We like trading items, who else?

January 7, 2003

It seems that whenever a topic comes up regarding trade items there are many cachers who say "I never trade, it's all about the hunt, you can't get rich from trade items, etc."

Agree that it is great to get out in the fresh air, have some fun with friends and family,and fun to find the cache regardless of what is inside,

But... we LOVE the trading part. I take something (if there are tradables) from every cache we visit. We like the idea of having a momento of each cache we visit, be it a sticker, coin, golf ball, or a real treasure like Planet's ornaments or one of TTepee's (hope I got the spelling correct) totem pouches. Another reason why we like trading is that we enjoy being on the lookout for cache trade items when we are out shopping.

It seems like some cachers almost want us to feel guilty about trading. A few that I've spoken with even regard themselves as "purists" because they simply find the cache and sign the log. One group even refers to themselves as the "TNLN Gang."

Should we feel quilty about enjoying the trading aspect? C'mon, who else likes trading?

4.8k · January 7, 2003

I like trading. I have picked up some odd little things that have become special to me even though many would consider them junk. In particular, I picked up this tiny little mangled chicken made out of a pom-pom. I found it charming for some reason. I also have some little stuffed animals of sorts that the people who left them wrote to me with some interesting info about them after I picked them up. One was part of a wedding joke in Florida and ended up in Nebraska. I also like finding and leaving signature items. I don't always take something if there is nothing of interest to me (which is fairly rare) and I always leave some items. I agree that I like to watch for items to leave while shopping as well.

January 7, 2003

I like to trade too.... I'm up to a whopping 4 caches now but I have a problem. I like caching for it's simplicity (i.e. to seek and find), so what can I trade into these caches that most people wont find as junk that won't break my limited budget?

Thoughts anyone?

"Seek and ye shall find"

1.6k · January 7, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by SpinnerB82002:
I like to trade too.... I'm up to a whopping 4 caches now but I have a problem. I like caching for it's simplicity (i.e. to seek and find), so what can I trade into these caches that _most_ people wont find as junk that won't break my limited budget?

Thoughts anyone?

I found some foreign coin sales on Ebay that end up costing about 50 cents per coin.

Try local hardware stores and outdoor stores. Many of them have little impulse items that cost a buck or so. These are sometimes nice trade items.

Geocoins are pricey, but poker chips are less expensive, so you could come up with a Geochip.

Scrounge the sale bins at officemax, often there are pens or other small items that are bundled together that individually are affordable.

By appointment to the Court of HRM Queen Mikki I.

January 7, 2003

I love to trade, and usually do. If there's stuff that's decent, but nothing I'd like personally, I usually take it and drop it off somewhere else later. There's always the hope that there's a little something that would be cool in a cache...

as for SpinnerB82002... Dollar type stores have some good stuff. Some craft stores have some pretty cool things cheap. Look around. Got some trinket or doodad a while back, it's in good shape, but you don't use/need it? Almost anything *in good condition* makes a good trade item, somtehing that might interest someone down the line...

I walk the Maze of Moments, but everywhere I turn to, begins a new beginning, but never finds a finish... -Enya, Anywhere Is

3k · January 7, 2003

I love the trade. Items I trade include:

blaze orange safety vests and hats during hunting season, mosquito head nets, whistles with thermometers and compasses in them, hand made items, compasses, jewelry, pencil sharpeners, first aid kits, pocket knifes, trinkets, toys (new, in the package if it fits in cache), extra log books, books, crayons, you name it, if it's affordable and something I wouldn't mind finding I pick it up at the store. The problem is all caches are covered in snow right now around here, and my car is filling up with trade items! A few times I find that the cache is depleted, nothing of interest in it, so I fill it with goodies and take nothing. That gives me a good feeling.

Cache you later,

Planet

"To err is human, to forgive....$5.00"

[This message was edited by Planet on January 07, 2003 at 01:49 PM.]

38.2k · January 7, 2003

If there is anything decent in the cache, I'll trade. If its all junk, but the cache is in good shape, I take nothing, but will leave a bunch of stuff to spice it up a bit for the next finders. The list of items I'll bring along to trade looks a lot like Planet's list above.

If the cache is in lousy shape...watersoaked, etc... I won't bother taking, or leaving anything.

"Paternalism is the greatist despotism" - Emmanual Kant

January 7, 2003

quote:
It seems like some cachers almost want us to feel guilty about trading... Should we feel quilty about enjoying the trading aspect?

If anything, it seems the opposite to me... I've seen some cachers try to make you feel guilty for NOT trading.

As far as I can see, all the 'official' information about geocaching on this website indicates that trading is the norm, although they also indicate that it is optional. So it seems to me that you should never feel 'guilty' about it one way or the other.

