TNLN

1.1k · September 16, 2006

It's a personal preference, I'm sure, but I'm curious as to other people's thoughts.

What's the proper etiquette for cache swag?

Is it expected to take something and leave something every time, or do you only take an item if it's interesting?

Do you leave something every time whether you take something or not?

Do you leave more than you take?

Would you take something if you had nothing to leave, or if the container was too small for the items you brought?

What's the view on rotating items? (item taken from one cache, leave in next cache, etc.) I think it would be fun to see items I've left in a cache that I just discovered because someone else has picked them up and moved them there... almost like a mini travel bug.

Most of the contents of the caches around here are pretty much, well, crap. Nothing I have interest in taking. But that really has nothing (for me) to do with the big picture. Frankly, I'd be perfectly happy locating a cache, and then turning around and going home without opening it. In fact I've done that a few times in cases of muggles and such. I like the hoby for the find, and I'll take an empty ammo case in the middle of a giant forest over a film canister mini cache with cash stuffed in it in a parking lot any day.

I tend to TNLN about half the time, and that's fine with me, but I'm wondering if I'm not meeting some people's expectations by doing that.

September 16, 2006

Some people do have expectations but you should do what's most fun for you. I take something if I want it or if I am sure nobody would want it, to clean up the cache. Recycling is ok. Once I found that someone had recirculated something I had left in another cache, and I traded for it because I missed it.

Edited September 16, 2006 by Kacky

September 16, 2006

When we cache with the kids, they always want to swap something. But, when we cache without them, we rarely swap anything except nickels/coins etc. We always swap equal or better.

6.7k · September 16, 2006

Out of 1800-something caches I have logged and no telling how many I haven't I can remember keeping something from only four caches!

Most notably the Rosary necklace that my wife found in her very first cache that led to her name - GeoRose, and an SD card reader from a cache in Louissianna that I use almost daily!

The others were a JoGPS signature CITO bag container and a sig-item caribiner that I hang a water bottle on.

I used to trade items at every cache, however, just moving things from one cache to another, and kept a swag bag with me from which to choose nicer trade items.

I often will leave several items to replinish a cache without taking anything, and if I find wet moldy junk in a cache I will CITO it and replace it with decent things.

Anytime I find a cache in need of maintenance I do it if I possibly can... why make the owner come out when you are already there?

This practice goes along with my personal practice of leaving the world a better place than I found it - I want anyone who finds a cache after I have visited it to be glad I was there!

Ed

3.9k · September 16, 2006

It's a personal preference, I'm sure, but I'm curious as to other people's thoughts.

What's the proper etiquette for cache swag?

Is it expected to take something and leave something every time, or do you only take an item if it's interesting?

Do you leave something every time whether you take something or not?

Do you leave more than you take?

Would you take something if you had nothing to leave, or if the container was too small for the items you brought?

What's the view on rotating items? (item taken from one cache, leave in next cache, etc.) I think it would be fun to see items I've left in a cache that I just discovered because someone else has picked them up and moved them there... almost like a mini travel bug.

Most of the contents of the caches around here are pretty much, well, crap. Nothing I have interest in taking. But that really has nothing (for me) to do with the big picture. Frankly, I'd be perfectly happy locating a cache, and then turning around and going home without opening it. In fact I've done that a few times in cases of muggles and such. I like the hoby for the find, and I'll take an empty ammo case in the middle of a giant forest over a film canister mini cache with cash stuffed in it in a parking lot any day.

I tend to TNLN about half the time, and that's fine with me, but I'm wondering if I'm not meeting some people's expectations by doing that.

In our earlyt days fo caching, we almost always left a swag item, and sometimes took something as well. And, we are both very careful to always leave something of equal or greater value if we do take a swag item. Howevever, we both rarely take swag items anymore.

September 17, 2006

I'm into geocaching for the hunt, not for the swag. I don't take things, even when there is a $20 bill in the cache (yes, I found a cache with a $20 bill in it), unless it is moldy junk that I take to the nearest trash bin. If the cache description says that you must list the swag you traded or your log will be deleted, then I ignore that cache.

Most of the rules of GC.com deal with hiding caches, not finding caches. So if you stay withing the few rules for finding caches, then you can play the game as you see fit.

September 17, 2006

I think I agree with Alabama Rambler 100%.

