How long should one wait to log a TB pick-up?

[+mblitch]

Here are some questions that I would like to see be polled to ascertain what the group consensus may be regarding the matter. Please reply to the following.

 

1) Is it reasonable to expect one to wait a certain amount of time (let us say at least a week) to make the pick-up log entry for a found travel bug if there was no entry for the drop.

 

2) How long is it reasonable to wait to make a TB pick-up if no drop entry has been made?

a) 1 day

2-3 days

c) 4-7 days

d) 1-2 weeks

c) longer of there are reasonable notes (such as TB log) that the carrier is traveling

 

I am having a debate with another cacher regarding the appropriate length of time one should wait to log a TB pick-up. While one the first days of a vacation, I dropped a couple of TBs in a TB hotel and made the paper log entry (e.g. left xxx named yyy named TB and took zzz TB). About 3 days later I got back from a hike and near enough civilization to access the Internet. When I went to log the cache find and TB drop, I found the bugs were not in my inventory. Apparently someone had grabbed them the day I dropped them off and logged the pick-up. I contacted the person and asked why they logged it so quickly since when looking at the paper log and even the TB log pages (when I made a pickup I noted that I would drop them off in a couple of weeks when traveling) it was obvious that the person was on the road and thus unable to make immediate entries. The response essentially was that "I can't believe that [you] would expect another cacher to wait a week to log a TB and it's travels... If [you] cached a little more [you] would know that you shouldn't drop off a TB if you are not going to log it right away".

 

There was also a supporting claim in the email exchange that the logs must be made immediately so that the TB owner knows what is happening with the TB. On another drop I made that week the finder merely made a 'note' entry in the TB log that he found it and was waiting for the drop log.

 

My stance it that is it is certainly not unreasonable to wait a while, even a week (or two if necessary) so that the previous carrier has ample opportunity to make a drop. A lot of people cache on vacation and do not typically own or carry laptops so entries can be made every night. If the carrier makes obvious notes as to traveling, then even a further wait would be warranted. An early pickup really messes up the tracking and mileage of a TB. I suggested that making a 'note' or 'discovered' log entry would certainly suffice in informing the TB owner of the whereabouts of their item. If one was expected to make immediate logs, then TBs would never really be able to move outside their local areas.

 

As stated, I would like to determine what the group decision would be. Was I acting improperly by not making an immediate log entry (though it only took me 3 days) or was the other cacher unreasonable in demanding that I make the entries immediately and not consider carrying TBs if I am unable to do this? I felt that if the cacher was truly interested in the spirit of the game and the notification of the owner that he would wait long enough to provide amble opportunity for a proper drop to be made. If the bug is grabbed from the inventory of another person, then the mileage tracking is made ineffective.

[+Eartha]

As Soon As Possible. Over a week is a little too much, the bug could have moved five times in a week. It really depends on where the people live in relation to where they dropped it off (vacation caching) and how often the cache the bug is in gets visited. If it's a busy cache it should be logged when you get home.

It's more important to get the drop off logged ASAP, than a pick up. If it gets dropped off and not logged, it could move and lose some history if the next finder doesn't allow the dropper to log it first. What I do on long trips is log the bugs in and out of caches, until I get to the end and close to a computer, then they gather miles, photos, stories, and I can log them right after leaving them, without worrying that someone will grab them.

 

If you are vacation caching, and dropping off bugs, there are steps you can take.

*Leave a large note in the cache log that you need to get home to log the bug first.

*Go to a local library and log it there.

*Use the hotel computer and get it logged.

*Email the person who grabbed it from you to get the number and post your log.

*Write a note on the TB page that you dropped it in such and such a cache. You've already got the TB in your stats, but it will not get the last cache unless the person who grabbed it logs it into and out of it.

*Throw your hands in the air and say "Oh well."

[+BlueDeuce]

...nevermind. Nothing to add.

Edited June 20, 2007 by BlueDeuce

[+moop]

I would like to add my two cents to this thread. I think it would be wise not to move TBs from one cache to another while on vacation. Local cachers can take care of this kind of travel and problems noted above can be avoided.

[+Renegade Knight]

As Soon As Possible. Over a week is a little too much, ...

 

ASAP is right. "A week" may be too much but without net access on vacation it's reality for some.

[+Renegade Knight]

I would like to add my two cents to this thread. I think it would be wise not to move TBs from one cache to another while on vacation. Local cachers can take care of this kind of travel and problems noted above can be avoided.

 

If you can help a bug on it's goal then you should by all means move a bug while you are on vaction. Why should the ineptitude of the Travel Bug finders stop a bug from it's goal? I didn't place my but in the wild so a bunch of kids could debate how they should log my bug. For me it's simple. The right people should log it the right sequence regardless of how impatient any one dippy doodle TB numbers runner gets.

