect so much more lately that we've stopped putting out caches entirely, and only go caching with a specific destination in mind.

[+Semper Questio]

Most of the time I go out with groups the swag is left as it was found.

Same here. I rarely trade any more. Instead of the swag I used to carry in a hip pack I carry a single geocoin in my wallet just in case I see something I want to trade for.

 

You've been around long enough to know that geocoins don't count as trade items.

 

They do if they are not activated travelers.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Most of the time I go out with groups the swag is left as it was found.

Same here. I rarely trade any more. Instead of the swag I used to carry in a hip pack I carry a single geocoin in my wallet just in case I see something I want to trade for.

 

You've been around long enough to know that geocoins don't count as trade items.

I hope you are joking. Unactivated geocoins are about the most popular trade item there is.

[+DragonsWest]

Most of the time I go out with groups the swag is left as it was found.

Same here. I rarely trade any more. Instead of the swag I used to carry in a hip pack I carry a single geocoin in my wallet just in case I see something I want to trade for.

 

You've been around long enough to know that geocoins don't count as trade items.

I hope you are joking. Unactivated geocoins are about the most popular trade item there is.

 

Alas, so are activated geocoins, even Travel Bugs. The average lifespan of a trackable item seems to be declining rapidly. I'm astounded when I find an old trackable, by which I mean one which has been going around for 3 or more years. None of mine have lasted a year before going missing. I have some dog tags which should me moving, but which are curiously idle. I often hope some of these make it back into circulation, as I've heard of rare cases of trackables which have been written off miraculously reappearing.

[+simpjkee]

I'm finding that over half of the caches listed in our area appear to be tiny logs the size of fortune cookie papers in microscopic containers. (Ok- I'm exaggerating, but you get the idea!)

 

The sad thing is that that is hardly an exaggeration.

 

Quite frankly, in an urban enviroment, I'd much rather go Waymarking so that I can see cooler stuff and take pictures instead of staring at gravel or bushes or lamp posts looking for a micro.

[+ADTCacheur]

I'm fine with micros except for 2 things:

1) most of the caches are micros where I am

2) when the first option is true, just try dropping off a TB, just try... You'll check. Hmmm should I go to that cache? Micro... That one? (I'm hoping you've caught on to the idea and I don't have to repeat 20 more times like I actually did...

[+drfred]

-The radius clearers

 

Hmmm...I've always wondered what category I fit into. I guess this is it. The radius clearer. Hmmm.

[+Larene]

Most of the time I go out with groups the swag is left as it was found.

Same here. I rarely trade any more. Instead of the swag I used to carry in a hip pack I carry a single geocoin in my wallet just in case I see something I want to trade for.

 

You've been around long enough to know that geocoins don't count as trade items.

I hope you are joking. Unactivated geocoins are about the most popular trade item there is.

 

If I saw one in a cache, do you leave a note that they are unactivated? I'm just wondering how I would know it was unactivated (and should be traded for) versus a geocoin that I'm supposed to move on?

[+wolfslady]

I'm sorry, but if a cache only costs $4.00, including the container, what kind of quality cache can that be? The only difference between it and a micro is the size; definitely can't be considered a quality cache just because it is larger. Most of my larger caches, directed towards adults, contained items ranging from $5.00 - $40.00 each; not counting the cost of the container. If you can stock a cache for $2.00 I'd sure appreciate a lesson on how you do that and make it a 'quality' cache. Eeven my 'kids' caches cost $15 $20, not counting the cost of the container. I'm truly amazed at how you do it for $4.00 total.

 

 

Well I didn't say it would be a the best quality cache, but it would be good enough to make a quite a few kids happy if people traded fairly. I'd say it would be an average cache for a small size. Toys of the a same sort kids get and enjoy in a party.bag. How is that not better than just a log?

 

 

But I'm good at finding a bargin and I have quite a few items that I plan to use to stock caches, without resorting to the party stores. For less than $10 I could fill an ammo can size container well enough that I think they would be items that most people looking at them wouldn't say "what a bunch of junk." (And I'm not talking about money or lotto tickets, just assorted swag.) So many of the people who complain about some of the cheap toys forget what a treasure they are to children. If they weren't there wouldn't machines that cost a quarter and up tucked into corners at stores and fast food joints. I don't have a problem with those items as long as they are clean, not broken and you didn't trade down with them. I will toss the ones my little one has no interest in into caches that are in sore need of anything. We ended up with about 5 of them last week because he just had to have "one of those cute little cups" and daddy kept putting money in the "bachine" until he got it for him. While my son has no interest in the 3 rings that were among his booty I have no doubt they might be just the thing that some little girl would think of as treasure. (And I have no doubt that somewhere there is a little girl with several of those cups she collected while trying to get one of those rings out of the same machine.) I guess that could make a valid argument for a cache that had those types of items only, being one kids would love and since I care more about them enjoying the cache more than I do about the adults I'm not at all worried about rather you might think my cache is quality. But if you'd like examples of things I've bought and the price of say a group of items I'll be happy to provide it.