When the kids are along, they always want to 'see' what is in the cache. But, if they haven't brought anything of their own, they rarely get to trade for it. I'm trying to teach them that 'things' don't grow on trees... just like how Happy Meals toys are what makes a HM cost money... it sure ain't the food!

If it is just Steak and I, and their isn't a TB or GeoCoin in the cache that I specifically went there to trade for, we usually TNLN.

But, once we went for a cache because the FTF prize was a PDA... a used one, and as it turned out, one that didn't have any of the cables or peripherals that went with it, not even the manual... but it was still a cool find. We left about twenty dollars worth of swag in that cache in exchange, too. I feel that even if the swag is incredible, one should try and leave something appropriately nice (even if the dollar value is less) in exchange, or else leave that super cool, highly desirable item for the next cacher.

Of course, FTF certificates, ribbons, medals, awards, etc. don't count. If I'm FTF, I always take those things to add to my trophy case... and even though they are our 'due', I still leave something in exchange.

3.9k · September 17, 2006

I rarely take anything from a cache. If it has room I will leave something.

El Diablo

September 17, 2006

I love leaving things in caches! We're having personal geocoins made (for small-and-larger size caches) and signature buttons (for micros), so that we always have something extra-cool to leave that (hopefully) the next person to come along will really enjoy finding. In the meanwhile, we've been leaving lots of videogame action figures, keychains, and other memorabilia, including a few actual games (in the BIG cache containers, heh).

As for taking swag, I'll usually only snag something if it's complete junk (expired bus passes, dead batteries, and a candy bar wrapper are three that spring immediately to mind) so that I can throw it out, or for my "trophy" shelf if it's a signature item. I adore signature items. One of these days, I'm hoping to find a digital fish or somebody's personal geocoin.

Edited September 17, 2006 by RealWorldAvatars

1.1k · September 17, 2006

an idea I saw someone had done in a nearby city was to get personalized pens or pencils made, and leave those in the caches.

I think that would be a good thing to do in addition to the regular swapping, as there seem to be a fair number of caches with no writing tool in them.

September 17, 2006

It's a personal preference, I'm sure, but I'm curious as to other people's thoughts.

What's the proper etiquette for cache swag?

Is it expected to take something and leave something every time, or do you only take an item if it's interesting?

Do you leave something every time whether you take something or not?

Do you leave more than you take?

Would you take something if you had nothing to leave, or if the container was too small for the items you brought?

What's the view on rotating items? (item taken from one cache, leave in next cache, etc.) I think it would be fun to see items I've left in a cache that I just discovered because someone else has picked them up and moved them there... almost like a mini travel bug.

Most of the contents of the caches around here are pretty much, well, crap. Nothing I have interest in taking. But that really has nothing (for me) to do with the big picture. Frankly, I'd be perfectly happy locating a cache, and then turning around and going home without opening it. In fact I've done that a few times in cases of muggles and such. I like the hoby for the find, and I'll take an empty ammo case in the middle of a giant forest over a film canister mini cache with cash stuffed in it in a parking lot any day.

I tend to TNLN about half the time, and that's fine with me, but I'm wondering if I'm not meeting some people's expectations by doing that.

Advice I intend to pass on to my son - Just do what you do. Screw the expectations.

Myself, I've found a whopping 14 caches, and swapped once. Mostly, I'm excitied for the find, and could care less about digging thru the cache. Heck, once I even forgot to sign the log

Most of the time, I've forgotten my "swag bag" so it kinda becomes a non-issue. Nothing a little TNLN can't sure...

2k · September 17, 2006

I seldom swap swag.

Usually if I do it is because I think that soandso would like that.

Most of the people I know seldom exchange swag.

On the other side of the coin, I always pack my hides full of stuff for those who do like to trade.

I don't expect them to stay that way as people are people.

I find it sad when people leave trash in a cache.

If you go to one of my caches I would much rather you didn't leave your old losing lottery tickets and such crap. Take the silly little toy if you must, but take your trash with you. I'd rather see the cache depleted than full of junk.

Sorry for the rant.

September 19, 2006

It's a personal preference, I'm sure, but I'm curious as to other people's thoughts.

What's the proper etiquette for cache swag?

Is it expected to take something and leave something every time, or do you only take an item if it's interesting?

There is no rule that you have to trade. I (and I think many others) used to always do it, but I stopped. Now I only trade if its interesting.

