Cache For Trash

[+BoredKitty]

I realize that in geocaching, the hunt is the biggest part of the fun but some people, like me, also like trading toys and trinkets. What really bugs me is that I see more and more caches that are full of junk. The most recent finds were broken toy parts, a coffee stirrer from a fast food place and a doggie doo bag. Come on, folks! If you take something nice, leave something equally nice! I usually add swag to caches that seem sadly lacking. If everyone does this then the treasure hunt will be that much more enjoyable! Sorry, had to vent! -BK

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Regrettable, but the closer to a city the cache is the faster it degrades. We returned to a cache last week with our daughter and son-in-law. From 9/6 until 11/21 the cache went from real nice to mostly junk. The caches away from the main roads usually remain junk free for longer periods of time. That's just the way most people behave (cheaply).

 

John of 2oldfarts

[dsandbro]

I cache just for the enjoyment of the hunt and find. There is usually nothing of interest to me in the cache. If I take anything, it is a food item, some broken swag or trash, or something freezing will damage. I usually then leave some AA batteries, Smokey Bear trinkets, or some mountain money (AKA toilet paper) in a waterproof bag. Otherwise I just sign the log TNLN.

 

Some people make a big deal about trading or leaving signature items. That's OK, it's not my style.

[+gerper]

Unfortunately, this is just "part of the game". I always leave nice items (ie, new) when I find a cache, and while I don't spend a fortune on them, I try to find things that someone would actually want (PEZ dispensers seem pretty popular, as do toy cars, etc.). I have found that it is more the search that is the actual prize, as well as the area. Heck, I lived 5 miles from a park for 22 years and didn't even know it existed until this past week when I did a cache!

[+Johnnie Stalkers]

We are still fairly new. The first few caches we traded we where more interested in the items and traded heavily. Now, unless we have shifty with us (he is 4), we don't trade.

 

There is one particular exception to this: If it is a good hunt or hiding spot or container we will add the best swag we have. Even more so if the container is understocked. So I guess we practice the ANTI-Robin Hood, but I think there is a balance here. The good caches/hunts are going to have better swag in them. The lousy ones we simply TNLNSL. This is reflected in the logs as well. I see a cache where EVERYONE simply says TNLN, I usually pass it over. I see a cache where everyone writes a short story my ears perk up. We police ourselves.

 

There are always going to be people who trade poorly, and all the posts in the world won't change that.

 

So I can assume that the better the caches I place the less maint. they will need from me as the cache owner? I think this might be true. I'll keep ya posted.

Edited November 26, 2003 by Johnnie Stalkers

[+Huntnlady]

We are still fairly new. The first few caches we traded we where more interested in the items and traded heavily. Now, unless we have shifty with us (he is 4), we don't trade.

 

There is one particular exception to this: If it is a good hunt or hiding spot or container we will add the best swag we have. Even more so if the container is understocked. So I guess we practice the ANTI-Robin Hood, but I think there is a balance here. The good caches/hunts are going to have better swag in them. The lousy ones we simply TNLNSL. This is reflected in the logs as well. I see a cache where EVERYONE simply says TNLN, I usually pass it over. I see a cache where everyone writes a short story my ears perk up. We police ourselves.

 

There are always going to be people who trade poorly, and all the posts in the world won't change that.

 

So I can assume that the better the caches I place the less maint. they will need from me as the cache owner? I think this might be true. I'll keep ya posted.

You said it well.

 

What it really amounts to is how well the cache is maintained. I am constantly stocking up at the dollar store in order to restock my caches. A couple of months ago I placed a nice cache in an ammo box- four visitors and the thing had nothing but junk. One person took three items and put in a travel bug! The owner has to watch out for stuff like that.

 

I unofficially adopted a well-traveled cache that had gotten to the point of a tupperware with a few old stickers and business cards in it. Gave it a new container because the old one was leaking. Emailed the owner to find out if he was still around, and got a reply but never saw anything change out at the cache. So now whenever I go to the park I take stuff for the cache, leave CITO bags in the cache, CITO the area around it, and the junk IN the cache. Instead of complaining and getting discouraged, I get satisfaction out of it- the cache is in a good place and I know it is in good shape, even if it isn't mine.

 

Last, know that everyone new to the sport finds "caches filled with trash." This'll pass with new cache experiences and finding the quality ones. Almost everyone likes to trade, but on some you give more than you receive.

