swag ideas

[+figtreesky]

I'm planning on setting up another cache within the next week or so, and was wondering what would be appropriate swag. I was planning on placing some books, foreign coins, and some crafty stuff in it. Would that be acceptable? The cache will be in an ammo container, so I have a lot of room for interesting stuff. Any thoughts?

[+StarBrand]

Sounds like you are on the right track!! I Love finding crafty stuff that is homemade and I love foriegn coins. I have several foriegn coin trading caches out myself.

 

I also like:

Matchbox cars

Tools (screwdrivers, pliers etc)

light sticks

measuring tapes

etc

 

Most any nice/new in package dollar store type items or camping type items.

[WITrailRider]

For this spring we have been leaving packets of tick and mosquito wipes

[+figtreesky]

what about batteries incase someone's GPSr is low? I thought about doing that if I had a multi-cache; that way if someone was at one of the stages but was low on juice they could swap them out and continue until the last stage. I am worried about corrosion though.

[+Y2KOTA]

what about batteries incase someone's GPSr is low? I thought about doing that if I had a multi-cache; that way if someone was at one of the stages but was low on juice they could swap them out and continue until the last stage. I am worried about corrosion though.

 

The few batteries I've found have been dead and or leaking. I don't think thats a great idea. Just my 2 cents

 

Ink stamps that I've found in 2 caches were wet and ink ran over everything

[+team5150]

One of the things that we have been leaving quite regularly lately is a first aid kit that I get in the checkout aisle at Walmart. They are 94 cents and people seem to grab them up right away. They are small enough to fit in most caches and most peoples cache bags. If you cache with kids, a first aid kit with a few band aids and some Neosporin is indispensible.

[+cajunabear]

One of the things that we have been leaving quite regularly lately is a first aid kit that I get in the checkout aisle at Walmart. They are 94 cents and people seem to grab them up right away. They are small enough to fit in most caches and most peoples cache bags. If you cache with kids, a first aid kit with a few band aids and some Neosporin is indispensible.

Thanks for a great idea. I have to pay attention as I can not recall seeing the 1st Aid kit at the local Walmart here.

[MelN2LilMen]

Well, I'm pretty new, and I don't really know if people like the type of stuff I leave, but this stuff is all in my swag box:

 

1. dollar store toys

2. pencils, pens, cute erasers, novelty pencil sharpeners

3. keychains and pins

4. costume jewelry

5. tape measures, little tools and hardware stuff

6. packaged fishing lures

7. first aid type stuff (bandaids, mini-packs of wipes, do-it-yourself heart transplant kit)

 

That type of stuff.

[+scavok]

The best swag is stuff that I would actually use.

 

In my caches:

SD memory cards (for digital cameras)

Flash memory drives (just plain handy)

Work gloves

first aid kit

tweezers

batteries (only in caches that I can check often to make they aren't leaking)

 

I am planning on placing a "Trache Can" soon, a huge ammo can geocache who's sole purpose is for geocachers to visit and place all their dead batteries, mctoys, dollar store junk, broken rusty swag, business cards and other advertisements, etc. so that all the geocachers in the immediate area have no excuse for junking up other caches

[+Outspoken1]

I have found that the best swag is something legitimate. I get tired of old golf balls (whats up with that?), broken kids toys and chewed up plastic soldiers. While I do not have kids of my own, I try to think what would a kid or young adult really appreciate. Perhaps this is naive, but I believe that we are teaching our youth about cooperation and sharing. If swag is usable, the our kids learn to trade even and to respect others. If they find trash, then they feel disrespected and tend to act in a disrespectful manner. What goes around comes around!!

 

I ordered a bunch of stuff from Oriental Trading Company (I am not associated in any way) for swag. My favorite are the pencil sharpeners!! That is kinda my signature item. How often does a geocacher need a pencil sharpener to log that find!!!

 

Take care,

Outspoken1

[+countrymouse]

I ordered a bunch of stuff from Oriental Trading Company (I am not associated in any way) for swag. My favorite are the pencil sharpeners!! That is kinda my signature item. How often does a geocacher need a pencil sharpener to log that find!!!

 

Great idea -- I've been thinking about ordering from there too.

