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Cash On Cache


LokiDucks

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How much money do you usually spend on a cache? Average? What's the most?

 

We're currently working on a fairly complex one that's cost us about $11 so far, and we keep breaking stuff as we test the cache out (let's just say it involves disassembling and hot-wiring a laser pointer :D )

 

What are some of the caches you've done that you just had to say "Wow...that's cool" about? And what made them so cool? Were they just unique? Complicated? High-Tech?

 

We're trying to make some caches in our area really stand out and be more interesting than those drive-ups we see so much.

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The cool ones are the simple caches that make you say "now that's clever, why didn't I think of that?

 

A standing shovel that you have to figure out to remove the handle from the head to reveal a cubby for the log. A broom was also used with a Wizard of Oz theme.

 

A drum with a false bottom.

 

Using a fishing rod to reel in a container hanging overhead in a tree.

 

A plastic tube set up so you pour water in it to raise the container hidden deep inside.

 

A 35mm canister inserted into a drilled-out hole on a burnt tree (very evil 'cause it blended in so well). Same thing was done with a shotgun expended cartridge.

 

etc...

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How much money do you usually spend on a cache? Average? What's the most?

 

We're currently working on a fairly complex one that's cost us about $11 so far, and we keep breaking stuff as we test the cache out (let's just say it involves disassembling and hot-wiring a laser pointer :lol: )

People are quoting some very abnormal cache costs here. The average is likely closer to or below your $11.00. It is fun to find an expensive cache set up but it is not necessary to spend over $20.00.

 

Small ammo cans can be $5.00 & sometimes less. With $5.00 of goodies inside this setup will be better than most regular caches you will find. Tupperware is cheaper but will be higher maintenance because they absorb moisture. Tupperware also provides for smaller (but not micro) containers that are often more appropriate. Groundspeak has some very nice fake rocks that are always fun to find.

 

I like it when people place a lot of caches (I also like it when people place only one cache). But spending more than $20.00 per cache can take a big bite out of your budget if you want to place 10, 20, 30 caches or more.

 

And the quality of goodies you put inside will degrade over a few months time or sooner and you might find yourself wondering why you spent so much to stock the container. Many cachers believe that items of value don't belong in caches so the trade them out for items of no value.

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I don't think $30 sounds high at all to me:

  • $7 for ammo can
  • $1.50 for Groundspeak sticker
  • $3 for camo paint job and other camo, misc
  • $7 for Groundspeak offical logbook
  • $5 for a nice FTF prize
  • 6 - 8 items for trade $1 to $2 ea
  • $4 Travel bug tag and small item to attach it to

Just adds up quick - and despite the inevitable trade down - I always stock my caches with nice items for starters. Just a basic cache is mentioned above. Best way to save is to use a cheaper logbook - might take it down $6 or so.

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People are quoting some very abnormal cache costs here. The average is likely closer to or below your $11.00.

This is true. You're not getting any answers like, "Nothing. Found an old rubbermaid container in the cupboard and put a folded up sheet of paper in it. Instant cache." Even though a great many of the caches I've found are of this variety.

 

I've placed three caches. I've probably averaged $15-$20 on supplies each. One of them, I had to purchase the special equipment required to log it (which I didn't already own myself) and spent about $60... but that's not part of the cache.

 

My biggest costs are ammo box ($5-$7), cache camera ($4), logbook ($1-$2), various lamination ($4). My cache goodies are usually stuff I've acquired one way or another for free, or almost free.

 

The two micro caches I've adopted have cost me almost nothing... except I replaced the stashnote in one with a laminated variety which cost $1 and I replaced the leaking film container on the other with a $1 matchstick holder.

 

Other costs are paint and labels which... but it's hard to estimate the cost for individual use, since one can of paint will do several ammo boxes and a package of labels will label many cache cameras and logbooks.

 

Most of my "cost" is time, as I've spent on average probably 10 hours scouting and preparing each cache. Time and effort are easily more valuable to the final product (the cache) than throwing a bunch of money at it. Too many people dont put enough time into placing a cache.

