Rubber Junk In Caches...

[Trumper]

Ahoy.

 

I'm new, but I think the most discouraging thing I'm finding about geocaching is the huge number of caches filled with cheap, rubber animal things. It seems every cache I find has (maybe) an interesting item or two, then about half a dozen rubber animals or dinosaurs that look like they cost about 2 cents. Some are *all* cheapo rubber things and assorted junk.

 

What's the deal with this? Is it fashionable to leave those things? Does someone sell big bags of 'em for a dollar or something?

 

I always try to leave something decent, interesting, or localized. I guess some don't, and that's OK, but sheesh there's just too much pure junk!

 

OK, rant off.

[FisherBear]

that seems to be the norm for a lot of caches. Probably since they are cheap and small items to place. We've come across some caches where it's been disapointing to see the stuff inside (post it notes shouldn't be a cache item, how boring!). I guess all you can do is place better items to encourage others...

[+The Leprechauns]

One man's trash is another man's (or kid's) treasure.

 

My daugher's top ten list of favorite trade items would definitely include frogs of any type, rubber snakes and lizards, and plastic doggies. Having been to hundreds of geocaches, she generally doesn't trade anymore, but show her a cache container with a little froggy in it and she's just as thrilled as when we found our first cache.

 

Lots of grownups collect froggies, too. I think it's got something to do with the site's mascot.

[+discoducks]

I hate finding junk in caches as much as anybody. I try so hard to find something cool to trade or to put in caches I hide that it's almost stressful. But I remind myself, it's the thrill of the hunt for grown-ups and the treasure(or what grown-ups call junk) for the kids.

[+Lunaverse]

Yep, this is what you find. I like the rubber animals better than broken McToys, but hey.

 

Best thing is to do your part and put nifty things into caches. You don't have to spend a lot of money to buy nifty trade items, either.

 

Luna

 

Edit: P.S. I like your avatar!

Edited May 12, 2005 by Lunaverse

[+Eweiccirou]

I'm relativly new to geocaching (11 finds) and while my kids love to find the plastic frogs, lizards and dinosaurs etc, I'm always wondering what I should place in the caches. I've been trying to trade up but I'm always wondering if what I put in is lame. What do you define as being something good or cool?

[+the hermit crabs]

We've come across some caches where it's been disapointing to see the stuff inside (post it notes shouldn't be a cache item, how boring!).

I love finding packs of post-it notes in caches. I always trade for them if I find any.

[+DaveA]

What do you define as being something good or cool?

Entirely subjective.

 

In general if you get your cache swag from your junk drawer (or worse, someone else's junk drawer) and you select the stuff you haven't used in years and have no use for there is a reasonable chance it will be lame.

 

If you keep an eye open for inexpensive, but neato (to you) things when you are out at the stores you will have a reasonable chance of selecting something that is not lame.

 

I just picked up 20 zipper pull compasses for .95 each and 20 pill bottle thingies with rubber o rings and a seperate plastic liner for 1.00 each. (good for micro cache containers). Both are items I intend to keep a few of for myself so I figure they are probably not lame.

[+AtoZ]

LOL. Like the Lep said. my oldes daughter,17, loves to find golfball in caches my son, 6, any mac toy and my middle daughter any thing that glitters. So if you don't like the stuff then trade out for a PDA, compass or GPSr. I guess that is why most folks just TNLNSL.

cheers

[+Joypa]

The answer is--it's mostly junk. That does not bother me, although it is nice to see interesting stuff every now and then. If you are after swag, you are in for a disappointment. After awhile, you may discover a few cachers who really take an interest in what they put in a cache. I know a few in my area. You can make their caches a prime target. Also, look for a cache that has just been placed. First to finders generally get rewarded. The longer a cache is out without maintenance, the junkier it tends to get. Look for newer caches since they haven't degraded yet. Hope this helps.

[+Kite and Hawkeye]

I love finding little rubber animals and bugs in caches. Nobody likes broken or dirty stuff, but little critters in good condition make fine trade items (and usually fit in micros, as well). I always trade for them when I see them. And yeah, I often leave rubber frogs in trade. They're nice little poison dart frogs! I even knew someone who was trying to collect them all (and I was trying to collect all of his lizards).

[+Lunaverse]

What do you define as being something good or cool?