 

I've just been cleaning out all the little doodads from my kids' toyboxes and assembling a bag full of interesting stuff -- cool rocks (the polished kind gift shops sell), kids' meal toys (not broken), glow-in-the-dark stars, cool erasers, etc.

[+Knight2000]

One of the things that we have been leaving quite regularly lately is a first aid kit that I get in the checkout aisle at Walmart. They are 94 cents and people seem to grab them up right away. They are small enough to fit in most caches and most peoples cache bags. If you cache with kids, a first aid kit with a few band aids and some Neosporin is indispensible.

Thanks for a great idea. I have to pay attention as I can not recall seeing the 1st Aid kit at the local Walmart here.

We get the ones at the dollar store. They arent name brand, but they have about 4 X more items in them. (42 instead of 12 i think.)

[+LeonW]

How about a GPS - not for trading but as a present?

 

It has been done before, read it on these forums!

[daijobu]

Being a newbie I have been wondering about this topic myself! Thanks for the post.

[+GroverZ]

I have found that the best swag is something legitimate. I get tired of old golf balls (whats up with that?), broken kids toys and chewed up plastic soldiers. While I do not have kids of my own, I try to think what would a kid or young adult really appreciate. Perhaps this is naive, but I believe that we are teaching our youth about cooperation and sharing. If swag is usable, the our kids learn to trade even and to respect others. If they find trash, then they feel disrespected and tend to act in a disrespectful manner. What goes around comes around!!

 

 

Makes sense to me.

 

Stuff we've left includes:

 

Caribiners

Key chains

Sports team pins (the metal/enamel ones)

Luggage tags

Lanyards (someone mentioned picking up one we left in a cache for their son's new GPS)

[+Knight2000]

Tools (screwdrivers, pliers etc)

I was thinking about this as i was thinking of checking out some tools for new caches.

 

I read somewhere that you wouldn't want to leave items that would harm children and someone if a prison crew person found the cache.

 

A screwdriver or pliers would fall along those lines. But then again so would a rock that an inmate found.

 

Before i leave any tools or items of that sort. Is there any discouragement from any of TPTB on leaving these?

 

Its like the whole pipe cache scenario. Anything can pretty much be made into a bomb, not just a pipe cache.

[+the mama and the papa]

We are getting ready to place a cache (our first) and we thought we would put something a little special in it for the "First To Find". We put a key chain digital camera with a travel bug attached to it. We went to the dollar store to load our cache like a lot of people seem to be doing (except for the digital camera). We think it is a nice gesture to put a little something extra in the cache for the “First To Find” and we plane on refreshing out cache as needed but once a year put that something extra in it.

Edited June 19, 2007 by the mama and the papa

[+HotWheelsGuy]

I just started with all this a couple days ago. I have collected Hot Wheels for years. I have more than I could ever want (1000s). I don't want to sell them, but the thought of leaving them in a cache immediately came to mind. If the container is big enough, I'll leave brand new unopened Hot Wheels in protectors! I've been able to do it few times already. Very fun. - I hope to place my first cache soon, thanks for all the ideas.

[+Knight2000]

I just started with all this a couple days ago. I have collected Hot Wheels for years. I have more than I could ever want (1000s). I don't want to sell them, but the thought of leaving them in a cache immediately came to mind. If the container is big enough, I'll leave brand new unopened Hot Wheels in protectors! I've been able to do it few times already. Very fun. - I hope to place my first cache soon, thanks for all the ideas.

Hey Hot wheels guy!

 

I used to collect too. From about 98-2000. Then i had kids and ran out of money. I have about 3000 still in boxes. I love the hobby but cant afford it. I also never displayed them like i wanted so i was bummed. Plus it didnt help that everyone and their brother was doing this back then. I started thinking, no one does this. This is so cool. Man, was i wrong!

 

Welcome to the forums and geocaching!

[+HotWheelsGuy]

I just started with all this a couple days ago. I have collected Hot Wheels for years. I have more than I could ever want (1000s). I don't want to sell them, but the thought of leaving them in a cache immediately came to mind. If the container is big enough, I'll leave brand new unopened Hot Wheels in protectors! I've been able to do it few times already. Very fun. - I hope to place my first cache soon, thanks for all the ideas.

Hey Hot wheels guy!

