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List your great swag purchases


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Today, I went to Home Depot and paid $10 for a pack of 8 LED flashlights and two headlamps.

 

The flashlights were aluminum, not plastic, complete with three AAA batteries each.

Two were 9 LED, and six were 6 LED

The headlamps were plastic, and ran off two wafer batteries, included.

 

I bought several of these ten-packs. They still had a lot left.

 

Better than McToys.

 

What have you found, how much, where, and are any left?

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McToys are the only thing we ever take from caches because we have a small child. Apparently some of us have confused "geocaching" with "shopping."

 

If I am not mistaken The topic is ( List your great swag purchases, What great deals have you found).

And not what are your thoughts on swag.

 

Staying with the topic I have found some good deals in craft shops.

And it looks like I will be checking out HD thanks for the heads up.

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Today, I went to Home Depot and paid $10 for a pack of 8 LED flashlights and two headlamps.

 

I looked at those for myself, though I already have a bunch of them from another sale. Those little LEDs are really handy. Maybe I will make a third trip to HD myself.

 

I tried to keep an eye out on Friday for swag items, but I wanted to avoid electronics (lots of thumb drives on sales around town). It's hard to find stuff that will fit in smaller containers.

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I'm waiting until after the holidays and grabbing up some of the non-breakable holiday ornaments for swag. Found one last summer in a cache and thought it was great idea. And then seeing what other little left overs are still around after the holidays. Big box stores always have those "gifts" that go on deep discount afterwards too.

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By coincidence today I was in Home Depot and picked that same 10 pack of LED flashlights (2 were head lamps) for $10 and and I also (bought a dozen "palm ratchet" screwdrivers that were 48 cents each (originally $1.19 each).

 

Then at Target they had 2 packs of hand warmers for a buck each in the dollar section so I grabbed a dozen of those.

Edited by briansnat
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McToys are the only thing we ever take from caches because we have a small child. Apparently some of us have confused "geocaching" with "shopping."

 

Wow!

Someone wants to add some swag to caches that might appeal to older cachers and you have to get nasty about it?

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I tend to put different types of swag into caches that are in different types of places.

 

For instance, urban caches that will likely have kids finding them with parents get little toys, squirt guns, army men, etc.

 

Desert/mountain caches tend to get more serious things that might be useful, such as the flashlights y'all describe, the hand warmers, emergency water foil packs, etc.

 

That being said, I get a lot of the desert/mountain cache swag at military surplus stores in my area (also really great for finding new and different cache containers). We get a lot of our kid swag from places like Party City, and other places that sell small party favors and toys.

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McToys are the only thing we ever take from caches because we have a small child. Apparently some of us have confused "geocaching" with "shopping."

:rolleyes::):laughing: Why is it that somebody ALWAYS has to find something to crab about when someone adds an idea???

I too am headed for HD tonight!

Thanks for the info! I'd love to find some swag that is a step up in swag trading! :laughing:

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Doing garage sales last year we came across a picnic table loaded with gallon ziplocks loaded with assorted small toys (good ones, not McToys). The Lady didn't even know what geocaching was, and she was selling swag bags for two bucks a pop.

Anymore the cache sizes are shrinking, so finding quality small swag is becoming a challenge

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McToys are the only thing we ever take from caches because we have a small child. Apparently some of us have confused "geocaching" with "shopping."

 

Mmmmmkay? I have 3 under 10 and we do have McToys, but even they prefer other things. We like to hit the dollar section at Target when it goes to 75% and 90% off, we pick up books(put in baggies to keep from getting yuck), cars, pens, pencils, erasers, calculators, hand warmers, silly bands, balls, silly string, fart putty, woopie cushions, coloring/painting etc anything that they love and would love to get :laughing:

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McToys are the only thing we ever take from caches because we have a small child. Apparently some of us have confused "geocaching" with "shopping."

 

Mmmmmkay? I have 3 under 10 and we do have McToys, but even they prefer other things. We like to hit the dollar section at Target when it goes to 75% and 90% off, we pick up books(put in baggies to keep from getting yuck), cars, pens, pencils, erasers, calculators, hand warmers, silly bands, balls, silly string, fart putty, woopie cushions, coloring/painting etc anything that they love and would love to get :laughing:

 

Those sound pretty great for kids, but I'm sure the "NO TOYS IN CACHES" people will have other thoughts.

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Foreign coins.

 

I've brought back coins from several different countries for the cost of the exchange rate. For example, a 1 Yuan bill in China is worth about 14 cents U.S. and there are several denominations that are smaller than 1 yuan available as coins. I got a dozen or so coins as change when buying small items. I did the same in Tanzania. I got a handful of coins that worth less than $1 U.S. but make for some interesting swag.

