I'm planning to hide my 1st micro-cache. Where / how should I buy one?

[TexasbornDutchman]

I am a total virgin to Geocaching - or, well; I DID find one cache w.i. my local city many months ago. I used a friend's GPS to find this at that time.

I want to start my geocaching career by learning ALL I can about this technology and sport.

 

The GPS I have bought is a GARMIN - Dakota20 (handheld unit.) Without the owners' manual - I have misplaced this paperwork somewhere! <-I neglected to MARK exactly where it is! =:-o - how can I make sense of all the features that pop-up on the start-menu when I turn it on?

 

My temper can get this->||<-short when I do not understand what i am doing.

Thanks for help.

[TexasbornDutchman]

I am a total virgin to Geocaching - or, well; I DID find my very first cache w.i. my local city many months ago. I used a friend's GPS to find this at that time.

I want to start my geocaching career by learning ALL I can about this technology and sport.

 

The GPS I have bought is a GARMIN - Dakota20 (handheld unit.) Without the owners' manual - I have misplaced this paperwork somewhere! <-I neglected to MARK exactly where it is! =:-o - how can I make sense of all the features that pop-up on the start-menu when I turn it on?

 

I am advised to begin by HIDING a / a few micro-caches to begin contacting local cachers.

 

Where / how can I begin buying micro-caches to start my geocaching career? Does geocaching.com offer a link to buy these or can I maybe find some at local sporting / hobby outlet?

 

My temper can get this->||<-short when I do not understand what I am doing.

Thanks for help.

[+ryanr69]

I would suggest doing at least 20-30 caches first and learn how each has a style.

 

For example, we have one guy in our area that likes cito tubes and rock cairnes, another who likes ammo boxes and bushes, and then another who likes evil micros. This will give you a personal feeling of what you like and don't like. I dislike caches buried way in the back of sycamore bushes.

 

Look where they hide them and where they don't. The most successful caches are hidden away from the popular areas you are trying to get cachers to. Like if you are trying to get people to the top of the mountain, put the cache 100 feet away. You want the cacher to find it but not the muggles... Muggled caches get stolen.

 

Lastly, my pet peeve... LEAVE A HINT.

[+Ambient_Skater]

Here's the manual!

 

My temper can get this->||<-short when I do not understand what I am doing.=

Then you'll be right at home here at the geocaching forums.

 

Here are the containers Groundspeak sells. You'll be able to find what you need there.

[+briansnat]

This ought to help https://buy.garmin.com/shop/store/manual.jsp?product=010-00781-01&cID=145&pID=30926

[knowschad]

This ought to help https://buy.garmin.c...D=145&pID=30926

 

Thank you. You beat me to it!

 

To the OP... please don't decide that you want to hide a "micro-cache". When you are ready to hide a cache, let either the area, or perhaps the type of cammo determine the size of the cache.

[+Ambient_Skater]

But that's not fair! I beat both of you to it. You may want to merge these topics together, briansnat.

[+d+n.s]

Some people love Micros. Some people hate them. At most drug stores you can find a "pill fob" which makes a pretty good micro. At most outdoors stores (including Wal Mart) you can find "match safes" which are great even cheaper.

 

Personally, I think you should use the largest container that an area will allow. Micro caches are awesome because they can be hidden so well in many places, but as a travel bug lover, I'd rather find a small or larger when I'm out in nature or in a city park.

 

Be sure to flip through here: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=62421

It inspired many of us to up our games

[+AlohaBra and MaksMom]

I am a total virgin to Geocaching - or, well; I DID find one cache w.i. my local city many months ago. I used a friend's GPS to find this at that time.

I want to start my geocaching career by learning ALL I can about this technology and sport.

 

The GPS I have bought is a GARMIN - Dakota20 (handheld unit.) Without the owners' manual - I have misplaced this paperwork somewhere! <-I neglected to MARK exactly where it is! =:-o - how can I make sense of all the features that pop-up on the start-menu when I turn it on?

 

My temper can get this->||<-short when I do not understand what i am doing.

Thanks for help.

REALLY??? everybody and their uncle too...is just using the geocaching app on their smart phone to start. I sse you have no finds at all....HUH??

 

Edit: what is going on in Texas anyway???

Edited July 11, 2011 by alohabra

[+Ambient_Skater]

Well, the OP bought a Garmin Dakota 20 but doesn't have a manual.

[Pup Patrol]

I am a total virgin to Geocaching - or, well; I DID find one cache w.i. my local city many months ago. I used a friend's GPS to find this at that time.

I want to start my geocaching career by learning ALL I can about this technology and sport.

 

You can start by reading the Guidelines and the Knowledge Books...they should give you a good foundation to start.

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php

[+AlohaBra and MaksMom]

Well, the OP bought a Garmin Dakota 20 but doesn't have a manual.

I am following you here...but you need a question mark...like HUH???? go back to the store and get a manual....

[Keystone]

I merged together two similar topics.

 

Let's regard the GPS owner's manual issue as resolved, and talk here instead about helping the OP plan a first cache hide.

[+L0ne.R]

I think many new geocachers who haven't tried the game but want to plant a cache, decide on a micro because it's their test cache. They're not sure if they even understand the game or even like it, they'll learn by planting a cache. A micro is an easy cache to hide and costs very little (most often free). If the experience turns out to be bad or ho-hum or too much responsibility they can easily walk away from it without much loss.

