Jump to content

What is the purpose of posting a note "Bug Drop"


rovers3

Recommended Posts

I have often seen postings in logs that refer to "Bug drop!" or something to that affect either in the found log or as a note in the log area.

 

I see absolutely no purpose in such a log so, Can somebody please enlighten me as to what possible purpose such a log serves?

 

On a further note, one such note was posted on one of my caches and there is no log to show that the cache was found or not found by this cacher.

 

Thanks.

Link to comment

In order to drop a bug in a cache, one must make a log of some sort. Usually it is done while logging 'Found it." If one forgets to do it then, one cannot drop a bug by editing the log. One must make a new log, or delete the old log, and redo it. The new log is best done with a note. If one has already found the cache, one would not be so silly as to log another find to drop the bug, and so a note is the only way to do it. What these people do not realize is that the bug drop note is best deleted, so as not to clog up the cache page.

Link to comment

The benefit of a bug drop is that the bug accumulates more "miles" that way.

If you "dip" it into each cache you visit, you can zig zag through a city and rack up hundreds of miles but if you just moved it from one side of a city to the other, you might get 10 miles added to its travel.

Link to comment

It's just a way to see how many people we can get to post that question in the forums.

 

I was wondering about that too. So, if I find a cache, I log it as a find. Then if I have a TB I want to "dip" and then take with me, do I have to then log that TB in and then, out, of that cache? Or is there some other way to do that?

 

Just drop the bug with your log and then log it back out.

Link to comment
The benefit of a bug drop is that the bug accumulates more "miles" that way

But what is the reason for this?

I can see placing a TB to travel from cache to cache and following its journey to unknown places but if you never let it out of your hand then you know where it's going and where it's been.

So what do those accumulated miles mean? What purpose do they serve?

Link to comment
The benefit of a bug drop is that the bug accumulates more "miles" that way

But what is the reason for this?

I can see placing a TB to travel from cache to cache and following its journey to unknown places but if you never let it out of your hand then you know where it's going and where it's been.

So what do those accumulated miles mean? What purpose do they serve?

They serve the exact same purpose as a smiley.

Link to comment

In order to drop a bug in a cache, one must make a log of some sort. Usually it is done while logging 'Found it." If one forgets to do it then, one cannot drop a bug by editing the log. One must make a new log, or delete the old log, and redo it. The new log is best done with a note. If one has already found the cache, one would not be so silly as to log another find to drop the bug, and so a note is the only way to do it. What these people do not realize is that the bug drop note is best deleted, so as not to clog up the cache page.

It is your opinion that these bug drop notes clog up the cache page and should be deleted. I have no problem with them at all. In fact I have found them to be quite useful from time to time when trying to track down where a bug may have gone missing or who may have picked it up from a cache. By leaving the bug drop not on the cache page the time line remains intact.

 

Concept of clogging up the cache page = silly idea in my opinion.

Link to comment

Dipping a personal bug in caches can serve several purposes. If done correctly, they can help show how many miles you have traveled while caching. Also, there are other fun things you can do, like having other cachers you meet on the road or at Events post a Discover log so you can remember who you have met. Those are just a couple reasons off the top of my head.

 

Also, the OP asked another question, about seeing Bug Drop notes by people who have never logged a find on the cache. I do that a lot. I'm very behind on my cache logs (almost 2 years behind on some), but I still find Trackables in caches and pick them up and move them. So I pick them up in a cache and then post a note on the cache that I drop them in later.

Link to comment

WRASTRO: I agree if it's a stand-alone bug drop. But if the cacher just logged a find saying "I dropped the Karma Lite Fairies geocoin" and then immediately logs a "bug drop" note, I don't see any useful information in the latter.

 

And to the OP, there are some cachers who simply don't like logging finds online. I remember reading a long log from one out-of-town cacher, who wrote it as a note. On one hike, I saw several sigs from an apparently experienced cacher, and not a single one was logged online and I could not even locate the user name. Finds are visible on your profile, whereas notes and DNFs are not. There's at least one cacher who stopped logging finds because an ex was stalking her based on her find logs.

