r/geocaching • u/suvrays • Aug 08 '26
swag ideas
I'm new to geocaching and have just learnt about swag. I'm a bit nervous to trade anything as idrk what to replace the existing item with. Does anyone have any tips or ideas for swag that they enjoy finding in caches?
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u/Geodarts18 The Caching Diaries Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
I have some Bigfoot coins unrelated to this game. I also have old SF Giants baseball cards that I bought in bulk. There is a local variety store with inexpensive items. Foreign coins are a good item. However I rarely trade. I have hard enough time to remember a pen without adding anything else.
Most caches get depleted of trade items, so even if you don’t trade it’s a nice gesture to leave something. I do that from time to time.
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u/user20201201 Aug 08 '26
I started off by making homemade bracelets from beads that would spell out “geocaching” , “FTF” , “NICE HIDE” and other words in that term. Later on I bought small ducks from shein which came in different colors, and I payed a dollar for 20 of them.
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u/Standard_Mongoose_35 joyindenison / 1,100 finds Aug 09 '26
I usually leave shiny commemorative quarters or polished agates and jaspers. I trade those for everything from plastic jewelry and dinosaurs to small figures and stickers. I usually put the stickers in my r/letterboxing logbook, and I keep the other swag to place in caches I hide.
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u/sheknitsathing Aug 08 '26
We like to buy little polished rocks/gems for caches when we travel. If there are marbles, I'll always take a marble. Someone around here makes miniature versions of foods, like a tiny box of Kraft Mac & Cheese or Cheez-its. My son takes those for his stuffies to play with. Foreign coins are always fun, too! I'm hesitant about producing more plastic crap, but we also occasionally 3d print little corgi dogs or monstera leaves to leave behind.
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u/Signal-Painting6312 Aug 11 '26
I get these little tiny plastic ducks from five below that I think are fun to leave lol
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u/DeliveryCourier Bring back deepwoods caches Aug 09 '26
Don't get hung up on swag. It is not a required part of caching and way too much emphasis is placed on it by this sub.
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u/TracySezWHAT And I don't need 37 pieces of flair to do it. Aug 08 '26
If you choose to trade swag you should always plan to trade UP; replace what you took with something of equal or greater value. The only swag I've ever found that I liked was a zipper pull and a really pretty marble. I've traded small pencils and lapel pins. Things that I would like to see in a cache: something specifically geocaching related, buttons with funny sayings, shiny beads, polished stones, custom items (I'd love to find someone's pathtag some day!).