When making purchases, I ask myself, "Would I like finding this in a cache?" or sometimes, "Would my son like finding this in a cache?" I also get things that are practical, pretty, weird, or that are worth more than I actually paid (clearance items, discount stores, etc).

 

Luna

Edited May 12, 2005 by Lunaverse

[+geobc]

This, to me, is where Letterboxing has a better idea. In that game (is that the right word?), the cache owner leaves a custom rubber stamp in the box. When a seeker finds the box, he uses that rubber stamp to add the stamp's impression to his own personal log book that contains all the letterbox stamps he's found. The rubber stamp remains in the cache.

 

I try to do a reverse thing where I affix my custom-made stick-on labels to the cache's logbook. Many other cacher hunters do this as well. Just be sure to use a small-enough label so you can also place them in micro logbooks.

 

I figure that this will make the logbooks a little more enjoyable for the cache hiders. I don't like leaving McToys although I will if it is a kids' cache or I'm feeling particularly weak at that moment. ;-)

 

A few months ago the local tool warehouse was selling nicely-made tape measure for .88 ea so I bought a bunch of them for cache giveaways. I also grabbed a bunch of combination magnifying glass/pen lights that my work was giving away as promotion items.

 

Any outdoor or surplus store has lots of low-cost options for cache items: AA or AAA batteries (shrink wrapped), small compasses, emergency whistles, chemical flashlights, one-time-use rain ponchos, etc.

 

GeoBC

[twjolson & Kay]

bamagriffingang hit it right on the nose, geocaching is for the hunt, not the prize. If you are out in the wild to just get a trinket you are wasting your time. You may not like what's in the cache, but if it bothers you too much, geocaching probably isn't for you. (I am not singling out anyone with this statement)

 

Personally, we put out junk like old toys because we'd rather get rid of it then let it collect dust. And you never know who will find the cache next. That dusty old ninja turtle might be garbage to you, but to the next family it's a free cool toy. No matter what you put in, odds are that someone, eventually, will want it. You could make someone's day with something as simple as a golf ball!

 

Plus, little plastic frogs aren't all bad. We found on in a cache and made it our geocaching mascot. He's Atomik, the B**** Slapping Frog with Attitude! We take him everywhere and take pictures at nearly every cache or anywhere a interesting picture oppurtunity shows itself.

 

Rant finished.

[+Big Dawgg & Cardinal Girl]

Just imagine what would be in caches if everyone traded even or up. If you started out with Mctoy's and each person traded up, what would be in a cache after say 50 to 100 finds. We would have alot more cachers out there for one thing.

[+Skip_]

The best things I've found in caches so far have been a couple very realistic little plastic frogs. Sure they're not worth a lot of money, but this isn't something where you go out searching for a cache in the hopes of striking it rich. Or, in pirate talk:

 

Avast, me 'earties! Thar be no dubloons in caches! Arrrrr!

[+AuntieWeasel]

Shoot! I like those little iridescent squishy amphibians!

 

My one and only FTF, that's what I took. Of course, I was too new to have higher expectations

[+Team GPSaxophone]

that seems to be the norm for a lot of caches. Probably since they are cheap and small items to place. We've come across some caches where it's been disapointing to see the stuff inside (post it notes shouldn't be a cache item, how boring!). I guess all you can do is place better items to encourage others...

Even personalized Post-Its that say "GEOCACHING.COM" on them?

 

Well, the people that picked them up didn't think they were junk

[+briansnat]

I think cheap rubber toys are fine to leave, as long as they are new. I find way too many that are half chewed by the family dog, or look like they spent the past 10 years under the car seat cushion.

 

If its garbage, throw it out, not in a cache.

[FisherBear]

I have no problem with the little rubber toys (we've got a bunch on our geocaching shelf). It's the stuff that just seems like the whole cache was made up of items dumped from a junk drawer that are a bit disapointing. In no way do I consider the trade items the best part of geocaching, but it is nice to see items other than safety pins and marbles. We leave handmade items and most of them have been traded out of the caches we put them in.

[+sbell111]

The only thing that I really want to find in a cache is a dry log book. Nothing else matters.

[FisherBear]

no kidding. Once we found a cache that was full of water and had a bar of soap swimming in it. Everything was slimy yet smelled really really clean.

[+reveritt]

Yeah, it ain't about the swag--that's for sure. People let their kids trade cast-off toys for whatever.

 

I just figure on up-swagging just about every cache I find, and I comb the dollar stores for nifty items.

