Microcaches

[+JMBella]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>This is a pet peeve of mine. A micro in a neat locale is fabulous, but where a regular could be placed, I believe the placer is just lazy.  <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Agreed. A micro takes little preparation. Grab a film canister and toss in a piece of paper and you're done. There are people who spread these caches around as if they were grass seed.<BR><BR>In an urban, or high traffic area, micros are fine. But to place one where a full sized cache will work is ridiculous.<BR><BR>"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry

Not to mention it inhibits someone from hiding a traditional cache in close proximity to the micro. It makes no sense to hide a micro an a large tree stump that you could easily fit an ammo can.

 

Hey, I'm Norm!

Edited January 30, 2004 by JMBella

[+SBPhishy]

Yeah, the micros around here in Southern Cal, Santa Barbara are usually awesome. They are hidden very well, and many have a lot of time and effort put into them. I think they have their place anywhere. While I like finding cool stuff in ammo cans, micros can be just as fun.

[+Erawan]

Though I like Micros, I have seen many in heavily occupied areas...large parking lots, restuarants...I have also not found them in said areas as they have been removed by folks that either found them by accident, or after watching someone finding it.

The problem with these are when cachers are obvious when looking when it is difficult not to be. I have decided to only look for those at night due to lower observation of what I am doing. Lifting the metal base of an elevated light pole to pull out the cache in the middle of the day at a Major Retailer - doesn't look good in the middle of the day with a full parking lot!

[+JohnnyVegas]

lets get to the point of why some cachers hide only micros and why they hide them in areas that would support a large cache.

The reason people hide micros in an area that would support a real cache is beause they are to cheap to spend a few dollars to hide a real cache. They get an empty film canister for FREE, then they might spent ten cents on a copy of a log sheet. Then they stick in under a rock so that when it rains the log gets soaked and no one can sign it.

It is one thing to find a creative why to hide a micro in and urban setting, but sticking one under a rock in the woods is a sign of a LAZY and CHEAP cacher.

A real problem with micros is that they are being placed areas that encourge cachers that are looking for them to trapple down plants while looking for them.

 

I am going to post the following note from now on when I find a micro in an area in which a person could hida a large ammo box in one of several areas around a micro.

 

looked for a while with no luck, got tired avoidi the bushes, saw lots a places for a large cache, Makes me wonder why micros end up in places that will support a real cache

 

While most of these hides are by Noobs, good portion are place by cachers that have been around a while.

 

While the idea of not letting a noob hide a cache until they found several caches has been brought up in the past and never gotten a lot of support, how about not letting a nob hide a micro until they have found 50 caches, this would allow them to hide some large caches while they are in the learning process.

Edited February 9, 2005 by JohnnyVegas

[+briansnat]

then they might spent ten cents on a copy of a log sheet.

 

...If you're lucky. I often just find a strip of paper torn from a notebook. They can't even be bothered to use scissors .

[+The Commissar!]

The reason people hide micros in an area that would support a real cache is because they are to cheap to spend a few dollars to hide a real cache.

 

Do not generalize about all cachers. If you don't want to hunt a micro in the woods don't but there are plenty of folks that do enjoy that kind of hunt. Clearly it is a different kind of challenge that is, admittedly, NOT for everyone, and that fact alone does not make micro caches hidden in the woods bad or lame and does not indicate that these folks are cheap! If you’re wondering I have a couple of these kinds of caches and many ammo boxes too...

 

The Commissar!

[+JohnnyVegas]

The reason people hide micros in an area that would support a real cache is because they are to cheap to spend a few dollars to hide a real cache.

 

Do not generalize about all cachers. If you don't want to hunt a micro in the woods don't but there are plenty of folks that do enjoy that kind of hunt. Clearly it is a different kind of challenge that is, admittedly, NOT for everyone, and that fact alone does not make micro caches hidden in the woods bad or lame and does not indicate that these folks are cheap! If you’re wondering I have a couple of these kinds of caches and many ammo boxes too...

 

The Commissar!

I did not say all cachers, this is what I posted, go back and read it.

While most of these hides are by Noobs, good portion are place by cachers that have been around a while.

 

 

I never said I woud not hunt a micro in the woods, I did not say all micros in the woods are lame. This is what I said.

A real problem with micros is that they are being placed areas that encourge cachers that are looking for them to trapple down plants while looking for them.

This is a fact in the area that I cache in which covers areas from San Francisco to east of Sacramento. The placement of a micro in and area that may cause damage to the enviroment is just plain stupid. I have seen micros that are place just a few feet from locations that would support a large cache without have to damaged the area.

 

I do not have a probelm with a creative micro, and I have found creative micros in the wood (That were placee in a way that would not damage the enviroment) as well as in urban settings. But a film can under a few rocks is not craetive.

