Sig Cards?

[Punk_Rocker]

I am a newbie, and the caches I've come across have sig cars (great idea), are they like trading cards or are they just a way of saying "hey, I was here" ?

 

Punk_Rocker

[+Team DEMP]

There are signature items folks leave that others like to trade for but for cards, I think they are better left for the cache owner.

 

I've met most of the folks that leave them in my area, so if I wanted one I'd just ask them. You can always email the cacher and ask them if it's ok to take one next time you find one in a cache.

[BassoonPilot]

I am a newbie, and the caches I've come across have sig cars (great idea), are they like trading cards or are they just a way of saying "hey, I was here" ?

Quite a few people seem to leave these "calling cards" in the logbook instead of signing the log, but some sign the logbook, as well.

 

As a cache owner, I would staple the cards onto blank pages in the logbook for those who hadn't signed the log. But I consider them as nothing more than unnecessarily wasted paper. Most of the cards are quickly soiled and crumpled and worthy of the title "geotrash."

[+Nurse Dave]

I am a newbie, and the caches I've come across have sig cars (great idea), are they like trading cards or are they just a way of saying "hey, I was here" ?

Quite a few people seem to leave these "calling cards" in the logbook instead of signing the log, but some sign the logbook, as well.

 

As a cache owner, I would staple the cards onto blank pages in the logbook for those who hadn't signed the log. But I consider them as nothing more than unnecessarily wasted paper. Most of the cards are quickly soiled and crumpled and worthy of the title "geotrash."

Wow, that's harsh dude. I like them and think they should stay in the cache. I have some that are laminated in case I think they will get wet. But they all go in the baggie the log is in. Of course as a cache owner you're only placing waterproof caches anyway right?

 

On the flip side I have started asking people to swap cards from places I've never be to cache. **Plug** If anyone is interested in swapping cards or sig items, give me an email.

[+TotemLake]

Yep, it is harsh, but that's just one person's opinion. Fortunately, his opinion is in the minority.

[+CompuCash]

I print mailing labels to stick in the log books - put my avatar on it and the find number on them, then add the date at the find. works great - my writing sucks and is worse trying to balance a little note book while hanging on to the side of a hill or on my toes to avoid sticker or rocks in my knees. You know the drill. They are quick and easy and fill all but the micro logs so far.

 

then I might leave my sig item also - similar label on a magnet strip

 

Edited August 21, 2004 by CompuCash

[+Mopar]

Yep, it is harsh, but that's just one person's opinion. Fortunately, his opinion is in the minority.

I guess it's the area, cause that's the 2nd time today I find myself agreeing with BP.

Nothing at all wrong with the cards per se, but at least around here they seem to end up at the bottom of the cache, not in a ziplock. They are never laminated, and become magnets for dirt and moisture.

I still like them, perhaps more people should laminate them or staple them to their log in the book.

[BassoonPilot]

Wow, that's harsh dude. I like them and think they should stay in the cache. I have some that are laminated in case I think they will get wet. But they all go in the baggie the log is in. Of course as a cache owner you're only placing waterproof caches anyway right?

Harsh? Hmm ... interesting. I would say "realistic." Most of the calling cards I have seen have been of the low quality/ink jet-printed" variety. I can't recall anyone ever trading for a "calling card" that had been left in any of my caches ... including better-quality laminated cards.

 

Perhaps the calling cards are of significantly better quality in your area, or the cachers have greater interest in swapping/collecting signature items.

 

Regarding the final part of your quoted statement: It makes little difference how watertight a container is if even one cacher fails to reseal it properly, or exposes the contents to a downpour.

[+Team DEMP]

Regarding the final part of your quoted statement: It makes little difference how watertight a container is if even one cacher fails to reseal it properly, or exposes the contents to a downpour.

Yeah. Maybe it's me, but I'm usually sweaty and a little dirty by the time I get to most caches unless they are a drive-by. Handling the log book and the contents in the log book tend to get a bit "less then pristine" after a while regardless of the condition of the cache. In addition, some times the cards fall out as you're leafing through the log book looking at the entries or the first available page.