Do you leave something every time whether you take something or not?

I don't. But this could be consider 'cache repair'. Some caches degrade as to their trade items due to poor trading.

Do you leave more than you take?

Depends on what you mean by 'leave more'. You are always supposed to 'trade up', leave something better then you took. But if you want to leave more items, that's up to you. You could consider it trading up or cache repair.

Would you take something if you had nothing to leave, or if the container was too small for the items you brought?

Never! I would consider it theft. One container was too packed with items for me to trade what I had, so I just didn't trade.

What's the view on rotating items? (item taken from one cache, leave in next cache, etc.) I think it would be fun to see items I've left in a cache that I just discovered because someone else has picked them up and moved them there... almost like a mini travel bug.

I've considered it. I think so long as you kept to the 'trade up' rule, go for it.

Most of the contents of the caches around here are pretty much, well, crap. Nothing I have interest in taking. But that really has nothing (for me) to do with the big picture. Frankly, I'd be perfectly happy locating a cache, and then turning around and going home without opening it. In fact I've done that a few times in cases of muggles and such. I like the hoby for the find, and I'll take an empty ammo case in the middle of a giant forest over a film canister mini cache with cash stuffed in it in a parking lot any day.

I think this is true of many of us. I rarely trade. HOWEVER, if you don't sign the log, I would never consider it a Find. If you want to "TNLNSL", feel free.

I tend to TNLN about half the time, and that's fine with me, but I'm wondering if I'm not meeting some people's expectations by doing that.

There seems to be a small subgroup that gets a little pissy about it. They also tend not to like logs that just say "TNLNSL" and nothing more. I do add more, but it will depend on what happened in my finding the cache.

September 19, 2006

I once found this in a cache. So I made a TB out of it!

Paul

22k · September 19, 2006

I rarely take anything from a cache. If it has room I will leave something.

El Diablo

Me too. Usually something a kid would like to find.

20.7k · September 19, 2006

When I first started caching, I would almost always trade. Typically, I would trade in whatever I traded out of the previous cache. After a while, I pretty much stopped trading. Soemtimes, I'll leave a trink, but I typically won't take anything.

September 19, 2006

I generally don't take items from caches very often. Too many times it's silly plastic junk that I don't need, or the cache has been sitting in its own moisture for weeks, etc. I occasionally take little neat things, but that's happened only a handful of times.

If I take something, I leave something. Often I will leave stuff anyway even if I don't take. Sometimes I will leave lots of things.

You know how everyone has that junk drawer filled with trinkets and toys and little items? I fill my swag bag with the cooler items from my "junk". My street had a garage sale the other day and I realized I didn't have enough goodies to put out because I had put so much of it into caches!

Of course I put out useful "junk" and not actual junk -- stuff like highlighters, pens, erasers, mini-flashlights, stuff like that.

September 19, 2006

I should probably change my name to TNLN. (Tin-Lin?)

I'm a hunter-signer. I look for the cache and sign the log book. Well, except for travel bugs. I love travel bugs and will move them on.

I usually look through the stuff to see if there is anything interesting. Once I didn't, and when I got home, I realized that there were 4 or 5 travel bugs not counting the 2 I left. If I had been paying attention, I would have brought a couple of the TBs back with me. (I was over 250 miles away from home and the park security guard had his eye on me, so I was hurrying.) Otherwise, the stuff I usually see isn't particularly interesting to me. I don't collect McDonald's Happy Meal toys. I have seen some neat flashlights and glow sticks, but I had no trade items those days.

I do carry a buffalo head nickel, an Israeli coin, and a couple of coin-dollars on me when I go caching in the event that I find something I like.

FTF prizes I would take, but I've never had one yet.

I guess I would have to say that I would trade items if I found something I liked, but I have yet to do it.

September 20, 2006

I always leave a sig item and only take swag when forced to by accompanying children. I usually don't bother with micros/nanos because there's no room for a parting gift.

September 21, 2006

i ALWAYS take something and leave something, even if its just junk i do it to tidy up the caches. because of Mr "x" wants to leave Mc Donalds junk in a cache thats his choice but i will trade better items for worse ones so that ither caches can realise that Swag is important and should be thought about for longer then 5 seconds. but still i dont leave expensive things, mostly mini torches and crab's of commertive coins.

