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I want a cache with class!


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Call me a romantic, but I would love to find more caches with more "unique" tokens inside. Anyone with me?

 

I'm not saying we need to change the game entirely- can't be cutting out sunday afternoon family trips with the kiddies, but frankly, I'm tired of toy cars and bouncy balls.

 

I am strongly considering creating a cache here in arizona that has strict policy of no toys allowed.

 

I'm not saying you need to put in your grandmothers diamond ear rings she saved from the sinking of the titanic, nor am I saying you need to leave the jar your cousin keeps his tonsils in, just maybe something with a little more integrity. Something that reveals your personality a little more?

 

Concert tickets to Woodstock

pocket watches

geodes

MORE rare coins

crafts

etc

etc

etc

 

Watuthink?

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Call me a romantic, but I would love to find more caches with more "unique" tokens inside. Anyone with me?

 

I'm not saying we need to change the game entirely- can't be cutting out sunday afternoon family trips with the kiddies, but frankly, I'm tired of toy cars and bouncy balls.

 

I am strongly considering creating a cache here in arizona that has strict policy of no toys allowed.

 

I'm not saying you need to put in your grandmothers diamond ear rings she saved from the sinking of the titanic, nor am I saying you need to leave the jar your cousin keeps his tonsils in, just maybe something with a little more integrity. Something that reveals your personality a little more?

 

Concert tickets to Woodstock

pocket watches

geodes

MORE rare coins

crafts

etc

etc

etc

 

Watuthink?

 

While I understand what you're aiming for - I really really do - I would be too afraid of the cache getting swapped out with junk within the month, anyway, or getting muggled. You should never put anything into a cache that you aren't prepared to lose in the most disrespectful way possible. (Not that I'm bitter over losing TBs or cache containers or anything *cough*).

 

Unique things would be awesome. Inexpensive unique things. :)

 

- Elle

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I am strongly considering creating a cache here in arizona that has strict policy of no toys allowed.

 

I'd say that you are going to be sorely disappointed. Caching is about finding caches, not candy.

 

Personally I think it's kind of rude to say that a cache doesn't have class because you don't like the swag.

 

Is that the measure of a good cache? I think not.

Edited by BlueDeuce
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I'd politely disagree. I don't think you can say what caching is "about" at all. People join the game for their own reasons. Not yours. But I do hold the "find" as valuable as the "goodies" inside, so I agree with you in that respect.

 

Can't disagree with that. Have at it. But I will tell you that your swag expectations won't ever be met.

 

I deal with bad swag by trading up. If they won't I will.

 

And I hate to break it to ya. I load up caches only for the kids, not the adult who can go buy their own trinkets.

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I'd politely disagree. I don't think you can say what caching is "about" at all. People join the game for their own reasons. Not yours. But I do hold the "find" as valuable as the "goodies" inside, so I agree with you in that respect.

 

Now did you just hear what you said? Hmmmmm

 

So while you may not like the toys, others do...

 

Remember, people join the game for their own reasons, not yours!

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I am strongly considering creating a cache here in arizona that has strict policy of no toys allowed.

 

I'd say that you are going to be sorely disappointed. Caching is about finding caches, not candy.

 

Personally I think it's kind of rude to say that a cache doesn't have class because you don't like the swag.

 

Is that the measure of a good cache? I think not.

 

Half the treasure is the hunt, half the treasure is the find. SWAG is secondary.

 

GIRAPHSTAFF,

 

Stocking a cache with nice items is a great replication of the Trajedy of the commons. If you think you can control finders with strict trade rules, i've got some ocean front property in Montana to sell you. A good portion of cachers today can't be bothered with reading the cache page narrative. They ignore posted hours, they ignore requirements, and they don't care about trading fairly.

 

Go ahead and stock your first cache with nice items, add all the rules you want, then report back to this thread in six months. Be sure to take a before and after six month picture, for everyone to see. I'd love for you to prove us wrong.

