Ever dropped (and lost) a nano?

[+The_Incredibles_]

Just curious if anybody else has trouble with these tiny caches. I dropped the lid of a nano the other day...and couldn't find it again after much searching. I felt terrible and emailed to offer to pay for it. Feeling so clumsy!

[+tango501]

it happens

 

I usually carry a spare and spare nano logs with me

just in case

so far I have never lost one, but I have used spare

logs to replace full ones

[+Max and 99]

I did something very similar. I once got FTF on a nano, but when I went to put the cache back, it wouldn't stick! I replaced it in a fairly safe spot, and drove home to email the cache owner. As I got out of the car, I found the nano magnet underneath me. DOH!! Apparently the magnets fell out while I was signing the log, and were hiding in the seat. I had to drive all the way back to put the magnets back into the nano. From them on I was much more careful when handling those little suckers!

[+Dgwphotos]

Carry a magnet. Then you can sweep it over the area where you think you lost the nano. With a bit of luck, it should be attracted to the magnet.

 

I once dropped a match container when I went to replace it. It was a cache at a viewpoint above a highway on a ridge, with a fair amount of traffic at the viewpoint, and the cache fell down the hill below a vehicle barrier. There were two muggle girls sitting in a car overlooking the cache location, and I waited a long time, went off and found another cache, came back, and they were still there! I finally went home, (about seven or eight miles away) ate lunch, and came back, and was finally able to go over the rail and retrieve the cache container.

Edited February 24, 2011 by Dgwphotos

[+DanOCan]

I dropped a nano once and it fell into an inaccessible spot at ground zero. After logging my Find I posted a NM log saying what happened and offering the suggestions of "You'll either need to do a maintenance run or increase the Difficulty to 5."

 

I know of someone who lost a nano in the trunk of his car. He was too embarrassed to admit it. There was a string of DNFs on the cache until a friend of the cache owner claimed a Find. There was then a string of DNFs after that. Of course, this was the same cacher who also once claimed a Find on a cache that was Disabled and had been removed by the Cache Owner for maintenance.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Like Dgwphotos, I once dropped a micro cache from a bridge.

 

No difficulty with barriers or witnesses, but I'd dropped it into a freshly laid field of coarse crushed rock on the river bank. I watched it fall, and tried to get a feel for where it landed and bounced - but of course, I was above it. The "and bounced part" was killer.

 

I spent a while scrambling around on thatoose rock on the steep embankment...easily the hardest hunt for a geocache of my entire career. And I'd already signed the log.

 

I stare at my hands when dealing with little containers, I even talk out loud to myself, "I am putting the lid to the magneto in my left shirt pocket now, I am holding the bottom of the container in my left hand while I scribble on the itsy bitsy log..."

[+Ecylram]

Yep.

 

At dusk, I dropped a nano lid in the tall grass and couldn't find it in the fading light. Came back the next morning with the wife and made the quick find. We only claimed one find for that cache.

 

A couple of weeks ago, during a cold snap, I dropped a nano in the snow and the magnet fell off/out. I could not find the magnet and posted the issue in the log.

 

In that case, the CO had placed a series of nano caches using some really cheaply made nanos with loose magnets and caps that don't thread well. I've been wanting to ask the CO what brand they were so I could avoid purchasing them but figured that would come across rude or unappreciative of the work he did in placing the caches.

[+StarBrand]

Never the whole container but 3 or 4 times I've lost the little magnet from the cheap ones. I've run across 4 or 5 more where somebody else had lost the little magnet before I got there. Those nanos tend to be doomed. I duck taped 2 back into place. The other's I did the best I could and noted the issue in my log.

 

Glue people - glue.

[+the4dirtydogs]

I went out to replace the log on my nano cache and dropped the nano in the wash 20ft below. So yes I can say that I lost my own nano I replaced it and it's the only nano that we have out in play.

[+briansnat]

I dropped one in knee deep snow. And amazingly enough found it.

Edited February 24, 2011 by briansnat

[4wheelin_fool]

It usually takes much me much longer to find the container after I drop it, than the initial search.

