Why do you hate Nano / Micro sized caches?

[+texasgrillchef]

I don't hate them all but I dislike many of them. Reasons include:

• The difficulty in retrieving and replacing logs on some micros and nearly all nanos is annoying.
  
• Two of the most common bad (read: not waterproof) containers are micros (film cans & magnetic key cases).
  
• Two of the most cliched cache locations (LPCs and guardrails) are micros. (To be fair, I think the other big cliche is "ammo can behind a tree", which is simple but is more likely to take you somewhere scenic than your average micro.)
  
• Power trails are micros.
  
• Urban micros are often placed in seemingly random locations with no real reason do be there.
  

 

IMO, there are two reasons to hide a cache:

1) to take someone to a place you think they should see but probably haven't (scenic and/or historic)

2) to show off a creative hide - container and/or hiding spot

 

Micros and nanos are usually neither.

 

You mentioned that powertrails are micros. Since I haven't honestly found to many powertrails, I can't say if thats entirely true or not.

 

What I can say is this. I have 3 Powertrails that are:

 

1. Include Regular & small sized caches.

 

2. Aren't just traditionals, but also include Mystery, & multi caches as well.

 

One of the powertrails which I am still currently working on. (I have 20 more caches to place) Is really being setup to be mostly a MYSTERY powertrail. 10 caches placed, and 1 is a small, but of the 20 that remain to be placed. There will be 2 regular sized, and 5 more small sized. Of the 20 remaining. At least 15 of those caches will be multi's or Mystery's.

 

In regards to one powertrail of mine. While each cache individually doesn't really take you anywhere special... the Powertrail itself ENDS at a location that I DO want you to go to and discover. At that location another geocacher has placed quite a few caches as well. The POINT of THAT powertrail WAS Where the ENTIRE trail took you. Hopefully along the way, you were challenged by the individual caches themselvs as they included caches of several sizes, of the Mystery & multi type, not just Traditionals.

 

However... I can't deny... there are alot of geocachers out there who don't take the time and effort with any of their cache containers & placement either. For whatever factor you geocache for. (Search, Kid, Swag, Where it takes me, Numbers,etc..)

 

TGC

[+j robin]

I agree that the rolling of the log when it's evil cold is torture, but I really enjoy finding them. odds are, the cache will still be there than if it was an altoids tin. they make for clever hiding spots that wouldn't be an option otherwise. I prefer a nano on a fire hydrant to a 35mm in a light pole anyday. stealthier to grab too.

 

 

I don't MIND doing them, but prefer other sizes.

 

The BIGGEST issue I have with nanos are the following...

 

1) Trying to roll that logbook up (especially in the winter)

 

2) Those stupid magents that always fall off then you can't find it so you can't place it back in the same spot cuz it's no longer magnetic.

 

So it isn't the "finding" part of a nano cache that is so much the problem but dealing with the issues that a nano sized container creates then?

 

TGC

[+Mr. Wilson & a Mt. Goat]

I don't hate them.

[+Borbus]

I don't like them when there could be a normal sized cache in the same area. But they're a lot better for urban caches. The magnetic nanos can be searched for and retrieved very discreetly and then even the log can be filled in discreetly. In fact, I would go as far to say that I don't like larger caches in urban areas with too many muggles.

 

But I prefer caching in the countryside and you can't beat a good hide and a nice big container.

[+alldatndensum]

Maybe I'm just to simple of a person, but I like micros. Sure, skirt lifters and guard rails are overdone, but those got me out there playing the game. Finding these just makes finding the better caches even more sweet. Besides, if I just end up signing the log on an ammo box in the woods, it's not really any different than finding a micro. If you aren't one of the first few people to find a new cache, then the swag is typically garbage unless there are trackables inside.

 

So, I'll start trying to use my brain more for hides, and I vow to not make a skirt lifter or hide on more than the one guard rail I have used. But, simple micros even in public areas of no real interest can still get new cachers into the sport.

[Night_Hiker]

The main use i have for micro's is for smaller theme caches. That way their easier to find and an enjoyable find. For instance I have just made a cache that is a syringe tube hooked on the bottom of a little fake crab, and im going to drill a hole in a rock and have the little guy sitting on top of it. Also I made a syringe needle tube into a rooster tail fishing lure which gives the cachers a small yet enjoyable find. Micro's live on!

[+currykev]

I don't hate micros, but I do not like "needle in the haystack" hides. The nano on a tank.. the bison tube in a spruce plantation.. the nano on an iron bridge.. the fake rock in a rock pile.. they have all been done before and I don't really get much out of them except a blank spot on my area map once they are on my found list. Yes I do look for them, but am fairly strict with myself in allowing no more than a 10 minutes search. I'd much rather be in the woods, preferably off trail, to find one snuggled into a nice secure hiding spot. I know lots of people rail against micros in the woods, but I'd rather look there than in parking lots.

 

I can only agree.

[GOF and Bacall]

I don't hate micros, but I do not like "needle in the haystack" hides. The nano on a tank.. the bison tube in a spruce plantation.. the nano on an iron bridge.. the fake rock in a rock pile.. they have all been done before and I don't really get much out of them except a blank spot on my area map once they are on my found list. Yes I do look for them, but am fairly strict with myself in allowing no more than a 10 minutes search. I'd much rather be in the woods, preferably off trail, to find one snuggled into a nice secure hiding spot. I know lots of people rail against micros in the woods, but I'd rather look there than in parking lots.

 

I can only agree.

