Removing Calling Cards

[JohnX]

I use tennis ball cans for 4 of my caches which are not the easiest things to pack and unpack. I have noticed people leaving calling cards in them in separate zip-lock bags which makes it that much more inconvenient to get at the swag and log book. I don't understand the purpose of these cards since there is a log book and am wondering why they are even in the cache in the first place. Eventually, when the cache is full enough they are going to be removed as part of the regular maintanance. Am I missing something?

 

Added less than 24 hours later:

 

I am not talking about laminated cards or clever handiwork. I am talking about calling cards printed on business card stock at home on ink jet printers that are getting bent and torn by being crammed into a small cache container.

Edited January 8, 2005 by JohnX

[+New England n00b]

Some people leave them as signature items, rather than trading (or in addition to). Siggy items are often highly desirable items for other cachers to find (I prize them myself over basic trade items).

 

I would not put them in a baggie, though. I'd laminate them (can be done for a dollar for a standard 8.5x11 page - might get 8 or 10 cards out of that).

 

I do agree that it might get difficult to put unwieldly items into a full cache, but I look at it this way - it is likely someones personal touch, and that is cool. Much better than a broken McToy or dirty golf ball with no cacher/community attached to it.

 

Now if they are leaving 30 in one cache... well that is just weird...

[+fly46]

If you're worried about all the space, combine them into one baggie.. They're not trash by any means.

 

If you're insistant upon removing them all, mail them to me. I'll add them to my sig item cache.

[+Robespierre]

As the Noob said, they're for you to collect. I would view it as a good thing. I have a few, but not many around here use them. If you don't wish to collect sig. items, you can do as you wish. I'd put them in with the log book as a way of organizing it. If other cachers wish to have them, they might enjoy having it mentioned in the cache description...that they are available.

[+BlueDeuce]

Trade for them and drop them in another bigger cache. It's better than just throwing them away isn't it?

[+Renegade Knight]

Why? Same reason ham guys spend time, money, & energy on QSL cards.

[adampierson]

I use tennis ball cans for 4 of my caches which are not the easiest things to pack and unpack. I have noticed people leaving calling cards in them in separate zip-lock bags which makes it that much more inconvenient to get at the swag and log book. I don't understand the purpose of these cards since there is a log book and am wondering why they are even in the cache in the first place. Eventually, when the cache is full enough they are going to be removed as part of the regular maintanance. Am I missing something?

Believe it or not. Some cachers actually collect these cards (I don't). If the cache starts getting unwieldy, I see no problem with pasting them into the logbook or just throwing them away.

[uber_bike_geek]

Around here, everyone with sig cards carries a small stapler with them and they just staple the card onto their page in the logbook... I don't think that's a problem... everything stays in one bag, and you can see who's already been there a lot easier than reading all the logs

 

Happy Caching

Jeff

[Smaug1]

Wow, what a great thread for a newbie to read!

 

I saw a few signature cards in one of the caches I found, and thought to myself: "Nice touch, but kind of lame."

 

Now that someone has pointed out the idea of collecting them, it doesn't seem so lame.

 

Does anyone have any internet links for who can make business cards for cheap?

 

Thanks again guys.

 

Jeremy Z.

[JohnX]

OK, thanks for the responses. As long as people value them, in they will stay. They just seemed strange to me, almost like a cat marking it's territory.

 

B.T.W. I made magnets for all of my caches which receive a lot of positive posts. Each one is a business card appropriate to the cache, usually the name of the cache, it's location and some appropriate graphic. Then waterproofed with acrylic spray and mounted on a buisness card magnet. I will post pictures somewhere if I can get my scanner going.

 

JohnX

[JohnX]

Get inexpensive business cards from:

 

www.vistaprint.com

 

I have used them for "real" business cards before and was very satisfied. They even offer "free" cards. Google on "free business cards" for other companies that do the same thing.

 

Thanks again for all of the answers.

[+ValleyRat & TillyMouse]

I keep a few personal cards in the cache-bag. In each case, we've used our Seal-A-Meal machine to make a bag exactly the size of the card. Just first cut the bag to 1/4" larger than the card, then use the machine to seal the bag at the edge.

 

Sealing cuts the bag off where it's sealed.

 

I also have a laminator, and sometimes laminate special cards or the Geocaching Info sheet.

