What's The Perfect Micro Container?

[+bthomas]

1. Waterproof. No wet logsheets. No redundant ziplocks that end up puncturing at the folds, and don't fit into container after day 1.

 

2. Magnetic = no harm, no foul. No need to disturb nature or property when placing.

 

2a. Film cannisters don't cut it. Magnets hot-glued, epoxyed, barged cemented, crazy-glued on to HDPE, LDPE, PVC, ABS, PTFE, etc don't stick for long enough.

 

3. The above plastics or metal should take Krylon Fusion paint for camo, and coverage should last for 2 years outdoors.

 

4. Interior should be big enough to hold sig cards (business card).

 

Me, I'm all thumbs rolling up log pages for that undersized 1 mil ziplock or a Bison keychain container.

[Stony2008]

I use altoid containers. there fairly hardy, magnetic, big enough to hold buisness cards, the only draw back is you have to have a ziploc bag (they arent waterproof).

[+Team Tecmage]

Bison Tubes work very well. I don't want this to sound like a commercial, that said, we picked up some from Sissy-n-CR's store. They are stenciled to id them as geocaches, have a key ring for "evil placements", and are one quarter the size of a Match Holder. We used to used Match holders- no more.

[Link & Zelda]

This type of case seems to fit the bill. It's 2.5 x 3.7 x 0.75 inches, has a rubber o-ring, waterproof to 120 feet and is made of ABS plastic, which should take glue and Fusion paint nicely:

 

Surf Safe Sport Case

[+Mr. Snazz]

How about an ammo POUCH??

 

 

GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!

[+Snoogans]

I use M&M Minis containers. They are cheap and verrrrry water resistant. They also come in a couple sizes and it doesn't take much camo tape to hide the bright colored ones. When they did the Black and White M&M promotion, I bought quite a few of the black containers.

 

Minis containers are a growing trend for micros in a few areas that I have cached.

 

2. Magnetic = no harm, no foul. No need to disturb nature or property when placing.

 

Never tried magnets or fusion paint with these. I suppose you could camo tape a strong magnet to it. I might just hafta try it.

Edited March 8, 2005 by Snoogans

[+briansnat]

I think Bison cylinders are perfect micros but you ruled them out. Slightly larger are plastic, waterproof match containers. A little camo tape and there is no need to paint them. Altoids tins fit your size requirement and you can put the magnet inside and not have to worry about it coming off, but they are not waterproof. The plastic sport cases that Link & Zelda mentioned would come much closer to fitting your requirements. They are waterproof and will fit business cards, but the latch will come loose if finders are not careful about closing it and the hinge snapped after a short time on one that I had out. Gluing a magnet to it can also be an issue, though it's possible with the right epoxy. I'm not sure about the paintability, but I've used camo duct tape on them with good results.

 

Though we're getting out of the micro territory into the "small" category, the smallest Lock 'n Lock (.4 cup) fits all of your criteria. They are waterproof, will fit a small logbook (I cut a spiral bound notepad in 1/3rds and it fits nicely), business cards and the magnet can be put inside and held in place with duct tape. They are paintable (though I prefer using camo tape) and will even fit a few small trade items. Here is a picture of one. Second photo shows magnet duct taped in place and logbook (dollar is for size comparison).

 

 

Though not tecnically a micro, they fit easily in many places that a micro will. I have two placed on guardrails and they fit nicely between the post and rail and inside the hollow reinforcement tube on guardrails that have them.

Edited March 9, 2005 by briansnat

[+Isonzo Karst]

I've had and seen a very high failure rate on the O ring on the surf case sport case referenced by Link & Zelda. It's quite a long thin ring, if it gets lifted out of its little groove as the case is opened, (this will happen if the case goes a while unopened) it stretches and distorts. It probably ought to be gently glue tacked into it's slot. It does take paint well.

[+AtoZ]

Try a plastic travel soap contaner. You many have to be creative in how you seal it a little velcro goes a long ways. To paint it use a paint designed for plastics as they contain a solvent that helps the paint bond to the plastic. Or take some coarse sand paper to the thing before you paint or try glueing something on to the box.

cheers

[+WARedBear]

I use M&M Minis containers. They are cheap and verrrrry water resistant.