September 21, 2006

When I first started I would always trade items - last night my 10 year old daughter and I were out in fairly small park with 6 caches within .5 miles of each other. We had already found 3. The three we found last night contained mostly junk. My daughter used to always want to trade something but even she is jaded to the point of only picking out trinkets for her little brother or sister. I TN'd all three caches and left a Green Jeep TB, Compass, and several mini gel pens - not the greatest swag in the world but something for the next "kid" to pick from. C took a sheet of stickers and a big fake plastic diamond and definately placed better items in the cache. We are ready to start making sig items instead of the dollar store stuff. I always have at least a couple of good trade items in case I find something decent (has happened once or twice in 127 caches).

I also have no problem taking or leaving a travel bug or coin without swapping like for like. The only exception to this rule is if the cache is a TB hotel or if the CO specifically asks for like for like (coin for coin) trades. I have a TB and a coin that have moved nowhere because people won't take them if they don't have one to leave. Makes no sense as my trackables are out there to move - I could care less if someone takes one and moves it along and traded it for an old golf ball.

September 21, 2006

Unless it's a TB we hardly ever take anything or leave anything. The only time we do is if something catches our eyes that we want. Then we'll take TSLS.

3.6k · September 21, 2006

When we first started, we would always leave something new and in it's wrapper, but we quickly realized there was nothing worth taking because a lot of stuff was kind of junky. Our six year old son doesn't even really trade anymore for the same reason.

September 21, 2006

I once found this in a cache. So I made a TB out of it!

Paul

heck, i looked at the picture and thought: "what is this?!?" until i read the description.. well, fortunately tomorrow i go and pick up my first GPSr, and guess what, its a GPSmap 60CSx!!! but unfortunately for you guys, i wont leave that for a swag.. :anitongue:

i am all excited about this caching-thing. and i am looking forward to trade stuff. well, i wont take the junk, but look forward to leave something nice people would not expect.. on another unfortunate thing, here in switzeland, at least the area i live in, its mostly multicaches (i dont think i am up to that yet, since its mostly mysterycaches) and micro- or nanocaches hidden somewhere.. might have to put up a nice traditional one myself. and i am thinking of one area especially which will take people to a really nice view and a nice walk up the hills.. thinking of a walk for at least one hour even when you take the nearest parking. or even 1 1/2 hours..

OT: how do you grade a cache that hardly can be walked when there is snow but even could be biked in good conditions? its along a ridge of a mountainchain with several peaks and even some ancient castles on the way.. if you consider there is even two restaurants (one at the beginning, one at the end, later even another not so ancient castle, first one is like from the 11th or so century and totally into pieces..) on the way, but that would strech it into a 3 hours walk?

Edited September 21, 2006 by terrible2u

3.6k · September 21, 2006

OT: how do you grade a cache that hardly can be walked...

When you hide a cache, there's a rating system to help you correctly rate the hide. Generally, the difficulty describes how hard it is to find the cache, and the terrain is how much effort is needed to actually get to the cache container. In your case, it sounds like the terrain would be somewhat high 3.5+. The difficulty rating would depend on the type of container and how well it's hidden.

September 22, 2006

I usually trade something - and generally leave a sig item as well - if I find a sig item I don't have, I will take it.

OTOH, this is not a hard and fast rule - if there is nothing that interests me, I take nothing - in such a case, I may or may not leave something - depending whether the cache is short on trade items or just short on things I find interesting.

September 22, 2006

I usually don't trade items. When I stumble across caches filled with kid trinkets I leave them for the kids. What I find myself doing more often is "maintaining" some of the cache (ziploc bags, writing instruments, logbook/paper and what not). This way the next cacher to find the cache has a better experience.

September 22, 2006

I responded earlier, but I read in an above post about trading travel bugs...

?

To me, a TB's goal is to move far, move fast. I gladly move TBs without exchanging. I like to place them in new caches, caches that are fairly easy to get to, and/or in caches near highways and interstates.

2.6k · September 22, 2006

I very rarely ever take anything except TB's that seem to have been stuck for a while ro I know I can help towards their goal. If I have something with me (which is also rare) I'll sometimes leave something to help boost a cache's swag level. More often than not, I just TNLN or clean out trash or inappropriate swag.

