Swag gripe thread…

[gotta run]

Ok, you asked for it…well, maybe you didn’t, but here we go anyway.

Cache-placers have all been frustrated with putting out well-stocked caches, only to return later for maintenance and have to re-stock them. That happens when swag mooches visit your cache, either taking swag outright without a trade or “taking 5 toys, leaving 5 TBs,” because TBs are not trading items!

But…human nature is what it is when it comes to trading. People will take the best of what is in a cache, and that’s only exacerbated when you have kids along who do (rarely!) find something really cool in a cache. So if you have your caching bag full of dollar store trinkets at that point…

Anyway, the point is that we can’t expect caches to be some sort of publicly accessible bartering posts. Few will “trade up” and the quality of swag will naturally degrade over time. Cache placers have to be willing to live with this reality or visit their caches frequently to keep them stocked with a certain quality of item or themed items. We’ve committed to do this with our “Pirate Pete” cache and have stocked it with things people can take without a trade just so it doesn’t turn to junk, or at least not overnight.

What we should be able to expect is that cachers at least trade for unbroken and reasonably useful items–broken toys, spark plugs, computer chips, rocks, buttons, pennies, the list of crap we’ve all probably CITO’d from inside caches could fill it’s own thread.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Lostby7]

I archived my Alien Invasion and Cacheword Puzzle caches this past month and I guess I’m guilty of not restocking them as well as I should have while doing maintenance checks. Both were filled with the largest assortment of crap…someone left a single gummy bear 🙄 I think the best we can do is to just not be “one of the bad guys” when trading. I can’t spend the time or money to refill my caches constantly, in fact I have lessened the quality of my swag on the newest caches I have placed because they fill with crap so quickly anyway. Granted the first two or three finders are usually treated to something nice (size allowing I like to put in new cable bike locks in geocaches).

I think a big part of seeking out FTF’s is due to the fact that the contents have not been been reduced to broken toys and wrappers.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

This reminds me it’s time to check on some of my caches. I can’t wait to see what’s in some of them.

In my tougher caches, I like to leave some pretty significant items, which are usually replaced with McCache toys, but not always.

One cache I can’t wait to check on, Signs was filled with some really good stuff, including a DVD player. I wonder what’s in there now? Any guesses?

[gotta run]

@tyedyeskyguy wrote:

One cache I can’t wait to check on, Signs was filled with some really good stuff, including a DVD player. I wonder what’s in there now? Any guesses?

With only 14 finders so far, I’m hoping it’s still of reasonably high quality…or at least you know who to blame if it isn’t!

Which brings up a related point…we do tailor the quality of swag to how popular we think a cache would be, to some extent. On puzzles that won’t get found much, we actually have a stock of little puzzles we put in. But on single-stage ammo boxes I admit to having a big bag o’ Goodwill stuff that we pick from and stuff it full.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Sagasu]

It helps over time to temper your expectations. I’ve invested some time and more than a few bucks in keeping my caches fun to find for both kids and their parents. That’s one of my own personal joys, and my whole family shares in the satisfaction of seeing logs reflecting the appreciation of finders on behalf of their kids or themselves. We all remember those unexpected extra comments or e-mails from someone who’s visit to a cache (not always even ours) was made special by something they found there. That’s why I do carry a swag bag with some things we have found appreciated by cachers and their young partners.

But, it comes with the turf to have to trade out broken or tattered swag to make or keep a cache special, if that’s what makes you tick. Some things I take out and file in the circular at the park or take home for a few laughs with my wife and son before finding some other use for the “trade” item. Some don’t care one way or another what they find in a cache, the find is all that matters. Others give up on regular sized caches when they repeatedly become filled with sad looking stuff. It’s inevitable that there will be a variety of surprises when you make a find and open a cache bigger than one holding only a log. That can be fun or funny in it’s own way. I guess the important thing is, if you find something good about the hide or the contents, that your log reflect your approval in some way, so those who go the extra mile get your encouragement.

[Lostby7]

@gotta run wrote:

Which brings up a related point…we do tailor the quality of swag to how popular we think a cache would be, to some extent.

I do. I generally offer better swag on my caches which require a longer hike or are a tricky puzzle. I also tend to refill them with decent stuff when I do a cache check. I know these caches will get found less and using the laws of statistics will therefore run into less “down traders.” Also I like to reward people willing to do the extra work.

[rogheff]

This is exactly why I have come to love micro, locationless and virtual caches. I don’t expect to find anything so I’m never disappointed.

