Cache contents

[Shawn_S]

I am wondering if I am expecting too much from people in wanting to find cache items worth keeping. I know some people other then myself leave new items. (if you leave good items you know who you are) but should people look through thier childrens toy box and find unwanted junk to put into caches?

Btw five or ten dollars at the dollar store will buy you enough decent cache items to last a while.

We like to leave things like first aid kits, rain ponchos, compasess, and the like. All unused and also inexpensive! Why not leave an item that would brighten someones day, gasoline IS expensive.

I apolagise if Im expecting too much, if that is the case please let me know! Thank you,

Shawn_S

[+Bill & Tammy]

I am wondering if I am expecting too much from people in wanting to find cache items worth keeping. I know some people other then myself leave new items. (if you leave good items you know who you are) but should people look through thier childrens toy box and find unwanted junk to put into caches?

Btw five or ten dollars at the dollar store will buy you enough decent cache items to last a while.

We like to leave things like first aid kits, rain ponchos, compasess, and the like. All unused and also inexpensive! Why not leave an item that would brighten someones day, gasoline IS expensive.

I apolagise if Im expecting too much, if that is the case please let me know! Thank you,

Shawn_S

 

If the toy is unbroken and clean I see no reason it can't be left as swag, frankly that would be better than much I have found.

[Shawn_S]

I am wondering if I am expecting too much from people in wanting to find cache items worth keeping. I know some people other then myself leave new items. (if you leave good items you know who you are) but should people look through thier childrens toy box and find unwanted junk to put into caches?

Btw five or ten dollars at the dollar store will buy you enough decent cache items to last a while.

We like to leave things like first aid kits, rain ponchos, compasess, and the like. All unused and also inexpensive! Why not leave an item that would brighten someones day, gasoline IS expensive.

I apolagise if Im expecting too much, if that is the case please let me know! Thank you,

Shawn_S

 

If the toy is unbroken and clean I see no reason it can't be left as swag, frankly that would be better than much I have found.

 

The "better then much I have found" is really what I'm referring to

[+sbell111]

I am wondering if I am expecting too much from people in wanting to find cache items worth keeping. I know some people other then myself leave new items. (if you leave good items you know who you are) but should people look through thier childrens toy box and find unwanted junk to put into caches?

The easy answer is 'Yes'. You are expecting too much from people.

[Aushiker]

The easy answer is 'Yes'. You are expecting too much from people.

 

I guess I look at it like this .... can I do the right thing and trade better or leave good swaps in the first place? Pretty much yes (I can afford it to some extent, but maybe others can't) so I do. That way I know I have done the right thing and I leave it others to do what they can do as they deem appropriate.

 

Andrew

[+briansnat]

I am wondering if I am expecting too much from people in wanting to find cache items worth keeping. I know some people other then myself leave new items. (if you leave good items you know who you are) but should people look through thier childrens toy box and find unwanted junk to put into caches?

Btw five or ten dollars at the dollar store will buy you enough decent cache items to last a while.

We like to leave things like first aid kits, rain ponchos, compasess, and the like. All unused and also inexpensive! Why not leave an item that would brighten someones day, gasoline IS expensive.

I apolagise if Im expecting too much, if that is the case please let me know! Thank you,

Shawn_S

 

This has been a complaint ever since I started geocaching, so I doubt its ever going to change. I rarely trade but I still enjoy the anticipation of opening a container and its so much nicer to open a cache that isn't filled with garbage.

[+Twiggi & The Bear]

I would agree to an extent. We've found many caches that are essentially filled with "trash". I don't think people have to spend big $$$ - but at least be considerate when leaving things: clean, useable/fun...etc. We try and leave new stuff or we don't trade anything.

[+sbell111]

The easy answer is 'Yes'. You are expecting too much from people.

 

I guess I look at it like this .... can I do the right thing and trade better or leave good swaps in the first place? Pretty much yes (I can afford it to some extent, but maybe others can't) so I do. That way I know I have done the right thing and I leave it others to do what they can do as they deem appropriate.

 

Andrew

That's great, but it didn't really answer the question. Clearly, many people are not as considerate as you.

[Aushiker]

That's great, but it didn't really answer the question. Clearly, many people are not as considerate as you.