 

Edward

Link to comment
WRASTRO: I agree if it's a stand-alone bug drop. But if the cacher just logged a find saying "I dropped the Karma Lite Fairies geocoin" and then immediately logs a "bug drop" note, I don't see any useful information in the latter.

And very few people use them that way. Most of the time, a "bug drop" is correctly used to indicate a separate visit to an already "found" cache with a bug or coin. I have an active bug hotel that I use when I find bugs that have been "stuck" and need to get back on their way along a more mainstream path to their destination. By necessity, I use a "note" log to drop them there, not multiple "found" logs! Hope that makes sense to the OP.
Link to comment

WRASTRO: I agree if it's a stand-alone bug drop. But if the cacher just logged a find saying "I dropped the Karma Lite Fairies geocoin" and then immediately logs a "bug drop" note, I don't see any useful information in the latter.

<snip>

Edward

The times I've used this type of note is when I missed/forgot to include the TB/coin drop in my found log. Generally I delete the 'bug drop' note immediately.

 

As to the 'clogging', I can see the point for those that use a fresh PQ. If you're looking for some help/hints in past logs (5 are included) and you see "bug drop" that's one less log to help (not that there's any guarantee another log would have any useful info).

Link to comment
The benefit of a bug drop is that the bug accumulates more "miles" that way

But what is the reason for this?

I can see placing a TB to travel from cache to cache and following its journey to unknown places but if you never let it out of your hand then you know where it's going and where it's been.

So what do those accumulated miles mean? What purpose do they serve?

There's no prize for most miles. I think many add miles just to show they have moved the TB around and are not sitting on it. Perhaps where they went was not in line with the goal of the TB so they only dipped it. It could also be that the person moving it was out caching and didn't find a place they could or would leave a TB. Maybe the caches found were micros, maybe the TB would fit but they were afraid the cache would likely get muggled.

Link to comment

In our area, I see "Bug Drop" used for Event caches -- starting a few days before the event, people start showing what TB's and geocoins they are bringing. I like this, because it lets us look ahead and see if there will be a traveller that we can help on its way to its goal. And, to echo what others have said, I've also seen it used where people re-visit a cache (especially a Hotel) to drop off bugs/coins.

Link to comment

To further clarify.

The cache in question is in fact a film canister a long way from my and the one who logged the note's home.

This is a cacher who according to their cache page has almost 4000 logged finds so it's not like they're adverse to logging their finds, but has not logged a find on my cache but has logged a "bug drop".

Getting back to the other question it is not other peoples bugs that I am questioning the reason for dropping or dipping into caches but their own personal bugs or coins that they keep on their person and dip them into caches that I don't get.

Link to comment

...their own personal bugs or coins that they keep on their person and dip them into caches that I don't get.

 

I have a personal bug that I log through every cache I visit or re-visit. It's just a little buddy that comes along with me to the cache site. It's a very tedious process and the mileage it accumulates doesn't reflect the actual miles I've covered. Still, it's just something I do.

 

That's about all there is to get.

Link to comment

To further clarify.

The cache in question is in fact a film canister a long way from my and the one who logged the note's home.

This is a cacher who according to their cache page has almost 4000 logged finds so it's not like they're adverse to logging their finds, but has not logged a find on my cache but has logged a "bug drop".

Getting back to the other question it is not other peoples bugs that I am questioning the reason for dropping or dipping into caches but their own personal bugs or coins that they keep on their person and dip them into caches that I don't get.

Only the cacher in question can answer your little puzzle. Lots of cachers, such as BlueDuece, have personal bugs or coins they "dip" into each cache they visit. It is a part of the way they play the game. Some cachers think those logs should be deleted to keep the cache page clean and to make things as nice as possible for "paperless" cachers to have as many supposedly usefull logs available as possible. I think the notion of deleting those logs is silly but if a cacher wants to do it then who am I to object? What I would object to would be if the cache owner deleted those logs in an effort to keep the cache page clean.

Link to comment

Re: note for bug drop.

I've dropped trackables at a later date than the original find of a cache, so in that case I've left a note.

