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Better Caches?


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One of the regular "complaint themes" around here involves this expensive swag idea. Most people can't spend $5 per item, or even more, but a few want to. I have to admit that I was at a cache the other day which may as well have had lumps of coal - that would be more valuable. Didn't like it. So most people stay under a couple of bucks, and I think that's the way it's gonna be. There is one in Arizona, a puzzle cache that's been mentioned around here, with a Palm, cell phone, gps, etc. But that's rare. I usually try to trade out for lesser items which I then remove. <_<

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Im not really talking so much as going out and spending 5.00 on something but maybe trading items. Ya know ? I mean my husband might have doubles of something and he could drop one of them in and so on and so on .

More adult caches are needed. I mean I take my son with us and he has fun but sometimes things like shot glasses, or candles are nice other then stickers and rubber dinos. <_<

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Are there caches that dont have kiddie items and have more adult adult itmes?

Like tools for the guys or fun beauty products for the gals .

Just something other then Mc Donald toys and stickers.

Just curious.

Thanks

PRACTICAL:

 

Not really, theme caches seem to decay slower, but not much slower. The thing to do with your trade items is to pick a dollar amount on a per unit basis that you are comfortable spending (to get 20-30 items). Buy something you find in that price range that YOU think is cool. Your trade items will be popular as you will find that its easy to grab a fist full of little tool kits out of the box to take with you on a cache hunt, rather than going to the store every couple of hunts to find some items.

 

I use Ebay's wholesale lots. I have my limit set at $1.5-$2 per unit including shipping. I have found some precision screwdrivers that have been very popular and some little mini-FM radios that seem to be popular as well. I get 20-30 of them, have the box in the garage, so when I go out on a hunt, a fist full goes in the Geobag, and off I go.

 

METAPHORICAL:

 

The items will be crappy most of the time. The thing is people think of geocaching like duck hunting. You go to the blind, the ducks come to you and you limit out. Its really more like pheasant hunting. Lots of walking, a few shots, and maybe a bird. Geocaching is lots of walking, a few finds, and maybe a cool item or two.

 

Of the 12 caches I did on Saturday and Sunday, I found one item that I wanted to take. Just like hunting on CRP land after opening weekend, lots of walking and only a few shots, but the ones you get are a lot more memorable.

Edited by bigredmed
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I hope that i wasnt sounding snobby about wanting better items.

I was just thinking how it would be fun to have more adult caches.

For me and my family its more of getting out of the house and seeing new areas.

But on the days I have my parents watch my son and its a day with my hubby and me , it would be fun to go on adult hunts. <_<

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things like shot glasses, or candles are nice other then stickers and rubber dinos. <_<

Candles are not a good idea. If they are scented, they draw animals to the cache, especially raccoons and possums. And they get soggy and pasty after a little while in the heat and humidity of a cache box. They turn into unattractive lumps of pasty wax, and it doesn't take much time for that to happen.

 

Also, in your other thread, you mentioned cosmetics. Lipstick is basicly wax, and you have the same problems. Eyeshadows don't hold up too well either; the humidity and condensation of a damp cache box makes them lumpy and pasty. And most cosmetics also have the smell issue: they will draw curious animals.

 

Creativity in swag items is a good thing, and it's also good that you asked here before you spent money on things that are not so good for swag.

 

Cache on!

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The majority of my caches have mostly adult oriented items (no, not THAT kind of adult oriented items), because a lot of them aren't walks that people are likely to take small kids on. I do throw a few kid oriented items in them just in case. For my caches that are easier walks the contents are weighted towards kid friendly.

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In my experience, the suburban park brand of caches tend to degrade quickly into junk, and are more likely to contain toys, since those are the caches that kiddies are more likely to visit.

 

If you want to find "good stuff" then do one of two things. Either hit a cache shortly after it is listed, when it has new contents, or else visit a remote cache with a terrain rating of three stars or above. The remote caches aren't visited as often, don't degrade into junk as quickly, and are often better maintained by the owner and better treated by the visitors. When I hike several miles to an ammo box up in the hills, it tends to have interesting and useful items. Even if I don't trade, it is still fun to look through everything.

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I had a cache I called Nice Swag cache, and the point was to thank the local cachers for putting out caches for me to find. I asked seekers to trade with a similar gratitude in mind, and some did. But it only took a couple of months for the swag in Nice Swag Cache to deteriorate to the normal stuff. I added good items for a time, but then decided heck with it: if this is what people prefer, that's OK with me. I changed the name of the cache, and let it be what it is: a nice cache in an outstanding location with everyday swag. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

Just be aware that others may not be able to, or may not care to, keep the same level of quality that you would like to see, and be prepared to accept that. Many people cache paperless, and they simply download coords in mass without decriptions of any kind. They get to the cache and have nothing 'nice' to trade, but hey, they like what they see, and trade to the best they are prepared for...

