Signing The Logbook

[whitetailfan]

Went caching for the first time this past weekend with my wife and two kids. We went 2/3 for for the day.

Anyway, I told my wife we needed to sign the logbook and she asked me what to sign. I said sign it 'the surname family'. Is this OK? It never dawned on me (until I read some other emotional threads on a different topic) that this might not be right, or that cache owners might cross reference logs to the "found its" on their cache page. Should I have signed it with my geocaching handle?

[+Skyhawk9SP]

Went caching for the first time this past weekend with my wife and two kids. We went 2/3 for for the day.

Anyway, I told my wife we needed to sign the logbook and she asked me what to sign. I said sign it 'the surname family'. Is this OK? It never dawned on me (until I read some other emotional threads on a different topic) that this might not be right, or that cache owners might cross reference logs to the "found its" on their cache page. Should I have signed it with my geocaching handle?

 

That's what I do.

[+HooTunes]

Went caching for the first time this past weekend with my wife and two kids. We went 2/3 for for the day.

Anyway, I told my wife we needed to sign the logbook and she asked me what to sign. I said sign it 'the surname family'. Is this OK? It never dawned on me (until I read some other emotional threads on a different topic) that this might not be right, or that cache owners might cross reference logs to the "found its" on their cache page. Should I have signed it with my geocaching handle?

 

Yes, you need to sign with your geocache name as they will probably cross check the paper log and may delete the online log if they can't find it. Don't worry for the ones you have already done, just email the cache owners and tell them how you logged it. Welcome to geocaching!

[+AcousticNut]

I sign mine as either AcousticNut if it was a solo find, or "The AcousticNut family" if it was a group find.

 

Works for me.

[+budd-rdc]

Went caching for the first time this past weekend with my wife and two kids. We went 2/3 for for the day.

Anyway, I told my wife we needed to sign the logbook and she asked me what to sign. I said sign it 'the surname family'. Is this OK? It never dawned on me (until I read some other emotional threads on a different topic) that this might not be right, or that cache owners might cross reference logs to the "found its" on their cache page. Should I have signed it with my geocaching handle?

 

Yes, signing the log with the same name as your Geocaching handle is recommended, to avoid confusion. As a cache owner, I can usually tell who visited, even if the names are illegible, as long as the date is correct. People have messed that up, too, but again, not a problem if it's within 1 or 2 days.

 

The problems mentioned in the other threads are from confusion, where one name represents more than one person without prior knowledge by the cache owner, and no easy way to trace it on GC.com. What you did had nothing to do with "saving time for recognition and prestige" so everything is fine.

[whitetailfan]

Thanks for the feedback. I am probably going to just create a better user name since I only have 2 caches to re-log. whitetailfan is fun for me as it's my 3 year handle on another forum. I think that I will be doing most caching as a family unit, so I'd like to sign off with a better description.

[+miss_butterfly]

I think a team name will be nice, but we (my partner and I) have seperate accounts, as a)we are both greedy and like to claim our OWN finds, and B)I'm planning to go caching whenever i'm in japan and hawaii also, and no doubt he'll want to go caching in England while i'm away. of course this does mean we have to have seperate sig items, etc!

 

(answer to your question, we try to write our usernames )

[+Team JSAM]

sign it however YOU want remember its just a silly game/sport/hobby/obsession. If the cache owner ask about it just tell them you cached with the family and signed as a family.

 

-TJ

[+Blue Power Ranger]

Does anyone seriously audit logs?

[+Beffums]

Does anyone seriously audit logs?

yes, some do.

 

I always check the logs of my caches when I go to them, more to see what people wrote there (I rarely write word for word the same online as in the logbook - same seems true for others) and to see if anyone found it that didn't log online (happens regularly). I've only "audited" the logs twice. I've deleted one find note so far on my caches - someone who double logged a cache when the system was being all cranky on Sunday evenings and they accidentally hit "send" twice. But, on two finds that I wondered about, I checked the log in the cache. (one new cacher in the area used to like logging finds online with just "hi" - nothing else, just hi - it was just weird) I found the name there, but if I hadn't, I would have then e-mailed asking what was up. Then again, I only checked since that cache was literally at the end of our driveway - about 75 feet from the computer.

 

For the OP - generally, before an owner will delete a find, they'll email you to ask if you forgot to sign with your geocaching handle, or if you have changed your login name or if there's another good explanation for why they can't find your name in the log. Just explain then what you did, and what they should find in their logs, and it will all work out.

[+Prairie Dog]

Yes, sign the log book with your geocaching handle.

[+emb021]

Yes, sign the log book with your geocaching handle.

 

That's what I do, along with the date. If the log book is large enough (ie, micro logs out), I will also use my signature rubber stamp, and prehaps other noted (great hide, i left x, took y, etc). Other cachers have little labels (kinda like return address labels) with their 'handle' on it.