Ghengis Jon

My signature item is an ancient Roman coin. Hopefully it thrills both young and old as a trade item. I package it with coin detail, a notation that its a sig item, and my geo-caching handle. I get to combine two obsess...er, hobbies in one! But I've yet to come across a non-business card sig item.

I leave signature items specifically to be taken. Thats the fun of it. Hopefully it lands in the hands of a collector.

I wonder if cache contents are truly examined. I'm fairly new to the hobby (only approaching 20 finds). I only take an item when my kids are with me. I leave a rather unique (and comparatively valuable) signature item - yet reviewing logs, I see that only a couple of cachers have taken the item. This leads me to believe that experienced cachers typically sign the log and maybe leave a trade item - not bothering to look at the rest being cynical / jaded as to what what might be found in the cache. True?

My current unit is a Mag SportTrac Whatever. Must be 3 or 4 years old and still working dependably. The backlight feature makes a humming noise when used, but other than that, I can't kill the beast. Its been dropped, tossed, drowned, subjected to -20 to 105 degree temperatures, and just generally abused. If and when it ever dies or loses its accuracy, I'll replace it with a similar unit.

<Dueling Banjoes playing quietly in the background>

I have to share this as I now wonder if all geo-cache hiders have such a sadistic streak in them. My cousin has been a cacher for a couple years now, only recently dragging me into this hobby, despite my possession of GPS for several years. I visited her this week, at her out of state (for me) home, and she took me to one of her urban caches. She quite proudly bragged that very, very few people have found it. She went to a pawn shop and bought a broken security camera. After finding a suitable locale, (with the biz owner's permission) mounted it on the side of the building. Pointing ouyt the cache, she did throw her head back and let loose with a hearty "BWUHAHAHAHAHAHA"!!! I wonder if she still pulls the wings off of flies too...... Whats the most evil cache you've been subjected to?

Do you collect something as a hobby you wish to share with others? Its makes a great signature item. I collect xxxxxx and I package duplicates to leave them as my sig item. One caution is not to reveal in the on-line log what that item is. You don't want someone stalking your visits to build their own collection if the item is particularly interesting or of value! You want to spread the joy of both hobbies. Now if I can only find a geo-cacher who collects Victrolas and leaves signature items...........

Fifth of Crown Royal Special Reserve, Leica camera, TAG watch, 1000 shares of Google, would all be nice.....

Fifth of Crown Royal Special Reserve, Leica camera, TAG watch, 1000 shares of Google, would all be nice.....

Unless you're tracking a Travel Bug, why would you watch a cache? Reviewing some caches to potentially visit, I see anywhere from 3 to 12 people watching a particular cache. Some without Travel Bugs. Why watch?

Sharpie permanent markers also work well on most contains.

I hate posts that add nothing to the thread.

MI-5 not CIA....

There is a place in my area I am considering for a cache, now on state land. Abandoned in 1919, it used to be a WWI training ground. All that remains is a few remenants of foundations and an old rusty, concrete mounted (75mm?) cannon. I'm eyeing the cannon. Would it be acceptable to make a PCV tube cache, paint it black for stealth, and put a loop on one end so it could be extracted only with a coat hangar/broomstick tool? Be gentle with me, under consideration would be only my second cache placement......

Are 'oddball' items acceptable in a cache? I'm building my first and want to round it out with a 48 star US flag, a 1900-ish stereoscope card, a 1972 Nixon re-election button, etc. I've got newly purchased items in there, but was wondering about unique items of interest. In a, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure', kind of way.

Very similar!! AF is a good organization, although those I 'squirrel' with are a much more loosely connected grass roots organization (The Ent Watchers). We aren't beholden to fund raising or slick mags - we find that knocking on a door of a neighbor (to discuss the issue with those involved) is far more effective than the threat of bad publicity. We share our info/finds when appropriate, maintain a database and swap photos via email.

