TwoFreds

I don't see anything wrong with any of these! Like someone mentioned, you don't HAVE to buy anything to log the caches. If I were to see a listing that mentioned something like "Home of the Best Burger in the West" or something along those lines- who knows? I could choose to visit and have a burger, log the cache without buying anything- or if I was really annoyed at the thought of being brought to a "business" by a cache I guess I could choose to just skip it alltogether?

Write down your TB identification numbers before you leave on your trip. When you get back, you can still log the bug (backdate the log entry to actual day you dropped it off).

Please bring it to Oregon. That would be "proper etiquette". Thanks in advance.

This one is gonna be hard to top:

Yeah, you're probably right. Those middle states are definitely going to be a problem. As a matter of fact, I'm thinking that when it travels through the middle states someone is actually going to say "Hey! That IS my cuzin!!", get offended and take poor Betsy Ann out of circulation.

Neat idea you had with that Travel Bug.. I'm sure your friend would be proud! You shouldn't give up on it as "missing" though. It was less than 2 weeks ago that the next person visited the cache after you dropped the bug off. It isn't uncommon to wait longer than that to see your bug logged. Besides, with a theme like that- why would someone just take it and keep it? Good luck with it and it will probably turn up real soon.

Go to a flea market or an antique mall. There are all kinds of wacky and unique little items that make great travel-bugs and you'll have a good time in the process. I can't help but wonder what the cashiers are thinking when I come up to the register with all the wacky stuff... "What the @#$% is he buying that for"??

What are the odds that this may actually happen? It is a 5000 mile round-trip and all. No offense to you Georgia cachers. Betsy Ann is getting hitched

I would agree with the first part of your statement- but if you were to come across a cache with 10 Travel Bugs and took all 10, wouldn't that be a little unfair to the next person that came along hoping to log just one? Especially if they could move the bug toward the goal specifically requested by it's owner? As far as the part about keeping a bug for over a week being not OK- what if you happen to find a Travel Bug who's mission is to travel to say- Zimbabwe. Just so happens that you are flying there in 6 weeks. Does it make more sense to randomly stick it in the nearest cache just to keep it moving, or do you email the owner of the bug and let them know that their bug will be reaching it's goal, but it will be a few weeks? I agree with you after having posted myself regarding this subject and having read more postings on the subject that there are no "rules" regarding grabbing and moving Travel Bugs, and everyone plays the game a little differently- which I don't have a problem with. Someone who grabs 6 at a time and "logs" them would beat someone who takes 1 and doesn't log it anyday. (I think the guy with the box of white jeeps was probably one of the geocachers who received them to distribute by the way)

I am sorry that my original comment resulted in your receiving a nasty note- that is completely out of line and uncalled for. Certainly not my intention of posting the comment in the first place. As I mentioned before, I think the caches that you put out are great- and I applaud you for the effort. I was simply questioning the ethics of stripping other local caches of Travel Bugs in order to promote your own.

Don't get me wrong... I never suggested anyone "write" anyone or complain to admin. I just feel that it is wrong to collect a majority of TB's in the area for the sole purpose of enticing cacher's to visit your own cache. It's a little like "If anyone wants a Travel Bug in this town- they're going to have to come to MY cache to get one!" I have nothing against this other cache or cacher. In fact I have logged the cache myself and think it's one of the more enjoyable caches in the area. It is probably not well suited for a horde of Travel Bugs however- as it is a 4-clue multi, involving a 3 mile hike with poor Gps reception under heavy tree canopy. The numerous "DNF's" logged illustrate the fact that the cache has often required several attempts to find- probably not an ideal spot for "out-of-towners" looking to help move a Travel Bug out of the area, as it does require a fair amount of time and effort. MomToo- you obviously didn't read my TB logs very carefully to accuse me of 'looting TB's out of other caches to put in my own". The only bugs I placed in my own cache came from over 2500 miles away. I can also assure you that I am not a "new cacher getting sentimental/competitive about my cache". If that were the case, I would probably go retrieve all 13 of the TB's in the other cache and stick them in my own, wouldn't I? I have no interest in that type of thing- which is the whole point of this thread. Picking up a Travel Bug should be done in a way to further their progress rather than to hinder their progress, and they should be left spread out among various caches rather than snatched up to entice visitors to ONE cache in the area. That was my ONLY point. Trust me, I'm not losing any sleep over the matter. Just thought it seemed wrong.

