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Item-specific Cache Ideas


milesaway

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I'm not a geocaching expert by any means and I will be suprised if this topic isn't censored. But I was inspired so here goes...

 

I was wondering if item-specific caches would really work and if they are popular. I have seen Travel Bug Hotels but what about something a little different:

 

- "Here's what I think of your crappy restaurant" cache (customer service cache)

- Dead Pokemon cache (for charred remains of these foul creatures)

- Fisherman's cache (favorite lures and porn exchange)

- Everyone Loves David Hasselhoff cache (collectors only)

- Cache-hole, Full Moon, Big Booty cache (dedicated to the bum)

- "I'm stealing your car" virtual cache (you park, hike, phone us, we take the car)

- Smokey Treats cache (cigars, cigarettes, etc for those long hikes)

- You Punch Like A Girl cache (cache full of insults or gags)

- Roadkill cache (animal parts in baggies)

- "For a good time call" cache (hey, it's a local call anyway)

- Ninjas Were Here cache (throwing stars, poison, waxed thread)

- Airhorn cache (scare your unsuspecting caching partner)

- All-porn cache (would this even be legal?)

- Spare-change cache (for the GPS-enabled homeless)

- Photos-only cache (for voyeurs and such)

- Airhorn cache II (sound horn, wait to find out you are on private property)

- Self-piercing cache (exchange noserings or pierce yourself)

- Spare Tire cache (hike into nature to drop off a tire)

- Deja-vu semi-virtual cache (take their photo at start pt and put it in the cache)

- Sasquatch Lives cache (trade photos/proof of sasquatch)

- Topless cache (we came, we saw, we took our tops off)

- Cartoons-only cache (drop in or draw your own cartoons)

- ICURNUTS cache (cache for all kinds of umm, nuts)

- Man Musk cache (for manly colognes of all sorts)

- Fortune cookie cache (leave a fortune, take a fortune, or be cursed)

- Rubik's Cube cache (dedicated to this tormenting invention)

- Big Spikey Pit cache (aka Cache Owner Gets Your GPS cache)

- Credit Card cache (trade your ex's credit cards)

- Truth or Dare cache (do the dare and take photo or answer a cache question)

- I'm Batman cache (cache has Batman outfit you wear for a photo)

 

So, are item-specific caches like this going to be successful? Any examples out there?

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Just for starters they are usually called theme caches and while some people try to stick with the theme some do not. More importantly this game is supposed to be family friendly and many of your cache themes wouldn't fly. For example anything that has to do with porn, ciggaretes, weapons or anything that could be considered a weapon and food. Besides who would even want to open a cache that is supposed to contain dead animal parts YUK! :unsure:

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Hummmm it looks like you got a lot of time on your hands to come up with all that. Well if your serious there are lots of themed caches. I have tow one for kids which is a 5gallon bucket for stuffed animals and another one for forgien coins. People enjoy them and they are going strong.

Cheers

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When it comes to themes, the simpler the better if you want the cache to stay "on topic." Think of swag that the average geocacher is likely to have in their trade bag already. We have two themed caches, a kid's cache and a keychain cache. Those are easy. In contrast, "Famous Renaissance Painters" would likely receive a lot of TNLN logs (which is the right thing to do if you can't trade consistent with the theme). And for gosh sakes, if you set up a theme cache, don't be a jerk and delete logs that aren't consistent with the theme. I may not have a PEZ dispenser but I still want to hike down the riverfront trail and find the PEZ-themed cache.

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I have a whole bunch of themed caches. Because I'm not uptight about what people trade in them I include this in the cache descriptions:

Feel free to trade whatever sort of items you like. I'll reload a few theme items whenever I do maintenance on the cache. Signature items and travel bugs are always welcome, of course!
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I've got a themed cache, Joefrog's Library. It's filled with books. It was a fun cache to place, but no one has traded (ore even taken) a book yet!

I have a fairly popular cache that is a bookmark collection theme. Lots of appreciation, but more people leaving bookmarks than taking them. I've had to clean out some of the bookmarks to make room for others. And, I've added a few extra nice ones, and people still don't seem to take them. Go figure!?

 

I think I'll add to the description to take without trade if you want and if there are more than a dozen or so items in the cache.

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I have a whole bunch of themed caches. Because I'm not uptight about what people trade in them I include this in the cache descriptions:
Feel free to trade whatever sort of items you like. I'll reload a few theme items whenever I do maintenance on the cache. Signature items and travel bugs are always welcome, of course!