 

Oh and you aren't the first. :)

 

Please More Adult Items In Cache

 

Swag Items

 

Most valuable...

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It is what it is. Found a cache with nice goodies, then today found one with a golfball and Beads...

 

We generally don't swap swag, so it doesn't bother us much.

I've yet to find a cache with anything good in it. Seriously.

 

Ones cachers junk is another's Golden swag. (really I made this up on my own) :)

We live on the beautiful West coast of BC and believe it or not, a lot of near ocean caches have very ordinary sea shells (or pieces of) in them. I first thought "Junk" until my six year old dropped the swag she was holding and grabbed a broken piece of shell for her "collection". Her collection is a pile of shells that she has collected on every trip we have made to any beach since she was old enough to pick them up.

 

My wife and I generally do not trade at all unless we can help a bug or coin along their way, but the kids are super psyched when they find some little trinket and that in its self makes it worth while for us.

 

If a CO asks us to trade certain items we either make an effort to support their wishes, TNLNSL, or pass it over.

 

I think you can ask for what you want and I do hope it meets your expectations. However it turns out we love the game for what we get out of it. :)

 

- G

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Concert tickets to Woodstock

pocket watches

geodes

MORE rare coins

crafts

etc

etc

etc

 

Watuthink?

 

Just like if they all had real cash in them, I think if caches had real treasure in them MORE caches would go missing every day. :)

 

Face it. Some folks like to get something for nothing. Common knowledge that items of value are in most caches would doom caching to death. :D

 

Nope, I like broken McToys just fine. :)

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Caching has always been about the hunt and about the location. The swag is secondary.

 

Sadly I disagree with you.

 

It "USED" to be about the hunt and the location. Perusing the forums lately it doesn't seem to be so. But for me that is still what it is about.

 

My last cache placed had one finder and then it disappeared. I have not been well enough to climb the 300 foot abandoned RR bridge it was placed on to check it out for myself. Sadly someones coins wmay be missing.

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I am strongly considering creating a cache here in arizona that has strict policy of no toys allowed.

 

I'd say that you are going to be sorely disappointed. Caching is about finding caches, not candy.

 

Personally I think it's kind of rude to say that a cache doesn't have class because you don't like the swag.

 

Is that the measure of a good cache? I think not.

 

Half the treasure is the hunt, half the treasure is the find. SWAG is secondary.

 

GIRAPHSTAFF,

 

Stocking a cache with nice items is a great replication of the Trajedy of the commons. If you think you can control finders with strict trade rules, i've got some ocean front property in Montana to sell you. A good portion of cachers today can't be bothered with reading the cache page narrative. They ignore posted hours, they ignore requirements, and they don't care about trading fairly.

 

Go ahead and stock your first cache with nice items, add all the rules you want, then report back to this thread in six months. Be sure to take a before and after six month picture, for everyone to see. I'd love for you to prove us wrong.

 

Oh and you aren't the first. :)

 

Please More Adult Items In Cache

 

Swag Items

 

Most valuable...

 

 

How much taller did you just stand?

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How much taller did you just stand?

 

:)

 

 

If you're still in the Tucson area, why not head East over to the Texas Canyon area. Some of my favorite cachin' memories were of the caches in that area. :)

 

Also, try attending a local event and asking the locals which caches are most worth your time. That's what I do. :D

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Dear Romantic ,

 

Hide what you like. If you want to do a better grade of swag, and have trading restrictions, you certainly can.

 

As others have said, prepare to watch the swag quality fall - unless perhaps the cache is significantly far from the parking. My caches that are of some distance (round-trips of over 10 miles) tend not to experience the deteriorating swag phenomenon. Actually, cachers seeking them tend not to trade at all......

 

edit Greeting :)

Edited by Isonzo Karst
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I am strongly considering creating a cache here in arizona that has strict policy of no toys allowed.

