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"weeding" A Cache?


The Golem

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Would it be appropriate to remove the tat from caches? At the time of writing I have found 7 (watch this space...) and all of them have contained stuff that can only be described as junk. Should this stuff stay and be part of the history of the cache or should the array of knackered pens, half chewed gonks and other assorted rubbish be removed?

Since starting I have always tried to trade up and today added extra stuff to the cache because it seemed a bit empty.

On Friday I spent a pleasant half hour wandering around town trying to find interesting things to leave in caches which I feel I accomplished. None of them cost more than 99p.

Surely if everyone went out and spent a fiver on treasure we would all benefit....

Edited by The Golem
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On Friday I spent a pleasant half hour wandering around town trying to find interesting things to leave in caches which I feel I accomplished. None of them cost more than 99p.

I'm currently putting together my first cache and trying to decide what to put in it. Went into town the other day to try to get some ideas but wasn't able to. What kind of things did you pick up?

 

adambro

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On Friday I spent a pleasant half hour wandering around town trying to find interesting things to leave in caches which I feel I accomplished. None of them cost more than 99p.

I'm currently putting together my first cache and trying to decide what to put in it. Went into town the other day to try to get some ideas but wasn't able to. What kind of things did you pick up?

 

adambro

Oh, you know, just stuff... ;)

Seriously though, I found some little dinosaur jigsaws ( 6 for 99p), a bug in a box, some of those bottle opener, sharky key ring things and a couple of lovely little wooden bracelets. I've also raided the "I'll put it in there" drawer in the kitchen (we've all got one) and taken loads of bits and pieces that I don't really need to keep...

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In this respect I guess a cache can be looked at like it is eBay; there is plenty of tat on eBay but it does appear to go. Somone somewhere still wants a shower cap ;)

 

I would leave it really it is the cache owner who should weed it out

 

Milton (aka Moote)

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there is plenty of tat on eBay but it does appear to go. 

:P ... Yeah! I'm someone who's bought "tat" on Ebay because it fitted into one of my themed caches! Only good "tat" obviously... ;)

As for weeding out a cache - Yes, it is tempting to chuck the rubbish out but I guess it's better to leave it to the cache owner. On the other hand, we have removed sweets from a cache ... :P

Mrs B

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Personally I'd remove contraband, which includes food, cigarettes, matches, lighters, pen knives... there's a full list somewhere. I also keep an eye open for 'rubbish rubbish'. That's twigs and the like that might have found its way into the box by accident, expired vouchers, anything broken and potentially dangerously sharp. Other times I've found items -I'm thinking of a protractor you use to draw circles- and left them in but noted it in my log.

 

The danger with saying 'well that's rubbish' and removing stuff from caches is you can empty some! Unless it's clearly not supposed to be there, I'd leave it alone. As others have said, it might be cr*p to you, but to someone else, it might just be the cr*p they've been looking for.

 

SP

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As others have said, it might be cr*p to you, but to someone else, it might just be the cr*p they've been looking for.

Does that mean that you'd have preferred that we hadn't removed the used bottle top left by muggles in "Puerile Photo-cache No.4"? :rolleyes:

 

Serious question, really. Some people collect bottle tops. Maybe we should have left it there.

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Would it be appropriate to remove the tat from caches?

Yes indeed, please do! Too many caches suffer from soggy old bits of tat being left in them for years on end. In an ideal world the cache owner would do regular "spring cleaning", but anything cachers can do to keep the cache in trim is helpful. I'm not suggesting you throw away all the McToys / marbles just because you find them boring, but anything that's in poor condition is ripe for destruction.

 

Take what you like and leave what you like. If you feel you have improved the contents of the cache, then who can complain? If, on the other hand, you feel you've taken a bit more than you've given, then maybe be extra generous at the next cache?

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Slightly off thread, but kind of connected...

 

There are some cachers close to where I live that specify that items swopped in their caches should cost more than £1.00 ( or you can TNLN).

 

I am in two minds about this: I must admit, that finding their caches is always good, because you get a lovely selection of items inside (and I like collecting the booty, I have to be honest!). Leaving an occasional swop of this kind is no problem at all. As they have paid to stock the caches in this way to start with, then finders should do their bit by keeping the content of the caches of a high quality.

 

However... I am planning to set up four caches this weekend, to complete a series: with the containers, log books, pens, camouflage paint, Geocaching stickers, zip bags, etc., these caches have already cost me more than £25 between them. Okay, I don't need to use Groundspeak stickers, etc., but I like to make them look nice!

 

By the time I add the swops, I'm going to have spent at least another £10.00. If all items cost more than £1.00, it would be another £20.00 - I just can't afford to do it! :rolleyes: I know nobody here is saying that all swops must cost X amount, but I think the quality of swops in a cache unfortunately naturally drops over time.

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Remove contraband - Yes

Soggy wet damaged items - Yes

Tat just because you think it is tat - NO

 

All of my caches that are large enough for swaps started off with items in them totaling between £5 to £15 each. Due to people constantly down trading I would be lucky to find any of my caches having a total of £2 -£3 of value in them now.

I take my hat off to those who keep trading up, or even leaving things and not trading. But I am not going to keep replenishing my caches for other people to keep leaving crap in it's place. I will however keep putting a good selection in my caches when first placed.

 

I serviced a cache yesterday that cost around £5 to stock, the most expensive thing that was in it yesterday was 2 condoms, which obviously aren't there any more. The rest of the cache is lucky to have 50p worth in it. I like, ryme-intrinseca just can't afford to keep putting my money into caches for others to keep taking and not giving.

 

Just disheartening <_<:rolleyes:

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Ooh, very good! Will definitely be putting that image in my caches, if that's okay!

