Cache Etiquitte Questions

OK....we are getting ourselves all set to go on our first caching adventures in the MDI area. We've got a list of caches we want to try to find, and we're pretty well prepared in the getting there and finding it area.
Let me describe what we're thinking and then give me some feedback on whether or not I've got this part of the "deal" straight ....... :confused:

We have made up some "business cards" with our name and home location on our printer, covered them in clear contact paper and were thinking that we could leave those once we actually find a cache. I also bought some poker chips and we've put our names and location on those to leave behind too. Am I on the right track? What is too much or too little to leave behind? Also, since this is our first experience, I'm thinking that taking anything that someone wants tracked (like a travel bug or whatever) would be a really BAD idea since we may not be able to move it and/or place it right away. So, in general, for the absolute novice......what is the most/least we should do?
I know that you all will help me out AGAIN! My thanks in advance!! :D

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Originally Posted by MaineWannaBe

OK....we are getting ourselves all set to go on our first caching adventures in the MDI area. We've got a list of caches we want to try to find, and we're pretty well prepared in the getting there and finding it area.
Let me describe what we're thinking and then give me some feedback on whether or not I've got this part of the "deal" straight ....... :confused:

We have made up some "business cards" with our name and home location on our printer, covered them in clear contact paper and were thinking that we could leave those once we actually find a cache. I also bought some poker chips and we've put our names and location on those to leave behind too. Am I on the right track? What is too much or too little to leave behind? Also, since this is our first experience, I'm thinking that taking anything that someone wants tracked (like a travel bug or whatever) would be a really BAD idea since we may not be able to move it and/or place it right away. So, in general, for the absolute novice......what is the most/least we should do?
I know that you all will help me out AGAIN! My thanks in advance!! :D

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Sounds like you've got the fixings for some signature items. The only other thing I might suggest is picking up some trinkets for swapping as the rule is to swap tit for tat -- in other words equal trades. If your kids see something they want you'll want to make an equal trade and poker chips/business cards wouldn't really fit in that category. You don't have to go crazy and go out and buy $5 items . . . a trip to a dollar store or similar place is usually fine.

For example, I rarely take anything or make a swap (but then again I don't have kids), but I still bring along my Swag Bag full of my signature items (wooden ladders) which I drop into caches whenever I am moved and an assortment of trade items which include bouncy balls (wrapped in plastic), carabiners, mini frisbees, pencils with pencil eraser tops (which I place in baggies), small stuffed animals (again in plastic baggies to keep them clean and from getting damp/mildewy), etc. I also pack along a few "high end" items such as a pair of mini binoculars ($15-$20 value), Palm ($5-$15 value), mini Mag-lite ($5-$10 value), etc. in case I find something that is on the high value end that I would like to trade. However, I don't think I've found much out there that rates as a high end trade.

As I said I rarely make a trade, but when I started out I made a trade on just about every cache. I also have noticed that when I take my kid 16-year-old brother along he tends to like it when he finds cash in the cache (often $1 Where's George dollar bills . . . and yes I realize I just wrote out One dollar Where's George dollar bills) . . . which means I often end up making a trade so he can get "rich." :D :rolleyes:

I have picked up a few things over the years that I have liked -- a glass cat for my wife, a metal frog for me, a keyring LED light which comes in handy since my beater car has no interior lights (including dashboard lights), AA batteries (very handy since I had no spares and my batteries in the GPSr died shortly after making this trade), etc.

So in answer to your question . . . the general rule is to make an equal trade . . . of course some people might think trading a McDonald's Happy Meal toy for a $10 bill is a fair trade, but a) I have yet to find a $10 bill in a cache (although I have placed some $10 gift certificates in some of my caches) and b) I believe most cachers realize that this would not be a fair trade.

Good luck. Have fun. Stay safe.