 

TexasDutchman, Knowschad has great advice:

 

... please don't decide that you want to hide a "micro-cache". When you are ready to hide a cache, let either the area, or perhaps the type of cammo determine the size of the cache.

 

Micro caches were intended for locations where larger containers could not be hidden easily.

[Clan Riffster]

Hi Dutch! Welcome to the madness!

 

One thing I'm curious about is what led you to select "Micro" as your size of choice? Is it because the one cache you found was a micro, and you think that's how it's supposed to be done? Is it because you recognize the economics of hiding micros? Is it because you feel micros offer a greater challenge to those who seek them?

 

Any of the above are perfectly OK reasons. I'm just wondering. There are so many other size choices available that seeing you focused on just one size piqued my curiosity.

 

I would mirror the advice given by others in this thread; get yourself some more experience. I believe that experience is one of the greatest teachers in any activity, and even more so in this game, as the choices you make today could impact other players down the line. If you select a crappy container because you didn't know any better, you could cause several folks to have to deal with wet, moldy logs. Not exactly a life shattering thing, but it is pretty icky. And easily avoidable. Something you could do to gain experience is to pick some arbitrary number between 40 & 100, and divide that number by 4. The larger the number you select, the more experience you'll have before presenting your first cache to the world. For the sake of this suggestion let's pretend you picked 40. Go hunt 10 micros, 10 smalls, 10 regulars and, (if you can find that many), 10 larges. Where possible, hunt caches in each size group hidden by as many different hiders as possible, covering a wide range of D/T ratings. Hunting 10 D/T 1.5/1.5 micros, from the same hider, probably won't give you much variety.

 

Decide which caches you enjoyed the most, and what made them special, to you. If you decide that your favorite cache was an ammo can hidden deep in the woods, in a scenic location, that's kewl. If you decide that your favorite cache was a film can in some Burger King shrubbery, next to a dumpster, that's kewl too.

 

Hide the type of cache you enjoy finding.

 

Good luck!

 

-Sean

[+Entracte]

I think you've gotten really good and helpful tips already such as finding more caches before you go out hiding your own.

 

I'm new to geocaching aswell (late april) and have found 106st caches and hidden 12 caches plus I have approximately 10 new hides in planning right now. I almost think it's more fun to hide caches than to log them, although nothing beats a well made cache in a fantastic location. I hid my first cache after loggin 45 traditional caches. Here is my five cents:

 

* Put some time on the description. Search for relevant information and edit your text, so it appeals to the eye. You can use simple HTML to make it look really good in no time. A nice picture is appreciated by many, especially if the location is beautiful.

 

* Think like a muggler that visits the chosen location (in other agendas than finding the future cache ofc) to make sure that they don't see the cache by accident. As someone mentioned, caches that are hidden within the usual areas or mugglers eyesight are often stolen. I have had two caches stolen/muggled/whatever this week only. In my case(s) I think the reason is crowded and popular areas in summertime - parks, where one possible reason is indiscrete geocachers drawing attention to themselves and mugglers want to find out why that man/woman stuck their hand up that particular pipe etc. What I'm trying to say is that caches can get stolen even though the location and/or hide is cleverly chosen and very discrete, but a hide that never is visible by coincidence is much better and lasts longer.

 

* Put a little thought on the overall quality of the physical container. By that I mean these attributes:

- Choose quality containers like Lock & Lock latch boxes for the sizes small and up. Durable, comes in any shape and totally weather safe. For the micros and nanos, I think it's better to buy containers from geocaching shops that are popular and have proven their quality by others using them, than taking your empty whatever cointainer to convert to a cache, since most plastic cointainer are not totally sealed although they may appear so.

- Label/mark the cointainer well. If you buy "official geocache"-stickers that is great, but if you don't, type the name and your nickname on them with waterproof pen.

- Put in stash notes (information about this container and geocaching in general) which makes it clear for mugglers that this thing they just stumbled across is not up for grabs and does not obey under your usual finders keepers "rule". Many people found out about this amazing activity just by finding a cache and reading the stash note. There are plenty good stash notes for download and quick print.

- Think of the weather that will affect your cointainer. Is the logbook and pencil in need of sealing with a ziplock (or other similar) plastic bag? Think one year or more in advance and make yourself a favor to reduce future need of maintenance. People will let you know that the logbook is wet or the pencil is now a stick of mold.

 

* Make sure that the coordinates are as good as possible. There is nothing more disturbing than a misleading coordinate. It's recommended to come back the next day or in another sky condition to see how well your ground zero coordinate matches before you publish it.

 

* Try to choose meaningful places, but do not waste them either. If your home town has got a location of cultural value, why don't you spread the word by placing a cache there? Some "pearls of nature" are still available for a new cache, but by wasting them, I mean that you just throw in a film canister micro in the nearest parking or information sign just because it's quickly done and cheap in both time, money and energy.

 

I hope you understand my English, since I'm Swedish and don't write explanations in English too often. If anything is not understandable, I'm glad to rephrase it for you.

 

Good luck and happy hiding!

 

//Johan a.k.a. Entracte

Edited July 11, 2011 by Entracte