 

Jamie

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I don't think $30 sounds high at all to me:
  • $7 for ammo can
  • $1.50 for Groundspeak sticker
  • $3 for camo paint job and other camo, misc
  • $7 for Groundspeak offical logbook
  • $5 for a nice FTF prize
  • 6 - 8 items for trade $1 to $2 ea
  • $4 Travel bug tag and small item to attach it to

Just adds up quick - and despite the inevitable trade down - I always stock my caches with nice items for starters. Just a basic cache is mentioned above. Best way to save is to use a cheaper logbook - might take it down $6 or so.

Your numbers still sound kinda high.

 

Ammo Can: $4 - $6

Camo Paint Job: $1

logbook: 3 for $1 at discount store

FTF prize: $5

6-8 trade items: $1 - $2

 

TOTAL: $21.84.

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Ammo Can:  $4 - $6

Camo Paint Job: $1

logbook:  3 for $1 at discount store

FTF prize:  $5

6-8 trade items:  $1 - $2

 

TOTAL:  $21.84.

This cache is the workhorse of geocaching! We are never disappointed to find an ammo can. The ftf prize is a nice touch and we've done that about 25% of the time.

 

For the 6 to 8 items the Dollar Store usually has things packaged 3 to 6 for a buck that aren't all that bad. Those items can then be repackaged in small ziploc bags (craft stores sell them in several sizes below sandwich bag size). When placed in little ziplocs they look like little gifts and they stay clean and dry.

 

With a mixture of buck, 2 buck and 4 for a buck items you can drop a bit below the $20.00 mark.

 

For the $10.00 range cache painted tupperware containers bought at yard sales work out o.k, and going a little lighter on the ftf prize and a few less goodies. Two or three colors of camo paint will cover a lot of tuperware, cache instruction sheets, laminated in mass, and taped to the lid with small gc.com lables on the outside will keep a cache at around OP's $11.00. Screw top plastic jars seem to keep water out better than regular tupperware.

Edited by Team Sagefox
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the most was $10, and that was for an ammo can. Most normal tupperware ranges from a dollar to 2 dollars. All the swag I use is from other caches. So it's free. Hint: Go to the dollar store and buy big containers for a dollar. i got 10 micros for a dollar. So thats $0.10 each. Another hint: Use old containers such as sauce jars. I also bought 5 packs of holiday tupperware from Christmas. They were on sale and they were green so I got like 20 for 20 dollars.

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...For the 6 to 8 items the Dollar Store usually has things packaged 3 to 6 for a buck that aren't all that bad. Those items can then be repackaged in small ziploc bags (craft stores sell them in several sizes below sandwich bag size). When placed in little ziplocs they look like little gifts and they stay clean and dry....

When placing 3 for 1 or 6 for 1 items in a cache - we can be hardly suprised when all we find is mctoys and plastic junk ---- sigh.

 

I never said I had to spend $30 - just that I did.

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...For the 6 to 8 items the Dollar Store usually has things packaged 3 to 6 for a buck that aren't all that bad.  Those items can then be repackaged in small ziploc bags (craft stores sell them in several sizes below sandwich bag size).  When placed in little ziplocs they look like little gifts and they stay clean and dry....

When placing 3 for 1 or 6 for 1 items in a cache - we can be hardly suprised when all we find is mctoys and plastic junk ---- sigh.

 

I never said I had to spend $30 - just that I did.

LOL on the MaC Plastic toys--------I think Geochaching etiquettes should be amended

 

--Thy Shall not Leave MaC Plastic Toys especially Used Ones--

 

And lets face the facts the reason you place a Mac Plastic Toy in a Geo Cache is that you dont want it,,, odds are no one else wants it either..

 

I am new to GeoCaching myself but I now find myself looking at items in the store thinking wow that would make a cool Cache Items.

 

Nothing says it better then Trade Even --Trade Up---Or Dont Trade.

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I think going cheap is kinda lame. A "cheap" container leaks. "Cheap" swag makes other people think it's ok to replace good stuff with junk. You are only going to put out a select number of caches so why not make them a good one.

I don't think people do this hobby justice if they go slapping up tons of caches because they found an old tupperware container and a spot thats .10 mile from a cache. Just because you can put a cache there doesn't mean one should go there. make those caches good and make it worth going to.

I spend about 10-15 dollars on the initial stuff and about 5-10 dollars on the FTF prize. Make the sport better by making it quality, not quantity.

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I'm fairly new to this as found my first cache back in November. I'm thankful to all those folks that took the time to place a cache. I don't think anyone really geocaches for the loot but it does make it a little more interesting especially for the little ones.