[+Avernar]

I went looking for one in a small bushy tree that other people were taking 30 minutes or more to find. I was very happy that I found it in only 5 minutes.

 

It was one of those brass ones painted brown. After signing the log I accidentally dropped the bottom half and it landed in the dirt and mulch. Took me 25 minutes to find it.

[+kpanko]

Yup. Had to write needs maintenance after dropping it inside my car and the magnet must have stuck someplace I can't get at.

 

The owner simply replaced it. What a nice guy that was.

[+lamoracke]

There was one magnetically attached to a back of a sign which was on a property line fence. Not even that well magnetized and you could not see it until you touched it. It fell for me, and on the other side of the fence, which is down a hill which rolls down into some rocks mixed in with cigarette butts. Its a black nano and the rocks are black and you cant reach that far.

 

However, I get my magnet on a stick, duct tape my walking stick to it and miraculously, get it back. However, am sure customers at the nearby Rite Aid (the public side of the fence) must have been going What in #%#%?

[+redsox_mark]

Never lost a nano, but I have lost the magnet. Had no idea where it went, didn't see it fall out. All I knew was the cache was magnetic when I found it, and when I went to return it, it was no longer magnetic. I reported it to the CO, who kindly told me "no problem" and he quickly replaced it. This was months ago.

 

Then today - I was using a key to open up a cabinet in the office (which I don't use much), and what to I find attached to the key - a little magnet like those in nano caches! It is on my key chain which is always with me... I must have had my keys in my hand when handing the cache, and the magnet fell out and attached to the key.

[+niraD]

BTDTGTTS. Once, I found a rust-colored blinker quickly, signed the log, and was about to replace it. My hand bumped a flexible plastic utility marker, which catapulted the blinker into the brown dead leaves several feet away. It was definitely harder to refind than it was to find initially, even using the blinker's magnet to refind it.

[+The_Incredibles_]

LOL! I am enjoying all of your stories and am getting quite a chuckle. In my case finding the nano was a level 1 and then a level 5 after I dropped it! Keep the stories coming!

[+slukster]

Unfortunately I sure have. Here is my log:

 

slukster found Haunted New York - 567 Hudson StSaturday, 19 December 2009 New York

Out caching on a cold, windy, 20+ degree day. This cache was one of six I had planned on grabbing before meeting up with some friends at my favorite watering hole "Down the Hatch" on W. 4th St. I was running late meeting up so I decided to leave this one for after the 1pm - 6pm all you can drink and eat (chicken wings) special. This was a major mistake. By the time I got out it was even colder than when I got into town and the snow was a blowing. Not to mention I couldn't walk a straight line anymore so I was unsure if my geosenses would be working. Even now the clue still doesn't make sense to me but that might be the impending hang-over talking. So after searching for around 20 minutes I somehow found the cache. Yipeeee!! So I went over to the doorway of one of the buildings to get out of the snow to sign the log. Did I mention I hate nano's? Getting the log out usually isn't a problem but getting it back in is always tough. So after several attempts and a couple of drops of the container I finally got the log back in. A quick return to its excellent hiding spot and homeward bound I go. But I had problems getting it to stick back where it belonged. And after the second attempt the container fell to the ground, into the snow!! Oh ....!!! I started looking everywhere on the floor but I could not find the tiny container! Did I mention I hate nano's? I was looking for 10 minutes when I looked over my shoulder to find the waiter and some customers from the restaurant right by GZ looking at this crazy white guy searching in the snow for what? I shrugged my shoulders at them and continued my search. Finally the waiter came out and gave me a flashlight to help look. When he asked me what I was looking for I mentioned geocaching and he said he had heard of it. After another 10 minutes a patron came out with his flashlight to help me search for the stinkin' thing. Finally after 25+minutes of seaching in the freezing cold I had to give up to catch my train home. I stopped in the White Horse Tavern to use the bathroom on the way out. Nice place!!

 

team pelagori, forgive me for having lost your cache. It is out there somewhere. I will contact you to arrange getting you a new container. In the mean time, I have learned a valuable lesson. Go caching BEFORE making my way to Down the Hatch.

