+EEKJeep Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Hello, I'm just getting started and have been reading in alot of cache descriptions that people leave or take things other than travel bugs from the cache. Is this expected at most caches? What type of items should I be leaving at caches? I'm assuming something small, but does anyone have any suggestions or examples to help me get some ideas? Thank you! -Erika Quote Link to comment
+GreyingJay Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Anything and everything, or nothing at all... Well, not ANYTHING. Obviously common sense applies. No junk, no trash, no knives or drugs or condoms or stuff like that (gotta be kid-friendly). People leave marbles, erasers, coins, pins, little toys, trinkets, keychains, ... you name it. I went through my junk drawers and came out with bags of stuff which I either donated to a local charity, earmarked for a future garage sale, or put in my Geocaching swag bag. I have things like pens, caribeaners, old music CD's and software, small stuffed toys, bracelets, keychains, mini flashlights, etc. I went to the dollar store -- great place to buy this kinda stuff -- and found packages of bouncy eyeballs (Hallowe'en is coming, I guess ) -- 8 balls for a buck. Bought up a bunch of those and I'm leaving one at every cache I visit. I often TNLN (take nothing, leave nothing) though, so don't feel bad about not trading stuff. Quote Link to comment
+H2OBob Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Our local WallyMart has a clearance aisle. There's usually some good stuff there. Also, check Big Lots, Dollar Stores, Thrift Stores, etc. Right now, Back to school time, so look for erasers, pencils, crayons... A couple weeks ago, Staples had boxes of 24 crayons for $.08, so I stocked up! Once I found pencil sharpeners at WallyMart for $.01!!! (a mistake?) I got all they had! Every cache needs a sharpener and a pencil. Look around out there. It's just a matter of keeping caching on your mind when you're shopping. Quote Link to comment
+msrubble Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 At most caches, it is possible to trade. You don't have to trade if you don't want to. Travel bugs are not trade items. You can take one to move along and not leave anything in its place. Same goes for FTF prize, if you happen to be first to find a cache. Think of inexpensive things that you might like to find in a cache. I usually take along one item for children and one for adults, then choose which to trade when I see what's in the cache already. Some things I have left: Toy car Beads Colored chalk Keychain First aid kit Moist towelettes Batteries Where's George? dollar Pen Tape measure Miniature screwdriver set Bandana Deck of cards Compact mirror Rubber stamp Rain poncho Foreign coins Ruler Map Lapel pin Quote Link to comment
+EEKJeep Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 Ah, I see! Great ideas, everyone, thank you! I can't wait to get started! -Erika Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Generally you want to leave things that others may find useful or interesting. Gently used items are fine, but if its broken, dirty or othwerise garbage throw it away, not in a cache. Here is a partial list of things I've left in caches. Many are under a buck and most are under $3: Small US flags US flag pins modeling clay individual packs of insect repellent wipes carabiners Energizer squeeze lights stickers bags of toy soldiers water colors mini screwdriver sets allen wrench sets gel pens boxes of crayons or colored chalk emergency rain ponchos packs of AA batteries collectable coins (buffalo nickels, indian head pennies, SBA or Sacagawea dollars) music CD's blank RW CD's cassettes (blank and recorded) calculators clip on safety strobes bungee cords LED key lights "euro" stickers & other decals mini sewing kits maps (hiking & road) software travel packs of Wet Ones or Baby Wipes Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars key rings packs of Hefty Handi Sacks bags of balloons velcro fasteners interesting buttons padlocks foreign money rolls of film Slinky Jrs. kazoos movies on VHS & DVD office supplies (packs of paper clips, thumb tacks, Post-Its, etc...) Mylar emergency blankets decks of cards new wallets Pick Up Sticks individual packs of Armor-All & Rain-X wipes survival whistles travel packs of facial tissue Wheresgeorge bills and stamps Geocaching.com hats, pins, patches and compasses Quote Link to comment
MouseFart Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Someone in my area obviously must have made a deal with McDonalds to have all their broken toys shipped to them, as this seems to be all we find in most caches. Like mentioned above with dollar stores, Wal-marts and such is a good link to find your items. At Target in my town on the isle endcaps, they always have closeout or clearance items. About a month ago, I found a rack of Winchester mini multi-pliars for $1.50 each. They had been marked $9.99 and I bought all 11 of them. Quote Link to comment