 

I sometimes take my 4 year old grandaughter along and I would love for her to be excited about what she might find. Unfortunately so far she hasn't been impressed..lol

 

I've found this thread interesting as I'm about to place my first cache. I've purchased an ammo can and btw I haven't seen any ammo cans in the 21 finds so far. It's been mostly peanut butter jars and tupperware. I would imagine those types of container would require a lot more maintenance.

 

I want to leave a half decent FTF article but haven't come up with anything good yet. Of course I'm going to make sure there are some decent toys to bring smiles to the kiddies faces.

 

I'm addicted no matter what...maybe it's the thrill, no matter how small, that I might actually find something useful. Perhaps if there was good swag in every one the anticipation would be less? :D

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One of my favorite items to leave in caches are the small first aid kits, they only cost three or four bucks, and one has already paid off.GC4D72

September 10, 2005 by 2aussies (240 found)

liked the area, nice walk in, but the coming out we were tired. took 2 trips to find. traded first-aid kit, after wife slid part way down, left navy key lanyard.

I'm glad I was able to help them out that way. :ph34r:

I left a brand new mini-Mag flashlight, with two spare bulbs and batteries in another cache, some guy took it and left a quarter. :D

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One of my favorite items to leave in caches are the small first aid kits, they only cost three or four bucks, and one has already paid off.GC4D72

September 10, 2005 by 2aussies (240 found)

liked the area, nice walk in, but the coming out we were tired. took 2 trips to find. traded first-aid kit, after wife slid part way down, left navy key lanyard.

I'm glad I was able to help them out that way. :ph34r:

I left a brand new mini-Mag flashlight, with two spare bulbs and batteries in another cache, some guy took it and left a quarter. :D

I think a first aid kit is a great idea. 25 cents for a mag light eh? So much for equal or greater value!

 

I am interested to see what people will leave in my cache. It sure would be nice if it were possible to raise the bar a bit. I'm wondering how many people would leave something good in a cache full of used mctoys?

 

I'm trying to think of decent toys for kids. Anyone got some good suggestions for kid's toys?

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Apart from the dreaded MaCToy Plastic crap and I due feel it should be banned from GeoCaching lol,,, I keep a eye out for sales of Poly Pocket or beading kits for girls and for boys most of the large retailers will have Hot Wheel cars for sale below two dollars.

 

The whole point is not to spend alot of money but have consideration for the person that took the time and investment of provide you with a location to GeoCache, its nice to see in the logs appreciation for a fun or unique Item someone has found or traded, No one gets excited about a MaCplastic used toy...

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Ahhh silly putty....that's a great idea..and hotwheels and beading kits and polly pockets...what a great resource this is.

 

I have to agree..it would be nice to see all that mc crap banned...I'd rather they left nothing than that stuff.

 

I've also been thinking about some cheap things geocachers might like. Stuff they can throw in their packs....like inspection mirrors, compass, eyeglass wipes, eye glass kits, pens and pencils.

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Ahhh silly putty....that's a great idea..and hotwheels and beading kits and polly pockets...what a great resource this is.

 

I have to agree..it would be nice to see all that mc crap banned...I'd rather they left nothing than that stuff.

 

I've also been thinking about some cheap things geocachers might like. Stuff they can throw in their packs....like inspection mirrors, compass, eyeglass wipes, eye glass kits, pens and pencils.

All great Idea I love finding stuff too compliment my GeoCaching Backpack ,, got a nice little first Aid Kit today.

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Last "cache" was a short series. 4 micros (film cans I got free at Costco by asking at the photo counter - they gave me a LARGE bag full of them). The micros were covered in camo tape from Walmart - one roll will do approximately 4 billion film cans. Magnets for the micros were salvaged from dead hard drives - AMAZINGLY strong magnets. So for the first 4 steps it was basically free.

 

Step 5 was a Decon container - about $2.50 with the shipping - and some small swag that I will discount as very cheap or I already had. Call that stage maybe $4.00.