 

***THE CACHE IS LOST***

[+Rainbow Spirit]

Out one day with two micro caches, one to be hidden, the other in my pack for a future hide. I place the first one, but drop the second one, a small home made camoed tube. I search and search, but to no avail! Wow, that was a good camo job!, so I make the lost cache container a finders prize for the placed cache..

 

A few weeks later a cacher finds it, and now it is my turn to find where they have hidden my container.

[TheCacheSeeker]

Never found or attempted a nano.

[+lamoracke]

Never found or attempted a nano.

 

you often don't know til you get there. You have found micros after all, some I have found in fact...a nano is listed as a micro in most cases.

[+KBfamily]

I am a middle school teacher and my students have heard quite a bit about geocaching from me. Today one of the girls came in with a nano and said that she found it in the dirt while walking to school. I have searched all of the caches around our school and none of them meet the names that are signed on the log...so, there is a mystery...someone lost a nano...just don't know who....

[TheCacheSeeker]

Never found or attempted a nano.

 

you often don't know til you get there. You have found micros after all, some I have found in fact...a nano is listed as a micro in most cases.

The thing is that I remember every geocache I have found. I started last year in March, and only found 27 caches. So I remember each individual geocache.

[+Dgwphotos]

Carry a magnet. Then you can sweep it over the area where you think you lost the nano. With a bit of luck, it should be attracted to the magnet.

 

I once dropped a match container when I went to replace it. It was a cache at a viewpoint above a highway on a ridge, with a fair amount of traffic at the viewpoint, and the cache fell down the hill below a vehicle barrier. There were two muggle girls sitting in a car overlooking the cache location, and I waited a long time, went off and found another cache, came back, and they were still there! I finally went home, (about seven or eight miles away) ate lunch, and came back, and was finally able to go over the rail and retrieve the cache container.

 

The cache. It looks like I am not the only one to lose a part of the cache.

[knowschad]

Yes, once. And it was terrible. The cache was a fake survey stake with florescent pink plastic tape covering a nano that was forced into a hole in the stake. I found the cache surprisingly quickly, but it was stuck, due to moisture swelling the wood around it. I finally managed to pop it out, only to have it fly into the dried leaves on the hillside. It took me almost an hour of painstakingly "CSI'ing" the area before I found it. So, yeah... I've been there.

[Dj Storm]

I am always careful with nanos, sometimes too careful. I usually put film canisters in my pocket while signing, and sometimes I put nano containers in my pocket as well. Then I have to dig them out from between swag and other items, and usually end up emptying my pockets.

I lost the magnet once. Was st dusk, I carefully placed the container in a safe place, signed and put the log back, tried to place the cache back and it wasn't magnetic anymore. Found the magnet after a minute or two - it was in the lid!

[AZcachemeister]

I don't recall ever accidentally dropping any, but I have deliberately tossed a few.

[+GrateBear]

My only near loss was, like so many others have noted, due to a magnet. And to make it worse, I was FTF! Found the cache, got the log out and signed it, put it back together and WHAT? It won't stick to the frame it was on. Why not? What was it I didn't notice when I first found it? Thought, oh, great, FTF and I have to fess up that I somehow broke the container. Reached down to pick up my helmet (I biked to it), and there they were, two little magnets in the dirt. One would think that they would have been glued into the plastic container.......

[+brenda&&rew]

I have definitely dropped my share of nanos and thought I lost them. Luckily enough, I was always able to find them. Sometimes the search for the container the second time took longer than finding it the first time!

The worst almost lost incident I had was just this winter when I dropped the lid into the snow although I didn't know it! I thought it was in my pocket. I spent a long time searching through all my pockets and around my feet. I don't know how I found it but I noticed a tiny hole in the snow and sure enough, it was there! Next time I sure was careful about where I put the lid!

[+W. B. Taylor]

Just curious if anybody else has trouble with these tiny caches. I dropped the lid of a nano the other day...and couldn't find it again after much searching. I felt terrible and emailed to offer to pay for it. Feeling so clumsy!

 

I think we all have done that once or twice. I usually have a couple in my "dork bag". If I drop it, I replace it. I also carry different sizes of log books too. I often find a cache with a full log. I will replace it and tell the CO. You would be surprised how such a small act of kindness is appreciated.

