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Why Why Why leave junk people?


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Here's my 2 pennies:

 

First of as it has been state many times what you consider junk to someone else may not be. Ok pieces of string could be considered garbage but hey if you collect enough of them then you could make a sweater, the itunes cards maybe they weren't expired when they were put it. McToy's are for the kids in the sport and I see nothing wrong with them in a cache. And as far as the business card I don't know about anyone else's area but here they are considered a signature item not necessarily swag. But to top it if you are strictly doing this sport/hobby for swag then your missing the point. Personally I feel you are int he wrong and playing cache police for throwing away things from a cache just becuase you feel that someones swag is not your idea or acceptable. Your probably would call my swag garbage too, I go to to dollar store and buy things like little army men and or little plastic coins or stuff like that. I cant afford personally to spend allot on swag to just drop off. But the thing is even if I don't take anything I alway like to leave things if there is room. More options for others.

 

KitFox said it best stop being a "cache elitist" and enjoy the caching quit trying to police the world

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That clean up the garbage where you can statement bothers me, define garbage. To me garbage would be like used kleenex, fast food wrappers, paper cups, used plastic water bottles. But once you get past that someone may not consider trash the same as you and take offence.

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That clean up the garbage where you can statement bothers me, define garbage. To me garbage would be like used kleenex, fast food wrappers, paper cups, used plastic water bottles. But once you get past that someone may not consider trash the same as you and take offence.

I think we generally share the same definition of garbage.

 

If it makes you feel better - I suggest leaving decent trades for even the garbage I remove. :(

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My one daughter wants to make friendship bracelets to put on caches, but I will tell her now not to do it since someone like you will think it is trash.

 

I hope she makes some! And can make some "business"/caching cards cards to go along with them. I LOVE finding personal sig items in caches, and trade heavy for them. I collect them and if I found a friendship braclet made by a young woman I would value it as much as some of the rare sig items I have come across. The handmade ones are my favorite. Anyone, including me, gan just order something and have a name printed on it. For someone to take the time and handcrat an item and then share in a cache means a lot to me. An the innocence of a child doing it....nuf said. :(

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Squirt and I found several "PathTags" in Tennessee this week but I can't quite figure out what to do with them.

 

 

This is from the same website where you created your account:

 

They are generally used as personal "signature items" for Geocaching or other trade item. If found, simply log it and the tag's profile will display for you to view. Unless the profile says otherwise, you are welcome to add it into your permanent collection.

 

Hope that helps. We in Mississippi always try our best to be cheerful helpers. That is, when we're not busy filling our caches up with useless junk. :rolleyes:

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Hope that helps. We in Mississippi always try our best to be cheerful helpers. That is, when we're not busy filling our caches up with useless junk. :)

Yeah, I've heard about you Mississippians and your caches. B)

 

 

 

 

 

 

:rolleyes:

 

 

 

:(

 

B)B):)

 

Some folks will moan about anything.

Edited by Totem Clan
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I disagree people olny leave junk in their caches. I like to take my son caching. He loves it. But to him it's all about the "treasures" we may find. While walking to a cache my and him play a game of what do you think what treasure we may find.

 

We have a swag drawer at our house. Yes there's lot's of Mickey D's toys in there but some of it are toys he's never played with or older things that we have no use for. Like an old GPS case. But when we go out the first thing he does is grab his little back back and goes and picks out stuff from the draw and loads his backpack with a few things.

 

After our caching day is over we get home and the first thing he does is shows mom waht he found for the day. Some of the toys he finds he's done playing with in a couple of weeks and then if it's in good condition we place it back in the swag drawer for it to venture out again.

 

Personnally I take out any trash from a container. I just had the whole karma thing going. I have always felt that I would like others to help me out in that way so I just have made it habit to to the same on all caches I've found.

 

The only dissapointing part is we've run out of large caches that hold swag. So I find that we've had to redo caches on the ones I know have swag in them. (This is not ment to be an anti-micro comment). I save the micro's mostly for when I am caching without him.

 

The really sad thing I saw the other day was an ammo cache (new cache) and all it had in it was the log book. No swag, nothing. Just a baggy and a logbook. Not even anything to write with.

 

But what you may consider junk may be the toy of the century to a four year old.

