Vehicle Static Cling/Decal/Magnet Travel Bugs?

22k · July 12, 2009

Is it working like you expected?

Moderator edit to add:

Is it working like you expected?

was the original question in one of many threads that were merged, and ended up as the first post of the merged threads.

Blue Deuce, who is one of our most informative and readily helpful forum users, as you can see in this thread by the number of times he has answered this question, asked that I add this important information from post #102 to his initial post:

They are primarily designed to be Discovered by cachers who happen to come across it. They wouldn't Grab it away and log it through a cache unless they took your truck 4-wheeling.

It's comes with a set of dog tags so that if you decide to stop using your car as a TB you can release it as a normal bug.

Edited January 9, 2010 by Eartha

1.1k · July 12, 2009

Is it working like you expected?

I just ordered a pair of them. I'm going to keep the dog-tag on my key chain and let people discover either one.

I sure hope they work out.

July 12, 2009

Is it working like you expected?

Don't know. I got one and kind of just for fun, I wrote it up for the person that spot's it, to feel free to "steal" my ride. Figuratively speaking of course. One of the local's even took it to geowoodstock. I guess I really didn't know what to expect with it. I got the magnetic one, and i slapped it on the car but couldn't just put it on the back of the car cause it's all plastic. My boy will see it on the side of the car and move it to my work van. lol.

I do notice it get's "found" at event's more than anything. Not everybody pick's it up an drops it somewhere, some just discover it. I do like to see where it end's up though. Kind of funny at times.

Oh, thanks for those TB direction's in German too. I sent them to the guy, and got a reply. Worked out great.

July 14, 2009

I have found that while out geocaching, if I run into other Geocachers, I "hint" to them there is a big TB sitting in the parking lot or wherever I park. It has worked since I got mine. I have the cling kind inside the rear drivers side window. Then when we go camping, I move it to the camper window, knowing lots of Geocachers camp and cache. Will see how that works out, only have had chance to do that twice.

I know there is one near me where I live, my wife has seen it, but its hard to find as the darn thing keeps moving..

18.9k · July 14, 2009

I've specifically pointed mine out to about 10 cachers - only 1 has ever logged it. At work, I park next to a cache. 5 logs in the past 30 days, not one has mentioned my Jeep. You would think Geocachers would be a bit more observant.......

July 14, 2009

I've just received my car TB today. A magnetic one I have attached to the back of my Rav4 and I'm now ready and waiting: TB2RM8G

But I've been thinking about expanding on the idea of the controversial TB hotel. Since some people log their car TBs in and out of caches - I'm thinking of creating a Micro CarTB-Garage. I'd place it at a car park near me and allow people to 'park' their cars in the Micro.

Of course the beauty of a CarTB-Garage would be that all the cars are virtual, the owners can grab them anytime they want to move on, so it's not the same as a TB Hotel where they can get imprisoned or muggled.

What do you think?

22k · July 14, 2009

Not quite sure what you mean. You'd have to publish a cache listing and people could log a bug through it once they have visited the cache. No one could start logging and leaving a bug in a cache they did not visit as that would be virtual logging and against guidelines.

Not sure why you would need to leave a bug on a cache page listing if the bug isn't actually there. You would just keep in in your drop inventory or out to Unknown.

July 14, 2009

Not quite sure what you mean. You'd have to publish a cache listing and people could log a bug through it once they have visited the cache. No one could start logging and leaving a bug in a cache they did not visit as that would be virtual logging and against guidelines.

Not sure why you would need to leave a bug on a cache page listing if the bug isn't actually there. You would just keep in in your drop inventory or out to Unknown.

No I don't mean a TB-garage for anyone to log from their armchair. I mean real micro cache - but instead of a 'hotel' it's a 'garage'. I've read plenty of threads where people who have car TBs log their car TB into the caches that they find.

Well this would be a micro for anyone to find, but it would just so happen that if someone had a car TB they could also log it in and leave it there, until they just want to retrieve it.

I've read at least one other car TB where the owner lets people 'steal' his car and drop it in their found caches. Later he just retrieves it again.

Edited July 14, 2009 by fitzwesley

22k · July 14, 2009

It's fine to have a cache that is accessible from a car. However, as it is a public listing you shouldn't have bugs as listed in a cache when they are not there. You and I understand the intent of the cache since we've had a chance to talk about it, but the majority of people will not. You'll start getting people dropping any ol bug in there and there won't be any possible verification method to move it out.