 

Some of the cards are nice to check out and you can quickly see that some of the "regulars" have been there by their card, but though I considered doing a card in the beginning, I wouldn't do it now. I think maybe a stamp on the log page that some folks around here do is something I would consider.

 

David

[+Nurse Dave]

I can't recall anyone ever trading for a "calling card" that had been left in any of my caches ... including better-quality laminated cards.

That's because most of us think they stay with the log book and aren't trade items. I feel kinda sorry for the folks that go to the trouble of actually printing them up and leaving them in one of your caches. If it bothers you having them in your caches send them all to me, I'll take em.

[+Kai Team]

Yep, it is harsh, but that's just one person's opinion. Fortunately, his opinion is in the minority.

Hmm - I agree with BP, MOPAR, Team DEMP & CompuCash. Looks like TotemLake was premature in declaring BP's opinon "in the minority".

 

I like CompuCash's idea of printing (small) mailing labels to affix to the log - it serves the same purpose (assuming SIG cards aren't supposed to be trade items, which is a good assumption), and they don't flutter to the ground every time you open the log book, like those annoying magazine business reply cards! When that happens, Geotrash is the right description for them!

[BassoonPilot]

I can't recall anyone ever trading for a "calling card" that had been left in any of my caches ... including better-quality laminated cards.

That's because most of us think they stay with the log book and aren't trade items. I feel kinda sorry for the folks that go to the trouble of actually printing them up and leaving them in one of your caches.

Wow, "harsh, dude."

 

Do you really speak for "most of us?" Actually, judging by the cards left in my (former) caches and that I have personally seen in other caches, I think the real purpose of most calling cards is to save the cacher the minimal effort needed to inscribe "TNLNSL" in the logbook.

 

I must say that's probably the part of geocaching I miss the most from when I first started ... back then, people almost invariably took the time to write extensively about their caching experience in the logbook.

[Neos2]

Interesting diversity of answers. In my area folks tend to leave sig items or cards (usually laminated) and sign the logbook. Quite a few of us locals tend to collect both the sig items and the cards, so they get picked up fairly regularly by anyone who happens along. General trend is that cool sig items are traded for, and laminated cards are just picked up by collectors. If someone intends the item to be left for the cache owner and they say so in the log their wishes are usually respected, otherwise its up to the next few finders to pick them up if they like them and don't already have one from that cacher. We have a lot of prolific writers in the area who log great stories on-line, also.

[+Team DEMP]

I must say that's probably the part of geocaching I miss the most from when I first started ... back then, people almost invariably took the time to write extensively about their caching experience in the logbook.

I really enjoy reading the logs on caches on my watch list. Too bad everyone doesn't log!

[BassoonPilot]

I really enjoy reading the logs on caches on my watch list. Too bad everyone doesn't log!

Yeah. Conversely, it's too bad that so many cachers don't take the time to enjoy the surroundings at cache sites while composing a logbook entry; they seem to be either in a big rush to get to the next cache or to get home in order to compose an online log from the safety and comfort of thickly-padded computer chair. Hopefully, they took the time to leave a highly-desirable signature card.

[+TotemLake]

Yep, it is harsh, but that's just one person's opinion. Fortunately, his opinion is in the minority.

Hmm - I agree with BP, MOPAR, Team DEMP & CompuCash. Looks like TotemLake was premature in declaring BP's opinon "in the minority".

 

I like CompuCash's idea of printing (small) mailing labels to affix to the log - it serves the same purpose (assuming SIG cards aren't supposed to be trade items, which is a good assumption), and they don't flutter to the ground every time you open the log book, like those annoying magazine business reply cards! When that happens, Geotrash is the right description for them!

I disagree it's premature. There are several threads involving signature items and the majority speak for the cards. So far, the dissenters here still represent the minority. Nothing wrong with that, but that is the fact.