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I disagree people olny leave junk in their caches. I like to take my son caching. He loves it. But to him it's all about the "treasures" we may find. While walking to a cache my and him play a game of what do you think what treasure we may find.

 

We have a swag drawer at our house. Yes there's lot's of Mickey D's toys in there but some of it are toys he's never played with or older things that we have no use for. Like an old GPS case. But when we go out the first thing he does is grab his little back back and goes and picks out stuff from the draw and loads his backpack with a few things.

 

After our caching day is over we get home and the first thing he does is shows mom waht he found for the day. Some of the toys he finds he's done playing with in a couple of weeks and then if it's in good condition we place it back in the swag drawer for it to venture out again.

 

Personnally I take out any trash from a container. I just had the whole karma thing going. I have always felt that I would like others to help me out in that way so I just have made it habit to to the same on all caches I've found.

 

The only dissapointing part is we've run out of large caches that hold swag. So I find that we've had to redo caches on the ones I know have swag in them. (This is not ment to be an anti-micro comment). I save the micro's mostly for when I am caching without him.

 

The really sad thing I saw the other day was an ammo cache (new cache) and all it had in it was the log book. No swag, nothing. Just a baggy and a logbook. Not even anything to write with.

 

But what you may consider junk may be the toy of the century to a four year old.

I agree. It should be fun for the kids. I leave my kids little toy trickets in my caches. They haven't played with them for years, but some other kid might!
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Okay, I have to admit I am very very new to this game/sport. I have been watching the boards and finally got a GPS and I am now Geocaching. I have 2 finds and one DNF to my name so I am not the expert by any means. However I have to throw my two cents in. Oh more quantification, I am in Iraq and doing this on a local FOB. Now I know that geocaching is supposed to be about the hunt and find however by the shear name of Cache it implies something with at least a little bit of value. case in point, one of the caches that I found had some magazines in it (heck I haven't read them yet), an army bible that you can get EVERYWHERE, some strange blue tape and a deck of playing cards. Now the mags and the playing cards...okay that is cool...but something that is soooo readily available like the army bible...come on and I guess if you need some tape that is good then huh and of course playing cards, heck yea. Now I just went to my second cache and in it were some sig items like business cards and stuff a couple cheap mini staplers and then the thing that really threw me. A fired M16 shell casing. Now come on. If that isn't trash IN A WAR ZONE I don't know what is. Unfortunately the item that I took with me (a brand new 3M wall hanger that are like gold) didn't fit in the cache so I couldn't improve it but I will probably swing buy some day and throw something in it to make it better. Heck maybe live bullets. At least you can use those at least once and maybe to repel the screaming hoard coming over the wall. I would just hope that people put just a little more thought into what they are about to throw into a cache and try and use some common sense.

 

John

 

P.S. Does flaming go on around here??? if so bring it on....

 

P.P.S. (disclaimer: yes I know that live ammo is against the rules. With that said before anyone goes crazy I really didn't leave live bullets and I am not going to and finally...IT WAS A JOKE!!!)

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As been said over and over again - that stuff might be junk to you but cool to someone else. I've never seen an army bible or M16 casing, so to me those might be more interesting than a deck of cards or magazine.

;)

 

Then go to Iraq and pick up all you want.

 

Read the whole post and take it in context. They would be just like the rocks you were moaning about earlier.

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I cache not for the swag. My kids, yes, they do cache for the swag. And non-broken McToys are killer swag for them. About 50% of the time, that's what they leave, and that is what they take. If they are not with me (has not happened yet on any hunt) then I TNLNSL. However, it is nice to see my 5 year old starting to take notice in things other than the swag. Be it the frog in the puddle, the hawks soaring in the air, or the "cool flower" that he wants to take home to mom. Penultimately, as others said, one man's trash is another man's treasure. And ultimately, it isn't about the swag at all.

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How do we really know who leaves the true "trash" like empty wrappers, twigs, an M&M covered with detergent dust and such? For all we know it was a muggle that stumbled across the cache and placed it there to be a smart-aleck (or didn't understand the purpose of leaving things).

 

As for other items that aren't true trash, count me in with "one man's trash is another man's treasure".

 

Am I disappointed when I find a cache that only has plastic dinosaurs, rubber spiders and Strawberry Shortcake stickers? Yes. In those cases I take nothing (I might leave something, I might not). I just move on to the next cache and hope that someday I will find an item that has been my heart's desire.