 

I used to collect too. From about 98-2000. Then i had kids and ran out of money. I have about 3000 still in boxes. I love the hobby but cant afford it. I also never displayed them like i wanted so i was bummed. Plus it didnt help that everyone and their brother was doing this back then. I started thinking, no one does this. This is so cool. Man, was i wrong!

 

Welcome to the forums and geocaching!

 

Thanks for the welcome!

 

I started collecting mine in 1968! Yes, I have several (20 - 30) redline originals. All in played with condition. In adulthood, the 1980s, I started collecting again. And have continued ever since. I probably only buy 20 or 30 a year now. Very selective. But there were times when I was a bit obsessive!

 

I can't wait to leave some super nice Hot Wheels in a cache! I hope they'll be appreciated.

[+sargenv]

Around here (SF Bay Area) the Target store local to me has a $1 section when you go into the store. I've found some pretty good stuff, mini 1st aid kits, mosquito and sunscreen wipes, Emergency blankets, stamp sets, flashlights, glo-sticks, and all kinds of cool inexpensive items. Every time I head into the store to get things I need, I stop by there to see if they have anything worth getting. I get 3 or 4 of something or another and use that to put in either new caches or as swapping swag. The tube of mini glow sticks was pretty cool, like $15 - 10" thin - 2 hour glow sticks for a buck. 2 of the standard 12 hour glow sticks for a buck, can't beat that.

 

I have left new bateries in caches I've put out in hopes that someone will grab em and use em. They are considered a usable item that I may replenish when I do maintainance.

[+GeoSmurfz]

I leave some of the hotwheels that I use to collect. I also leave small cheap items, movies (these are from my aunt and she gets them for free they all say property of and to call a 800 # if you purchased or rented. since it is a free gift I leave them. no probs with that.), first aid kits, hand sanitizer, homemade swag items such as wooden nickels - poker chips - ect. Whatever I can find to buy that I would want or a kid may want.

 

My second cache I hid had stuff in it that you would use for travel for bathroom items. Such as bottles for shampoo, hand soap, TP, hand sanitizer, toothbrush cases. The cache I hid was near a Water Waste Plant and called it All Things Must Pass. I just did it related to the cache I was hiding. I have another cache in mind to hide just got to find the right place and stuff to put into it.

Edited June 24, 2007 by GeoSmurfz

[Stephen2]

I recently had 2 new ideas (for me anyway) on what kind of swag to leave/ stock a cache with. We started by leaving replacement log books in baggies- with a sticker sealing them saying that this was not the logbook for the cache but a replacement for them to take and use as a notebook or to keep in their cache bag to use as a replacement one day when needed.

 

I also had the idea to start making mini first aid packets. They will include several band aids, alcohol pads, a larger bandage, and possibly single applications of hydrocortisone cream and packets of ibuprofen/Tylenol/aspirin. (We are still debating if we will leave the analgesics.)

[+bscoke]

How about COMPASSES?

 

Another idea: SMASHED (SQUASHED) PENNIES

 

SOMETHING FOR FIDO would be a nice idea too since many people bring their dogs with them. I wonder if you would vacuum seal some food treats if it would be enough to keep curious critter away.

 

A suggestion to make smaller items (like smashed pennies or foreign coins) look more appealing and clean is to buy small plastic ziploc bags - all different sizes available at craft stores like Michael's or AC Moore - and seal them up in them.

Edited June 25, 2007 by bscoke

[Stephen2]

How about compasses?

I like them. But i dont think i have seen one that actually works though.

[+bscoke]

How about compasses?

I like them. But i dont think i have seen one that actually works though.

 

I'm using student compasses and they seem to work well. They're used in classrooms.

[+wayfarer222]

For this spring we have been leaving packets of tick and mosquito wipes

 

Thank you! These are always a good find. Kleenex is also a welcome find (clean, unopened package). I found a squirt gun in one cache that turned out to be a great find when out on the boat the other day and in need of something to keep the nephews in line.

 

I've been bringing extra ziplock bags lately and putting items together (especially swag that needs to be kept dry).

 

Chris

[+angevine]

It's important that you think through everything that you place there -- will it attract animals? (nothing scented) Will it run if the container leaks? (nothing with ink) That sort of thing.

