Rubbish cache contents.. what to do?

clockwise · Post by **clockwise** » 19 March 07 10:37 am

Hi guys, 

A few months back I hid my first cache. Yesterday I went back to check up on it and examined the contents. Some of the contents were; 

1 - a rock 

2 - stickers 

3 - a red foam ball that I swear I've seen in another cache before (it had black texta and a hole in it.. lovely) 

Now this is very dissapointing. Especially the rock! I can't believe that someone would take out a lanyard (actually, there were 2 lanyards) and put in a rock. Or el crappo stickers. I expected more from my local geocachers! 

Last week I found a cache that had a pair of broken sunglasses in it. They weren't just broken, they were rusted, the frame was busted in 2 places and the lens were shattered. Oh and if I see another plastic dinosaur I'm going to scream. 

I can see that I need to start setting an example and start putting in good items in caches that I find. But am I fighting a losing battle?

Grank · Post by **Grank** » 19 March 07 11:24 am

clockwise wrote:But am I fighting a losing battle?

Maybe, maybe not.

When I started out I had only the contents of the caches I found as an indication of what was required - not the crapola that you seem to be finding, but in many cases McToys etc, so I thought that was the required thing to do. It was only after I met the locals at an event (just a small local thing) that some of the old hands were able to impart some "values" on us newer guys and explain that the items we had found were "swaps" and not the original contents they had placed there. We also traded the odd email, and as they got to "know" us better would sometime comment on a cache or it's contents. I alos found out that some really liked swapping as well as the find.

We took on board some stuff and not other stuff as we saw fit.

So one real problem you may find perpuating in your area is that newbies may think what they are finding is the norm and they should continue with your local "tradition".

How to change it - maybe a small event to discuss the local caching "way" may be a move in the right direction and/or a comment in your cache listing along the lines of "swap fair".

Facitman · Post by **Facitman** » 19 March 07 12:02 pm

clockwise

One of the realisations that may occur for you in Geocaching is that you can only place a cache and stock it with goodies. What happens after that is beyond your control. It maybe lost, muggled by accident or muggled due to careless handling by another cacher, it may deteriorate in contents due to "uneven swapping". You must accept this!

As far as quality of swaps, you should also consider that what you think is crap may not be crap to others. Given I placed stickers in your cache I'm somewhat disappointed that you have referred to them as "el crappo" (They may not be the same stickers I left, but maybe they are). We left stickers, without removing any other swaps, as our kids enjoy them and if found in other peoples caches they may well take them as a swap. Likewise on plastic animals, could be a good swap for some. Obviously not for you, but that's your choice.

Quality of swaps has been a topic in these forums for as long as I've been around (and I'm sure before). Options are, continue to swap equal or up, change to TNLN, take your bat and ball and go home.

Enjoying your caching, both as a finder and hider.

YMMV
Peter

clockwise · Post by **clockwise** » 19 March 07 12:07 pm

Thanks Grank, some great ideas there. 

Sorry Facitman, didn't mean to bag out your stickers! But of course you're correct - what I consider dodgy probably isn't what others think. Knowing me the rock is probably a mineral worth hundreds of dollars and I'm too stupid to realise.

Facitman · Post by **Facitman** » 19 March 07 12:24 pm

I think the log suggests it's a pet stone

I went through the same thoughts as you as my early caches deteriorated. It's going to happen and is simply part of the Geocaching experience. We still try to add stuff to caches that we like and hope others do, some will, some wont and some will take items and not leave equivalent.

I don't think it's a coincidence that if you look at who swaps and who doesn't a lot of the high find count geocachers no longer swap.

BTW, I did enjoy your cache, the history and another wander around my old suburb was as good a swap as I needed.

Peter

The Garner Family · Post by **The Garner Family** » 19 March 07 12:40 pm

Oh, and btw, there is a wiki article on swaps... feel free to contribute: http://wiki.geocaching.com.au/wiki/Swaps

Grank · Post by **Grank** » 19 March 07 12:59 pm

Facitman wrote:
you should also consider that what you think is crap may not be crap to others

I don't swap much, but I recall there was a keyring bottle opener in a local cache that I liked, but I didn't have a small enough swap to fit in the cache. When I returned to the same cache with a suitable swap, the bottle opener was gone. I then sat in wait for the same cacher to place their next cache and FTFed it, not for the FTF but for the bottle opener and it now hangs with pride on my keyring.... I never bothered looking in the shops for one, I wanted to "find" it.