 

You are correct. I over edited my answer ... meant to indicate that I agree with you and this is what I do ...

 

Sorry about that.

 

Andrew

[+sbell111]

That's great, but it didn't really answer the question. Clearly, many people are not as considerate as you.

 

You are correct. I over edited my answer ... meant to indicate that I agree with you and this is what I do ...

 

Sorry about that.

 

Andrew

I misunderstood. I apologize.

[+BoredKitty]

I carry pins, toys, small action figures and memorabilia that I get for free at the Comicon and people seem to love them. When I run across a trashy cache, I dump out all of the contents and put in my own stuff to make it nice again. Some people are just plain selfish. When you invite the general public to play, you have to accept the fact that a few are going to spoil it for the rest. Sad but true. -BK

[Dinoprophet]

You're assuming these items were scavenged from a child's toybox by an adult. Can you be certain it wasn't left by a kid who parted with a toy they liked in exchange for something else, maybe even of less value? You're also assuming the cache won't be found by a kid who would much rather have a piece of Disney-themed plastic than a rain poncho. Maybe these are good assumptions based on the caches, but consider that these may be the case. You didn't specify broken toys, if that's what you mean.

[panther-cacher]

I have not found a lot of caches, but There have been a few with neat sig items that I traded my sig item for. I see many log complaints about the 'quality' of the cache contents going down after a number of finds. I think the trade up or trade even guideline is not followed to often. I think some people think trade up means trade a quarter for a dollar, meaning they are up. I think the contents is a bouns to keep the kids interested, and the search is the bonus for the adults.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Perhaps the 'treasure' is in the adventure, the trip the point, not the trinkets!

 

Adopt that attitude and cache contents don't matter.

 

Leave what you are comfortable leaving, take nothing you don't want.

 

Pretty simple game, really.

[+Hula Bum]

Expecting it? Then yes, too much. Hoping for, well one can always hope. An aweful lot of people leave crap, does leaving nice stuff make you feel good? If the answer is yes, then keep doing it. If the answer is yes, but I hate the fact it gets trading for crap, then decide if the good feeling or the bad feeling is stronger. We've tried for years to trade up in the hopes that people will follow, it doesn't work. If people are going to leave quality items they already are. So now we trade up if it's a cool cache, out of respect for the cache more than anything. IF there's a cool item we trade even or up, and if it's full of junk and a less than memorable cache then we just sign the log. For me, by doing it this way I'm not bothered about what becomes of the stuff I left.

[+johninvandergrift]

No lie! Saw this log show up from a cache on my watchlist.

 

"Stoped by after work.

Took the coin and old pirate sticker.

 

Left a old stun gun. Don't think it works anymore, and no batteries in it."

 

As long as he "thinks" it doesn't work.

[+Hockeyhick]

We try to leave a wide variety of items from bagged toys for boys and girls (ask any parent who has dragged their pre-teen on a hike how important that McToy is!) to recipe cards and new socks and gloves for the ladies, to all maner of items for men (flashlights, pre-made custom cache containers, etc.)

 

One thing we try to always leave is a film canister with a grocery bag inside for CITO.

[+Bill & Tammy]

We try to leave a wide variety of items from bagged toys for boys and girls (ask any parent who has dragged their pre-teen on a hike how important that McToy is!) ...

 

I agree, to kids going caching it's all about the trade items. We always leave our "signature" item which is worth about 3-4 bucks I suppose, no matter if we take anything or not. But I always carry a few toys for the kids to trade. The play and "interest shelf life" in most cache toys, as most parents will also tell you lasts about as long as the car ride home, so I wash them and recycle the toys into other caches.

[+Renegade Knight]

I am wondering if I am expecting too much from people in wanting to find cache items worth keeping. I know some people other then myself leave new items. (if you leave good items you know who you are) but should people look through thier childrens toy box and find unwanted junk to put into caches?

The easy answer is 'Yes'. You are expecting too much from people.

True that. Still they should hold them to a higher standard anyway. Every now and then someone wakes up and starts doing the right thing.

