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Goodies in a Cache


EthicalEgoist

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Just out of curiosity I'm interested in what people's favorite trinkets and "prizes" for caches have been. What do you like to find? What do you typically leave? The reason that I ask is because I'm thinking of planting a few new caches in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and I want to get a good idea of what people find fun, memorable, interesting, etc.

 

And as a follow-up: Where do most of you obtain "swap items?" Dollar store, drug store, etc.? Any suggestions would be appreciated... I'd hate to start out on the wrong foot by putting the wrong kinds of items in my caches!

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A partial list of things I've left in caches:

US flags

flag pins

modeling clay

carabiners

Energizer squeeze lights

stickers

bags of toy soldiers

pocket knives (um I mean tools)

water colors

mini screwdriver sets

allen wrench sets

gel pens

boxes of crayons or colored chalk

emergency rain ponchos

packs of AA batteries

collectable coins (buffalo nickels, indian head pennies, SBA or Sacagawea dollars)

Music CD's

Blank RW CD's

Cassettes (blank and recorded)

calculators

clip on safety strobes

bungee cords

LED key lights

"euro" stickers & other decals

mini sewing kits

maps (hiking & road)

software

travel packs of Wet Ones or Baby Wipes

Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars

key rings

bags of balloons

velcro fasteners

interesting buttons

foreign money

rolls of film

lighters

movies on VHS & DVD

office supplies (packs of paper clips, thumb tacks, Post-Its, etc...)

Mylar emergency blankets

decks of cards

packs of Armor-All & Rain-X wipes

survival whistles

Geocaching.com hats, pins, patches and compasses

Wheresgeorge bills

 

Most of these items cost less than $3. Many cost less than $1. I always have my eyes open for cache trade items. Hardware stores, supermarkets, sporting goods stores, toy stores, office supply stores and drug stores are all good sources.

 

 

"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry

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The simple rule for items that you leave in a cache is this: Leave items that you would like to find. For me that rules out going to the dollar store completely. I know that many shop for their geo-junk there, but not for me.

 

The things I like to find are things that are unique in some way. Something related to your job or school. (Patches, logo stuff and the like) Quality hand made items are cool. If a guy worked in a machine shop and simply turned a spare chunk of steel on the lathe into a weird shape, I think that would be a good trade item. Things the average person can’t get.

 

I like to leave military patches or insignia. I have a big bag of NSN 6515-00-383-0565 that I’ve been seeding caches with. They don’t stay in the cache long so either people think they are cool or they think they’re cleaning out the geo-crap.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

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quote:
Originally posted by Criminal:

Quality_ hand made items are cool. If a guy worked in a machine shop and simply turned a spare chunk of steel on the lathe into a weird shape, I think that would be a good trade item. Things the average person can’t get.

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

 

You hit the nail right on the head with that statement! It's too bad more people don't leave stuff like that in the caches...Personally I would rather find something a person took some time and made by hand, rather than having something store bought, even if they spent upwards of $20 or more on it...

 

But, really it all comes down to the hunt...Either you love it or you don't! Finding stuff in the cache is just icing on the cake if you ask me!

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You'll get plenty of feedback on this issue, but go with what BrianSnat and Criminal said:

Leave something that you'd like to find yourself. Also think about being creative and using the Geocaching logo on a homemade item that becomes your 'signature leave' (jsut make usre to get permission from the guys here at GC.com before using the logo).

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quote:
Originally posted by Criminal:

 

I have a big bag of NSN 6515-00-383-0565 that I’ve been seeding caches with. They don’t stay in the cache long so either people think they are cool or they think they’re cleaning out the geo-crap.


 

Nonpneumatic Tourniqets?! Those do sound unique and interesting. I'd probably take one if I found it in a cache, though I'm not sure what I'd do with it.

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quote:
Originally posted by Criminal:

 

The things I like to find are things that are unique in some way. Something related to your job or school.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

 

icon_biggrin.gif I really don't think I should leave anything from my job... I'm a garbologist!! (I drive a garbage truck). I thought the whole idea was CITO. icon_biggrin.gif

Personally I like to to find things that are useful and handy like an unopened bottle of water or sunscreen, or maybe a nail clipper set. If you live where there's a lot of insects then some "Sting-eze" from Wal-Mart would be nice. Of course women like to find kitchen items like potholders and towel, note holder magnets.

Kids love mineral samples also.

It won't be long before you're going "that'd be a neat cache item"!

John of 2oldfarts

 

Smile, make others wonder what you're up to!!!

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I've hit a few caches that were just full of junk. Very disappointing to find a cache after a good search, see it's in a great spot, open it up, and find it full of broken crayons, pennies, etc. Gotta dig deep in the bag for good stuff to replenish that one. I know it's not about the find, but rather the search, but come on...

 

~robert

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quote:
I've hit a few caches that were just full of junk. Very disappointing to find a cache after a good search, see it's in a great spot, open it up, and find it full of broken crayons, pennies, etc. Gotta dig deep in the bag for good stuff to replenish that one. I know it's not about the find, but rather the search, but come on...