People need to correctly show where a bug is located. If it's on their car they need to show it in their possession or no where (Unknown). The Grab function already allows people to 'take' a bug from someone.

If there's a cache involved in the transaction there cannot be any virtual logging. Both people need to have been there to leave and take possession.

Edited July 14, 2009 by BlueDeuce

July 14, 2009

It's fine to have a cache that is accessible from a car. However, as it is a public listing you shouldn't have bugs as listed in a cache when they are not there. You and I understand the intent of the cache since we've had a chance to talk about it, but the majority of people will not. You'll start getting people dropping any ol bug in there and there won't be any possible verification method to move it out.

People need to correctly show where a bug is located. If it's on their car they need to show it in their possession or no where (Unknown). The Grab function already allows people to 'take' a bug from someone.

With all due respect, others are already doing this:

'Dipping' car into caches: WYLDFYR, TB21Q1Z

Leaving the car in caches: TBJVVX, TB19063

Here's a thread discussing it - http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=192076 - interestingly enough BlueDeuce, you're even on this thread!

So I'm not suggesting anything new or breaking the rules - it seems that people leave their car TBs all the time. It doesn't seem frowned upon either so I'm surprised you have an issue with what I'm suggesting.

22k · July 14, 2009

People break the rules all the time. It's a matter of whether or not it gets to the point of being considered an abuse of the system. I can guarantee you that travel bugs do get locked - permanently. I'm explaining what you may or may not be allowed to do so you know what to expect.

Logging a car TB through a cache is fine, provided like every other bug, it and the cacher went to the location. With a car tb that can be kind of tough.

Leaving a TB listed in a cache is fine. Provided the bug is there. The typical exception is events where people tend to drop bugs they currently have in their possession. Do people leave bugs listed in cache when the bug isn't really there? yes. Should they? No. But Groundspeak is really not going to spend it's time policing that happening from time to time.

Are you going to be able to submit a cache to be for people to leave their bugs for others to retrieve? Not if it's set up for virtual logging.

If you see it happening, fine. Let's get it on the radar and get that cache locked down.

edit: various typos and spelling

Edited July 14, 2009 by BlueDeuce

July 14, 2009

People break the rules all the time. It's a matter of whether or not it gets to the point of being considered an abuse of the system. I can guarantee you that travel bugs do get locked - permanently. I'm explaining what you may or may not be allowed to do so you know what to expect.

Logging a car TB through a cache is fine, provided, like every other bug it and the cacher went to the location. With a car tb that can be kind of tough.

Leaving a TB listed in a cache is fine. Provided the bug is there. The typical exception is events where people tend to drop bug they currently have in their possession. Do people leave bugs listed in cache when the bug isn't really there? yes. Should they? No. But Groundspeak is really not going to send it's time policing that happening from time to time.

Are you going to be able to submit a cache to be for people to leave their bugs for others to retrieve. Not if it's set up for virtual logging.

Look, thanks for your advice so far.

It's not virtual logging though - I expect the car TBs owner to actually visit and find the cache - I thought I had made this clear.

So the issue here is with leaving car TBs in a cache? On the other thread you made no mention against it even though people were posting links to their car TBs - which clearly show the cars being logged and left in caches. So the only objection here is that I would place a cache specifically stating this purpose? (find it, log it, drop car TB... retrieve later).

Have you got a specific example of a TB that has been locked previously for doing this? Obviously I want to be sure that this actually happens, since I'm considering dipping my car and if I create this micro cache I intend to leave my car in it.

I found a couple more examples of this too, all I'm suggesting is making a cache specifically for this purpose:

TB1D0H8

TBJA33

8.8k · July 14, 2009

Please listen to Blue Deuce, he knows of what he speaks. He is the Travel Bug Guru in here, and has helped probably literally thousands of geocachers figure out how trackable items work. See those 14,131 posts noted under his avatar (as of now)? 97% were him answering people's questions about how Travel Bugs work. 1% were probably for geocoin help, and the rest were in the other forums

Virtual logging is not allowed. The bug will be locked if it's abused.

8.8k · July 14, 2009

Oh, and if a TB is not physically sitting in the cache, it should not be listed as being in the cache.

