LuckySeven08 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Our family found our first two caches this weekend and had lots of fun. They were filled with kind of junky stuff though. Is that normal? One had really basic stuff like some screws, a dirty Starburst candy. The other one was better, it had a little egg in it with fortunes in it and a rubber bat toy and again, some little things like a paper clip and a rubber band. Please don't get me wrong, we are appreciative that they even exist and the places we found them were great. I guess I just thought there would be unique things in them like a poem or a photo or something with meaning. We traded up leaving one of my husbands military medals and a neat toy. Are some caches better and others worse or are they pretty much all just random? The kids had fun but I could see they were a little disappointed when they opened them up. Can't wait to get some more experience. This is such an awesome and fun new hobby. Jennifer Quote Link to comment
8ball9ball Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Yes, unfortunately, this is often the case. A cache becomes degraded over time in some cases. If, or when, you can try to make an upgrade by putting in good swag. If you do this hopefully others will follow your example. Above all else just enjoy the experience of having found the cache. Quote Link to comment
+AstroDav Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I see this very often in newer cachers. They try to find caches for all the goodies that may be inside, rather than find caches for the enjoyment of the hunt. If you try to do the former, you'll almost certainly wind up very disappointed. One of the newer cachers around me searches up caches which list 8 or 10 GeoCoins in them, and is then let down when the cache reveals NONE. If a cache lists THAT many Travelers, it's almost certainly one that has a history of them getting stolen. I've tried several times to tell him to "just cache, you'll find the Coins every now & then". But it just hasn't sunk in yet. Just go find the caches for the thrill of the hunt....and the smiley if you are a numbers person, nothing wrong with that, although some will swear up & down there IS. If you aren't a numbers person, but like physical challenges, then do the hard ones. If you like puzzles, then do those. If you like Multis, then do those. Just find caches.....and then consider anything neat that you DO find as icing-on-the-cake. You'll never be disappointed that way. Quote Link to comment
namiboy Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 i practically never even look to see what's in a geocache, it's all about the hunt for me. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Caches often start out with lots of great stuff and degrade over time. Sometimes they start out with junk. People are supposed trade evenly but a lot of people seem to think that trading several pieces of junk for one nice thing is even. I've seen trades mentioned in logs that went something like this "Took the Mini Mag Lite and left a Sanka coupon, a bottle cap, a piece of string, broken scissors and an acorn we found on the trail". Though opening a box and finding quality swag is nice, most veteran geocachers don't care about what is inside other than a dry logbook. It's about the rainbow, not the pot of gold at the end if it. Quote Link to comment
+AirborneSurveyor Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Caches often start out with lots of great stuff and degrade over time. Sometimes they start out with junk. People are supposed trade evenly but a lot of people seem to think that trading several pieces of junk for one nice thing is even. I've seen trades mentioned in logs that went something like this "Took the Mini Mag Lite and left a Sanka coupon, a bottle cap, a piece of string, broken scissors and an acorn we found on the trail". Though opening a box and finding quality swag is nice, most veteran geocachers don't care about what is inside other than a dry logbook. It's about the rainbow, not the pot of gold at the end if it. You've found a cache with a pot of gold in it? Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 (edited) They were filled with kind of junky stuff though. Is that normal? One had really basic stuff like some screws, a dirty Starburst candy. If local kids can easily access it, the cache can fill with trash. Politely mention the condition in your online log, and it helps others. If it's really wet, dirty or moldy inside, make it a "needs maintenance" log. Sometimes I'll open a container, and my reaction to the contents is "that's... kinda gross". I carry a couple of paper towels and some ziplock bags. I dump the junk out, wipe out the container, and ziplock the log. Then any wet paper gets trashed (business cards, etc). Same with food, rusty or rotten items, and anything that's less than half a toy. I'll place a couple of clean, low-value items in there. Then I note in the online log that I cleaned out the trash. The CO usually knows the condition and appreciates the help. I hardly ever find a pot of gold in there. And if you see a trackable in a high-traffic trash-cache, move it along. Edited October 19, 2009 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
TeamKizzle Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 We found our first Cache Yesterday (found 3 more today) anyhow, I was so excited about the Find that I didn't really even pay attention to what was in it LOL.. I remember seeing a seashell so I traded a non-fragile snowman Christmas ornament for it, and I remember seeing a baseball card, couldn't even tell you who was on it. And I signed the log and sealed it back up. I really didn't look to see what was in it, its almost as if I forgot to look. Fortunately though, this is on a hiking trail for us, so next time we are out there, I may just have to look in it:) Plus I wanna see if my 13 year old can find it (he didn't come with us) and see if anyone took my snowman:) LOL Quote Link to comment
TeamKizzle Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 (edited) OOPS! Posted the same thing twice.. Sorry:( Edited October 20, 2009 by RonneyKay Quote Link to comment
+gum-nuts Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Our family found our first two caches this weekend and had lots of fun. They were filled with kind of junky stuff though. Is that normal? One had really basic stuff like some screws, a dirty Starburst candy. The other one was better, it had a little egg in it with fortunes in it and a rubber bat toy and again, some little things like a paper clip and a rubber band. Please don't get me wrong, we are appreciative that they even exist and the places we found them were great. I guess I just thought there would be unique things in them like a poem or a photo or something with meaning. We traded up leaving one of my husbands military medals and a neat toy. Are some caches better and others worse or are they pretty much all just random? The kids had fun but I could see they were a little disappointed when they opened them up. Can't wait to get some more experience. This is such an awesome and fun new hobby. Jennifer We call that sort of junk geo-crap! My 9 and 6 year old started of grabbing anything, they now appreciate the fun is in the finding and will only take something decent, we will only try to leave something good. Quote Link to comment
LuckySeven08 Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 Thank you all for your responses. I would agree, the hunt is definitely the best part. I will take your advice and bring along some supplies on our hunts to "clean up" some caches in the event that they need beefing up. With 7 little ones at home we certainly have a great supply of little trinkets and gadgets that are cool that I wouldn't mind leaving. I think we'll start a cache bucket at home where the kids can deposit all of their finds. Displayed in a glass jar, even a bolt or rubber band can make up a cool displayable collection. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment
+Arrow42 Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Thank you all for your responses. I would agree, the hunt is definitely the best part. I will take your advice and bring along some supplies on our hunts to "clean up" some caches in the event that they need beefing up. With 7 little ones at home we certainly have a great supply of little trinkets and gadgets that are cool that I wouldn't mind leaving. I think we'll start a cache bucket at home where the kids can deposit all of their finds. Displayed in a glass jar, even a bolt or rubber band can make up a cool displayable collection. Thanks again! Exactly... "Be the cacher you would like to see others be". Quote Link to comment
NTSabresfan Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 some of the stuff that looks like junk might in fact have meaning to the people who placed it . I am a musician and when I found my first Cache I wanted to leave something meaningful to me . I left an old worn down guitar pick that I had . It was almost unusable but I had used that pick to record my first album. Just thought I`d share this story Happy Caching everyone Quote Link to comment
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