Reason For Cache Contents?

[+pneff]

I’ve been caching for a month now and am curious about the goodies left in the caches. What is the idea behind this tradition? The prizes seem mostly designed for kids. Are they a reward to the finder? Are they supposed to be moved to a different cache and hence travel? Are they to be traded on the honor system and hence encourage “fairness?” Are they supposed to be valuable? Or not valuable? Just curious.

[+fly46]

Because when the first stash hunt was started, the hider filled a large bucket with items to trade for. So we trade.

 

For the most part, adults dont trade unless it's something really neat or a signature item, even though the original trade items (of the first stash) were all adult oriented.

 

Children trade almost all the time. And that's fine. Kids should have a reason for why they walked half a mile through the woods with their parents or did a three part multi about the civil war.

 

 

If nothing else, it just adds another element to the game.

[+Moose Mob]

Good question. I re-read the Credits thinking it had all the info you were looking for, but I cannot find what I found many months ago.

 

THe idea of a "cache" was from the trappers hunters in the mountains. They would only come into town on rare occasion, where they would stock up on supplies. They would hide the bulk of thier supplies someplace in the mountains, and eventually grew to share thier cache locations with other hunters/trappers of which whom they trusted. The rules was, take something,l eave something. If a fellow trapper needed a pair of boots from the other trapper's cache, they would leave a jacket. Take a 1/4 pound of bacon, leave a Can Of Beans.

 

Of course, we can't all afford those type of trade items on a regular basis, so we visit the dollar store. Most of the items we get from the dollar store are kid items.

 

I hope that explains a little. Happy Caching!

[+amytincan]

I believe foxes "cache' their food as well. They leave something behind and go back to get it.

[+LaPaglia]

Why? Because we can

[+Sagefox]

The prizes seem mostly designed for kids.

You might be surprised at how excited (or agitated) adults can get over the contents of a cache.

 

Packages of corn skewers are usually a big hit.

 

Pineapple likes corn skewers

[+AuntieWeasel]

I think there's something instinctive and primitive about it. Almost like a folk magic. Or a way to socialize across distance and time.

 

The place I grew up was very hilly and rural. I'm told years ago, when the men went out to attend chores first thing in the morning, they would hoot once, loudly. A hoot would carry long distances over the hills, apparently. From one little farm to another, anyway. It was a way of saying, "good morning. I'm here. Are you?"

 

I was back there a couple of years ago and I did some shooting. Every time I fired, the old man on the farm next door would let off a round, too. Just being sociable.

 

So, I think leaving stuff in the cache is a sort of a hoot. Or a bang, if you prefer.

[+bigredmed]

There is a certain interest factor to seeing the contents. Especially the international geocache exchanges and the ones that are off the beam a little.

 

I get a kick out seeing what other people left and took, kind of like a cultural anthropology experiment.

[Apollo Bob]

I think it reinforces the "treasure hunt" aspect of the game, even though it might fall into the category of "One man's trash is...". Geocachers by nature seem to be a very curious inquisitive lot, and to me, there's a lot to be said for the simple curiosity of "What's in the box?". In fact, part of my caching ritual is always sitting with the box and taking time to remove the contents one at a time to see what's in there. It's like the quiet counterpoint after the thrill of the hunt. I'll read some of the log entries usually too. Another reason I like sifting through the objects is because its kind of like each one is a personal stamp left by someone else who was there. I almost always find something pretty neat, whether or not I actually take anything.

[+Renegade Knight]

...The prizes seem mostly designed for kids. Are they a reward to the finder? Are they supposed to be moved to a different cache and hence travel? Are they to be traded on the honor system and hence encourage “fairness?” Are they supposed to be valuable? Or not valuable? Just curious.

Yes.

[+briansnat]

Largely tradition. The first caches had trade items and that's the way the sport started.

 

Though the sport has evolved (or devolved) to a point where it seems that traditional caches are becoming less popular, I still like the original idea of trade items in a cache. Whether I plan to trade or not, even today I open the cache with a sense of anticipation and enjoy examining the contents.

 

Unfortunately, trade items have become a point of contention. There have been countless forum threads arguing over what kind of items are appropriate and complaining about "unfair" trades and garbage in caches. Though many of these threads have valid points, sometimes they make me wish that Dave left a letterbox type stamp in his original cache instead of a can of beans.

Edited October 28, 2004 by briansnat

[lowracer]

I fill caches with extra junk from the house and garage that I don't need anymore. I cleaned out my garage one day and had enough swag to fill a 24-gallon rubbermaid action packer. I wheeled the whole action packer out into the woods on a dolly and its' now the largest cache in Austin. Strangely enough, most people just XNSL (eXchange Nothing, Sign Log).

 

School Daze Match Game

[+The Jester]

For the most part, adults dont trade unless it's something...

Hmm, I find that adults trade as much or more than kids. I trade for anything - not JUST for something special - just for the fun of trading, it's part of the game.