CITO has got to be the most noble aspect of geocachers. I doff my cap, bow deeply, and give my utmost respect to those who help clean up. I'm new to geo-caching sport and can only speak from my other hobbies. One of which is locating 'ancient' trees - knowing that location awareness facilitates preservation. (We 'spot' trees that are 12 feet in circumference or larger.) Well, most of the time is spent in the woods, although occassionally we wander into parks. We too, carry trash bags on our expeditions. Its sad that here in Michigan, a beautiful state, that there is no longer any trash bins or pick up in our parks. The previous gubernatoral administration needed to seize control of the DNR in order to skim money to finance unwanted taxcuts. Massive layoffs and eliminating trash pick up were just two actions taken by our 'public servants'. All trash is supposed to be taken out by park visitors, an idealistic but unrealistic thought. What was once a pristine park system a few short years ago is now a blowing garbage wasteland. That administration left due to term limits, leaving the state nearly $2 billion in debt (due to financial smoke and mirrors to conceal this fact cuz MI has a balanced budget requirement). Still awash in red ink, there is no immediate hope of service returning. If you geocache in Michigan, please please please bring a trash bag with you. You can help beautify our state, despite the garbage in Lansing.

I used to be thirty four but I've been dead for 15 years now.....

Thanks for the link and the info. I typically frequent undeveloped state land rather than parks. Mostly deer trails, not people ones. Great for scenery and exersize, but very little human contact.

Oh yeah - microcaches. I read cachers using film cannisters, Altoid boxes etc. What kind of log (along with treasure) can you put in these?

Whew! Alot of reading, but well worth it. The sport sure has evolved in a short period of time! A couple more quick questions (be gentle with me - I'm new at this). I'm an outdoors kinda guy. Being up here in The Land Of Ice & Snow, I'll probably place my first cache out on public lands, out in the woods. I have a couple of spots in mind, on the way to some secluded lakes for a little ice drinking I mean ice fishing. The terrain is fairly easy (when there's not a foot of snow on the ground), yet the area is remote, how would the cache be rated, starwise that is? It certainly won't be a well travelled area, but will be accessible to all. Figure a mile or 2 hike. If I put in good 'swag', ie stuff with actual value that would appeal to adults rather than children, is it ethical to rate the cache comparatively high so family cachers may look for other caches? Or should a cache appeal/reward any who may seek it? One of the cache recommendations (from the readings) says a cache should be accessible to the placer for maintanence if needed. Is this an an unwritten rule? I will travel to Europe this summer on biz and thought an Anglo-American cache might be a cool find for someone in, say, Bavaria to find. But it wouldn't be a cache I could periodically check! Kind of a 'fire and forget' cache. Permissible or passe?

Wow - great info/suggestions! Now for Stupid Newbie Question #2: I think I'll start out using tupperware containers. How are caches typically stashed? If in a park or undeveloped area like the woods, I can see under piles of rocks, in tree hollows, etc. But are caches buried? Should a trowel/folding camp shovel be equip-de-guerre? What do most cachers do? (Is 'cacher' an acceptable term? How does the hobbyist refer to him/herself?) If a cache is in an urban area - how is it typically stashed? SNQ #3: Is "swag" an acronym? Soon as I go offline here, I'm going to start labelling coin flips and pick out some cool coins.....raid the wife's tupperware collection......quickly retreat to the library.......

Hello there Cachers! Being an old hand GPS'er, I've decided to embark on this sport. Turned on to this website by a friend, I found a cache llisted on the website less than 2 miles from my rural home! Well, I travel alot, both for business and pleasure. I'm psyched to create a few caches of my own. But what to place in them? Other than a logbook, that is. One of my hobbies (too many hobbies as my spousal unit will tell you), is collecting ancient Greek and Roman coins. Since I have many low grade coins from the 1st-4th century AD that I have no use for, I thought that some of these would be interesting prizes for those who come upon my caches. So how many items are stocked in the cache by the initiator of the cache? Would three coins be enough? A dozen? Should I be concerned about a finder taking them all and only leaving one item in exchange? Or should I use ancient coins as my signature prize I leave behind? I talking about bronze coins worth only a buck or two a piece, not a silver Eid Mar denarius or a lifetime Alexander III tetradrachm.... Thanks! Jon