 

Also consider all sorts of people who will be coming to the cache. Have something for everyone, unless it's a themed cache: some *nice* toys, something for teens, something for adults.

 

Of course, the reality is that within six months it will most probably be filled with not-very-thoughtful-at-all items. I love geocaching but I sometimes despair of geocachers.

 

-- Jeannette

[+AlmondEyes]

I'm a practical person. I prefer to find and leave useful stuff - batteries, mini compasses, pedometers, boxes of car fuses, mosquito/bug wipes, small bottles of hand wipes or sanitizer or sublock, CDs/tapes, movies, old cell phone chargers or covers.... stuff like that. I do have some junk swag I'll leave just to get rid of it like matchbox cars and plastic toys. Sometimes I"ll leave something without taking anything just to unload.

Edited June 26, 2007 by AlmondEyes

[mtbikernate]

I am working on my first cache placement and I'm working out what to put in it. One thing I know I'm doing is putting several TB's inside. One is one of the new red jeeps (haven't seen any circulating around here yet), and I will probably release one or two of my own. I will also pick up a few noteworthy ones from nearby to place just before the cache gets published.

 

I'm also working on a bunch of trade items. I like a bunch of the suggestions here and will probably include some travel packs of kleenex, wet wipes, and possibly a stash of ziplocs. I'm also thinking of this cache having lots of stickers for the kiddos.

[+cgmoyer]

I have just bought a "lot" of compass keychains ( various styles ) off eBay. As soon as my path tags arrive, I'll place one on each compass key chain and drop them as my calling card. I also keep a roll of the new gold dollar coins on me to use also.

Edited June 28, 2007 by cgmoyer

[+Thrak]

Stock certificates. Microsoft perhaps. Yeah, that's the ticket. Come to my area and leave stock certificates.............. Krugerands would be nice as well.

 

Basically anything that YOU would like to find in a cache makes good swag. If you would think it was junk then that's a good indication that it won't make good swag. Of course I don't mean to limit your swag to things that only relate to your own personal hobbies - you may dislike dogs and love cats but you could still realize that a new dog toy might be good swag in certain circumstances.

 

It's likely that, as you progress through your caching "career" you will end up trading less and less. After a while you will likely only trade once in a great while and will probably quite often not even check out the swag in the caches you find. I still tend to glance at the swag - not always but often - and sometimes I'll trade for an item. If my wife is with me and the cache has a tiny little toy lizard she will trade for it if she doesn't already have one of that type. She has maybe 10 or so on top of her monitor.

 

The saying "one man's junk is another man's treasure" is sometimes taken too far. People leave stuff that they think is junk on the theory that someone else might like it. I don't buy that theory. If you think it's junk then most likely other folks will think it's junk as well.

 

I would caution against paper items - things that are easily damaged by moisture. There's nothing quite like opening up a cache and finding a sodden mess of paper. It's also easy to go overboard on the "safety" issue. Can you hurt yourself with a P-38 can opener? Yep. Does that mean it doesn't make good swag? Nope. If folks cache with kids and don't supervise the kids then they aren't doing a good job as parents. It's not up to me to make the entire world safe for idiots.

 

You've gotten some good input from other folks regarding swag ideas. I say just go with what feels right and you should be fine.

[+countrymouse]

One thing I hate finding in caches is anything dirty! In the last few days we've found those little squishy rubbery animals - my kids love 'em but they're gross when they're already filthy, keychains and toys with embedded dirt, etc. Yuck! If you're going to leave something that shows wear on it, make sure it's new!

 

Also, what's up with the patches? We've also found several of these, the kind kids get at scouting events, one was a Quality Unit 2004 patch right off a Cub Scout shirt, another was for some kind of campout. Those are completely meaningless to anybody but the original owner!

 

I've come to the conclusion that I do need to improve my "swag" bin. The stuff I have to trade right now is okay, but we've found so many caches lately that were originally (according to the listing) packed with goodies but by the time we found them all they had was total junk! Found two today from which my kids were really hard pressed to find anything worth taking along. I wished I could have left something better to make the cache more worthwhile for the next person.

 

One great idea I've seen is the "Where's George" dollar. Costs less than a TB but has the same general principle.