Please feel free to use the image i think its on the website as well ?? somewhere :P

Each cache we visit cost us £1-£2 in brand new swaps. We also have "posh" swaps like battery holders etc for the more expensive items. As for stocking caches we like the first logs to say well stocked cache its a bit full etc these logs soon dissapear though :rolleyes:

I do still feel guitly about a book we swapped in edingborough though <_<

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Remove contraband - Yes

Soggy wet damaged items - Yes

Tat just because you think it is tat - NO

 

I agree.

 

I swap objects which I think are cool whcih other people may not like. I've got a few nice things from caches which I guess other people wouldn't like, so taking items out because they might be tat is quite subjective.

 

I don't go for expensive stuff in caches, but like finding stuff like old belt buckles, beads, pretty shells, sequins, and generally old and shiny stuff that I can make into new stuff.

 

Then I get rid of things that I don't want such as new sims cards that I can't be bothered to ebay, stuff I've made, bookcrossing books, cool marbles with nice colours.

 

I don't spend anything on my trades any more as I seem to have an endless supply of small items that I've either made or need to declutter :rolleyes:

 

Sarah

--

http://www.pookledo.com

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As others have said, it might be cr*p to you, but to someone else, it might just be the cr*p they've been looking for.

Does that mean that you'd have preferred that we hadn't removed the used bottle top left by muggles in "Puerile Photo-cache No.4"? <_<

 

Serious question, really. Some people collect bottle tops. Maybe we should have left it there.

Depends how unusual it was I guess :rolleyes:

 

Sarah

--

http://www.pookledo.com

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I agree that it's disheartening to return to one's caches for maintenance visits and discover that the contents have been 'traded down' (polite phraseology) to tat. I have considered restocking them, but I think all I would be doing would be to watch the entire process repeating itself again. In maintaining my caches (or any others that I visit) I will only remove contrband or broken/mouldy items (and tip out twigs and leaves too). Recently I found a nice tightly sealed cache in which somebody had left a peach. It was not entirely wholesome when I came to remove it some weeks later. Yuk!

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Would it be appropriate to remove the tat from caches?

If you are willing to trade for it, you can take whatever you want.

 

I know of a cache that was stocked by the owner with a broken garage door opener. Now who wants that? I traded for it and threw it in the trashbin.

 

Edit: If I remember correctly I left a little box of Leggos. Seems like a fair trade-up doesn't it?

Edited by BlueDeuce
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Most times, I'm just so hyped about finding the cache, that I don't take anything. It's the thrill of the find for me!

 

Having said that, some of the stuff listed here sounds really neat and would tempt me.

 

If I do trade anything it's mostly just stuff that was lying round the house that I have I don't have a use for, but hope would be good for someone else. Not tat though (like the Mickey Mouse spoke riders someone bought me from Florida. Way cool if you're young, but a bit silly on a 30 something's mountain bike! :rolleyes: )

 

Is there a list of highly desirable cache items somewhere? The question of what to put in new caches seems to crop up frequently!

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Quite often in the hustle & bustle of getting dog/walking boots/rucksacks/trekking poles out of the car, we forget to bring any trading items with us. On these occasions, you can bet your life on finding something in a cache that you really want!

When this happens, we take the item, & leave 50p or £1 or so. You can guarantee, that the next person to find the cache will take the money rather than anything elce! <_<

Seren.

Edited by Shep, Seren & Tess Dog
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I agree that it's probably a good idea to leave almost everything in place as some people have said above, someone out there must be interested, but it is annoying returning to a cache which you planted with decent swaps to find it overflowing with mctoys etc (yes i know some people collect them!!! <_< )

 

I've found the best way to avoid rubbish is by theming my caches. I have planted 3, 2 of which are book swaps and 1 which went missing which was a cd swap. It clearly states that only books or cds - whatever the theme, can be transferred. From logs I think I have found that people liked this idea, and the standard of swaps is always high. I'm not suggesting every cache should be like this but I'd like to see a few more here and there :ph34r:

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By the time I add the swops, I'm going to have spent at least another £10.00. If all items cost more than £1.00, it would be another £20.00 - I just can't afford to do it!

 

We are happy just to find a log book .

We enjoy the expedition to the cache sites more than looking at the cache contents .

 

Things that can tempt us to swop are freebie C.D.'s from the weekend newspapers .

Or unusual corporate freebies .. like mini mouse mat "coaster"

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In a similar vein I yesterday removed the whole Abbots Bay cache because it had a large crack in the bottom of the box (I have contacted the owners). Some log entries report that the box was damaged and I made a snap decision last night in the driving rain. I will return the cache to it's rightful place before 1pm today, I haven't removed any of the "tat" although I have swapped a few bits and pieces and removed a travel bug....

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In a similar vein I yesterday removed the whole Abbots Bay cache because it had a large crack in the bottom of the box (I have contacted the owners). Some log entries report that the box was damaged and I made a snap decision last night in the driving rain. I will return the cache to it's rightful place before 1pm today, I haven't removed any of the "tat" although I have swapped a few bits and pieces and removed a travel bug....

Nothing wrong with that at all. I would hope that the cache owner will be appreciative of your efforts, it's saved them a job.

 

I done similar 2 weeks ago, I never removed the cache, but I did remove the bag it was in, and contents within that were soaked and damaged, also done as much a repair as I could. The cache owner sent me an email thanking me, and also took my advice and changed the container to a more waterproof one. I also got a pat on the back on the cache page.

So in circumstances like these it is OK as long as you can justify it.

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I've been lucky enough to have several cachers do maintenance for me. Special thanks to Zensunni and Mafiu for log replacements, and The White Family's help with a muggled cache the other day (inc. bottle top removal!) Alibags replaced a cracked box for me and has rescued some others, and several cachers have poured water out of my caches, and generally made themselves helpful. It's all appreciated!

 

SP

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