 

I'd say that you are going to be sorely disappointed. Caching is about finding caches, not candy.

 

Personally I think it's kind of rude to say that a cache doesn't have class because you don't like the swag.

 

Is that the measure of a good cache? I think not.

 

Half the treasure is the hunt, half the treasure is the find. SWAG is secondary.

 

GIRAPHSTAFF,

 

Stocking a cache with nice items is a great replication of the Trajedy of the commons. If you think you can control finders with strict trade rules, i've got some ocean front property in Montana to sell you. A good portion of cachers today can't be bothered with reading the cache page narrative. They ignore posted hours, they ignore requirements, and they don't care about trading fairly.

 

Go ahead and stock your first cache with nice items, add all the rules you want, then report back to this thread in six months. Be sure to take a before and after six month picture, for everyone to see. I'd love for you to prove us wrong.

 

Oh and you aren't the first. B)

 

Please More Adult Items In Cache

 

Swag Items

 

Most valuable...

 

 

How much taller did you just stand?

 

B) I'm still 6'0" tall, nothing changed.

Edited by Kit Fox
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I am strongly considering creating a cache here in arizona that has strict policy of no toys allowed.

 

I'd say that you are going to be sorely disappointed. Caching is about finding caches, not candy.

 

Personally I think it's kind of rude to say that a cache doesn't have class because you don't like the swag.

 

Is that the measure of a good cache? I think not.

 

Half the treasure is the hunt, half the treasure is the find. SWAG is secondary.

 

GIRAPHSTAFF,

 

Stocking a cache with nice items is a great replication of the Trajedy of the commons. If you think you can control finders with strict trade rules, i've got some ocean front property in Montana to sell you. A good portion of cachers today can't be bothered with reading the cache page narrative. They ignore posted hours, they ignore requirements, and they don't care about trading fairly.

 

Go ahead and stock your first cache with nice items, add all the rules you want, then report back to this thread in six months. Be sure to take a before and after six month picture, for everyone to see. I'd love for you to prove us wrong.

 

Oh and you aren't the first. B)

 

Please More Adult Items In Cache

 

Swag Items

 

Most valuable...

 

 

How much taller did you just stand?

Frankly, your post lacked class and your reply here is even less classy. You posted in a forum and you should expect replies like this to provide feedback.

 

If you're in it for classy caches with great trade items, the posts KitFox provided should clue you into the general consensus of 1) the general disappointment you're in for, and 2) the generally held opinion of people looking to stock their shelves. (You didn't address what you have to trade with equal or better value). In retrospect to your OP, you revealed a little something of your personality to everyone here and again with this quoted reply.

 

If you're tired of bouncy balls and toy cars, you perhaps should change your perspective of why you're out there in the first place because the valuable items you listed out are NOT what this game started off as being about.

 

So the question bears repeating:

How much taller did you just stand?

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Ahh, much better drama in here than in the 'my log got deleted' thread. B)

 

Count me among the 'it's about the hunt and the location; I could care less about the swag' camp. I did drop some toy finger puppets into a few caches i found yesterday but didn't take anything with me (except a TB that hadn't moved in months).

 

Good luck with the crusade to improve the contents of caches worldwide. Perhaps you should change your avatar to a windmill?

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I want a box of chocolates and a long stemmed rose, or at least a long neck.

 

Yeah, most swag is crap, most of my mail is crap, most of the stuff coming out of my teenagers mouths is crap. I still check both for the occasional item of interest, deal with the waxing popularity of long necks, and hold out hope that my teens will become viable adults.

 

That's life.

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I'm not saying you need to put in your grandmothers diamond ear rings she saved from the sinking of the titanic, nor am I saying you need to leave the jar your cousin keeps his tonsils in, just maybe something with a little more integrity. Something that reveals your personality a little more?

 

For fun I checked your last five found it logs, you contributed the following trade items:

 

Left Jax and Bingo

TNL Ian's Pizza sticker. If you are ever in Madison, WI- best food of your life.

