Idea for a Micro Cache container

[+Zub Zub]

Hi Guy and Girls. While driving home from a caching mission I had a thought about what I had picked up on my way around the caches. Along with the usual rubbish I had found a number of golf balls. This got me pondering about using one to make a Micro cache container. I was thinking cut it in half, take the insides out and then some how hinge the two halves and fit some sort of clip.

 

Has anyone ever done something like this before. If so, have you got any hints on how to make it work? I am wanting to place my first cache soon but want it to be something a bit special.

 

Many thanks

 

Zub Zub

[AZcachemeister]

Hi Guy and Girls. While driving home from a caching mission I had a thought about what I had picked up on my way around the caches. Along with the usual rubbish I had found a number of golf balls. This got me pondering about using one to make a Micro cache container. I was thinking cut it in half, take the insides out and then some how hinge the two halves and fit some sort of clip.

 

Has anyone ever done something like this before. If so, have you got any hints on how to make it work? I am wanting to place my first cache soon but want it to be something a bit special.

 

Many thanks

 

Zub Zub

 

Something like that has been done hundreds of times.

Usually a ball drilled with a micro centrifuge tube stuck in it.

These are available commercially online.

[knowschad]

Apparently you were not aware that cutting into a golf ball will release an uncontrolled thermonuclear reaction, or at the very least, splash an extremely toxic acid in your face, probably blinding and scarring you for life.

 

But even worse than those fates is what you would find if you Googled it!

[+luvvinbird]

Apparently you were not aware that cutting into a golf ball will release an uncontrolled thermonuclear reaction, or at the very least, splash an extremely toxic acid in your face, probably blinding and scarring you for life.

 

But even worse than those fates is what you would find if you Googled it!

I get more laughs on this forum than watching Seinfeld re-runs. You guys are hilarious!

[knowschad]

Apparently you were not aware that cutting into a golf ball will release an uncontrolled thermonuclear reaction, or at the very least, splash an extremely toxic acid in your face, probably blinding and scarring you for life.

 

But even worse than those fates is what you would find if you Googled it!

I get more laughs on this forum than watching Seinfeld re-runs. You guys are hilarious!

If you liked that, you absolutely MUST see the Nudist Geocachers thread!

[Clan Riffster]

Zub Zub, have you thought about how you would make such a container waterproof? There's an age old axiom floating around here, which I like to espouse whenever applicable; "If you must use a baggie to keep your log dry, your container has already failed at a very basic level". Something I have seen that works is, rather than cutting a golf ball in half, drill a hole in it and insert a waterproof container, such as a 0.5ml micro cetrifuge tube.

 

Note: If you go this route, know that all tubes are not created equal.

These suck:

These do not, as they have a screw on cap with an o-ring.

[+WarNinjas]

Thanks Clan Riffster for telling me that some of the caches I have made that I have not placed yet suck! Just kidding/well I have made them. I guess I will give them a go but I will look into those other tubes if there is a problem and I am now guessing there will be. What happens do the tops break off from people opening them or do they just suck in general? I was planning on glueing them in place but they mostly stuck so well that glue would not be needed.

-WarNinjas

[+speakers-corner]

I have used some empty snail shells and placed magnetic nanos into them and placing them behind signs. Works a treat.

[+luvvinbird]

Thanks Clan Riffster for telling me that some of the caches I have made that I have not placed yet suck! Just kidding/well I have made them. I guess I will give them a go but I will look into those other tubes if there is a problem and I am now guessing there will be. What happens do the tops break off from people opening them or do they just suck in general? I was planning on glueing them in place but they mostly stuck so well that glue would not be needed.

-WarNinjas

Even the best waterproof containers leak after awhile. Not because of their design so much but because of geocachers who don't properly refit the lids or caps. I've found lock & locks that didn't have the "flaps" locked in, an ammo box that maybe a youngster didn't have the strength to re-latch, and bison tubes missing the 'o' ring which dries out, falls off and goes unreported.

[Clan Riffster]

What happens do the tops break off from people opening them or do they just suck in general?

The lid pops into the body, making a loose compression fitting. With temperature changes, the body expands at a greater rate than the lid, allowing moisture to seep in. You'll have some maintenance issues, but so long as you respond to complaints quickly, it won't be a big issue. If you don't want folks having to deal with moldy logs down the line, you might pick up a few of the ones with screw on lids and o-rings, and swap them out once issues arise, rather than swapping them out now.

