Micro Geocache Containers

[+ruralseeker]

I'm making a list of all the micro geocache containers I've seen in use. (Note: This list does not reflect which ones I condone. It's just what I have found.)

 

So far, I have some of the obvious: nano, bison tube, film container, key hider, Altoid/Skoal can (yuck), pill bottle, match container, lip balm tube, soda bottle preform....

 

I know I'm missing some. Can anyone list for me some containers they have often found under lamp post skirts and on guardrails that I've missed?

Edited November 30, 2013 by ruralseeker

[+briansnat]

Nalgene cryo vial, EZ dose pill containers, shotgun shell, CD case (plastic jewel boxes, and the metal ones AOL CDs came in) and cassette cases. None that I recall were found in a guardrail or LPC (Oddly, I've only found 2 LPCs out of all my finds).

[+L0ne.R]

• Fake bolt
• Lock with the key insertion mechanism replaced with a plug

[+CEH2000]

Lemonade Mix container, Duck Tape (Shaped to hold log), Empty Glue Stick container (Made to look like a snail on the outside).

Edited November 30, 2013 by CEH2000

[+niraD]

The "Bison tube" category includes all the capsules that Bison Designs makes, plus various clones.

 

And the "blinker" category includes both the ones designed as geocaches and the ones that started life as blinking LED jewelry. And of course, some blinkers have been embedded in some sort of camouflage object.

 

And the "key hider" category includes both the basic magnetic keyholders, as well as the fake rocks, fake sprinklers, and other fake objects.

 

I've also seen the pet ID capsules (which look like miniature Bison tubes), contact lens cases, breath strip containers, magnetic signs, magnetic utility box covers, and a handful of unique custom-made containers. And I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting.

[+ruralseeker]

The "Bison tube" category includes all the capsules that Bison Designs makes, plus various clones.

 

And the "blinker" category includes both the ones designed as geocaches and the ones that started life as blinking LED jewelry. And of course, some blinkers have been embedded in some sort of camouflage object.

 

And the "key hider" category includes both the basic magnetic keyholders, as well as the fake rocks, fake sprinklers, and other fake objects.

 

Good point here. Yes, bison tube also includes pill fobs and such clones, as nano/blinker even refers to the LED original types.

 

Thanks for your input, folks. Keep them coming. Anyone remember any other magnetic containers they've found?

[+Oxford Stone]

Magnetic snails

A couple of flat ones - magnetic sheets with paper in a plastic sleeve

I've used a pill tube, Tyrozets I think they were called

Saw a metal cigar tube today

[+L0ne.R]

Centrifuge tubes. Leaky and a pain to get the scroll out. But people like to glue them to pennies and snails and gum.

 

 

 

[+Bunya]

M&M containers:

 

The trouble is, geocachers (new ones in particular) have become so used to the decreasing size of caches that I've often found these to be labelled as "small", not "micro"!

[+cerberus1]

Agree with Bunya, the newer crowd listing micros as smalls is happening here too.

Two weeks ago I was FTF on an already apart Zippo lighter flip box (that they're sold in) and found later it was listed as a small.

[+Tyrunnersaurus Rex]

One of the early ones I found was a film canister embedded in a chunk of concrete. Took a couple minutes to find that one because it blended in with the surroundings quite nicely. Mostly HAKs and pill bottles around here in eastern PA

[+Reardon41]

A whizbang, if you don't know what it is google whizbang geocache. Pretty easy to make and really a decent container. Lots of them here in central KY.

[+St.Matthew]

A whizbang, if you don't know what it is google whizbang geocache. Pretty easy to make and really a decent container. Lots of them here in central KY.

 

Haha we call those pop tops! As long as the creator follows the directions, then yes I agree they are decent and usually waterproof. If the creator skims on work, say hello to soggy log.

[+msrubble]

TicTac box, "Slim Bob" (plastic bag wrapped in tape), diabetes test strip container, ointment or cosmetics jar, small glass jelly jar, earplug case, plastic Easter egg.

 

Rarely found, in my experience: pen, finger paint tub, cosmetics case.

[+L0ne.R]

Dollar store bead jars; Clam shell eyeglass case - found one once, very bad container. Actually just about anything small can be a micro if you figure out how to incorporate a bit of paper. We should probably come up with a list of quality watertight micro containers.

[+Don_J]

Centrifuge tubes. Leaky and a pain to get the scroll out. But people like to glue them to pennies and snails and gum.

 

 

Plus, the tether on the cap breaks on the fifth find, and is lost by the tenth.

[+Sharks-N-Beans]

As LOneR said, anything small can be a micro. For example, we found at least one retractable pen in a lock-n-lock (described as a decoy) which contained the log.

[+J Grouchy]

Centrifuge tubes. Leaky and a pain to get the scroll out. But people like to glue them to pennies and snails and gum.