 

 

Keep in mind I am not saying that micros are all bad. Just that 90% of them could have been done better. But if 10% of the players play for numbers and want to run out and get every LPC placed, more power to them. I just wish those who placed them would mark them as micro or nanos instead of so many marking them as unknown so you can't filter them out with a PQ. At least that's what they seem to do around here. Although they will often say right in the discription what they are, it's annoying to have to read every cache page to see what I'm dealing with. I guess it's not as bad as the one's who make it as a regular or large and say it's a micro in a larger container. I'm off to try and get some sleep.

[Mr.Yuck]

-The radius clearers

 

Hmmm...I've always wondered what category I fit into. I guess this is it. The radius clearer. Hmmm.

 

Actually, I've heard it described as "radius slave", and even "radius whore". So you'd better take the ball and run with that one.

[DannyCaffeine]

Well for us city people hiding an ammo can is hard to do in some places. I like bigger caches best but some of the most interesting and clever hides are micros. Plus, for me its not about swag its about the hunt. I prefer the hunting of large caches in the woods but a micro can have its moments.

 

Exept nanos. Even with my tiny fingers I manage to get them stuck in there

[+rokito87]

not that this has anything to do with the price of rice in china, but I do enjoy a good park and grab once in a while, mostly because I'm so addicted to geocaching that I need to do it even when I'm on my trip to wal-mart, and I only have a couple of mins to squish in a chache.

The beautiful hike ones are my fav, but park and grabs satiate the urge untill the weekend

 

This is my reasoning as well... I don't always have the time for an awesome hike (or even a nice walk in the park), especially during the school year. If I get out of class at 7 or 8 pm and feel like grabbing a few caches, I'll hit some micros that I know are in parking lots or on guardrails. The thrill of the hunt and find is still there for me with micros.

 

...But then again... I've only been caching for a few months. Who knows how I'll feel about them in the future...

[+Setan Meyacha]

Keep in mind I am not saying that micros are all bad. Just that 90% of them could have been done better. But if 10% of the players play for numbers and want to run out and get every LPC placed, more power to them. I just wish those who placed them would mark them as micro or nanos instead of so many marking them as unknown so you can't filter them out with a PQ. At least that's what they seem to do around here. Although they will often say right in the discription what they are, it's annoying to have to read every cache page to see what I'm dealing with. I guess it's not as bad as the one's who make it as a regular or large and say it's a micro in a larger container. I'm off to try and get some sleep.

 

Of the 105 caches you’ve found, to this date, 22 were micros. Of those 22 micros, I could only find one that was shown listed as ‘Not Chosen’; but, it was in the description that it was a nano, which is why a lot of cachers don’t list the size of the cache when it is a nano, there is no category for caches smaller than a micro. So, that must mean you had every opportunity to ‘weed’ out the micros if you really wanted to. That is not to imply that of those you found 90% couldn’t have been done better; I’m not familiar with the area those micros were hidden in, so don’t have a clue as to the quality of the location or the manner in which they were hidden. But, it does seem obvious that you haven’t, as yet, chosen to ignore those caches (micro caches) that add to your numbers.

I do agree with you that there does seem to be an abundance of what could be considered lame micro hides. But, I’m not in the mind of the person making the hides to know their motivation behind the hide. LPCs are obviously for the numbers players; either hiders or seekers. But, I prefer to keep an open mind as to why a micro might be hidden where I find it. I don’t always read the descriptions, just enter the coordinates and go looking, regardless of the size of the cache. And sometimes the reason for a cache being hidden where it is can be found in the description. Sometimes the reason is obvious once I reach the cache site; in which case, it doesn’t matter what size or type the cache is to me.

Guess it comes down to the age old question, “Does size matter?”; obviously, it does to some people and they have the option of not going after the ones that don’t ‘measure up’.

[Mr.Yuck]

Keep in mind I am not saying that micros are all bad. Just that 90% of them could have been done better. But if 10% of the players play for numbers and want to run out and get every LPC placed, more power to them. I just wish those who placed them would mark them as micro or nanos instead of so many marking them as unknown so you can't filter them out with a PQ. At least that's what they seem to do around here. Although they will often say right in the discription what they are, it's annoying to have to read every cache page to see what I'm dealing with. I guess it's not as bad as the one's who make it as a regular or large and say it's a micro in a larger container. I'm off to try and get some sleep.

 

Of the 105 caches you’ve found, to this date, 22 were micros. Of those 22 micros, I could only find one that was shown listed as ‘Not Chosen’; but, it was in the description that it was a nano, which is why a lot of cachers don’t list the size of the cache when it is a nano, there is no category for caches smaller than a micro.

 

Nanos ARE micros. Don't feel bad though, a lot of people don't know that. Including almost every nano placer.

 

Edit: fixed broken quotes.

