What do you like to find?

[NJCowgirlMeg]

Hey all! I'm new here, and I just wanted to throw out a fun new topic to get to know some people. I'm asking: what do you guys like to find in caches? Besides the obvious (TBs, coins, the occasional dollar), is there anything you hope for? I'm asking b/c in some other threads, people seem to suggest filling caches w/ very practical stuff like flashlights and batteries. I'm all for this, but...I LOVE TOYS! I love expanding my collection of silly, dollar store kids stuff or cheap pins or stickers.

 

Maybe its b/c I'm new and still have plenty of room for my goofy collection. IDK. Does anyone share my love of silly swag, or would you rather practical items? Just in case I decide to place a cache someday soon...

 

Btw, nice to meet everyone!

Meg

[+PrincessBTigress]

Well I collect pins/buttons so I'll gladly nab those, same with coins from other countries. I found a Romanian coin in a nearby cache and was very excited (I didn't have one of those before).

Hubby loves bouncy balls and hackey sacks so he always grabs those.

A friend went with us one day and he collects keys, we found a cache with an unlabeled everyday key and he had to have that. (he figures if he collects every key he can find eventually he'll always have a key for everything!)

Duckies are cool too, anything rubber duckie is fun.

 

I like leaving key chains and jewelry, they are fun and useful things that you can show off.

[+Thrak]

Krugerrands............. definitely.

[+Zolgar]

I just like to find the cache >.>

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Well I collect pins/buttons so I'll gladly nab those, same with coins from other countries. I found a Romanian coin in a nearby cache and was very excited (I didn't have one of those before).

 

 

I also like collecting foreign coins. I started a collection awhile back for my son and have been adding a few here and there to the collection. I even sent off a "Piggy" TB whose goal it is to collect foreign coins but it hasn't gone very far.

[+Zolgar]

double posts are the devil.

Edited April 1, 2008 by Zolgar

[+briansnat]

I rarely trade, but one thing I'll always take are tape measures. I can never have enough of them around the house because I can never find one when I need one.

[+softball29]

I like dry logs.

[+DaFunkyFrogs]

Pins, buttons, personal signature items (love those poker chips!), keychains for my growing TB collection, anything different or unique.

[+KG1960]

I like dry logs.

 

Exactly! It's nice to find a nice dry interior where I don't wonder what kind of mold or other organisms that I might be contacting. A dry log where my pen/pencil can actually write on is nice.

[+el_jefe]

This is a topic that requires much examination. Sure, I know a lot of people are going to call me an a** and that I should just try and enjoy the hunt. I enjoy the hunt. I hate the swag. It's 99% useless crap. How about putting something useful in the box? How about a can of fruit cocktail? Yeah yeah, I know, "no food", but if its sealed in a can, inside an ammo box, do you really think anything is going to smell it or get to it in a city park? Doubtful.

 

I guess the point I'm trying to make is along these lines. I don't have any kids, so what good is most of this stuff in the cache to me? None. I've done caches where I've had to bushwhack for almost a mile and gotten to the cache to find rubber balls, mardi gras beads, jacks, plastic army men...WTF? How about some water purification tablets for the hike out?

 

I apologize for coming off as bitter. I just think there has to be some sort of swag out there that will be appreciated by grown ups who don't collect junk drawer crap.

 

Dollar store ponchos. Eyeglass repair kits. Cheap sunglasses. Old Paperback books. Small empty containers so someone else can make a cache.

 

Come on people, get a little more creative than stuff you have laying around and don't want.

 

Sorry for the rant, but it needed to be said.

Edited April 2, 2008 by el_jefe

[+Miragee]

I have a tendency to trade for unique items, often the silly ones.

 

I have a collection of stuff on one wall, and a collection of pins on a wine-bottle corkboard.

 

 

So, what one person might think is not worthy of being swag could be another person's treasure.

[+DaFunkyFrogs]

 

Sorry for the rant, but it needed to be said.

 

Actually, that has been said ad nauseum in many other threads. THIS thread is asking "What do you like to find?" not "Feel free to rant about 'crappy swag".

 

We put things in caches that we like to find. Something personal, useful or unique. We also leave toys because a lot of kids cache and DO enjoy the toys.

[GeoQuester11]

I think a mix of useful and non useful items is the most fun for everyone. I like to find things that are sort of both ways, like fun key chains and colorful bandannas.

[NJCowgirlMeg]

Thanks guys! Its nice to see that there are people out there who like the "crappy swag" just as much as I do! But I promise, if I ever make a cache, I'll throw in some water purification tablets (thats actually a REALLY good idea!) and some socks or something. :-P

[+TrailGators]

Well I collect pins/buttons so I'll gladly nab those, same with coins from other countries. I found a Romanian coin in a nearby cache and was very excited (I didn't have one of those before).

 

 

I also like collecting foreign coins. I started a collection awhile back for my son and have been adding a few here and there to the collection. I even sent off a "Piggy" TB whose goal it is to collect foreign coins but it hasn't gone very far.

Ditto on the foreign coins!

[+simpjkee]

I like to find unactivated coins, but that has only happened twice in 1361 tries so it is very rare.

 

Other than that, I like to find actual geocaching merchandise like stickers and such with the logo. They are the kinds of things that I would buy at a store, but is not worth purchasing over the internet with shipping charges and other stuff.

[+MarshMonsters]

I like finding sig. items. So far I haven't found too many. Now that Spring is here that should change. I also like finding foreign money. I have a foreign coin that has little hearts and crowns on it. That is probably my favorite.

[+Em Space]

I like the toys, and I leave a lot of toys. I don't really collect them, but I've got a lot of silly fun things in my cubicle at work, and I don't mind adding to it when something cool is available. But it does have to have some cool to it. I won't bother to pick up a single plastic cow out of some 40-a-dollar bag.

 

 

I want to thank el_jefe for one of those suggestions. Some insurance company gave us about a bushel of promotional eyeglass repair kits, and they've been sitting on a shelf in the mailroom for a year. I just put a half dozen of 'em in my swagbag.

[gitarmac]

I have enough junk around the house and if I really want something I will just buy it instead of looking in a cache box for it.

 

I like calling cards, something personal left by the cacher.

[+the hermit crabs]

I like finding Post-it notes, plastic frogs (not the squishy kind -- they tend to pick up a lot of dirt), caching buttons and pins, marbles, and polished rocks. Also anything that would make a potentially good travel bug.

 

My co-crab likes finding cars.

[+Night Stalker]

I like to find signature items. I have a book of signature items that I have found throughout the western U.S.