Logging as a team AND as individuals?

[KJ Kindred]

I started out on a team account with another geocacher.

We've now decided, for several reasons, that it might be fun to have our own accounts too.

 

Now, if we find something - would it be against the rules to log it as found, or DNF, on all 3 accounts? (Mine, his, and team.)

 

What about the 20 finds we already have? Could we go back and log them again on our individual accounts?

 

How do people usually handle this kind of thing?

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

Edited July 28, 2008 by KJ Kindred

[+briansnat]

If you don't always geocache with another cacher, a team account makes little sense. However if you want to have both a team account and an individual account there is no rule to stop you.

 

There is no problem going back and logging your finds on your individual accounts, but just make sure you use the same dates and mention what you are doing in the log so the owner knows you aren't just logging phony finds.

 

If you want to continue to use three accounts, nothing wrong with that, but I think most people choose to use either a team or individual account, rather than both, just to make things easier.

[KJ Kindred]

Ah, I see. Thanks a bunch!

 

I know having a team account, as well as individuals might get a little...hairy?

My partner and I usually cache together - but there are times when we don't. Not often, but still.

 

As far as keeping the team account, the reason is more stupidly sentimental than anything. haha

 

Again - Thanks for the help!

[Neos2]

My husband and I have a team account and separate accounts. We save our team account for hides that we put out together and benchmarks. Everything else we log separately, even though we are caching together.

[+Harry Dolphin]

One find = one smiley. Choose which account in which to log it. I would not log two finds as two individuals AND another find as a team. Either/or.

[+J-Way]

Now, if we find something - would it be against the rules to log it as found, or DNF, on all 3 accounts? (Mine, his, and team.)

 

What about the 20 finds we already have? Could we go back and log them again on our individual accounts?

 

How do people usually handle this kind of thing?

There are no official Rules in Geocaching; different people play the game in different ways.

 

Online logs serve two purposes:

- A notice to cache owners and future seekers as the the condition of the cache at a specific instance in time. Found it? It's obviously still there. Hopefully you'll include any issues or problems (if any) in your log. DNF? Maybe there's a problem, maybe you just overlooked the cache. This is why you should always log DNF's.

- As a record of your personal finds. Some people keep detailed statistics as to find rates, finds in different locations (countries, states, counties, etc.), finds per cache type, etc. Some people don't care about "the numbers", but do want a record of past finds so they don't accidentally hunt for the same cache twice.

 

That's it. There are no official competitions, and there are no prizes. You get no additional respect if you have a larger number to the right of your name in your logs.

 

So to specifically answer your questions, yes, you can log a find on all three accounts. As already suggested, you should back date the new logs to the actual date of the find (if you use today's date, you may be claiming a find on a cache that's been missing for weeks, which could confuse future seekers). Also include the reason for the late log; some people care VERY much about the numbers and will delete your logs if they think you're trying to "pad" your numbers.

 

Yes, you can go back and log the past finds under your new trail names. I did this when I changed my trail name after about 2 months of caching, but then I also went back and deleted the finds on my original name (jwkilgore has 0 finds). It really doesn't matter if you have the find counted twice.

 

Most people only use either a team name or individual names. But team names are really only useful if you ALWAYS cache together (usually husband/wife teams, or families). Otherwise, most people only use "team" names when placing group-sponsored caches or events. Again, if you want to go to the trouble of logging each find twice, then go for it. I predict you'll get tired of it fairly quickly, though.

 

See ya on the trail!

[+LifeOnEdge!]

I started out on a team account with another geocacher.

We've now decided, for several reasons, that it might be fun to have our own accounts too.

 

Now, if we find something - would it be against the rules to log it as found, or DNF, on all 3 accounts? (Mine, his, and team.)

 

What about the 20 finds we already have? Could we go back and log them again on our individual accounts?

 

How do people usually handle this kind of thing?

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

KJ,

 

Some very good information has been posted above. I would like to add my spin on things.

 

It might be helpful to view this from the owner's (or the caches you have found so far) point of view:

 

Q - How do I know someone has really found my cache?

A - Ultimately, by the names stated in the field log itself.

 

Lets say that you (we'll call you) Alpha Dog and your son (we'll call him) Beta Boy have gone out and found a cache. You sign it "Team Alpha." Later, you both create your own accounts under your own names. If you signed "Team Alpha" or Team Somethingelse in the field log, then logged an online find under that name, the owner knows who found his cache. If you mentioned in your online log that you and your son found the cache, you might now go in and edit that log and include your individual cache names (and possibly state that you have now created individual accounts and are logging those.)

 

As stated before, its very important that you date your online logs the same date that you found the cache. That's what the date selector is for. It is quite confusing to see logs dated the day they entered the log, but who then say "Found this yesterday/last week/last month." If the cache was archived, disabled and presumed missing, etc., you could be painting an incorrect picture to current finders that the cache is there, etc.

 

Generally, if you logged a find in the field log, you can log a find in the online log. If the names are different, your online logs may be deleted by the cache owner. (You can do whatever you want, but you may risk being known as "That guy who claims finds he never found" if people don't understand what you are doing.)

 

You could always revisit the cache, sign your new names, and claim the finds for that date. If you liked the cache and saw a need or desire to check on the cache for any reason, this would be a good thing to do.

 

Good luck with your caching! Glad to see you thinking and concerned about this as well. - Pat

[+Mokzii]

This is Kat (K) of KJ Kindred. I would have posted a reply much sooner - but for some reason, it wouldn't allow me to log in to the forums for the last few days.

 

My partner and I have decided not to log on the team account any longer, and just to keep our individuals.

After some thinking, it seems needless to log on both.

We're keeping the account - but won't be logging it, and are only going to use it to place team caches when we're finally confident we could pull off our own hide.

 

I appreciate the help, guys!