Edited May 15, 2010 by TheWhiteUrkel

[+wolfslady]

 

Of the 105 caches you've found, to this date, 22 were micros. Of those 22 micros, I could only find one that was shown listed as 'Not Chosen'; but, it was in the description that it was a nano, which is why a lot of cachers don't list the size of the cache when it is a nano, there is no category for caches smaller than a micro. So, that must mean you had every opportunity to 'weed' out the micros if you really wanted to. That is not to imply that of those you found 90% couldn't have been done better; I'm not familiar with the area those micros were hidden in, so don't have a clue as to the quality of the location or the manner in which they were hidden. But, it does seem obvious that you haven't, as yet, chosen to ignore those caches (micro caches) that add to your numbers.

I do agree with you that there does seem to be an abundance of what could be considered lame micro hides. But, I'm not in the mind of the person making the hides to know their motivation behind the hide. LPCs are obviously for the numbers players; either hiders or seekers. But, I prefer to keep an open mind as to why a micro might be hidden where I find it. I don't always read the descriptions, just enter the coordinates and go looking, regardless of the size of the cache. And sometimes the reason for a cache being hidden where it is can be found in the description. Sometimes the reason is obvious once I reach the cache site; in which case, it doesn't matter what size or type the cache is to me.

Guess it comes down to the age old question, "Does size matter?"; obviously, it does to some people and they have the option of not going after the ones that don't 'measure up'.

 

 

Interesting stat. I didn’t realize I had gotten so many of them. Maybe that’s why 100 snuck up on me. It got me to wondering why I did so many of them, since I don’t tend to go out of my way for most. So I went back and looked

 

 

Micro Caches.

 

 

1. cache # 3 was going to get something for my mom and it was on the way.

 

2. # 4 close to my mom’s house, took the golf cart.

 

3. #5 thought it sounded like a nice view. It was.

 

4. rest stop while traveling

 

5. in front of the hotel we were staying at

 

6. Not sure? Think I was hoping for my first FTF

 

7. Waiting on a boat and it was within 10’

 

8. Stopped for a drink, checked for a cache nearby 8’

 

9. In the parking lot I was in.

 

10. Stopped to drop off some mail and decided to go ahead and get this one off my GPS

 

11. Stopped at Kroger’s while out caching. Picked it up.

 

12. On the way while doing a few the same day as above.

 

13. Was in the parking lot

 

14. Mint tin so really a small~ was driving nearby

 

15. Leaving a Deli and we were driving right past.

 

16. Went on a FTF run. So sue me.

 

17. Same night as above

 

18. Oops I was greedy tonight and took a 3rd FTF

 

19. Drove past on the way to an Easter party. Only cache for miles.

 

20. Took my son to the park. Guess what I found?

 

21. 10 years event. I wanted an easy one to add to the harder ones

 

22. 10 years event. At the gate and I couldn’t resist on the way out.

 

 

So out of 22 micros I actually planned maybe 5 of them. Most of the rest were within 200’ of where I was going, most in a parking lot I was already in. And at least 4 of those were within 25’ feet of where I happened to park. I can tell you that I’ve passed up at least a dozen more that I knew were under a lamp post or somewhere similar as I drove past, but I just didn’t care enough to stop (or walk over) and sign the log. I may someday in the future decide that I’m close enough, just haven’t logged anything in awhile or I’m just in the mood and get some of those too. But out of all of those only a few were worth remembering. 1 for the birds. 1 for the container. 1 for the hide, 2 for the view, but one of those could easily have been a larger container and 1 LPC because it actually had some swag in it. There do also seem to be a lot of micro's in my area. I do try to weed them out, but if I just want to do something and nothing else is nearby then I will settle for one. A few days ago I did a PQ for the 100 caches closest to where I was going and I think I ignored micro, small and regular sizes. There were a lot where the size was not selected. I looked at any that were close to our route. 90% of those were listed as nano's. I agree a nano is a micro and should be listed as such. Mystery or unknown sizes should be for something larger or maybe for multi's where the sizes very. It's frustrating to have to read so many cache pages to figure out that it's exactly what I was trying to avold. But I don't want to miss the few really great caches that have a good reason for listing that way. Otherwise we would have missed the largest cache we've found so far. So do us a favor and put those nano/micro's in the right place.

 

 

[+Setan Meyacha]

All this talk about micro caches made me curious about just how many I have found. Out of a combined total caches found (under two names) of 1279, 395 were micro caches; or, roughly 31% of the caches I found were micro caches! Of course, there were a lot of event caches in that total and I didn't check to see what all the 'size not given' caches were; so, the % could be even higher. Guess that must mean I don't have an aversion to looking for micro caches, even in the desert or the mountains; which is where I do the majority of my caching, both hiding and finding. It really doesn't matter to me whether it is a 'nano' (which I still belive deserves its own classification) or a 50 gal drum filled with 'junk'. I got into the sport/hobby/whatever for the thrill of finding what someone else took the time to hide and for the places that geocaching takes me; not for what I might be able to glean from some 'regular' (ammo can) cache. To each his own and may we all get along despite our preferences/differences that keeps us in the game.

