Cache Finds

[+Globetrotter.uk]

I was just wondering what others do with the stuff they collect from caches, excluding Tb's & Geocoins. I had originally decided to keep them in a box as a momento of my caching days. Some things I take get used, like battery cases and smart media bits. But as I find more caches the collection is getting rather large. I cant find a place for the sheep and the lost female cacher.

[alistair_uk]

Can I expand this question by asking what am I supposed to do with non swappable signature items? It has not been a problem in the past but they were starting to fill up the caches and will need clearing out.

 

In answer to Globetrotter.uk's question I tend only to swap things I want to use. Most of the time I don't bother even taking swaps to save on weight.

[+stora]

The tat I throw away.

[+LollyBob]

The tat I throw away.

 

I have a bit of tat in the form of a keyring, it is plastic and really is very poor quality, cheap and nasty but would never throw that away or drop it in a cache.....because it was the first thing we ever found. Ashley has a toy out of a cache, that he will not even play with, its his first find and he treasures it.

 

Lolly

[Deego]

I never trade anymore, I sometimes leave stuff but cant remember the last thing I took from a cache.

[+MartyBartfast]

I very rarely swap myself, and would only do so with something I wanted & was going to use. When I've got the kids with me it's a different story, they HAVE to swap something every time. They'll often play with whatever they've taken for a few days/hours and it then ends up in a box we keep at home for swaps, and will be recycled into another cache at some point, the most frequent exception to this would be notebooks or pens/pencils which they will keep & use for school. We did 2 caches in a row last weekend and the item my daugter collected from the first was swapped for a different item in the second about 1 hour later.

Edited April 27, 2006 by MartyBartfast

[Dave from Glanton]

I used to swap at each cache I visited at first, but then realised that all I was really doing was moving stuff around for the sake of it.

 

These days I just tend to go for the TNLN option unless there's something in a cache which looks useful or shiny. Now and again I might take nothing and leave something which I've found knocking around the house which I think someone else might want, but generally such spare oddments get saved up and put into any new cache that I set.

 

I keep and treasure the swap I got from my first cache find (an old 286 processor).

[+Jonovich]

My first find was a Camel (stuffed toy thing from Mickey D's), which lives to this day on the dash of my Discovery (surviving the Sat Nav smash and grabber from a few months back I am very happy to say)... Mostly these days though I don't bother with trades, just swapping TB's and Coins, unless of course the kids are with me and then it's just all out war until they settle on something each. I often carry a few goodies to stock up any cache that is lacking in good stuff.

 

J

[+Pharisee]

........the most frequent exception to this would be notebooks or pens/pencils which they will keep & use for school.

 

Hmmm.... I've seen logs like that... "Took little book filled with handwriting examples, left McToy."

[+Paul G0TLG]

I always used to swap out McToys, until I realised there are at least some kids who like them - now I leave them for the little 'uns :-) . The ones I've kept sit on top of my monitor to remind me of happy caching times when I'm stuck indoors working.

 

Nowadays, like plenty of other people, I only swap if there's something I think I'll find useful in a cache, or something I really like the look of. The compass which always hangs on my belt loop came from a cache! It's a cheapy, but works well enough to give me a rough direction when the GPS is messing around under tree cover.

[+kewfriend]

Sell it on ebay - amazing what people will pay for TAT!

Edited April 27, 2006 by kewfriend

[+gazooks]

I try and swap at every cache I visit and occasionally a useful item turns up which I keep and use. These are few and far between though.

 

Most of the time its mainly kiddy type items which I just swap and rotate with other caches.

[+wigglesworth]

Wooden geocoins.

Recently came across these in Bracknell area. The web site mentioned seems to be for sales rather than tracking - so I just just dropped the coin into te next cache.

Or perhaps I have mised something. However if this is a new tracker there should be clear instructions for novices to this typee of bug!

Peter

[+FatGaz]

The first cache that I placed is called 'The Pet Shop', and I filled it with animals / creatures that I mainly collected from cache finds. Other than this I dont always trade, often going the TNLN route. I've got plans for my next 'themed' cache, so will be looking for certain items to trade to help fill it, along with a few bits that I will buy / already have.

[+jerryo]

The metamorphosis of a cache.

