View Full Version : signature items



Dave and Gail
03-28-2006, 08:50 PM
Hi, can anyone tell us where we can find a selection of items to buy for a signature item, and maybe the customized cards and lamination stuff that we have seen from other cachers. We are new to this and are thinking of a signature item. Thanks, Dave and Gail and Shamis

robt
03-28-2006, 09:02 PM
Hi, can anyone tell us where we can find a selection of items to buy for a signature item, and maybe the customized cards and lamination stuff that we have seen from other cachers. We are new to this and are thinking of a signature item. Thanks, Dave and Gail and Shamis

I am not sure what to say about where to buy sig items, Mardens, Big Al's, ebay....... It all depends what you are looking for. As for the cards I jeneraly buy inkjet card stock for buisness cards and print them on my printer. For Lamination, I use that for my TB tags and for Cache instructions and generally go get it done at Staples. I have considered buying my own laminator but just have not justified the expence cause I can usually do most of my laminating for less than $20 a year so it does not make sence to spend the money but it would be nice to be able to just dothem here at the house. One thing I do is lay them out so they fit on a page of paper with room for borders and then have them do them as 1 sheet and cut them myself.

Dave and Gail
03-28-2006, 09:15 PM
Thanks Robt, that was a Quick reply, appreciate it. Not sure if we are going to do a sig. item or not, we have only found 5 caches so far but I think we are hooked and are planning on hiding our first cache as soon as the roads dry up a bit. We do a lot of camping up in the Jo-Mary and Millinocket area, so it will probably be up that way at some nice spot. Keep an eye out.

LaughingTerry
03-28-2006, 09:31 PM
I got a Laminator at Walmart for $24 and the business card size laminating packets are $2.50 or so for 50 of them. I also picked up 5x7 packets for doing my cache sheets and document size for a number of things. It's fast and easy to use too.

For signature items a lot of people use something that ties in with their user name (my rubber chickens) and other people actually make something for a signature item. It's all up to you.

Welcome and Happy Caching

attroll
03-29-2006, 01:28 AM
My best suggestion would be to not jump right into making signature items right way. Hold off for a bit and that will give you time to think about what you want to do and make for signature items. I do not put our signature item in all the caches I do. Some people do. It all depends on how much it cost to make your signature item. If you making a cheap button or magnet that only cost $.70 then you can afford to put one in every cache if you want to. Some people are spending more on there signature items and are only leaving them in selective caches. So take you time and think of something different and creative.

firefighterjake
03-29-2006, 06:54 AM
Hmmm . . . what can I say? I agree with everyone else. Like Attroll said, I wouldn't rush into things. Do a few caches first and collect a few signature items to see what others are doing for their signature items . . . and to see if this is something you want to do long-term. As Laughing Terry said, most folks try to go with something that is unique and ties into their user name . . . and his rubber chickens definitely fit that bill. And as Robt said, you can get laminating done at Staples . . . although I happen to have a laminator in my office that I use for my tags that I attach to my signature item ladders.

Incidentally, welcome to the world of geocaching and in particular to geocachingmaine.org.

Dave and Gail
03-29-2006, 07:51 PM
Thanks for the reply, Firefighter Jake.. I Have one of your signature items from a cache we found last weekend, ladder #33. Thats neat, I have a few friends that are firefighters. We took the item from the McArthy cache, and so far out of the 5 caches we found we have 4 signature items. Thanks again, Dave and Gail and Shamis!

FuddsGirls
03-29-2006, 09:51 PM
Hi Dave and Gail. We do most of our geocaching as a family. That is me(the Mom) and 2 kid. I love to find signature items and just started to pick them up. We have found about 25 caches so far. I took some time thinking on our signature item and just recently decided based on it being a family activity. There's no hurry.

SewN2Cachin'
03-30-2006, 02:40 AM
I ordered some sig. item coins, personalized, which were up for bid on e-bay......just received them, they're cool. :} I also ordered a micro-cache that I plan to place soon, which I've been told by a muggle (when I explained the sport to him) is "borderline evil." :D

I'm pretty new to all this myself, but have fun with it & look at other people's sig. items (as recommended in a previous reply) to get some ideas for what you can do, for yourself. Good luck!

FuddsGirls
03-30-2006, 06:21 AM
I didn't answer the question. We are making our sig items, turning tops on a lathe. Got that idea from another cacher who is turning something also.:D

firefighterjake
03-30-2006, 09:20 AM
Thanks for the reply, Firefighter Jake.. I Have one of your signature items from a cache we found last weekend, ladder #33. Thats neat, I have a few friends that are firefighters. We took the item from the MccArthy cache, and so far out of the 5 caches we found we have 4 signature items. Thanks again, Dave and Gail and Shamis!