Guess it's not "how" but "who". As in decides to grab them along the way. My guess is that one or two of them will make it before you have great-great-grandkids. I put one out not too long ago (Trippy Vibes) who I'm trying to send to Woodstock,NY from the Oregon Coast. The folks that grabbed it are heading to Joplin,MS soon so I'm actually feeling OK about that one

I guess what bothers me the most about it is that I brought these two travel bugs all the way back from Hawaii a few days ago (where I left other bugs in place of the ones I took home with me), placed them in one of my caches (2500 miles away from where I found them) which is a fairly new cache that has been visited more in the last week than this "other" cache has been visited in the last two months! I live in a fairly rural area where frankly there are not a lot of travel bugs to begin with- and now probably 90 percent of them are in this one cache that is rarely visited. This other cache owner even mentions in one of the logs "I'm going to see how many travel bugs I can get in here before people start visiting" or something along those lines. Frankly I really don't care if my own cache has travel bugs in it or not, because it is still a fun cache to visit- but I didn't bring these 2 TB's back 2500 miles with me to have them sit for months before being picked up and moved along either! Oh well... guess it's out of my hands now. End of rant

Earlier today my cache was stripped of two travel bugs (which were all the bugs that were currently in the cache) by another local cacher. According to the bug logs, immediately following their removal this other cacher moved the bugs into one of their own caches. This wouldn't be the end of the world in itself, but the cache the bugs were placed in is visited on an average of once per MONTH and there is now a total of 13 travel bugs in the cache that the owner has apparently looted from other local caches to place in their own!! I may be relatively new to all of this, but this just HAS to be bad etiquette is it not?? The "other" cache

I can't help but wonder how the topic of finding ammo in a cache has anything to do with the notion of an escaped convict ultimately finding said ammo and making a "zip-gun" in order to fire it!? This would be a bit like starting a topic "Trashed Out Cold Medicine" and debating whether or not a meth addict might ultimately find it and convert it into meth. We all know what bullets do. So don't leave them in a cache... and if you happen to find one, be sure to take it to the local bomb squad for controlled detonation. Jeeesh! whatever.

NO MORE DIRTY GOLF BALLS!!! That's my vote.

No offense but your cache "Fire & Ice & Steel" just plain SUCKS! What were you thinking when you hid that one?!! Just kidding- I've never been to it- and yeah, I hate it when people leave snide remarks about a cache!

Glad you got my joke. This whole thread is a little silly IMHO

Just one more thought on the "inmate" analogy... what if the inmate found only an ammo can filled with harmless SWAG in the woods, carried it back with them to the prison bus, and were then shot by the guard- who feared "inmate carrying ammo-can = inmate preparing to stage armed escape?" I imagine the geocacher who hid the cache would have trouble living that one down. Bottom line here is, DON'T EVEN USE AMMO CANS in areas frequented by inmates! Don't put objects that could be transformed into "shivs" into these caches either. In fact, don't even GO to these caches! You could be held hostage by one of these roaming inmates, roughed-up, or MUCH, MUCH worse....

I don't think it's about the money spent on SWAG as it is the "neatness" of the SWAG. We have found some pretty cool little trinkets at the dollar store- the last were a bunch of 6" rubber ORCA whales that were actually kinda neat, and also some little bracelets still new in their packages. I don't like leaving "used" things in caches- even though we have amassed a lot of "junk" in our journeys, we always leave something new and clean in return. I don't think anyone expects to find great riches when they are caching, but I agree that dirty golf-balls, McToys, etc. are a bit disappointing.

My son and I just got back from the big island of Hawaii, where we logged some great caches in beautiful locations- but also found some unique hazards to the area. Our last cache involved hiking about a third of a mile over some really rough black lava rock formations. All went well until the return hike when Fred Jr. (7 yrs. old) made a wrong step and slipped, cutting his knee on the lava. To make matters worse he put his hands out to catch himself- skinning both hands up as well. Fortunately, the cuts and scratches were very minor and superficial- but in a 7 year-old's mind, any time there is blood present it is NOT a good thing! Still with about a quarter mile to get back to the car after this happened, I put him up on my back to speed up the return trip- and needless to say ended up having to catch myself a time or two! By the time we got back to the vehicle we were BOTH bloodied and battered with numerous cuts from the sharp lava rock. After a quick trip to the local Wal-Mart for some bandages and disinfectant however, we gave each other a high-five 'cause despite the cuts and scrapes we knew that we had FOUND THE CACHE!! About that time, my son looked up at me and said "Wow, Dad! That should have been a level five difficulty, don't you think?" (I think it was actually around a 2.5). I looked back at him and said "You bet it should, son! You are really becoming a man!" Overall, I think that Blood, Sweat, and Tears (Between the 90 degree heat and sharp lava there were literally all three of these elements present for us on this particular cache!) can really add to a sense of accomplishment. Don't get me wrong- I would never take my son on a "dangerous" cache. I think he came away from this particular find however with a strong sense of accomplishment, and will probably remember it for the rest of his life. To me, that's what geocaching and the adventure is all about!