[Cinder2007]

One thing I hate finding in caches is anything dirty! In the last few days we've found those little squishy rubbery animals - my kids love 'em but they're gross when they're already filthy, keychains and toys with embedded dirt, etc. Yuck! If you're going to leave something that shows wear on it, make sure it's new!

 

Also, what's up with the patches? We've also found several of these, the kind kids get at scouting events, one was a Quality Unit 2004 patch right off a Cub Scout shirt, another was for some kind of campout. Those are completely meaningless to anybody but the original owner!

 

I've come to the conclusion that I do need to improve my "swag" bin. The stuff I have to trade right now is okay, but we've found so many caches lately that were originally (according to the listing) packed with goodies but by the time we found them all they had was total junk! Found two today from which my kids were really hard pressed to find anything worth taking along. I wished I could have left something better to make the cache more worthwhile for the next person.

 

One great idea I've seen is the "Where's George" dollar. Costs less than a TB but has the same general principle.

Whats a tb?

[+simpjkee]

One thing I hate finding in caches is anything dirty! In the last few days we've found those little squishy rubbery animals - my kids love 'em but they're gross when they're already filthy, keychains and toys with embedded dirt, etc. Yuck! If you're going to leave something that shows wear on it, make sure it's new!

 

Also, what's up with the patches? We've also found several of these, the kind kids get at scouting events, one was a Quality Unit 2004 patch right off a Cub Scout shirt, another was for some kind of campout. Those are completely meaningless to anybody but the original owner!

 

I've come to the conclusion that I do need to improve my "swag" bin. The stuff I have to trade right now is okay, but we've found so many caches lately that were originally (according to the listing) packed with goodies but by the time we found them all they had was total junk! Found two today from which my kids were really hard pressed to find anything worth taking along. I wished I could have left something better to make the cache more worthwhile for the next person.

 

One great idea I've seen is the "Where's George" dollar. Costs less than a TB but has the same general principle.

Whats a tb?

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/travelbugfaq.aspx

[+Knight2000]

Also, what's up with the patches? We've also found several of these, the kind kids get at scouting events, one was a Quality Unit 2004 patch right off a Cub Scout shirt, another was for some kind of campout. Those are completely meaningless to anybody but the original owner!

Unless you collect or like patches. Kids like the darnedest things.

[+GroverZ]

One great idea I've seen is the "Where's George" dollar. Costs less than a TB but has the same general principle.

 

A lot of Georgers get upset when their bills end up in a cache. The bills are tagged as "geocache" bills and, while the hits (times someone logs a bill into the system during its travels) count for the bill's originator, those bills are not eligible to make any "top ten" lists (like the listing of bills that people have logged in the most). The guy who runs the site doesn't consider bills moving from geocache to geocache as "natural circulation", and the tagging and exempting those bills from the top stats list was the compromise position.

 

Every once in a while I see someone on the "Where's George" forums post in dispair that one of their bills has become a "geocache bill". Some of them feel the same way about that as folks here might feel if a cache they'd placed had been "muggled". They feel it's interferring with their hobby and how they like to see their bills travel.

 

I've entered and tracked bills at Where's George for about 18 months now (I've got 6500+ bills in the system), but I wouldn't put any of my own bills in a cache.

If I found a WG bill in a cache, I'd log it and...if it somehow wasn't already tagged as a geocache bill...I'd e-mail the bill's orginator and ask if they wanted me to keep moving the bill in a cache, or if they would want me to just spend it naturally.

If you're placing your own WG bill into a cache, that's great...but if you have someone else's WG bill, they might appreciate it if they were asked if they want their bill placed in a cache.

 

[bboyprodigy]

I've only been to a few caches but, When i was younger, 7ish, i had all of these little wrestler dudes, I collected a ton of them, and still have many. I'm going to start dropping those in caches!

 

Every year i used to go through all of them, and give the ones i didn't want to the salvation army.

[+HotWheelsGuy]

I've only been to a few caches but, When i was younger, 7ish, i had all of these little wrestler dudes, I collected a ton of them, and still have many. I'm going to start dropping those in caches!

 

Every year i used to go through all of them, and give the ones i didn't want to the salvation army.

 

That's what I'm talking about. Putting things in a cache that you enjoy.