Oh yes, Black #33. I've got a whole series going by the way -- Black, Silver, Unfinished, Gray and a few rare ones that are white, roof ladders (silver with little hooks on the end) and Hiram's Safety Orange ladders.

firefighterjake
03-30-2006, 09:23 AM
Hi Dave and Gail. We do most of our geocaching as a family. That is me(the Mom) and 2 kid. I love to find signature items and just started to pick them up. We have found about 25 caches so far. I took some time thinking on our signature item and just recently decided based on it being a family activity. There's no hurry.

I have a feeling this is probably what a lot of us have done . . . I didn't start collecting signature items until I had done 25 or so caches -- at first I thought to myself "Who the heck wants this thing? It's just a ______ (fill in the blank here.) However, after a while of realizing that I wasn't taking very many trade items I started taking and placing signature items myself . . . and this was after I gave some thought to what I wanted to make/buy as my signature item.

Dave and Gail
03-31-2006, 09:37 PM
Hi Firefighterjake, just found out that a friend of mine knows you, he is a fireman from bangor and works part time with us as an aircraft mechanic. Small world. His initials are B.J. Thanks for the replys, seems like a really nice group of people in this hobby, everyone that likes the outdoors are O.K. with us. Just waiting for the camping season to begin, won't be long. Will be hiding our first cache soon, I hope. Regards: Dave

firefighterjake
04-01-2006, 09:02 AM
Hi Firefighterjake, just found out that a friend of mine knows you, he is a fireman from bangor and works part time with us as an aircraft mechanic. Small world. His initials are B.J. Thanks for the replys, seems like a really nice group of people in this hobby, everyone that likes the outdoors are O.K. with us. Just waiting for the camping season to begin, won't be long. Will be hiding our first cache soon, I hope. Regards: Dave

Yes, I know Bruce quite well (no relation by the way) . . . what do you think of his new "bald is beautiful" look incidentally? :) Bruce is a good guy -- easy to wind up, but he would do anything for you if he likes you.

Dave and Gail
04-01-2006, 10:28 PM
Hi Jake, yes he is a nice guy, good mechanic also, is the bald thing by choice? Thought maybe he got it burned off in a fire. Found another of your sig. items today, a silver one, but I didnt take it whereas I already have the black one. Found it in the fire safety cache. Nice day for caching considering it was supposed to rain. WE did our first multi cache today with Russdudes, Stacked on the stillwater, lots of fun, took a while but it was worth it. Happy hunting, "Dave and Gail"

firefighterjake
04-02-2006, 07:52 AM
Hi Jake, yes he is a nice guy, good mechanic also, is the bald thing by choice? Thought maybe he got it burned off in a fire. Found another of your sig. items today, a silver one, but I didnt take it whereas I already have the black one. Found it in the fire safety cache. Nice day for caching considering it was supposed to rain. WE did our first multi cache today with Russdudes, Stacked on the stillwater, lots of fun, took a while but it was worth it. Happy hunting, "Dave and Gail"

Bald by choice . . . I know if I did that I think my wife would consider it grounds for a divorce (even though I'm slowly losing what hair I have anyways.) :)

AnglzOfMyHrt
02-14-2007, 10:55 AM
I love seeing the different signature items. I love the Lisbon firefighter coin just because I'm a firefighter. I have yet to pick my own, but for right now I find neat stuff by bulk at orientaltrading.com. There's lots of cool stuff their.

Haffy
02-14-2007, 01:34 PM
Not sure if too many people have one of these.

http://www.geocachingmaine.org/gallery/data/509/medium/3signature_item_005_Large_.jpg

brdad
02-14-2007, 01:38 PM
Not sure if too many people have one of these.



