MUNZEE Lamination Wear and Tear Test Results

After five months outside this Munzee Card is still holding up well.

For those of you who are into the Munzee craze you might be curious as to what methods of card placements are holding up and which ones are not. After I first heard of Munzee back in August 2011 I did a series of dunk tests. You can see that post here:
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/2011/07/munzee-card-dunk-test-no-punch-holes.html

These are the same tests I use when checking out new geocache ideas to see how waterproof they actually are.

What I have personally tested in regards to Munzee are different methods of lamination. The results were notable. There are two types of lamination that I experimented with. The first was the cold, press down business card lamination. The second was using a hot press lamination machine with the business card size jacket. Both looked almost identical when put together correctly. It looked like the paper Munzee cards suspended inside would keep all safe and dry. 

For the most part that is true, however there was a serious flaw with both methods so I felt it best to mention it here. The critical flaw is if you punch a whole in the lamination AND the hole cuts through the paper card inside. Once this happens you no longer have a good seal and your card will leak!

Lamination bonds plastic to plastic. It does not bond onto the item placed inside the lamination jacket. So you must ONLY punch your hole in an area where the lamination is clear through and nothing is between the two sheets. You may have to print your Munzee card a little smaller to accomplish this.

For the endurance portion of the test I placed some of my Munzee cards out in the wild for four or five months. I just recently checked up on a couple.

The results: The Munzee where I did the cold, press down lamination remained waterproof, BUT, the edges did look a bit frayed and are starting to separate just enough to make me think that in another year or two they may need to be replaced. The Munzee that I hot pressed with a machine looked the same as the day I put it out. Not a defect anywhere. In fact the plastic tie I placed it with was badly faded and the Munzee card was not. Thought that was interesting. So there you go.

You be the judge in the matter of how you place your Munzee cards. For now the hot press machine appears to be just a bit better.

- HHH

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Behind The Scenes: Geocaching Podcast - #214: Munzee

You can tell that you have a really good subject to discuss when doing a podcast. Especially when you run a good 10 to 15 minutes over your standard show time then an additional hour of discussion between the show guests and the chat room audience. Thus was our Geocaching Podcast episode last night when we talked with Josh aka "Wanderer" and Scott aka "Coolant" who are some of the creators of Munzee.

What is Munzee you ask?

The skinnied down explanations describes Munzee as a geocaching-like game in which Munzee players place Munzee cards that contain a QR Code on the front of it. A smart phone like Iphone or Android scan the QR Code and mark it in place via the smart phone GPS. Munzee finders use a map on the smart phone to search for the hidden Munzee cards and then scan the QR Code as proof of the find itself. You are awarded points for hiding, finding and when someone finds your Munzee placements.

Here is a recent post explaining Munzee in more detail if you would like to see:
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/2011/07/enjoying-my-munzee-madness.html

At any rate Darrylw4 and myself had a lot of fun talking about this new activity with creators Josh and Scott. Mainly because we both had been actively doing Munzee placements ever since we found out about Munzee. Darrylw4 in Michigan had put out a goodly amount while I placed about 20 so far in North Carolina.

Munzee has really taken off and the discussions both good, bad and greatly creative can be seen on Google+, Twitter, Facebook and most other social networks. It was really cool being able to discuss many of those key points right there with the guys who created it.

Interested in Munzee? To get all the details you will just have to download the show and give it a listen. There I believe you will find that Munzee is not going to be a replacement for geocaching. It will though be a really great compliment to it. I personally believe that Munzee will find it's own niche in the electronic explore and find arena . Who knows what innovated ideas that will come from this.

Just a quick note that XpunkX was not with us for last nights show. We missed him not being there and look forward to him being back again next week for our Cacher Coffee episode.

You can participate in the Geocaching Podcast chat room every Wednesday at 9:30pm EST when we record the show live. Go to http://www.geocachingpodcast.com for all the show information and details.

UPDATE:
Here is the actual show you can listen to right now!
http://geocachingpodcast.com/episode-214-munzee-com/

-HHH

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Great Tip To Know: Munzee Map Deployment Adjustment

To change your Munzee Coords simply move the red pointer.

Before reading below if you want to learn more about Munzee and how to get started with this fun geocaching like game go here and read up about it:

http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/2011/07/enjoying-my-munzee-madness.html

One of the things that I have started hearing about Munzee hides is the inaccuracy of the coords when placed. I kind of suspected that would be an issue because people forget to let the smartphone just sit for a minute or three and settle. What happens is your Munzee card is shows up way over there. Sometimes several hundred feet way over there and it is really right where you placed it. How can you correct when this happens?

Great question. Even with our best efforts of leaving the phone sit for a few minutes before scanning the Munzee card things like tree cover and other interference can cause the GPS to be off. The Munzee website has a really simple solution. Log in to www.Munzee.com and click on the smallish 'User Home' link at the top of the page. When it loads you will see another link towards the top middle called 'Deployed Munzees', click it. You will then be shown a list of all the Munzee hides you have placed. Choose the one you want to adjust.

This opens up all the information and description you will want to put about that particular Munzee.  Towards the bottom is a map that has a red pin showing where Munzee thinks you hid your card. Below the map is the coords that were uploaded when you scanned the card initially. At the top right of the map click the Satellite button. Now zoom in all the way you can and you will see a really great shot of the area you hid the Munzee card and where the red pointer thinks it is. To adjust, simply move the red pointer from where it is to where you want it to be. The coords automatically readjust to where you put it. When you have the pointer where you want it don't forget to click the 'Update Munzee Details' button to save everything.

