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Just Say No - Swag in Micros


Ecylram

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I'm sorry, but not all caches were meant to hold swag. At least not the kind of swag I'm finding in micro's lately...

  • A small, hard-plastic dinosaur was stuffed into a standard keyholder. It cracked the lid and allowed additional water into the cache.
  • A fake diamond necklace was stuffed in a film cannister, causing the log to be crushed under the lid.
  • A matchbox car is stuffed into a micro in such a way the lid can't seal on the jar.

Over the last few months I've run into numerous micros that had moisture problems because the swag prevented the lids from sealing properly. In addition, much of the swag that didn't cause problems was trashed from being squashed in a micro. That is, if it hadn't fallen out of the container and was part of the trash on the ground.

 

I'm not a fan. smile.gif

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Sorry, but I will continue to place micros with swag and continue to place swag in micros. Of course the size of the swag will be appropriate. Common sense.

 

Just one more reason you should relocate to our fair state. What you'd lose in ocean views, you'd make up in mountain views. smile.gif

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I think this could be a universal rule: Don't put stuff in a cache if it won't fit, regardless of cache size.

On a related note to the OP: The first two containers you mentioned weren't waterproof to begin with.

 

I'm painfully aware of the fact, unfortunately. Neither are duct taped baggies, non-duct taped baggies, breath strip containers, candy containers, cool whip containers, battery packaging and pill bottles...all of which I've seen.

 

Hmmm, maybe I should be allocating my 'Favorites' to all caches that are in good waterproof containers. I'd still have favorites left over. rolleyes.gif

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I'm sorry, but not all caches were meant to hold swag. At least not the kind of swag I'm finding in micro's lately...

  • A small, hard-plastic dinosaur was stuffed into a standard keyholder. It cracked the lid and allowed additional water into the cache.
  • A fake diamond necklace was stuffed in a film cannister, causing the log to be crushed under the lid.
  • A matchbox car is stuffed into a micro in such a way the lid can't seal on the jar.

Over the last few months I've run into numerous micros that had moisture problems because the swag prevented the lids from sealing properly. In addition, much of the swag that didn't cause problems was trashed from being squashed in a micro. That is, if it hadn't fallen out of the container and was part of the trash on the ground.

 

I'm not a fan. smile.gif

 

This has been my experience as well. In fact, in the thread about useless hints, someone stated that people have a compulsion to put anything in the hint field. I almost replied that they share that same compulsion to add swag to a cache that has none, even micros that don't have room for swag.

 

I know that people are trying to be helpful, but I think that they don't really think things through. I have checked on caches of mine that I placed without swag and found items in them that make it almost impossible to remove the log. A bigger problem is people adding a baggie to my log, which makes one have to virtually rip the thing out of the container. I hide a lot of plastic, tube like spice containers. They are pretty much waterproof. Someone eventually puts the log in a sandwich size baggie, and then stuffs it back in. It makes it very difficult to remove the log.

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I have only found one micro with swag in it. It was a pill bottle with a mood ring in the bottom.. Plenty of room in there for a proper sized micro log.

 

Another "micro" I found was actually a baggy so it had plenty of room from swag. (and amazingly it wasnt wet)

 

I see nothing wrong with swag that FITS being in a micro, but those cases mentioned above are not good.

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People should also refrain from jamming a pen or pencil into a micro that just isn't big enough to hold one. I think it comes from a good place - people want to share swag and/or make sure that the next cacher can sign the log, and it takes a bit of experience to know how containers can be compromised by this sort of thing.

 

Indiscriminate hate for caches of a particular size has never made much sense to me. There's no need to hate on "micros" in general. It's just a size category, and it encompasses a remarkable variety of geocaches that are just as legitimate as the bigger ones.

Edited by narcissa
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We could easily solve this problem if we just say no to mircos?

 

I do not hide micros due to these problems, but sometimes its impossible to not go out and find micros. For example the area in NC where I live, its almost impossible to find an ammo can that hasn't been muggled.

 

Maybe we should just say "No" to non waterproofed containers. That would be more helpful in my opinion. A soggy un-singable log is more annoying than being unable to shut a container and having to take some swag.

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Maybe we should just say "No" to non waterproofed containers. That would be more helpful in my opinion. A soggy un-singable log is more annoying than being unable to shut a container and having to take some swag.

 

If the container won't shut, it won't stay waterproof. That's kinda the point here.

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Maybe we should just say "No" to non waterproofed containers. That would be more helpful in my opinion. A soggy un-singable log is more annoying than being unable to shut a container and having to take some swag.

 

If the container won't shut, it won't stay waterproof. That's kinda the point here.

 

You can always take swag with you so it will close, you can't take the container. I mean yes swag is a problem but personally I find soaked logs from non watertight containers more annoying.

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Sorry, but I will continue to place micros with swag and continue to place swag in micros. Of course the size of the swag will be appropriate. Common sense.

 

 

Yes, so when you walk away, I am sure that your mini swag fits and the lid is sealed. However, when I arrive five cachers behind you, rest assured that your swag, coupled with a bag that's been opened 5 more times, a log that is fatter from having been rolled and unrolled 5 times and MASHED against your "appropriate" mini swag along with new "appropriate" swag has all worked together to have completely wrecked the cache. Common sense.

 

No worries. I empty the micros and move the nonsense to the nearest "appropriate" cache, saving the next person from having to figure out how to get the 15 clowns into the tiny car.