Ya, take a guy out to find his first cache and he doesn't have make sure you get one of his signature items... ;)

Mainiac1957
02-14-2007, 01:48 PM
Not sure if too many people have one of these.

http://www.geocachingmaine.org/gallery/data/509/medium/3signature_item_005_Large_.jpg

I do Dave!!:D Nanny,nanny Boo Boo:D

Haffy
02-14-2007, 02:54 PM
Ya, take a guy out to find his first cache and he doesn't have make sure you get one of his signature items... ;)

Hey you had your chance when I left one in your Battleship cache, you just didn't take the opportunity to get it. :p

AnglzOfMyHrt
02-14-2007, 06:59 PM
awwww now ya gotta leave one closer to me so I can get one. I waaaannnntttt one hehehehe. I live around Freeport in case ya wanna drop off one somewhere and only tell me hehehehe

Haffy
02-14-2007, 07:46 PM
Sorry but those were a special edition sig item and I only had 13 of them. I now have a sig magnet that I leave in caches with my avatar and the state geo logo. I have left a few of those in caches in the Freeport area over the years.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a125/haffy6/Haffy.jpg

AnglzOfMyHrt
02-15-2007, 10:10 AM
oh cool, I'll have to keep my eye out heheheh

brdad
03-07-2007, 10:40 AM
I'm finally getting around to updating my web page, and today I took pics of all my previously unlisted sig items. Check them out at http://www.bytethebullet.com/geocaching/signature_items.htm. I'm gonna need a new container to hold them all soon!

http://www.bytethebullet.com/geocaching/images/animation3.gif

FuddsGirls
03-08-2007, 07:43 AM
On the bottom of you page of collected sigs, the wooden shot gun shell between the loon and the dinner, I got one of those in a ready made cache that Gobbler made. That would make sense for a turkey shoot. Buchwhacker started a cache in Lisbon (Ripley Hill Cache) that originally had several 3pc chicken dinners in it.

Hiram357
03-08-2007, 08:51 AM
lol, at first i thought... "3 piece chicken dinner!?!? i love chicken!" then it occured to me.... so i had to see for myself... that's funny, and clever! btw nice website.

brdad
03-08-2007, 09:16 AM
On the bottom of you page of collected sigs, the wooden shot gun shell between the loon and the dinner, I got one of those in a ready made cache that Gobbler made. That would make sense for a turkey shoot. Buchwhacker started a cache in Lisbon (Ripley Hill Cache) that originally had several 3pc chicken dinners in it.

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, I found the Wild Turkey keychain thingy at the Sanborn Pond Cache (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=84965) (GCGM6Q) by Cache Buccaneers (http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.asp?A=98169) (1.5/1.5), almost a year before Gob-Ler started caching, so it can't be his. It probably was a random item placed in the original cache. I got the chicken dinner item from THE OFFICIAL TEAM CACHE part 1 (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=137814) (GCJD6H) by THE TEAM (http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.asp?A=191794) (2/2), the infamous group of kids who were messing with caches, stealing some and using the items for their cache, and leaving undesirable liqiuds and such in others. :mad: So, your lead may be the best I have on that item.


lol, at first i thought... "3 piece chicken dinner!?!? i love chicken!" then it occured to me.... so i had to see for myself... that's funny, and clever! btw nice website.

Thanks for the compliment and I love the chicken dinner thing - I wish someone would make some as a sig item. Maybe you could make one with 3 mini beer cans and call it a "night out with hiram" ;)

Foxgloves
03-08-2007, 10:29 AM
I also have a large ziplock bag full of signature items. I found one of Landrocket’s sig items in it the other day when I was pawing through it. :( I’m glad I kept it.

At the bottom of your sig item web page in the unnamed section, I see an item that I also found in a cache. If that is a wine bottle cork it may be a WeWine2 signature item.
Mine however had their name written on it in a sharpie and it also had a chain instead of a key ring. They may be all different variations but check and see if maybe they didn’t write their names somewhere on the cork and maybe you just missed it.
I thought it was a great signature item and fits their handle well.

brdad
03-08-2007, 11:06 AM
The cork you're talking about is the same thing FuddsGirls mentioned. She called it a shot shell, but it could be a cork. It looks like either. And once again, WeWine2 started caching in July of 2005, after I found it. There is no writing on it besidses the Wild Turkey label.

There are lots of memories in sig items, including LandRocket's. I have a few other items I should put on the page as well that aren't really sig items, but cachers have sent me as gifts. One is a small candle from their buisness, another (who hid my namesake cache Brdad, you can't do this one in your tux. (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=160893) (GCK671) by Nurse Dave (http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.asp?A=66643) (2/2)) sent me an oversized carabiner they gave out as geowedding favors, as well as some of the magnets and buttons Maniac and Beachcomber customized for events. Maybe with the next update.

Haffy
03-08-2007, 03:49 PM
I have 2 cigar boxes over flowing with signature items that I should catalog and photograph one of these days. Wish I had some HTML skills so I could create my own website and then I could put them all on that.

attroll
03-08-2007, 04:06 PM
I have 2 cigar boxes over flowing with signature items that I should catalog and photograph one of these days. Wish I had some HTML skills so I could create my own website and then I could put them all on that.