[+redsox_mark]

All this talk about micro caches made me curious about just how many I have found. Out of a combined total caches found (under two names) of 1279, 395 were micro caches; or, roughly 31% of the caches I found were micro caches! Of course, there were a lot of event caches in that total and I didn't check to see what all the 'size not given' caches were; so, the % could be even higher. Guess that must mean I don't have an aversion to looking for micro caches, even in the desert or the mountains; which is where I do the majority of my caching, both hiding and finding. It really doesn't matter to me whether it is a 'nano' (which I still belive deserves its own classification) or a 50 gal drum filled with 'junk'. I got into the sport/hobby/whatever for the thrill of finding what someone else took the time to hide and for the places that geocaching takes me; not for what I might be able to glean from some 'regular' (ammo can) cache. To each his own and may we all get along despite our preferences/differences that keeps us in the game.

 

I fully agree. Unless:

 

1. I have some trackables which need moving on, or

2. I am caching with children who like to swap swag

 

I pay no attention to the cache size when I am choosing where to go. I look mostly at location, with an added bonus for caches which have an interesting puzzle/multi element to them.

[+Chokecherry]

I'm mostly not into nanos and micros hidden in places where a larger cache would have been fine. I like the creativity used in large cache hides. But I can use their use in urban caching. It just gets old looking for another fake pine cone or film container hanging in a pine tree in the middle of bog. I tend to screen all those out.

 

If I'm in the mood I'll give them a try but unless there is some good scenery to look at or some historical importance of the area I likely will not be trying very long to find them.

[+Lostnspace]

I don't understand the problem with micro caches. If you don't like micros, don't look for them. If you don't want to find a park and grab cache, just avoid it. I hate poison ivy, so I quit looking for a cache the moment I see the coords are leading me to the three-leaf wonderland. If it's raining or terrible weather, I don't want to make a hike for a find if I'm not dressed for the conditions. If I have a layover and only a few minutes to grab a find to complete another state on my US map of finds, a woodland cache is out of the question. A quick park and grab is perfect for that situation.

 

Micro caches are prolific because a lot of cachers are trying to give back to the community by hiding caches for others to find. I have tried to keep a 10% ratio, for every 100 finds I try to place 10. Yes, I've placed a lot of micros. Some in rather boring locations that serve as nothing but a quick park and grab. But you know what? People are very appreciative of my micros, whether they are guard rail fun caches, light pole cover caches, or micros at the base of a stop sign.

 

Why do I appreciate micros? On a trip during some of the worst weather New England had received in 2009, I was trying to cache my way along the east coast and visit all of the states I had never visited before. I was driving 2100 miles in 5 days, caching along the way. In some towns many of their roads were flooded, coastal areas and the earthcaches I hoped to visit were closed and unavailable, and if it hadn't been for the micros, I would have some blank spots on my map. I even sent some personal key chain-type tokens to the micro cache owners whose caches saved the day for me.

 

I don't care that much for multi's, but do I have to complain about them? No, I just don't bother to hunt for them. With a premium membership it's quite easy to exclude those caches, and anyone can avoid caches that they don't like by not looking for them. You know, I haven't been attacked by a single cache that was lurking in a parking lot or alongside a roadway. Micros sure aren't hurting anyone, so why complain about them?

Edited May 16, 2010 by Lostnspace

[Mr.Yuck]

I don't understand the problem with micro caches. If you don't like micros, don't look for them.

 

Good one. Did you come up with that yourself?? Oh, c'mon, I'm just kidding.

 

However, it misses the point. I've never heard of anyone who doesn't like ALL micros. Actually I do know one guy, but he's banned. Me, a little over 20% of my finds are micros. It's all about the location.

 

I don't care that much for multi's, but do I have to complain about them? No, I just don't bother to hunt for them. With a premium membership it's quite easy to exclude those caches, and anyone can avoid caches that they don't like by not looking for them. You know, I haven't been attacked by a single cache that was lurking in a parking lot or alongside a roadway. Micros sure aren't anyone, so why complain about them?

 

Who's complaining anyways? It's a topic on a message board. I've yet to see someone start a "multi-caches suck" thread. But if they did, I'm sure people would offer their opinions.

[+L0ne.R]

I don't understand the problem with micro caches.

 

Micro resentment

• 95% of the time, placed in lame locations because it's easy to hide them anywhere
  
• 95% of the time, not creative
  
• 95% of the time, cheap - placed because the CO doesn't want to spend any money hiding a cache
  
• too small to leave a trackable
  
• 60% of the time, placed where a larger cache would fit
  
• put in a nice location where a larger cache would fit, preventing a larger cache from being placed within a .1 mile radius of that micro.
  