Personally, I think it's great that it can go either way. That way, you can decide whether or not to trade on a cache by cache, as the situation arises. Some caches are better for trading than others due to size of container, how many items are already there, etc. Some have trading 'themes', so if that's the case, I'll make an extra effort to trade in keeping with the theme. On the other hand, it's impossible to trade at some mini caches because there's no place to fit the items. I've even seen a couple of caches where the hider tells you to TAKE something without leaving anything!

Personally, I don't usually trade, it just doesn't appeal to me very much. But I would NEVER get on anyone else's case for trading - if that's what you enjoy about geocaching, then go for it!

January 7, 2003

Bigger and Better Geocaches!!!!! Why do all the Geocaches have to be filled up with Junk Drawer Items and crap!! I mean comeon guys and gals. If you set up a cache that is well hidden why can't there be anything good you find?

If I go and hike for three hours to find a cache, which is fun in itself, I would also like to find an item of value or worth. The caches with actual cool things in them to be found should also be replaced with items of equal or greater value! Wouldn't this have an all new meaning in finding a cache in a well hidden spot? This is a treasure hunt, not a junk hunt!

-Ryno

January 7, 2003

Are you kidding? My kid and my hubby wouldn't even bother to get into the car without a promise of a trinket at the end of the hunt...! We read in another thread somebody's joking comment about using their geocache finds as Christmas-tree ornaments and now all our choices from caches center around whether or not it'll work on a tree!

The Dollar Store is our new hangout, and we've also increased sales at the Oriental Trading Company... but it's difficult to say what "great trade items" are. Every time I've read other people's suggestions, I've never seen two that matched. Proves that "treasure is in the eye of the beholder", I guess! (Yeah, I know I messed that up.)

However, I do notice a common theme surrounding used golf balls and their inadequacy as trade items. Ditto that thought!

4.5k · January 7, 2003

We love to trade! Finding the cache is quite fun in itself but finding something nifty inside to trade for makes it even better. We especially like handcrafted, one of a kind, doesnt have to be expensive items. As someone mentioned above, a souvenir GeoCacher's signature item is just too cool!

1.2k · January 7, 2003

and it's contagious. I originally got into Geocaching because it was something the kids and I could do together and we all enjoyed. I enjoyed messing with the gadgets (GPSR, Palm Pilot, Cell Phone, GPSR hooked to the Palm Pilot, etc, etc, etc) and getting outside with the kids. The kids enjoyed the hikes and hunting for the cach, but most of all they love the trading!! I am more into what we are going to leave while they are more into what we are going to take.

We basically leave the same list of items all the time, depending on what we take we try to make a good trade with one or more items to come to an equal or better value than what we take.

We leave items from various places we like to visit, or any unique places we visit even on a one time basis, such as items from the Battleship Texas gift shop regularly, and as an example, I still have a number of items I picked up at the D-Day Museum in New Orleans last summer that I trade with. I'll trade them until I run out and then maybe I'll have found a new source. I created an entire cache with items from the Foresty Museum in Lufkin, Texas for another example.

The trading is a major part of Geocaching for us and we are dedicated to being good at it...

"Trade up, trade even, or don't trade!!!" My philosophy of life.

January 7, 2003

I may not always take something from a cache but i always leave something, and i love looking at what is in there anyway! I too like looking for goodies to put in a cache wherever i go...that can be almost as much fun as caching!

Darkmoon

No, I am not lost...I am where I am suppose to be...At least I think so?

2.7k · January 7, 2003

It depends. If there's an item that seems appealing...I'll grab it providing I have something to trade it for. Usually pocket knives and other similar useful stuff. I always like geocoins and travel bugs.

January 7, 2003

One Man's Junk Is Another Man's Treasure!

So, that being said, I have gone to caches that are full of goodies & can't make up my mind what to take, & of course the "junk" depends on how junkie it is. Some are pretty bad. But I like the outdoors. I need the excercise. I like the challenge. And I have been to places that I never knew were there. And I've lived here all my life.

rocker51

1.4k · January 8, 2003

I buy neat patches off ebay in bulk and trade those. They're better than used and broked up golf balls and usually you can get 150 for around $10 on ebay if you look around enough.

I am also very lucky and have a great dollar store nearby that cycles in and out neat $1 items. That way, not everyone in the area gets the same things from teh dollar store

quote:
Originally posted by SpinnerB82002:
I like to trade too.... I'm up to a whopping 4 caches now but I have a problem. I like caching for it's simplicity (i.e. to seek and find), so what can I trade into these caches that _most_ people wont find as junk that won't break my limited budget?

Thoughts anyone?

"Seek and ye shall find"

--------

trippy1976 - Team KKF2A

Saving geocaches - one golf ball at a time.