[+Lovey Pigs]

I guess if you are always expecting some good swag in every cache then you will be disappointed. Even with our family with 2 boys, we have tried to explain it's more the 'hunt' than the actual cache. OVer this past week-end we found three caches and for me I my best find was a toy plastic cow! hey, it's something to remember the cache by, and we have fun with keeping all of our items in a box & seeing all the plastic animals, patches, army men. So, hope that we can remember the 'game' of geocaching and not so much the material side of things, 'can't we just get along?' Take the plastic cow & be happy you found the cache!

[+RockyRaab]

Remember that this sport is played without referees or supervision. Nobody is looking over a cacher's shoulder when he trades one item for another. For people whose conscience is a spent force, trading down is the standard.

 

I seldom trade anything anymore, but I always carry a full spectrum of swag just in case I see something I might actually want. I do try to stock a new cache hide of my own with good stuff. The higher the difficulty level of the cache I hide, the better the swag it gets stocked with.

[+JennM]

I have teenagers who cache with me. My daughter usually brings a few bits and pieces that she'll trade if something catches her eye - and IMO it's usually an even trade - trinket for trinket - nothing of much value - "toys" as it were.

 

We found a new cache last week that had some good stuff in it - my son wanted this or that - and I asked him what he'd brought to trade- he forgot to bring anything - so I told him he couldn't just take (there's a very important lesson here for kids!). His uncle was with us, and left money in the cache - about appropriate to the value of the item my son wanted. So he thanked his uncle for the gift.

 

IMO a lot of the little odds and ends are great for kids. I have a cache near my workplace and often I see families out caching, and the little rubber lizard is a wonderful find to a 5-year old. Then Mom or Dad teaches him that he's got to leave the plastic pig in exchange. Even trade - the child learns to give up something to get something. I think that's a good life lesson for the younger set.

 

I found a great cache that was a CD trading post. I did not have any CDs with me to trade, so I just signed the log.

 

Now that I've found a few caches, and have seen what *kinds* of goodies I find in them, I'm getting around to accumulating some stuff for my geocaching bag so I can trade evenly or up if something suits my fancy.

 

As was said above - we're all on our honour in this hobby - and yeah some folks will take something and leave nothing or leave less - that's life. But for most people, and people who are doing this as a family, I think it's a great opportunity to teach kids about sharing and giving and taking fairly.

 

The McToys may not appeal to everybody - but I've seen kids' faces light up when they find something like that - and I think it's great.

 

Jenn

[panther-cacher]

This is my opion from a similar thread:

I think some of the problems with the contents of caches is the understanding of "trade up" . People look at it from different view points. They hear or read about a red paper clip being traded up for more valueable items and ending up with a house. If I trade a penny for a dime, I could have traded up (more for me) instead of traded down (less for the other trader). Maybe some people think that trading up is similar to being up at a casino, you have more when you leave than you did when you got there. My mother always told me to return what you borrowed in the same or better condition, and to leave things the same or nicer than you found them. I know I leave most caches better stocked after I have found them, but I don't trade every time. Maybe this should be made crystal clear so there is no room for confusion.

[+Lucky46]

As Briansnat said, I don't trade much but kind of get a thrill from seeing what might be in there. Trade-up, Shmade-up, there's no reason what-so-ever for there being beer bottle tops, can pull tops and beer bottle labels in caches. I've found plenty of these. Don't even want to put my hand in there. Total disrespect for the sport and other cachers. Burn all their GPS circuitry, let God sort it out.

[+CENTEX92]

My wife and I went on a trip to Houston and found an actual "five and dime".

Its been there forever.

We bought all kinds of stuff. Little bugs,animals,rings,coins,all kinds of little novelty items that I haven't since I was a little kid. We spent about 50 bucks in this place.

We used these Items in various caches we have built and for trade as well.

 

When I find a cache I'm not looking for expensive Items. Im more interested in cool odd Items. When you pull out the contents you say...."Well,would you look at that".

 

On another note "Swag" is the last thing on my mind when caching.

For me its Location and Inventiveness of the cache.

 

While looking at this

You find This

[+bumblingbs]

I like to hide caches. And I have a bag or two of swag. Also, a limited budget. So, if you make lousy trades into my caches, I'll restock them, but that may mean one less cache I can afford to hide. I think that's too bad.

[chuckr30]

Why do people leave junk in caches?

 

1. People value different things. Some people thing it's more important to put a used toy (new to the child, who will love it) in a cache rather than put it in a landfill.