• nanos get listed as unknown because COs either don't want their nano filtered out or don't read the guidelines that say a nano is a micro

  Micro (35 mm film canister **or smaller** – **less than** approximately 3 ounces or .1 L )

• some COs list micros as smalls so they don't get filtered out
  
• negative attention - most of the bomb squad calls are for micros hidden on public property - parking lots, parking garages, near stores
  
• the proliferation of micros has turned the hobby into a numbers game
  
• micrologs are showing up in regular size caches because COs are getting lazy and cheap
  
• not fun for children - no swag
  
• not fun for adults who like to leave something and maybe take something
  
• not fun for adults and children who just like to paw through the contents even if they probably won't trade
  
• have to filter out all micros...miss out on the 5% of good, creative, unique micros.
  

Edited May 16, 2010 by Lone R

[+Mosaic55]

I don't understand the problem with micro caches.

 

Micro resentment

• 95% of the time, placed in lame locations because it's easy to hide them anywhere
  
• 95% of the time, not creative
  
• 95% of the time, cheap - placed because the CO doesn't want to spend any money hiding a cache
  
• too small to leave a trackable
  
• 60% of the time, placed where a larger cache would fit
  
• put in a nice location where a larger cache would fit, preventing a larger cache from being placed within a .1 mile radius of that micro.
  
• nanos get listed as unknown because COs either don't want their nano filtered out or don't read the guidelines that say a nano is a micro

  Micro (35 mm film canister **or smaller** – **less than** approximately 3 ounces or .1 L )

• some COs list micros as smalls so they don't get filtered out
  
• negative attention - most of the bomb squad calls are for micros hidden on public property - parking lots, parking garages, near stores
  
• the proliferation of micros has turned the hobby into a numbers game
  
• micrologs are showing up in regular size caches because COs are getting lazy and cheap
  
• not fun for children - no swag
  
• not fun for adults who like to leave something and maybe take something
  
• not fun for adults and children who just like to paw through the contents even if they probably won't trade
  
• have to filter out all micros...miss out on the 5% of good, creative, unique micros.
  

 

You know, if you changed you statements from "micro" to "lamp post skirt", I'd agree almost all of your points. (I wouldn't blame the bomb scare thing on micros, rather on inappropriate locations, regardless of size.)

 

2/3rds of the caches I've found were micros, and really, the only ones I didn't like were lamp post skirt hides in parking lots. Lots of micros are creative, at least more creative than a piece of tupperware hidden in a pile of sticks. But mundane hides are OK too, as long as the destination is someplace interesting or enjoyable. Like the lamp post skirt in the middle of a nice park, I thought that was cool. I also liked a lamp post hide that wasn't under the skirt. I guess it doesn't take a lot to keep me entertained

 

The one cache I've hidden so far is a micro because I wanted to bring people to a place that is handicapped accessible and I wanted the actual hiding spot to be accessible as well, and there's no place along the path for a small. It's not because the micro was cheaper. I've got 4 filled small containers sitting here that I'm looking for hiding spots for. Buying some small items in bulk on ebay kept the swag cost low. If I had a larger container I would not have spent more on swag, but may have gotten some bulkier stuff.

 

BTW, some other cheap swap ideas: Home depot has 10 packs of LED flashlights for $10. DealExtreme has keychain LED flashlights under $5 for 10. Walmart had 5 packs of hotwheels type cars for around $5, also playing cards for about $1.

[Mr.Yuck]

I don't understand the problem with micro caches.

 

Micro resentment

• 95% of the time, placed in lame locations because it's easy to hide them anywhere
  
• 95% of the time, not creative
  
• 95% of the time, cheap - placed because the CO doesn't want to spend any money hiding a cache
  
• too small to leave a trackable
  
• 60% of the time, placed where a larger cache would fit
  
• put in a nice location where a larger cache would fit, preventing a larger cache from being placed within a .1 mile radius of that micro.
  
• nanos get listed as unknown because COs either don't want their nano filtered out or don't read the guidelines that say a nano is a micro

  Micro (35 mm film canister **or smaller** – **less than** approximately 3 ounces or .1 L )

• some COs list micros as smalls so they don't get filtered out
  
• negative attention - most of the bomb squad calls are for micros hidden on public property - parking lots, parking garages, near stores
  
• the proliferation of micros has turned the hobby into a numbers game
  
• micrologs are showing up in regular size caches because COs are getting lazy and cheap
  
• not fun for children - no swag
  
• not fun for adults who like to leave something and maybe take something
  
• not fun for adults and children who just like to paw through the contents even if they probably won't trade
  
• have to filter out all micros...miss out on the 5% of good, creative, unique micros.
  

 

I'll go with micro resentment. I know a guy who hides mostly micros, and he say's "they're harder to find". OK, I'll give him that, and especially in the locations that he hides them in. For example, he has 4 of them along a stretch of bike trail.

 

But the micro stigma is total lameness. Caches hidden in store parking lots, almost all of which are on private property without permission, all published by this website under a "look the other way" policy, are a total embarrassment to this hobby. In my opinion, of course, and you certainly have it.