 

Step 6 was a .50 cal ammo can - $6.50 (?). It was fitted with an eyebolt and small hardware to make it suitable for a padlock - about $1.50 for that. It had a heavy duty programmable 4-digit padlock - not sure what that is worth since I already had it on hand. (I've left a number of them as swag.) Not a cheap lock though. Inside was a Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching ($12.00 - $14.00), DVD of Scrooged (the series was Scrooge based) - don't remember what that cost - maybe $8.00 - a Kilted Cacher Christmas Geocoin/Ornament for FTF -- $8.50, guitar strings, tape measure, a nice full sized screwdriver set, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. The can was full.

 

Hmmmm....... I didn't realize how much this thing cost. I guess I likely had about $60.00 into the thing. I'm shocked! Why in heck did you make me start thinking about this anyway?

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Make the sport better by making it quality, not quantity.

Right on!

 

I consider a $40 cache to be a great deal. I can't go to a two hour concert for less. Two trips to the movies with my kid costs more than that. And all the cachers who visit the cache share in that value. Appreciative logs are worth a lot to me, compared to a plain ol' "TNLNSL".

 

That's just me. If you like film canisters under rocks behind guardrails, place more. If you like stocked ammo cans 3 miles down the trail, place those. Place the kind of cache you most like to find. Think of it as a gift to your caching family. Would you give your favorite auntie a cross-threaded peanut butter jar covered in electrical tape, full of dollar-store barrettes, wrapped in a dead holly bush in front of an insurance office?

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Make the sport better by making it quality, not quantity.

Right on!

 

I consider a $40 cache to be a great deal. I can't go to a two hour concert for less. Two trips to the movies with my kid costs more than that. And all the cachers who visit the cache share in that value. Appreciative logs are worth a lot to me, compared to a plain ol' "TNLNSL".

 

That's just me. If you like film canisters under rocks behind guardrails, place more. If you like stocked ammo cans 3 miles down the trail, place those. Place the kind of cache you most like to find. Think of it as a gift to your caching family. Would you give your favorite auntie a cross-threaded peanut butter jar covered in electrical tape, full of dollar-store barrettes, wrapped in a dead holly bush in front of an insurance office?

Hey my auntie would go bananas for a cross threaded camo covered peanut butter jar filled with dollar store barrettes....LOL :D

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So far my most expensive caches have been my birthday ones, that each cost me about 50-60 dollars. When you start out by spending $12-$15 on the container, it just goes up from there.

 

Edited to answer the OPs actual question.

 

For me, an average cache cost's $5-$12, but that's just a guess.

3-4 on the container and logbook, and then stocked with a variety of re-packaged trinkets that were bought in bulk. (like a baggie with 6-8 marbles, out of a pack of 100) or things I got on clearance.

Edited by WRITE SHOP ROBERT
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We are working on deploying our Great Horse race cache soon, and this complete cache cost us roughly around $20-$25 CDN.

 

The Ammo can was $11... the horses $5-$7... and the paint, log, etc, etc, etc...

Now it's just a matter of finding a really cool location for the hide. :D

Just and update about this one. The Ammo can paid for itself already, day of deployment. Silly me, but I didn't check the tide in the area I was placing the can. Well, first cachers reported that the can was under a foot of water when they arrived. I went out and moved the can, but before replacing it, I cracked it open... bone dry! Just goes to show you it's worth the investment. I'd like to see a tupperware container do something like that!

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Over the past week, I spent almost $500 to emplace a cache, and, on top of that, one of the FTF prizes is $160 in cash (it drops to $100 after 9/22/06). The cache, in terms of terrain difficulty and danger, is among the five toughest caches in North America, and may never be found.

 

If you wish to take a look at this cache, it is called Psycho Urban Cache #13 - Impossible! Give Up Now! You may find the cache listing page at http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...4f-15f835b7155d]http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5a7fa052-552a-43d1-8f4f-15f835b7155d

 

Waypoint ID is GCY72P

 

Enjoy!

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For me, it's not really about the "stuff". I like the hunt, the things we take are not for me, it's for the kids. I have my fun finding the cache but opening it and getting the treasure is what they are waiting for. My daughter (6 y/o) loves the little stamps and small plastic animals, my son (4 y/o) loves to find little lego guys or army men (even thought we have hundreds already).

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For me, it's not really about the "stuff". I like the hunt, the things we take are not for me, it's for the kids. I have my fun finding the cache but opening it and getting the treasure is what they are waiting for. My daughter (6 y/o) loves the little stamps and small plastic animals, my son (4 y/o) loves to find little lego guys or army men (even thought we have hundreds already).