 

 

Yes...and these are the worst/most common offenders of the "no buried cache" rule. I always find these glued to a penny or a bottle cap and pushed into the ground...usually at the base of a road sign.

Edited December 4, 2013 by J Grouchy

[+etphoneme2plz]

I recently found a really cool one where the CO cut the tops off of 2 coke bottles a little below the neck where it kinda spreads out. They glued the 2 cut off pieces together and made it so one of the caps didn't unscrew. Painted them black. Worked really well!!!

[+ruralseeker]

I recently found a really cool one where the CO cut the tops off of 2 coke bottles a little below the neck where it kinda spreads out. They glued the 2 cut off pieces together and made it so one of the caps didn't unscrew. Painted them black. Worked really well!!!

 

I actually made two of those and am going to deploy them soon. Not only have I found a few, placed really well, but the Podcacher podcast did a video about it and I made one from their instructions. A little epoxy and some spray paint and you have a homemade container!

 

Thanks for the input everyone! Keep them coming! Most of what you are mentioning are containers I hate to find.

 

I am actually going to be using these for a number of good ideas I have. I not only plan to make a "parody" series of caches, using watertight, creative, humorous plays on the stereotypical containers, but I plan to create a "do" and "do not" list off of the lists you all are giving me.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I recently found a really cool one where the CO cut the tops off of 2 coke bottles a little below the neck where it kinda spreads out. They glued the 2 cut off pieces together and made it so one of the caps didn't unscrew. Painted them black. Worked really well!!!

 

I actually made two of those and am going to deploy them soon. Not only have I found a few, placed really well, but the Podcacher podcast did a video about it and I made one from their instructions. A little epoxy and some spray paint and you have a homemade container!

 

I made a few of them as well from some larger bottles but have not tried them out in the field.

 

I found a cache in South Africa that was made from a 1" long piece of aluminum tubing, rubber caps on each end, and an earth magnet epoxied on the side. The total volume wasn't much more than a blinker (nano cache).

 

 

[+Sharks-N-Beans]

I recently found a really cool one where the CO cut the tops off of 2 coke bottles a little below the neck where it kinda spreads out. They glued the 2 cut off pieces together and made it so one of the caps didn't unscrew. Painted them black. Worked really well!!!

 

I actually made two of those and am going to deploy them soon. Not only have I found a few, placed really well, but the Podcacher podcast did a video about it and I made one from their instructions. A little epoxy and some spray paint and you have a homemade container!

 

I made a few of them as well from some larger bottles but have not tried them out in the field.

 

I found a cache in South Africa that was made from a 1" long piece of aluminum tubing, rubber caps on each end, and an earth magnet epoxied on the side. The total volume wasn't much more than a blinker (nano cache).

 

Now see the earth magnet probably cost more retail than buying a nano (w/ magnet). That doesn't make sense to me. The whizbang described above it is probably the best homemade micro design we have found.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I recently found a really cool one where the CO cut the tops off of 2 coke bottles a little below the neck where it kinda spreads out. They glued the 2 cut off pieces together and made it so one of the caps didn't unscrew. Painted them black. Worked really well!!!

 

I actually made two of those and am going to deploy them soon. Not only have I found a few, placed really well, but the Podcacher podcast did a video about it and I made one from their instructions. A little epoxy and some spray paint and you have a homemade container!

 

I made a few of them as well from some larger bottles but have not tried them out in the field.

 

I found a cache in South Africa that was made from a 1" long piece of aluminum tubing, rubber caps on each end, and an earth magnet epoxied on the side. The total volume wasn't much more than a blinker (nano cache).

 

Now see the earth magnet probably cost more retail than buying a nano (w/ magnet). That doesn't make sense to me. The whizbang described above it is probably the best homemade micro design we have found.

 

I suppose that if the goal were to find the least expensive container possible that might not make sense, but if that were the case, just stuff a piece of paper in a small plastic baggie and call it a cache. It may not have been an earth magnet, but just a small round magnet that was enough to keep it attached to a propeller outside an aviation themed restaurant (the cache has long been archived). In any case, I thought it was a unique, homegrown micro cache, which is what this thread is all about.

 

 

[+Sharks-N-Beans]

I suppose that if the goal were to find the least expensive container possible that might not make sense, but if that were the case, just stuff a piece of paper in a small plastic baggie and call it a cache. It may not have been an earth magnet, but just a small round magnet that was enough to keep it attached to a propeller outside an aviation themed restaurant (the cache has long been archived). In any case, I thought it was a unique, homegrown micro cache, which is what this thread is all about.

My post was not intended as a judgment of your post. Your post provoked a thought which I posted. That's how things work around here.

[+tygerkat]

Anyone see "something really different" with a difficulty of 5 in a wooded area?

[+J Grouchy]

Anyone see "something really different" with a difficulty of 5 in a wooded area?