[knowschad]

June 1, 2003 I placed an ammo can on the top of a mountain. Not a particularly big mountain, at that. Since the hide it has been found about two dozen times.

I've hidden micros which have racked that up in a year.

I think the trend is most cachers go for the quick and easy.

Not really a big surprise since geocaching has hit the mainstream. I think its a pretty safe bet that more people would rather go to the mall than to climb a mountain. May not be the most desirable outcome of geocaching, but we can't change others.

[+GeoGeeBee]

June 1, 2003 I placed an ammo can on the top of a mountain. Not a particularly big mountain, at that. Since the hide it has been found about two dozen times.

I've hidden micros which have racked that up in a year.

I think the trend is most cachers go for the quick and easy.

Not really a big surprise since geocaching has hit the mainstream. I think its a pretty safe bet that more people would rather go to the mall than to climb a mountain. May not be the most desirable outcome of geocaching, but we can't change others.

 

And I'm fine with that. More people going to the mall means fewer people out on the trails with me.

[Mr.Yuck]

June 1, 2003 I placed an ammo can on the top of a mountain. Not a particularly big mountain, at that. Since the hide it has been found about two dozen times.

I've hidden micros which have racked that up in a year.

I think the trend is most cachers go for the quick and easy.

Not really a big surprise since geocaching has hit the mainstream. I think its a pretty safe bet that more people would rather go to the mall than to climb a mountain. May not be the most desirable outcome of geocaching, but we can't change others.

 

That is a very short, but excellent post. Very well put. But I'll add that they'd rather go to the mall because they get the same number of "points" on a website for it.

[+Team_Searchgeo]

Being new to this I have found several micros/nanos that where in great places and hid fairly well. So far most micros I have found i don't believe that really you could have done anything else. I am more about the hunt than swag but have grabbed a couple trackables that i will be moving on shortly. I only took one because it seemed to be stuck in the same spot for 4 months. Micros have a place and I enjoy the hunt for most of them. That's just me though and I am a newbie.

[knowschad]

Being new to this I have found several micros/nanos that where in great places and hid fairly well. So far most micros I have found i don't believe that really you could have done anything else. I am more about the hunt than swag but have grabbed a couple trackables that i will be moving on shortly. I only took one because it seemed to be stuck in the same spot for 4 months. Micros have a place and I enjoy the hunt for most of them. That's just me though and I am a newbie.

I'm on your side there, although there will be those that will insist that if you can't hide a regular, or at least a small, that you shouldn't hide at all. I don't care for a film can tossed into the brush and stuff like that, but it isn't all about the size of the cache, to me.

[drewmm]

June 1, 2003 I placed an ammo can on the top of a mountain. Not a particularly big mountain, at that. Since the hide it has been found about two dozen times.

I've hidden micros which have racked that up in a year.

I think the trend is most cachers go for the quick and easy.

Not really a big surprise since geocaching has hit the mainstream. I think its a pretty safe bet that more people would rather go to the mall than to climb a mountain. May not be the most desirable outcome of geocaching, but we can't change others.

 

That is a very short, but excellent post. Very well put. But I'll add that they'd rather go to the mall because they get the same number of "points" on a website for it.

 

As someone relatively new to the game and who's found quite a few micros as well as some larger ones, I'd like to chime in here.

 

The key thing to keep in mind is that game is very fun and very addicting (or, at least, I'm still in the addicted phase of playing it.) As such, there's often the urge to go geocaching when there's not time to actually go for a long trip into the woods. Today, for instance, I had an hour break and a friend and I decided to go out geocaching for a little bit. Going for the better caches isn't always an option. When it's not, it's nice to have the urban micros.

 

There are also some urban micros that take you to interesting places around town. For instance, there's a series in my area that takes you to local craft breweries, complete with history lessons. I'm happy to find those ones, even though they're micros (or nanos).

 

And, finally, a set of geocaches is a good excuse to explore a local park or nature area. Sometimes these can be larger than micros, but oftentimes (especially in well-traveled parks) micros are all that's possible.

 

Yes, there's something nice to seeing numbers go up. But it's a subsidiary joy to the actual joy of finding caches. I like the increasing numbers because it reflects fun times actually finding all those caches, whether they're nanos or larges. I wouldn't create fake logs just to up numbers, nor do I go out searching for easy caches. I just find an area that's convenient to cache in and find the caches that are there.

 

(P.S. Over the weekend my girlfriend and I took a really nice bike ride around town, following a geocache route that we planned out in advance. It wasn't urban, but it was urban enough that only micros would have worked, although there were also some smalls along the way. It was a great day together, and so I'm glad that those micros were there to give us the excuse.)

[+Setan Meyacha]

Oh, for shame on me! I spent 7 hours out in the desert on an ATV hiding caches this past Sunday and guess what? Of the 10 caches I hid 9 were MICRO caches and only one small. All you micro loathers be sure to put me on your ignore list because you sure don't want to find a bunch of micro caches in the desert just to get to the Mystery cache. But, the ride was fun and the scenery was GREAT! I'm sure the 'serious' cachers will take the time to go look.

