I want to make a signiture item, since I am always looking for something around the garage or house to leave. I really like collecting others signiture items and I was wondering how you all came up with your signiture item and how you got a vast number in makeing so many? Any help appriciated. :)

I got really creative for mine and made them all invisible!!! but nobody has found any yet.... and I keep losing them :(

Mine relates to my name - since I like to comb the beach, I decided that using beach treasure magnets would be a good fit. I could envision yours having something to do with VW's!!

Yes, whatever it will be, its going to be something about VW's... I mean it has to be original, or else it wouldn't be a signiture item.. I just don't know how I can get the word duplicates and vw's in the same sentance... ideas?

old vw parts, you have an inexhaustable supply! :)


Or, try http://www.3bees4kids.com/index.cfm/fa/items.main/parentcat/12831/subcatid/28766/id/99080

they would probably give you a good break if you order a few dozen.

Yes, whatever it will be, its going to be something about VW's... I mean it has to be original, or else it wouldn't be a signiture item.. I just don't know how I can get the word duplicates and vw's in the same sentance... ideas?

How about some lifters? Those are kinda cool, and as I recall, pretty small--though its been at least 25 years since I saw one and my memory may be faulty. You could scribe your Geo Name on them or something.

why not VW emblems, heck there's probably a few dozen vw's in the colby parking lot, jettas, golfs, you could probably pick off enough to fill a few hundred caches, and if that doesn't work, there's a lot more older vw's over at the Unity college. :D

Girlmate and I have decided that this will be our sig item...... Mainiac1957 has the orginal and serial number 1.

Thanks Dave, I think I'm choked up or something.:p I feel signiture items are a personal thing. Or not. They can reflect your personality. Or not. It's something you can spend alot of time creating. Or not. Hope this helps. Or not.:cool:

LOL... or not.

Ya, any of that would be cool, but eventually I would run out of VW emblems/lifters... and they would be hard to make, lol.
I am thinking matchbox or something, then again I would have to find them, and buy a vast number. Oh crap.. I will figure out something??

What if you took the letters V and W out of say, wood. Make your own version of the VW logo. Letters and disk or squares can be bought very reasonably. They take a little effort to put together, but you end up with something uniquely yours.

Sounds kind of familiar doesn't it Brad?

Well I have been in the computer lab at school most the afternoon... I got many copies printed of my tag I am going to do with my signiture item... still don't know what to use, but would like to use something, with the tag stapled to it or something....

I love collecting sig items, I think it's time for me to create one too. I have a great geeky computer oriented idea....time to start makin' them! :D

I have only been doing the signature thing for a month or two now . . . but then again I only started geo-caching in July.

I looked around first and thought a lot about signature items that I liked and signature items that didn't do a lot for me. In the end I decided to come up with something that would represent my on-line name, be unique, show that I took some time or effort into creating them and either easy to produce or buy cheaply . . . that and be interesting enough that other cachers might actually look at them and be appreciative of the time I put into making them.

The signature item that I came up with is a six inch wooden ladder that I make out of dowels and scrap wood. I use the scrap wood to make the ladder sides, drill holes and glue in the cut dowels. Then I sand the ladder and either leave it natural or paint it (so far I have white, silver metal, black and gray ladders) before attaching a laminated card to the ladder noting the number, my name, hometown and a couple of pictures (Bangor FD logo and a mini picture of a dalmatian (Bubba) sitting on an engine.) Finally, I bag them in a zip-lock to keep them nice and clean.

The cost is relatively minimal . . . dowels, paint, sandpaper, glue, laminate materials, etc. The biggest constraint is the time as it takes me some time to work on them . . . but I figure this winter I should end up with plenty of downtime to work on a whole batch of them to have in reserve.

I figure with the time and number system and by mixing up the colors it makes these signature items a bit unique and it definitely represents me and my interests as I work full-time in public education at Bangor FD and as a call firefighter in Unity.

A future goal is to expand into making a roof ladder with the hooks at the end . . . but that's in the future.