[Clan Riffster]

Even the best waterproof containers leak after awhile.

True. For those who care about such things, all one can do is play the odds. If I hide a cache in a swamp, I can use anything from an ammo can to a Chinese take-out container. It's entirely up to me. As it is my belief that a Chinese take-out container has a greater chance of leaking than an ammo can, the choice is fairly easy. The same principle applies for Gladware, Altoids tins, black & gray film cans, baggies covered in camo duct tape, knock off Lock & Locks, etc. Since my personal experience with those containers tells me they are not very effective at repelling moisture in my geographic region, I won't use them. The fact that there is a chance for a quality container to leak would not lead me to utilize a crappy one.

[knowschad]

Even the best waterproof containers leak after awhile.

True. For those who care about such things, all one can do is play the odds. If I hide a cache in a swamp, I can use anything from an ammo can to a Chinese take-out container. It's entirely up to me. As it is my belief that a Chinese take-out container has a greater chance of leaking than an ammo can, the choice is fairly easy. The same principle applies for Gladware, Altoids tins, black & gray film cans, baggies covered in camo duct tape, knock off Lock & Locks, etc. Since my personal experience with those containers tells me they are not very effective at repelling moisture in my geographic region, I won't use them. The fact that there is a chance for a quality container to leak would not lead me to utilize a crappy one.

 

Do we need a new thread on how to weatherproof a Chinese take-out container?

[+sbell111]

Something like that has been done hundreds of times.

Usually a ball drilled with a micro centrifuge tube stuck in it.

These are available commercially online.

That's why I don't post in the CCC thread anymore.

[+SeekerOfTheWay]

Zub Zub, have you thought about how you would make such a container waterproof? There's an age old axiom floating around here, which I like to espouse whenever applicable; "If you must use a baggie to keep your log dry, your container has already failed at a very basic level". Something I have seen that works is, rather than cutting a golf ball in half, drill a hole in it and insert a waterproof container, such as a 0.5ml micro cetrifuge tube.

 

Note: If you go this route, know that all tubes are not created equal.

These suck:

These do not, as they have a screw on cap with an o-ring.

 

I have an easy golf ball hide, and used the first container pictured inside a golf ball. I actually bought the entire cache pre made at the space coast geocaching store.

 

It's stayed dry inside, and the log is almost full and still in good condition.

 

Not a clever hide, but I placed it on a golf course and folks seems to like it. It has a nice view.

 

Don't Let The Bogey-Man Find You

Edited August 6, 2011 by SeekerOfTheWay

[+Zub Zub]

Thanks for the help guys. I can understand that there are a lot golf balls out there that have just had a hole drilled in them and a small container stuck in the hole. I am hoping to make it look just like a normal golf ball. I have been thinking about how to make it waterproof and I'm sure that there must be a way. Even if I end up finding a small ball like container to put on the inside. So container with in container.

 

Thanks again for your help!

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Thanks for the help guys. I can understand that there are a lot golf balls out there that have just had a hole drilled in them and a small container stuck in the hole. I am hoping to make it look just like a normal golf ball. I have been thinking about how to make it waterproof and I'm sure that there must be a way. Even if I end up finding a small ball like container to put on the inside. So container with in container.

 

Thanks again for your help!

I had some like you describe, don't remember where I got them, online somewhere. They were cut in half with a very fine blade and had an enclosed waterproof container. You could hold it in your hand and might not even see the seam. You had to twist the halves to get it apart. I had three. I would mix them in with a couple dozen real balls, take them to events and throw them all out in a field. Two had 'not it' logs and one had a slip that could be exchanged by the finder for a stocked ammo can cache prize. Wish I hadn't given them away. I am sure somebody still sells them. Good luck!

Edited August 7, 2011 by TheAlabamaRambler

[+GeoGeeBee]

I was searching for a micro once, at right at where my GPS said GZ should be, there was a golf ball. I picked it up, and it was actually half a golf ball. "Kewl," sez I, "I haven't seen one of these before."

 

I spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to open it and take out the log, before I noticed the bison tube hanging at eye-level on a tree branch.