[+treasure_hunter]

If its big enough for a regular cache, I would say it should be a regular, if not, I always love the search for a micro.

[+mrking]

I have attempted several micros recently with my wife and we have found that 3 out of 5 were located where a full sized cache would have been just fine. In fact, these three could not be found after at least 1hr of searching by the two of us. Now, I congratulation the hiders (if the caches are indeed intact) but a micro in dense tree/ground cover is extremely hard to find and even a regular would be a challenge. My wife and I agree that after searching the area well and finding dozens of possible hiding places that are empty maybe a regular cache would be more apporopriate for these locations.<BR><BR>What is everyone's thought on this? What are your experiences with micros: good/bad/appropriate?<BR><BR>Team P2<BR><BR>Variety is the spice of life...and I like it HOT!

Isn't the point of a micro to make it difficult to find?

[+Team Silver]

they should make micros as hard to approve as they do virtuals...there better be a really good reason why you are wanting it to be approved.

[+Team Bear-Cat]

g,Feb 10 2005, 10:21 AM]

Isn't the point of a micro to make it difficult to find? 

That WAS maybe the general original idea, but lately, the majority of micros ARE light pole 1/1s

[+Team Bear-Cat]

they should make micros as hard to approve as they do virtuals...there better be a really good reason why you are wanting it to be approved.

That might be overkill; there ARE lots of good reasons and locations for micros, especially in urban areas... But, yes, some limits on how many 1/1 micros there are in a given area is probably a good idea. Also, if it is clearly in a rural or forested area, where typically there are a lot less muggles to worry about, then perhaps the reviewers could/should at least ask the would-be cache owner to place a different kind...

[+Ed & Julie]

I have attempted several micros recently with my wife and we have found that 3 out of 5 were located where a full sized cache would have been just fine.  In fact, these three could not  be found after at least 1hr of searching by the two of us.  Now, I congratulation the hiders (if the caches are indeed intact) but a micro in dense tree/ground cover is extremely hard to find and even a regular would be a challenge.  My wife and I agree that after searching the area well and finding dozens of possible hiding places that are empty maybe a regular cache would be more apporopriate for these locations.<BR><BR>What is everyone's thought on this?  What are your experiences with micros:  good/bad/appropriate?<BR><BR>Team P2<BR><BR>Variety is the spice of life...and I like it HOT!

I HATE micros in the woods!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I DNF'd one on vacation. Bison tube (!!) in the thick woods of a city park (grrrrrrrrrrrrrr).

 

This is the "hint" picture...you can see why I hated it...

 

Edited February 11, 2005 by The Badge & the Butterfly

[+Kit Fox]

Eriwan gets the prize for reviving a 1 1/2 year old thread.

 

I personally dislike poorly placed caches of any size. When a cache takes me to a trash filled area, a crime infested area, I leave a less than pleasant online log. The worst cache I have ever found (Turtle Time) required me to open a sewer access cover in the middle of the street to find a ziplock bag.

[+briansnat]

Isn't the point of a micro to make it difficult to find?

Not really. The original point of micros was that they could be hidden in cities and other high traffic areas without being discovered by non geocachers. As as camoflaging methods grew more sophisticated, they also became more challenging for geocachers to find.

 

The idea of making them intentionally difficult for geocachers came along little bit later.

[CoyoteRed]

Isn't the point of a micro to make it difficult to find?

While I wasn't in the heads of the folks that thought up the different sizes, I thought the size "micro" was to define the size of a very small cache because you couldn't hide one larger.

 

I'm sure those fine folks thought they were doing something good facilitating hiders to hide a cache at wonderful spots that would have otherwise been skippied if you could only hide regular-sized cache and this wonderful spot couldn't support it. Hmm... That kind of sounds like the reasoning behind a virtual.

 

If micros were reviewed like virtuals.

 

REVIEWER: "Mr. CacheHider, I see that you've listed you cache as a micro. Can you explain why the area will not support a larger cache?"

 

MR. CACHEHIDER: "Well, because behind this dumpster I'm fairly certain an ammo can will be discovered."

 

REVIEWER: "Well, can you explain what is so important about the area that you should hide a cache here? What is the purpose of the cache? What are you trying to do with this hide?'

 

MR. CACHEHIDER: "... Ummm... I want to increase my hide count and give a 'gift' of a find to other hiders."

 

REVIEWER: "Is there not something there to see, to do, other than dumpster diving and avoiding panhandlers?"

 

MR. CACHEHIDER: "You can get gas, a snack, or a drink! Yeah, see there's a purpose!"