Edited June 20, 2007 by Renegade Knight

[+mblitch]

I would like to add my two cents to this thread. I think it would be wise not to move TBs from one cache to another while on vacation. Local cachers can take care of this kind of travel and problems noted above can be avoided.

 

So a logical question would be, how would a TB move outside of a local areas? A lot of TBs have goals to see sites that are far apart; state capitals, national parks, or heck, even Cracker Barrels. How could they move except to be carried by travelers? If you get a thrill out of seeing your TB get mileage (so you may live vicariously through such an inanimate object) or closer to its goal, wouldn't you be a bit bored or upset if the bug only moved a few miles at a time among various local parks? Maybe is someone gets a TB they should be required to only drop a bug on their last day of travel and must get to the computer as soon as possible, ignoring kids, emails, work, etc. so they ma log the drop. Saturdays are common days to cache, should ever time some drops a bug they be require to race home to make a log just in case someone picked it up and got to a computer first?

 

Please share in the explanation, what is wrong with waiting a few days to ensure a person has had enough opportunity. What exactly is the big rush or what purpose is being served? That is what I am trying to understand. It seems that waiting a day or so further the idea of tracking.

 

f you are vacation caching, and dropping off bugs, there are steps you can take.

*Leave a large note in the cache log that you need to get home to log the bug first.

*Go to a local library and log it there.

*Use the hotel computer and get it logged.

*Email the person who grabbed it from you to get the number and post your log.

*Write a note on the TB page that you dropped it in such and such a cache. You've already got the TB in your stats, but it will not get the last cache unless the person who grabbed it logs it into and out of it.

*Throw your hands in the air and say "Oh well."

 

1) if this were needed, then people would constantly have to leave notes every time they drop a bug. Why can this not be assumed. People see to jump the gun and not even look at a log or check to see when it was last picked up. If you saw a log for a pick-up less than a week ago, then you can assume the bug is fresh and actively in use.

2) When traveling, especially on vacation, I would hazard a guess that a lot of people don't want to find a library, pay for parking, locate the computers, wait for access, and then log into the site. Caching along a route allows people to find caches directly on their planned travel path so they don't have to go out of the way for anything.

3) You are assuimg one stays at a hotel, the hotel has a computer to use, and that they don't charge. If they charge, I doubt many would want to pay 3-10 dollars and hour just to log a bug drop.

4) Alternatively, write the tracking number down. However when writing a note you don't have posession, so you cannot track the actual path. Let us say you live in Nashville and take a bug to Chicago. Before you can log the drop, someone in Chicago grabs it and take is home to Memphis and drops it in a cache. Now instead of a journey of several hundred miles it gets a tracking mileage of just a few miles.

5) Please rewrite that last sentence, it did not make sense. "it will not get the last cache unless the person who grabbed it logs it into and out of it." What does that mean?

6) Dealing with those that cannot think critically or apply reasoned arguments is indeed frustrating.

 

Making the early log also cuts out a bit of the story. The story is a chronological one. A find, transport, and a drop. That pattern is repeated. The issue comes into the time of reporting that event. If a pickup is recorded before a drop, then the story becomes really confusing. Now if someone waits a few weeks before making a log (you can check their account to even see when they signed up), then it might be ok to continue the story, but at least give them a chance to take part in it. What is the point of logging a TB into a cache in which it never resided? I can think of only a few scenarios in which this is the case; 1) private TB used just to track mileage and is never released, 2) the goal of a TB is not a location where it can be dropped (e.g. a national park that doesn't have traditional containers or a site of a virtual such as the southernmost point in the US or other such location).

 

My stance is that it would be most reasonable to wait a few days or even a week if necessary before making a pickup log if a drop log had not yet been made. You may just as well discover or note the TB so that people are aware of its whereabouts (so another cacher will not see the missing bug inventoried in a cache and report it as missing). Waiting does not harm anything as long as you still have the TB. You now allow accurate tracking to take place and furthermore, you provide the other cacher/carrier to share their tale. Sure they can write a note later, but it isn't quite as fun as being able to drop it into a cache when you are making your find log.

[+jeepnjudy]

Hmmmm...I was not going to comment, but I changed my mind. I think out of respect for the TB owner, you should log the bug as soon as possible and no, that does not mean avoid work, family, etc... My issue is when I read the posts of TBs being taken and several weeks later they are still NOT logged. Then I begin to wonder as the owner "Where the heck did my bug go?".

[+Trucker Lee]

ASAP is always nice.

 

I occasionally can't get to internet immediately when caching on the job. In those instances, I will usually leave a notr attached to the bug, or in the baggy, letting any finders know the circumstances, and an approximate time when I will have this done. So far, no problems.