Hmm, you just gave me a great idea.

I just created a new photo album in the gallery titled "Members signature collections (http://www.geocachingmaine.org/gallery/showmembers.php/cat/516)" and once a person uploads to it the photo album it the photo will get placed into a personal album under their name. So it will list each individuals personal signature collection.

brdad
03-08-2007, 04:17 PM
Oooh, that sounds neat. Maybe I'll end up deleting my page and just linking to this if it works. :D I'll see if I can give it a good test....



Hmm, you just gave me a great idea.

just created a new photo album in the gallery titled "Members signature collections (http://www.geocachingmaine.org/gallery/showmembers.php/cat/516)" and once a person uploads to it the photo album it the photo will get placed into a personal album under their name. So it will list each individuals personal signature collection.

brdad
03-08-2007, 04:23 PM
Hmm, the use all photos at this URL didn't work so well. It just takes photos that are on the actual page, not in a directory.... :confused: Oh well, try another method...

attroll
03-08-2007, 04:49 PM
Hmm, the use all photos at this URL didn't work so well. It just takes photos that are on the actual page, not in a directory.... :confused: Oh well, try another method...

You can not use gif files in the gallery. That could be the reason why.

attroll
03-08-2007, 04:49 PM
Well I thought you couldn,t, but it appears that you can.

brdad
03-08-2007, 04:51 PM
It obvious I did, but I can't delete them now!

brdad
03-08-2007, 04:58 PM
Is it possible it's set to only take gifs?????? that's all it seems to want to take. I'd hate to do all mine 5 at a time from the pc, I thought load from url would be nice.

attroll
03-08-2007, 05:22 PM
Well it looks like you got jpg's to work and you figured out how to delete them. So you must all set now. Cool beans.

brdad
03-08-2007, 05:25 PM
ya, one delete screen doesn't work, the other does. I am uploading them from my pc 5 at a time, not from a url. but it'll work! Hopefully others will add theirs as well.

Haffy
03-08-2007, 06:55 PM
Great, now I have to set up my camera and take photos of all my signature items. That will certainly keep me busy for some time. Any good pointers as what size will work best and also will I be able to do a batch load after having taken all the photos?

attroll
03-08-2007, 07:30 PM
Great, now I have to set up my camera and take photos of all my signature items. That will certainly keep me busy for some time. Any good pointers as what size will work best and also will I be able to do a batch load after having taken all the photos?

I just change it so that you can upload 10 photos at a time. I don't know what a good size to recommend. Dave did a good job with his so you might want to ask him.

brdad
03-08-2007, 08:30 PM
Most of mine are about 600 pixels max either height or width. a few of the smaller sigs I reduced to 400. I tried to get them to come up actual size of a little bigger on screen. But, didn't take too much care to make them perfect.

brdad
03-08-2007, 10:16 PM
I got all mine up I think - need to verify that now, and edit some descriptions. I see cameoooo is hard at work with hers as well, very cool.

Opalsns
03-26-2008, 03:31 PM
Wow!!!
So many creations. All so very cool! I talked with Hollora re: sig items after getting one from Upsalquitch and she had so many great ideas!!! I am collecting them now ! Since so many new cachers have arrived, I thought it might be good to show this thread again.
KD1EJ just printed up cards for himself and me and BubbaBass. I laminated them with adhesive laminating sheets, no machine needed, and ordered pins from Ebay. I was even lucky enough to find Ham Radio Operator pins for my brother that say ... 73s , 88s . Sign off numbers for radio operators. Can't wait to set them out.
Opalsns

WhereRWe?
03-26-2008, 03:56 PM
I got all mine up I think - need to verify that now, and edit some descriptions. I see cameoooo is hard at work with hers as well, very cool.

Sheesh! I KNOW you have one of our "new" sig items - version 2 (color) of the Maine Geocacher Permit! LOL!

brdad
03-26-2008, 07:24 PM
Sheesh! I KNOW you have one of our "new" sig items - version 2 (color) of the Maine Geocacher Permit! LOL!

Hmmmm, I think I remember you giving me one of those, but I don't see it in a quick glance at my "new" pile. Regardless, if you look at the date of that post, you'll see it was over a year ago! I've slacked a lot since then!

WhereRWe?
03-27-2008, 08:00 AM
Regardless, if you look at the date of that post, you'll see it was over a year ago! I've slacked a lot since then!

Yeah, that's what Lee says... :p:p