Yes, for me it is about the hunt. But I cannot deny that many folks do get excited about cash prizes!

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Cost of an ammo can.................about $7

Cost of the swag........................about $10

Cost of reading the finds online...priceless

You hit it on the head! For me, the pure ejoyment of reading about attempts to find the cache (including the failed ones) and the finds is priceless! And, along those same lines: one of our local extreme cachers recently sent me a letter warning me -- in light of the $100 cash FTF prize that I was offering for the new PUC #13 cache -- that I could end up "being $100 poorer" if someone finds the cache. I replied to him that the FTF prizes, including the cash prize, were offers from the heart to the geo community, and that rather than feeling poorer if and when there was an FTF claimant, I would feel richer, and my heart would be warmed! For me, such things are priceless, and a joy! I would just LOVE to give that $100 (or $160, if they find it soon!) in cash to the FTF!

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I'm waiting for my first cache to get published. I spent about $50CDN on the box and FTF prize (a home/auto battery charger) alone. Add in a bunch of regular swag and it's probably up to about $75. Then add the stuff I used to camo it, but that can also be used on other hides.... I don't mind spending money on making a good hide, though. I kind of figured it would cost a few $$ from the get go. Here's what I didn't realize what I would put into this undertaking. The time and effort. We can't really put a price on it, because we do it for fun, but I took me forever to camo it up, research sites and co-ords (it's a multi) and visit these places several times to double or triple check the co-ords. Then it didn't get published the first time because there's a final stage of another multi nearby so I had to re-hide it, then readjust the starting co-ords because there's math involved using the posted co-ords to get to the final. A lot of driving was involved.

So, for me what I will always remember is not so much the amount of money I spent, but how much time and effort I had to put in to create, what I hope will be seen as, a quality cache by the cachers that find it.

 

Tom

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I'm working on one now involving a microcontroller and 7-segment LED's (those things on a digital alarm clock that display a number, for the non-electronic types), but it's just in the planning stage right now. If I actually pull it off, it'll probably wind up running me 100 bucks, all things considered. But for now, just a pipe dream.

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After finding about 500 caches with swag that was........I wont go there.

I decided to try somthing different. It is almost a test on the trade up ideal. I called the cache upper swag, filled it with items worth $10, and placed it where it wouldnt be accidently found.

I stated on the cache page why it was called upper swag.....and to trade even, up, or not at all. Guess what.....the first to find took a handcarved rappala fishing lure and left a sea shell. And hes a pal of mine! I STILL bring it up!

But its only been found by 2 folks now, almost a year think since I hid it. I was mostly curious to see what items would be traded.

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I stated on the cache page why it was called upper swag.....and to trade even, up, or not at all. Guess what.....the first to find took a handcarved rappala fishing lure and left a sea shell.

 

Yep, sounds about right. I typically stock my ammo cans with items in the ~$2 range and a year or two later (depending on visit rate) they're typically full o' junk. I have seen an ammo can (not one of mine) actually upgrade from good to primo stuff - but then it got muggled.

 

OT, I try not to think about what I'm spending. Relative to some of our previous hobbies, this one isn't terribly expensive, and most of the expense is gas, which would apply to any other recreation we'd be doing anyway.

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Kids always love silly puddy and it's a cheap yet fun item.

 

On silly putty - I found a cache two weeks ago that had been muggled - apparently by a racoon. This was a BrianSnat cache so it was very well done in an plastic container with the fold-down locking sides. As impressive as it is that the little raider could get the container open ... even more impressive was he tried to make a meal of the silly putty. Got it into a couple of pieces and must have chewed on it a good long time. Still lots of little tooth prints.

 

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I never would have thought that silly putty, of all things, would attract our four legged friends.

 

One critter's synthetic plastic goo is another critter's idea of fast food. BrianSnat may not eat eggplant, but I love it. :laughing:

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where the heck you get all this ammocans from?

 

swiss military keeps up big eyes for them to be returned.. they dont give a heck where all the rounds are gone, but the cans.. they are almost holy to them!!

get in good with a US army buddy, they should be able to help you out. Here in the states, we go to a "surplus" store, where we can get our hands on numerous sizes of ammo cans for just a few bucks.

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