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Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 10 July 12 3:59 pm
by wyrdsister
O.k Silly question 1 million and one. My understanding was you had to sign the log and take stuff and leave something. How come todays caches are just full of crap? Does anyone have a suggestion on what they leave?

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 10 July 12 4:13 pm
by Lockyer
You are suppost to leave something of equal or greater value, that is if you wish to swap, you don't have to swap if you don't wish too. items left in caches are mainly for the kids to discover, we have purchased some small figurines - mobile phone tags and we swap possibly each 5 or 6 finds if swaps are in that cache, I like the key ring caches as I always swap what keyring I have for another one, soccer balls are popular with them.

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 10 July 12 5:14 pm
by Hoojar
wyrdsister wrote:what do you leave and why?
I leave nothing as making swaps means it takes longer to get to the next cache!

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 11 July 12 10:56 am
by Brother Colin
I have been leaving scented tea candles in caches. :D Especially in caches that don't see too many visitors. Hopefully make them small a little nicer after being closed for so long. :lol:

I very rarely take something. I did find some new brake block for my bicycle once. Vary happy about that. :D

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 11 July 12 1:08 pm
by Team Wibble
Brother Colin wrote:I have been leaving scented tea candles in caches. :D Especially in caches that don't see too many visitors. Hopefully make them small a little nicer after being closed for so long. :lol:
From the geocaching.com guidelines:
Please do not put food or heavily scented items in a cache. Animals have better noses than humans, and in some cases caches have been chewed through and destroyed because of food items in a cache.

I wouldn't think that scented candles are a very good idea. I've also come across candles in caches that have completely melted, which causes a fair mess inside caches!

As for what I leave, these days it's usually pathtags as they're small and I always have some in my bag with me, and I know that they're sought after. I'll leave them in caches even if I don't swap. But most caches I no longer swap.

When I place caches they usually start out with stickers, pins, patches, pathtags, small toys such as Squinkies, carabiners, small torches, etc. I try and include swaps that would appeal to cachers in different age ranges and interests.

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 11 July 12 6:49 pm
by Dik:
I don't think anyone cares anymore

GC10182
This is a LARGE cache, and it’s full of treasure. There are fine fabrics, precious stones, exotic fragrances, jewelry, antiques and money. Lots of money.
And it avearges 4 finds a year ](*,)

Seems the standard these days is a mint tin without any mints in it :roll:

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 12 July 12 8:27 am
by Taz
I have a collection of fabric scout badges I leave behind, sometimes I swap and sometimes I just leave the badge depending often on if my daughter is with me lol

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 13 July 12 11:09 pm
by malstew
I have been leaving an Australian Penny in almost every cache I manage to find.
First batch I bought on EBay never really bothered with dates, bought a bulk lot recently and pulled out a 1920 with dots under the scroll. Minimum value At least $150 and a good coin pulls over $500 on eBay.
Lots of people have been picking up the pennies & this year the 1962 Penny is worth $10.00 on any site as it is 50 years old. We have definitely dropped heaps of these in caches and I know it is not a money thing but 50 years is pretty cool.

Australian Pennies ceased production in 1964 but guess what I have at least 1000 more and no more caches close to home.It might be worth checking the dates when you spot one, we never checked the first 500 and the 1946 would be worth finding. Appreciate coins are not for everyone but I get lots of pleasure leaving them and reading the logs when other people pick them up.

You know when your searching for a cache and you spot something that's not quite right.
That's when The Penny Drops.

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 14 July 12 12:46 am
by GJMMelb
When MMelb was younger we used to swap items IF we found anything worthwhile taking, but these days he's too old for that so if a cache is in good condition we might add to it (but not take anything), but if it is damp or generally yuk looking we dont.

To answer your actual question we have left things like keyrings, wristbands, fridge magnets, IKEA Clocks, IKEA soft toys, stickers, coin purses, rubber balls, kids jewellry, toy dinosaurs, mini dolls, mini horses, mini led torches, new kids $2 dvd's (yes! in bigger caches a couple of times) etc etc etc :-)

JMelb

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 16 July 12 10:46 pm
by squalid
We used to leave resin fridge magnets that I made. Now I don't have the time to make them so instead mostly leave pathtags. We don't usually swap though, we just make donations, especially if a cache looks a bit empty.

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 17 July 12 9:20 am
by Tuena
I leave either one of my path tags or semi precious polished stones such as tigers eye, jade, jasper, blue howlite, carmelina, etc which I purchase from a lapidary club. Occassionally I'll leave a piece of goldstone. I don't place swaps in all caches & very seldom take anything.

I have dozens of pennys & will be checking them out today!

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 17 July 12 4:03 pm
by Alansee
The whole swapping thing actually started with the first cache, which wasn't a geocache, but an opportunity provided by the placer to swap things of some value. When caching took off the swap thing continued. Many of the first caches around the world were actually lidded buckets, so as to enable this, as those who have done some of Australia's first caches will know.

You don't have to put out too many caches full of stuff with some value, to realise that it can quickly become a bit expensive. 20 caches with only $50 value including the container = $1,000! Put too much value in them and it rapidly increases the risk of muggling. (Hence you should not put money into caches!) There are two good reasons at least to not put too many valuable items into caches.

It also doesn't take too many caches to realise that it is a bit superfluous to swap at every one. Once you have signed the log then a swap for the sake of a swap becomes a bit pointless. Two exceptions are if you find something that you particularly fancy, or if there are children involved. Kids love treasure hunts!

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 17 July 12 4:07 pm
by Alansee
And I can't let these go!
Dik: wrote:I don't think anyone cares any more
This is a LARGE cache, and it’s full of treasure. There are fine fabrics, precious stones, exotic fragrances, jewelry, antiques and money. Lots of money.
And it averages 4 finds a year ](*,)
It is also a rather harder than average cache to do, and is full of fake stuff.

Dik: wrote:Seems the standard these days is a mint tin without any mints in it :roll:
Most of us would like to put out larger caches than we do, but YOU try and put out a standard size cache in an interesting spot in the inner city and see how long it lasts! Then it does start to get expensive.

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 18 July 12 3:55 pm
by akkatracker
Alansee wrote:And I can't let these go!
Dik: wrote:I don't think anyone cares any more
This is a LARGE cache, and it’s full of treasure. There are fine fabrics, precious stones, exotic fragrances, jewelry, antiques and money. Lots of money.
And it averages 4 finds a year ](*,)
It is also a rather harder than average cache to do, and is full of fake stuff.

Dik: wrote:Seems the standard these days is a mint tin without any mints in it :roll:
Most of us would like to put out larger caches than we do, but YOU try and put out a standard size cache in an interesting spot in the inner city and see how long it lasts! Then it does start to get expensive.
I somewhat agree. As much as I hate mint tins, as civilisation expands, the amount of hiding spots decreases. A nano or eclipse tin are suitable in some situations.

What ticks me off is someone who throws a tin in a bush when there is ample space for a better container

Re: Cache contents what do you leave and why?

Posted: 18 July 12 4:00 pm
by LouiseAnn
akkatracker wrote:
What ticks me off is someone who throws a tin in a bush when there is ample space for a better container
+1