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I don't have a problem with McToys, and would LOVE to find a Friendship bracelet in a cache, but the OPs original question is about JUNK. I used to get pretty cranky when I would do maintenance and find empty water bottles, candy wrappers, a rock from nearby, or a tiny piece of foam from a bag of 1000's of tiny pieces of foam...To me, this is trash and certainly not a worthy trade for a book, CD, hat, homemade beanie, etc.

 

I get nice logs from people who say they had a great time looking through all the swag, but obviously some do not trade equal or up.

 

I used to fret about it, but can't do that anymore. Some people will never change and I have to hope that they had a fun time finding my caches and the experience of finding a new place to see and enjoy. That is the main reason I cache.

 

If someone feels a used toothbrush (yes, I did find one in a cache) is truly SWAG, well, I hope they don't forget to floss, too.

 

And about those little baggies...I have found them at Michael's Craft Store and some 99cent stores.

 

Happy Trails!

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All I ask when I find a cache is that it contain at a minimum: Gold bullion, rare books, treasury notes, top-shelf liquor, deeds for real estate, swiss watches, or some combination of the above. My policy is if these things are not present, I do not trade my own valuable and rare swag of equal value.

 

;)

 

Say can someone leave some free gas cards so I can continue caching????

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I generally won't trade at a cache, but I enjoy pawing through stuff. I make "Geocache" keychains and I have a big collection of rather old foreign coins, which I tend to leave behind, whether I take anything or not. On average, I'll leave 10 keychains and 30 coins for every bit of swag that comes home with me. Usually, the swag I take is stuff that my youngest daughter would enjoy playing with, not high end goodies.

 

I think the "One man's trash" adage is a fairly good one, however I do believe there are things that would universally be accepted as garbage, regardless of who found it. This is the kind of stuff that I'll CITO out of a cache, leaving my regular swag behind as trade.

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I like to find "treasures" in caches, but my purpose is to include them in a giant painting I'm planning on creating this summer! I haven't decided if I'm going to glue the actual items on or just paint them, but I love finding wierd, unusual stuff - from stickers to toys, broken flashlights to bowling patches (heck, I'll never bowl a 175 but at least I've got the patch!) But even though most of the stuff I like might be considered trash, I still get disappointed to open a cache and discover dirty grimey swag. McToys are great (I personally leave Sonic toys as I have an inside scoop to obtaining these!), but at least wash them off. Finding a toy covered in grape jelly is not only icky, but it also draws ants. Heck - stopping at the gas station & rinsing them off doesn't cost anything! The items don't have to be new, but clean swag is always appreciated! Also, clean swag may not look trashy, but dirty swag can sure leave that impression.

Edited by m.austin
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Well I don't know but I've been told that it's hard to run with the weight of gold; I don't know but it's been said that it's just as hard with the weight of lead. In the end it's all junk, but as it has been stated on this thread, one person's trash is another person's treasure. I consider swag mostly for the kids and if they like it, good for them. I normally only trade travel bugs and geocoins. I am however, willing to trade up or leave coins or TB's and take nothing at all if the cache needs a little enhancement.

 

As a great philosopher once said, "Don't have a cow, man!"

 

Happy caching... and lighten up! ;)

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All cachers have to remember this simple point. We all see the world differently. We all value items differently as we are all unique people. To question the "treasures" is pointless. As no one will ever be completely happy.

 

If its clearly left over wrappers, paper with no useful information and normal garbage trash, then thats bad, but anything else may be of value to someone.

 

I agree that an even trade should exist, but its not always going to happen.

 

Dollar stores have an abundance of useful items that are small. Not only toys!! What about decorations for upcoming holidays, small electronics, small figurines, toys for the kids. Just use your eyes and you will find all kinds of interesting swag and not break a budget.

 

Make a personalized item, they tend to hold more value to most people. If you get that type of swag, like the ladies daughter making bracelets and its not your thing, leave it for someone else as that stuff is highly valued, look at the time they spent making it. Look at the honor you received by having it placed in YOUR cache.

 

I think people need to settle down and relax and enjoy the hunt more.