 

I also do labels. I don't leave any cards in a cache that is damp. It's too damaging both to the contents and the card and a damp cache is also makes me reasonably doubtful it is properly maintained by the owner. That said, I also have plastic baggies that I drop them in if the area seems to be questionable even if the cache is dry.

 

As for folks opening up caches in a downpour, I can't speak for those that allow them to get wet, but most folks I've encountered try to keep the contents sheltered. Also, most folks I've hiked with have done what they can to wipe off their sweaty hands before reaching into the cache so as not to introduce moisture onto the logbook and causing future problems.

[+ADKcachers]

Check out Vistaprint, you can upload your own design and they print them professionally and the ink won't run.

 

I agree that cards printed at home on an inkjet are junk, it's only a matter of time before the ink runs & fades.

[+TotemLake]

I can't recall anyone ever trading for a "calling card" that had been left in any of my caches ... including better-quality laminated cards.

That's because most of us think they stay with the log book and aren't trade items. I feel kinda sorry for the folks that go to the trouble of actually printing them up and leaving them in one of your caches.

Wow, "harsh, dude."

 

Do you really speak for "most of us?" Actually, judging by the cards left in my (former) caches and that I have personally seen in other caches, I think the real purpose of most calling cards is to save the cacher the minimal effort needed to inscribe "TNLNSL" in the logbook.

 

I must say that's probably the part of geocaching I miss the most from when I first started ... back then, people almost invariably took the time to write extensively about their caching experience in the logbook.

Not all people drop cards in for signatures and not log the book as a way of being lazy. I think we can all agree logging in the book is the legal way of logging the find. I do short logs in the logbook because I don't have much of a penmanship worth the effort to decode. However, I used a label once as a signature because I hadn't realized I was looking for a micro thus didn't have a pen(cil) with me. Is that being lazy or just using what's available to me as proof of finding it? The same thing can sometimes happen to a cache that a pen has been left behind for using, but it is all dried up. Sometimes leaving the card IS the only method of proving you were there IF you didn't bring an extra utensil to help maintain the cache; which again falls to the owner to really take care of. Any other kind of maintenance from anybody else is a courtesy. Tolerance for conditions that you might not be aware of would be perferable rather than just arbitrarily labeling such as geotrash.

[shanni-bugbait-wren]

OK Kids, do I need to give everyone a Time-Out???

[+Team DEMP]

Also, most folks I've hiked with have done what they can to wipe off their sweaty hands before reaching into the cache so as not to introduce moisture onto the logbook and causing future problems.

Come to the northeast in the summer. We have this phenomenon called HHH or Hazy, Hot & Humid. My hands are just one thing to worry about. The sweat is still pouring off you. Gross, maybe, but that's how it is. And I shower before & after a hike so it's not that I'm uncleanly.

 

Maybe you don't have folks like BrianSnat and others that make you work hard for the cache, but around here, a "good" cache is one where you lose a couple pounds getting to it, finding it, and making it out alive And I'm sure the individuals that place those caches appreciate the effort that's evident by looking at the log pages from those that took the time to seek their fine placed caches.

 

I submit the following picture as evidence (hope he doesn't mind! )

[+TotemLake]

Also, most folks I've hiked with have done what they can to wipe off their sweaty hands before reaching into the cache so as not to introduce moisture onto the logbook and causing future problems.

Come to the northeast in the summer. We have this phenomenon called HHH or Hazy, Hot & Humid. My hands are just one thing to worry about. The sweat is still pouring off you. Gross, maybe, but that's how it is. And I shower before & after a hike so it's not that I'm uncleanly.

 

Maybe you don't have folks like BrianSnat and others that make you work hard for the cache, but around here, a "good" cache is one where you lose a couple pounds getting to it, finding it, and making it out alive And I'm sure the individuals that place those caches appreciate the effort that's evident by looking at the log pages from those that took the time to seek their fine placed caches.