 

That's been an issue as long as I've been geocaching and will be as long as this sport exists.

 

"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry

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quote:
Originally posted by Criminal:

I like to leave military patches or insignia. I have a big bag of NSN 6515-00-383-0565 that I’ve been seeding caches with. They don’t stay in the cache long so either people think they are cool or they think they’re cleaning out the geo-crap.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

 

Are those the old green square cloth ones that look like a plain olive drab bandana?

 

Art

 

www.yankeetoys.org

www.BudBuilt.com

www.pirate4x4.com

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quote:
Originally posted by Cracker7M:

quote:
Originally posted by Criminal:

I like to leave military patches or insignia. I have a big bag of NSN 6515-00-383-0565 that I’ve been seeding caches with. They don’t stay in the cache long so either people think they are cool or they think they’re cleaning out the geo-crap.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

 

Are those the old green square cloth ones that look like a plain olive drab bandana?

 

Art

 


It’s a tourniquet, like a green belt with a black metal cinch buckle. It can be worn as a belt if you like, or used to lash things down. I found a whole bag of them (about 30 or so) in an abandoned building on an Air Force base. They are all new in the plastic bags.

 

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

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quote:
Originally posted by Riverwind:

quote:
Originally posted by Criminal:

Quality_ hand made items are cool.


 

You hit the nail right on the head with that statement! It's too bad more people don't leave stuff like that in the caches...Personally I would rather find something a person took some time and made by hand, rather than having something store bought, even if they spent upwards of $20 or more on it...


 

I do craft shows in my general area, and a few mail orders. I make wooden items -- frames, games, toys, etc. I'll leave a "last man" peg game I've made in a cache when there is room. Personally, I think it's a nice item to find in a cache. But two I've left over the last few months, I KNOW are still there. Go figure.

 

Joel (joefrog)

 

"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for ye are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!"

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It would be fine with me if there were only a log book to log the cache. I enjoy reading them in the field and connecting with the people who experienced the search before me.

 

The small small tokens of everyone's life path in caches help strengthen the connection and trading items of quality or keeping the tokens moving along in a chain of caches is cool but not the main reason for the search for me. There are easier ways to pay for a set of nail clippers than with a long hike, mosquito bites, heat stroke and scratched shins.

 

I don't have a favorite item but especially enjoy quirky items that give a sense of the personality of he or she who left it. Someone around here planted $1,000,000 bills (phoney, of course) in many caches (I don't know why that makes me laugh). It's fun to see them knowing you're following this person around and that someone will be following you.

 

The kids on the other hand (A pair of 5 year old twins who never tire of caching with me) view finding the cache as though they were Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter discovering Tutenkamen's Tomb! They pore over the contents of the cache and decision about what to trade seems to be a very important one for them. I'm always gratified that they have a good sense of trading fair and it's delightful to see them enjoy passing along a little piece of thier history and ejoying a small piece of someone else's.

 

"Now may every living thing, young or old, weak or strong, living near or far, known or unknown, living or departed or yet unborn, may every living thing know happiness!"

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quote:
Originally posted by cool_and_the_gang:

The small small tokens of everyone's life path in caches help strengthen the connection and trading items of quality or keeping the tokens moving along in a chain of caches is cool but not the main reason for the search for me. There are easier ways to pay for a set of nail clippers than with a long hike, mosquito bites, heat stroke and scratched shins.


I know that for me, I associate almost a tangible sense of memory with a physical object. Lots of times I'll save a ticket stub, a leaf, anything that reminds me of something in a physical way... and maybe that's the appeal, for me, anyway, of taking a little something from a good or particularly memorable cache.

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quote:
Originally posted by Happy Bubbles:

Someone mentioned leaving wheresgeorge bills in caches. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of wheresgeorge? I thought that the point was to track bills in normal circulation, and that you're not supposed to do anything special with them.


 

Well, since people leave money in caches that isn't marked, then I (with my 8% wheres george rate) see no problem with it whatsoever. Besides, I had a dollar logged and the people said they found it in a cache in Lake County, which is the next county over from where I left it... So they either got the county name wrong or someone skipped it to another cache without registering it... I tried to message them about it but they never answered me.

 

Lets see... My trade items... hmmm...

well, I've taken:

Where's George Dollar

cross stitched hand towel that says Wipe Your Paws

Hello Kitty clipon

mini book

indian head penny (my dad took it when caching with me)

whale pencil topper (my mom took while caching with me)

and two of MIT's army men. The army men are my favorite, because MIT taught me all I know about caching, and I've stuck one on the dashboard of my car as a token.. lol.

 

I've left..

Little Egg Man figurine

Sheets of stickers (which the next visitor to the cache has taken every single time)

books - two left in separate caches

where's george dollar (taken)

keychains

 

right now my geocaching bag has keychains, stickers, glosticks(for a purple themed cache), books... all ready to trade as I do more caches...

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