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scottmcblane

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Posts posted by scottmcblane

    How are Geocoins and TravelBugs different?

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Scottmcb;

     

    Travel bug and a geocoin serve the same basic purpose; they have a unique number on them that allow the finder to log them on the Geocaching.com website. The owner sets the mission and releases the "traveler" into the wild. the bug or coin gets pickup up and moved on by the other players. the owner then get to watch their "bug" as it travels.

     

    A most travel bugs I have seen look like a dog tag with a bug on it and a number, they are usually attached to an item (figurine of a seven dwarf, teddy bear, racing car, excreta), these you find in a cache take it log it (write a small note, say hello to the owner), and drop it in another cache.

     

    Now to make things complicated, players have decals on their car or pictures on their shirts of travel bugs. these are meant to be discovered. They have a unique number on them. Write the number down and go to the website under play -> find trackable->enter the number go to the website for the trackable on the options table select add a log entry->under type of log select discover it. Many time at geocaching event you will find many of these it is a great way to introduce yourself. Many collectors will also allow you to discover their coins.

     

    Dipping a trackable; some players keep a trackable (one of their own or another player's with permission) and dip it; taking it from cache to cache and dipping it for the mileage.

     

    Geocoins come in a variety of shape, sizes, colors, and costs. When you find them in the wild treat them the same way; take it, log it, and pass it on. If you find that a coin has not been activated it generally means it was placed in cache as SWAG and is yours to keep, but if the coin or bug has been activated it belongs to the player that activated it, keeping one of these is consider stealing.

     

    Many bugs and coins go missing for various reasons, taken on purpose and kept for their own (stealing), accidentally lost,muggled, or picked up and forgotten. Personally I have lost track of about 60% of my trackables .

     

    Trackable also have a public number associated with them that you can give out to ID it but the person who looks it up cannot log it since they do not have the tracking number, here is one of mine TB2WHVJ.

     

    All of this said, I started off by buying coins and releasing them into the wild. As I bought the coins I came to enjoy their beauty as a art form and I started collecting them. I now release very few of them since so many go missing. Every now and then I come across someone who I work or play with that mentions this new game they found called geocaching. I will give them one of my activate coins for them to adopt as their own and play with.

     

    The question of activating a trackable that you plan to keep is a matter of opinion, many feel that an activate coin loses some of it value. Personally I activate all of mine, and I do not mind buying activate coins as long as they get adopted over to me (I keep the logs intact). I reason behind my decision to activate is a simple one: At my first geocacheing event I talked with a collector who was showing off his coins, he told me that a the last event several of his coins went missing, presume stolen, and they were not activated. Now if they had been activate the person that stole the coins would have a harder time selling them or putting them into play. I buy many of my coins off Ebay, I have bought three that were activated and once I got them found out the person that sold them to me was not the owner, I filed a grievance with PayPal got my money back and returned the coin to the rightful owner, in each case the person was asked by EBay to leave their site for selling stolen items. This is the reason I activate my coins.

     

    I hope this give you a better understanding, now go out and find some to enjoy and log, buy a few of your own. Come join the obsession or addiction of geocoins.

     

    Jay

    Colorado Bear

     

    Thanks so much for your kind reply. I think I am beginning to understand now. :)

     

    Just one more question at this stage... Are there an infinite number of designs for geocoin a or can you collect a certain "series" or "group" of coins.

     

    I used to collect pokemon cards as a kid so this is very appealing to me :)

    When NOT to discover travel bugs/geocoins

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Hey everyone,

     

    So recently I have been going through instagram and looking at all the photos that have #geocaching in them. In some of the photos are the trackable codes for travel bugs/geocoins and I was wondering if you think it is wrong to log these ones as discovered. Thanks :)

     

    - scottmcb

    Cache Vandalism

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Looks like the OP has archived his cache.

     

    If you do decide to place a new one nearby (or in any other high risk area), I'd suggest putting a note on the cache page telling people not to leave trackables in it.

     

    Yeah I placed a new one today but not near the old one. It's not as easy so vandalism shouldn't be a problem. I just hope that the 3 travel bugs that were in my cache weren't stolen and they will show up.

    Cache Vandalism

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    I'd probably rethink the location.

     

    Definitely. I had one that local kids had found. They left notes in it for a while. But eventually it went missing. Sooner or later it will go missing. But in the meantime they'll just keep leaving nasty notes for you real geocachers to find.

     

    Do you think I should archive the cache and make a new one?

     

    If you move it, yes. I assume we are not talking about a cache big enough to hold TBs and geocoins.

     

    Actually it is big enough for both and for a decent amount of swapables.

    Cache Vandalism

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    I'd probably rethink the location.

     

    Definitely. I had one that local kids had found. They left notes in it for a while. But eventually it went missing. Sooner or later it will go missing. But in the meantime they'll just keep leaving nasty notes for you real geocachers to find.

     

    Do you think I should archive the cache and make a new one?

    Cache Vandalism

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    So today I went to my cache that I have placed to collect it, clear it out and place it back. When I was going through the log book there was some vandalism (from the local school kids I suspect). The vandalism was quite crude and made me question whether or not to put the cache back - especially since there are probably a lot of young people finding it since it's difficulty is only 1.5 (terrain 1.5 also).

     

    What do you think about vandalism in caches? And should I put the cache back with the possibility of it being muggled or vandalised worse?

    How did you start Geocaching and what kept you geocaching?