[+cudlecub]

Yep, those bags of plastic bugs / dinosaurs / army men come in a conquer the world size for a buck. I also think they multiply like rabbits when left undisturbed in a cache.

 

Occasionally I'll run across a cool item or either I will take an item when I reach a milestone mark. But most of my finds are logged TNLNSL.

 

When I place a cache out I usually hit the Dollar Tree knowing that even worse junk is going to end up in the container. I often think my Dollar Tree junk is quality stuff from what I end up seeing in the cache a few months after placement.

[+Renegade Knight]

Cheap stetchy rubber things are about the only thing my kids trade for. They are cool and hurt if you snap them on someones leg just right.

[Trumper]

Seems to be an even split from folks who find this disappointing and those who like it (cause their kids like it).

 

I would be happy with a blend: some small rubber toys and then a mix of other things. But I posted cause I seem to find lots that have 90% cheapo, crusty rubber animal thingies.

 

I'm not "in it for the swag," I'm just wondering why these things predominate?

 

I *always* try to upgrade. The last one I did last weekend, I took a rubber keychain (for future placement), and left a ziploc baggie full of 50 state quarters for swapping. I tend to leave yo-yos, jacks (ball and those jack thingies), stickers (in a baggie--ruined if wet), or something like that when it's obviously a "kids" stash full of rubber thingies....

 

Anyway, onward! I think the best thing for me to do would be to take a few rubber thingies and replace 'em with (what I think is more) interesting things for kids. That should help with the population (out of) control I'm talking about....

[CoyoteRed]

Lots of grownups collect froggies, too.

I don't know about it being the site's mascot, but Sissy's van has, oh, a couple dozen on the the dash. Doesn't matter the piece of plastic came out of the same mold as every other one, as long as it has a somewhat different color scheme it's traded out!

[+RockyRaab]

Utah is the most kid-dense state in the US. So our caches tend to be toy-dense, too. Some are kid themed. No, LOTS of them are kid themed.

 

I've been disappointed by the absolute junk in some. Others have made me almost giddy with glee at finding good stuff. I carry a good amount of high-grade stuff with me, and always try to improve the quality level of the caches I find.

 

That's not a brag, it's how I believe the game is supposed to be played.

 

That being the case, I'll CITO any broken McToys or trash like rocks and moldy dog biscuits (I've found both). I'll leave one or two dollar store items behind, knowing that the quality left behind outweighs the quantity I removed. Fewer really good items beats a can full of junk every time.

[+The Leprechauns]

Another observation from a parent:

 

A kid's appetite for more rubber lizards and cute frogs is seemingly endless. I had to convert a perfectly good rubbermaid cache container just to hold them all. My daughter will assemble them in vast armies on the living room floor and re-enact apocalyptic battles between the evil lizards and the heroic frogs.

 

But a yo-yo or a set of jacks? "No, Daddy, I already got one of those."

[TCE]

Yeah, I'd probably trade for some rubber/plastic animals...especially frogs and lizards, or snakes. I've even thought of making some of my own out of oven bake clay! I think post-it notes are superb cache items too!...but I've never found any. Kids do llllove rubber and plastic animals...at least most of them do. And, bouncy balls!!! some kids in my classes at schools have an amazing love for bouncy balls!!!

 

I always look for items to put in my prize box for classes I teach. If I have a lot of one thing, I'll take some and trade 'em in caches. Currently I have an over abundance of foam airplanes! So, I've been leaving 2 or three in each cache.

 

The letterboxes are COOL to find. I like them better than geocaches I think, but there are far fewer of them around. I like all the stamp artwork people put in 'em Their log books are really cool!

[+thumperness]

Ok I can't believe I'm going to give away one of my best shopping secret's BUT...

I go at least once a week to the Target accross the street. I only shop the end caps away from the main isle. This is where all the clearence items are. Always scan the item as it is usualy cheeper then the last orange price. I have put $10 items in a cache that I got for $1. Also, Walmart puts their clearence items in the main isles but thoes go fast. When ever I am in a drug store/CVS I always to to the clearence section. I just found tradeing cards there for $.10-.50 usually they are around $3.00 a pack for Poke mon and Yu gi oh cards and these are things my son goes nuts for! I always look in the clearence section and always have the thought in my mind "would this make good swag?" Sometimes I hit a jack pot and stock up!