 

One I did find that I thought was pretty clever was a small PVC pipe fitted onto the end of a broken-off tree limb. The whole thing was then stuck into a small naturally-occuring hole in the side of a tree. It blended in VERY well and I only found it because I bumped into the limb and it moved in a way to make it obvious that it was stuck inside the hole instead of attached to the tree. It's something that is easy to do wrong (wrong type of branch for the tree, hole too big and obvious, etc.), but this one was very well done except for the part about it being easily bumped into...

 

Another one I found (I was actually the FTF on this one) was an EXTREMELY well-crafted cache. I wish now that I had taken a photo, but it was essentially a limb that was cut in half and drilled in such a way that the ends fit together perfectly and there was a hollowed area on one side where the cache was inserted. Just explaining it doesn't do it justice, since it was placed in a way that it looked like it was just a sapling tree in the ground...but in fact it was not pushed into the ground and it didn't appear break any guidelines.

[+DragonsWest]

Listerene Pocket Packs (which are pretty horrible containers), Joeys (small zip-lock bag wrapped in camo tape, plain mini zip-lock bags, usually leak or torn after the first half dozen finds), Cryo tubes, Diabetes test strip containers, film cans, hollowed bolts or bolt heads, various plastic candy containers, mint tins, old watches, bison-type tubes, the crappy plastic inserts from smaller pill containers, plastic pill bottles, bottle pre-forms, top of plastic soda/water bottle with two caps (one cemented over old bottle neck), plastic coin tubes (kind you get from coin collector supply), old pens (with ink cartridge removed), small PVC pipe with cap on both ends, utility access plates with magnets and bagged log, hide-a-key rocks or magnetic boxes, small animal skull, plastic toy skull, plaster skull (which disintegrated), glass bottles, tiny tupperware-type or lock-n-lock-type, gutted mobile phone or pager, hollow figurines, hollow animal bone, rubber chicken (hilarious), plastic lemon/lime, flashlight body, spent ammo casing, pine cone (with and without a bison or cryo tube for log), metal bottle cap, plastic tree ornament, ...

 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[+GopherGreg]

Here's some I've found:

 

• Pill bottle
  
• Film canister
  
• matchbox container
  
• bison tubes
  
• nanos
  
• magnetic key holders
  
• Pet ID capsules
  
• Altoids tin
  
• Mechanical pencil led holder (Wasn't waterproof and the log is destroyed
  
• Plastic test tubes
  
• Beach Safes
  
• Pens (Didn't last long either)
  
• Fake bolts or screws
  
• A fake piece of glass (Could be opened from the botton and a nano sized log was inside)
  
• Tic-Tac Containers
  

 

There's probably more, but that's what comes to minds. I've also often found chap-stick containers, sticking out of plastic animal's rear ends. (It's always the rear-end. The caches placed inside fake animals never come out the mouth, or paws. Only the rear. Why?!)

 

A particularly crafty bison tube I found was hidden like this: The CO had sawed off a tree's branch. (About twice the thickness of a bison tube) He hollowed out the part of the twig sawed off, so the bison tube fit nice a snug, but was easily removed. Then there was a small strong magnet glued to the part of the tree limb still attached to the tree. There was already a small magnet on the bison tube so the two pieces of tree limb snapped together perfectly, and was already hard to spot that limb had been sawed. Since the tree the cache was hidden in had recently been trimmed there were orange little ribbons tied to the branches that had been sawed off. The Co had tied an orange ribbon similar to the other ones over the part where the magnetic limbs connected so you couldn't see where it had been sawed. The end of the branch containing the bison tube was just sawed off so it wouldn't be sawed again. The cache took me a while to find, but was a great hide.

[+Jayman11]

Cryo tubes

Fake Rocks

Fake Sprinklers

[+ADKer]

One that I found early when I started caching was pretty cool. Someone took a plastic toy spider and hollowed it out to put the nano log in there. Then they put it in a hole in a tree in a city park. I think that's one of the most favorited ones in the area!

[+TriciaG]

Haven't seen these listed yet:

 

A highlighter (you pull off the bottom to get at the cache) - crappy container

 

A ziplock bag on the back of a magnet

 

A ziplock bag on the back of a solid metal outlet cover, with magnets attached to stick on a flat metal surface

 

A cable connector:

 

[Edited to try to get the cropped photo posted; stupid Photobucket...]

Edited January 10, 2014 by TriciaG

[+tygerkat]

WOW! THAT GAVE SOME GREAT IDEAS: back to hunting I"ll let you know what I find.

[+DragonsWest]

The highlighter is a variation on the pen, but with more room.

 

I've seen the cable insulation on the ground with a rolled up log and plastic cap, at least once.

 

Found a reflector last night with a log tucked inside, guess I missed that one as it's not the first time I've seen that trick.