Taking more than one Geocoin/TravelBug - Etiquette

[+josephgeorge]

Hi All,

 

I would like to guage what others opinions are regarding taking of travel bugs. We started caching just over a year ago, we cache under the names of my two sons (under the one username JOSEPHGEORGE), and love finding trackable items.

 

We have noticed on several occasions, where we seek out caches that have more than one item in, only to find that someone has arrived before us and lo and behold have taken all trackable items and logged them under one username.

 

Personally I think this is EXTREMELY SELFISH, being the sort of people that think about others, we won't take more than one trackable item, as we hope the next people to come by will then move them on and have something special to find.

 

The only exception we would use is if more than one trackable item has been languishing in a cache for a very long time, and we would then move all on to a cache that is visited more regularly.

 

This has happened to items in our own cache and find that if your cache has a trackable item in, it is more likely to be visited, we have now put a note in ours to request that only one item is taken at a time, it promotes more visits and my boys enjoying going to the cache and reading the comments others leave.

 

I would be interested in others thoughts on this as it really infuriates me when both my boys are excited to find these items and are disappointed when ALL are removed by the previous cacher.

 

Or am I a miserable so and so?

 

JosephGeorge (posted by Dad)

[+Eartha]

Travel Bugs and geocoins, unless unactivated, are not trade items or swag, they are game pieces in this game. People can move as many as they can help along. Don't worry if you miss one, many others will come by. You don't have to trade for bugs or coins (unless they were put there as keepers, then trade fairly)

Some people put out bug "hotels" but if they ask people to trade a bug for a bug and put restrictions on them, they are known as "TB Prisons".

Other times, people move bugs, and don't know how to log them, and they still show as being in a cache.

It is not selfish to move several bugs along, especially if they have been languishing in the cache.

I don't believe that having a TB in your cache makes it more desireable to visit.

Regarding the note you left in the cache, you just made your cache a prison. Also note that adding restrictions to the cache becomes a logging requirement, and your cache should be changed to an Unknown Type, but that would make for less visitors than not having a TB in the cache would.

There is a pinned thread at the top of these forums with logging instructions, but there is a lot of other information there too.

In the long run, the goal of the travel bug supersedes the wishes of a cache owner, if you can help it along, take it, take them all.

[+BlueDeuce]

I would be interested in others thoughts on this

 

My travel bugs are meant to move and if anyone can assist it I want them to take it. Why should someone else get to decide who can and can't take my bug?

 

##### IF THERE IS MORE THAN ONE TRACKABLE ITEM IN THE CACHE ONLY TAKE ONE PER GEOCACHING USERNAME - PLEASE LEAVE ANY OTHERS FOR OTHER USERS TO FIND #####

 

Check out this travel bug: Get Out of (TB) Jail Free

Edited May 18, 2008 by BlueDeuce

[southpawaz]

You asked for opinions, so here goes:

 

I enjoy moving travel bugs and watching my own bugs travel.

 

As a TB owner, my travel bugs and geocoins are not meant to be used by a cache owner to draw people to a particular cache, they are meant to travel. I would much rather have my TB picked up from a cache than receive a discover log saying "Sorry, I saw this one but could only take one bug from the cache."

 

As a TB mover, I like finding travelers in caches and moving them along. There are a number of things that affect my decision on how many to take out of a cache. You've noted one, how long the bugs have been there. Other considerations include what the bugs' goals are, whether I can help them towards those goals, what the likelihood that the cache will be visited again soon, etc.

 

There are several reasons you may go out for a cache with a TB listed in it and not find one there. Perhaps is traveling and has not had internet access to log their find yet. Or the TB has gone missing long ago but has never been marked missing. If finding TBs is important to you in selecting which caches you visit, as a premium member you have the ability to generate pocket queries to help you increase the likelihood of encountering them, by screening (for example) for Caches with TBs that have not been found for x number of days within x number of kilometers of your location.

 

Finally, if your sons enjoy reading the logs on your cache, I bet they would enjoy even more reading logs on TBs of their own. If you enjoy moving our travelers, put some out there so we can enjoy moving yours.

[+the hermit crabs]

I would like to gauge what others opinions are regarding taking of travel bugs.

I like travel bugs. I like them a lot. I like picking them up, I like taking their pictures, I like writing logs for them, I like moving them along, and I especially like helping them reach their goals.

 

I also like owning travel bugs. I like finding interesting or unusual objects to attach to the tags, I like thinking up fun names and missions for them. I like watching them move, I like reading the logs people write, and I love seeing pictures people post or reading any log more interesting than a "found it; will move along soon." I like seeing them reappear after they've been MIA for months or years.

 

The life of a travel bug is fraught with peril. I've learned not to fret when things don't go as planned with one of our travel bugs. I don't get upset when any of these things happen: a cacher drops it in his pack or the trunk of his car but then forgets all about it; newbie picks it up and logs it but then never finds another cache; a bug is mislogged by someone who doesn't quite know what they're doing; someone doesn't realize it's a traveler and keeps it like a regular trade item; someone loses it because their house burns down / their car is stolen / their backpack falls off the edge of a cliff; a cacher takes it 1000 miles off course; someone's kid spots it and moves it from daddy's caching bag over to the toybox, where it stays forever; a bug is dropped in the big heap of bugs on a table at an event and is never heard from again; a cache is vandalized and all the bugs inside are lost... all of these and more are just things that happen. What can you do but shrug and release the "Copy" tag?

