RE: Signature items

[firefighterjake]

Brdad said something the other day about how this hobby is always changing and it made me realize something . . . when I first started folks were right into signature items (along with geocoins and TBs). It seemed as though everyone was making or putting signature items in caches . . .

But recently I can't say as though I've seen a whole lot of folks making or placing signature items. Anyone out there still doing them?

[Hikenfish]

I put a signature compass in any cache that I take anything from.

[kayaking loon]

I have signature items, and also like to find and collect other peoples. There are still some out there. But the "new" signature item is a pathtag. You design it, or get help from a designer (we have a very talented one right here in Maine), decide what colors you want, what finish, put your name on it and you're good to go. They even fit in micros which would take care of the "I don't even take swag with me anymore, it won't fit in micros" gripe. They are easy to carry, beautiful to display and cost about the same as a decent piece of swag. Think about it....

[WhereRWe?]

But recently I can't say as though I've seen a whole lot of folks making or placing signature items. Anyone out there still doing them?

I always have a supply of our "Maine Geocacher Permit" in my pocket. We usually put one in every cache we log that has enough space.

Interestingly enough, at the event we attended in St John, NB a couple of weeks ago, someone noticed our GeocachingMaine shirts (with our names on them). He came up to us and said "I've seen those names before", pulled out his wallet, and took out on of our Maine Geocacher Permits. He said that he'd taken it from a cache in New Brunswick somewhere, and had been carrying it for 2 years! LOL!

I also think many people are placing pathtags in caches in lieu of signature items.

[brdad]

I was thinking about this very subject too! Along with shorter logs, logs which speak more for the weather/company/number found in the day than is mentioned about eh actual cache and cache location itself, less consideration for trading up and not mentioning what was traded, there is less and less care about signature items as well!

And I know it's statements like this one coming that make people label me as a micro hating %$^&*(, but here it goes. I am currently convinced these changes can be, for some part, attributed to the influx of micros - for a couple reasons.

1. Before there were many micros, people took time to actually write decent logs in the cache log itself. I'm thinking finding all these micros where usually there is room for no more than your name, sometimes barely room for initials, have trained us to believe the cache log is only there to prove you were there and any other information is waste. I am guilty of this myself - I am not good at handwriting so I can't say as I ever wrote a real long log in cache, but I always wrote a lot more than I do now. I often read some or all of the logs left by others in the cache, they were often a fun read. I bet many newer cachers have never seen a logbook where another cacher has written one or two pages of their adventure. There used to be a lot more than you can find now.

2. Before micros, there was usually room in a cache for trade items, and if you were not trading you could always place your signature item. As with the logs, the more people have done micros with no room for trade items, they feel no need to bother at larger caches.

3. While the numbers have grown for all cache sizes, the numbers for micros have grown many many times the rate of other caches. This promotes finding many caches, which is fine - But if you have 2 hours to log your daily caches and have found 10 caches, that allots you 12 minutes to log each cache. If you have found 100 caches, that allots you 1.2 minutes per cache. Unless we free up 18 extra hours to log our caches, we simply are not taking the time we used to to log our caches.

I could ramble on for hours, but something has surely changed how the majority of us cache. Some of it really is not worse or better for the sport, it is just a change of course. Other aspects of it are IMO making the sport less of a personalized activity. It's kind of like the difference of going to the Mom and Pop store where you might talk to the owner about his family and maybe even hold the ladder while he changes a light bulb as opposed to going to some chain store where the kid at the register asks how you are only because he is required by his boss to do so.

[brdad]

Regarding if I still place them or not - yes I do on occasion. But because I am finding so many more than when I started, not every cache gets one.

[WhereRWe?]

I could ramble on for hours, but something has surely changed how the majority of us cache. Some of it really is not worse or better for the sport, it is just a change of course. Other aspects of it are IMO making the sport less of a personalized activity. It's kind of like the difference of going to the Mom and Pop store where you might talk to the owner about his family and maybe even hold the ladder while he changes a light bulb as opposed to going to some chain store where the kid at the register asks how you are only because he is required by his boss to do so.

Sheesh! I surely agree with this - and think it's a reflection on society itself, not just on the evolution of geocaching. I'm happy to say that the local "Solon Corner Market" is a hub of the community, and the owner is there most of the time to greet you by name. (And most of the "cachiers" do, too).

[hollora]

Interesting discussion here. One of the "sale points" to getting kids involved in geocaching is to teach them journeling. Journeling requires the thoughtful recollection of events and the description of your discovery. Journeling helps to teach language, thought development and keyboarding.

I hope we never loose touch with the need for proper journeling/logging in our sport. As folks age - perhaps we get brief and sloppy but the cache owner can always ask us for more.

Please aspire folks for good logs - they are teaching the generations which will follow us. JMHO

[ampmdp]

You can always find a Laughing Terry signature item around!

[Ekidokai]

I really like finding a signature item. Some of you guys are way crafty. The last couple of days I have been on a 2001 hunt. I have seen some very interesting logs and signature items.

Ekidokai has made and placed a couple different signature items. Just not as crafty as most.