I like to place a lot of caches, because people like to find them. I don’t place a bunch of caches to keep the world supplied with Happy Meal Toys! Any amount of the good swag that is used to stock a cache is quickly replaced by rocks, pine cones, rusty bottle caps and other crap that has no place in a cache container.

[gotta run]

@rogheff wrote:

This is exactly why I have come to love micro, locationless and virtual caches. I don’t expect to find anything so I’m never disappointed.

This is an interesting point. When we started, the kids were excited to find the Box in the Woods. But after a while, that lost its appeal and they started to enjoy the hunt, which is the point. Our daughter (age 9) is the best micro-hunter in the group.

However, anyone who plants a bison tube in the woods should be locked in a room and forced to listen to Robin Gibb’s “Boys Do Fall in Love” on infinite repeat…

On the Left Side of the Road...

[-cheeto-]

One interesting thing to note is that when we hunt caches the “small” varierty and containers smaller than “regular” typically have “neater” trade items for kids than the ammo cans. Small pins, super balls, commemerative quarters, that kind of thing most often get’s better reactions than old books, broken toys, and the all-too-famous Mcdonalds hapy meal toy.

I have yet to open a cache and go “oooh, I need that” and trade for something I need/want. I have traded some cache containers and such and of course moved trackables but for me it’s definitely not about the “swag” or as the kids call it “the treasure”.

If you want to own a cache and keep the swag/trade items stocked to a certain level of quality. Have at it! I commend you. I certainly like opening a cache that I know has been maintained for quality and I would definitely express my thanks in my logs.

[SammyClaws]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but what do you do with the swag you do trade for? We were keeping it in a “trophy jar” but we are now up to 3 jars and are thinking about packaging the good stuff back up and handing it out at an event as recycle-swag so it can go out an be found again. However, it would be interesting to hear what others do with it?

[rogheff]

I keep the geotokens I find, I kept (and used) a new collar for my geopooch, the rest just goes into another cache.

[Mister Greenthumb]

@SammyClaws wrote:

Sorry to hijack this thread, but what do you do with the swag you do trade for? We were keeping it in a “trophy jar” but we are now up to 3 jars and are thinking about packaging the good stuff back up and handing it out at an event as recycle-swag so it can go out an be found again. However, it would be interesting to hear what others do with it?

We trade for things that we think our three grandchildren would like. What we don’t give to them directly is in a kitchen desk drawer that is overflowing. They take the things out when they are here and we usually find them all over the house for about the next week. Oh and by the way on the original subject, we carry a large supply of trading items with us and replenish caches even if we don’t take anything. I try to visit my caches at least every other month to restock them. I’ll go sooner if a note is posted with any info on the contents. I like to check on them to make sure there isn’t anything in them that shouldn’t be there since most of my hides are kid appropriate.

[gotta run]

@SammyClaws wrote:

Sorry to hijack this thread, but what do you do with the swag you do trade for?

I can’t recall ever trading for swag and we never have any “adult” trading items along. We considered this a “hunting” game rather than a “trading” game from the start and the only reason we even care about swag in the caches is for kids.

Which is why McD toys do, in fact, work for some kids. Better than a broken toy or a spark plug.

Then again, maybe someone needed that spark plug….or panty hose…or button…or dirty golf ball…

On the Left Side of the Road...

[djwini]

i like to trade for stuff. if there are beads, i take them for my daughter. or sometimes i’ll take the small beanie babies. i like the make it yourself kits you sometimes find. and now i have started taking fishing tackle. i usually have some pins that i make to trade. when those run out, i have an assortment of stuff that i have picked up in other caches that i thought were nice but then realized i was never going to use, so back out they go. i will sometimes drop the pins into a cache if it needs some extra swag if i liked the hike or the find itself, without taking something in trade.
i have always tried to at least trade equally, and have a dollar coin in my bag just in case there is that really nice trade item that i want.

[furfool]

@SammyClaws wrote:

Sorry to hijack this thread, but what do you do with the swag you do trade for? We were keeping it in a “trophy jar” but we are now up to 3 jars and are thinking about packaging the good stuff back up and handing it out at an event as recycle-swag so it can go out an be found again. However, it would be interesting to hear what others do with it?

I will usually trade for something I can use or for something that I know one of the kids would like. If I just make a swap where there is nothing that I can use, I will drop it into another cache.

I must plead guilty to making trades with travel bugs/coins. It just never dawned on me that they are not a trade item. Now that it has been brought to my attention and I think about it, it makes sense. I appologize to those that I have inconvenienced.

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