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Take one, leave one


Mayiko

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Hello,

 

My little family started geocaching a couple of weeks ago.

We set of with a few nice ones but now we want to leave behind something that defines us.

 

I'm all into origami and created the crane (as you can see in my profile picture) and leaving a paper crane origami when possible.

Is this appropriate or is it "too cheap"?

 

I think it's kind of cool because they are hand made and never the same twice.

What do you think?

 

Regards,

Mayiko

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Not cheap at all! I have a friend who does the same thing. Origami is even in his username! I think they can be very cool pieces of swag when placed in the right containers.

Tx :), ye my nickname is the one I use since my little girl is born.

I keep in mind that I cannot place it in any container but I try to :)

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Origami would be a lovely find. I suggest putting one in a baggie to protect it from condensation, water, dirt. You might want to check your pharmacy to see if they have thick pill baggies. Also a little tag with your trailname and a note that you folded the item would be a nice touch.

I bought some 2x3" 4 mil baggies recently. Similar to this but I stupidly bought it from a place that charged more, and also charged shipping. Thicker and firmer than the usual 2 mil baggies. Wouldn't protect the crane from getting crushed though.

 

Maybe leave cranes that have not been "opened up" (whatever you call the last step where you pull on the wings to puff up the body part)? Agree with L0ne.R - having a little note with your username and in a baggie makes it more interesting.

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Origami would be a lovely find. I suggest putting one in a baggie to protect it from condensation, water, dirt. You might want to check your pharmacy to see if they have thick pill baggies. Also a little tag with your trailname and a note that you folded the item would be a nice touch.

This is a REALLY good idea. I'll get on it right away.

Yep. Personalized swag's our favorite.

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One thing to pay attention to if you are using it to trade for other swag is that most people often over value the swag we are leaving. Try not to do this.

In this case, I'm going to argue against this sentiment on the grounds that I'd rather the OP recognize the unique personal value of the handmade crane without having to consider any objective evaluation such as what someone would pay for it. I mean, sure, there are things it wouldn't be a fair trade for, but nothing I run into in a cache very often. (Personally, I avoid this issue by rarely taking anything even when I leave something, which is just a practical matter for me, but would amount to "a lovely gesture" in the case of something the leaver made themselves.)

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I would consider a hand-made personal item to have any value, equal to that of the item traded. When I hand-craft something, I may place a low value, based only on the cost of materials, while someone who sees it thinks it is expensive, due to the artistry involved.

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Definitely not Too Cheep! I have a few special personalized swagg items I have found in caches sitting on my desk above my computer as I type this and I could see yours as being one if I found it. I would appreciate that longer then if I found a $5 bill in a cache as it would have memories. As mentioned you should try and find a way to keep them dry and in good shape. The baggie idea is good along with your caching name. Or if maybe you could find a cool way to put your caching name on the actual item. It could be a while from you placing it to someone taking it and in many caches it would get messed up so go with the baggie idea or something to keep them in good shape.

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I like the origami, especially with it nicely packaged as you show. My family hasn't hit a ton of geocaches, but when we do go out it is always our goal to take along extra and leave the cache better stocked than when we find it. Most of the time we leave paracord bracelets, key fobs and other hand made items. Our philosophy is to always leave the cache better off than when we found it and if we find one that is poorly stocked we throw in several extra items to help boost it up a bit.

 

G

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Be judicious in where you leave them. If it's a cache that's poorly maintained or rarely found, it will only become junk at the bottom of a filthy, wet pile of junk. Sad but true.

 

I agree with this. Although after seeing the cranes in their package it might not be as much of an issue as I first thought but the swag in a lot of caches can get mashed together, especially with a smaller container that has been out it the field for a while. By being more selective for which caches you choose to leave one of your cranes they'll become more "collectible".

 

There were a couple of local cachers in my area that used to leave some interesting swag in *some* of the caches they found and the items became somewhat collectible to the point that some cachers would look at their finds to see if a log mentioned leaving that specific item.

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Be judicious in where you leave them. If it's a cache that's poorly maintained or rarely found, it will only become junk at the bottom of a filthy, wet pile of junk. Sad but true.

 

I agree with this. Although after seeing the cranes in their package it might not be as much of an issue as I first thought but the swag in a lot of caches can get mashed together, especially with a smaller container that has been out it the field for a while. By being more selective for which caches you choose to leave one of your cranes they'll become more "collectible".

 

There were a couple of local cachers in my area that used to leave some interesting swag in *some* of the caches they found and the items became somewhat collectible to the point that some cachers would look at their finds to see if a log mentioned leaving that specific item.

The idea is awesome, but I'm not that popular haha. And they are just cranes, dunno how I would promote myself so, I guess it's only for the ones who really love it :)

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Be judicious in where you leave them. If it's a cache that's poorly maintained or rarely found, it will only become junk at the bottom of a filthy, wet pile of junk. Sad but true.