 

WB

[+dasy2k1]

Ive dropped a magnetic keykolder in a canal,

thankfully managed to fish it out again before it sank

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=37988654-ea13-4f45-ad5a-0adb7190dc65

[+W7WT]

We have lost two. One was on a chain lane fence and it fell on the other side. The other we replaced with a film canaster. It is still there. I wear two hearing aids and a branch whipped back and knocked one out among some maple seeds the same color. $200 and

my insurance got it replaced. I seldom wear them geocaching anymore. We also carry spare Nano containers.

Edited February 27, 2011 by W7WT

[+ApanAnn]

I found my first nano today and was so paranoid I'd drop it... Shouldn't have read this thread earlier

[+Team BowMint]

Just curious if anybody else has trouble with these tiny caches. I dropped the lid of a nano the other day...and couldn't find it again after much searching. I felt terrible and emailed to offer to pay for it. Feeling so clumsy!

The EXACT same thing happened to me in my first week of caching. An itty bitty was magnetized in the middle of a no parking sign. We signed the tiny log and while placing the nano back, the magnet separated form the body and the body fell into the DEEP hole the no parking sign was in! We removed the sign which was by no means secure in the hole; my kids stuck their arms into the hole up to their elbows looking for it but no joy. I logged this as a NM and e-mailed the CO offering to buy a new one. I never got a response and I noticed the cache was back up and running a week later... I guess this is the nature of the beast with these tiny caches...

Edited February 28, 2011 by Team BowMint

[kvhollis]

Yup, that's just when you log a "Needs Maintenance".

[+TerraViators]

yes

[+hikerT]

Not a nano, but a small bolt cache. It was located on a bridge, and I dropped it down who knows where. Searched a long time through a lot of leaves and debris before going home and sending the CO a very apologetic message. Then I just happened to meet them at an event the next week. I began to apologize again when they started laughing... they had gone and found it, almost right at GZ.

[+The_Incredibles_]

Not a nano, but a small bolt cache. It was located on a bridge, and I dropped it down who knows where. Searched a long time through a lot of leaves and debris before going home and sending the CO a very apologetic message. Then I just happened to meet them at an event the next week. I began to apologize again when they started laughing... they had gone and found it, almost right at GZ.

 

That's kind of, well, embarassing.

[+Sky King 36]

I have luckily been able to retrieve every cache I've nearly lost. I can think of about 4 or 5 that have taken heroic effort.

 

I carry a chunk of 8 guage copper wire in my pack, about 8 feet long. Thick enough to be pretty rigid, just thin enough I can bend it into tools with my hands. I've probably snagged about 15 caches using that or a much smaller (12ga x 2-3 feet) piece of wire.

 

Twice I've put wads of inside-out duct tape on the end of the big wire to fish caches out of the inside of fence post pipes. One fell while I was taking the pipe cap off, the other was already at the bottom before I got there. That wire has helped me retrieve 2-3 caches I have dropped, the worst being dropping a magnetic key box down a storm drain. Took me many tries, plus using my blackberry camera as my eyes, and about an hour but I got it. I got muggled once while crawling around looking for a nano I dropped in grass, but found it pretty quickly. I also was looking for a nano once attached to a piece of railroad rail in a park--but burried in snow--in the dark. As I was clearing snow, I felt my hand hit something, I had to sift through the snow pile I had made and sure enough, I had knocked a nano loose. So far, no losses, knock on wood.

[djhobby]

I've dropped a few, but the worst one was losing my own cache.

 

I have a cache that is hidden inside a parking block, those things you bump your tires against in the parking lots. I pulled out a loose piece of the rebar that holds the block in place (no worries the block couldn't go anywhere anyway, it's right next to a curb) cut it down a little bit and stuck a magnetic bison tube on the end, but when I went to hide it, the bison tube fell off and went into the hole upside down with the magnetic end facing the wrong way. Luckily I had a nano with me and made the hide work, but the rebar sticks up about 2" above the block making it a little more obvious. People still have trouble finding it though, and sometimes to be ornery I'll tell them that it should be easy, after all there are two caches there.