[+BoredKitty]

I like the dollar store idea! It's cheap, convenient and you can get loads of nice trinkets for trading. I also collect pins, buttons and toys from the annual comic convention and trade those. I'm in it mostly for the hunt and the opportunity to photograph different caches and new places that I've never been to before, however, I must say that I also love trading little things. I think it's a chick thing??? -BK

[+funkycamper]

I don't think it's a chick thing as I'm a chick but I never trade items. I'm just not interested in that part of it all. I like the hunt, and being taken to locations that either I've never been to before or haven't been to for a long time. I am planning on hiding my first cache and went to the dollar store and tried to find decent, interesting items to fill the cache with and I will try to maintain it as much as possible to ensure it's not just junk filled after awhile. I'm also working on a signature item that I will probably start leaving in caches. However, I still doubt I will take anything most of the time unless something really hits me...like someone else's signature item or something I might need like batteries.

[muttz]

UhOh. Trading a chick thing? Now I am questioning my. . .um. . .er. . .sexuality <cough>. My wife wasn't too interested in the trinkets but I was. Mostly junk but still kind of special. Special because it was in the possession of someone who likes geocaching.

I am the newest of newbies. I have only just went out yesterday with my wife and found a cache. A real easy one for my first time. I needed one that would be gentle with me . . .so to speak <grin>.

Anyway, I left a Ruffies pocket trash bag dispenser with 25 one gallon bags that I picked up at Kmart just before we went hunting for the cache. I took a sunglasses clip that goes on the sun visor of one's vehicle to hold sunglasses. The foam on the clip was depressed where the glasses go so I knew it was used but that's okay.

I'm an artist and would like to have a small signature thingy that I could leave behind. That will take me some thought. I paint and sculpt. I no longer have access to a bronze foundry where I worked otherwise I would make a few hundred castings of some of the little sculptures I have done (Only a couple of inches high).

I like geology so maybe I'll leave some great rock samples. Of course that will probably tick off everyone who doesn't like geology. Maybe I can leave old coffee stirrers that have a trace of my DNA on them, then cut a piece of my ear off after producing hundreds of paintings, meet a tragic demise, and make everyone who has one of the coffee stirrers rich? In case someone isn't sure, the previous was a joke that involved some elements of VanGough's life <grin>.

Since the coffee stirrers could be considered as rude. Especially if one takes something nice. I say if one doesn't have something that is decent for geocaching, isn't the right theme item, or any other faux pas, then TNLN.

[+team walkingsticks]

Just for the record, I am really digging this word, "SWAG".

It's too cool.

 

I am planning a cache right now and I am going to some lengths to fill it with quality items. Real out of the ordinary, fun stuff I have found in a sweet catalog called American Science and Surplus. Many items are only a buck or two. Check out www.sciplus.com for fairly cheap, yet fun stuff.

 

Anyone know any other good places to find such swag...

 

Ooohhh, I said it again!

Edited November 29, 2003 by team walkingsticks

[+mlnapoli]

My girlfriend and I try to stock on items that relate to things we like to do. She is a volunteer firefighter and we stopped at Wally World and picked up toy firemen in the kids section. They were 50 fireman for $2.00. I have also created a calling card to leave behind. If we find something in the cache that interests us we will take it to move on to another cache. Otherwise we just SL and leave card.

[+Amazon Annie]

For the most part, I usually TNLN but if I find a cache that is exceptional, I'll leave some treasure that I have saved up. It's like leaving a generous 'tip' for great service. If I'm with my daughter, she gets first pick - a sure way to keep her coming out with me (even at 20 she's like a kid in a candy factory).

 

Lately there have been caches with scented candles and doggie treats that I think racoons have had their fun with. I've also found broken glass and bits of paper (from Kinder eggs?) rattling around. I did find a doggie biscuit in one cache that was shrink-wrapped though. That's a neat idea. In our area the winter is fast approaching and the contents need to be frost-proof.

 

I would like to make CITO (Cache in Trash Out) containers - there's a great discussion in another forum and people are making stickers for film containers that hold garbage bags. It's unfortunate that people cannot do more for the environment they are enjoying. I've seen enough Tim Horton cups on the trail to start my own franchise.

 

Wish we had a www.sciplus.com - looks like neat stuff!

[ATMouse]

I am getting ready to put out my first cache. (Should I be so excited? )

 

It is in what I'm guessing is a micro-cache container and I've put some good (and very thin) stuff in it. I am seriously considering telling people either take something and leave nothing until this is a true micro (only the logbook) or asking them to stay within the theme of the cache. (Ain't we too grand, I gotta theme going!!)

 

What say you all?

