Standard nano and micro tube inside dimensions diameter size

[awdemuth]

After searching high and low here and with big G, I cannot find an answer. I tried to make the subject line easy to search with multiple terms so that the info could be easily available for future generations.

 

How large is the inside of a standard magnetic nano? Can somebody grab a set of calipers and measure the diameter of the cavity and how tall the log sheet is for us? If you have a Bison tube, can you do the same thing? Outside dimensions seem to be everywhere, but no mention of inside dimensions.

 

Thanks!

[+kunarion]

This will be very complicated with "a Bison Tube", since there are many shapes and sizes (and cachers typically don't use branded Bison Tubes), but google "nano geocache log sheet" for some ideas. Depending on your container, you may have to just eyeball it and cut a sheet of paper by hand.

 

There are also differences in the metal "blinky" style of nano (in the photo), and if the log sheet is to be rolled up and placed into the cap, it can be a little wider than if it's crammed into the base (the typical way these are done). You can find some free log sheets online by googling "nano geocache log sheet", and maybe find some that work in most common styles.

 

 

If you wish to replace missing or destroyed log sheets in caches you find, without needing to measure them in advance, you may try rolling a strip of paper, and placing it into a piece of wide drinking straw tube, and bringing those pre-made log packs in your cache kit. About 1/4" wide sheets for a "blinky", and 1" wide for larger nanos, might be suitable as at least a temporary replacement in most of the nanos or micros you'll encounter.

Edited January 25, 2015 by kunarion

[awdemuth]

I'm making my own container and can make the compartment any dimensions I want, however, due to the nature of the container, I would like the cavity to to be as small as possible, but still fit the largest "standard" log sheet that it can. I just want to make something that is field serviceable by a decently equipped cacher without much effort on their behalf (I've begrudgingly dropped a nano roll as a replacement into an odd sized pill capsule because it was entirely too short to fit any of the other log sheet sizes I had with me). The last cache container I made had a custom log sheet dimension because I didn't have internal measurements, and I decided it wasn't important enough to put off the designing of it until got dimensions of a real nano. I want this cache and my containers here on out to be a bit more refined, and would like to match the internal dimensions of commercially available containers.

 

I carry around a half a dozen replacements for most cache sizes. I know my nano rolls I are smaller in diameter because I print on letter paper, but they work when a log sheet is completely full or damaged until the owner can come out and make an "official" replacement. I prefer it when I can make a swap and have it be a permanent replacement, so the CO doesn't have to make a trip out just to swap a sheet of paper. Taping a strip of paper to a toothpick, winding it up, taping it off and clipping the toothpick with nail clippers makes for a quick, easy and cheap way to make nano rolls.

 

I wasn't aware that bison tubes were so drastically different, I knew that the keychain pill capsules varied quite a bit, but every bison tube I've run across seemed to be just about the same size. I guess I'll be adding cheap calipers to my caching bag, for curiosity's sake.

Edited January 25, 2015 by awdemuth

[+kunarion]

I just want to make something that is field serviceable by a decently equipped cacher without much effort on their behalf (I've begrudgingly dropped a nano roll as a replacement into an odd sized pill capsule because it was entirely too short to fit any of the other log sheet sizes I had with me).

You may be astonished by the "cache maintenance" of finders. People tear a piece of paper from a pad, fold it up and jam it into the tube (along with the soaked, moldy log roll already there). It's not always as suitable a replacement as one might hope.

 

Taping a strip of paper to a toothpick, winding it up, taping it off and clipping the toothpick with nail clippers makes for a quick, easy and cheap way to make nano rolls.

I've seen those! Very nice.

 

When cachers place a "nano" blinky, and especially those one-use centrifuge tubes, their first thought should be that these require almost constant maintenance -- the CO should be changing the log sheets, o-rings, and the whole container as needed on a regular basis. Strangely enough, these kinds of hides are immediately deemed permanent fixtures for the Geocaching world. People with the torn pieces of paper are the only reason preventing archiving .

Edited January 25, 2015 by kunarion

[awdemuth]

I like to check up on my caches a bit more frequently than that, if anything, to see if they're in decent shape. My caches are usually a bit on the delicate side (ie, they're not bulletproof like a set-it-and-forget-it container needs to be) so I feel like I need to check up on them often. Glue fails, paint fades/wears, camo wears out, surroundings change, etc. I also try to hide mine so I can clearly see them from the street as I drive by to see if they're still there.

 

I suppose I can just head out tomorrow to see if I can find and measure a new GC that is in a container I'm attempting to mimic. Never thought of that!