 

...But...

 

The one and only thing that bothers me regarding our bugs is when a cache owner takes it upon himself to make rules about who can or cannot help my travel bug move along from one cache to the next. That just sets my teeth on edge (and then I have to wear my "Angry Day" shirt).

 

Personally I think this is EXTREMELY SELFISH, being the sort of people that think about others

You may think about some others, but apparently not all: you're forgetting to think about the bug owners.

 

When cachers move my bugs along, I consider that they are being very unselfish with their time and effort to make me happy. When a cache owner decides to restrict movement of my travel bugs so that he can make them stay in his cache longer to try to attract more visitors to his cache, I consider that selfish and very presumptuous.

 

Or am I a miserable so and so?

Maybe. Or maybe I am. Let's just say that neither of us is.

[+josephgeorge]

Hi all,

 

thanks for the comments, hence why we asked on here to gauge others opinions, and maybe were being guilty of not thinking of the bug or coins owners wishes as opposed to our own, as we had put in the original post, the exception for us when we move bugs, is when we see they have not moved for a long time, we will take more than one.

 

However, we see your point about turning a cache into a jail. If we came across a bug telling us when we dropped it, we had to clear out the next cache completely, we wouldn't take that bug in the first place, we would rather use common sense, new caches or ones that are regularly visited do not become prisons, it can just be a little frustrating when a cache has multiple bugs and coins in, and they suddenly all disappear in one hit, obviously if they have been there a while then that's ok.

 

Rather then put a restriction on a cache, we can see it makes more sense to put them on the items, rather than a cache.

 

Point noted about our cache potentially becoming a prison, we will remove it, although this is only the case if we didn't keep an eye on it, we would move on any items that stayed for any length of time. No bug or coin has been in our cache for that long without being moved on, either by us or someone else, although this is easy for us, we have only set one cache, its probably more difficult if you have lots to keep an eye on. )

 

Kind Regards,

 

Joseph George

Edited May 18, 2008 by josephgeorge

[+kohlthemule]

I just want to say that the "Angry Day" shirt make me laugh.

 

As a bug owner and the keeper (but not official owner) of a travel bug rest stop, I do like to pick up several bugs and drop off several bugs at a time.

 

I have noticed that most people come to our cache to get the bugs, which is fine with me. The number of pick ups outnumber the drop offs. So to compensate ( because we were the ones that decided to create a bug gathering spot) we attend the local meetings and bring home several bugs each from the table drops. That way we are re-stocking the supply for the cachers who visit us. If cachers only take one each then, and I just put 14 in the night before, then those 13 stay there for 2 or 3 weeks. So I prefer people to take 3 or 4 with them. We'll get more.

 

Our major problem is that we have not attended meetings for 4 months straight due to an ongoing family prob. So there has been no re-stock of Bugs. Our cache had 27 bugs at once a couple months ago, then they slowly disappeared. We now have no bugs but our logs shows 4. Which is just an average of no logs by cachers over the course of months. So cachers come to the cache looking for bugs and are upset when they find none.

 

long story...my point is that NO BUG LOGS by geocachers are far more troubling then MULTIPLE BUG GRABS.

[+BlueDeuce]

If a travel bug hotel is in a good spot for the quick and easy exchange of travel bugs, then an empty hotel won't stay empty long. People are always looking for a convenient place to drop bugs off. The owner of a well-placed hotel should actually be pleased if the hotel is occasionally empty, since it shows that the hotel is serving its purpose: to get bugs moving quickly. And if a hotel does stay empty for long periods of time without the cache owner continually raiding other caches to re-stock it, then it's not a good place for a travel bug hotel.

[+Highpointer]

We have noticed on several occasions, where we seek out caches that have more than one item in, only to find that someone has arrived before us and lo and behold have taken all trackable items and logged them under one username.

 

Personally I think this is EXTREMELY SELFISH, being the sort of people that think about others, we won't take more than one trackable item, as we hope the next people to come by will then move them on and have something special to find.

That is not selfish at all. Travel bugs are not to be kept by the geocacher who finds them, as they are to be moved to other caches. I prefer to take every travel bug that I see and distribute them to as many different caches as possible. I prefer not to leave a cache with more than one travel bug in it, to reduce the risk of multiple travel bug losses if the cache is muggled.

 

As long as I drop off every travel bug that I pick up, then overall the number of travel bugs that I drop off equals the number of travel bugs that I pick up. For example, I might pick up 10 travel bugs from one cache but during the day I may drop off 10 travel bugs in 10 different caches. Overall, there has been no change in the number of travel bugs distributed in caches. However, after my day of caching there are now at 10 different caches with a travel bug in them, so more geocachers have an opportunity to find and log a travel bug.

[+Renegade Knight]

...Personally I think this is EXTREMELY SELFISH, being the sort of people that think about others, we won't take more than one trackable item, as we hope the next people to come by will then move them on and have something special to find....

 

It's never selfish to help a travel bug meet it's goal. It can be selfish to demand that people who can help them along to instead leave one behind.

 

Selfish is a double edged sword.

Edited May 27, 2008 by Renegade Knight