Do you like microcaches?

[claypigeon58]

There seems to be a glut of microcaches around me. I must admit that after the first few, they've lost their appeal and I don't pursue them anymore. I just don't find any appeal to someone hiding a tiny container in a clump of weeds or a pile of dead timber, with nothing inside but a pencil and paper.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what makes a "good" microcache? By good, I mean something that makes it more than just a set of coordinates you go to so you can come back home and log another meaningless find. I guess I like opening stuff up and rummaging through things to trade.

[+leatherman]

Love micros.

I even prefer the micro log books. I would rather see who's been there than the incoherent scribbling found in normal logs.

For me, it's all about the hunt.

 

I am the result of genetic manipulation of superior Geocacher DNA. Faster, stronger with superior reasoning and logic.

Mokita!

[+Mad_Hatter]

Sure, I like them just fine as long as they're placed somewhere nice.

[+Faveral]

I like them! The ones around me tend to be urban micros, which are a great distraction during the week, when work interferes with geocaching. We keep the hikes for the weekend. For me, the fun is in the hunt. Some urban micros force you to be real sneaky and that can be fun!

[FullOn]

Micros are like any other type of cache - virtual, regular, etc... - there are good ones and bad ones.

 

I think the things that make a good micro are the same things that make a good regular cache. First of all you have to have a good location. It doesn't have to be the most beautiful place ever, but it should at least have some factor that makes it interesting. I think that caches that have a twist to them tend to be more fun, i.e. a puzzle, offset or even just a fun and interesting description like a story behind it. Lastly, I think that as long as it has some thought behind it, it's got a good shot at being a decent cache.

 

Micros thrown from car windows into the bushes at high speed are almost always bad!

[+Matt1344]

I've only done three.

 

One was a film can hidden in the woods near a fire tower. It was a supreme disappointment. With all that space and so many good hiding places I couldn't understand why someone would leave a film can.

 

THe second was just a medicine bottle at a Conservation Department nature center. Again, what a waste!

 

The third was a mini altoid container stuck by magnet to the structure of a pedestrian walkway. It was a hoot because it was such a challenge to find. I've taken other folks back to there as part of their geocaching introduction.

 

As someone else said, there are good ones and there are bad ones. Generally, I believe they're best reserved for places where a regular cache would not work.

[+Donnacha]

I also like micro's and intend to hide one soon.

 

<B><I>I am not overly concerned</B></I>

[+georgeandmary]

Yup.

 

george

 

Pedal until your legs cramp up and then pedal some more.

[+Siberian Cacher]

My first cache was a micro. It was a film container tied to a tree stump. Since it was my first one and my GPS took me right to it, I figured I could trust my GPS and I could find any cache.

 

That said, my current cache that I am looking for is kicking my *utt. It is a micro placed at my work at the corner of a busy intersection. I have tried 5 times to find it and have resorted to e-mailing the owner for a clue. The problem is that the cache is located at a busy intersection so I can't spend too much time "looking in the bushes" b/c I don't want to draw security's attention. If this microcache was in a secluded spot, then I would have probably found it already - so location can play a big part in the cache.

 

With man, it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible!

[+nittany dave]

Fine with me.

 

I prefer hunting (and finding) to trading. Micros can offer their own type of unique challenges.

If I'm not interested in dodging people to find one in a busy spot, I'll either wait for a better time or skip it.

And if they take me to a beautiful spot, they've done as much as a regular size cache would do for me.

 

coach: what's the story, norm?

norm: thirsty guy walks into a bar. you finish it.

[+briansnat]

I much prefer regular caches. Micros do have their places in urban and suburban parks and other places where hiding a regular cache isn't practical.

 

What I really dislike are micro caches in places where a regular cache can be easily concealed.

 

"You can only protect your liberties in this world, by protecting the other man's freedom. "You can only be free if I am" -Clarence Darrow

[+DavidMac]

My experience with micros is that the best ones have been in places a cacher would know to search, but the average person would pass right over. I recently found one that was wedged into a crack in a tall rock at a very popular overlook, where a macro may have easily been spotted sitting in the brush.

