What custom swag do you like to see?

[+lotuscaching]

Hi all, this is my first post so I apologise in advance for any mistakes.

 

I'm a new geocacher who is already hopelessly addicted to the hobby, and I've been making an effort to leave small swag items behind in those barren caches (seriously, who leaves a used hairtie as swag?!). So far I've been dropping off bouncy balls, slinkies and mini rubix cubes from the dollar store. My favourite swag to pick up is anything hand made.

 

I'm also studying graphic design, which is where my question comes in. I was thinking of designing some button pins or keychains to leave behind as a sort of signature item, but I'm not sure what sort of designs people would find interesting. Geocaching related? Local animals/locations? Slogans? Something else? Let me know what you think!

[+SamLowrey]

I don't know how helpful it will be but it makes me think of a "signature item" I would seek out.  A guy named "SecretSpy" left these little tungsten carbide metal lathe bits.  They were excellent.  Small, had a real heft to them, interesting to look at.  I got a few of them.  I went back in the forums to make sure I had the name right and found a reference here:

 

 

They are far too expensive to buy for a trade item, though.  Pic below of what they looked like:

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2020 by SamLowrey

[+TmdAndGG]

Pathtags are usually pretty cool, though expensive

http://pathtags.com

I personally like any kind of custom swag. There are lots of ideas here. |

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[+cerberus1]

4 hours ago, lotuscaching said:

I'm a new geocacher who is already hopelessly addicted to the hobby, and I've been making an effort to leave small swag items behind in those barren caches (seriously, who leaves a used hairtie as swag?!). So far I've been dropping off bouncy balls, slinkies and mini rubix cubes from the dollar store. My favourite swag to pick up is anything hand made.

 

I'm also studying graphic design, which is where my question comes in. I was thinking of designing some button pins or keychains to leave behind as a sort of signature item, but I'm not sure what sort of designs people would find interesting. Geocaching related? Local animals/locations? Slogans? Something else? Let me know what you think!

 

A search (top right of all forum pages...)  shows "swag" likes vary a lot.   

Most low D/T caches that families can access, "custom" swag (we feel) takes a back-seat to the kids items you mention.

Most adult who still trade for swag ("trade" being the key word...), might look for signature items mostly.

 

A "signature" item represents who you are.   It doesn't have to be only about you, but could relate to your likes.

I now occasionally leave  unactivated cerberus  geocoins in caches I liked, or as a means to get someone to walk a bit.

I like to climb.  Tree climbs using rope mostly.  Our first couple years we left low-end (but functional) carabiners with our name imprinted.

One family had those tiny compass zipper pulls with their name imprinted.  

A fly fisherman near us left custom flies he tied.  We actually kept track where he went.  A "custom" sig item that we looked for.  

We've found a lot of signature poker chips, wooden nickels, buttons and such , that simply had a cacher's name on 'em.  

 

[+RocTheCacheBox]

Anything with your caching name engraved in it that's gold, silver, platinum or jewel encrusted would be fine for me!

[+Max and 99]

7 hours ago, lotuscaching said:

bouncy balls, slinkies and mini rubix cubes

This is what I like to find. 

 

7 hours ago, lotuscaching said:

button pins

I leave these behind. They just don't appeal to me. Sorry!

[+The Jester]

2 hours ago, RocTheCacheBox said:

Anything with your caching name engraved in it that's gold, silver, platinum or jewel encrusted would be fine for me!

That's what I was thinking about myself...

 

Trading even or up would be "interesting"...

[Darwin473]

7 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

We've found a lot of signature poker chips...

 

And here I thought I was being sooo original when I thought up of this! I made a few the hard way, went online to see if there was an easier way to do it and/or make them better. Then I found out there was a whole industry devoted to custom poker chips. Who knew?

 

I'm still working on my aluminium etching skills, but I've put in an order to my local library to get some little coins 3D printed. They charge pennies for what I'd be getting (they have a $6,000 3D printer) and 3D printing would be perfect for custom swag items (especially if you make the extra effort to paint them) though I can't justify spending even a few hundred on buying my own machine (no matter how much I want one!)

 

12 hours ago, lotuscaching said:

I'm not sure what sort of designs people would find interesting.

 

My opinion? If you have a technique that you like (one "easy" way to make medallions is to buy a bunch of coin capsules, paper print an insert and fill it with epoxy resin) that lets you make a handful at a time so that you can refine and improve your design to what you like. I plan on putting the month and year on my stuff, so if it somehow ends up in circulation for a while, people can see how long it's been in play.

[+RocTheCacheBox]

18 hours ago, The Jester said:

21 hours ago, RocTheCacheBox said:

Anything with your caching name engraved in it that's gold, silver, platinum or jewel encrusted would be fine for me!

That's what I was thinking about myself...

 

Trading even or up would be "interesting"...

 

I've got a geopack full of swag. 

I think 3 golf balls and a few ketchup packets would be a fair trade for a engraved gold key chain.

Maybe even throw in a well worn beanie baby to be safe. 

[+Jimrky]

lotuscaching - As I haven't seen it anywhere above WELCOME TO GEOCACHING! You're in a very special time: You are a Newbie, the life-blood of our Sport! So many things to learn, experience, add your unique contribution to - enjoy.

 

As you can see, everyone has their own 'take' on SWAG (Stuff We All Get). From giant plastic bugs to individualized GeoCoins, the possibilities are endless. And, yes, as you've found most of them have already been monetized as industries - Challenge Coins have been around a long while (although not trackable) for instance. I try to follow a few, simple, things when selecting/creating SWAG:

1) Durable AND Waterproof

2) In some wise unique or identifying of us (Bethie_Biker and I cache as a couple most often)

3) Within the means of the Average Cacher in-the-field to TRADE EVEN (or better)

4) Just basically attractive

 

After that it could be anything. Hope this, in some small wise, helps!

ENJOY GEOCACHING !

[+The Jester]

4 hours ago, RocTheCacheBox said:

 

I've got a geopack full of swag. 

I think 3 golf balls and a few ketchup packets would be a fair trade for a engraved gold key chain.

Maybe even throw in a well worn beanie baby to be safe. 

Naw, I think the beanie baby would be way too much...

[+jaysonC]

I handmade some stickers to leave - I'm no artist, but I made some simple cache-themed stickers using what drawing supplies I have, paper name tags, and tape to at least make them a little bit more resistant to weather. I have a coin collection though, with a lot of spare world and out of circulation coinage in jars, so I might start leaving some of them behind. Less custom than the stickers, but certainly more "signature" to me since that's another hobby I enjoy.