Otter Folly

If you're trading down though, that means you leave something that's less valuable than what you take. So in theory the cache contents would improve. It's trading -up- that's the problem, where you get something better than what you give. I actually will sometimes leave a couple things in a big cache; a nice thing, like a bracelet($1), a medium thing, like a coin or a doodad (25 cents), and a 'low grade' thing like a pretty seashell or pretty rock I found; something free or almost free. That way if someone wants to take something but only has a low-quality thing to trade, they will in theory be able to swap for the thing of closest value. If they take my shell and leave a pretty rock, that's fair, IMHO. but -pretty- rocks, darn it, not a fist-sized chunk of concrete from the broken patio nearby.

I'm getting very involved in collecting swag to add! One thing I've been noticing/thinking is that toys, especially rubbery ones, etc seem to get grubby in caches... or maybe they were grubby when they were put in. I'm not a parent myself but I do sorta think that if I was one, I'd be dubious about letting my kid play with something that's clearly dirty, with someone else's germs all over it. I found a cache recently with an open, loose, very-well-used wad of Play-Doh--! *I* didn't want to touch it, much less let my hypothetical kid do so. What I think is better is hard, non-porous stuff, like solid plastic or metal or toys or "things" like keychains, I also like to add real 'treasure' like fake gems, old coins, costume jewelry and stuff like that. Also pretty tumbled stones, agates, crystals etc. Stuff that will last even if it gets wet and can be wiped off with a sani-wipe. My rule of thumb is, if I saw it on the ground and wouldn't stoop down to pick it up, or only picked it up to throw it away, it doesn't belong as swag.

I find a lot of lures in local caches... I guess we have some fishermen! At the moment my 'swag bag' contains 25mm pewter fantasy figurines (I used to paint them for wargames so I have a LOT sitting around), D&D dice, shells, polished semiprecious stones (jade, agate, amethyst, quartz crystals etc), the aforementioned beaded necklaces, junk jewelry, mood rings, souveneir keychains, and a couple little vials of glitter. I'm thinking I should buy bulk of something; at the moment I am trying to decide between foreign coins, D&D dice, or mood rings. The coins are the cheapest, they'd cost me about 8 cents each, while the rings and dice would work out to about 25 cents each. Any opinions?

Here is a picture of the pipe and the container. As you can see the container just barely fits down the pipe; not sure if that's a bug or a feature. To the top right of the picture you can see the float I found. Not shown is the thing I wrapped it in which is one of those shaggy stretchy scarves. The container ... meh. I am looking for something more narrow and sturdy and tubular... maybe some kind of converted bottle? I'll keep looking. I tried to take a picture of the cache down in the pipe but it was too dark and I didn't want to risk dropping my smartphone down there

Well it's on... dropped a container with a couple rocks and a note saying 'reward if found' and my #. That's a weird feeling, isn't it? buying something and prepping it and then... throwing it down a hole and walking away. I'll check it again in a couple of week and then again after a few more weeks if it's ok so far, and then consider submitting it if all goes well (once adding proper contents of course) I looked around a bit more and I think the pipe is part of a retaining wall; I found several others in a line with that one, with the remains of big logs 'behind' them. Most of the others were not as deep; one had a hornet nest down it, and one did end in water, and a couple were blocked with pieces of driftwood or rocks. I dropped a small lock n lock wrapped in a tangled scarf thing that was easy to catch with a hook.... but first I dropped a foam float I found, figured if it does start to fill with water, that will float and push the cache container up With float in place and container down, I can just reach the top of the container with my arm all the way down the pipe and a 2.5 foot stick in my hand so that could be another way to get at it.

I do think the idea of putting something as a 'test' down there for a month or so is a good idea, and I'll do that. That'll also give me time to find more caches of my own and up my 'street cred' Thanks for all the help guys!

This beach isn't subject to flooding unless there's a tsunami. It's just the edges of a large shallow bay which does fill with water (about 2-5 feet deep) when the tide comes in. Pipe is probably steel, I thought maybe the magnet would be OK if dropped straight down since the pipe is wide. It would be a little challenging (and I'll certainly make sure I can do it repeatedly before I go with this) Pipe has sand at bottom so it shouldn't fill with water, but I'll take a couple of jugs back out there and check. I certainly don't -have- to go with the pipe, there's tons of driftwood and wonderful old weathered stumps to use for a traditional ULP or something, but I saw this pipe and was intrigued...

Thanks! It's a public beach, but one of those ones which only can really be accessed by water

Greetings all, I am looking for feedback on an idea for a cache hiding spot: I was walking around the area where I am considering putting my first cache and found something interesting; a large rusty pipe imbedded vertically in the ground. It is about 8 inches in diameter and goes down about six feet before ending in sand. About two feet of it is sticking up from ground level. It is not part of anything; this is on an isolated beach and the nearest building is several hundred yards away. It seemed that it might be a fun place to hide a geocache, but the only way to get a cache out from the bottom of it would be if the cache was on a string. Or, I thought, if the cache container was metal, or had metal plates glued to it, a magnet on a string could be used to fish it out! Maybe the hide could be in two parts, one to find the pipe and one to find the magnet-on-string which would be hidden nearby? Does this sound like a cool idea or does this violate some taboo of cache construction? I await your wisdom eagerly!!

I too like replenishing caches with extra stuff when I find them. I like keeping an eye out for things that might make good swag. I picked up some novelty keychains from a thrift store for a quarter each, and some places like gift shops will have a thing where you can get a scoop of tumbled stones for cheap. I make some simple bead bracelets or necklaces; a few cents worth of string, maybe 10c worth of bulk beads. I collect neat seashells or interesting stones or driftglass. And if I do take something out of a cache, I usually just carry it around for a little while before putting it back in another cache.