It was mentioned on here that the note clogs up the online log, but if the cache is one that is not discovered often, I think that leaving the note might help attract another cacher. (Especially in sparse areas like, say, BLM land in NW AZ, or a cache in Iraq)

Link to comment

To further clarify.

The cache in question is in fact a film canister a long way from my and the one who logged the note's home.

This is a cacher who according to their cache page has almost 4000 logged finds so it's not like they're adverse to logging their finds, but has not logged a find on my cache but has logged a "bug drop".

Getting back to the other question it is not other peoples bugs that I am questioning the reason for dropping or dipping into caches but their own personal bugs or coins that they keep on their person and dip them into caches that I don't get.

Only the cacher in question can answer your little puzzle. Lots of cachers, such as BlueDuece, have personal bugs or coins they "dip" into each cache they visit. It is a part of the way they play the game. Some cachers think those logs should be deleted to keep the cache page clean and to make things as nice as possible for "paperless" cachers to have as many supposedly usefull logs available as possible. I think the notion of deleting those logs is silly but if a cacher wants to do it then who am I to object? What I would object to would be if the cache owner deleted those logs in an effort to keep the cache page clean.

 

You won't see any Notes of my personal bug being dropped as it is included in the Found log or a Note about the cache visit.

 

You'll see Notes when people are back-logging their bug. They can delete them as the original Found it log show the details of the cache visit.

 

You'll see Notes when people forget to Drop the bug along with their Found it log. They can delete those as it is an afterthought rather than the details of the cache visit.

 

You'll see Notes when people revisit a cache to Drop a bug. Those should stay as they are the log of the cache visit.

 

Ultimately, no it doesn't matter if the logs stay, but let me go on record to say that my recommendation to delete "fix the bug" logs has absolutely nothing to do with supporting paperless caching.

Link to comment
The benefit of a bug drop is that the bug accumulates more "miles" that way

But what is the reason for this?

I can see placing a TB to travel from cache to cache and following its journey to unknown places but if you never let it out of your hand then you know where it's going and where it's been.

So what do those accumulated miles mean? What purpose do they serve?

Some people log a TB in and out of every cache they find for mileage, to see how man miles they've cached. Others log them in for milestone caches and take a bug that's special for them.

 

My sister died not too long ago, and I released a coin from the state where she was born. I thought about bringing it with me to caches that I knew she would have liked, kind of a as way for her to be with me when I found them.

 

Others do similar things with coins/TBs that mean something to them. Like, they might take a special coin with them if they find a cache in a different state for a memento type thing.

Link to comment
The benefit of a bug drop is that the bug accumulates more "miles" that way

But what is the reason for this?

I can see placing a TB to travel from cache to cache and following its journey to unknown places but if you never let it out of your hand then you know where it's going and where it's been.

So what do those accumulated miles mean? What purpose do they serve?

I'll log a traveler (coin or bug) through a cache without actually dropping it if I take a photo of the bug at a location, especially if the location is related to the traveler's goal. Reasons for doing it this way include:

1) The cache was too small to hold the bug;

2) I'm on a trip that will help the bug to multiple goals (e.g. some travelers want to visit all fifty states...last summer our family drove through New England, so I was able to score eight states with photos over a two week period);

3) While unrelated to the traveler's goal, it was still a cool place to take a photo and log the visit;

4) I'd been holding the traveler WAY too long with the intent of helping the traveler to a goal and wanted to let the owner know it's still alive and well.

Link to comment

To further clarify.

The cache in question is in fact a film canister a long way from my and the one who logged the note's home.

This is a cacher who according to their cache page has almost 4000 logged finds so it's not like they're adverse to logging their finds, but has not logged a find on my cache but has logged a "bug drop".

Getting back to the other question it is not other peoples bugs that I am questioning the reason for dropping or dipping into caches but their own personal bugs or coins that they keep on their person and dip them into caches that I don't get.

