Geocoin and Travel bug statistics

[+Danie Viljoen]

The upward trend continues - but strangely - I seem to be finding fewer TBs in caches nowadays (or it certainly feels like that!)

The earliest date for which I have data is 5 August 2009, just about 5 years ago. Then there were 631 caches with TBs out of a total of 3521 active South African caches. That means 17.9% of all the caches had TBs, or about one in 6.

On 18 July 2014 there were 795 caches with TBs out of a total of 10592 active caches. So although the absolute number is bigger, the percentage is much smaller - 7.5%, or one in 13.

[+Danie Viljoen]

TB & GC statistics for 9 Jan 2015:

There are 2143 TBs and GCs in 1205 of the 10989 active South African caches.

In the rest of Africa (including Madeira and the Canary Islands), there are an additional 2437 trackables in 1264 of the 4917 active caches.

[+Carbon Hunter]

TB & GC statistics for 18 Jul 2014:

There are 1473 TBs and GCs in 795 of the 10592 active South African caches.

In the rest of Africa (including Madeira and the Canary Islands), there are an additional 1740 trackables.

 

South African caches with the most trackables:

1. GC31WXR  Table Mountain Travel Bug Hotel:	                37 trackables
2. GC4GQFR  Pretoria East Letterbox:	                        33 trackables
3. GCYW1Z   Pop Inn:	                                        17 trackables
3. GC4NVBP  Urban Village 63 TB Hotel:	                        17 trackables
5. GC4VYMW  The Travelbug Prison:	                        16 trackables
5. GC3WXRQ  MEGA SA 2012 -Voortrekker "Uitspan" Travellers Inn: 16 trackables
7. GC4M0BV  Three Shrubs TB Hotel:	                        15 trackables
7. GC3HXHA  Bri-Shel TB Lodge:	                                15 trackables
9. GC1B7N5  Pretoria Hitch Hiker Hotel:	                        14 trackables
9. GC548HP  Intersect 2.0:	                                14 trackables

 

TB & GC statistics for 9 Jan 2015:

There are 2143 TBs and GCs in 1205 of the 10989 active South African caches.

In the rest of Africa (including Madeira and the Canary Islands), there are an additional 2437 trackables in 1264 of the 4917 active caches.

 

I assume these are TBs and Coins that are in caches - not just registered or in a cachers hands on the given date?

 

In that case - we have a very large growth in travellers in SA - contrary to popular belief that there are less TBs in circulation?

[+Danie Viljoen]

I assume these are TBs and Coins that are in caches - not just registered or in a cachers hands on the given date?

Yes, I only have visibility of the trackables that are currently logged into caches (including Events). It would be very interesting to track ALL the trackables, including the ones that are in cachers' hands, but I can't think of a way to do it.

[+Carbon Hunter]

I assume these are TBs and Coins that are in caches - not just registered or in a cachers hands on the given date?

Yes, I only have visibility of the trackables that are currently logged into caches (including Events). It would be very interesting to track ALL the trackables, including the ones that are in cachers' hands, but I can't think of a way to do it.

 

Interesting -these stats seem to go against the "perception" that there are less TBs in South Africa - and in less caches. There was a topic on Facebook recently to this end.

 

but this stat shows a steady growth in the Travellers - and a steady growth in the number of caches contains TBs.

 

Thanks Danie - stats giving some useful data to debunk anecdotal evidence.

[+Danie Viljoen]

I am quite sure the reason why it feels as if there are fewer trackables in circulation is because the percentage of trackable carrying caches has decreased over the years, mainly because of the proliferation of micros. The earliest date for which I have data is 5 August 2009, a bit over 5 years ago. Then there were 631 caches with TBs out of a total of 3521 active South African caches. That means 17.9% of all the caches had TBs, or about one in 6. Now (January 2015) there are 1205 caches with TBs out of a total of 10989 active caches. I only just realised that 379 of the 1205 caches with trackables have been archived, which means those trackables are probably lost. That leaves us with 826 findable caches with trackables out of 10989, or 7.5% of the total (1 in 13). So one's chance of finding a trackable by visiting a random cache is now less than half of what it was 5 years ago, even though there are more trackables out there.