 

We don't smash a card down into a crowded cache.

 

Another possibility is buying cards printed on plastic. Google on Plastic Business Cards. Cheaper than you might think.

 

Or go here.

Edited January 7, 2005 by valleyrat

[+JohnnyVegas]

Why? Same reason ham guys spend time, money, & energy on QSL cards.

I had my QSL card made by a post card company, I even came accross a cache with a post card theme, so I left one there.

[+JohnnyVegas]

Wow, what a great thread for a newbie to read!

 

I saw a few signature cards in one of the caches I found, and thought to myself: "Nice touch, but kind of lame."

 

Now that someone has pointed out the idea of collecting them, it doesn't seem so lame.

 

Does anyone have any internet links for who can make business cards for cheap?

 

Thanks again guys.

 

Jeremy Z.

Most computers include a program for making your own, If you are running windows XP and it has MS works look in MS works. This way you can design your own as you need them. You can get bussiness card stock at places like Staples and Comp USA. Each sheet does about 10 cards.

[+PC Painter]

I use tennis ball cans for 4 of my caches which are not the easiest things to pack and unpack. I have noticed people leaving calling cards in them in separate zip-lock bags which makes it that much more inconvenient to get at the swag and log book. I don't understand the purpose of these cards since there is a log book and am wondering why they are even in the cache in the first place. Eventually, when the cache is full enough they are going to be removed as part of the regular maintanance. Am I missing something?

Start removing cards left behind by people, and you're going to have some VERY upset people on your hands. Didn't you ever trade baseball cards when you were a kid? I LOVE finding a unique singature card, and I have started collecting them. Removing them because it's something you're not interested in, is just wrong. There's lots of stuff in caches, that I'm not interested in. That doesn't give me the right to get rid of them, so there's more room for stuff that I'm interested in.

 

Furthermore, I put a fair amount of time and effort into mine. The card has my own designed artwork on one side, a little info on the other, and I laminate the card. Then I punch a hole in the corner, and put on a numbered tag, and attach one of my signature scarab pendants. I'd be well pissed, if I found you were removing my sig card creations, just cause you thought it took up too much room.

[+PC Painter]

If the cache starts getting unwieldy, I see no problem with pasting them into the logbook or just throwing them away.

It's this kind of statement that kind of gets my blood boiling a little.

 

Who are YOU to decide what stays and what goes? Sig cards are as much a part of geocaching, as anything else you'll find in a cache....and at least they add a personal touch to the game. I'll go for sig cards/items ANY day, over your typical dirty golf balls or McToys.

 

The difference between you and me, is that I don't advocate getting rid of things in caches, that I don't care about. Have enough respect for other people, and their tastes that are different from yours, to remember that it's not all about what YOU want.

Edited January 8, 2005 by PC Painter

[+NightPilot]

The OP was talking about his own caches. If the owner wants to remove anything in the cache, including cards, or the entire cache, that's his business. Cleaning up the cache and removing junk is part of normal maintenance, and I think it's up to the owner to decide what is trash and what isn't. I leave cards, but after I leave them I don't care that much what happens to them. The owner can keep them, or throw them away, or another cacher can keep them, or throw them away, or anything else. If they were valuable I wouldn't leave them in a cache.

[+kewfriend]

though this seems largely a US thread - here's a UK perspective

 

In the caches we have set we leave a set of cache found cards for the first 20 or so finders - and by all accounts this little touch is much appreciated - particularly by those who usual TNLN.

 

As for leaving calling cards, brilliant!! There are a lot of sodden state UK logbooks with pens that have run out of ink or pencil scrawls so faded that readability is impossible. Having a brief look through the laminated cards ( and they nearly all are laminated ) gives a good feel for the actvitivty of fellow cachers.

 

So I welcome this development.

 

If people want to trade and collect cards - nice little additional activity.

[+FamilyBean]

Asking as a new cacher...Are the cards (this cache visited by whoever) actually for the owner of the cache or for anyone to pick up or just a way of saying i was here instead/aswell as signing the logbook ?

[+basswoodbend]

Signature items which are often cards or buttons but include hand made trinkets and even decorated golf balls are very common here and collecting them is an important part of the game for many of us. A number of caches have been created solely for the purpose of exchanging them. For an idea of their variety see; http://sigitemdb.mi-geocaching.org/

If an item is left for the cache owner, and some are, it is attached to the log book, otherwise it is considered fair game for trade.