January 8, 2003

Like Slyther said, My kid would outright rebel if our "Treasure Hunts" turned into logbook signing parties. When she's along, I let her do the picking, and it's amazing what a little kid will get excited about. In one cache that had quite a few good things, she latched onto two plastic golf "ball markers" , said they were cymbals and would hardly put them down for the next week. You know that if they weren't stolen from the golf course they were worth 4 cents, max.

Aside from that, one good trade item that I haven't seen mentioned here are batteries. If you buy in bulk from the warehouse stores, they don't run too much. After all, GPSr's can eat batteries!

"Could be worse...could be raining"

January 8, 2003

I don't trade... often.

I know I've said otherwise in other threads (that I don't trade, and usually just leave things) but truth be told, that's only what I do *most* of the time.

If there's something I want, I will trade for it. For example, yesterday, I found a pair of handcuffs (with keys) in a cache. I know someone who would just love a pair (though I won't tell you what he uses them for) and so I traded for them, so that I could give them to him.

So, yes. In honesty, I do trade, but not particularly often.

------

An it harm none, do what ye will

January 8, 2003

I'm another one who caches 90% of the time with kids in tow, and would probably be torn limb from limb if we didn't trade items. Never ceases to amaze me what catches their eye...usually they both want the same thing!

BTW I started a new cache afew months ago filled with nice items (nothing under $10) just to see what would happen as far as trading fairly, so far I have been pleasantly surprised to find that most cachers are very focused on trading fairly, to the point that I've had a log that said "we would have traded but had nothing of equal value".

January 9, 2003

WE also love to trade. Our 3 year old would not make it if he didn't get the promise of treasure. Of course he chooses the oddest things, he loves golf tees. It can be discouraging to walk for a long time and find a bunch of junk in a cache, especially a new one. I like coming up with neat things to leave and tend to make little bags of goodies for kids. I have a kid's party company and have tons of odds and ends for favors. I know kids like bags of stuff. I haven't been lucky enough to find a signature item yet. At least not one I recognized. STill looking!

January 9, 2003

CT Trampers I'm glad you like trading items cause I like finding your trades ...a couple of the nicest treasures I've snatched have been from your caches.

It's always fun to find a cache that you can tell the hider had fun filling the cache. The procurement process of quality stashables is a whole another aspect of the fun of the game for me. I have always got my eyes open..you never know where you might find that desired item. It's also another way that the game creeps into all areas of your life....ie.. at work I order all our office supplies from viking because with every order they give you a free gift depending on how much you spend. I've gotten cool flashlights, calculators, clocks...stuff like that. This way I get to put something in the cache that is worth abit more than I usually spend but didn't have to actually lay it out.

Don't get me wrong though...I'm never dissappointed if I don't find something that grabs my fancy in a cache...that's just a bonus, the real treasure in it for me is having something that has consistently kept my interest for close to 2years now that keeps me thinking, learning, meeting great people and gets me off my fat butt and back out on the trails. That my friend is a true treasure!

1.4k · January 9, 2003

I love to trade and it's always fun to look at all of the stuff in a cache. Of course, there are always some items that make me and if there isn't anything really nice I try to leave a fun and useful item.

Jeff

http://www.StarsFellOnAlabama.com

http://www.NotAChance.com

January 10, 2003

I often plan my trades as a way to either match the theme of a cache or to get something I need for another cache.

There is a Hot Wheels cache near me that wants small toy cars. I don't have any so I traded for one from another cache. Same thing with the PEZ cache, I don't eat PEZ candy so I found a PEZ dispensor in another cache that will go to the PEZ cache.

I really like Travel Bugs... so if I take one should I trade something for it? Or is a TB a special item that doesn't need a trade?

Fair winds, Capn Skully

January 10, 2003

I always leave something even if I don't take anything.The only time I take anything any more if it's a metal pin that I don't have.I'm collecting them and putting then on a black leather vest.

"Everything's Eventual"-Stephen King

"Maybe isn't a answer,only yes or no"-R.W.Blackburn

January 12, 2003

I have only found one cache so far, but I'm looking forward to trading. I have a whole drawer full of things to stock my backpack with.

Trading will be a fun part of geocaching for me, but when I think about geocaching, I think of it as "Someone hid something from me, and now I have to try and find it" so it doesn't really matter what was hid. Trading will be a fun bonus for me.

January 12, 2003

there would only be virtual and locatioonless caches...

I love trading when there is something appealing to me..Now that i cache all my packs have pocket knives in them....I don't always trade, sometimes I drop 4 or 5 things in the cache to spice it up..

Let me tell you M.R.E's taste great after 3 hours of searching on an empty belly...

Sunbug, my partner in Caching, has never taken anything, she just likes the fact that she gets out of the house and can be out in nature having fun searching....

See you in the woods!

Natureboy1376

We like trading items, who else?

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