Left Mirror

**Left VERY VERY special yellow piece of string...

Left Bobber

Left heart shaped rock and travel bug

 

Please enlighten me as to how you contributed better trade items. How are you practicing what you are preaching here? B)

Edited by Kit Fox
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I'm not saying you need to put in your grandmothers diamond ear rings she saved from the sinking of the titanic, nor am I saying you need to leave the jar your cousin keeps his tonsils in, just maybe something with a little more integrity. Something that reveals your personality a little more?

 

For fun I checked your last five found it logs, you contributed the following trade items:

 

Left Jax and Bingo

TNL Ian's Pizza sticker. If you are ever in Madison, WI- best food of your life.

Left Mirror

**Left VERY VERY special yellow piece of string...

Left Bobber

Left heart shaped rock and travel bug

 

Please enlighten me as to how you contributed better trade items. How are you practicing what you are preaching here? B)

 

OUCH! B)

 

edit:

 

Since there were only 11 finds I peeked at the rest of the logs.

 

Left dino button and bottle cap

TNLN

NMOT (No Mention Of Trade)

NMOT

NMOT

NMOT

 

B)

Edited by OzzieSan
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I'm not saying you need to put in your grandmothers diamond ear rings she saved from the sinking of the titanic, nor am I saying you need to leave the jar your cousin keeps his tonsils in, just maybe something with a little more integrity. Something that reveals your personality a little more?

 

For fun I checked your last five found it logs, you contributed the following trade items:

 

Left Jax and Bingo

TNL Ian's Pizza sticker. If you are ever in Madison, WI- best food of your life.

Left Mirror

**Left VERY VERY special yellow piece of string...

Left Bobber

Left heart shaped rock and travel bug

 

Please enlighten me as to how you contributed better trade items. How are you practicing what you are preaching here? B)

 

OUCH! B)

 

edit:

 

Since there were only 11 finds I peeked at the rest of the logs.

 

Left dino button and bottle cap

TNLN

NMOT (No Mention Of Trade)

NMOT

NMOT

NMOT

 

B)

 

Sounds like another case of a geocacher sharing ideals after realising there's a certain way they don't want to play. Doesn't make them a hypocrite, just makes them someone who talks about wanting to improve the game [in a way they view as an improvement] before logging 50+ cache finds with "Left some interesting item" comments. B)

 

Once upon a time, I was naive enough to ask the forums if people would still play if the system didn't count the finds. B) After people got done telling me that I play for the numbers because I logged the whole whoppin' seven finds that I had then, I realised you can't really share any thoughts for change.

 

Meh.

 

- Elle

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I'm not saying you need to put in your grandmothers diamond ear rings she saved from the sinking of the titanic, nor am I saying you need to leave the jar your cousin keeps his tonsils in, just maybe something with a little more integrity. Something that reveals your personality a little more?

 

For fun I checked your last five found it logs, you contributed the following trade items:

 

Left Jax and Bingo

TNL Ian's Pizza sticker. If you are ever in Madison, WI- best food of your life.

Left Mirror

**Left VERY VERY special yellow piece of string...

Left Bobber

Left heart shaped rock and travel bug

 

Please enlighten me as to how you contributed better trade items. How are you practicing what you are preaching here? B)

 

OUCH! B)

 

edit:

 

Since there were only 11 finds I peeked at the rest of the logs.

 

Left dino button and bottle cap

TNLN

NMOT (No Mention Of Trade)

NMOT

NMOT

NMOT

 

B)

 

Sounds like another case of a geocacher sharing ideals after realising there's a certain way they don't want to play. Doesn't make them a hypocrite, just makes them someone who talks about wanting to improve the game [in a way they view as an improvement] before logging 50+ cache finds with "Left some interesting item" comments. B)

 

Once upon a time, I was naive enough to ask the forums if people would still play if the system didn't count the finds. B) After people got done telling me that I play for the numbers because I logged the whole whoppin' seven finds that I had then, I realised you can't really share any thoughts for change.