Once done, the update is automatic and anyone searching your Munzee hide will now have a much better chance of finding it.

After seeing this I went to each of my hides and made the correct adjustments. It made a big difference on a couple. Hope this helps!

-HHH

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Enjoying My Munzee Madness

These Munzee cards are heading for
Lake Benson County Park

It has only been a week since I found out about MUNZEE. A game similar to geocaching in the sense that you use your smart phone and a Munzee application to hide and/or find Munzee Cards. The word is spreading throughout all of the social networks and it is really taking off. Thanks to Darrylw4 by the way who mentioned on last week's Geocaching Podcast.

Basically all you have to do is go to the Munzee website - www.munzee.com and get yourself registered. If you have a compatible smart phone either Android or iOS download the Munzee App. *Note your phone must have an auto-focus type camera otherwise your App will not install. 

Whether you are hiding a Munzee card of finding one you will use your Munzee app. On each Munzee card is a QR code. Those square bar code like graphics which contains information for only that Munzee card. 

If hiding, you scan the Munzee card via the app which utilizes your camera and some QR scanning software to register exactly where you scan the card. The GPS in your phone also is used to mark the spot and all is sent to the main Munzee website. Do a successful hide and you get points for your efforts.

If finding, you bring up the closest Munzee hides via your app. Select your choice and use the map to get you to where the Munzee card is hidden. Note the map is crude, don't look for any big bells and whistles right now but you can zoom in close enough to make a good guess of ground zero. When you find the Munzee card again use your phone app and scan the QR code on the card. When you successfully scan your find you get points.

You can hide Munzee cards any way that you wish. In containers like geocaches, laminate them or print via laser printer, basically any way you think the QC code can stay dry and protected works. 

I don't think that the game of Munzee will replace geocaching but it is a fun adaptation to it. I would think that Munzee cards would be much more accepted in high muggle areas than a traditional geocache would. In my humble opinion people are much less likely to yell "bomb" with a card held by a magnet. Common sense and permission with any hide though is always a key thing to have.

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Munzee Card Dunk Test - No Punch Holes

Munzee card. Thumb covering
QR Code.

There is a new electronic game that I have taking a liking too. It's called Munzee and it is a lot of fun.

In short Munzee is similar to Geocaching. That is you go to a website http://www.munzee.com and make an account. Once registered you can then make Munzee Cards. Each Munzee Card has a QR code on it. The QR code has all the information about that particular Munzee Hide. You activate the actual Munzee Hide by using your smartphone and the Munzee app by scanning the QR code at the place you want to hide the Munzee card.

To find a Munzee card you simply use the same app on your smart phone and look at the local map. You can zoom in enough to get a pretty good bead on where it is at. When found scan the QR code to earn your points.

That's pretty much all that is to it. The nice thing is you can either choose to hide your Munzee card in a container like a geocacher or place it on or behind a magnet. There will be tons of ways invented I am sure.

Now for the reason of this post. One of the ways that I saw a Munzee card hidden was with a lamintation similar to the photo above. The hider used a hole punch and a tie to attach it to a tree branch. The second I saw this I wondered how waterproof the hole now made the Munzee card?

To The Dunk Test!

The first of a series of tests was to see exactly how water resistant a hot lamintation would be. To test it I used a plastic container filled with some water and a business card of mine. The size of it is about the same as a standard Munzee card.

I sunk the card which was no problem and let it sit for an hour. I figured that would be  pretty consistent of a couple of rainy days in the wild.

Hot Lamination Dunk Test - No Hole
Time - One Hour 
Result - Stayed perfectly dry!

No surprise here. The biggest problem in the wild would be heat and the edges finally splitting but the initial test shows a Munzee card will stand up if not tampered with.



Sir You Have A Hole In Your Munzee...








The next dunk test was to duplicate what I had seen in the wild. I took the same card and punched a whole into it. You can see it here right next to my face. I let it sit submerged for another hour. Guess what happened?









We Have Found Leakage!


Not too much of a surprise when I looked at the card after being under water for an hour. On one side enough water seeped in to discolor half of my face and down into the text making it smear. Imagine all the things that would start happening after a few showers and then mold and anything else that made it inside over time. I would suspect this would not last very long before becoming unreadable.

Hot Lamination Dunk Test - With Hole

Time - One Hour 

Result - Moisture Leaked In!

Side Two Really Shows The Leak.

When I flipped the card over I really could see how much moisture entered through the hole. Almost half of the card was wet and most of the ink was smearing. 

End Result: laminations either hot or cold do not glue to the objects inside when sealed. In the case of hot lamination it tightens slightly when the plastic is heated but only the plastic to plastic bonds together. The hole when created opens enough so that the inside of the hole exposes the paper within to the air and thus moisture. This causes the leakage and the problem.

So if you are going to put Munzee cards out do not put a whole directly into the paper area of the lamination. Try this. Before printing, shrink down the size of the Munzee in the print options to 70% instead of 100%. Then put the card towards the bottom of the sleeve when doing the lamination. This will leave enough of clear plastic to plastic which will bond together. Punch your hole through that area and no leaks! Hope you found this useful and also whetted your appetite for playing Munzee.

Have fun out there.

-HHH


Update:

Printed 83% to fit room for a sealed hole

Here is what it looks like when you print the Munzee Card at 83% instead of 100%. This leaves more than enough room for your sealed hole to be made.










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