 

But you don't have to go to a foreign country (or one of the caches I've visited) to get foreign coins for swag. There are lots of websites one can visit where you can buy assorted coins by the bagful (50-100 coins) for less than $20. Most of them can even fit in a film can sized micro.

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Foreign coins.

 

I've brought back coins from several different countries for the cost of the exchange rate. For example, a 1 Yuan bill in China is worth about 14 cents U.S. and there are several denominations that are smaller than 1 yuan available as coins. I got a dozen or so coins as change when buying small items. I did the same in Tanzania. I got a handful of coins that worth less than $1 U.S. but make for some interesting swag.

 

But you don't have to go to a foreign country (or one of the caches I've visited) to get foreign coins for swag. There are lots of websites one can visit where you can buy assorted coins by the bagful (50-100 coins) for less than $20. Most of them can even fit in a film can sized micro.

 

Neat idea!

 

Once, at a flea market, I picked up a couple dozen Indian Head Nickels for $1 each. I thought they were cool, as well as a piece of history. Unfortunately, the new Nickels look similar.

 

I've also stopped at the bank and picked up brand new shiny "gold" dollars. They were always a backup if I ran out of swag, or there was no room in the cache for anything else I had with me.

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McToys are the only thing we ever take from caches because we have a small child. Apparently some of us have confused "geocaching" with "shopping."

 

Mmmmmkay? I have 3 under 10 and we do have McToys, but even they prefer other things. We like to hit the dollar section at Target when it goes to 75% and 90% off, we pick up books(put in baggies to keep from getting yuck), cars, pens, pencils, erasers, calculators, hand warmers, silly bands, balls, silly string, fart putty, woopie cushions, coloring/painting etc anything that they love and would love to get :laughing:

 

Those sound pretty great for kids, but I'm sure the "NO TOYS IN CACHES" people will have other thoughts.

 

Do you really think there are that many "No toys" folks out there?

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Today, I went to Home Depot and paid $10 for a pack of 8 LED flashlights and two headlamps.

 

They also have a 9-pack that looked pretty tempting: 4 LED flashlights, 4 headlamps, and an aluminum bottle (with carabiner). Oh, and the necessary batteries were included in this package as well.

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McToys are the only thing we ever take from caches because we have a small child. Apparently some of us have confused "geocaching" with "shopping."

 

My 3-year-old grandson LOVES his flashlights. Too bad about yours.

 

Yes, too bad that I make considered purchases for my child instead of expecting others to fill geocaches with new stuff he might like.

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fart putty

 

Those sound pretty great for kids, but I'm sure the "NO TOYS IN CACHES" people will have other thoughts.

 

Do you really think there are that many "No toys" folks out there?

 

I've seen fart putty keep a group of 18-21 year old men laughing for hours. Some toys have no age limits.

 

 

Thanks for the tip on the LED flashlights. I like the $1 swag bins at the entrance to Target, especially for the hand warmers and little tools.

 

I use locally inspired pins from our town's chamber of commerce. I can get them for a $1 each, and attach a little calling card to 'em.

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We have a Dollar Tree (everything's a dollar, mostly) store here that I look through every once in a while. They carry a lot of junk but you can also find some good stuff if you look, i.e. LED key rings, 3 cell LED flashlights, tape measures, assorted toys, book lamps, just lots of stuff. You just have to be careful to miss the stuff that isn't worth a dollar. :laughing:

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The comments about foreign coins as swag got me interested enough to do a quick search on amazon where I stumbled across 50 uncirculated banknotes for $US16 and 50 foreign coins for $13 (shipping included in that price). E-bay had even better details. Coins and banknotes both seem better than the usual kind of plastic junk I often leave. (I put better stuff in my own caches).

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I'm really not into swag. But I went caching with kids once and they totally are. So I try to stock my bigger caches with kid crap. I put in things like necklace making kits, colored pencils, stencils, shrek action figure.

 

I kinda have no idea what kids like though!

 

In one of my ammo cans I left 2 or 3 DVDs in single cases in a plastic bag. I found a DVD in a cache once and while I didn't take I thought it was really neat.

 

I have a bag in a cache that's meant for cachers to leave their signature items in. Love those.

 

Other than that, swag is mostly dusty and creeps me out!

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Tape measure key chains at Michael's Crafts. $2.

 

I get lots of good stuff at Michaels Crafts for kids in the $1 and less range.

 

I also like leaving foreign coins and I put them in tiny ziplocks with "from FloridaFour's trip to the Philippines" or something on a colorful note.

 

I am going to look for some $2 to $3 Christmas CD's for the event I'm going to in a few weeks.

Edited by FloridaFour
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I collect coins and I am often able to buy liberty nickels, indian head pennies, buffalo nickels, or steel pennies for 50 cents to a dollar. I have talked to people who have found them and they tell me they loved it.