 

Meh.

 

- Elle

Not even close to hitting the target. The OP was looking for high valued items whilst not even trading with the same fervor he wants the caches to be stocked with. That's a do as I say and not as I do mentality to me.

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Not even close to hitting the target. The OP was looking for high valued items whilst not even trading with the same fervor he wants the caches to be stocked with. That's a do as I say and not as I do mentality to me.

 

The OP didn't claim to never leave junk, just said they were tired of it. The OP asked if anybody agreed that there should be more interesting items in caches, didn't demand for it. The OP even mentioned taking responsibility for creating a cache with a no-toy rule as a movement towards such a change.

 

- Elle

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Not even close to hitting the target. The OP was looking for high valued items whilst not even trading with the same fervor he wants the caches to be stocked with. That's a do as I say and not as I do mentality to me.

 

The OP didn't claim to never leave junk, just said they were tired of it. The OP asked if anybody agreed that there should be more interesting items in caches, didn't demand for it. The OP even mentioned taking responsibility for creating a cache with a no-toy rule as a movement towards such a change.

 

- Elle

I'll go along with that observation. But you are also missing the point that if anybody is going to bring up a subject like this, the least they can do is lead the way and be the example. I don't see that happening here.

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I'll go along with that observation. But you are also missing the point that if anybody is going to bring up a subject like this, the least they can do is lead the way and be the example. I don't see that happening here.

 

I agree with you. But I don't see the OP logging a find and leaving swag they'd consider unacceptable since making this post. That was just my point. Someone who speaks up before logging 50+ finds showing what they want to change is discredited for not doing that. :laughing:

 

In all honesty, I think they'll just end up TNLN or going back to swapping simple swag, even if they improve their own leavings for a number of caches to try to set an example. It's a nice ideal but it doesn't consider kids (who are huge in swag swapping) and it's just all-around impractical.

 

- Elle

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Just my coupla pennies worth here -

 

I would pass right by a pocket watch or a ticket to Woodstock if I found them in a cache. Those are "junk" to me because I have no use for them. However, the 25 cent "Ich liebe Duetche" button that I found recently got snatched up by me (and my kids) quickly because we spent three years stationed in Germany - "Jackpot!"

 

While broken McToys suck, I would argue that there is plenty of valuable swag out there, depending on the finder's definition of valuable.

 

(And yes, I have set a few of my LE personal coins loose in caches which I felt were outstanding (one might even say they had a good deal of class...). Good luck finding one, though. Talk about stuff going missing in a daggone hurry! Yeesh! :laughing: )

Edited by ElementalJay
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I'll go along with that observation. But you are also missing the point that if anybody is going to bring up a subject like this, the least they can do is lead the way and be the example. I don't see that happening here.

 

I agree with you. But I don't see the OP logging a find and leaving swag they'd consider unacceptable since making this post. That was just my point. Someone who speaks up before logging 50+ finds showing what they want to change is discredited for not doing that. :laughing:

 

 

- Elle

 

Wow! You got all of that from me just posting the rest of the trades done by the OP? Bravo!

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Half the treasure is the hunt, half the treasure is the find. SWAG is secondary.

 

 

Yesterday my family and I took a little drive from the house we're renting in Maine to a little state park beach. As we were getting close to the beach I saw that I had a geocache waypoint .25 away from the beach so after we arrived I went for a walk. I searched for a few minutes amongst the rocks then decided to check the listing for the cache on my Blackberry. I quickly discovered that the cache had been recently disabled and the owner had verified that it was no longer there. I logged a "note" for the cache when I got back to the house and thanked the CO for placing a cache there as I probably hadn't checked out that part of the park if a cache had not, at least recently, been hidden there. In this case, the location and the hunt was enough to provide a satisfying experience. I really didn't care that I didn't find a cache.

