Signature items, what do you leave?

[Skylerdragon]

just got the weekly geocache listing in my e-mail and saw the the opening paragraph was about signature items that geocachers leave when they visit caches.

 

The fun thing about geocaching is it brings so many different kinds of people together and so many different hobbies and skills. TI would think this means that there are a variety of different kinds of signature items out there.

 

Post pictures or descriptions of your signature item. Help others get ideas and show off you creativity.

 

I guess my signature item is my letterboxing stamp. I carved it myself out of one of those hi-polymer erasers. I also enjoy leaving Artist Trading Cards. Other than that, my items are pretty typical. I love to post phots with my journal entries of items I have left behind.

[+Shadowraven]

We thought that a few sig items might just stay there and become trash also, so we tried to think of things that people (or kids) might want to pick up. My husband leaves Flair comic-book hero cards in plastic holders. I leave big stickers, like those ones that you put .50 in a grocery store machine and pull out inbetween two pieces of cardboard.

[+flask]

somebody once offered to trade me a card for my cd. i'm not sure what that says about the relative value of my work.

[+The Leprechauns]

somebody once offered to trade me a card for my cd. i'm not sure what that says about the relative value of my work.

I'm sorry that your relatives don't value your work more highly.

[+flask]

somebody once offered to trade me a card for my cd. i'm not sure what that says about the relative value of my work.

I'm sorry that your relatives don't value your work more highly.

 

oh, yer funny.

[+Cryptid]

I make these myself using a mold, then I stamp my name on them.

[Skylerdragon]

I make these myself using a mold, then I stamp my name on them.

 

Oh I like those! What are they made of? Did you make the mold yourself or is it from a kit of some kind?

 

I used to love making casts from plaster molds.

[+wordnerd]

I recently started leaving anime dots in micros. Anime dots are small button-sized glass stones with random anime (Japanese animation) pictures inside (I think they're actually stuck to the bottom but you can see the picture through the glass). I didn't mean for them to be signature items, but you can't really fit trade items into a micro and I thought it would be fun for people to find SOMETHING. Especially those with kids who only come along 'cause they think they're getting a prize. The dots fit in magnetic key holders and 35mm containers and holders about that size. I got a bag full of them at a recent Anime Convention in Dallas. After dropping about 10 of them in micros, I realized they had become a signature for me.

[Luckless]

We thought that a few sig items might just stay there and become trash also, so we tried to think of things that people (or kids) might want to pick up. My husband leaves Flair comic-book hero cards in plastic holders. I leave big stickers, like those ones that you put .50 in a grocery store machine and pull out inbetween two pieces of cardboard.

 

I suppose some sig items become trash, even so I like looking for some of the locals sig items in caches around here. As soon as I see their sig item it's like, oh yeah, they've been here, they've beat me to it.

[+Cryptid]

I make these myself using a mold, then I stamp my name on them.

 

Oh I like those! What are they made of? Did you make the mold yourself or is it from a kit of some kind?

 

I used to love making casts from plaster molds.

I found a Land Cruiser key chain made out of metal and made a mold of it with a kit I bought from Micro-mark. They are a Resin, two part mix. You dye them when you mix it.

[+Glenn]

I've never left an official signature item. However I belong to one of the geocoin clubs and I have left a geocoin at nearly every cache I have found since joining the club. I've enjoyed watching the geocoins travel but now there is a coin thief in my area. So I have researching signature items to leave and I took a serious look at Pathtags. You don't track them from cache to cache like geocoins. Like geocoins a Pathtag has a tracking number but unlike geocoins that tracking number isn't unique per tag but it is unique per user. Making a run of Pathtags is cheaper than making a run of geocoins and Pathtags are meant to be left in caches for or given to or traded to someone then logged in to their own collection. That allows some degree of tracking while eliminating the fear of having a trackable item stolen while it is traveling. I think I'll be ordering some Pathtags soon as my signature item.