1.9k · September 23, 2006

Unless it's a TB we hardly ever take anything or leave anything. The only time we do is if something catches our eyes that we want. Then we'll take TSLS.

That's my policy. The last trading item I took was a Bison tube which became my next cache. I did leave something, of course.

Edited September 23, 2006 by Dwoodford

2.2k · September 23, 2006

mostly i don't trade as the prize is the cache and the walk to it for me.

September 24, 2006

Well I enjoy the finding more than the trading, but my wife LOVES the treasure aspect. If there is something I want/like (happens maybe 1/10 cahces) I'll ask her if we can do that as our item. But usually she picks what we take. We take something about 75% of the time. We leave something about 100% of the time. I can still remember the 2 things I chose though, a baseball and play doh (today, love the smell). She usually gets all excited over a kids toy from her childhood or that is fun enough for her anyway.

Ben

September 25, 2006

Let me admit that I love finding funny little animal figures, and I will usually take one if I see it in a cache. I have a collection of them sitting on my kitchen windowsill. We started out geocaching by leaving little rubber duckies, sort of our signature item, that we buy very cheaply on line. (I don't know if the other geocachers in our area are getting fed up yet with finding so many ducks everywhere!)

I have seen some posts that people who are geocaching with their children say the kids love to choose some sort of treasure as a prize, and that is reason enough to me to leave something in a cache. We don't always take something, since we are adults only, unless a funny animal catches my eye!

I agree with one of the posts above, that it's a good practice to leave the cache in better condition if you find it full of water, or with trash in it. I carry some extra zip-loc bags and some paper towels for emergency repairs. I only throw away something if it's wet and moldy or so rusty from water damage that it would be unusable. If there's very little swag, I might leave two or three things in the cache (we do have some non-duck items to leave.)

3k · September 25, 2006

We will always take something and trade up unless there's a "swag lag" and the container is a little bare. In that case we'll take nothing leave a few somethings. We like to look at as rewarding the cache setter for the amount of entertainment we've received. Someone busted their hump (and spent good money usually) creating something cool for us on their time and they deserve to be rewarded for it. That reward comes in the form of us leaving something cooler than we found it to encourage more people to visit the results of their hard work (the cache). If we spend two hours finding a cache for free instead of spending 10 bucks at the theatre then the least we can do is pony up a little swag to keep things going. Do it your way as long as you feel good about it on your way back home! :lol:

...must....learn....grammar...

Edited September 25, 2006 by fox-and-the-hound

1.1k · September 25, 2006

We will always take something and trade up unless there's a "swag lag" and the container is a little bare. In that case we'll take nothing leave a few somethings. We like to look at as rewarding the cache setter for the amount of entertainment we've received. Someone busted their hump (and spent good money usually) creating something cool for us on their time and they deserve to be rewarded for it. That reward comes in the form of us leaving something cooler than we found it to encourage more people to visit the results of their hard work (the cache). If we spend two hours finding a cache for free instead of spending 10 bucks at the theatre then the least we can do is pony up a little swag to keep things going. Do it your way as long as you feel good about it on your way back home!

A good attitude, and one worthy of emulation.

September 25, 2006

I hardly ever take anything. Frankly, there is usually nothing worth taking. I used to carry swag around with me and trade or drop, but lately, I don't want the hassle of carrying a bag around. I usually just have the GPS and a pen. I figure the folks with kids are the ones primarily trading the swag.

September 27, 2006

I have found the same thing on my 200 finds. I go to hunt caches and come out with more tnln then actually swags. If my daughter is with me, we always trade for something ( if there is something age appropriate and ok for her to have). I have posted a topic here wanting to see more adult items (not that adult). Geocoins, TB's, Pins, Sig coins, etc..... When asked why do you geocache? I would like to tell them the reason and show them some of the items that might be in the cache. Something that isn't a mac toy or broken cassette player.

1.1k · September 27, 2006

I'm starting to wonder if TNLN is just as much of a problem as unfair trading.

Do you think that people (like myself) who don't trade anything when nothing worthwhile is in a cache (which is most of the time) are part of the problem? Certainly we aren't helping anything, and only adding to the cache when there is something "worth it" can only have an overall bad effect.

If leaving something decent as "payment" for the fun of finding the cache, whether or not you take an item from it was more of a rule than trading only if you take something "good" certainly the quality would go up overall.

Just thinking. :shrug:

TNLN

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