It’s like the creation of a butterfly, only the beauty comes in first:

 

Egg stage

Most caches start off with reasonable stuff in them but over time this is replaced with “useful” gear like company key-rings and sales-representatives gimmicks like oversize paper clips with things like “Ernst & Young” written on them or paper weights advertising diarrhoea medicine.

 

Larval stage

For a time, people swap these useless trinkets around the countryside until they become so worn out (the trinkets, not the people) that people don’t bother tasking anything but they leave the tat that they had with them. And the occasional travel bug.

 

Pupal stage

Cachers following on try to find the log-book in the midst of all the tat in the box but invariably have difficulty replacing everything. Much like our beloved butterfly, this is a time when the insides are organised and reorganised for the general health of the cache.

 

During this stage, there is often the introduction of a parasite, namely the McSoft toy. Eventually the soft toy expands and eases the top off the cache container allowing the damp and insects in. Cachers are still reluctant to remove the tat as they may not have anything worthwhile to put back. The rot sets in big time.

 

Then, of course, there is the introduction of the inevitable. What a joy it is for any child out on a caching trip to find: a manky old golf ball

 

Adult stage

The cache rests for a while. Everyone in the area has visited it; travel bugs are removed and not replaced because they’ll just stay there forever and it spends the rest of its life having the occasional visit until such time as it’s visited by the dreaded mugglies.

 

All good fun though

TNLN

[+perth pathfinders]

The metamorphosis of a cache.

It’s like the creation of a butterfly, only the beauty comes in first:

 

Egg stage

Most caches start off with reasonable stuff in them but over time this is replaced with “useful” gear like company key-rings and sales-representatives gimmicks like oversize paper clips with things like “Ernst & Young” written on them or paper weights advertising diarrhoea medicine.

 

Larval stage

For a time, people swap these useless trinkets around the countryside until they become so worn out (the trinkets, not the people) that people don’t bother tasking anything but they leave the tat that they had with them. And the occasional travel bug.

 

Pupal stage

Cachers following on try to find the log-book in the midst of all the tat in the box but invariably have difficulty replacing everything. Much like our beloved butterfly, this is a time when the insides are organised and reorganised for the general health of the cache.

 

During this stage, there is often the introduction of a parasite, namely the McSoft toy. Eventually the soft toy expands and eases the top off the cache container allowing the damp and insects in. Cachers are still reluctant to remove the tat as they may not have anything worthwhile to put back. The rot sets in big time.

 

Then, of course, there is the introduction of the inevitable. What a joy it is for any child out on a caching trip to find: a manky old golf ball

 

Adult stage

The cache rests for a while. Everyone in the area has visited it; travel bugs are removed and not replaced because they’ll just stay there forever and it spends the rest of its life having the occasional visit until such time as it’s visited by the dreaded mugglies.

 

All good fun though

TNLN

 

 

SPOT ON !!!

[+M0GEJ]

I don't often do swaps in caches any more though I do sometimes pick up coins (not geocoins) when I see them, and keep these in a jar on my desk. If I get more than one of the same coin I will bundle up all the spares and leave them in another cache as a trade item. I blame my dad for this- he collected coins when he was younger so I must have got it off him.

Obviously none of the coins are actually worth anything- I am just trying to fill the jar

[+The Changing Man & Jillbo]

I think everyone starts by swapping in every cache...we did for the first 20 or so and then realised we were just collecting tat lol

 

Now i only swap if theres something worth taking...most caches are filled with that much garbage its usually a TNLN these days,

 

i laughed recently when someone left a load of crap in one of our caches and took out about 20 quids worth of stuff....i'm starting to put " Its cache in trash out people...not trash in cash out " on new caches!!!

Edited May 27, 2006 by The Changing Man & Jillbo

[+The Blorenges]

i laughed recently when someone left a load of crap in one of our caches and took out about 20 quids worth of stuff....i'm starting to put " Its cache in trash out people...not trash in cash out " on new caches!!!

You laughed?

You laughed?

.....I bet it was one of the "hollow" variety.

 

MrsB (indignant on your behalf )

[+The Changing Man & Jillbo]

i laughed recently when someone left a load of crap in one of our caches and took out about 20 quids worth of stuff....i'm starting to put " Its cache in trash out people...not trash in cash out " on new caches!!!

You laughed?

You laughed?

.....I bet it was one of the "hollow" variety.

 

MrsB (indignant on your behalf )

 

yea, it was a "cheeky twit" laugh