How many TBs should be in one cache?

[knowschad]

or only six, maybe nine. What is the danger level? At what point will some psycho travel bug kidnapper strike?

[+Speeding Element]

or only six, maybe nine. What is the danger level? At what point will some psycho travel bug kidnapper strike?

 

"Psycho travel bug kidnappers" can arrive at any moment. From my experiences of having travel bugs in my cache, when there is a large inventory (6-10) people arrive at the cache and do amazing things. People come to the cache and retrieve coins and or travel bugs and then help to move them to the next cache. As far as a specific number, I have noticed that when the inventory gets to be around three or four, people tend to swap evently. (...And NO we DON'T need to go there. I am just using the verb "swap" to reference the action of taking a travel bug and then placing another one in the same cache.) With that being said, if you have a travel bug, leave it in a cache. If you can help move a travel bug along, feel free to help it move; just be sure to log it properly. Bug-nappers will happen, that's just part of the game (unfortunately). If you can help a bug travel, help it travel.

[+fairyhoney]

or only six, maybe nine. What is the danger level? At what point will some psycho travel bug kidnapper strike?

 

That's Almost asking which one of your children do you like better. (sort of)

[+fairyhoney]

"At what point will some psycho travel bug kidnapper strike?" They ARE out there. And they Will strike. Luckily most cachers are good at logging their finds and TBs. _ Some May take longer than others, though.

 

Inventory, It's always nice to have a selection but not necessary.

[+Snoogans]

"At what point will some psycho travel bug kidnapper strike?" They ARE out there. And they Will strike. Luckily most cachers are good at logging their finds and TBs. _ Some May take longer than others, though.

 

Inventory, It's always nice to have a selection but not necessary.

The underlying question of this thread is, how many is TOO many?

 

*Snoogans gets into his nomex underwear and puts on his toreador outfit*

 

 

My answer in all seriousness is......

 

For traditional caches: Regardless of the actual number, if you can't close the lid properly there are too many TBs in the cache.

 

For events and MEGA-events: As long there is someone keeping an eye on the bugs, I.E. not letting small unattended children take them, or letting them get lost under or behind other items/furnature/leaf litter, etc., ANY number of bugs can be moved through events.

 

There was a huge hubbub over that TB pile at GW3 pictured above. It was my duty to address those questions/fears at GW4 when I ran the TB Station for one of the first MEGA-events.

 

I came up with a system that would actually process TBs through big events TOWARD their goals rather than just scattering them about willy-nilly. It has been slightly tweaked and improved upon by MaxB and The Alethiometrists over the past couple of year's worth of GeoWoodstock and MWGB MEGA-events to the point where it just about runs itself in actual practice. There was somewhere near 6k trackables moved through GW5.

 

EXPECT somewhere in the vacinity of 10,000+ bugs to be moved mostly TOWARD their respective goals at GeoWoodstock VI.

 

OLAY!

Edited December 11, 2007 by Snoogans

[+joranda]

It don't matter how many TBs are in a cache, if they are going to come up missing then they will. I know it sucks, but it happens. Sometimes to often.

[+Belfrypotters]

or only six, maybe nine. What is the danger level? At what point will some psycho travel bug kidnapper strike?

If it's a psycho bugnapper, the number is irrelevant; even one is too many. The only bugnapper I've had experience with was someone with a grudge against a couple of other cachers, so he targeted their bugs and their caches, specifically. There's not much you can do about those types. But there are other dangers out there for TBs besides psycho bugnappers, and the more bugs there are in a cache when it gets muggled, lost, or destroyed, the more disappointed bug owners there are. Also, if a cache has a large collection of TBs in it, the odds of any one TB getting moved are smaller. I cringe whenever one of my bugs ends up in a cache with other TBs in it, and I hope mine is cute enough to get picked up soon, but not too cute to be a collector's item.

[+PhxChem]

That's Almost asking which one of your children do you like better. (sort of)

 

Yeah sort of...at least you can quickly and easily decide which kid you like better.

 

But the number of bugs? Well, that's an important question that will take months of contemplation and soul searching. Even then, asnwering that question may not be possible.

 

Wouldn't want to hurt the bug's feelings, ya know?

[+Renegade Knight]

or only six, maybe nine. What is the danger level? At what point will some psycho travel bug kidnapper strike?

No set number. Psycho TB Fiends can strike any time. I suspect though there is some number that will make an honest citizen snap and go midievel on a large enough group of TB's.

[+fairyhoney]

"At what point will some psycho travel bug kidnapper strike?" They ARE out there. And they Will strike. Luckily most cachers are good at logging their finds and TBs. _ Some May take longer than others, though.

 

Inventory, It's always nice to have a selection but not necessary.

 

 

My answer in all seriousness is......

 

For traditional caches: Regardless of the actual number, if you can't close the lid properly there are too many TBs in the cache.

 

WOW!!!

[+Harry Dolphin]

We had thirty two in a local cache one. Some 'sock puppet' had been 'collecting' them for a while. Someone researched what was happening, and found that 'sock puppet' retrieved the TBs shortly after a 'certain cacher' had visited the caches. (This was after about four months of disappearing bugs.) Shortly after it became common knowledge who the 'certain cacher' using the 'sock puppet' account was suspected of being, all thirty two missing bugs appeared in one (rather large) cache. That's the most that I've ever heard of in one normal cache.

[Discovery Scout]

I get worried when I see that my TB is put in a cache with a lot of other TBs. Not because I worry it will be stolen but I have had some sit for awhile because people don't take it but take others. I had one sit in a hotel cache for awhile and had a lot of people discover it but for whatever reason nobody would pick it out of the bunch to move along.

 

It finally did get moved though....

[+tokencollector]

I'll have to agree with Discovery Scout. The bigger danger of "too" many TBs in a cache probably lies with their sitting in a cache for a long time, rather than being bugnapped.

 

There is a local geocoin cache that has been accumulating some of my geocoins for a while. They are often discovered, but some have been sitting for a few months. Likewise, the less interesting coins in the cache tend to sit there longer than the pretty ones.

 

The same thing can happen with traditional TBs. last weekend I came across a nice TB hotel that was stuffed with TBs (probably near a dozen). I took as many as I could help in a reasonable time and left a geocoin or two (they tend to move faster). But I didn't drop several TB's that were ordinary in appearance because I was afraid that if I dropped them in a cache with 10 other bugs, they would sit there for a long time.

 

If the cache has frequent visitors, it can probably hold a fair number of TBs without any of them being stuck for too long. TB hotels in more out of the way places may end up as unintended prisons for ordinary TBs if they get too full.

[+joranda]

Depends on how big the cache is and if they would all fit.