 

I also have used these neat little containers. I placed them on a long multi cache that I had to archive. The only problem I had with them were animals kept removing them or trying to. They were placed out in the boonies of Washington's desert lands. The only thing I can think of is there must have been a slight smell of chocolate in the cases. Be sure to soak them in bleach and run them through the dishwasher a few times before using them. Mine were on the ground and in rock piles where the little rodents could get to them easily.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Nitroglycerin pill holders are small, waterproof and cheap - and can be had at any drug store. Painted or not, this makes an evil hide!

 

Something NashvilleJoe taught me that I hope micro-hiders will take to heart -

 

Take a piece of wire - a straightened gem clip or whatever, and bend a 90° turn at each end, such that the wire is the length of the inside of the micro. Glue the wire centered on the top edge of the paper log. This gives you a tool to pull the log out and a spindle to hold so that you can easily roll the log back tightly.

 

Have fun,

Ed

[+Honest John & Suzies Jule]

Here is the waterproof matchstick holder in green from army surplus.

The ones at wally world are flaming bright, but like someone said, they can be painted, or taped.

I did find some waterproof, heavy duty velcro at Office Depot.

 

[+Mudinyeri]

I've posted this elsewhere and don't mean to make it into an advertisement but I think the 1.8 ml Nalgene Cryogenic Vial makes an excellent micro container. I know several cachers have gotten them from me and reported that they like them a lot. Personally, I don't hide micros ... but that's a different topic.

 

Here's a pic:

 

 

They are just slightly larger in diameter than a pencil and I have a Word document that has Geocaching information on one side and a log on the other side that can be rolled around a stubby pencil and placed inside the container.

 

As you can see, they are intended to hold liquids so they are waterproof. They do not have a magnet but there is a small depression in the lid into which a small round magnet could easily be glued (epoxy would hold up well to the elements). They could also be easily covered in paint or camo duct tape if you really want to be mean!

 

I have dozens of bags of 25 that I would send to anyone who e-mails me at tobyATtheasplins.com (replace AT with @). I'd like $3.50 + shipping (basically to cover the shipping materials).

Edited March 8, 2005 by Mudinyeri

[+briansnat]

I've posted this elsewhere and don't mean to make it into an advertisement but I think the 1.8 ml Nalgene Cryogenic Vial makes an excellent micro container. I know several cachers have gotten them from me and reported that they like them a lot. Personally, I don't hide micros ... but that's a different topic.

 

Here's a pic:

 

I can vouch for these. I got a bag from Mudinyeri and they make excellent, devious micros. Althought they don't fit the OP's criteria, they are a good choice. A little camo tape and your fellow locals will be cursing you for weeks .

 

Here's one:

 

Edited March 8, 2005 by briansnat

[+Mudinyeri]

Thanks for the props, Brian. That looks sweet with the camo tape on it.

 

I guess I addressed the magnetic issue but not the business card issue in the O.P. Sorry about that. These definitely are not large enough to hold a business card.

 

Locals cursing you for weeks ... hmmm, maybe I will start hiding micros.

 

Edit: Just did a magent test. I'm a slot car racer so I used a traction magnet from a Tomy Super G+ car. I super glued the magnet into the depression in the lid and it works like a charm. I'll take a picture and post it in a bit.

 

Go here for the magnets and get part #826 BSRT Stock "Gray" (STRONGER THAN STOCK "BLACK") Traction Magnets for $5.40/pair. (I order from this guy all the time. He has great parts and great service.)

Edited March 8, 2005 by Mudinyeri

[+sbell111]

Some have mentioned that super glue isn't great for that purpose as it dries very hard and can eventually give way. I've had very good luck with outdoor goop.

[+Mudinyeri]

OK, here are the pics.

 

The top of the vial with the magnet glued in.

 

The vial magnetized to my shop bench with a pencil inside.

 

Even with the added weight of the camo duct tape I think the magnets would be strong enough to hold the container. If your area is subject to high winds, you might want to make sure the container was hidden in a spot that was protected from the wind.

[+Mudinyeri]

Some have mentioned that super glue isn't great for that purpose as it dries very hard and can eventually give way. I've had very good luck with outdoor goop.

Yeah. I would recommend against Super Glue for outdoor (particularly cold weather) use. I only used it for my test because I had it handy. The Outdoor Goop might work well - I haven't tried it. Epoxy definitely would hold up.

 

Happy caching!

[+briansnat]

Yeah. I would recommend against Super Glue for outdoor (particularly cold weather) use. I only used it for my test because I had it handy. The Outdoor Goop might work well - I haven't tried it. Epoxy definitely would hold up.

