Question

[+Marg886]

I am fairly new to geocaching and was wondering if someone could help me out with a question. We will be going to Jamaica in March and I've checked out a few of the caches there. Some of them have a number of coins and bugs in them. I'm sure they don't get visited very often and the owners would probably like them to be on the move. Is is acceptable to take more than one when I'm there?

[+Red90]

I think if they have been stuck there for a long time, then it would be OK.

[+DEfire52]

Technically there is no rule about how many TB's or coins you take or leave. Of course most cachers will take one and leave one. Like the previous post if they have been there for awhile pic them up and help them on their travels.

[Mag Magician]

Actually, most cachers are wrong in assuming that they can only trade one for one. I would check with the owners of bugs in your planned caching route and inquire if they want them moved, in which case, feel free.

[savant9]

I think that you may find that many are MIA, apparently that happens alot in "vacation caches".

[+willowbrookfarm]

I'll take more than one if there are more than one, but I wouldn't clean out a travel bug hotel. But if I take more than one, I won't move them both/all to the same new cache location. So, my personal guideline is, I will take as many as I can move to different locations in a reasonable length of time. With so many new caches being smaller, I generally will take two at the most, since I have ended up holding some for longer than I want only because the bugs would not fit in the caches I ended up doing next.

[+wavector]

Technically there is no rule about how many TB's or coins you take or leave. Of course most cachers will take one and leave one.

 

Actually most cachers should know that every activated TB and geocoin belongs to another geocacher and you are helping them out when you move them along on the missions selected by their owners. Take every TB you can help, all the time.

Looking at the length of time a TB has been in a cache as a factor is just bad advice, it has absolutely no bearing at all on whether or not you should help the item's owner to achieve the goals they have chosen.

If there is no attached mission then moving or discovering the TB is a good way to let the owner know their TB is alright.

Many TB hotels are placed to help TB's along in their missions and the owners actually want other geocachers to help TB's, these are good hotels.

Other hotels with trade rules are simply prisons, if you see on of those you might want to empty it out so all the prisoners are freed.

There is third type of hotel where an active cacher simply takes other peoples TB's and throws them in their own cache regardless of the stated mission, these are hotels owners that want attention to be paid to them or their cache and don'tmind trampling on other geocachers to make that happen, those caches are more like chain gangs with many many TB's languishing in the work camp. The owners are usually blissfully unaware that they are creating a chain gang for TB's and simply just keep loading up their cache, they are being selfish.

 

A TB is never a trade item and if you can help the TB owner then it is always OK to take it and move it, move as many as you can help. Many geocachers are under the impression that the TB's placed by other geocachers should be shared or traded, this is just an indication that the geocacher doesn't understand a basic aspect of the activity.

I will repeat this, a TB is never a trade item, it belongs to another geocacher much like your cache belongs to you. I could make rules for your cache but the people who followed my rules on your cache would just be those who didn't understand a basic aspect of the game - it is YOUR cache, that TB belongs to another geocacher.

 

I am guessing that this is going to get moved to the TB forum ---> Over there.

The TB forum is good place to learn about TB's and the advice you have been given on this thread is good indication that some of the other posters here should go over there as well.

 

A lot of Tb's in a cache is usually a cache owner refusing to mark the items as missing or TB owners who think that marking the TB as missing sends it to limbo or something. I have found caches that showed nine or ten listed TB's but there were actually none in there at all.

Read the logs and then you might know if there are actually any TB's in the caches you plan on visiting.

Edited December 19, 2008 by wavector

[+mousekakat]

My only comment would be to take as many as you can, but ONLY if you can move them along!

 

Taking too many and then not being able to get them moving is almost as bad as them being stuck in vacation hell!

 

Naomi

[+DustyWalker]

I have had my TB's left in caches because the cacher said that he had nothing to trade for it or didn't want to take more than they felt they should. Some cache owners even go so far as make a rule that they want a even trade, which often makes the cache a prison.

 

As an owner, I would rather someone take my TB and move it along. Keep in mind that the TB's belong to someone else, they are not the property of the cache owner. If you feel like taking them all, I say go for it. Keep them moving !

