rag-a-muffin Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 Hey all you GC veterans out there, I got a question. When you stumble across a cache, what sort of items do you consider to be "great quality" items? What are some cool things to leave? On the other side of it, what are some horrible things to leave, dumb ideas, etc. I've read much about the GC'ers general dislike for McToys--and I couldn't agree more. What sort of items make great caches? What sort of items do you like to leave? Maybe you could tell me the top 10 coolest takes you've ever had, and the top 10 coolest leaves you've made. Do most of you leave a "calling card" type of leave, or just leave different things? I'm sorta leaning towards a "calling card" for my leaves...wondering what you all thought. Thanks! GeoRobb. Quote Link to comment
+DustyJacket Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 Our first physical cache that we found had a glass paperweight with glass coral and fish inside. It was probably from the dollar store, but it is my daughter's prized posession and there will never be one better for her. Althe other caches I've visited since are fairly trashed out, so I've been leaving trinkets from the sporting goods store like mini-flashlights, whistles with compasses, and so on. I also leave AA batteries and have 2 flashlight with D-cells all ready to leave. Today I left a silver coin from the USA and another from Mexico to try to spice up a couple of caches. I may make coins my signature. DustyJacket ...If life was fair, a banana split would cure cancer. Quote Link to comment
+roasteroo Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 I think my most usefull trade was a pair of sunglasses for a flashlight on the NY/NJ multi cache. That flashlight helped me hike home over one and a half miles. And a band-aid b/c I cut my self. Ive traded all kinds of stuff: stories, flashlights, WG$, state quarters, little figurines, pins, and my newest thing is patches. Little garbage bags are next. I keep forgetting. Stickers would be cool to but I dont think they will hold up for a long period. I found one Rich in NEPA left in a geocache but it hadnt gone trough the heat of summer and the cold of winter. It was my favorite sticker on my car, untill I hurt it with the Ice scraper. oops. I will always take nothing leave nothing sign log if I cant trade even or up. Quote Link to comment
+Wadcutter Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 Worse. Triple post. ISP has been down and now it sends everything! Quote Link to comment
+Wadcutter Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 Sorry double post Quote Link to comment
+Wadcutter Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 I recently came into a supply of new white ball caps with gold "scrambled eggs" on the bill and heavy duty new porcelain coffee mugs with a logo on it. I've put the caps in ziplocks and pumped out the air. They won't fit in all caches but I'm leaving them until I run out. Nothing really kewl but different. Besides we're not in it for the trinkets. Or is that, we're not in it for the numbers? Quote Link to comment
Eeyore and Shadow Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 the best thign i have found in a cache was an inline shut off valve for a garden house that still had its 85¢ price tag on it. Not that it was special or valuable but i really needed one and was elated to find it in a cache. Eeyore I'm one sat short of triangulation. Quote Link to comment
dsandbro Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 How about a small packet of toilet paper? That always seems to be needed when you are a few miles away from a vehicle and nature calls. ======================================== Friends don't let Friends geocache drunk. Quote Link to comment
+evergreenhiker! Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 I always like useful things like leatherman type tools, screwdrivers, etc. My coolest take was probably a nice portable radio. My coolest leave was probably a REI headlamp. I have left jars of fishing mallows, lures still in their packages, rain-x, etc. Quote Link to comment
+Planet Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 I make hand made things to put in caches such as this bracelet with geo-beads I made. This bracelet with beads I bought. This egg ornament made with a real egg (empty of course). I spend money on geocache trinkets like it's going out of style. I try to stock up depleted caches. If you think it's cool to find, then it's cool to put in. Stay away from any food or scented items, including soaps and candles. Animals will chew the cache to see what it is. The search feature is not working for me today, but when it starts working again (it's a link at the top of the page) try using it and type in something like "trade items", "cache trinkets", and "signature items". Cache you later, Planet I feel much more like I do now than when I first got here. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 Among the coolest things I ever found were a Geocaching.com bumper sticker and the ball portion of a titanium hip implant (which I turned into this travel bug). As far as the coolest thing I ever left, that's up for the finder to dedcide. A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away. -Barry Goldwater Quote Link to comment
+Darkmoon Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat:Among the coolest things I ever found were a Geocaching.com bumper sticker and the ball portion of a titanium hip Did the cacher who left that had to crawl away from the cache? hehe I just couldn't help that! He probably didn't have a leg to stand on! Darkmoon All you have to do to fly is throw yourself at the ground and miss! Quote Link to comment
+Bloencustoms Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 I just returned from placing the physical portion of a multi I'm working on. Its got hours of entertainment in the form of DVDs, playstation games, and even an old but unused model airplane engine. Get off the cellphone and DRIVE! Quote Link to comment
RedShoesGirl Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 I just cleaned out one of my caches of some trashy stuff....little dirty plastic rings, too cheap for even CrackerJacks boxes, golf balls, especially dirty ones. ANYTHING dirty. Why do people leave that crap? I have left polished agate sheres (big rockhounding area around here) small tools, camping utensils, Route 66 stuff, small knives, geocoins that cost about $8 a piece - lots of people leave junky stuff and take one of those coins! Amazing. I buy all new stuff about 90% of the time. Don't leave anything you don't want to take home with you because it is too dirty or trashed or just plain garbage. Quote Link to comment