I've had pretty good results with PC7, Outdoor Goop and your basic 5 minute epoxy, but most of the time I use a rare earth magnet and place it inside the container. They're still strong enough to stick and there is no chance of them coming off. Only problem is if anybody puts metal trade items in the container they all stick to it.

Edited March 9, 2005 by briansnat

[Ferreter5]

This type of case seems to fit the bill. It's 2.5 x 3.7 x 0.75 inches, has a rubber o-ring, waterproof to 120 feet and is made of ABS plastic, which should take glue and Fusion paint nicely:

 

Surf Safe Sport Case

I hid a cache using one of those. I've had no problems with it thus far.

 

Several logs comment on the "interesting" or "unsual" cache container.

[+clearpath]

I found a bison tube that someone before me had failed to screw the lid down tight. The result was a log sheet that had swelled because of moisture and would not come out of the tube.

 

I have also purchased some of the small Nalgene vials from Mudinyeri. The Nalgene vials are great. If one gets muggled or lost then you are only out 20 cents. And the threads are larger which makes it better to get the lid on 'correctly'.

[jdoe]

1. Waterproof. No wet logsheets. No redundant ziplocks that end up puncturing at the folds, and don't fit into container after day 1.

 

2. Magnetic = no harm, no foul. No need to disturb nature or property when placing.

 

2a. Film cannisters don't cut it. Magnets hot-glued, epoxyed, barged cemented, crazy-glued on to HDPE, LDPE, PVC, ABS, PTFE, etc don't stick for long enough.

 

3. The above plastics or metal should take Krylon Fusion paint for camo, and coverage should last for 2 years outdoors.

 

4. Interior should be big enough to hold sig cards (business card).

 

Me, I'm all thumbs rolling up log pages for that undersized 1 mil ziplock or a Bison keychain container.

How waterproof does it need to be - I assume the container will not be immersed in

water while hidden.

 

Well the picture plastic container looks like it would fit the ticket. I can only suggest you check out some of the Asian markets or Japanese toy/gift stores for small plastic containers.

 

Magnets? Try sticking them inside the container.

[+Mudinyeri]

The Nalgene vials could be immersed in water. Of course, you are then relying on the capability of those who find the cache to re-close the lid tightly enough to keep the seal.

 

Thanks again to those who've purchased and used my containers. Hmmm ... maybe that's a new topic: "Show me your Nalgene caches"

 

Look for it coming to a Groundspeak near you!

[+caderoux]

This is my design for a micro based on a match case: http://www.lageocaching.org/index.php?name...bnails&album=27

 

I've recently made some where I replaced the dowel with hollow tubing - now a pencil can fit inside the tubing.

 

As far as the business cards - we've had people trying to stuff them in micros here since the fall - they end up having to have maintenance trips just to retrieve the cards and throw them away.

[+LadeBear68]

How about this one?

 

Flower

 

[+Fairbanks]

... Though we're getting out of the micro territory into the "small" category, the smallest Lock 'n Lock (.4 cup) fits all of your criteria. They are waterproof, will fit a small logbook (I cut a spiral bound notepad in 1/3rds and it fits nicely), business cards and the magnet can be put inside and held in place with duct tape. They are paintable (though I prefer using camo tape) and will even fit a few small trade items. Here is a picture of one. Second photo shows magnet duct taped in place and logbook (dollar is for size comparison).

 

Any idea where to get this size of Lock 'n Lock containers without buying an entire set? Everything I have seen is like 28 pieces of assorted sizes.

[+jimmyreno]

1. Waterproof. No wet logsheets. No redundant ziplocks that end up puncturing at the folds, and don't fit into container after day 1.

 

2. Magnetic = no harm, no foul. No need to disturb nature or property when placing.

 

2a. Film cannisters don't cut it. Magnets hot-glued, epoxyed, barged cemented, crazy-glued on to HDPE, LDPE, PVC, ABS, PTFE, etc don't stick for long enough.

 

3. The above plastics or metal should take Krylon Fusion paint for camo, and coverage should last for 2 years outdoors.

 

4. Interior should be big enough to hold sig cards (business card).

 

Me, I'm all thumbs rolling up log pages for that undersized 1 mil ziplock or a Bison keychain container.

Micros are 3rd rate containers.

Why don't you try something a little larger?