 

It's one thing if the cache is a micro for a reason (ex so that it can be put in a clever hiding place that wouldn't support a normal sized) and different if the owner placed a micro in a place where a macro could easily have been hidden. I think the conatiner should be chosen to fit the location, not the budget of the hider. If placing a micro makes for a more unique hunt (say the finder must climb up under a bridge instead of searching the weeds nearby) and a regular sized one would more easily be spotted by a passerby (say in an urban park) then a micro is a nice change. Reaching into a hollwo log that could easily support a larger box can get old if a dozen caaches in the area are all hidden the same way, just in a different park. Like an easter egg hunt, it's not just the location I enjoy, but how challenging or unique the actual 'find' is.

 

...Not all who wander are lost... unless the batteries in their GPS die, their maps get ruined by rainwater when their pack leaks, and they find themselves in a laurel thicket. Then, they are probably lost.

[+ArkansasBugman]

Yes, micros can be fun!

18 of the 34 caches I have hidden are micros. They're all in locations that would not support a regular cache. I try to keep them fun, and no two are alike. I use different types of camo. I make them both challenging and funny. They all blend into their environment.Visitors seem to enjoy them and they have converted a couple of cachers who previously did not like microcaches.

All types of caches can be fun if done well. I love to hunt and hide micros.

[+WaldenRun]

Only if the hide convinces me the owner was not simply being cheap and/or lazy. There are very few in my normal caching range and that is fine with me.

 

-WR

 

"Besides physical caches, we have VIRTUal and VIRTUeless."

[+flask]

i only like the needle in the haystack if it's a clever haystack. or a really small one.

 

it doesn't matter if you get to camp at one or at six. dinner is still at six.

[Bender]

This is how you do a micro cache. This guy rocks!!!

 

Western Union

 

Bender

[+leatherman]

No, no, no this is how you do a micro cache. This guy is truly evil.

Dr. Ufo Koska

 

I am the result of genetic manipulation of superior Geocacher DNA. Faster, stronger with superior reasoning and logic.

Mokita!

[Northern-Lights]

I like a good micro hunt......in fact....the regular caches I've put out all have a micro or two to find before you get to the regular cache. I think this may actually help limit the plundering of caches because I don't think most cache "pirates" will take the time to look for a micro first. Anyway....if done well, they can be fun and frustrating too!!

 

Earth First!!! We'll cache the other planets later!!

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

I LOVE MICROCACHES

 

After you fill a couple of boxes full of trinkets I find that a simple log is all I need to enjoy caching.

 

Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful

[I am not bob log]

Their stoopet

[+Trav'lin Two]

Try this for a micro cacheMICRO The red strip is the log.

[TeamBench]

I love hiding micro caches. most of the time ill put them on the way to really hard regular caches.. but i dont really like finding them unless they are on my way to something else.

 

someone mentioned rummaging through stuff to find something cool.. yep, thats what i like to do too.

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Here in sunny Arizona we have some challenging and entertaining microcaches. We love them. If all caches were traditional ones, we'd get bored rather quickly. We like the variety and mental challenge of some of the micros. Here's some of our favorites.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=25770

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=52290 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=42389

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=49982 (so this one is ours, we're proud of it)

 

We're planning a couple of challenging and well disguised micros that are designed to stump cachers. One is tentatively called Throwing Down the Gauntlet, once we find the perfect hiding place.

 

Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes

On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so:

"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges --

"Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!"

 

Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

[+JohnnyVegas]

I like micros as long as they are placed where a regular cache could not be hidden. Micros are about the only type of cache yoou can hide in an urban area. To place a micro in a large park does not mak a ot of sence. Of course if you are doing a Multi cache, a micro makes more sence.

[+Bloencustoms]

Well... I've found a couple of micros, but I'd rather not look for them in an urban setting. There almost allways are people wondering why I'm rooting around in the landscaping. After a run in with cops while caching, I tend to be less enthusiastic about caching in locations with a lot of public exposure. A micro in a secluded spot is just as good as a cache filled with Mc Junk. It could be a great cache, or a stinker, depends on the location. That being said, I'd like for a profusion of multi's with fun (not too hard) puzzles and regular ammo can containers to suddenly pop up in my area. But, 'till then, I'll take what I can get, and be grateful to have any kind of caches out there.

 

"I'm not moving my car 'till you get my food right!"