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I am new to geocaching and can't believe people don't use common sense. I jsut bought an ammo box and am stocking it up with good stuff. I think people should look at their box and ask themselves if they would be happy finding a cache like that. My 11 year old came in and said don't put that stuff in teh cache daddy. I want a few things! Right then I knew I had a good cache. Needless to say I told her to leave the stuff alone. I am going to hide the cache soon. :blink:

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While i wouldn't like what he left, you have to admit "The Phantom Pooper" sounds kind of funny. At least they had a sense of humor.

 

well, i don't see this as a sense of humour. to me this is one sick puppy. the idea is not funny, it is about vadalism and destruction. maybe i am reading too much in it but such is ...

 

as for wanting nice swag, you betcha! think about how this all started. to find something neat - ok a can of beans - hidden in the forest. i was hailed as a high tech treasure hunt. i want the treasure darn it!

 

when most caches are micros with little thought behind the placement and trash is all i find in the caches i had to rethink the hobby.

 

BUT i am not ready to give up yet. i keep replacing trash with good stuff in the hopes that others will get the idea. and it makes me feel good, if i can't find something nice, i can leave something nice for others. and that includes non-activated geocoins. those are FUN!

 

lara

Edited by RedShoesGirl
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I usually TNLNSL if I'm alone. But if my 3-year-old is along for the hunt I always try to search for "regular" containers because of the swag. We went for five 5-stars last weekend on an island with semi-groomed trails. Although judging from the rashes he did manage to somehow roll around in poison ivy when I wasn't looking. He picked up a Sponge-Bob car in the first ammo can (traded for a disposable poncho), then a DNF, then a small, then another ammo can with no cars, then finally he traded the Sponge-Bob car for a Big Bird car in the final ammo can. At three, he's only interested in the toys; really only interested in cars and balls, with maybe some interest in a "roar" (monster/dinosaur).

 

Also, although I usually don't trade, I've noticed a general relationship between the skill level required to find the cache and the level of swag. If a minivan full of kids can find a specific cache within 10 minutes of parking and raid the contents without leaving anything, then the swag quality is generally bad. If a finder must hike for over a mile or must solve insanely complex puzzles before finding the cache, then that type of finder generally does a better job of trading, and the swag is of higher quality. I must emphasize the word generally here.

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We rarely trade swag anymore. I will clean garbage out of caches (and by garbage I mean bits of paper, broken pieces of plastic, ripped baggies, etc.). Probably the most useless thing I've found in a cache lately was a corncob holder minus the tines. :blink:

 

I find that freeing myself from the whole swag part of caching has been refreshing. I can just concentrate on enjoying the find and finding or leaving TBs and coins. And I don't have to worry about what other people do or don't do. :o

Edited by ThePetersTrio
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I've found plenty of caches with nothing but Mc junk inside. That's fine with me because I'm usually caching for the experience. If I come across something I want to take I usually replace it with useable items - ie: gloves, batteries, bottled water. However, in one particular cache we left a piece of petrified wood we found in abundance nearby. The very next log indicated they took the piece.

My kids love to find the caches. if they want to take some Mc junk... great.

My 2 cents

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Now I may still be new to this but, I check on my one hide every couple of weeks and try to keep it stocked. When I trade I try to trade up or not trade at all. Now I noticed this post has had ninety some posts but a post about quality swag purchases had only seven posts. Whats up with that.

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:laughing: Sorry folks but I can barely take it anymore! Why do cachers leave junk in caches??? Is it a selfish act because they want something so bad they are willing to leave, even garbage, in a cache! Swag is not that expensive!

 

If you haven't got something worth leaving then don't leave and don't take!

 

I would love to hear any thoughts especially from those who know they have left CRAP for others!

 

Signed,

 

Know your Geo Etiquette

 

Okay, here is my .02c worth.

 

I do not GeoCache only for the Swag though I do enjoy well stocked caches because I do like the treasure hunt part of finding a unique or unexpected item.

 

In my car trunk is one of those large "don't store your baby inside (ever see that sticker on cover?)" sized storage containers. Inside is a ton of Dollar Store swag. Everything from first aid kits (personal favorite), pedometers, chip bag closers, erasers, headphones, calculators, usb cords, tools, flash lights, can openers, radios, bungee cords, etc.. All a buck each and great for caches. Have a small container of $5.00 - $10.00 items to one up once in a while. Then another which goes over great is $5.00 to $$$ gift cards. Make great FTF for new caches and that once in a blue moon unexpected gift to the next finder. For example I had a bunch of $15.00 Toys R Us gift cards that were sitting in a drawer. Recently put one in a cache a month or two back and the finder had two kids with him and they went crazy when they saw it. Now that is cool! I get to play Santa once in a while even with a limited budget.