The only drawback I've noticed is that these ladders don't fit in some tupperware containers depending on the size . . . but then again I figure I don't have to place a S.I. in every cache I encounter either.

wbdent My idea of a signature item is something that depicts the geocachers placing it or something that relates to the geocacher placing the item.

wbdent I also think the signature item should be small enough to fit in a cache and not take up a lot of room. On that not if there is not a lot of room in the cache then the cacher should not be putting it in the cache or trying to gram it in the cache.

wbdent I don’t think signature items need to be placed in every cache find. I usually place them in caches that I like or caches that lack anything in them. Sometime I place them in caches that don’t get visited often.

wbdent Remember this is my opinion. Everybody has their own ideas and opinions on signature items.

wbdent The reason I went with a CD for a signature item was because I was trying for the longest time to think of something that could be placed in a cache and not just be collected just as a signature item. I wanted something that people could use. I did not want something that would be placed in the corner of someone desk in a collection of other signature items they had. So I figure a screen saver might be nice. It could be placed on a computer and used when the screen saver went into effect. I also added a slide show of geocachers in Maine so others would know what they looked like in case they ever ran across them somewhere in their caching adventures. I also added some things collected from GC and other sites to help the beginner geocachers. Oh and I had to add a screen saver and a link to my baby. When I say baby I mean my web site I maintain on the Appalachian Trail. I stuck a good screen saver on it and a link to it.

I have only been doing the signature thing for a month or two now . . . but then again I only started geo-caching in July.

I looked around first and thought a lot about signature items that I liked and signature items that didn't do a lot for me. In the end I decided to come up with something that would represent my on-line name, be unique, show that I took some time or effort into creating them and either easy to produce or buy cheaply . . . that and be interesting enough that other cachers might actually look at them and be appreciative of the time I put into making them.

The signature item that I came up with is a six inch wooden ladder that I make out of dowels and scrap wood. I use the scrap wood to make the ladder sides, drill holes and glue in the cut dowels. Then I sand the ladder and either leave it natural or paint it (so far I have white, silver metal, black and gray ladders) before attaching a laminated card to the ladder noting the number, my name, hometown and a couple of pictures (Bangor FD logo and a mini picture of a dalmatian (Bubba) sitting on an engine.) Finally, I bag them in a zip-lock to keep them nice and clean.

The cost is relatively minimal . . . dowels, paint, sandpaper, glue, laminate materials, etc. The biggest constraint is the time as it takes me some time to work on them . . . but I figure this winter I should end up with plenty of downtime to work on a whole batch of them to have in reserve.

I figure with the time and number system and by mixing up the colors it makes these signature items a bit unique and it definitely represents me and my interests as I work full-time in public education at Bangor FD and as a call firefighter in Unity.

A future goal is to expand into making a roof ladder with the hooks at the end . . . but that's in the future.

The only drawback I've noticed is that these ladders don't fit in some tupperware containers depending on the size . . . but then again I figure I don't have to place a S.I. in every cache I encounter either.

And a great sig item it is! I retrieved one from the POW Camp cache in Houlton...a non-painted ladder, #21

And a great sig item it is! I retrieved one from the POW Camp cache in Houlton...a non-painted ladder, #21

Uh . . . this may be a stupid question, but if you're being serious . . . any idea how it got there since I haven't done that cache yet? In fact, I've only done a few caches in the County and they were well before I was making my signature item.

On the otherhand, if it's a genuine "Firefighterjake" Ladder I'm glad you liked it . . . a bit odd though . . . I thought most folks collected these things and didn't haul them from cache to cache like a Travel Bug.

Uh . . . this may be a stupid question, but if you're being serious . . . any idea how it got there since I haven't done that cache yet? In fact, I've only done a few caches in the County and they were well before I was making my signature item.

On the otherhand, if it's a genuine "Firefighterjake" Ladder I'm glad you liked it . . . a bit odd though . . . I thought most folks collected these things and didn't haul them from cache to cache like a Travel Bug.

Some people do not collect signature items. So it probably got there from being picked up at one place and getting put there.

Uh . . . this may be a stupid question, but if you're being serious . . . any idea how it got there since I haven't done that cache yet? In fact, I've only done a few caches in the County and they were well before I was making my signature item.

On the otherhand, if it's a genuine "Firefighterjake" Ladder I'm glad you liked it . . . a bit odd though . . . I thought most folks collected these things and didn't haul them from cache to cache like a Travel Bug.

I was the FTF on the Houlton POW Camp cache so the owner, Northwoods Explorer, had to of picked it up from another cache downstate and placed it in the cache when he created it, no joke :cool:

Somehow, moving someone else's signature item rubs me the wrong way.