 

2. Some people assume the geocaching hobby to be a one-time expense. They buy the GPSr then don't plan to spend any money after that, because they really don't have a lot of extra money.

 

3. Some people just keep forgetting to buy swag at the dollar store or do not know what to get while they are there.

 

4. Some people don't have a sense as to what swag is useful or not.

 

5. A few people honestly thought geocaching was just for "taking" items, not trading.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Geocachers are just people.

 

Look around you; some folks keep a neat yard and tidy home, some don't.

 

Some of your coworkers really put forth effort, some show up for a check.

 

Some parents become Scout leaders, others just allow their kids to go.

 

Geocaching is like that, some contribute, some just take. Some hide caches, others just find them. Some trade up, some don't.

 

Don't expect geocachers to be any different than the rest of humanity and you will be pleasantly surprised by those who perform above expectations.

 

The only thing you can do is lead by example.

[+1911]

Geocachers are just people.

 

Look around you; some folks keep a neat yard and tidy home, some don't.

 

Some of your coworkers really put forth effort, some show up for a check.

 

Some parents become Scout leaders, others just allow their kids to go.

 

Geocaching is like that, some contribute, some just take. Some hide caches, others just find them. Some trade up, some don't.

 

Don't expect geocachers to be any different than the rest of humanity and you will be pleasantly surprised by those who perform above expectations.

 

The only thing you can do is lead by example.

That about sums it up.I personally like to put nice things in a cache for the next finder.The dollar store is a great place for swag.

[wvnewbie]

I know I am new - but my gut tells me you can't go wrong with leaving something a child would like. Sure girls and boys may like different things. A match box car, a small doll, bubbles, maybe a gift cert to a local place where the kids can get an ice cream/slushy/etc. Bottom line is - if you get the kids started by telling them its about finding the cache - NOT whats in it - then THAT will be the expectation. I am trying this - and I believe its gonna work! *fingers crossed* (and I think the high five when the family member realizes the cache is found - is of so much more value then any cache contents). Just my 2 cents.

[+Confucius' Cat]

You are expecting too much and the only thing you can do about it is leave good stuff yourself.

 

Otherwise just sign the log (or not). The game is rapidly going to "too small for trade items, bring your own pencil" anyway.

 

Sorry.

[+Dunder Mifflin]

I know I am new - but my gut tells me you can't go wrong with leaving something a child would like. Sure girls and boys may like different things. A match box car, a small doll, bubbles, maybe a gift cert to a local place where the kids can get an ice cream/slushy/etc. Bottom line is - if you get the kids started by telling them its about finding the cache - NOT whats in it - then THAT will be the expectation. I am trying this - and I believe its gonna work! *fingers crossed* (and I think the high five when the family member realizes the cache is found - is of so much more value then any cache contents). Just my 2 cents.

 

I too am new (since December) and will speak from another POV.

 

I geocache with my 9 year old son. We went out yesterday and he made the comment as we were leaving that he is getting board with it because of all the "junk" (his words) swag we are finding. You made comments to A match box car, a small doll, bubbles, maybe a gift cert to a local place where the kids can get an ice cream/slushy/etc. these would be great if people actually left things like this but when almost every cache we go to has either plastic bug rings, used McDonalds Toys, or plastic beaded bracelets, it does get pretty old.

 

Now don't get me wrong, I know there are people who put some really cool stuff out there. But it seems like there is an awful lot of these toys out there.

 

I told my son we need to look at it from the POV that we are trying to have fun finding the cache and if there is something neat in there, so be it. We also are going to start focusing on finding geocoins and travel bugs instead of the other "Fun things".

 

I agree with him that there is a LOT of junk swag, it is dissapointing that some can not find better swag to put in, but for every few that stink, you might find one worthwhile.

[Clan Riffster]

I told my son we need to look at it from the POV that we are trying to have fun finding the cache and if there is something neat in there, so be it.

As a parent myself, I think you hit upon the perfect solution. By directing their energy to the hunt, rather than the trinkets, you focus their minds to a more mature ideal. That being said, I personally enjoy pawing through swag just to see what folks have left in the past. If I am solo, I usually won't trade for anything, unless I see something really kewl which my daughters would appreciate. 9 times out of 10, I just drop in my sig item and sign the log.