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted · Edited by scottmcb

    Sorry in advance.. I realise there are post of this exact nature.. I made this and now cannot delete it and I just hope that you will be willing to tell your story again.

     

    I'm interested in how people got into geocaching. As for me, I'd heard a couple of times from friends as to what geocaching is. Then one day I was watching YouTube and came across this video and that day I had found my first cache. Loved it so much and haven't stopped since. The thing that kept me geocaching was all the amazing places I find that I had no idea existed and the adventure on the way.

     

    So how did you get introduced and what kept you caching?

     

    :)

     

    Geocaching Hiding Funny Stories

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    So today I went to go hide a geocache and while I was waiting for my GPS to do the coordinates averaging I decided to take one last look in the cache and make sure the log book had all the necessary info. Next thing I know the lid of the cache is flying off the side of a cliff... therefore, no cache hiding today.

     

    Does anyone else have any funny stories from when they were hiding a geocache?

     

    How much risk of cachers going off that cliff also?? <_<:o:(:blink::huh::unsure:

     

    Yes, once the lid fell off the side I re-evaluated the hide and concluded that it would not be the best spot for the cache. I plan on hiding it elsewhere. :)

    Geocaching Hiding Funny Stories

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    So today I went to go hide a geocache and while I was waiting for my GPS to do the coordinates averaging I decided to take one last look in the cache and make sure the log book had all the necessary info. Next thing I know the lid of the cache is flying off the side of a cliff... therefore, no cache hiding today.

     

    Does anyone else have any funny stories from when they were hiding a geocache?

    Stolen Travel Bug

    in Trackables

    Posted

    I had a look at your Flip Book #1 TB...

     

    It appears to be a typical case of "the road to hell being paved with good intentions", or, in this case, maybe the road to London. We can recreate a likely scenario:

     

    It was picked up by a fairly new cacher who had found only 10 caches. He reads that it wants to travel to every continent. "Great!" he thinks, "My mate Badmanizm is off to England soon so I can ask him to take it there." Badmanizm gets a quick explanation of what geocaching is about, creates an account on geocaching.com and, with Awesomer's guidance, he grabs your TB. TB goes into his rucksack and then...

     

    Well, who knows?

     

    This is where it starts going downhill and the temperature rises because Badmanizm never ever logs any caches, anywhere, and hasn't been active on the site for months.

     

    What can you do?

     

    It might be worth dropping an email to The Awesomer to ask him whether he's still in touch with Badmanizm but I would hold out much hope because Awesomer is not a very active cacher either. It's been nearly a year since your TB stopped travelling so I think I'd plan to re-release a replacement using the same tracking number. Start afresh and hope for more miles this time round.

     

    Good luck.

     

    MrsB :)

    Thanks for your reply. How do I re-release a replacement? Do I use the copy tag?

    Stolen Travel Bug

    in Trackables

    Posted

    So, this is more of a rant than anything else. But I do want to start a discussion about Travel Bugs becoming stolen.

     

    So mid 2011 I sent my first Travel Bug on its way. Very excited I had big hopes that it would travel all around the world and come back to Australia. So more than a year later it has travelled 14kms and has been in the hands of a cacher for about 7 months. I contacted them to begin with and they said that they would resend it on its way. Then reconnected them. They said the same thing. Recontacted them and no reply. I've marked it as missing and have given up that it will ever be in another cache.

     

    I would love to hear some stories that have happened to others that are similar to mine and also just a discussion about this problem of missing Travel Bugs.

     

    What are your thoughts?

    Are these caches appropriate?

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    So I own these two caches:

    - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=d4d63968-07bf-4143-8f9c-ad25caf383f5

    - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=1292d06d-8702-49ad-8a43-1970f4c9f15e

     

    Yes, they have been published for a long time and have had multiple finds... but I'm not sure if I should keep them available or if I should disable them. The reason behind this is because one is in a cemetery and one is at a shopping centre that can be fairly awkward to find without looking suss.

     

    I would love your thoughts and let me know if you think I should disable them.

     

    Thanks!!

    Why shouldn't someone archive a cache?

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    When my son logs a find that's about all you get is TFTC SL.

    I hear opportunity knocking! B)

    This is an ideal chance to teach him the evils of acronym only logs.

    "TFTC SL" translates directly to, "This cache sucked, so all you get is an acronym". :lol::P

    I have tryed to explain that to him, but kids now day and this phone text stuff. It's perfectly acceptable to teenagers, but old you know what's like us translate it just as you say. Also he will not log DNF's.

    I have a Xbox account also, and the teens use acronyms on their clan tags that are quite vulgar, and I won't give examples because I don't want moderated. I blame A7X. He said you would have to google that to know the meaning. I'm just glad he is involved in Church and not drugs. I remember when Bath Salts was Epsom Salts, and K2 was Kindergarden through 2nd grade. :unsure:

     

    On behalf of my generation I want to apologise for the increased use of acronyms and lack of DNF's. We are a lazy generation but some of us (me) appreciate lengthy logs, correct grammar and spelling, and the use of the DNF function.

     

    P.S. Forgive the irony of my use of DNF. I know it is acronym :P

    Cemetery Caches

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted · Edited by scottmcb

    I'll be more specific. This is my cache (http://coord.info/GC2VPQM) and based on all the comments it seems to be ok. The only issue I can see is that it doesn't have approval from the cemetery/council etc.

    There has been a couple of logs along the lines of "so sad to see the baby memorials within sight" and this is where the whole topic came from.

    What are your thoughts?

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