[+dark_onyx1982]

I've never left an official signature item. However I belong to one of the geocoin clubs and I have left a geocoin at nearly every cache I have found since joining the club. I've enjoyed watching the geocoins travel but now there is a coin thief in my area. So I have researching signature items to leave and I took a serious look at Pathtags. You don't track them from cache to cache like geocoins. Like geocoins a Pathtag has a tracking number but unlike geocoins that tracking number isn't unique per tag but it is unique per user. Making a run of Pathtags is cheaper than making a run of geocoins and Pathtags are meant to be left in caches for or given to or traded to someone then logged in to their own collection. That allows some degree of tracking while eliminating the fear of having a trackable item stolen while it is traveling. I think I'll be ordering some Pathtags soon as my signature item.

 

OMG I read your log, I can't believe someone would do that! Sorry to hear there are problems in your area. I wish you luck with that.

 

I use magnetic paper to print out my avatar and then laminate it to make little magnets about 1" big, they take up no room, even in a film canister. Not trackable, but thats OK for me.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

Come to Arizona and you just might find one of the Old Watchmakers classic manual-wind watches from yesteryear or maybe something custom from our quartz watch workshop. If the cache box is large enough, a watch or two left behind along with Greetings from the Watchmaker should make your journey a bit more interesting.

I love those!

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I have several but am best known for my Collectible, Tradable GameCards. You can read about them in my profile. Look at the bottom for the links to my newest Games - Raffle Tickets and BINGO! Cards.

[+tw3nty3ight]

Here is my new sig item!

[+elephantmama]

They're not really a signature item, but I've been leaving these handmade bookmarks in any cache they will fit into. They are stamped on the back with my signature red elephant, so I guess they count. I also leave other goodies along with them.

 

[+atmguy775]

one of my side ventures is promotional items and I've been looking through all my catalogs for something I like, I guess if I can't find it there I just don't need one.

[+Mr_Mikey]

Wooden buffalo nickel with my info on the other side.

[HikingJoy]

We leave a Jolly Roger playing card, a small pirate, a small peice of eight and glass jewells.

 

I am tired of being disappointed to find a cache with lame treasures. Cachers put in something cool that reflects who you are. Make opening the cache just as adventuresome as finding it!

 

I have been geo-caching for a year now. My family is ready to quit because the items it the cache are so lame.

[+Mr_Mikey]

On occasion I will leave a small bag with a few pieces of a meteorite. I look back at the postings and see that they are picked up fast but never placed in another cache. I only have a small amount left but will keep putting it out, I thought it would be fun for kids to have some meteorite fragments.

 

I agree about the swag placed in caches, it is no fun to hike a couple of miles uphill to find someones broken stuff in a cache.

[Gryphon65]

I leave a log entry, and a small drawing of something or other.

[+froldt]

froldt is made up of myself (Hubert) and my girlfriend (Ducky). For awhile we were cutting out foam ducks and headhunters (a character I made up), but we quit doing that for some reason.

Recently we've been debating copying some comic strips that we enjoy and laminating them. This way we can easily carry a lot of sig items so we don't run out, it's cheap, and we can share another thing we love with other geocachers.

 

I have made some 3-d headhunters out of sculpey and would like to leave these as sig items, but they would get to be a bit expensive for us, and they take a bit of time to make. Perhaps I can make a mold out of plaster or a mold-making kit and make them easier... Hmm...

[+scavok]

I have a trackable sig item I'm quite proud of and put a lot of work into.

 

 

How I Make It

[+Thrak]

I collect Signature items my collection can be seen here Signature Item Collection

If you would like your item added to the collection just send me an email or pm and we can work something out.

Soogans i love your pennies i collected Elongated coins for a long time i have about 2000 or so if you would like to trade some of your coins for some of the extras I have send me and email or pm or tell me here.

 

Mamid pm sent about scarf.

 

Nero i would love to get a set of your coins what can i do to get my hand on them?

 

Gotta love it. If you hit the link in the post above and then look at the California link you will find my sig item there.