22k · July 14, 2009

Well I was typing up a long response which included waiting for the Forum Mod to weigh in on the subject.

I'm sure there are still a few questions but I'm going to take a break before re-editing.

July 14, 2009

Please listen to Blue Deuce, he knows of what he speaks. He is the Travel Bug Guru in here, and has helped probably literally thousands of geocachers figure out how trackable items work. See those 14,131 posts noted under his avatar (as of now)? 97% were him answering people's questions about how Travel Bugs work. 1% were probably for geocoin help, and the rest were in the other forums

Virtual logging is not allowed. The bug will be locked if it's abused.

Fair enough.

I don't mean to sound cheeky but I've now posted 4 that are doing exactly that. Are these going to be locked then?

TBJVVX

TB19063

TB1D0H8

TBJA33

And if I dip my car? What effect is that going to have - I'm not physically going to have my car in my hand when I log it - are you saying I wasted my money buying a car travel bug?

8.8k · July 14, 2009

OK, I did a little research on some of the ones you posted.

Owner keeps it logged into their own unactivated cache to keep it off the inventory list so they don't accidentally drop it somewhere.

Same scenario with this one, in an archived cache to keep it out of the way.

I believe this car died and became the cache container, from reading the logs about the cache.

Kept in an archived event cache, don't know why, but it's archived and that person was probably the event host.

Most of these situations involve people keeping them in their own inactive caches. They are not in caches that will have people looking for them, and then coming in here, or logging to the cache page, or the bug page that it's missing. This is allowed. They own the caches they are storing them in, and it's simply to keep it off their inventory list so they don't accidentally drop it into the wrong cache when they are logging. Ever log from a phone? It's really hard to click on those when using a phone to log.

8.8k · July 14, 2009

Dipping is fine, just don't leave it there so people think they are going to find a TB in the cache. Not everyone has access to the internet when out in the field, and they might just see an icon, not the whole scoop.

July 14, 2009

I recently went to a hot air balloon festival in Foley, AL. At the festival a truck drove by with a balloon basket in the back with a TB decal on it. Said "Yup, its a travel bug." Whenever he goes somewhere with his balloon, he'll drop it into a cache as well.

TBYTFH

22k · July 14, 2009

I'm not physically going to have my car in my hand when I log it - are you saying I wasted my money buying a car travel bug?

I'm still thinking about what bits and pieces I need (and want) to respond to, but that is part of my initial question. Is it working like you expected? Car travel bug are really supposed to be Discovered by cachers and are not intended to be primarily logged though or found in caches.

July 14, 2009

OK so let me get this straight. The vehicle decals and magnets that they sell as TB's (which I have one) can be "dipped" in a cache you visit to show where you have been. But leaving it in one of course is not OK(?). I would love to "dip" mine in all the caches I visit, but did not know that was OK.

I have had a great time reading this thread. Thanks for all the view points and tips!

Edited July 14, 2009 by CWagoner

July 14, 2009

OK, I did a little research on some of the ones you posted.

Owner keeps it logged into their own unactivated cache to keep it off the inventory list so they don't accidentally drop it somewhere.

Same scenario with this one, in an archived cache to keep it out of the way.

I believe this car died and became the cache container, from reading the logs about the cache.

Kept in an archived event cache, don't know why, but it's archived and that person was probably the event host.

Most of these situations involve people keeping them in their own inactive caches. They are not in caches that will have people looking for them, and then coming in here, or logging to the cache page, or the bug page that it's missing. This is allowed. They own the caches they are storing them in, and it's simply to keep it off their inventory list so they don't accidentally drop it into the wrong cache when they are logging. Ever log from a phone? It's really hard to click on those when using a phone to log.

Dipping is fine, just don't leave it there so people think they are going to find a TB in the cache. Not everyone has access to the internet when out in the field, and they might just see an icon, not the whole scoop

Well thanks for taking the time to research a bit more than I did and give an explanation that made more sense to me, but it seems that it does happen that a car TB will do more than just a 'dip'.

I recently went to a hot air balloon festival in Foley, AL. At the festival a truck drove by with a balloon basket in the back with a TB decal on it. Said "Yup, its a travel bug." Whenever he goes somewhere with his balloon, he'll drop it into a cache as well.

TBYTFH

Not to beat a dead horse here - and I am aware I am now sounding pedantic but I just checked this one out and he is definitely leaving his car TB in an active cache for a few days at a time.