Oh yeah . . . before you go you might want to make sure you know how to use the GPSr and the all-important "go to" feature so you'll get where you want to go and be able to find the cache without doing what I did the first few times I attempted to geocache -- I kept going forwards and then sidewards and then backwards and then sidewards again as I tried to line up the N and W coordinates to match those on the print outs. :rolleyes: :D

Sounds good. I like to leave my signature items at most caches, though lately production has been down so they have only been left in caches that have made the biggest impact on me.. I hope by "home location" you are just referring to the town, not the actual address or coords. Anyone can open most caches, so it's probably not a great idea to give out too much information.

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Originally Posted by brdad

. . . so it's probably not a great idea to give out too much information.

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This coming from a guy that's invited me to his house. And yes I'm kidding. ;) :D Just be glad it wasn't Hiram . . . otherwise all the beer would be gone. Again, just joking -- Hiram really is a nice guy (anyone who willingly drives way out of his way to bring me home is a nice guy.);) :D

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Originally Posted by firefighterjake

This coming from a guy that's invited me to his house. And yes I'm kidding.

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But you were not a complete stranger, I had enough time to do a background check on you before inviting you over. Other than that stunt you pulled in '93, you're pretty clean. But it does explain why you don't like large gatherings of people. ;)

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Originally Posted by brdad

But you were not a complete stranger, I had enough time to do a background check on you before inviting you over. Other than that stunt you pulled in '93, you're pretty clean. But it does explain why you don't like large gatherings of people. ;)

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Actually it was two stunts . . . one in 1998 and one in 1989. The first got me in trouble with the law and earned me some time with Tiny the Janitor . . . the second was a lot more serious, but resulted in my college knickname Psycho. True story . . . well stories. :D I think I was well on my way to being a respectable and productive citizen by 1993. . . .:D

I like the idea of the business cards and the poker chips. I love to collect signature items and leave mine in caches as well. You can see mine in the photo gallery. And yes if can't get a trackable TB or coin to another location then leave it for someone else to try and get to its destination. Although some don't have any destination they just want to go wherever. I try to move them if I can. I have a couple on my desk that I picked up a couple of weeks ago that I need to move along, now that you mention it.

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Originally Posted by MaineWannaBe

We have made up some "business cards" with our name and home location on our printer, covered them in clear contact paper and were thinking that we could leave those once we actually find a cache. I also bought some poker chips and we've put our names and location on those to leave behind too. Am I on the right track?

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Others have made the case for "sig items", but I wanted to mention that you can make your "sig item" a trackable item at this site.

:D :D

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Originally Posted by WhereRWe?

Others have made the case for "sig items", but I wanted to mention that you can make your "sig item" a trackable item at this site.

:D :D

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That's an interesting site. Thanks for sharing. Always something new to be learned.

:D See? I just knew that I would get TONS of helpful advice!! Thanks again everyone. And on our "business cards" I only have our family name and town. I did put a picture of our school and the mascot (the wildcat I've added as my avatar) so I'm guessing that we're safe there. I also appreciated the advice about "trading"....it was something that I hadn't thought of so I suppose I'll have to dig around for some "trading" stuff or just tell my kids ..... sorry, mom didn't prepare for trades.

And ... we have worked with the gpsr and actually found our way to a nearby location where a cache is stashed this afternoon! However, it was a micro, and we just didn't have the time to do a good hunting job. But I am now quite confident in our ability to actually FIND SOMETHING!!!

Again.......many many many thanks for the advice!!

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Originally Posted by hollora

That's an interesting site. Thanks for sharing. Always something new to be learned.

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Note: your sig item must be marked with a number so it can be tracked. Good for hand-made items like Msteelee's cardinals, but not good for something like our signature Maine Geocacher Permit.

Our favorite place to shop for geocaching swag! You can get a bag of slippery, slimy creatures :eek: ( snakes, frogs and lizards ) for 1.00. And the kids love to trade a few of them in those "kid" friendly caches. :) And don't forget if your on the road and hungry......McToys!

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Originally Posted by WhereRWe?

Note: your sig item must be marked with a number so it can be tracked. Good for hand-made items like Msteelee's cardinals, but not good for something like our signature Maine Geocacher Permit.

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I had a bunch of numbered items early on but did not know - that's ok - there is always time to do something else.