[+PC Painter]

Asking as a new cacher...Are the cards (this cache visited by whoever) actually for the owner of the cache or for anyone to pick up or just a way of saying i was here instead/aswell as signing the logbook ?

Sometimes they are left for the cache owner and, if so, will usually say something like "<insert name here> found your cache!". You should always leave those in the cache. Other times, they're left in and free to take with a trade (hopefully with your own sig card). I decided to make mine very clear, and printed on it that the person is more than welcome to take the card with them.

[+TotemLake]

If the cache starts getting unwieldy, I see no problem with pasting them into the logbook or just throwing them away.

It's this kind of statement that kind of gets my blood boiling a little.

 

Who are YOU to decide what stays and what goes? Sig cards are as much a part of geocaching, as anything else you'll find in a cache....and at least they add a personal touch to the game. I'll go for sig cards/items ANY day, over your typical dirty golf balls or McToys.

 

The difference between you and me, is that I don't advocate getting rid of things in caches, that I don't care about. Have enough respect for other people, and their tastes that are different from yours, to remember that it's not all about what YOU want.

Easy does it. Not everybody views the signature cards the same way. I treat mine like I treat gifts I give. Once it's out of my hands and out of my control, it is entirely up to the recipient what they want to do with it. It can be a gracious or ungracious action. I have no say in it except that I would find an ungracious action disappointing and short-sighted.

 

Be that as it may be...

 

Mine are clear coated and it works great. The water beads and rolls off with ease. Before that, I did baggie my cards, or put them in other baggies so as not to take up too much space with multiple inflated baggies. Sometimes those baggies replaced the one the log was in, or put the logbook in one when it wasn't in a baggie.

[+fly46]

The difference between you and me, is that I don't advocate getting rid of things in caches, that I don't care about. Have enough respect for other people, and their tastes that are different from yours, to remember that it's not all about what YOU want.

Here Here!

It's one thing if it really is trash - and by trash I mean expired coupons, broken toys, stuff like that.

But when it's a matter of opinion, give the item the benefit of the doubt. My favorite is when someone doesn't like a certain item so they just take it out. Okay, dude, seeing as though the CACHE OWNER put it there, TRADE FOR IT. (sorry, previous rant, I feel better now)

 

Anyway, My thought is that if there are items taking up too much room in your cache, either organize it - ie, put all the signature cards in one baggie instead of having them in 13 different ones - or move it to another cache. Any time I've moved items because of space they go immediately into my swag bag and will go in another cache when I find one they fit in.

 

My offer still stands to you - or anyone - if you don't want sig cards in your cache, mail them to me for my sig item cache.

[+PC Painter]

Easy does it. Not everybody views the signature cards the same way.

Not everyone views ANY item in a cache, the same way. That doesn't give any sort of right to anyone, to dispose of items they don't care about.

 

Sure, when I put an item in a cache, it's with the understanding that someone might not treat it respectfully...but of COURSE I'm going to be upset, if it happens. No one puts anything in a cache, without HOPING someone will enjoy finding it. Along with that, comes the opposite hope that no one will treat is disrespectfully. So, to say I don't care what happens to it, wouldn't be accurate.

[+TotemLake]

I'll go for sig cards/items ANY day, over your typical dirty golf balls or McToys.

 

The problem is, the viewpoint you hold, also goes against viewpoints others hold. Who here is to say dirty golf balls and mctoys aren't desireable? Ask the kid who didn't find the signature card as interesting.

 

All I'm pointing out is; to each their own opinion about the desireability of the item left for trade.

 

Bottom line; If the cache owner (in this case the OP with his opening post before he saw the other side of the coin) doesn't hold as high an opinion over the cards, make note of it, and stop dropping them in their caches.

 

Yes, we do spend time making our creations. I have had no expectations of my cards being traded or even kept out of the trash heap. That's due to the variated opinion of the cards. Frankly, I'm surprised to hear folks have actually collected them. You would do well to realize this and reduce your angst. Be surprised rather than disappointed.

[+Xangxa]

Easy does it. Not everybody views the signature cards the same way.