[+Birdsong-n-Bud]

The rubber toys don't bother me at all. What grossed me out once, though, was finding in a box full of incredible fishing lures, many hand-made (the theme of the box was fishing)....some stoop left a used tube of old and used mascara. I barely wanted to pick it up with my fingers to throw the disgusting thing out.

 

Needless to say, we gave the box a big upgrade with what we left behind.

 

I don't mind if you leave used toys or McToys or rubber toys...but keep it somewhat sanitary.

[+crazyone]

I always enjoying finding the caches even if its has those junky rubber toys. The whole idea is to have fun trying to find the caches, that those sneaky little rotten devils have hidden and the reward even if it a rubber spider,is the challange in itself.

[+Lostby7]

The thrill is the find for sure, but for me it is also to see what kind of swag is in the cache. You just never know what's in there. I don't care what kind of swag I find so long as it is not dirty, wet or broken.

 

I have found some really amazing things and some real trash. One of the last caches I visited had all items costing better than $5 I suspected that going to the cache from the logs and I brought a $20 bike lock to leave in the cache (not a normal trade for me by any means, and I got it far cheaper than the $20 retail cost). I am more inclined to trade up when the contents are a bit more upscale than plastic rings and broken McToys.

 

I guess the cache owners are ultimately responsible for upsizing the cache from time to time. Nothing fancy, just toss out the junk every once in a while.

[+VENTUREMAN7/ "A" TEAM"]

I agree w/ most of you here. Cheap worn out toys should be put in the trash, not the cache. I have Two "Mini Cachers" who can find a "Treasure" in nearly every Cache we find, and they love to trade. Most of the time I would like them to walk away empty handed seeing some of the "cheap" trade items in the Cache. I know that after a few hours of playing w/ it , I will find it on the floor. I pick it up and put it in the Geocaching backpack for the next hunt. I also know for Me its not the "trading" its the HUNT! I hide alot of Caches and know the expense involved, esp. if you try to stock them w/ really nice trade items. Most cachers in my area love the HUNT, and Trading items is secondary. After you have found all the Caches in your area, You just want Caches to hunt.. I do have "member only" Caches and try to "Raise the Bar" on Trade items for Members that pay to support our Hobby! I do have problems w/ the Cachers who complains about cheap trade items, but when I look at their Profile find they have hidden very few or NO Caches!

[+russell_53040]

I just placed a cache today that I filled a 50cal ammo container with Hotwheels. The only thing was I need the upc off of them. I paid between $0.10- to a $1.00 for these. Every cache that I placed a Hotwheel in didn’t last long till someone grab it. For the record I have a nephew that is 4 and he just loves to visit me just cause he wants my Hotwheels I still feel love. LOL Its not about the stuff you find it’s the exercise you get. The thrill of the hunt!

[+WaldenRun]

Geez, wrong account!

-CL

Edited May 13, 2005 by WaldenRun

[+Cool Librarian]

Ha, this thread made me laugh.

 

One of my favorite things to find is rubber animals - especially frogs, lizards, snakes, sharks, and fish. I have no idea why - I am WAY too old for this stuff, and I could easily buy it at the dollar store - but hey, what can I say?

 

I usually put them on my dashboard. I just had my car serviced and inspected, and when I picked the car up, I found all of my animals rearranged in funny poses! My favorite was the shark with its "JAWS" around the neck of the rubber chicken - nice to know my mechanic got a kick out of it!!

[+tls11823]

Like others, when I'm by myself I never trade, but when my son is along we always trade. This weekend he wanted to take a 1" plastic dinosaur and a plastic hair clip from a cache. He wanted the clip because it had "fingers" that fit around the dinosaur. So I traded two decent items for about a nickel's worth of "goodies". He was happy and I had the satisfaction of knowing I left the cache better than I found it.

 

Later in the day he wanted to take a marble. That's right - one marble. Not a shooter, nothing special - just a plain old marble. I really didn't want to trade anything good for that. The cache container was a very small Tupperware box, and we actually didn't have any trade items that would have fit, so I told him that we wouldn't be able to trade, and that he'd have to leave the marble. He then remembered one time that he found a "treasure" in a cache, and really wanted it. We didn't have our swag bag along, since I was only there to swap some travel bugs. But since he really wanted the prize, I decided to leave a $1 bill for it. I know that's a lame trade, and I haven't done it before or since, but it got him what he wanted. Well, he said that we could leave a dollar for the marble, but I just told him that I'd take the dollar and buy him a whole bag of marbles with it.