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Stocking a cache with nice items is a great replication of the Trajedy of the commons.
Geocaching is the antithesis of the One Red Paperclip experiment.

No kidding. Sissy likes to say "Remember to always trade kindly. The person after you should be as pleased as you are." However, what we've found is a goodly portion (don't know if it's a majority or a damning minority) don't give a hoot about the person that comes after them. It's not just trades, but also care of finding, retrieving, and re-hiding the cache. It's been that way ever since I started. There is a fundamental flaw in geocaching. I suspect I know what it is, but it's a subject for another thread.

 

To the OP: go ahead and hide a cache with quality swag. It'll last longer the harder you make it. I'd suggest hiding a few with less cash outlay to get started and experience with hiding caches that don't get muggled. Don't get disappointed with having replenish the swag. You'll get folks trading a brand new Mini Mag Light for a pine cone (in a cache in a pine forest.)

 

May I suggest the theme be "Only new, unopened trade items." Kind of like Toy for Tots. Or something along those lines, anyway.

 

To tell you the truth, I'm curious why the hobby hasn't gravitated to swagless caches with decent sized logbooks. Unless the community, as a whole, gets behind "No Junk" and abandons the attitude like the one I have about the inevitability of swag deterioration, then swag is simply an element of this hobby that will always be a sore spot.

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To tell you the truth, I'm curious why the hobby hasn't gravitated to swagless caches with decent sized logbooks. Unless the community, as a whole, gets behind "No Junk" and abandons the attitude like the one I have about the inevitability of swag deterioration, then swag is simply an element of this hobby that will always be a sore spot.

 

I've considered placing only a really nice journal book from Office Depot in my next hide. Is that something you'd appreciate in a cache?

 

There will always be people who want to leave behind a little something. Even in Smalls and Micros that don't really have a lot of room beyond the logbook, they'll pop in a little something, usually it's just a small trinket. I don't think swag will ever go away for as long as people want to leave a little something behind. Plus, geocaching kids really do like trading swag. My daughter still has a little Hello Kitty zipper pull that she traded for.

 

- Elle

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I'm curious why the hobby hasn't gravitated to swagless caches with decent sized logbooks

 

I'm actually seeing a good bit of that, or something like it, local to me.

 

There are some really large tracts of public forest and swamp here, and a good many ammo cans that start with a logbook and not much else. Nobody is complaining about the low amount of swag. Mostly the cachers that have been around a while aren't trading, and the people that are hiking (and sometimes slogging) into these cachers aren't there for the swag.

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...To tell you the truth, I'm curious why the hobby hasn't gravitated to swagless caches with decent sized logbooks. Unless the community, as a whole, gets behind "No Junk" and abandons the attitude like the one I have about the inevitability of swag deterioration, then swag is simply an element of this hobby that will always be a sore spot.

 

I often leave swagless caches. I also leave well stocked ones. The former gather complaints the latter praise. Iv'e seen swag trade down, and then in the same cache that was now full of McCrap evolved to better swag. Swag has it's own ebb and flow and I've learned to let it be and enjoy giving the occasional gifts of cool swag.

Edited by Renegade Knight
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I've considered placing only a really nice journal book from Office Depot in my next hide. Is that something you'd appreciate in a cache?

I appreciate anything 3"x5" and larger. I'm not one to wax poetic, but I do like be able to say what I want to say. You can't do that on a strip of paper.

 

Heck, our own journals are typically 3"x5" simply for ease of carry in the wild. I've been thinking of stepping up to something a tad larger if I get a larger caching bag.

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The only way to battle this is to saturate the Geocache enviroment with quality swag. Load er up and keep filling it every day.

 

I try to and I love to hear the emails back to me directly for the items they take, as all I ask is for an email in reply.

 

Some of my sig items that will find their way into my caches big enough to hold em.

geocoin12.jpg

 

I have trackable buttons out there too.

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