[+briansnat]

Oh, for shame on me! I spent 7 hours out in the desert on an ATV hiding caches this past Sunday and guess what? Of the 10 caches I hid 9 were MICRO caches and only one small. All you micro loathers be sure to put me on your ignore list because you sure don't want to find a bunch of micro caches in the desert just to get to the Mystery cache. But, the ride was fun and the scenery was GREAT! I'm sure the 'serious' cachers will take the time to go look.

 

I'm sure both micro haters will avoid those.

[+Coldgears]

My boyfriend and myself focus on the hides in the woods and along nice trails. We seldom bother with the "Tour De Parking" lot finds.

 

I think many focus on numbers and the simplicity of hiding a "altoids tin" in some place that shows you nothing but some guard rail or light post .

 

I laughed so hard at that post! I actually named my newest cache after it!

 

 

I had to take a screen as it hasn't been reviewed!

[+jerryjames]

My boyfriend and myself focus on the hides in the woods and along nice trails. We seldom bother with the "Tour De Parking" lot finds.

 

I think many focus on numbers and the simplicity of hiding a "altoids tin" in some place that shows you nothing but some guard rail or light post .

 

I laughed so hard at that post! I actually named my newest cache after it!

 

 

That's a great cache name!

 

I'm new to caching and although I can't wait to find some larger caches, I like the micros and I am glad that there are so many of them. My job involves a lot of driving around. When I'm ready to take lunch or I finish my route early, the micros give me something to do to pass the time, and hunting them is giving me some great practice. If not for the many many micros all over the place, then I'd just be sitting on my butt listening to the radio. I think that's part of the neatest thing about geocaching...there's something in it for everybody. Its something I can take the kids out and do, and its something that I can do when I have an extra hour or two by myself with nothing else on the burner. It gets me out walking around when I normally would be just sitting.

 

I'm working on putting together a cache now, and it will be regular sized with new inexpensive toys and goodies for kids, some stuff adults will like too, and even a cool unactivated FTF prize. I figure by the time I'm done it will have ended up costing me somewhere between $30 and $40, but it will be fun for me to do and hopefully other families will enjoy finding it even more than I will hiding it. To think I can go hide a box of stuff somewhere and provide some family I may never meet with an excuse to spend time together doing something out of the house away from the TV...well its something worth doing. But before I do that...I'm going to have to do a micro or two as trial run just to be sure I have it down.

 

I guess what I'm getting at is that there's really great value in both types of caches. I'll definitely do more micros than the bigger ones because of the cost, but I won't be able to resist hiding some nice ones at Halloween and Christmas when I can do them.

[+Simon Mates]

I tried to resist adding my 2-cents worth. Most of my 20-some caches placed are Micros. Although I enjoy opening ammo cans, my satisfaction comes from finding a well-placed cache. The placements that give me the greatest reward are those that garner compliments on originality of placement or concealment. I'm guilty of a number of "routine" placements, but at the same time, I guess I'm making no attempt to be a model cacher. I'm just enjoying the game. Hope you are, too.

[+Twitch Hugs Trees]

I like the challenge of micro caches. I live in a suburb and, being a teenager, I don't get to driver very far out of "town". As such, most of the caches I look for end up being nano/micro sized. There just aren't many places to hide a piece of tupperware in a city as restrictive as mine (Roseville is very ... uppity). Maybe if I could get out in the country (which is a bit of a drive here, at least an hour) I would have the opportunity to find bigger ones, but usually micros are the most prevalent/available. I don't mind, as they are a challenge and can be creative with the way the are hidden.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

 

I have never actually placed a cache

 

Oh boy

 

I think if you hid about 20 regular size caches in your area the percentages would change a little more to your liking.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

I love micros, but I'm not such a big fan of the park & grab.

 

I've been blamed for some of the micro proliferation in our area because I was one of the early micro hiders... .

You have something there. People tend to hide the kinds of caches they find. ...

The bolded bit is only true if the person liked what he found.

 

Not true. I asked the question

If your first hide was a film canister micro..., Tell us what motivated you to hide it?

 

The general response was that people hid micros as stages in a multi and/or because it fit into the place they wanted to hide the cache and/or because cost was low or free. Not because they like micros. One person said he didn't like micros but he hid a lame [his word] micro on a sign to bring people to a scenic barn.

 

Interesting that in your poll not one person said it was because he preferred micros. As I mentioned earlier, micros are only 15 percent of the caches in my area. We also have very few puzzle caches in my area.

 

Now if you go 40 miles west and cross the Delaware into PA, the percentage of micros increases dramatically.

 

Go 30-40 miles south into central Jersey and puzzle caches abound.

 

Was there some sort of anomaly that caused people who prefer puzzle caches to happen to live in central Jersey, people who prefer micros to happen to live in PA and people who prefer traditional, regular sized caches to live in northern NJ? I doubt it.