[+Marky]

I'll hunt for anything and I enjoy a well thought out cache regardless of size. I do like the creativity that micros allow in urban settings where regular sized caches are just out of the question. A 50/50 balance of micros to regular caches is just fine by me.

 

--Marky

"All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr"

[Dinoprophet]

Size doesn't matter.

 

"Winter's just the curtain. Spring will take the bow"

-- Richard Shindell, Spring

[OlyHippy]

Not a big fan of them personally; maybe it's because I don't have the patience to spend an hour searching for something I never end up finding half the time. I like the cache to be about medium size and relatively easy to find once the general area is found.

 

My caches tend to be off beaten paths and have pretty good distances involved; meaning I like the hunt to be more of physical challenge.

[+Stunod]

Being from the western 'burbs of Chicago (like you), I know what you mean about the number of micros. I really enjoy the micros, and we have some really talented micro hiders out here.

 

"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand."

 

[This message was edited by Stunod on April 10, 2003 at 09:01 AM.]

[+Renegade Knight]

Microcaches in rural areas suck.

 

Urban Microcashses are cool.

 

==============================

Wherever you go there you are.

[+Markwell]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Johnnyvegas:

I like micros as long as they are placed where a regular cache could not be hidden. <snip> To place a micro in a large park does not make a lot of sense.

---

 

I guess this is where I fall on micros. They're OK, and I've stopped my apparent vendetta against them.

 

I don't really have a problem with them as long as I can log them with a log book (which seems to be one of the new requirements). The other side benefit of our western 'burbs is that there are plenty of other caches I haven't found in my area if I don't feel like doing a micro that day.

 

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching

[+David]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lazyboy & Mitey Mite:

After you fill a couple of boxes full of trinkets I find that a simple log is all I need to enjoy caching.

---

 

Same here. But I'll hunt anything I can log. I like 'em all.

[geoStrider]

I never met a micro I didn't like. My boys, however, prefer regular caches so they can swap trinkets and perhaps pick up a pocket knife (oops, I forgot, pocket knives in caches don't really exist - I must have imagined that).

 

I've never been lost, but I was a might bewildered for three days once. Daniel Boone

[Micqn]

I like em.

 

Where you all at?

[ToddJ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by FullOn:

 

Micros thrown from car windows into the bushes at high speed are almost always bad!

---

 

No officer that wasn't an empty beer bottle. Thats a Geocache!

[+High Desert Fish]

I like them if and only if small items can be placed in them. If they are just a log I will skip them for now. There are too many full size caches for now. Those are my favorite because I can leave good stuff.

L

[compass_bearing_north]

quote:

---

Originally posted by High Desert Fish:

I like them if and only if small items can be placed in them. If they are just a log I will skip them for now. There are too many full size caches for now. Those are my favorite because I can leave good stuff.

L

---

 

I'm fine with mcro caches. They can be hidden in more places than larger caches, and besides, the hunt is all that matters.

[swanlakers]

Gotta say no to microcaches.

My presonal 2 cents: if the site requires a micro - then just make it a virtual instead

 

Swanlakers

[+Breaktrack]

I like to hunt caches, period. A well done micro, traditional, virtual, locationless, all are worth my time and effort.

 

A lame cache, is a lame cache, regardless of whether it is a micro, traditional, virtual, locationless, etc.

 

Well done is well done, worth the hunt. Lame is lame, and is a waste of my time and effort.

 

JMHO.

 

 

"Trade up, trade even, or don't trade!!!" My philosophy of life.

[TahoeJoe]

I've enjoyed the micros I've found so much that I've hidden a couple myself. Location, Location, Location is what makes an interesting cache.

 

Lake Tahoe Geocacher

[+trippy1976]

love 'em

 

--------

trippy1976 - Team KKF2A

Saving geocaches - one golf ball at a time.

[Ruprex]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Marky:

I'll hunt for anything and I enjoy a well thought out cache regardless of size. I do like the creativity that micros allow in urban settings where regular sized caches are just out of the question. A 50/50 balance of micros to regular caches is just fine by me.

 

--Marky

"All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr"

---

 

Yeah, what Marky said ;-)

 

-Lets play global Thermonuclear war-