Geocaching is a sport or activity in which the participants use handheld GPS devices to find hidden caches. These caches can be of any size, and hidden in any type of terrain: from under a bench on a city street, to dangling off a cliff in the rugged mountains, to under a pile of leaf litter on the side of a park trail.
Inside every geocache, there must be a logbook or paper for the finder to sign. In geocaches of appropriate sizes, there will also be swag to trade. Swag is defined as “Stuff We All Get,” and is basically little trinkets or prizes for finding the geocache. A geocaching rule encourages you to take what you want out of the cache, but then put something of equal or greater value in.
Unfortunately, this does not always happen.
The Most Complained About Geocache Swag
1) Rocks, pinecones, etc.
If it looks like you just picked the object off the ground right next to the geocache and tossed it in the case, it will not be appreciated. Things that are commonly found in the vicinity of the geocache are worth nothing. They also get the rest of the geo swag dirty.
2) Broken toys
Broken toys are garbage, not geocache swag. When children go geocaching with their parents, much of the lure is the treasures that they find. Its like hunting pirate booty! Finding a box full of broken toys is no fun.
3) Garbage
People have found everything from used Band-Aids to crumpled convenience store receipts. This flies in the face of everything geocaching is. Not only is it inconsiderate, but it also shows negligence with the environment. Cache in, trash out.
4) Dangerous or Adult Items
Geocaching rules dictate that no adult items, no potential fire starters like lighters or matches, and no knives or weapons are allowed in geocaches. Basically, geo swag should consist of things that are appropriate for all ages.
5) Commercial Items
A geocache is not an advertisement. You are not allowed to include commercial items such as flyers, sales circulars, or excessive promotional items.
Ideas for Good Geocache Swag
1) Dollar store toys or trinkets
Lots of kids geocache with their parents. Small toy cars, costume jewelry, high bouncer balls, and other fun toys and trinkets make great swag.
2) Special rocks and shells.
This is not the kind of stuff you can find lying on the ground next to the geocache. Fancy polished stones, sanddollars, or pretty shells make good geo swag.
3) Handmade items
Many people make keychains, pins, or other small items to put in geocaches. Other geocachers love to find things that people put effort into making.
4) Camping or hiking gear
Since many geocachers are slogging through the wilderness in order to find the geocache, outdoor recreation items are always popular. These can range from carabiners and compasses, to insect repellant wipes and emergency rain ponchos.
5) Signature Items
Signature items are things that a particular geocacher or geocaching group uses to identify themselves. There are fancy traceable geocoins that people use, but many also have a particular bauble, laminated card, or wooden nickel that they use.
Good geocachers know to trade up, or not to trade at all, when it comes to swag. It is nice to get a trinket or small prize at the end of a hike or hunt. It is also nice to make sure that the next geocacher to come along can get something nice as well. It is not hard, nor is it expensive, to get quality swag to trade in a geocache.
Reference:
- Visit www.Geocaching.com for more information.