 

I submit the following picture as evidence (hope he doesn't mind! )

Obviously I didn't name off all conditions that were exceptions to the rule. We'll agree with that ok? I've lived on the east coast. I know the conditions there.

 

And before you go snippity on who hikes where and what challenges you go through, you'll need to look at my profile to understand the geocaches I prefer to go after of late. I hit the urban ones only out of opportunity while waiting for something to happen. Otherwise, I'm off on a 6-12 mile hike in an area of the states that is known for humidity and rain forests with elevation gains you can only dream of in comparison to where you are. I still manage to find my way to drying off my hands before reaching in. In otherwords, you work within the environment you find yourself in.

 

Btw, I never indicated, implied or accuse anybody in this geocaching community of being "unclean". (puhleeze don't insult me with that little add-in.)

 

One more thing, my observations and perceptions are based here in the Great Northwest.

[+Team DEMP]

I am a newbie, and the caches I've come across have sig cars (great idea), are they like trading cards or are they just a way of saying "hey, I was here" ?

I'd say around here, it's the 2nd one - they are just a way of saying "hey, I was here". My kids, when they go with me, love to trade and I don't think they'd consider a business type card a trade item.

 

There are items such as magnets, poker chips, etc that are sig items that are worth trading for. Folks also place geocaching buttons from BumbleButtons in caches that are pretty hot around here. Some folks have their own custom buttons, others have created them for specific loop hikes and others are just used as trade items.

[BassoonPilot]

Actually, judging by the cards left in my (former) caches and that I have personally seen in other caches, I think the real purpose of most calling cards is to save the cacher the minimal effort needed to inscribe "TNLNSL" in the logbook.

 

Not all people drop cards in for signatures and not log the book as a way of being lazy. I think we can all agree logging in the book is the legal way of logging the find.

 

I checked several of my old logbooks into which I had stapled calling cards left in the caches. (I have no way of knowing if the individuals had left the cards in the logbook or not; most were neither in the logbook nor in the logbook ziploc when the caches were retrieved.)

 

Out of a total of 17 calling cards, (most from the same cachers visiting each of the caches), there were a total of three signatures from cachers who also left a card ... all signatures were from the same person. While that corroborates your statement that "not all people that leave cards are ... lazy," it also corroborates my statement that "the purpose of most calling cards is to save the cacher the minimal effort ... " I don't recall questioning the "legality" of logging a cache via "signature" or "calling" card.

 

Tolerance for conditions that you might not be aware of would be perferable rather than just arbitrarily labeling such as geotrash.

 

Come again? On many ocassions I have often found damp, soiled, crumpled "calling cards" in caches. In many cases, the ink had smeared or washed off, and the remaining card stock was mildewed or moldy. You're right; calling that "geotrash" was a mistake. I should have termed it "worthless crap."

[+briansnat]

I have no problem with people who leave calling cards, but in many cases they are left in lieu of a written log and almost always wind up as trash a the bottom of the container. I find myself trashing several out whenever I do maintenance.

 

I wonder whether some, if not most of them go into the cache already in tatters from sitting in the owner's pocket all day.

[+TotemLake]

 

Out of a total of 17 calling cards, (most from the same cachers visiting each of the caches), there were a total of three signatures from cachers who also left a card ... all signatures were from the same person.  While that corroborates your statement that "not all people that leave cards are ... lazy," it also corroborates my statement that "the purpose of most calling cards is to save the cacher the minimal effort ... "  I don't recall questioning the "legality" of logging a cache via "signature" or "calling" card.

 

Ok - so it looks like you have had a rash of folks that do this and no you didn't question the legality of it. I merely pointed out the conditions on the why the signature may not be there. That doesn't explain away all of them and maybe I wasn't clear on it.

 

Come again?  On many ocassions I have often found damp, soiled, crumpled "calling cards" in caches.  In many cases, the ink had smeared or washed off, and the remaining card stock was mildewed or moldy.  You're right; calling that "geotrash" was a mistake.  I should have termed it "worthless crap."