I don't see a problem with this - but I want to know how much this rule is enforced as it doesn't seem very consistent.

July 14, 2009

I'm not physically going to have my car in my hand when I log it - are you saying I wasted my money buying a car travel bug?

I'm still thinking about what bits and pieces I need (and want) to respond to, but that is part of my initial question. Is it working like you expected? Car travel bug are really supposed to be Discovered by cachers and are not intended to be primarily logged though or found in caches.

Thanks. I didn't mean to throw a dozen curve balls at you. I just wanted to sound out what I thought would be a neat idea -- and so is there a 'suggestions box' for Groundspeak?

July 14, 2009

I've got more questions, especially about rules that I don't see answers here or in the forums and I don't want to hijack this thread anymore. Is it ok to start a new topic about all this?

8.8k · July 14, 2009

First, check the link in my signature and see if your answers are there. Basically, geocaching is a game of common sense, and people like to add their own twists and styles. What we don't want happening is people passing out tracking numbers freely to be logged by people who never see the trackable item. Posting tracking numbers on websites, and blatantly right on the TB page is wrong. Personal TB's are just that, people use them to log their miles from cache to cache (although those miles are as the crow flies and not actual mileage) and some people use their vehicle TB's as their personal TB, so no the car won't make it right up to every cache, but it got you there, it's your car, it's not going to bother anyone else if you use it to log your miles. But when people start logging your vehicle from a posted photos, those are bogus logs and should be deleted, if you can tell it's a bogus log. People should use photo shop to smudge the numbers so they don't show. We don't play TB or cache cop, but if it is reported, and really abusive, it will be locked by Groundspeak. Geocaching was never supposed to about rules and regulations and restrictions, it's supposed to be fun and relaxed. So we have guidelines, and yes, over the years, some rules have been applied. It's an evolving game. We're all still building it, one cache, one travel bug at a time. Thanks so much for being caring enough to ask.

22k · July 14, 2009

http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx

Cache placement guidelines probably are not going to cover travel bug handling. For formal TB guidelines I refer people to Moderators like Eartha.

2.1k · July 14, 2009

Over 75 discoveries at GW7!

I "dip" into events.

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=1727080

July 14, 2009

Looked through the FAQs.. gonna start another thread with a few 'new' questions.

Sorry for all the grief.

22k · July 14, 2009

Looked through the FAQs.. gonna start another thread with a few 'new' questions.

Sorry for all the grief.

Not a problem. It's worth discussing and deserves its own thread.

(And for the record I never thought you were trying to 'get away' with something)

Edited July 14, 2009 by BlueDeuce

4.2k · July 15, 2009

Hosted an event where my car TB was present - nothing.

Went to Geowoodstock VII - nothing.

But I'm not bothered by this at all.

22k · July 15, 2009

I've had mine since March of 07.

Two hits.

One is a guy I work and cache with. I usually drive.

The other is a guy who's daughter played softball with mine. He and I would stand in the parking lot chatting while waiting to pick them up.

Hardly random encounters.

I probably have had more comments about my license plate than the bug.

July 16, 2009

I probably have had more comments about my license plate than the bug.

Do you happen to have a geocaching acronym on it?

We have been thinking about getting one, but don't know if we really want the extra price tag.

22k · July 16, 2009

July 16, 2009

Is it working like you expected?

I've had a magnetic on my car since April 2008... only logs are my dropping and picking up from caches I find. Been on highways & byways, trailhead and mall parking. Still waiting for that first 'discover'

July 16, 2009

That's really neat!

Just checked the IL DMV site & the one we'd like to get is available... wonder how long it will stay that way until we make up our minds.

Okay, back on topic........

4k · July 16, 2009

I have thought about it. I find TB's to be useless. They cost too much and it seems they always get lost or kept. (Eventually.) I think a GEO sticker is just as good.

I have seen them before but discovering a bug also seems useless to me, so I don't do it. I most always move bugs/coins though.

Instead my wife and I have personalized license plates.

WE CACHE and I CACHE.

July 17, 2009

It would be cool to have a personalized license plate with a TB tracking number, and stick a TB decal on the plate.

I do have a personalized plate that says CACHE.

Edited July 17, 2009 by steve p

July 17, 2009

Hosted an event where my car TB was present - nothing.

