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I was just wondering what you (any geocacher reading this post) consider to be the best thing to find or leave in a cache. I usually leave a deck of cards, but I want some other ideas of cool things to leave in a cache.

 

McWeb :lol:

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I made my own geotoken recently. I have started leaving them in caches, but I didn't know if others would think they were a cool find or not. I always liked to find someone's signature item, and that's why I made my own. I wanted to make my own geocoin, but don't have the money to do that right now. I would love to find a moun10bike coin, and although I would be tempted to keep it, I don't think I would. Maybe one of these days I will make my own coin.

 

McWeb

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I found a digital pedometer in a cache, that I still use to this day while hiking/geocaching. A space blanket was also a welcome addition to my pack, and of course every pack should have a cyalume stick.

 

I put a walkman-style am/fm radio in my cache, but after 12-13 finds, nobody has yet taken it. I finally added in the description that it wanted a home and there was no need to trade anything for it, but on my last maint. visit, it was still there. Oh well, it's a bit of a hike to get to this cache so it doesn't get alot of visitors.

 

As far as cool things to leave in a cache...signature items are always neat to see, but I rarely trade for them. As for trade items, I always like to see things that have to do with hiking and camping; space blankets, cyalume sticks, first aid kits, multi-tools (oops), compasses, caribiners...really, anything that you would like to have packed in your own backpack would probably make a great trade item that most finders would like/appreciate, particularly if the cache is not an urban cache.

Edited by 4x4van
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4X4Van, I love your sig quote!

<QUOTE> We don't stop playing because we grow old...we grow old because we stop playing!</QUOTE>

 

I think I'll steal it. Kinda like the message behind "Never Die" by Creed.

 

Fits me to a tee!

 

Best trade I've ever had was a new wallet that I still carry. I needed a new one and voila! there it was. (can't remember what I traded and it probably was NOT quite fair.)

 

I also got a really nice FTF prize of a clip watch with thermometer and a 1928 silver dollar.

 

There is a problem with good stuff in caches, it is hard to trade even or up for COOL stuff.

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I like to leave a small bag of prehistoric sharks teeth. I live in Florida near Venice. This is the sharks tooth capital of the world. My wife and I do a lot of scuba diving for sharks teeth, and find many of them. Until I started geocaching though, I never new what to do with them once I found them.

 

I think most people visiting Florida and geocaching would appreciate finding some teeth. They are between 4 and 20 million years old. Pretty kewl pieces of history.

:lol:

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As for regular swag I like mini LED lights, batteries are always good, geo-stuff is definitely good (hats, stickers etc...), cheap but good compass' etc...

 

As far as the best items I have left: $20 bills, 18v cordless drills, $10-$20 gift cards.

 

The best FTF prizes I've found was probably a $10 Blockbuster gift card.

 

It's not about the swag but it's nice when a cache owner takes pride in their hide.

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I’m getting some great ideas from you guys! I try to put at least one really sweet item in with the trinkets and stuff. When I plant an off trail/backpacking cache I’m going to try to keep it to hiking items like a tent stake, lexan spoon, led light, match case whistle, ect. I thought some McDonald’s gift certificates would be good for a more urban cache.

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i saw a native american arrow head in a cache the other day. not that you could use them to put in caches all the time :( but... i thought it was very nifty. always wanted to find one since i was a wee lad. of course... i forgot my swag in the car. plus, from my point of view, it's worth a really good trade in return... so i had to leave it. but, that was the neatest thing to me personally.

 

deck of cards.... lol, i leave the same thing a lot :D i have a stash of a bunch of bicycle playing cards in the car (can get 'em for a buck a pack at the dollar store), as well as a bunch of pc games i've played out.

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Mopar is by far the bestest thing I ever found in a cache . . . well, at a cache event anyway.

 

He had a canoe and no one to paddle with and I had a paddle and no canoe to paddle in . . . and there it is . . . fate!

 

Of course, this thread may have had something to do with it.

 

Whatever! :(

 

How lucky am I??? THE LUCKIEST, EVER!

 

ee1a2f91-eed2-4f68-a43b-fd542a0f4786.jpg

 

Happy caching and stuff!! I just LOVE the STUFF I find in caches . . . or cache events! :D

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My favorite find was a sig item with a picture of Jeepers and Memphis on it. It was the first sig item I had ever come across and it somehow made a change in the game for me. It was kinda weird because before I found her sig item, the game didn't seem to have much of a personal aspect to it. After I found it, I realized there were real people behind the game and it didn't seem so much like just a container of trinkets I was hunting for and handling. There was a history behind the cache. It was pretty cool. And it inspired me to make my own sig items that I leave along with other trade items.

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So far I've taken to leaving boot laces. It seems kind of silly, but they're really practical. I'm sure some people who have been doing this longer than I have have worn out many pairs of boot laces, and probably a few pairs of boots to well... boot. :(

 

I've come across a couple really cool plastic frogs, very realistic looking, so far. Also, the last cache I found had some dice. Since it was my third try at it and the first two times were "no dice", I just had to take the dice.