[+FloridaFour]

Almost, I was trying to get the log out of a nano, and shook the container, the log fell out and fell into the crack of a boardwalk. I managed to use a stick to get it back out again.

 

I just recently almost dropped another nano log, on a bridge, it was very windy. If I'd dropped it, I'd have never gotten it back.

[+knabino]

Yup, done this a few times, but one time stands out in my mind:

 

My log from the now archived - The Mouse That Roared

I try not to log caches out of order, but this one has a few people waiting to log this until after I have logged (and I need to let the owner know what happened here).

 

I was out spending the day with several GONIL cachers on an After Thanksgiving outing that COD had put together. A few folks suggested we cache here as the area is open after dark. The evening was still young, but had gotten dark and we were caching along with our flashlights.

 

We got to GZ and quickly, the cache container was in my hand. My SLIPPERY hand that is. I took the top off the container and promptly dropped it This is NOT good. I wanted to just bury my head into the ground now. We could sign the log, but I was going to have to email the owner that I had lost the lid.

 

Everyone started looking around on the ground. Lots of flashlights but no luck. Suddenly, either Ewald or SumWhatLost (sorry guys but I was flustered) sat down on the other side and in looking, they found the original container hidden quite well. Wheewwww a save there but still frustration. I swear, from now on, I am NOT going to open containers of this size.

 

Thanks Bill$er. The container was/is cute and a better telling of the tale is sure to come from at least 2 of the others I was here with.

[+popokiiti]

Dropped and found a few, luckily. One poor cacher found one of Popoki Nui's and the bottom dropped right out. They replaced the lid and made a note of it in their log, so we drove out and replaced it.

[+mlomeli]

Nah, just log another set of gps location. List the two as a set. Someone else can help you find it.

[+wenestvedt]

I have a nano overlooking a rail yard. Someone dropped the cap -- containing the log! -- and just quietly put back only the threaded base with the magnet. The next finder was a little disappointed when they searched successfully but discovered only the empty base!

[+ayrbrain]

One of our finds in Glasgow today was a nano, it was stuck really fast to a railing and tucked in to a corner. I had a grip of it and was so sure it would go flying into an area I wouldn't have been able to get to to retrieve it. I hung on to it as tight as I could and thankfully it came away from the railing and stayed in my hand. I have just started to carry a "first aid kit" with me, so that is a good idea to carry a spare nano ........... just in case !

[+firemanjim903mfd]

No I haven't lost one YET . But the first time I found one When I unscrewed the cap I didn't even take the log out and sign it because I just knew that I could not have got it back in .

[+Jayman11]

I have....when I first started caching, I found a magnetic nano that was stuck underneath the outside of a pedestrian bridge over the water. Well, it didn't stick real well when I went to put it back and all I heard was "ker-plunk". I just apologized and replaced with a new similar container.

[ao318]

Yep, it happens all the time and here is my log of that fateful moment:

 

"Well this started off as a great day. Kids are back in school. No cavities from my dentist visit. A whole bunch of new caches in my email. Great I'll take my dog for a walk along the river. This was the closest so I came here. I initially approached from the wrong side so I walked all the around with my golden and figured out where to look. As I approached, and knowing the hint, I knew where to look. Bingo, found it and with a clean log. FTF, WOOHOO.

 

Now for the bad. I signed the log. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the body and put the log in. I reached into my pocket for the lid , no lid. It was in there with the body. Where is it? I checked again. Nope, not there. It must have fallen out when I pulled out the body. I looked and looked right where I was standing because I hadn't moved yet. No luck .

 

I even came back after finding another cache. Still no luck. So I put it in a safe place and emailed the owner that the cache needs to be repaired. I apologize to those that came after me to look for this one."

 

The ironic and funny thing about this, I actually ended up finding the lid in my caching bag about a year later.

[+roziecakes]

I think one time we actually lost a film can under a structure... but I honestly don't remember if my husband retrieved it or not. Other than that, nope, I've not dropped anything or lost any part of the cache while caching, but I *almost* have several times.