Only the cacher in question can answer your little puzzle. Lots of cachers, such as BlueDuece, have personal bugs or coins they "dip" into each cache they visit. It is a part of the way they play the game. Some cachers think those logs should be deleted to keep the cache page clean and to make things as nice as possible for "paperless" cachers to have as many supposedly usefull logs available as possible. I think the notion of deleting those logs is silly but if a cacher wants to do it then who am I to object? What I would object to would be if the cache owner deleted those logs in an effort to keep the cache page clean.

 

You won't see any Notes of my personal bug being dropped as it is included in the Found log or a Note about the cache visit.

 

You'll see Notes when people are back-logging their bug. They can delete them as the original Found it log show the details of the cache visit.

 

You'll see Notes when people forget to Drop the bug along with their Found it log. They can delete those as it is an afterthought rather than the details of the cache visit.

 

You'll see Notes when people revisit a cache to Drop a bug. Those should stay as they are the log of the cache visit.

 

Ultimately, no it doesn't matter if the logs stay, but let me go on record to say that my recommendation to delete "fix the bug" logs has absolutely nothing to do with supporting paperless caching.

I understand all of your points and I certainly wasn't attempting to tie you in to the paperless caching concept. I just don't see any reason for anyone to bother with deleting a note as in points 2 and 3. Makes no sense to me. Tried it once and thought "why am I bothering to do this?" :P

Link to comment
I just don't see any reason for anyone to bother with deleting a note as in points 2 and 3. Makes no sense to me. Tried it once and thought "why am I bothering to do this?" B)

 

I can leave my dirty socks on the floor but I like my logging to be clean. I have no idea why that is. It's just how I am. :P

 

If you want to leave the logs that's okay by me.

Link to comment
I just don't see any reason for anyone to bother with deleting a note as in points 2 and 3. Makes no sense to me. Tried it once and thought "why am I bothering to do this?" :laughing:

 

I can leave my dirty socks on the floor but I like my logging to be clean. I have no idea why that is. It's just how I am. :anibad:

 

If you want to leave the logs that's okay by me.

 

I'm with BlueDeuce on this issue.

 

If the log is for a re-visit and the logger actually has something to say about why they dropped the trackable, it makes sense that it should remain on the cache page as a part of the cache history.

 

If all there is to it is 'BUG DROP', then I think of it as an empty candy-wrapper (or Dorito bag, if you prefer :anitongue: ) left lying around. The trackable has been dropped, the log is now superfluous.

 

I delete mine.

And I will delete them on my caches.

Link to comment
The benefit of a bug drop is that the bug accumulates more "miles" that way

But what is the reason for this?

I can see placing a TB to travel from cache to cache and following its journey to unknown places but if you never let it out of your hand then you know where it's going and where it's been.

So what do those accumulated miles mean? What purpose do they serve?

 

I have a GC that I "drop" in caches in new areas that I visit. for me it is nothing more than just putting miles on the GC and logging it in caches I enjoyed visiting.

One the other hand, when I am travleing AND I have a TB that I grabbed from a cache, I will drop that TB in each cache along the way so that the owner get the enjoyemnt out of "tracking" his TB across either one state or several states. i will also post photos of the TB on it's journey also for the owners enjoyment.

I know I like getting photos of my TB's.

Link to comment

I've also engaged in dipping a coin. For me, it was the very first geocoin that I ever owned a Cache-O-Rater coin. I had purchased it at the 8th Annual Kansas City Picnic. The picnic was my 800th find and I wanted to try dipping it into every cache up till I reached 1000.

 

Then I reached 1000 and thought, "Let's see if I can get a thousand finds on my coin." Seems pointless to some but I wanted to try it.

 

As I reached that 1,000 caches since purchasing the coin, I changed my plans once again. This time, I told myself, "I'll stop dipping it at 2,000 or at the 9th Annual Kansas City Picnic, whichever comes first." Seemed like an interesting goal.

 

Then as the picnic rolled around, I realized I could make the picnic my 2,000th cache. And I did. And while I haven't gone caching this last week, I have decided to stop dipping the coin into every cache. In essentially one year's time (since the picnic is held at roughly the same time each year...give or take a week), I found 1,200 caches. And my coin is a sort way to sort of highlight those 1200 caches. If you go to the map for that coin, you can see where I've been and how much I've bounced around. The map shows the amount of cache-to-cache mileage I accumulated (exactly 14014 miles), how sporadic my movements were within Kansas City the last year, how I found caches in nine different states during that time.