[sledopyty]

Well, how about good signature items? Make it interesting people! My wife and I just bought a bunch of collectible Smurf figures to leave in caches as our signature item. Watch out, Smurfs are coming to the cache near you. On a more serious note, I got interested in geocaching because its an active sport, not like watching football, although I like watching football too:) I enjoy having a little adventure once in a while and discover new places so this activity suits me well. What one finds in a cache is just a bonus - that's the way I look at it. Because of my point of view I never feel disappointed if there is nothing I want to take. It works, may be, some of you should try it:) IMHO.

[+Sparky-Watts]

I occasionally have added more than one item to a cache, if it seems particularly barren of decent treasure. However, I still am in it more for the hunt. One trip, I took my 4 y/o nephew, and let him pick what was taken and what was left. He bypassed all the geogems, toy cars, coins, etc. and picked up little army men. I have left only one sig item, and that is in my own cache; a toy ambulance, as I used to be a paramedic, and have about 100 of them around my office at home now. I think on most hunts, I have TNLN. I agree, when it is a particularly clever stache (did I just coin a word by typo?), I'm more likely to leave a good treasure than if it's just a plain tupperware container stuck under a bush by the side of the road.

 

errrrr, ummmmmmmm............. geoCaching

[+WalruZ]

I've found that museum stores and park intrepretive center stores often have small and unusual items at trinket-level prices. The Oakland Museum (north of me) had pewter acorns for under a buck apiece. (get it? Oakland - Acorn...) A park near me has hand-made replica arrowheads for 50c each. Almost all of them have cheap gemstones. Also, don't just hit the dollar store - try a party store or two. They usually have lots of gift bag stuffers that are unusual and fun.

 

It's about the hike AND the cache. If the cache didn't matter then a missing cache would be no big deal, but it is. I try to leave caches better than I found them. BTW, sometimes junk comes from muggles who don't trash the cache outright. Don't always blame the cachers.

[Kiwi cruiser]

Just for the record, I am really digging this word, "SWAG".

It's too cool.

 

.........Anyone know any other good places to find such swag...

 

Ooohhh, I said it again!

Hmmmmm..."SWAG".....

 

My understanding...and I could be wrong...i was once before ...is that Swag is originally an Australian term... not that I am standing up for Australians... perish the thought! No self respecting Kiwi(New Zealander) would.

A swag is a bedroll. A Swagman is like a hobo that carries his bedroll (swag) with him. Hence the term to "pack your swag" and leave or songs like "Once a jolly Swagman"....an old Aussie folk song.

Swag, now, in Australia, is a brand name of a type of bed roll..which I hasten to add...if you're ever over there and find yourself in a camping/outdoor type shop get yourself one..they are the best piece of camping equipment I have ever bought!

Just thought it was interesting how words seem to evolve as they move around and get used in different parts the world!

[+Sparky-Watts]

Just for the record, I am really digging this word, "SWAG".

It's too cool.

 

I am planning a cache right now and I am going to some lengths to fill it with quality items. Real out of the ordinary, fun stuff I have found in a sweet catalog called American Science and Surplus. Many items are only a buck or two. Check out www.sciplus.com for fairly cheap, yet fun stuff.

 

Anyone know any other good places to find such swag...

 

Ooohhh, I said it again!

I thought of you yesterday when I went out caching. Among my possessions of artifacts to leave in caches was a triangle shaped reflector with three flashing LEDs on the points. My wife got it at work from an advertising rep...the company's name was written on the item: SWAG! I left it in a cache in Wichita, KS, so if you're ever in the neighborhood, look it up! The cache name is Swanson Northeast.

 

Which brings up an off-topic question that I'm too lazy to find another forum to ask: How do I go about posting links to this or other caches in the forums? I'm VERY computer illiterate and really lazy about trying to find things on my own. Please help me!

[JamesAG]

oops

Edited December 5, 2003 by dgarner

[+BoredKitty]

Hee hee! Like the definition for 'swag'! Tell it to the pirates! Anyway, my new cache was a great success. I alternated between leaving tiny charms such as gold footballs, hardhats, etc and toe rings and anklebracelets. I personally love when someone leaves a signature item like a rubber frog or gecko. Some sweet person left a silver necklace for me because it was my first cache. I mostly enjoy reading the log entries though. I love hearing from people! -BK

[Baby Panda]

so ok then most of us know that it's the hunt for the cache and the view that is the reward, but what do you class as the min value of a swap. when I have swaped it can be anything from a mctoy up to free tickets (£10) but the harder or more distance for the cache then I think the better the cache should be.