I have also had some negative comment at some of my caches having kiddies toys in them, but as I rarely swap I intentionally did this so that there was a prize for any youngsters that accompanied their parents. In some cases thinking X will go for this and their child Y would probably like this thing. It is really good when you meet up with them again and get told that Y grabbed a particular item in a cache that you had intentionally left there for them to find, or they tell of the dilema they were in when the could only choose one.

As clockwise said - what's crp for some is trasure for others.

Webguy · Post by **Webguy** » 19 March 07 1:18 pm

Monkey see, Monkey do caching.

rogainer · Post by **rogainer** » 19 March 07 1:37 pm

Grank wrote: It is really good when you meet up with them again and get told that Y grabbed a particular item in a cache that you had intentionally left there for them to find

It is all swings and roundabouts - I remember a few years ago doing an unfair swap as I really wanted a particular item from a cache for my daughter. I didn't like doing it, but in the next cache I placed, I put a particular item in of some value I knew would appeal to the children of the cache owner I did the unfair swap in. The plan worked and their kids grabbed the item - while it did nothing to maintain the level of swaps in their cache, it still made me feel better.

wombles · Post by **wombles** » 19 March 07 2:49 pm

Thanks for the wiki link.

As someone said newer cachers don't know what constitues "good swaps" as I saw a lot of maccas toys,plastic animals/dinosaurs, and similar stuff in the first few caches I found and thought those types of items were "normal" for swaps.

I'll have to go shopping

(another excuse!)

Bunya · Post by **Bunya** » 19 March 07 5:32 pm

Facitman wrote:<snip>
As far as quality of swaps, you should also consider that what you think is crap may not be crap to others.
<snip>

I reckon that's the crucial point!

For example, I'm happy to swap out anything that's coloured orange, crap or not.
And I don't mind if it's a plastic dinosaur.

I usually swap in something like a keyring/bottle opener, unless I think the item I swapped out deserves better.
But if I swapped out a plastic animal, that's what I'll swap in, though I'll usually leave 2 for 1.
I always try to have a couple of "good quality" swaps with me in case I need to use them.

What I can't fathom is why people leave used golf balls in a cache.

If it was a new one, OK . . .

A bit OT perhaps, but I wish more cachers were interested in placing and moving geocoins.
I'd rather find a cache with crap + a geocoin I haven't seen, than a cache full of "top quality" swaps.
I'm not an "icon collector" - I just think it adds something to finding a cache if it has a geocoin in it.

JackHenry · Post by **JackHenry** » 19 March 07 8:39 pm

So Grank, did the people that complained about the 'kiddies toys' say that wanted you to put in 'Adult toys'??

Grank · Post by **Grank** » 19 March 07 8:54 pm

JackHenry wrote:So Grank, did the people that complained about the 'kiddies toys' say that wanted you to put in 'Adult toys'??

No, but I think once people undertsand your motives or why you did something had a reason (monkey see, monkey do; I like orange; wanted to motivate family involvement) then your game play is more acceptable as opposed to a cheap shot at the game .... I can't yet fathom the broken sunglasses yet ...also I had numerous attempts/experiments at containers in the beginning before finally settling on sistema, ammo box, 20 ltr buckets as weapons of choice - but the initial attempts could have been construed as cheap attempts but were actually me trying to be clever (but more often than not, failing

) so I swapped all those to the tried and proven.

Live and learn - these forums are also good learning places, and as stated in another thread it doesn't hurt for some of these issues to come to the top on a regular basis.

Cached · Post by **Cached** » 19 March 07 9:41 pm

The Garner Family wrote:Oh, and btw, there is a wiki article on swaps... feel free to contribute: http://wiki.geocaching.com.au/wiki/Swaps

...and drop me a PM if you need a wiki login - they're free to all, but must be issued due to spamming. It would be unusual for this to take longer than 24 hours.

We would like you to edit stuff. Really.

Cached

If · Post by If » 19 March 07 9:44 pm

On the subject of crappy swaps

Why is it that most highway driveby caches are stuffed full of KFC or RedRooster moist towellettes

That has to be the crappiest swap of all

Geocaching Australia

Rubbish cache contents.. what to do?

Rubbish cache contents.. what to do?

Re: Rubbish cache contents.. what to do?

Schwappes