Swag caches

[Gabeman26]

Hello everyone I'm new to the site.

So I usually call them treasures but I guess people call them swag so anyways if you find an empty cache big enough for swag and you have way too much, is it okay to put more than 3 things in there?

 

 

Also does is it okay to put Did Not Find or does that bother the players that put the caches?

[+Wet Pancake Touring Club]

How much you leave is up to you. If a kid-friendly cache is running low, I will leave several items. Depends on what I have on hand.

IMO, Did Not Find means I looked for the cache, and I did not find it. I don't care if that bothers the cache owner. That said, I usually include the amount of time that I spent looking for the cache, and other pertinent facts (like it was raining cats and dogs). This may help others, including the cache owner.

Edited April 23, 2018 by Wet Pancake Touring Club
Typo

[+Lynx Humble]

I always log my DNF if I went to Ground Zero, look for it, expand my search area, read hints/others logs and found nothing.

The others cachers and the cache owner want to know if the cache is hard to find or if its still even there anymore. 

[+niraD]

1 hour ago, Gabeman26 said:

So I usually call them treasures but I guess people call them swag so anyways if you find an empty cache big enough for swag and you have way too much, is it okay to put more than 3 things in there?

It's fine to "trade up", even if that means adding trade items in exchange for taking none.

FWIW, I avoid the phrases "treasure" or "treasure hunt" when describing geocaching. I prefer the term "scavenger hunt" because in a scavenger hunt the items you find are generally worthless, and the value is in the experience of finding them.

1 hour ago, Gabeman26 said:

Also does is it okay to put Did Not Find or does that bother the players that put the caches?

If I reach ground zero and search for the cache, then I post either a Find or a DNF.

[+Team DEMP]

When we first started caching in 2003, it was a family affair with younger (10 yr old & 8 yr old) girls. It didn't matter what was in the cache - they were trading something for it and it was always an even or better item that went in the cache.  15 yrs later, I don't carry much of any swag and often don't even notice what swag is in the cache.  

2 years ago I went out on a cache run about 2 weeks before a Mega event and I put as much swag into each cache I found to fill it up. I got the find and some kids at the upcoming Mega got what they wanted. Win-win all around. Fill up a cache with whatever seems appropriate and as already noted, take some - leave something.

I'm a DNF guy - if I get to the spot and can't find it, I mark it as a DNF. If I come back a 2nd and 3rd time and still can't find it, each time I log another DNF. No cache owner should ever get upset at a DNF being logged but in your log, never assume it's missing unless you previously found it or are with someone else who has previously found it. I add almost all DNFs to my watchlist until the cache is either found by me or archived by the cache owner should it have gone missing and they don't want to replace it.

[+niraD]

16 minutes ago, Team DEMP said:

If I come back a 2nd and 3rd time and still can't find it, each time I log another DNF.

Yep. My record so far is 6 DNFs on a single cache, before finally finding it on the 7th attempt.

[+cerberus1]

2 hours ago, Gabeman26 said:

So I usually call them treasures but I guess people call them swag so anyways if you find an empty cache big enough for swag and you have way too much, is it okay to put more than 3 things in there?

Also does is it okay to put Did Not Find or does that bother the players that put the caches?

I don't say anything about "treasure" to anybody.  I believe that's part of the reason why we've had problems with this hobby over the years.  The site themselves called it a "high tech treasure hunt" for some time.  I prefer another they started,  "The language of location".  We feel the reason take instead of swag trade is due to those who think of caching as a  treasure hunt, and probably why trackables go bye-bye too.  Treasure...

When we know that a lot of (actual) small or regular caches are in the day, we'll bring a small pack to load as much as possible into the caches without interfering with the log and closure.  We now have two steamer trunks fulla "stuff" ,and  since many are calling a pill bottle a small (actually a micro...), we can't get rid of stuff fast enough to what friends/relatives leave off "to help" with our hobby.  Don't wanna hurt their feelings, and say "the kids will love it".  Have two cases of balsa airplanes alone.    

If you looked for the cache and didn't find it, it's a DNF. 

[+colleda]

3 hours ago, Gabeman26 said:

Also does is it okay to put Did Not Find or does that bother the players that put the caches?

Not at all. Most cache owners would want to see DNFs if players didn't find it along with any relevant information about your search, e.g. has the area around GZ been disturbed due to land clearing, construction, storm, fire, flood, animals etc?  It can give the owner early warning as to the state of the cache, and the possibility of needing maintenance and the possibility it's gone AWOL.