The Blorenges

I'm just a little bit chuffed that interest from other cachers has kept my "Feature Suggestion" active for two years! I've always enjoyed the Trackables aspect of the geocaching game but my enthusiasm for it has been waning over the last couple of years. (And I never thought I'd say that.) Not just because of this on-going problem of too many ghost trackables in caches but also other recent practices in handling and recording trackables which seem to have become acceptable withing the geocaching community. I'm unlikely to buy any more in the future - I'll just be re-cycling my old tracking numbers as my own items "disappear" in one way and another. MrsB

I think this TB, which belongs to a friend, is one of them... Good to see Death come back to life. MrsB

You might want to read through this topic, particularly the last couple of posts: Virtual trackables/geocoins/bugs - Are these OK at request of the owner? MrsB

Same problem reported here on the geocaching.com website forum. You are not alone... MrsB

If you trawl around cache listings on mainland Europe you can find plenty of examples (like this one) which appear not to meet the Groundspeak guidelines e.g. Many cachers who cache across The Channel come back with stories of how it's quite common to find "buried" caches, caches inside businesses, caches on obvious private property, inside derelict and dangerous-looking ruins, caches on historic/ancient sites... There's not much point in discussing them here on the UK forum (apart from the joy of simply chewing the fat over such anomalies) If you want something done to bring all caches, world-wide, into line then make your case direct to Groundspeak. Good luck with that... MrsB

Great I hope you can help it follow its mission. MrsB

If you could tell us which towns/cities you will be visiting in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland we can come up with more suggestions. Also, if you're a facebook user, you might like to join this group: Geocaching UK MrsB

I don't know whether you use facebook but for even more (mostly UK) geocaching photography goodness you could always join the group below - They even accept furriners Geocachers with cameras. MrsB

Hmmmmm... It may appear to be in the possession of that cacher... But can you be sure it still is? There have been a few cases reported where a cacher carrying multiple trackables around with them has dropped off several into a suitable cache. But (accidentally, presumably) they put e.g. 4 trackables into the cache but only selected the "dropped off" log option for 3 of them. The end result is that they continue their caching travels, automatically visiting the remaining trackables to the caches as they find them, but one of those being 'visited' is, in fact, sitting in the cache where they dropped it off earlier although it appears to be still travelling with them. A proper drop off log, followed by a 'retrieved from' by another cacher inspires more confidence that the trackable is still safely in play. MrsB

Has the cacher who has the trackable "in hand" logged the cache where you found it? Is it possible they may have been at the cache only a short time before you found it? What I would do is assess the situation... Give them 3 or 4 days to see whether they do their drop-off... Maybe even send them an email reminding them to drop the item into the cache... If there is no response/action after a few days then I'd suggest you do a "grab it from" log to bring the trackable into your inventory, then give it a visit log to the cache where you picked it up (to show it was there and to keep the journey accurate) and then it's all good to continue its travels. MrsB

I don't understand what you're saying. A visit does exactly the same thing as a drop followed by a retrieve. No it does not. I'm not quite sure that I understand Twentse Mug's comment either but I think they are making the point that anyone can "visit" a trackable (which is in their inventory) to a cache, even if they don't actually go to the cache, or go anywhere near it. On the other hand, if you actually drop off a trackable into a cache and then it's retrieved from there by another cacher the owner can be (fairly) certain that it was there and it's still safely travelling. MrsB

The cache size "micro" covers anything from a 35mm film pot down to a "nano" which can be a tiny cylinder roughly 1cm diameter x 1cm high. (The nanos are often magnetic.) MrsB

A while ago I think somebody put a suggestion into the Geocaching.com Website forum that trackable pages could have a link on them, the same as on cache pages - "You logged this on whateverdate" which would be a helpful feature to those who like to know such things. But logging trackables is rather different from logging caches and it's quite common to come across the same trackables several times in your geocaching lifetime and it's fine to log it/help it on its journey each time you see it. MrsB

If it's marked as Collectible but you keep it in your inventory then other cachers have the options: Grab from holder Write Note Discover it. If it's marked Collectible and you move it into your Collection it will not be in your inventory and other cachers will have the options: Write Note Discover it. I don't think so... if there is, I haven't found it yet! For your requirements I think I'd go for the first option above. Don't worry if someone accidentally "grabs" your dog from you, you can always "grab" her back again by using the tracking number. MrsB

The first thing to check when this happens is whether you're reading the tracking number on the tag correctly: It's easy to misread O/0, 1/I, 2/Z, 3/8 etc so try various permutations and see whether it comes up as activated. If nothing works there's not much else you can do... Have you checked back through earlier logs on the cache to see whether any cacher mentions that they dropped off a trackable? MrsB

Yes, I'm getting the same when I try to access that forum. It may no longer be in use but I'll let the Admin know about your post here. Once upon a time UK geocachers used this Groundspeak forum for all their geocaching info/discussion/debates. Then gradually regional forums were created and many folks moved on to them for daily geocaching chat. Over the last couple of years the use of those forums has declined as more and more groups have migrated to Facebook which is where you can find NW Caching now. MrsB

... and also caches "Scilly Island Hopper" and "Tintagel Castle" by lunchbox, two of the oldest caches in the UK. MrsB

Many good ones around, we tend to like those with great views... GCKX8Y Logan Rock Cache MrsB

Just in case any UK geocacher checks into this topic... The UK has its own geocaching magazine - 6 issue a year: UK Cache Mag MrsB

Yes, thats why I asked for your gut instinct. So OK, it seems to be best to choose a bigger cache nearby as destination for the coin. If it arrived the cache I will ask our friends to go there to pick it up ... That sounds good. Let's try it that way. I'm curious if it will take it's way or if it will be lost before arriving the right cache ... Thank you! I looked on Google maps to get the co-ords for your friends' address, then did a search... Being in central London, caches large enough to take trackables are few and far between but there are a few on the list. MrsB

Looks like sanctions have been applied to TravelerHuntter... "The "send message" feature is disabled because this user is currently locked." MrsB

As the years go by trackable inventories on cache pages get more and more inaccurate. Sadly some cachers just don't care/don't know how to log them correctly. All you can do is a bit of homework by looking at the details of the trackables listed to see how long ago they were dropped into the cache and how many times the cache has been visited since the drop off. Doing so will give you a fair idea of whether the item is still likely to be in the cache. If it disappoints you to see so many "ghosts" listed you might enjoy this topic... Suggestion for a system to remove "ghost" trackables from cache inventories. MrsB

Go to the cache, write a Note log for the cache, then before submitting it, underneath the Comment box you should see your TB listed - Select the option 'visit', then submit the cache log. MrsB

Your photo needs to be hosted somewhere first - e.g. attached to a cache log, or on Flickr - then it'll have its own URL. Once you have the URL, open a forum reply box in the usual way and click on the tiny square 'tree' icon. Paste the URL into the little box and click 'Insert image'. Add any other text in the usual way before submitting your post. MrsB

Further to this discussion: Recently, another U.K. geocacher has asked Groundspeak about their current position regarding virtual trackables. He didn't wish to post here himself, but he has given me permission to post Groundspeak's response: "Hello XXXXX Thanks for writing in about this. At this time, we are no longer policing the virtual logging of Trackables if the Trackable owner has designated that they would like their Trackable to be logged this way. We are always looking to improve the game and appreciate your feedback. Since this is a concept that may affect many Geocachers around the world, I suggest that you also post this thought in the Geocaching.com forums to get a sense of what the rest of the community thinks." So there we have it. MrsB