 

I haven't been doing this very long, but, in two-thirds of the caches I've been to, the cache had nothing interesting. But I don't feel that is a reason to let it continue that way. I'm going to continue to put fun things into the caches, despite what I have witnessed this far.

 

The most disappointing thing (probably the only disappointing thing) I have learned about geocaching at this point is how so many geocachers have no respect for the content of the cache. I've seen it now, and I've read about it on this forum. - It seems as though it is a contradiction of the stereotype of a geocacher????

[+Lefty425]

I like to put in "store bought" camping & hiking items: (Carabiners, Small Flashlights, Clip-on Strobes, First-Aid Kits, Sealed Bug Wipes, Sealed Safety Whistles, Accurate Compasses, etc.)

 

If the item didn't come in a sealed package, I put it in an appropriate sized plastic ziplock baggie. (You can buy these at craft stores for cheap and in really small sizes too...look in the beads and jewelry area of the craft store, or just ask.)

 

I also leave swag I've found from other caches but I still put it in a ziplock baggie. I have found some pretty waterlogged caches and lots of trade-items-turned-junk.

[+Lotho]

Any sort of gizmos are great- carabiners, carabiners with pens attached, glow sticks etc etc etc! Anything with a practical use is very good =D

[+mousekakat]

I was thinking of mini sewing kits - basically 2 pre-threaded needles, one with white and one with black thread, 2 different sized safety pins and a button, attached to a business card with our family's names and email address on it... lame? I also thought of doing little mini first aid kits with a couple of band-aids, alcohol wipes and a skeeter/tick repellent wipe.

 

I also was thinking of leaving pre-stamped addressed postcards, thought the 7yo would think it was cool if someone were to mail one back to her?

 

Comments?

 

I hit dollar store today (funny that Sweden has dollar stores!) and got lanyards, mini packs of kleenex, mini packs of wetwipes, skeeter/tick wipes, emergency rain ponchos, pencils and mini pads of paper to replace if missing or needed in caches, little water gun, hair ties, bracelets and few other little things. Looking on now I see that I'm thinking as the mother of 2 girls and I need more guy stuff!

 

Any other suggestions?

 

TIA!

 

[+intolerable]

My family is pretty new to this, but we recently set up a cache which we stocked with Lego pieces from the local Lego Store's Pick A Brick wall. This was in part to help get our 4 year old interested in geocaching, but we also just think Lego bricks can be great fun for everyone.

 

We're currently putting together a second cache that we plan to stock with more assorted Lego pieces, some Lego minifig keychains and possibly some of the non-brick/set related items.

[+EPMinnesota]

I see a lot of junk in caches and can't even imagine who would even put it in the caches to start with. Since my kids are teen/preteen they're interested in stuff beyond McD toys or bouncy balls. They enjoy finding things like compasses, odd but interesting things like a handcarved walnut shell with a shaky spider inside. It fascinated them for a while and we actually still have it.

When we're traveling they like to find batteries (we've never found any leaking ones), fun pens or pencils (that aren't meant to stay with the cache) and things like pencil sharpeners.

I often buys things at the dollar store that can be split up (several in a package) like keyrings with a comb and mirror on them. A lot of times I'll actually take the time to put them in a ziplock to keep them in better shape. I also carefully watch when Target's dollar spot items go to 75% off and pick out fun stuff like mini-pens (Scooby Doo, Disney), keychain notepads, and being a woman I especially like to leave things I think other women would enjoy finding like pocket packs of kleenex.

I rarely take anything but do like to leave goodies. I try to keep my cache full of great swag and even have gotten comments on the great goodies. I don't spend much but but it is the only real expense (other than gas) that this sport costs me.

[+racatv]

I've found that things for dogs go over well as a lot people cache with their dogs....I've left dog bandanas, colapsable dog bowls and fetch frisbees.

[Cloutiers]

I'm 17 and new to this and i had an idea that i thought i'd run by you all first:

~what about FIRST buttons?