 

I agree with this. Although after seeing the cranes in their package it might not be as much of an issue as I first thought but the swag in a lot of caches can get mashed together, especially with a smaller container that has been out it the field for a while. By being more selective for which caches you choose to leave one of your cranes they'll become more "collectible".

 

There were a couple of local cachers in my area that used to leave some interesting swag in *some* of the caches they found and the items became somewhat collectible to the point that some cachers would look at their finds to see if a log mentioned leaving that specific item.

The idea is awesome, but I'm not that popular haha. And they are just cranes, dunno how I would promote myself so, I guess it's only for the ones who really love it :)

 

Maybe you're not that popular now, but if you start putting some cool origami cranes as swag into caches you just might find that you'll develop a reputation as the geocacher that puts cools swag into the caches they find.

 

I didn't think I had much of a reputation in the local geocaching community either. Then one day I was at a non-geocaching event with my son when some guy came up to me and said, "you're NYPaddlecacher, aren't you". Before I said yes, and ducked in case the guy was going to take a swing at me he said, "my daughter wants to meet you, she think's you're a geocaching celebrity."

 

That one sentence made everything less than enjoyable I've experienced in the game all worth it.

 

 

Edited by NYPaddleCacher
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Be judicious in where you leave them. If it's a cache that's poorly maintained or rarely found, it will only become junk at the bottom of a filthy, wet pile of junk. Sad but true.

 

I agree with this. Although after seeing the cranes in their package it might not be as much of an issue as I first thought but the swag in a lot of caches can get mashed together, especially with a smaller container that has been out it the field for a while. By being more selective for which caches you choose to leave one of your cranes they'll become more "collectible".

 

There were a couple of local cachers in my area that used to leave some interesting swag in *some* of the caches they found and the items became somewhat collectible to the point that some cachers would look at their finds to see if a log mentioned leaving that specific item.

The idea is awesome, but I'm not that popular haha. And they are just cranes, dunno how I would promote myself so, I guess it's only for the ones who really love it :)

 

Maybe you're not that popular now, but if you start putting some cool origami cranes as swag into caches you just might find that you'll develop a reputation as the geocacher that puts cools swag into the caches they find.

 

I didn't think I had much of a reputation in the local geocaching community either. Then one day I was at a non-geocaching event with my son when some guy came up to me and said, "you're NYPaddlecacher, aren't you". Before I said yes, and ducked in case the guy was going to take a swing at me he said, "my daughter wants to meet you, she think's you're a geocaching celebrity."

 

That one sentence made everything less than enjoyable I've experienced in the game all worth it.

 

 

Something similar happened to me, twice. First at the first event we attended back in 2002. We introduced ourselves to a couple and the husband pulls out of his pocket a stained glass pin I made and left in a cache. And last year while caching in a forest another cacher shows up. We introduce ourselves and he gets out of his geoswag bag one of my handmade geoswag items - a polymer clay coin I had made along with a signature business card. Made that about 2 years ago and he's been carrying it all that time, how cool is that? He asked me to autograph the business card. :)

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Be judicious in where you leave them. If it's a cache that's poorly maintained or rarely found, it will only become junk at the bottom of a filthy, wet pile of junk. Sad but true.

 

I agree with this. Although after seeing the cranes in their package it might not be as much of an issue as I first thought but the swag in a lot of caches can get mashed together, especially with a smaller container that has been out it the field for a while. By being more selective for which caches you choose to leave one of your cranes they'll become more "collectible".

 

There were a couple of local cachers in my area that used to leave some interesting swag in *some* of the caches they found and the items became somewhat collectible to the point that some cachers would look at their finds to see if a log mentioned leaving that specific item.

The idea is awesome, but I'm not that popular haha. And they are just cranes, dunno how I would promote myself so, I guess it's only for the ones who really love it :)

 

Maybe you're not that popular now, but if you start putting some cool origami cranes as swag into caches you just might find that you'll develop a reputation as the geocacher that puts cools swag into the caches they find.

 

I didn't think I had much of a reputation in the local geocaching community either. Then one day I was at a non-geocaching event with my son when some guy came up to me and said, "you're NYPaddlecacher, aren't you". Before I said yes, and ducked in case the guy was going to take a swing at me he said, "my daughter wants to meet you, she think's you're a geocaching celebrity."

 

That one sentence made everything less than enjoyable I've experienced in the game all worth it.

 

 

Something similar happened to me, twice. First at the first event we attended back in 2002. We introduced ourselves to a couple and the husband pulls out of his pocket a stained glass pin I made and left in a cache. And last year while caching in a forest another cacher shows up. We introduce ourselves and he gets out of his geoswag bag one of my handmade geoswag items - a polymer clay coin I had made along with a signature business card. Made that about 2 years ago and he's been carrying it all that time, how cool is that? He asked me to autograph the business card. :)

 

That's great indeed :).

Love that to happen to my cranes but I'm not counting on it. I'm glad they are worth the share haha :).

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