+The Laughing Gnomes Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Local Walmart (Taylor MI), has a HUGE clearance aisle right now, I just walked outta there with $45 worth of stuff. Also wow were the school supplies out in force. Anything that you think either a kid OR an adult would enjoy finding. My daughter is fond of handmade jewlery. My son likes lil army stuff or cars. Personally I like to find things for myself from time to time. We always leave something even if we TN. Just our way of trading even or trading up I guess. The Laughing Gnomes Quote Link to comment
+buffaloman Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I found a very inexpensive source of kid items for caches at www.toyconnection.com Most items are in packs of 12, some in larger quantities. Worth checking out. Quote Link to comment
+Fidissimus Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Just remember do not leave food or candy otherwise the cache might get muggled by a Racoon... Thanks for the Toy Connection - love the Monster stuff! Way cool! Quote Link to comment
+Cladius Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I always carry new pens to leave when needed. get em at big box stores cheap. cladius. Quote Link to comment
+Thrak Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I just went to Walgreens because they had a back-to-school coupon sale. I bought packs of glittery pencils, pencil sharpeners, eraser sets, etc. for $0.39 each. Folks with kids especially like these things because they are useful for school, etc. and you can't beat that price. I've often purchased items at the dollar store for caches but sales such as this are even better deals. I also get packs of pens when they are cheap and I carry extra pens in my cache bag for putting into caches where the pen is missing. I've probably replaced a dozen or more missing pens. Quote Link to comment
+tellskirt Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Hello, I'm just getting started and have been reading in alot of cache descriptions that people leave or take things other than travel bugs from the cache. Is this expected at most caches? What type of items should I be leaving at caches? I'm assuming something small, but does anyone have any suggestions or examples to help me get some ideas? Thank you! -Erika Our Family has made it a practice to use "small" items. We go to the dollar store. We do not put expensive items or things that we cherrish in a cache. You'll never see it again. Unless your very ver lucky! Quote Link to comment
+nameless301 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Well sometimes people put really cool things in the caches, but most of the times it is little trinkets that aren't to expensive, but I have found CDs in them and dollar bills and many other random stuff and once a live spider that was eating another spider. Quote Link to comment
+gunpowder Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 It was mentioned but should be noted again to enphasize.... TRADE UP or don't trade at all. It is ok to not take something if you don't have something equal or of more value to leave. Quote Link to comment
+cachenut06 Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 It was mentioned but should be noted again to enphasize.... TRADE UP or don't trade at all. It is ok to not take something if you don't have something equal or of more value to leave. exactly! i see small stickers in caches, and i look in the log book, and people take dollar bills, out of the ordinary items, etc, and i get sort of angry that people can leave such junk in exchange for a really good item. Quote Link to comment
+pandaphil Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 It was mentioned but should be noted again to enphasize.... TRADE UP or don't trade at all. It is ok to not take something if you don't have something equal or of more value to leave. Words to live by. I've only been into this for about a week, but after finding way too much useless junk I've decided to declare a personal crusade against lame cache items! Now, unless there's something truely amazing to be found (and I have something cool to leave), I'll be selecting the bus transfers, the drill bits, the car dealership keychains, the 'Have You Found Jesus?' cards, and the coffee shop receipts and replacing them with little plastic 3D puzzles, glow sticks, decks of cards, those little springloaded clips for attaching stuff to backpacks, or any other of my 30 years of accumulated knick-nacks. A lot of the aforementioned stuff I found at Fred Meyers for around $1 when I went to restock my cache supplies. Quote Link to comment
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