 

Another interesting tidbit: Apparently there are 86 South African micro caches with trackables at the moment. I thought a micro should not be able to take a trackable!

[+Danie Viljoen]

Update on TB & GC statistics for 9 Jan 2015:

If one ignores the trackables that are in archived caches:

There are 1454 findable TBs and GCs in 826 of the 10989 active South African caches.

This means that there are 689 trackables in archived caches, and probably lost.

[+cincol]

SNIPPED ....................

 

Another interesting tidbit: Apparently there are 86 South African micro caches with trackables at the moment. I thought a micro should not be able to take a trackable!

 

There are a number of coins that have specifically been designed to fit into smaller caches - namely micros. eg: Canadian Flag Micro Coin SA Flag Micro Coin Traveling Ingot and many others.

Edited January 16, 2015 by cincol

[+Carbon Hunter]

Danie

 

Do you mind updating this please?

 

Thanks

[+Danie Viljoen]

TB & GC Statistics: 6 March 2016

 

South Africa:

There are 1548 trackables listed in 882 of the 13035 findable South African caches

There are 668 trackables listed in 363 archived caches (and presumably lost). (30.1% of the total)

 

Rest of Africa, excluding Madeira and the Canary Islands:

804 trackables in 420 findable caches

368 trackables in 180 archived caches (31.4% of the total)

 

Madeira and the Canary Islands:

1184 trackables in 656 findable caches

397 trackables in 196 archived caches (25.1% of the total)

[+cincol]

TB & GC Statistics: 6 March 2016

 

South Africa:

There are 1548 trackables listed in 882 of the 13035 findable South African caches

There are 668 trackables listed in 363 archived caches (and presumably lost). (30.1% of the total)

 

Rest of Africa, excluding Madeira and the Canary Islands:

804 trackables in 420 findable caches

368 trackables in 180 archived caches (31.4% of the total)

 

Madeira and the Canary Islands:

1184 trackables in 656 findable caches

397 trackables in 196 archived caches (25.1% of the total)

 

Interesting that the missing ones are pretty consistent - 25-30%

[+Danie Viljoen]

TB & GC statistics for 28 August 2016:

 

There are 1365 TBs and GCs in South African caches

There are 1219 TBs and GCs in the rest of Africa

[+Carbon Hunter]

 

Hi Danie - any chance for an update on this graph? Would be interesting to see if the trend is still upwards - as I only seem to see TBs at events nowadays?

[+GlobalRat]

 

Hi Danie - any chance for an update on this graph? Would be interesting to see if the trend is still upwards - as I only seem to see TBs at events nowadays?

 

I currently don't cache as much as I used to, but have come across quite a number of caches that have trackables in inventory but the trackables are long gone or missing. Difficult to remove from the stats, but wonder what percentage of the increase is attributable to missing/stagnant trackables.

 

I also find it alarming how many noob cachers I have come across who have absolutely no idea how to log or what to to with a trackable and just view it as a regular trade item. This also contributes to trackables going AWOL.

[+cincol]

 

(snipped.......)

 

I also find it alarming how many noob cachers I have come across who have absolutely no idea how to log or what to to with a trackable and just view it as a regular trade item. This also contributes to trackables going AWOL.

 

I remember when I started caches some years ago I also didn't have a clue what trackables were either! I had a couple in my possession for a while until somebody pointed out to me that they were in fact NOT swag or trade items! After that I developed a distinct liking to all trackables and have subsequently build up a nice collection of my own.

 

I think it all boils down to how you started caching and who your "mentor" was.

[+GlobalRat]

I think it all boils down to how you started caching and who your "mentor" was.

 

True... also shows that people don't really read the instructions before playing the game

 

We've all been guilty of not reading instructions though