 

When I started geocaching I had a good sized coin collection, Indian head pennies (several rolls), buffalo nickels, mercury dimes, Kennedy halves, Ike dollars and more, as well as a big stack of silver certificates.

 

That collection is essentially gone. I found it made great cache swag, especially for micro and small caches. My only regret is that I don't have more to place in caches. I think the finders really liked them.

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I found a great deal on 20mm compasses on Amazon. For just over $8 after shipping i got 24 of them. I originally got them to add them to the families hiking sticks. The rest have become swag items. I think when i run out i'll be buying more of them. As i recall there is also a pack of 48 you can get. Amazon has all sorts of deals like that on small items great for swag.

 

Here is the 24pc set.

http://www.amazon.com/Wholesale-24pc-20mm-Small-Compasses/dp/B004I8D2RI/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1294413718&sr=8-10

 

Here is the 48pc set.

http://www.amazon.com/Wholesale-48pcs-Small-Compasses-survival/dp/B001U34NYA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294413762&sr=8-1

Edited by mpilchfamily
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As the owner of a couple of pirate themed caches, I am disappointed that my favorite online source for pirate stuff (Dead Men Tell No Tales) is not currently operating - they were a great source of genuine replica pieces of 8 and pirate treasure (not the plastic stuff). And they were much cheaper than the local Pirate Supply Store in San Francisco. Arrgh!

 

I have found good deals on old Giants baseball cards through ebay, puzzles and other trinkets at Archie McPhee, a variety of items at my local Fairfax Variety store, Native American items at our nearby Miwok center.

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The best I've managed to come up with so far (on a very limited budget) are several nicer/cute keychains (one of them is even a frog, hehe) and some earrings that were on sale (put immediately into a plastic ziplock bag for hygenic purposes, of course). :-) The rest of it is stuff I got from Dollar General - I got a 10-pack of kids' sunglasses, and a variety of other lill toys/trinkets that came in packs of 6 or 10 rather inexpensively. Like those little army parachute guys, those are my personal favorite, hehe. Was almost tempted to keep 'em, but the "Hey! You'll be 38 next month, not *8*!" boring grown-up voice won out. Drat. Hate it when that happens. LOL! :rolleyes:

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I collect coins and I am often able to buy liberty nickels, indian head pennies, buffalo nickels, or steel pennies for 50 cents to a dollar. I have talked to people who have found them and they tell me they loved it.

 

That's an AWESOME idea! There's a coin shop right down the road. :)

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Foreign coins.

 

I've brought back coins from several different countries for the cost of the exchange rate. For example, a 1 Yuan bill in China is worth about 14 cents U.S. and there are several denominations that are smaller than 1 yuan available as coins. I got a dozen or so coins as change when buying small items. I did the same in Tanzania. I got a handful of coins that worth less than $1 U.S. but make for some interesting swag.

 

But you don't have to go to a foreign country (or one of the caches I've visited) to get foreign coins for swag. There are lots of websites one can visit where you can buy assorted coins by the bagful (50-100 coins) for less than $20. Most of them can even fit in a film can sized micro.

 

I've done the same thing, except that I get my coins at a local coin and precious metals dealer, also here in Michigan. He has a tray of probably several hundred or more foreign coins from all around the world, sitting out on the counter. They sell for 5 or 6 coins for a buck, and he doesn't mind if I sort through to pick out interesting ones.

 

I've also come across small tools and such at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. I once got half a dozen 6' tape measures, some knock-off copies of Vice Grip pliers that were about 4 inches long, and some small ratcheting screwdrivers, all for about 50 cents apiece. My caching backpack was kinda heavy for awhile.

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Well I am relatively new to geocaching and haven’t bought a whole lot of swag but what I do have is a lot of random junk I have collected through the years. Being of college age and a boy scout I have stuff for younger and older age groups. These items range from toy cars and game boy games to fire starter kits and flashlights. I feel a lot of the caches around my area have gotten bombarded with bounce balls and wooden nickels. That being said I like to carry items for both age groups to improve the good to weak and old to young age ratios of the swag items in the caches to improve the experiences of both age groups. I like all the creative swag ideas you guys have and hope to borrow your ideas and implement in the future as my geocaching addiction grows.

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I like to use foreign coins, too. I just made a run to Wal-Mart today to pick up some $1 clearance items: key chains, flashlights, etc. During a recent geocaching outing, I was a little disappointed at the swag in the caches. Unfortunately, I did little to up the ante. But that is behind me. I also found a site that sells stainless steel swag. It's inexpensive and I was able to order some custom-made pieces which I'll put in the small & micro caches that dominate the area. For the large caches, I add Transformer toys my children gave up years ago. The trouble is finding caches large enough for these items.

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