 

I don't have a problem with micros in the woods. As long as they aren't the needle in the haystack that you talk of. It is that kind of hide that causes damage. That said, I'd prefer something a little bit larger. But that is just my preference. Either way, I'd rather be caching in the woods than caching in a parking lot.

[Clan Riffster]

Either way, I'd rather be caching in the woods than caching in a parking lot.

That. For my highly biased caching aesthetics, location matters a lot more than size.

Put me out in the woods, or nipple deep in a swamp, and I'm a happy Riffster.

[GOF and Bacall]

Either way, I'd rather be caching in the woods than caching in a parking lot.

That. For my highly biased caching aesthetics, location matters a lot more than size.

Put me out in the woods, or nipple deep in a swamp, and I'm a happy Riffster.

 

Just the thought of being nipple deep in any of the local swamps right now is enough to make me shiver uncontrollably!

[+Harry Dolphin]

I don't hate micros. I hate bad micros. I hunt urban and suburban caches, as well as caches off in the woods. Caches that take me to nice and/or interesting places are great! If micro is what it takes, then so be it.

It should also be noted that I hide caches in urban, suburban and off in the woods locales. If micro is what is needed, then micro it shall be. And, most of the finders have enjoyed the spots that I have taken them too. (And they get more finds...) I dont like fim canisters, and I do not use them. I do use MKHs, and they seem to do well in inverted U-shaped fences. (The fence keeps them dry.)

And, I do have a micro in the woods! It is meant to be humorous. It's a bison tube stuffed up the backside of a cast bronze hare statue. Most people seem to find it humorous.

I do not like carppy hides in parking lots up and down the major highway. I put the whole series or two on ignore after the soggy turtle in the parking lot of the porn store. I can do better than that.

To reiterate, I don't hate micros. I hate carppy caches.

[AZcachemeister]

Echoing probably a hundred or more posts...

I certainly LOVE finding nano/micro caches.

Providing they are at a location I would enjoy visiting if there were no cache there, and that a larger container could not possibly be placed there.

A rare combination, but it can happen.

[+texasgrillchef]

The main use i have for micro's is for smaller theme caches. That way their easier to find and an enjoyable find. For instance I have just made a cache that is a syringe tube hooked on the bottom of a little fake crab, and im going to drill a hole in a rock and have the little guy sitting on top of it. Also I made a syringe needle tube into a rooster tail fishing lure which gives the cachers a small yet enjoyable find. Micro's live on!

 

Just remember, put a rubber seal on it, or something so it's waterproof. Check it before you place it.

 

The biggest pet peeve I think the majority of cachers have, is the wet log syndrome!

 

TGC

[knowschad]

I don't hate them all but I dislike many of them. Reasons include:

• The difficulty in retrieving and replacing logs on some micros and nearly all nanos is annoying.
• Two of the most common bad (read: not waterproof) containers are micros (film cans & magnetic key cases).
• Two of the most cliched cache locations (LPCs and guardrails) are micros. (To be fair, I think the other big cliche is "ammo can behind a tree", which is simple but is more likely to take you somewhere scenic than your average micro.)
• Power trails are micros.
• Urban micros are often placed in seemingly random locations with no real reason do be there.

 

IMO, there are two reasons to hide a cache:

1) to take someone to a place you think they should see but probably haven't (scenic and/or historic)

2) to show off a creative hide - container and/or hiding spot

 

Micros and nanos are usually neither.

 

I don't mean to pick on you.. I did notice your statement that you don't hate them all, but because you posted such a lovely bulleted list, I chose your profile to check and post here:

 

Container Types joshism Has Found

• Micro 228
• Regular 103
• Small 95
• Not Chosen 24
• Other 20
• Virtual 9
• Large 2

Looks to me like you don't mind micros all that much.

[ThePhiferFamily]

Our 7 yr old daughter doesn't like micros/nanos because she can't trade anything. She won't even get out of the Jeep for them. She always asks what size the cache is as we are pulling up. I think it's funny when she does this. I don't mind micros but the nanos I don't like. The logs are hard to roll up.We had a few hidden and now they are all archived because of this reason. Plus the logs get full real quick. We will find any cache though.

 

Yep, You have the "kid factor" involved. I have talked with a few local geocachers who have kids. I don't have any kids currently, so from what I gather, it seems the younger ones are all about what can "trade", whats the prize. Seems only the older ones stay interested in it because of the "Search Factor" or the "Where it took me factor".

 

TGC

 

The "kid factor" as u put it isn't always about swag. My kids could care less. To them it is all about the search and find. And none of them care about the size. By the way, they are 13, 8, 6, 4

[+fndrs-kprs]

No dislike of Micro caches per se and this is certainly NOT an indictment of all micros and their owners... However, they are largely unimaginative and typically placed as a drive-by by the cache owner. I look forward to the hunt, the walks, the excersize, the outdoors. In most cases, I don't get that with micros (unless you consider dodging shopping carts excersize). I see geocaching as an oppotunity to introduced to "off-the-beaten path" attractions/locations that I may have never known existed otherwise. In my mind, a guadrail or lamp post does not qualify as an "attraction."

 

Additionally, I've seen many ocassions where, due to their ease of placement, the owner has countless hides. Not an issue in anmd of itself, however, it is nearly impossible for the cache owner to maintain their extensive inventory. As a result, the caches fall into disrepair or go missing and the owner doens't have the capability to verify field status. The cache's page is never updated to reflect the actual physical status of the cache. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a difficult hunt but is very frustrating to hunt a cache that simply does not exist.

 

My thoughts, though they may not be popular.