BooBoo28 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I have found a few caches that just have logs. I want to be prepared to trade items, but I am not sure what types of treasures to have with me. Any feedback will be great... Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 (edited) BooBoo, I started out by just placing cheap party favor toys (still have some left). That’s OK if you’re trading for those toys, or you just want to boost a cache for kids. But think of something that’s pretty cool which you have a lot of, or that you can make. I have a bunch of foreign coins, and many people love those. I also have “Pogs” (old collectable milk caps), pack a group of ten of them together, and sign one of the non-numbered ones, to make a kind of signature item. Small interesting craft items are a great idea. I make pin buttons of my own designs, sign each one, and I try to keep the variety interesting. Think of something that you can make, that you think others would enjoy finding. Or you might find something in bulk which is valuable to Geocachers. At some caches, I would have killed for a single sharp golf pencil (rather than a non-functioning pen, and having to hike back for the pen I forgot to bring). And sometimes, a poison ivy towlette would be a life saver. I often bring a Ziploc bag which contains a deck of cards, a signature item button, a nickel-sized compass (signed or with my sticker on the back of it), small rubber snakes/frogs, pencils, a small handful of shiny foreign coins, and a pack of Pogs. Combined, it might be valued close to $10 (in case there’s a Pathtag or other similarly valuable item I covet). But I often just drop a combination of two, even if I don’t take anything. And if the cache log is wet, I dry it and put it in the new Ziploc bag. Any object that I place which might be damaged by moisture goes in a plastic bag. You don’t have to trade every time, and if a cache is mostly cheap little toys or absolute junk, you may prefer to save your nice signature items for another cache. ========== Here are some more ideas for items that many people consider real treasures to find, but are items that won’t break the bank… Maybe you live in a place where you can gather: Fool’s gold Agates, crystals, or semi-precious stones Seashells, completely clean and dry Small Fossils (as with shells, they might be tricky to pack so they won’t break) Arrowheads Civil War-era bullets Exotic seed pods (non-edible, so wild animals won’t smell them and raid the cache) If you’re artistic: Wood-burn designs into small pieces of wood (or on inexpensive wooden nickel blanks) Paint animal faces on rocks (and sign them) Make things with polymer clay Braid or weave rope Make jewelry Or you may have inexpensive items you collect, but have a lot of duplicates you don’t need. If I found any of the above in a cache, I’d be pleasantly surprised. And I’d likely think I had brought nothing valuable enough to trade for it! Edited July 21, 2009 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+Steve&GeoCarolyn Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I buy cute erasers or small stuffed toys or jewelry (on sale at Claires) for the caches. You might be interested in seeing what people said in this thread which is about the same topic: What is your favorite swag to leave/find? http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=165080&hl= Carolyn Quote Link to comment
+zinnia123 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 We stock up on key chains and use them for trade. So far the biggest hit for the kids to find are the toy frogs. So we watch for little plastic frogs at the dollar store. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Leave anything that is inexpensive and useful. One of my favorite trade items is the individual packs of insect repellent wipes. I buy a few boxes when I see them on sale and leave one or two in caches. Some other things I like to leave: Matchbox cars Collectible or foreign coins emergency ponchos (97 cents each at Walmart) eyeglass repair kits the cheap DVDs that you can find for a buck in many stores small flashlights, cheap tools and other items from the dollar bin in supermarkets small flag decals packs of AA batteries Quote Link to comment
+michigansnorkelers Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 You can try the dollar stores. I've had the best luck with DOLLAR TREE. I've also found nice things in the dollar bins at TARGET and MICHAELS. Quote Link to comment
+Water-Rats Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 We tend to have a few things on us ranging from party stuff for little swaps to better quality swaps for nicer items. I get stuff of ebay, nice keyrings with little torches on, or similar items. We like to trade with nice swag Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 $1 calculators matchbox cars 50 cent USB memory holders scredrivers dice cards beanie toys rubber ducks outlet covers foriegn coins etc Quote Link to comment
raine7649 Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 We got a roll of the new pennies and add one to each cache we find! Quote Link to comment
+blueberryice Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 I normally don't trade anything. My kids trade though and we use the kind of stuff you would find in a good party favor bag, bouncy balls, pencil (they don't fit in small caches) toy rings, eraser and stuff like that. Quote Link to comment
+Three Monkies Ranch Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 A local cacher in our area has set up a great web page (http://renzoscustomcache.blogspot.com/) with many DIY geoswag ideas. We have used some of his ideas, but we always cary extra kid stuff for caches that are lacking in tradables. Quote Link to comment
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