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<_<

Just be aware that others may not be able to, or may not care to, keep the same level of quality that you would like to see, and be prepared to accept that.

 

Yeah, a cache I put out a few weeks ago was very nicely stocked. One finder took a Wheresgeorge stamp and a new waterproof "dry" box. Combined value was about $17. He left a travel bug :unsure: . He even had the nerve to list the trade in his log :ph34r: . I don't begrudge people taking things, because that's the point, but taking 2 nice things and leaving nothing :huh: ?

 

This stuff happens all the time. Another thing you see a lot are people who think trading 6 pieces of junk for one nice item is a fair trade. You see stuff like "Took the new Mag Lite, left an acorn, a toy soldier half chewn by the family dog, an expired Sanka coupon, a Walmart gift card with 7 cents left on it, some pocket lint and the wrapper from my Snickers Bar...collect 1,000 and forward along with $10 for postage and handling and you can get a free Snickers hat".

Edited by briansnat
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I'd like to see better items in caches. I placed my first cache last week and filled it with good adult items and good quality kiddie stuff. In order to keep the cache in good shape, I put it on a difficult hiking trail so that it will receive less traffic. Maybe some people will trade nice things. My next cache is going to have more nice adult stuff.

 

I just bought a wholesale lot of mini LED flashlight keychains off of ebay. They cost less than $2 each but are the same as the $8 one I currently have. I'll trade them for things worth a couple of bucks and will not trade them for $10 items (not that I have seen a $10 item in a cache).

 

Well, I did find a big but cheap "hunting" knife in a cache in a park near a playground and I took that because I knew that knives were not to be left in caches. I traded for the only item I had with me which was a toy car keychain.

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It occurred to me to say this, but I'm out of here for most of the day, and you should know that I'm not intending to hurt anyone, only to challenge you:

If you are one of those who would like to find "better caches," then why don't you start by providing a couple of those "better caches" as an example, and as a start toward the solution.

:lol: I think you'll probably end up posting a thread about "please, trade evenly," but maybe you'll find a way to do it in the long term.

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It occurred to me to say this, but I'm out of here for most of the day, and you should know that I'm not intending to hurt anyone, only to challenge you:

If you are one of those who would like to find "better caches," then why don't you start by providing a couple of those "better caches" as an example, and as a start toward the solution.

:lol: I think you'll probably end up posting a thread about "please, trade evenly," but maybe you'll find a way to do it in the long term.

The problem is that you could put out a well stocked cache, but unless you visit it every 5-6 finds to re-stock, it will soon degrade into a box of junk.

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It occurred to me to say this, but I'm out of here for most of the day, and you should know that I'm not intending to hurt anyone, only to challenge you:

If you are one of those who would like to find "better caches," then why don't you start by providing a couple of those "better caches" as an example, and as a start toward the solution.

:lol: I think you'll probably end up posting a thread about "please, trade evenly," but maybe you'll find a way to do it in the long term.

The problem is that you could put out a well stocked cache, but unless you visit it every 5-6 finds to re-stock, it will soon degrade into a box of junk.

I agree. The cost of trade items is not it. If you have the computer, the internet connection, the GPSr, the PDA, and the free time to go geocaching, you have the money to buy some decent swag.

 

I think that people can be divided into basically 3 groups when it comes to this.

 

Group 1. People who would do the right thing if they knew how.

Group 2. Clueless people who don't understand the central metaphor of the game and thus repeatedly screw it up.

Group 3. Jerks who may get the metaphor, and know how to do the game correctly, but just can't seem to force themselves to do it right.

 

We can help group 1 people by passing on tips (like using Ebay's wholesale lots section for swag hunting). We can help group 2 people by explaining the central metaphor of the trading of swag, so that they get it. We can insulate ourselves somewhat from group 3, but not completely.

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We have found that by putting the caches at least 1/2 mile (with no trail available) from the highway and putting on the cache page "please trade fairly", that our caches have stayed nice for quite a while now. Those that are close to the road and are less than 3* difficulty rating go down hill quickly.

 

Check for caches away from the bigger cities and off the beaten path and you may get lucky with what you might find. Then again you could come this way and try some of ours. :lol:

 

Good luck,

 

John

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