 

Anyway, as these responses indicate, it's all in the eye of the beholder. When I bother trading, I'd rather feel good about what I leave than what I take.

[twjolson & Kay]

For me, it doesn't really matter what I find in a cache as usually I just end up putting it in the very next cache. I usually take the "coolest" thing that I find in a cache, but drop it off at the next cache.

I do take sometimes, only if it's something I truly want and only if I trade an item of comparable value or worth. Once I found a Leatherman type pocketknife that I would have loved to keep, but all I had were 1 dollar stickers. I thought it unfair for me to keep it, so I just dropped it off at the next cache. Wierd, but the way I feel.

[+carleenp]

One of my favorite cache finds was a mangled little pom pom chicken. I thought it was cute, felt sorry for it being all lonely in the cache, traded for it and love it, and it is now very happy on my shelf (yeah I tend to anthropomorphize such things). I also love finding little rubber animals and know of many children who also love them. So one person's trash is another's treasure. And as others have noted it is really about the hunt. Go figure that I had to pass up taking a very nice compass when I need one (and I mean VERY NICE, not one of those cheap things, but an expensive one) awhlie back because I left my trade items in the car. Yet I still had fun and loved the cache!

[+loraonly]

Well, it's the little plastic animals I prefer, like the stag, bull, and gekko I've chosen over time. There's just "something" about them that will draw me. Though it's fun to find a wide variety of things in a cache, and I'll get a kick out of trying to guess the reasoning behind some of them, I get a feeling of satisfaction when I leave some things in one that either had very little in it, or had junky stuff. Yep, you just never know what may appeal to some people, that's part of the fun!

[The Band of Brothers]

I wouls have to agree mostly with bam who said something along the lines of the thrill of the hunt is for grownups and the toyrs are for kids (if you have any) and partially with the post starer, if you spend 30 minutes looking in a 20 foot radius for an ammo can and finally find it, it would be very nice to find something worth while in it!

[+sept1c_tank]

...Yep, you just never know what may appeal to some people, that's part of the fun!

You got that right! I recently traded for a 3"

paper cutout, folded outhouse (pre-assembled).

I'm not sure why I like it so much.

 

[+halley-peabody]

When we start a cache of our own we like to start it out with some CDs and other nice things for adult cachers and some decent tows for kids. When we are out caching we generally leave things that are more likely to appeal to adults or older children. I enjoy carrying around some small camping or hiking items and a few quality toys (still in their packaging), as well as a couple of CDs. We probably leave more CDs than anything else, though not every cache container is big enough for that.

 

Seeing little, cheap toys in caches doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when the toys (or anything else) are in poor condition. There's nothing inherently wrong with a little rubber or plastic toy, but when it is filthy or mangled I really have to question the intent of the person who left it. Caches are not places to leave your garbage. Leaving something you no longer want is fine, but only if it is still in good shape. I generally think that you shouldn't leave some really cheap item unless it is brand new.

[Delaypat]

I placed one not long ago that included 2 gameboy advance game, a simpsons watch, and a tape recorder for the log book, and a log book just incase.......I would like to see more maps....

 

Delay

[+AuntieWeasel]

 

Oh, man! You have SO got to get those for a sig item. I wonder how much they'd cost in bulk...?

[+Team Perks]

 

Gee, why would someone like you want one of those?

 

Are you kidding? That's awesome!! I'd trade almost anything I had on me if I found one of those in a cache!

Edited May 13, 2005 by Team Perks

[+Mach 5]

I am getting ready to put out a cache and I really spent a lot of time working on a theme and chocking the cache full of all kinds of nice stuff that people might actually want. I really hope that people stick to the theme, however, I have a feeling that it will end up being a bunch of rubber frogs and lizards in a week. That is just the reality of it. You really try hard to stick to a cache theme and keep it nice and people just disrespect the theme and your hard work.

[+Team Fegel]

One of my daughter's favorite trades, and one of mine too, because I enjoyed watching her play with it, was a red rubber alligator (in her left hand in the attached pic). She chose to trade for that alligator, then in the next cache we traded for an eyeglass string, which made the perfect leash for the alligator. She dragged that thing to all the rest of the caches that day, around the house for a week, and even to show-and-tell at preschool. I think it's still near the top of the toybox.