 

Edited February 11, 2005 by CoyoteRed

[+Harry Dolphin]

Dang! That's what I did with Fill In The Blanks locationless...

"Due to the urban area, and the cliffs, this area would not support a full sized cache."

My micros have received good reviews by finders.

On the other fin, we went searching for a bison tube in a swamp in a county park. First stage of a multi. The coordinates seem to be pretty far off (clue from owner), and a swamp is not the nicest place to look for a bison tube. Maybe I'll go back in the spring.

[+fratermus]

HEar Hear, If you don't like micro caches then don't look for them. Check on the topo map first to see if it's hidden in the woods or not.

 

HEar Hear, If you don't like micro caches then don't look for them. Check on the topo map first to see if it's hidden in the woods or not.

 

Nodding. I don't mind micros, as long as they are identified as such. I am interested in the find and the log, not in doodad trading, so larger caches do not have a better payoff for me.

 

I skip multis.

[+graldrich]

I love micro's, far more challenging than full size caches!To me it's all about the hunt and or location both can be accomplished with a micro!

[CoyoteRed]

I love micro's, far more challenging than full size caches!To me it's all about the hunt and or location both can be accomplished with a micro!

I love micros, too.

 

The problem is when a hider leaves out the "hunt" and the "location" part of hide.

 

We used to have a population of decent micro hides. They all were pretty interesting and challenging. The previous "Junkiest Cache Award" for our area was actually a regular traditional. Now that prize goes to some micros that were "gifts" to the community.

[+fratermus]

Note: I do not prefer one type of cache type to another. I have no particular love for hunting micros, nor have I ever cached any.

 

>The reason people hide micros in an area that would support a real cache is

>beause they are to cheap to spend a few dollars

 

Is that what they said?

 

Is there a way we can accurately judge the motivations of cache placers?

 

>to hide a real cache.

 

Ah, I see. A micro is not a real cache. I smell a holy war coming on. Infidels beware! No one expects the Geocaching Inquisition! :-)

 

 

>They get an empty film canister for FREE, then they might spent ten

>cents on a copy of a log sheet.

 

Film canisters aren't given out at wal-mart for free.

 

Even if they were, should we ban ammocans that were received for free? Should we require that each cache placement cost X dollars? "Please tape a copy of your cache container receipt to the log for minimum expense verification?"

 

 

>Then they stick in under a rock so that when it rains the log gets soaked and no

>one can sign it.

 

Wet logs are a problem in cache containers in general.

 

>It is one thing to find a creative why to hide a micro in and urban setting, but

>sticking one under a rock in the woods is a sign of a LAZY and CHEAP

> cacher.

 

Is sticking a free ammocan in a treehole in the woods covered with bark a sign of a lazy and cheap cacher?

 

 

>A real problem with micros is that they are being placed areas that encourge

> cachers that are looking for them to trapple down plants while looking for them.

 

That problem is not specific to (or overrepresented in IMO) microcaches.

 

 

>While most of these hides are by Noobs

 

This might be true, but I doubt anyone has done the number crunching to prove it. I assume this assertion could be tested, for some numerical definition of "noob".

 

>how about not letting a nob hide a micro until they have found 50 caches, this

>would allow them to hide some large caches while they are in the learning

>process.

 

I have no problem with requiring a certain number of finds before a first placement approval.

Requiring a certain type of cache as a first placement, however, smells like an organizational enforcement of personal taste.

 

fm,

who has a splinter of the One True Cache in a locket around his neck.

Edited February 12, 2005 by fratermus

[+Camo-crazed]

IMHO use micros for waypoints unless neccesary, one of my caches could support a larger cache in the locale, but it is a nice area and I didn't have a larger cache container with me when I placed it

Edited February 12, 2005 by camo-crazed

[+jmorris9999]

This used to be a pet peeve. But I had to give it up.

Were you able to find a home for it or did you leave it at a shelter?

[CoyoteRed]

Film canisters aren't given out at wal-mart for free.

Actually, they are.

[+fratermus]

Film canisters aren't given out at wal-mart for free.

Actually, they are.

I stand corrected.

[HIPS-meister]

I have searched for and placed caches of all sizes... and enjoyed most of them. It's fun to find a box in the woods, but it's also fun to "palm" a <<mumble_mumble>> device right under the nose of an unsuspecting muggle. The beauty of this sport is that there is plenty of room for both pursuits. No harm, no foul.

 

You'll find that you naturally gravitate toward the particular kind of caches that you like to find, perchace to place, and that you will simply ignore the others. This sport appeals simultaneously to hundreds of parallel threads of interest .. appealing to all of them while excluding none of them. We can all approach and enjoy this sport in our own way! And there aren't that many sports that you can say such a thing about...