Edited by KDotBlueDot
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Maybe we should just say "No" to non waterproofed containers. That would be more helpful in my opinion. A soggy un-singable log is more annoying than being unable to shut a container and having to take some swag.

 

If the container won't shut, it won't stay waterproof. That's kinda the point here.

 

Indiscriminate comments..

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Sorry, but I will continue to place micros with swag and continue to place swag in micros. Of course the size of the swag will be appropriate. Common sense.

 

 

Yes, so when you walk away, I am sure that your mini swag fits and the lid is sealed. However, when I arrive five cachers behind you, rest assured that your swag, coupled with a bag that's been opened 5 more times, a log that is fatter from having been rolled and unrolled 5 times and MASHED against your "appropriate" mini swag along with new "appropriate" swag has all worked together to have completely wrecked the cache. Common sense.

 

No worries. I empty the micros and move the nonsense to the nearest "appropriate" cache, saving the next person from having to figure out how to get the 15 clowns into the tiny car.

 

I haven't noticed this to be the case when I return for maintenance visits.

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Sorry, but I will continue to place micros with swag and continue to place swag in micros. Of course the size of the swag will be appropriate. Common sense.

 

Yes, so when you walk away, I am sure that your mini swag fits and the lid is sealed. However, when I arrive five cachers behind you, rest assured that your swag, coupled with a bag that's been opened 5 more times, a log that is fatter from having been rolled and unrolled 5 times and MASHED against your "appropriate" mini swag along with new "appropriate" swag has all worked together to have completely wrecked the cache. Common sense.

 

No worries. I empty the micros and move the nonsense to the nearest "appropriate" cache, saving the next person from having to figure out how to get the 15 clowns into the tiny car.

 

I haven't noticed this to be the case when I return for maintenance visits.

I'm sure that has been your experience. Maybe it's a regional thing, but I regularly see the damage to the logs and containers in our area due to peoples attempts to put swag in micros. It's much more frequent occurrence than for larger containers.

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Sorry, but I will continue to place micros with swag and continue to place swag in micros. Of course the size of the swag will be appropriate. Common sense.

 

Yes, so when you walk away, I am sure that your mini swag fits and the lid is sealed. However, when I arrive five cachers behind you, rest assured that your swag, coupled with a bag that's been opened 5 more times, a log that is fatter from having been rolled and unrolled 5 times and MASHED against your "appropriate" mini swag along with new "appropriate" swag has all worked together to have completely wrecked the cache. Common sense.

 

No worries. I empty the micros and move the nonsense to the nearest "appropriate" cache, saving the next person from having to figure out how to get the 15 clowns into the tiny car.

 

I haven't noticed this to be the case when I return for maintenance visits.

I'm sure that has been your experience. Maybe it's a regional thing, but I regularly see the damage to the logs and containers in our area due to peoples attempts to put swag in micros. It's much more frequent occurrence than for larger containers.

Really...

 

I have cached across a wide area and its just not a problem.

 

My micros have certainly never been affected.

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I'm sure that has been your experience. Maybe it's a regional thing, but I regularly see the damage to the logs and containers in our area due to peoples attempts to put swag in micros. It's much more frequent occurrence than for larger containers.

 

Goes to show that people really like the swag-side of geocaching since some feel compelled to leave something.

 

Any of those micros listed as 'small' ? If so, the swag may have been left on principle, because smalls are supposed to have enough room for trade items.

 

If I was going to hide a micro (maybe a matchstick container) I'd make the rolled up logsheet small enough that there's still room in the container for a small pencil and 1 or 2 of mini trade items. For a lot of people swag is a big part of the fun.

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I read this thread yesterday and today happened to find my first micro with swag in it. The container was a specimen tube which could just hold the log but someone had managed to get a marble, a penny and two tic-tacs into it! It was quite annoying to have to remove these random items. I actually chucked the tic-tacs to be kind to future cachers as I can imagine them melting all over the log.

 

I've never even traded any swag while doing geocaching. But I can understand why some people like it. Just seems very silly to put things like that in a micro.

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Goes to show that people really like the swag-side of geocaching since some feel compelled to leave something.

Trouble is, there are more who feel compelled to leave something than who want to take something. For all the bellyaching that goes on here about swag deterioration, I have far more often seen overstuffed caches than empty caches. I've probably seen more overstuffed ammo cans than film cans, but that's because I've found a lot more ammo cans.

 

Now, much of that overstuffed swag has been there for years, so when I carry out the excess, it often goes straight into the trash.

 

But I figure as long as some people want to bring gifts to bestow upon the cache, I'll just help them by carrying out some of those gifts.

 

For my part, I don't care for trading, but I carry some tiny but interesting trinkets that I can leave when it's appropriate.

 

Edward

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Found one the other day that was made out of some PVC pipe. Very good construction but the owner had placed the log in a bag just to be safe. All this was ruined though by someone that just had to jam a hard plastic dino figure into it with a sharp tail that slashed the bag. You all can guess the results of this and the very wet winter we have had in NE Ohio. I will say though I think I discovered a new smell when I got the goop that was the log out, lol.

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Yes, that little 35mm film canister is just a tad small even for a GC once the log is rolled up in there. I am looking for a canister just slightly bigger to use for a micro cache into which a GC could fit.

 

What about using a small plastic container wher tablets,vitamins etc are sometimes sold?

They are bigger than a film canister, but still small enough to play with them ;)

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