I like that! :unsure:

 

Despite trying to be prepared, I don't always have theme-appropriate swag with me, so sometimes I can only TNLN on a theme cache.

 

There is a photo album cache near us - the idea is to bring a picture of yourself or your caching team and put the picture in the album. Its really great - you get to see what all the local cachers who you haven't met yet look like.

 

But not everyone leaves a photo, and this is ok with the owner.

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I have one themed cache....pigs.....and it stays pretty well along the lines I asked for in the cache description, but if someone doesn't have a pig item to trade out, I don't get upset if they trade something else. I do ask that they "trade up or trade even," and so far, everyone has....but even then, I wouldn't get upset.....for me, the main enjoyment I get from having the cache is reading the logs that are posted online...so I would much rather get a nice story about how they found the cache, and so forth, rather than have them put in TNLNSL because they didn't have anything to trade that kept with the theme.

 

I always read the cache pages before I go caching.....a good cache description or one that is intriguing, will get me to try to find the cache, whereas a poor or nearly non-existent one will often cause me to not consider doing that cache...anyway, doing that, I know in advance if I am going to be doing a themed cache, and so I make sure I have something appropriate to trade. And I will write an individual log entry on line telling of my hunt for the cache almost every time (I think I did one TNLNSL....it was just one of those caches where there was nothing to say about it other than that.)

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My first hide, now renewed as Keys to the cache-L part 2 is a themed cache. It was initially stocked with keychains that I collected from the first caches I found. One day I realized how many there were, so I decided to give them back. :D I still like keychains, I like them a lot. :unsure:

 

PS I really like carleenP's newest bikini avatar, almost as much as the Xmas one. :unsure:

PPS where exactly is that fishing cache? :)

Edited by wimseyguy
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Sorry if I disturbed anyone with this post. Most of those themes were jokes.

 

I had a thought that themed caches would be popular. It is good to know that they exist and that some do well. If I understand the responses correctly, having flexibility is a good thing when trying to establish and maintain a themed cache.

 

I do realize that geocaching is a family-oriented activity but I am considering creating a cache geared a litle more towards specific interests or grown-up interests.

 

Is there any way to separate these types caches out from the rest via this website?

Do you think an multi-cache could be a possible solution?

 

Thanks for your feedback.

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My first hide, now renewed as Keys to the cache-L part 2 is a themed cache. It was initially stocked with keychains that I collected from the first caches I found. One day I realized how many there were, so I decided to give them back. B) I still like keychains, I like them a lot. :tired:

 

PS I really like carleenP's newest bikini avatar, almost as much as the Xmas one. <_<

PPS where exactly is that fishing cache? :blink:

I have a keychain cache too. And it came about pretty much the same way. I was sitting on 30 or so keychains that I got from various caches. Most folks seem to stay with the theme.

 

I also have an NCAA Football team themed cache. People have either stayed with the theme or TNLN.

 

I think theme caches are fun.

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I have two themed caches that have stayed on theme since created . . . a childrens book cache & a pocket game cache - each is labeled well on the cache intro page. THEME caches are a great diversion for the children.

 

Mine are for KIDS who come with parents . . . they bring their old books & get a new one from the cache, it is LOADED. It IS a kick to see which ones they choose, they have mostly taken the "Book Of Bible Stories", even thought the selection of fables, stories, riddles etc. is broad. The other cache has become a TB exchange in addition to a game exchange. I regularly restock the titles that they remove from my local book source to keep it fresh for new comers - theme caches can be a little higher maintenance, but worth it.

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Theme caches are fun, if maintained and not taken tooooo seriously! We have one Crawfishing that has a fishing theme.

 

Other theme-caches we have seen and enjoyed were ones that emphasized books, CDs (a CD-only exchange; other trades discouraged but TNLNSL fine), several that feature keychains and coins (US state quarters, foreign coins, etc). Hands-down our favorite though has to be the one that features cartoon art and requests that the cacher either sketch a cartoon in the logbook, or bring a copy of a favorite cartoon! CCC cache VERY creative! :)

 

So, yeah, theme-caches are fine -- just recall that this IS a family-safe game/sport/hobby!

:)

 

I don't think that there is currently a way to flag them as 'theme-caches' except in the title; same as TB Hotels. (We have fun coming up with double-entendre titles, like our Bugs 'N Peaches Welcome You! which is a bug-hotel/exchange cache at a Georgia Welcome Center! :P

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