[+Landsharkz]

We thought we were rescuing a whole lot of TB's from Canada's First cache this summer but it seem a friendly Ontario cacher had just put them there 2 days before! I think we brought over 30 to RV Quebec and then we took about 10 that wanted to come to the west coast or go to Arizona or Utah (where we were headed next). Our log was something like dropped 32 took 10 .

 

If we find a TB that doesn't have a mission paper, we'll print one off at the first opportunity and add it to the baggie. It's a bummer to bring a TB home to Vancouver Island only to find that it was heading for NY or the UK! It's too bad that TB's don't come with ready made Mission Cards that you could simply fill in and attach to the chain .

[Mr.Yuck]

I think that you may find that many are MIA, apparently that happens alot in "vacation caches".

 

If the OP posted this to the travel bug forum (or if it gets moved there), you'd get 100% unanimous responses to "move them bugs". Never a need to trade for a trackable. By the way, I agree with the above statement. "Vacation caches" are trackable black holes. I'll bet many of them have been missing for months, even years. Check the TB or coin page, and if it's been logged in the cache for 6 months, and there have been like 20 visits to the cache since it was dropped, you can rest assured it's missing. I'll bet only a miniscule number of cache owners know they can mark TB's or coins missing from their caches.

[+Marg886]

Thanks everyone. This has been very informative.

[+CacheDrone]

Technically there is no rule about how many TB's or coins you take or leave. Of course most cachers will take one and leave one.

 

Actually most cachers should know that every activated TB and geocoin belongs to another geocacher and you are helping them out when you move them along on the missions selected by their owners. Take every TB you can help, all the time.

Looking at the length of time a TB has been in a cache as a factor is just bad advice, it has absolutely no bearing at all on whether or not you should help the item's owner to achieve the goals they have chosen.

If there is no attached mission then moving or discovering the TB is a good way to let the owner know their TB is alright.

Many TB hotels are placed to help TB's along in their missions and the owners actually want other geocachers to help TB's, these are good hotels.

Other hotels with trade rules are simply prisons, if you see on of those you might want to empty it out so all the prisoners are freed.

There is third type of hotel where an active cacher simply takes other peoples TB's and throws them in their own cache regardless of the stated mission, these are hotels owners that want attention to be paid to them or their cache and don'tmind trampling on other geocachers to make that happen, those caches are more like chain gangs with many many TB's languishing in the work camp. The owners are usually blissfully unaware that they are creating a chain gang for TB's and simply just keep loading up their cache, they are being selfish.

 

A TB is never a trade item and if you can help the TB owner then it is always OK to take it and move it, move as many as you can help. Many geocachers are under the impression that the TB's placed by other geocachers should be shared or traded, this is just an indication that the geocacher doesn't understand a basic aspect of the activity.

I will repeat this, a TB is never a trade item, it belongs to another geocacher much like your cache belongs to you. I could make rules for your cache but the people who followed my rules on your cache would just be those who didn't understand a basic aspect of the game - it is YOUR cache, that TB belongs to another geocacher.

 

I am guessing that this is going to get moved to the TB forum ---> Over there.

The TB forum is good place to learn about TB's and the advice you have been given on this thread is good indication that some of the other posters here should go over there as well.

 

A lot of Tb's in a cache is usually a cache owner refusing to mark the items as missing or TB owners who think that marking the TB as missing sends it to limbo or something. I have found caches that showed nine or ten listed TB's but there were actually none in there at all.

Read the logs and then you might know if there are actually any TB's in the caches you plan on visiting.

 

The above quote is exactly correct. Many reviewers have templates regarding "Travel Bug Hotels" which state that requirements for 'take one / leave one' and similar are not acceptable. The best TBH's have ZERO travel bugs in them. This means it is doing its job because bugs deposited are being moved out. That's what you want just like a regular hotel... short stays. People that like Travel Bugs often place watches on them just to rush out and grab a new bug to get the trackable into their profile and move it along.

 

edit: typo

Edited December 22, 2008 by CacheDrone