[Should I log this find?]

but Groundspeak has no rules saying other cachers can't help out and leave a new log book or add a sheet of blank paper.

And if you find a cache (and are reasonably certain it is the cache and not a discarded container of some sort) and there is no logbook, it's generally accepted practice to sign a piece of paper to include in the container.

In any of those cases, leaving a slip of paper with your trail name on it counts as "signing the log."

 

I had basically the same idea. Happy to hear that it's quite universal. Thanks guys!

[Should I log this find?]

I know: no logbook = no cache, that's clear.

 

What on earth made you think that?

 

 

A cache is a container that includes, at minimum, a logbook to sign, isn't it? Since there is no logbook, we may say that the container in itself does not qualify as a functional cache, only an empty box. Though a logbook can be full, or wet, but there _is_ a logbook. My concern is, if a finder can freely create a supposedly missing mandatory component from scratch, than one can say, "I found a box shaped item lying on the ground around GZ, the log must be missing, so I toss a piece of paper in it and call it a find". Don't take me wrong, i'm not an über-puritan, only a tadpole who likes to know if it's universally accepted to sign any little piece of paper instead of a completely missing real logbook? I rather err on the side of puritanism, than end up in the 'Found It = Didn't Find It' topic.

[Should I log this find?]

What if a cache has its logbook completely missing (assuming that the cache container is properly hidden at GZ, with all the usual cache paraphernalia, except logbook, inside)? I know: no logbook = no cache, that's clear. But if a finder replaces it with a signed piece of clean paper (with space for a few more logs), does it promptly 'revive' the cache, so the finder can claim a valid find online?

[Protecting Traveling Geocoins]

There is no reason to just remove some nicelooking medal but leave the box otherwise unharmed. No muggle would do so.

 

If I were a clever, educated muggle, I won't ruin the cache itself, in which I can frequently find nice items. Maybe I would even maintain it, keeping the golden egg laying hen alive.

 

The other things come to my mind are ignorant casual cachers, and parents who cache with family (their kids' joy being more important than rules, so let them keep the shiny stuff). Or combination of the two.

[Large cache/clothing trade]

Maybe if you don't bury it, make an absolutely waterproof lid, and provide some ventilation. I wouldn't like to find a pile of wet clothes, rotting in a box for weeks..

[What Do You Think About This?]

Let's say an ordinary cacher finds a full logbook, and replaces it. Fine. But what should he do with the old one (and the several extra pieces of crumpled paper also full of logs)? Assuming they are in poor shape and do not fit in the container anymore anyway. Throw away as trash? Should we say that if the CO lose his full logbook this way, because he did not provide a new one in time, it's his fault?

[Newbie Question about coins]

If you find a trackable coin in a geocache, look up the tracking number. If the coin is active and owned by someone else, it probably has a goal, and that goal should be followed if at all possible. [...] If you find that the coin is UNACTIVATED, it was left as swag, and is yours to keep.

~J

 

That's perfectly clear. But how can someone decide in the field if an unmarked coin is activated or not, so he has to move it without trading, or can trade to keep it? If finder leaves nothing and takes nothing but the coin to travel, and later finds that it is unactivated, he cannot keep it since he didn't trade for it. Imagine, if you found a really gorgeous coin you really craved for, only to find out later that it was swag, but at that point there's no way you can keep it. Maddening.

On the other way, if finder trades for it evenly to find out later that it's not swag and has to release it, he traded maybe more than 10 bucks for absolutely nothing.

Either way, if finder does not guess right in the field, and later wants to keep the rules, he will be "robbed", of his trade items, or of his right of trading.

Clearly marking unactivated coin as swag should be mandatory.

 

I can only think of one way to resolve this. If an unmarked coin _later_ proves to be unactivated swag, can you leave its "price" in the _next_ cache you visit? Not a perfect solution, but still you do not steal from the community as a whole. What do you think about it? Would be acceptable?

 

regards

B.C.