Not everyone views ANY item in a cache, the same way. That doesn't give any sort of right to anyone, to dispose of items they don't care about.

 

Sure, when I put an item in a cache, it's with the understanding that someone might not treat it respectfully...but of COURSE I'm going to be upset, if it happens. No one puts anything in a cache, without HOPING someone will enjoy finding it. Along with that, comes the opposite hope that no one will treat is disrespectfully. So, to say I don't care what happens to it, wouldn't be accurate.

As an artist, I understand your attachment to your art and I undertstand your passion. When I feel strongly about one of my works it behooves me to take the same level of effort in protecting it.

 

The world of geocaching is too unpredictable to have high expectations. I must weigh the risk and make a choice. if I guess wrong and my work is lost, that's the chance I was willing to take, and I shouldn't cry over spilt milk. If there's a fault, it'd have to be mine. It's illogical to resent the other party not complying with the "agreement" to respect my work. That's because I let the item leave my control without a signed formal agreement.

 

That being said, I think the decent thing would be at minimum to move them onto another cache if the owner didn't want them. That way somebody who appreciated them would have a chance at them.

[+PC Painter]

I'll go for sig cards/items ANY day, over your typical dirty golf balls or McToys.

 

The problem is, the viewpoint you hold, also goes against viewpoints others hold. Who here is to say dirty golf balls and mctoys aren't desireable? Ask the kid who didn't find the signature card as interesting.

 

All I'm pointing out is; to each their own opinion about the desireability of the item left for trade.

 

Bottom line; If the cache owner (in this case the OP with his opening post before he saw the other side of the coin) doesn't hold as high an opinion over the cards, make note of it, and stop dropping them in their caches.

 

Yes, we do spend time making our creations. I have had no expectations of my cards being traded or even kept out of the trash heap. That's due to the variated opinion of the cards. Frankly, I'm surprised to hear folks have actually collected them. You would do well to realize this and reduce your angst. Be surprised rather than disappointed.

I never said that dirty golf balls and McToys weren't desirable. I said they weren't desirable to ME. I KNOW that everyone has different tastes, and you should realise that is the EXACT point I am trying to make. Just because it's not interesting or valuable to you, doesn't mean you have the right to remove them. To me, the undesirables are dirty golf balls and McToys (only really mentioned, for an example)...but the point is that, even though they're not interesting to me, I'll leave them because I know someone else will enjoy them.

 

Also, I'm not sure what you think I don't realise. You say you're surprised that people collect them, and that I would do well to realise this. Uhm....I KNOW people collect them. I stated clearly before, that I actually put on the back of my cards, that I encourage people to take them for their collection.

[+Night Stalker]

The first thing I look for in a cache is any interesting coins. The second thing I look for in a cache is a signature card. It has taken me a while to get around to it, but I finally have created my own signature cards. They are laminated and hopefully someone will find them as collectable as the cards that I have found.

 

Edited January 9, 2005 by Night Stalker

[+TotemLake]

I stated clearly before, that I actually put on the back of my cards, that I encourage people to take them for their collection.

I guess you're really still missing the point. You placed the card and it literally becomes out of your control. If you really don't want them to be trashed, because of someone else's attitude that again is out of your control, don't leave it. Hand it to the folks that want to have them. Otherwise, expect the worst, and be pleased at the best.

 

Fwiw, I don't put my cards in the caches to be trashed, but I follow my own credo. I expect the worst to happen. I'm pleased when folks collect them. It's ok if they don't and they generally leave them alone. But I don't let myself get upset if the cards become trashed by the cache owner or someone else regardless of their condition.

 

I used your statement about the McToys and dirty golfballs because you brought a sticking point in many discussions in these forums without recognizing the lesson those threads brought on. There are many variables to this sport which are completely and totally out of our control, including folk's attitudes about certain items. When some people see McToys, they pull them out to be trashed. Same with dirty golfballs. And yet, there are people out there that place value on these same items to be collected regardless of this.

 

Some folks do the same to signature cards because of their fragile state when they become damp... and it doesn't matter if they have become that way or not. It's the attitude you can't control, thus the angst about it is stressful only to yourself as the artist.

 

I understand where you're at and I am not arguing against you. I'm merely advising don't place it with the expectation people are going to match your value system. There are those that won't and they don't give a hoot how you feel about it.