 

Some of the pioneer cache hiders in central Jersey were known for puzzle caches. Ekit10n, Natureboy44 and others. As new people entered the sport they encountered all those puzzle caches, so that's what they started hiding.

 

In northern NJ, the major early hiders like Cache Ninja, Skully & Mulder, Bassoonpilot, Artful Dodger and Waterboy were placing mostly regular sized, traditional caches. Those where the first caches I found and what I placed when I decided to start hiding caches. Had my first few finds been micros, I probably would have started hiding micros.

 

I agree with this only in that as a NEW cacher they would tend to duplicate their early finds. After caching for a while and traveling around a bit they would develop their own style and start hiding what they LIKE to find. I suppose if folks never left their home area to geocache, hiding techniques would become “inbred”and all resemble each other.

Trading down has always been a problem and is now worse....TB’s outright stolen, etc. A full size cache quickly becomes full of junk you wouldn’t want your kid to touch. It becomes just a harder to hide easier to find cache.....I really don’t prefer one SIZE over another......LOCATION is a whole other story.

Yesterday we walked about 5 miles on a trail in the swamp in 90+ deg heat......there were about 14 caches on the trail and about 2/3 were great, clever, micros.....the others were full size and really nice, usually in Cypress trees. ALL the caches were great but we love micros in the woods......what a challenge. Like Real Estate its about location, location, location. I’d rather find a micro in a nice historic spot than an ammo can under a dumpster. I’ve read tons of these micro/anti-micro posts when really it should be about good location/ bad location. Why should cache size matter since 90% of regular caches contain junk.

[chephy]

Maybe my opinion is biased because I'm relatively new to the sport, and have not seen the true, unspoiled game of the early 2000's, but I really don't see a huge problem. Don't like micros? Don't look for micros. Is that really SO difficult?

 

I personally don't usually have a lot of time to go and look for caches way out in the woods. While I have gone on dedicated cache-hunting trips, and they have been fun, I tend to look for caches if I happen to go somewhere anyway (for work, for vacation, to visit relatives, just shopping at a specialty store out of my usual neighbourhood - whatever). A great majority of the caches I found are in my own city, and I am very grateful for their existance, because had it not been for those urban micros, I would have been a cacher with about 10 found caches rather than 100, and my interest in the game would probably have died rather quickly, simply because I would've had so few opportunities to play.

 

Not only did those urban micros keep my interest in the game going, they also introduced me to many amazing places in my own city that I would not have otherwise visited. Many of those micros also made me smile at their creativity: a micro does not equal "pill bottle under a lamppost skirt". I will take a brilliant, hidden-in-plain-sight micro that requires out-of-the-box thinking to spot over an ammo can under the log every day. The best, most creative caches I found have actually been micros, so yeah, I guess micros actually ARE my favourite (so long as they are creative micros, and not lampost caches or "spend three hours searching for a tiny bison tube hidden in these thick bushes").

 

I personally am mostly uninterested in the swag aspect of the game: most of it is junk to an adult and, let's be frank, when many people are playing this game, most won't put in a ton of money to put in decent swag, especially when caches get routinely muggled (or, sadly, looted by not-so-honest fellow cachers). I understand how this is different for the kids, but again, there is usually enough information posted on the cache page to determine whether there will be any decent trading with a given cache or not. I've found some pretty impressive stuff in many caches that would delight any kid, and if I cared about the swag, I could easily have limited my search to caches that are likely to have such stuff in them.

Edited May 23, 2010 by chephy

[Mr.Yuck]

My boyfriend and myself focus on the hides in the woods and along nice trails. We seldom bother with the "Tour De Parking" lot finds.

 

I think many focus on numbers and the simplicity of hiding a "altoids tin" in some place that shows you nothing but some guard rail or light post .

 

I laughed so hard at that post! I actually named my newest cache after it!

 

 

I had to take a screen as it hasn't been reviewed!

 

Woohoo! It still hasn't been reviewed, and I have the coordinates.

[+gg]

I have hidden my fair share of Nano's and Micros. I usually avoid a Micro in the woods since there are so many large hiding spots. Micros are as fun as large and regular caches.

 

What I fail to comprehend is when the cacher is negative, complaining and whining about another lamp pole micro yet they still went to find it. A simple solution is DON'T SEARCH FOR LAMP POLE CACHES. Like the Cache-aholic this person has no self control. They think they will die if they don't search for that lamp pole cache and then cry the blues and lament about the state of Geocaching. Just stop complaining and put a nice little TFTC and move on to your ivory caching tower.

 

Can you tell I have issues?

 

/rant

[+armadillogal]

My first hide is a micro because I am just learning and wanted to draw attention to the place I put it. I like the bigger containers with room for a logbook and a little swag. Had a nice hike today & found 4 plus found one in town and met 2 fellow cachers trying to find one near my house. That was a blast. Got another convert too.

 

I'm in it for the hunt and creativity and to get outside for exercise . Learning so much as I go....

Edited May 23, 2010 by armadillogal