 

[+007BigD]

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Heres mine! You can find it in the link above Thraks Sig as well under Cali Sigs!

[+Kyndrid]

I usually leave a pathtag or a homemade wooden nickle. I like to create my own wooden nickles to suit my current mood so they change alot.

[+GSVNoFixedAbode]

Still tossing a few of these out for caches we really like, or FTF in caches we place:

 

Folding geo-cube (just under 3cm on a side):

[+TangoXray]

I usually make a "businesscard" that is laminated. I make a new version either when they run out or every new year. I make 30 of each card. The numbering is made by hand and I usually sign them as well. For the 2006 version there is a few left and for the 2007 version I have all 30 left.

 

If anyone wants to trade, just drop me an PM or email and make your offer... First come, first served of course.

 

 

 

/Stefan

[+jwe4i]

usually just my signature/name but when i have my wooden geocoins i put them out if the cache is big enough.

[+Evil Chicken]

This is our current one:

[+simpjkee]

One of my first sig items, and still one of my favorites:

 

FRONT

 

BACK

 

(the paper towel was stuffed in to emphasize the graphics)

 

I'm gunna go to Cali and find all the caches you have so i can get one. Those are awesome.

[+mimi0674]

it keeps telling me to leave a URL before putting my image up. what is that? I want to upload an image.

[+simpjkee]

it keeps telling me to leave a URL before putting my image up. what is that? I want to upload an image.

 

you have to host the image somewhere. I use tinypic.com

 

go there and then browse for your image and then hit upload. the pic will load and then the site will give you a url to the pic. put that url in thi forum and it should come up. its easier done than said. trust me.

Edited July 29, 2007 by simpjkee

[+globalgirl]

Gosh there's seems to be a lot of these sig item threads popping up lately.

Mine's a bitty passport (an exact replica of my real passport - right down to the official U.S. seal watermark on the paper) and the sigs come in a variety of flavors. Each is trackable HERE, and all include the wee passport, while some have an attached blue glass globe with green continents. And for really special caches (milestones, etc.) some have 22k GOLD continents (just 6 of the latter dropped to date). They seem to be quite sought after and I've traded quite a few for geocoins. I only drop them in caches that I favor, give them to geopals I meet at events, etc. else trade for special geocoins or especially creative sigs that I fancy.

[+btrueblood]

So, is a signature item free game to take in trade for something I leave in a cache? Or should the sig items be left in the cache for the cache owner to retrieve?

[+muddy frogs]

So, is a signature item free game to take in trade for something I leave in a cache? Or should the sig items be left in the cache for the cache owner to retrieve?

If you find a sig item you like in any cache, grab it, it's yours! But it's always nice if you have something of equal value to leave in return. It's a "luck of the draw" sort of thing, I think.

Here's some we've made out of the skulpy clay and little frogs. Just an accident that I went with and made it a sig item which no two will be alike. I recently placed several of them in caches around an upcoming event.

I've experimented with both the skulpy glaze and the plasticote clear spray, and it seems to me that the glaze is less messy and leaves a better gloss on the clay.

I suggest that if you've ever wanted to try making your own sig coin or item, spend a few bucks and mess around with this skulpy clay and see what you might accidently come up with. It's a great way to spend a stormy day!

[+crevis79]

bump

[RedShoesGirl]

i have made a variety of sig items, a couple are on fisurs site. right now i have mini-first aid kits with bandaids, gauze, alcohol wipes, anti-bacterial ointment, etc. lots of stuff in a zip-lock bag and folded down nice and tidy held together with a big sticker that says first aid, redshoesgirl. also i have kitchen magnets that have my avatar/logo on it and "dance like no one is watching."

 

going to start making flat marble magnets - either with some of my photography on them or my avatar. will have to do until i can afford to make a coin!

 

thanks for bumping this topic up. i love seeing what others make.

 

rsg

[+mr_punch]

Small plastic lizards. (we have lots of cold blooded pets at home)