Went to Geowoodstock VII - nothing.

I was at GeoWoodstock VII and wrote down a bunch of vehicle TB numbers (mostly from the overflow lot). Just haven't entered the discovered logs yet.

Maybe I wrote yours down!

Edited July 17, 2009 by steve p

July 17, 2009

I have one of the geopatches that I log in and out of every cache. I have a magnetic bug I put on our camper when we are traveling and log it in to at least one cache on every trip.

Edited July 17, 2009 by Quizes

2.1k · July 21, 2009

Ok, so a lot of you would prefer the bust. About 80-odd discoveries.

My other car..

About 10 discoveries.

4.2k · July 21, 2009

Hosted an event where my car TB was present - nothing.

Went to Geowoodstock VII - nothing.

I was at GeoWoodstock VII and wrote down a bunch of vehicle TB numbers (mostly from the overflow lot). Just haven't entered the discovered logs yet.
Maybe I wrote yours down!

Possible. We got there about two hours after opening and were kind of in the back of the parking lot. Looking back at my logs I discovered 30+ bugs. At least half of those were vehicle tags. I thought surely SOMEBODY would make the discovery.

But even if nobody ever does I'm still happy.

July 22, 2009

We have a TB sticker on each of our cars. We've not been discovered once yet. We pointed out the one on the Mazda to a couple of cachers but as yet, not been logged. We have our fingers crossed for the event at the weekend

July 22, 2009

Earlier today we went to the GPS Adventure Maze Exhibit in Iowa and we didn't spot any vehicle TBs in the lot. The maze wasn't full, but neither was it empty. Since it's a weekday that probably had a lot to do with it.

August 7, 2009

LOVE IT!!! Wonder if it's been used in MI....

August 17, 2009

I'm fairly new to the whole geocaching scene, so my question might be one that's already been answered in the past, or just a stupid question all together But I figured I'd give this a shot. I've been looking into the whole travel bug thing, and was looking at what designs/styles a person could pick up to send out into the world. One of the ones that I came across was these Vehicle Static Cling/Decal/Magnet Travel Bugs. It says they come with the dog tags, so clearly there is something that you could go out and put into caches. But I don't completely get what the purpose of the item is that you put onto your rig. Is this just a way to showing that you are into Geocaching? Was just curious. Thanks for any input/answers you can swing my way! :lol:

22k · August 17, 2009

The travel bug sticker is one that stays with your car and is Discovered by cachers who happen to come across it. Yes, it does come with a set of dogtags but you don't release those into the wild as well. Guidelines do not allow releasing more than one bug with the same tracking number.

Should you decide to stop using your car as a TB you can then re-release the bug using a tag. Car Tbs don't tend to get Discovered much and they are not easy to log through caches since most cars don't actually visit a cache site.

I would recommend starting with the standard tags for your first bug. Also, make sure to read this topic pinned at the top of the forum.

Snoogans' Tb Longevity Clinic

Happy Caching!

Edited August 17, 2009 by BlueDeuce

August 22, 2009

I have a magnetic travel bug that's been to an event cache and was "dipped" in a few caches I've found since then. Now it's waiting for another event cache and then a picture of it on the back of my big military vehicle before being packed away.

I think mine will be an event-cache TB after this.

Edited August 22, 2009 by bramasoleiowa

August 26, 2009

If the decal/magnet is on a moving car, how is the cacher supposed to read the number to log it (assuming the cacher car is also moving)? I have never seen one nor did I know they existed. I will keep my eye out for them now! [] Assuming I can read the number I will log any that I find!

August 26, 2009

If the decal/magnet is on a moving car, how is the cacher supposed to read the number to log it (assuming the cacher car is also moving)? I have never seen one nor did I know they existed. I will keep my eye out for them now! [] Assuming I can read the number I will log any that I find!

Hmm... yes, it would be quite difficult to get the tracking number on a moving car, especially if you are also moving. Sounds like a good stunt scene for in a movie.

It would be much safer to try spotting them at caching events, or even at caches where you may have an impromptu run-in with another cacher. Maybe you will even spot one in a grocery store parking lot. (next to a lamp post.) Keep your eyes open!

1.8k · August 26, 2009

Not a hit yet.

Disappointing!

Vehicle Static Cling/Decal/Magnet Travel Bugs?

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