+ErSamin Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 The coolest thing I got out of a cache was a custom made RCGDS (River City Geocaching & Dining Society) cap. Cooler still, I had just met the cache owners at a RCGDS meeting the day before! For high quality trades, I have left Leatherman type tools, good pocket knives and the like. Packs of AA batteries are good, too. BTW....I will generally Take any golf ball I find...and trade up (not a hard thing to do!). "Could be worse...could be raining" Quote Link to comment
+Nurse Dave Posted February 16, 2003 Share Posted February 16, 2003 I think the coolest thing I ever found was a wood block print with the same title of the cache. There is also a cacher here that leaves silver ounces. Very cool when you hit a cache after he's been there. We have a few glass fused tiles that are the geocaching logo, and also leave marble balls with a little display stand and new pocket knives. ---Real men cache in shorts. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 quote: I think the coolest thing I ever found was a wood block print with the same title of the cache. Ummmm, are you sure it wasn't a Letterbox stamp? Some geocaches are also letterboxes and I know owners have had problems with people taking the stamp thinking it was a trade item. A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away. -Barry Goldwater Quote Link to comment
+Rusty O Junk Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Probably the coolest thing I've found is a miniature air horn. I mounted it on one of my antique farm tractors along with a pto drive air compressor and now I can drive everyone nuts at the anitque tractor shows. As for the coolest thing I've left it's like Brain said "that's up for the finder to decide". Here in the Northeast we are up to our butts in snow and its been colder that a well diggers a$$ in a Klondike so I've spent a lot of time in the wood shop this winter. All that time in the shop generated a lot of scrape pieces of wood so I'm using the scrap pieces to make a supply of puzzles for trading items. They're not jigsaw puzzles but mechanical puzzles you have to untangle, undo, open or solve in some way. I'm hoping chachers will like them but I guess only time will tell. Quote Link to comment
Dinoprophet Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 I usually take stuff for my wife or baby daughter, so I don't mind McToys at all, assuming they're not broken or dirty or obviously very used. The wife gets the Disney stuff, daughter gets the rest. From one cache, I took a Sesame Street cassette, no container. I didn't think it would play, but it was fine. I've now heard it 384 times since October, because my daughter insists it be played any time we're in the car. But, it has been a big help in teaching her the letters. So that's probably the most valuable thing I've taken, and I thought it would be junk when I took it. Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann, und ich hab' auch im Blut Quote Link to comment
+Night Stalker Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 I try and have a couple of decent compasses with me to help out a cache. I also trade other camping items that you can find at Walmart. I recently acquired a sign from a cache stating "My wife said if I don't stop goin fishin she's goin to divorce me. God I'm goin to miss that little woman." The point is that my wife has a sign making machine where she works and she said that this summer she would make a bunch of these up only substitute goecaching for fishin. I think this would be fun to put into caches and would be appreciated by my fellow cachers. Quote Link to comment
hostetter Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 Here is something I plan to pursue for objects to leave in caches: uncleaned ancient coins. Try searching ebay for that phrase. You will find that you can purchase authentic ancient coins for only a couple of bucks apiece. In fact I once purchased about 30 for $1 each. HIgher volumes volume = lower unit cost. If you want just a few as samples, get through e-bay. Otherwise contact the seller for a whole bunch at a time. Many look like slugs with faint stamping visible including the portrait and date. Quite a few will clearly show the portrait, date and other marks. They are also very small compared to modern coins. Common periods are Roman - early AD, and greek - BC. They are not hard to clean up and for kids (even adults) are a fascinating treasure find. Imagine opening a cache and finding a coin(s) from 1500 - 3000 years ago! Quote Link to comment
+Nurse Dave Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat: quote: I think the coolest thing I ever found was a wood block print with the same title of the cache. Ummmm, are you sure it wasn't a Letterbox stamp? Some geocaches are also letterboxes and I know owners have had problems with people taking the stamp thinking it was a trade item. Ummmmm, ya. It was a piece of paper with a print on it 4"x6". ---Real men cache in shorts. Quote Link to comment
+FamilyUnit Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 The cooliest thing I found in a cache was a ms wheel mouse on our first cache. We try and put stuff in caches that we find at dollar stores. Small tools, keychains, batteries, gloves, stuff like that. Quote Link to comment
Curious George Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 Move to Victoria - here's some of the recent finds (no kidding): $1,000 cash New Garmins Vistas New Garmin Rinos New Motorola FRS radios 500,000 candlepower lights New Digital cameras I could go on - check out the caches being placed by TEAM KFWB GPS - in particular read some of the big ones such as; Operation High Desert Adventure (in the U.S.) A Watchers Point of View We are the Champions Bold Endurance Just the stories coming out of these caches is worth the read. Quote Link to comment
+DustyJacket Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 On caches with low activity, or are hard to find, I've been leaving a 1-ounce silver bullion coin: Mexico, Canada, and USA. Let's see if that spurs any action. I also have a 1/10 ounce gold coin, for the first finder of my first cache. DustyJacket ...If life was fair, a banana split would cure cancer. Quote Link to comment
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