 

As far as my caches go.. they are checked at least once a month and restocked. I also state in my caches to please try to even up or better and right now I have several nice treasure troves by people who have kept them down right nice. There are also a couple of other caches I do and are now creating just for the McToys and trade what you can types. I have found you have to give to receive in this game and not to take it too seriously.

 

By the way would an actual pirate treasure cache be an interesting theme? Found a coin maker that makes pirate dabloon replica coins at a price like 200 for $80.00.. Would people be interested in a cache that you trade all kinds of coins?? Just a thought.

 

HeadHardHat

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I have to ask, is it only for the swag that you go caching?

 

I ask because going out to make the find should take you to places you've never been, look outside the box and enjoy what the CO wanted you to visit.

 

*Prepairs for the snark.*

 

:laughing:

Is the swag what gets me out caching, yep. ;) I admit it, I LIKE IT! (I like it alot :lol: ) I like lapel pins, keychains and signature items including pathtags. I also like enjoying new places too, but there is nothing like finding a new "treasure" for me to bring home. I in return leave "good" stuff too at least I hope it is good to somebody.

Edited by LDove
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I'm working on several pathtags myself. With the cost of them they have a good feel, quality weight, and the cost is very minimal in comparison to other things. It's also more personal. Will they get yanked the next cacher out. Most likely. Will that same cacher replace it with something good or junky? Who knows. I'm not the one that has to go to sleep at night knowing I cleaned out my cars floorboard into a cache.

 

Squirt and I found several "PathTags" in Tennessee this week but I can't quite figure out what to do with them.

We created an account and added them to our collection. Now what?

If we drop them in a cache somewhere do they stay in our collection?

Does the next finder also add it to thier collection?

 

Their yours to keep for your collection. Unless they have something that says they are to be moved on. USA 45

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I guess I should be more specific...

 

I do remove what I consider 'garbage' e.g. a small piece of yarn, an expired iTunes download card, McToys, a business card, need I go on????

 

Marbles and golf balls are acceptable obviously. Surely I don't need to be so specific since I am sure you have run into the same 'trash' I have.

 

Also, when the owner specifically request "quality swag only" what does that mean to you???

 

Good swag can be purchased for pennies if you know where to look. Not to mention a lot of decent swag I have comes from stuff that has been laying around my home.

 

Either you don't get what I am trying to get at or maybe you are guilty of leaving the crap I speak of and are just trying to justify your actions???

 

If you are going to leave worthless junk then do me a favor and take worthless junk. Don't take a geocoin or any quality swag and leave me your worthless garbage!

Hold it right there buddy.... geocoins are NOT trade items.

 

Also, "quality" is subjective and what may be worthless to you can be a collectible to somebody else.

 

Frankly, I'm getting tired of seeing these greed threads start up. If you're in this sport for the swag, go find another game to get involved with or get used to being disappointed.

 

Viking1967 you fit the description of an "elitist cacher." Mctoys are for kids not for selfish complainers like yourself.

 

One of your found it logs:

 

The 2nd cache of the day for our weekend in Vancouver! What a great city and a great park! Took Canadian flag sticker and left Tahoma nose TB (Go Juniors!)TFTCSL

 

Geocoins and travel bugs aren't trade items, it looks like it is you who doesn't "Know your Geo Etiquette."

 

When you start hiding your own caches maybe you can complain about the quality of swag. At the bare minimum, you should be greatful for selfless cachers who take the time, spend the money, and hide caches for other cachers to enjoy..

 

Very well put Kit Fox, Do people forget that kids go with the parents geocaching? As far as Micky Dee toys there are a lot of them still in their origianl bags that are collectables. Geocaching was not started for finding swag. No one says you have to take swag . As far as a Geocoin they are ment to travel , I try and leave a TB or coin in place of ones if I take it. I have a cache now that I have to go put swag in. All the swag is gone and non left . Only thing there are coins. Don't want to dissapoint the kiddies. I will also put some Red Rose Tea collectables in it. LOL how many people know what they are? Are we getting greedy , I'm just glad when they find my cache. Thats the point find it. USA 45

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