It's just how I feel, but signature items are meant to be taken and kept. We put our Maine Geocacher Permit in almost every cache we visit, and hope people will take them and enjoy them. If they don't care for them, they're in the cache for someone else.

IMHO... :D :D :D

someone is enjoying his sig item.;) Just in a different cache then it started in. I guess I personally wouldn't care where my coins go. Someone eventually will end up with them. :cool:

someone is enjoying his sig item.;) Just in a different cache then it started in. I guess I personally wouldn't care where my coins go. Someone eventually will end up with them. :cool:

Well, I usually pick up your coins and throw them away.


JUST KIDDING!!!!! :D :D :D

I've gotta agree with M on this one . . . I really don't care where the S.I.s end up as long as someone gets some type of enjoyment out of it and it sounds as though blevesque ended up with one that he might not have if it hadn't been transported up to the County and dropped in a new cache . . . I suppose you could call this transportation of S.I.s a kind-of, sort-of mutual aid.

I've gotta agree with M on this one . . . I really don't care where the S.I.s end up as long as someone gets some type of enjoyment out of it and it sounds as though blevesque ended up with one that he might not have if it hadn't been transported up to the County and dropped in a new cache . . . I suppose you could call this transportation of S.I.s a kind-of, sort-of mutual aid.

Well rest assured, the ladder is staying with me :D

I think it depends on the item. Some are nice to have and keep, like the fire ladder. Others, are much better passed around, like Brdad's photo CDs.

I'm also trying to figure out a signature item for myself. I was hoping to accomplish this before my trip to Maine but I'm still working on a couple of ideas. I did manage to grab a couple great signature items though I did feel a little guilty in not leaving one of my own behind. Just a little guilty though... Thanks FFFarmer and Trezurs*R*Fun! I really like FFFarmers attatched card that says when and where the SI was placed. I may steal that idea. (With permission of course)

Somehow, moving someone else's signature item rubs me the wrong way.

If they do not know that they are signature items then that could be the reason why. When I was new to caching I did not really understand what signature items are. I don't care if people move my signature items. I would like to see mine travel. I put serial numbers on mine. It people see them in a cache then they have no clue a lot of times what there are.

Thanks FFFarmer and Trezurs*R*Fun! I really like FFFarmers attatched card that says when and where the SI was placed. I may steal that idea. (With permission of course)

The card idea is patented and copyrighted.....you will have to pay me a modest fee for the use of it. Go see my lawyers Doowee, Cheatum & Howe and they can set you up.
Just Kidding... feel free to use the idea, I like knowing who the sig item belongs to when I find it, and it makes each one unique.
Those tractors may be a HTF item for a while (hard to find), I am down to two left and need to restock.

Hey, we're talking VW's here - Can't you just use a rusted piece of metal? Just make it big enough so you have to push it everwhere. :D :D :D

Well, I thought it was funny!

You could ....

Use the picture from your avatar to make a keychain, either just laminate or you can buy the chains that you can insert a small picture into.

Use clay to make a coin like item, round, square or whatever, roll a model car tire across it for tire tracks, stamp a VW on it, sign it, and bake it.

You could make a branding iron with the VW logo and brand some pices of wood.

Have you looked at all the pages of signature items for ideas? NurseDave's and FISUR's in particular, and I have a few on my site.

http://www.geocities.com/team_fisur/geo-creations/

http://www.beckydavis.com/dave/

Those tractors may be a HTF item for a while (hard to find), I am down to two left and need to restock.

In my humble and personal opinion these were one of the coolest signature items that I have picked up . . . although there have been a lot of others that I thought were right up there on the "neat-o" scale-o-meter.

Who knows maybe you'll have to pick up some mini Massey Fergusons or Internationals! :)

Yes, BR I have seen that page. All good ideas, thanks. Well, except the big rust, hehe... what would that be a OCSI? (Outside of Cache Signature Item) LOL.:D

Who knows maybe you'll have to pick up some mini Massey Fergusons or Internationals!


This is getting a little off topic but I need to explain.........a few years ago I got a "Good Deal" on a 100 horsepower Massey Fergusen tractor, the day I brought it home my grandmother said "your grandfather would roll over in his grave if he could see that red tractor on his farm". The first day I used it I lost the fuel pump $1300, the next time I used it I lost the clutch and hydraulic pump $2800, I actually got quite a bit of use from it before the $400 water pump and the $800 transmission repair. So you see, I have learned my lesson NOTHING BUT GREEN!!!