[+moop]

I would like to add my two cents to this thread. I think it would be wise not to move TBs from one cache to another while on vacation. Local cachers can take care of this kind of travel and problems noted above can be avoided.

 

So a logical question would be, how would a TB move outside of a local areas?

 

With local cachers going on, or visitors returning from vacation. I simply meant that TBs probably shouldn't be moved from cache to cache at your vacation spot unless you have internet access there.

[+BelKen]

I would wait until I am ready to drop the bug. If you haven't logged it by then I will grab and drop. If I move the bug in 1 day that would be 1 day. If it is a week it would be a week.

[+Eartha]

Remember, it is more important to log the drop ASAP, than it is to log the grab. Because someone may take it soon. If you grabbed it, you know it's in safe hands, but if you forget to log it in a timely manner the bug may get misplaced in your backpack (it happens!) and you may forget you have it.

Notes left with the bug in the cache can help a great deal, not everyone has time to read previous logs when the mosquitoes are ravenous.

[+Sportsfrau]

2) When traveling, especially on vacation, I would hazard a guess that a lot of people don't want to find a library, pay for parking, locate the computers, wait for access, and then log into the site.

 

And free internet access (or internet access at all) does not exist in libraries everywhere on earth. I will have the mentioned "problem" in my summer vacation. But I would really like to take a TB oder two from Germany to GB. I'm sure the TB owners will appreciate that.

 

Is it possible logging TBs using WAP and a cell phone?

Edited June 24, 2007 by Sportsfrau

[monkeykat]

In my opinion, it is totally reasonable to wait as long as a week for the previous owner to log the drop. Of course its best to do the drop ASAP, but sometimes there is no internet access available, or other factors get in the way. It seems like a week is reasonable to me. Of course there is a problem if someone wants to do a quick pickup, and then drop it off soon. Then the TB could end up 2 logs behind! Its all part of the game, but its nice when people are patient and polite. Even an email to the last person to pick up the bug before you do a grab as a last resort is polite.

 

The idea of not moving bugs when you go on vacation is laughable. I always use vacations to move bugs and coins around for everyone to see.

[+tomfuller & Quill]

If you sign on the computer to log a TB that you have picked up from a cache and it is still listed as being ..in the hands of... instead of the cache that you picked it up from, just DISCOVER it and write a short note.

The note should say I picked this one up from (Cache name) waiting for dropper to log the drop. That way the people who need to know the status know who has it and where. Wait at least 10 days before dropping it in another cache if the original dropper didn't do the computer drop as expected. Does this make sense?

Tom Fuller

[+theparksplace]

Hey everyone,

 

Family and I are just starting out in geocaching. We don't have any finds yet, don't have any hides yet, but are excited to do both on our upcoming vacation. We tried finding a couple within a mile of our house, but it was a "bad day" for the kids when we tried, and they lost interest. Several months have passed, and they are all excited about finding them again. As part of my planning out our travel route and things to do along the way, I looked up almost 200 caches. While I don't intend to stop to get them all, we do intend to stop at all the ones at rest stops. Several of these have TB in them.

 

My question is this, I have 4 of my own TB's that I want to drop off in exchange for picking up whatever may be at these other caches. It may take me a day or two to log that I dropped them off and to log the ones that I picked up. Many of the places will have internet access, so it won't be more than a day or two. Reading some of these posts, my TB's that I drop off could have moved on to several different places before I even get the chance to log that I dropped them off. What do I do so that they get logged correctly?

 

I plan to hold onto the ones we pick up and drop them off in new caches and log them on days when I will have internet access at night. Is that acceptable? It would never be more than 2 days.

 

Also, I read that many TBs have a goal sheet with them. What is this and should mine also have one? What do they look like, and what infomation is on them?

 

Thanks

[+BlueDeuce]

My question is this, I have 4 of my own TB's that I want to drop off in exchange for picking up whatever may be at these other caches.

 

First of all welcome to the addiction. Make sure you start out with some easier caches to help work on your caching 'senses'.

 

Just so you know, travel bugs are not trade items. You are not required to leave one to be able to take one. You can if you like but you aren't required to.

 

It may take me a day or two to log that I dropped them off <snip> Is that acceptable? It would never be more than 2 days.

 

That'll be just fine. Typically if you do the updates within a couple days you usually won't have logging conflicts with other cachers. If you like, you could post a note on your bugs explaining when you will log them. That could help prevent people from grabbing them away and not logging them correctly. You could then delete the note later.

 

Also, I read that many TBs have a goal sheet with them. What is this and should mine also have one? What do they look like, and what infomation is on them?

Thanks

 

If you have a specific goal then yes you should include a goal/mission sheet. You can just print the standard page (Access your bug page and under Trackable Item Options you'll see Print Info Sheet.) Or you can make a customized laminated tag with instructions.

 

Check the is for more details.

 

Labels for travel bugs