 

In that context I agree. Again, I only pointed out what I know I and those that I hike with do to attempt to minimize what you personally are experiencing from others. Being in a state that is normally naturally wet more months out of the year than it is dry, I'd like to think we're a bit more sensitive to that problem. Perhaps somehow these despicable folks can be educated to a proper way of leaving the cards so that they don't produce the problems you're currently facing.

 

 

I wonder whether some, if not most of them go into the cache already in tatters from sitting in the owner's pocket all day. 

 

Yah I can see where that's a problem. I've thrown away many cards when the corners become bent. I take care in how they're carried and handled.

 

Anyway, Punk_Rocker, we each have our opinions on it. Some positive some negative. If you decided upon doing one, take care in how you place them. Some caches do become breeched and exposed to the weather due to any number of reasons and conditions. In fact, take heed on the dissidents here. There's a reason why they are disliked by some, and the reasons are valid.

Edited August 21, 2004 by TotemLake

[+Cache Viking]

I have made a number of them and usually try to leave 4-6 in a baggie in each cache I go to. One for owner the rest for trade.

[+SixDogTeam]

Sig cards are like baseball cards. When I leave them in a cache, I don't care if people collect them or leave them...But they are not used around here in lieu of signing the logbook.

[+Isotelus Maximus]

In the area that I cache in , it seems a common practice to leave a sig item, be it a card , dog tag ,or wooden dog bone, for some examples. I like them, I want them , and I like the spirit that goes with them. Most are well thought out and in good taste. As for leaving these instead of a log signature, well , it's pretty easy. No sigature, No log, No credit for the find. The caches that I put out are water tight and will remain water tight with minimal effort. I do like laminated cards as it shows that someone is thinking. But will take any, and have had no problems with them,if they put them in the baggie with the log book. As for trading for them . Sure , why not. I've had people trade for my cards and it leaves a good feeling to think that something that I designed is excepted by another. Thats Good Stuff.

[Punk_Rocker]

Wow, a wide variance of opinion. The reason I asked was because there's a guy in my area who makes really beautiful sig cards and so I was inspired to make my own today. I took a printout to kinkos and had it laminated for 1.09 So regardless if they become collected or not, it's like a miniature piece of artwork to me. (I imagine comparing sig cards the way they do during the scene in the movie 'American Psycho' where they are comparing business cards) I put my geocaching screen name, my e-mail addy and my website addy. I still intend to sign the log.

 

Punk_Rocker

[+briansnat]

Wow, a wide variance of opinion. The reason I asked was because there's a guy in my area who makes really beautiful sig cards and so I was inspired to make my own today.  I took a printout to kinkos and had it laminated for 1.09  So regardless if they become collected or not, it's like a miniature piece of artwork to me.  (I imagine comparing sig cards the way they do during the scene in the movie 'American Psycho' where they are comparing business cards)   I put my geocaching screen name, my e-mail addy and my website addy.  I still intend to sign the log.

 

Punk_Rocker

Go for it, but consider buying a bunch of 3"x4" ziploc bags for them to keep them from winding up as damp, mildewed trash.

Edited August 22, 2004 by briansnat

[+CYBret]

It's kind of interesting when you start looking at the regional differences in this game.

 

I have yet to see anyone leave a signature card instead of signing the logbook. And I would bet that the majority of cachers in this area have a fairly decent collection of signature cards that they've taken out of caches.

 

Most of them I've seen are laminated, though some aren't (mine come in little ziplock baggies). They're usually in the same baggie as the logbook.

 

I've finally gotten around to taking care of my collection of signature cards. I picked up a small bulletin board last week and have it about 1/3 full of cards I collected. I'm looking forward to filling it up and starting on another one.

 

Bret

[+Ed Rad]

I love finding signature cards. I always take but I usually leave one of mine. I always laminate the cards I make. I have a huge pile that I have to sort out and organize to some degree. Keep them coming!