FIRST is the largest international robotics competition in the country. teams from all over the world have 6 weeks to design and build a robot to do a task that is given at the beginning of the year. it is a high school competition but the robots are really amazing. participants go to regonal competitions and the winners go to the championships. The teams make buttons for the competition. Each team has a number they are formally reconized by (there are literally thousands of teams) and most teams have fun team names (robocats, the circut runners, ect), both of which will often be on the buttons. the buttons are all different and interesting, with all kinds of different pictures and messages. they're from all over the country, some are even from other countries. My only worry is that some people will find the buttons meaningless because they aren't in FIRST. please respond:

 

1) are you in, or have you heard of FIRST?

2) would you be interested in finding this in a cache?

 

If i get a lot of negative responses, i've got plenty of other cool stuff (some of which is mentioned in this topic), but i'm really hoping to make this my signature item.

P.S.~ if you are interested in FIRST, their website is www.usfirst.org

 

Alex

[Luckless]

One thing I hate finding in caches is anything dirty! In the last few days we've found those little squishy rubbery animals - my kids love 'em but they're gross when they're already filthy, keychains and toys with embedded dirt, etc. Yuck! If you're going to leave something that shows wear on it, make sure it's new!

 

I'll almost always put my swag in plastic bags to help keep it clean. It doesn't necessarily keep it dry if the cache leaks, but it does keep it clean if peoples hands are dirty.

Edited July 8, 2007 by Luckless

[Luckless]

I'm 17 and new to this and i had an idea that i thought i'd run by you all first:

~what about FIRST buttons?

FIRST is the largest international robotics competition in the country. teams from all over the world have 6 weeks to design and build a robot to do a task that is given at the beginning of the year. it is a high school competition but the robots are really amazing. participants go to regonal competitions and the winners go to the championships. The teams make buttons for the competition. Each team has a number they are formally reconized by (there are literally thousands of teams) and most teams have fun team names (robocats, the circut runners, ect), both of which will often be on the buttons. the buttons are all different and interesting, with all kinds of different pictures and messages. they're from all over the country, some are even from other countries. My only worry is that some people will find the buttons meaningless because they aren't in FIRST. please respond:

 

1) are you in, or have you heard of FIRST?

2) would you be interested in finding this in a cache?

 

If i get a lot of negative responses, i've got plenty of other cool stuff (some of which is mentioned in this topic), but i'm really hoping to make this my signature item.

P.S.~ if you are interested in FIRST, their website is www.usfirst.org

 

Alex

 

You can make and leave whatever you want as a signature item. Some people collect them. I like looking at them because they often tell me a little bit about the people who've been to the cache. It's a quick way to tell who's been to the cache when you find someones signature item that you recognize. I don't necessarily view signature items the same as swag for trading. Depends on what it is. Items such as stamped wooden nickels, poker chips, playing cards, business key chains often just fill up a cache. Anyone collecting those from one of my caches is welcome to take them without trading. Then there are signature items that took a little time and money to make. Signature items such as hand carved figures, jewelry, pins, coins, beaded items, wooden puzzles, toys, etc. seem to me to be more tradable.

[john_z_doe]

I'm 17 and new to this and i had an idea that i thought i'd run by you all first:

~what about FIRST buttons?

FIRST is the largest international robotics competition in the country. teams from all over the world have 6 weeks to design and build a robot to do a task that is given at the beginning of the year. it is a high school competition but the robots are really amazing. participants go to regonal competitions and the winners go to the championships. The teams make buttons for the competition. Each team has a number they are formally reconized by (there are literally thousands of teams) and most teams have fun team names (robocats, the circut runners, ect), both of which will often be on the buttons. the buttons are all different and interesting, with all kinds of different pictures and messages. they're from all over the country, some are even from other countries. My only worry is that some people will find the buttons meaningless because they aren't in FIRST. please respond:

 

1) are you in, or have you heard of FIRST?

2) would you be interested in finding this in a cache?

 

If i get a lot of negative responses, i've got plenty of other cool stuff (some of which is mentioned in this topic), but i'm really hoping to make this my signature item.

P.S.~ if you are interested in FIRST, their website is www.usfirst.org

 

Alex

 

One thing you could do to help people to understand what they are is to put them in a ziplock with a small print out explaining what it is. That way other cachers will know what it means and might find them more interesting.

 

I myself did not know about FIRST but it would make an interesting item to collect.

 

John Z. Doe

[+Knight2000]

I would say post a link so we could understand what it is FIRST.