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We're still pretty new to it so I don't really know what our favorite item has been...I imagine Mr. Itchymax would say it was the bendy ScoobyDoo that we last got. Personally I'm suprised at how much out and out junk there is in these things...example: who wants or needs a plastic knife from Wendy's? I personally like seeing postcards, etc...it's fun to see the wide variety but rarely do I want or need any of it (granted, we're only up to 6 finds.) We've decided that we're just going to leave our new signature item and take other signature items and add them into the scrapbook that I'm making instead of taking more stuff to clutter up our house. B)

 

--Mrs. Itchymax

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We have taken many batteries out of caches that have been corroded -- any moisture will seem to get to them. We have also taken batteries that worn down so quickly that we wondered if perhaps someone changed batteries and left the old ones! Batteries in their original shrink wrap seemed to be ok, but I don't think I would leave loose ones.

 

Also -- I know people think it is cool to leave dog treats -- but....once they mold they are not so nice to find! Yuck

 

JegMag

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Also -- I know people think it is cool to leave dog treats -- but....once they mold they are not so nice to find!  Yuck

 

JegMag

Dog Treats?

They don't usually get a chance to get moldy. Usually wild animals destroy the cache trying to get to the food long before they get moldy.

Edited by Mopar
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I found a Giftcard for Buca's that I thought was just from a junkdrawer and was old. I really thought it had zero credit on it since nobody said anything about it on the logbook or online.

 

Before I tossed it I thought I'd check and see the value of it. Just $10 bucks but surprised the crap outta me.

 

I have now been extra careful to look for more of these.

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As a FTF prize I found a GPSr in a cache. It was a Magellin 3000, but it still worked just fine. I gave it to my brother who got into the sport.

 

And there was the time I was doing several caches in a park. At the first one there was an abandoned bicycle nearby, so I took the bicycle and left my signature Ladybug Magnet. It had no working brakes, but it did save walking all over the park. That bicycle may even be in my garage today- hey, I never said I was an angel.

 

However, the best find I ever had was left by a muggle who discovered the cache and traded up. They left a full Heinekin in a new one of those can cozys. It was on a hot day after several miles, and that beer sure went well with a tin of sardines for lunch. The cache was hidden in a log, so the beer was even cool.

 

Imagine that, my best find ever is banned from caches!

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AA batteries? Don't batteries in a cache just go dead? or leak?

Many batteries today (at least the better ones) have an expiration date and they are good for quite a few years. You should leave them in some kind of package. Don't just leave them loose in the cache.

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We went caching today to a cache we had tried last summer, but gave up on. I think there was a reason we were supposed to come back. I was looking through the usual stuff... cars, happy meal type toys, etc... and saw what looked like a gift card (from GAP). I borrowed one of the cell phones to check the balance, and got the shock of my life when it said the balance was $100 !!!! :P:P I think my daughter nearly fell off the cliff, too. Well, we left as much from our caching bag as we could. It had been left January 19 by someone that apparently does not log online, and 7 other cachers had found it since then. Did they not notice it, think it was a junk card, or feel they shouldn't take it? The person leaving it even said he thought is was worth $100. I don't know.... we went shopping a while ago, and got 5 pairs of pants and 2 shirts for $123. Yes, I spent some, but we sure got a lot of mileage out of that card. Thanks, anonymous cacher! That sure helped out our clothing budget! :lol:

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We went caching today to a cache we had tried last summer, but gave up on. I think there was a reason we were supposed to come back. I was looking through the usual stuff... cars, happy meal type toys, etc... and saw what looked like a gift card (from GAP). I borrowed one of the cell phones to check the balance, and got the shock of my life when it said the balance was $100 !!!! :P:P I think my daughter nearly fell off the cliff, too. Well, we left as much from our caching bag as we could.

That's awesome!! I wish I could leave something that cool in every cache I found. It would sure make someone's day, like it did yours. I bet that person had just that idea in mind when they left it.

 

McWeb :lol:

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I've found lots of great stuff in the year and a half that I've been at this. But the thing that really gets me going are the Moun10bike Geocoins. I once did one cache in Idaho, one in Washington, and one in Montana (Tri State Multi) each of which had a portion of the coordinates to the final. The final contained a Moun10bike Geocoin. I've been priveleged to find three of these and I always keep one until I find another. There are, it seems, never very many of these "in the wild."

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I've found lots of great stuff in the year and a half that I've been at this. But the thing that really gets me going are the Moun10bike Geocoins. I once did one cache in Idaho, one in Washington, and one in Montana (Tri State Multi) each of which had a portion of the coordinates to the final. The final contained a Moun10bike Geocoin. I've been priveleged to find three of these and I always keep one until I find another. There are, it seems, never very many of these "in the wild."

I'm jealous! I would love to find one of these, but I don't think any have ever made it to Texas. I used to live in Idaho, but wasn't as avid a geocacher at that time. I probably missed my chance.

 

McWeb

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Well, If you want to now what i usually put for FTF is a gift Certificate or some Money, and sometime GC merchindise

 

In our newest cache it is locatedinside a Barnes and Noble so we left money to by some coffe or refreshments

 

One of our caches called Super Size it Please (it is a huge container) we left a 1 (or 5) pound of sees candy Certificate

 

I think people like (well i do) when there is a FTF prize, so thats why we usually put one becuase people will want to come the the cache. :)

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