 

Will I do it again? Likely not. It's quite time consuming to have to "retrieve" it every time, especially after a long cache run.

 

Was it fun? Depends on how you define fun. It was definitely interesting to look at the map once in a while.

 

To each his own, but that is why I did it.

Link to comment

When I was a newbie I got a message about a bug drop. The last time I had been to my cache it was crawling with little tiny spiders. So I thought the logger was saying that he had dropped the cache because it was covered with bugs. He must have had a good laugh when I wrote him back asking if he thought I needed to spay it with some bug spray. I can be so niave.

I'll post a "bug drop" when I have a travel bug that needs moving and so I'll leave it in a nearby cache that I've already found. Since I already found it I don't log another find. Instead I post the bug drop under write a note.

Link to comment

Sometimes I have a travel bug that is big so it only fits in larger caches (which seem to be rare these days) so to move it, I mist re-visit a large cache that I've already found in the past. Since I found it before, I use the note function instead of 'found it' for a second time. Then I log "bug drop" to indicate my purpose for revisiting the cache.

 

This also happens if I don't have time for caching but I need to get a particular bug to move fast, I'll just revisit a nearby cache that I already know the location of, just to quickly get the bug to move.

Link to comment

When I was a newbie I got a message about a bug drop. The last time I had been to my cache it was crawling with little tiny spiders. So I thought the logger was saying that he had dropped the cache because it was covered with bugs. He must have had a good laugh when I wrote him back asking if he thought I needed to spay it with some bug spray. I can be so niave.

 

:laughing: I'm sorry but that is too funny!

 

 

I'm still chuckling. :laughing:

Link to comment

When I was a newbie I got a message about a bug drop. The last time I had been to my cache it was crawling with little tiny spiders. So I thought the logger was saying that he had dropped the cache because it was covered with bugs. He must have had a good laugh when I wrote him back asking if he thought I needed to spay it with some bug spray. I can be so niave.

I'll post a "bug drop" when I have a travel bug that needs moving and so I'll leave it in a nearby cache that I've already found. Since I already found it I don't log another find. Instead I post the bug drop under write a note.

 

I just got my good laugh for the day. Great newbie story.

Link to comment
If the cacher just logged a find saying "I dropped the Karma Lite Fairies geocoin" and then immediately logs a "bug drop" note, I don't see any useful information in the latter.
And very few people use them that way. Most of the time, a "bug drop" is correctly used to indicate a separate visit to an already "found" cache with a bug or coin.

And I find exactly the opposite. Probably has to do with what caches I'm watching and what caches you are watching, and it's interesting that the practice varies considerably. I would expect a lot more bug drops without related finds on a TB hotel.

 

Of course you can only determine patterns if you're watching the caches, since if you're not watching then you'll never see the logs that got deleted.

 

Edward

Link to comment

Dipping a personal bug in caches can serve several purposes. If done correctly, they can help show how many miles you have traveled while caching. Also, there are other fun things you can do, like having other cachers you meet on the road or at Events post a Discover log so you can remember who you have met. Those are just a couple reasons off the top of my head.

 

 

I've got a TB tag that my dog wears on his collar. I dip "Archie" in caches that he actually has visited and often will only dip him in 1 or 2 of the more interesting caches I might find on a given day. Today I dipped him in/out of "The Spot" (GC39), the fifth oldest active cache in the world.

Link to comment

Dipping a personal bug in caches can serve several purposes. If done correctly, they can help show how many miles you have traveled while caching. Also, there are other fun things you can do, like having other cachers you meet on the road or at Events post a Discover log so you can remember who you have met. Those are just a couple reasons off the top of my head.

 

 

I've got a TB tag that my dog wears on his collar. I dip "Archie" in caches that he actually has visited and often will only dip him in 1 or 2 of the more interesting caches I might find on a given day. Today I dipped him in/out of "The Spot" (GC39), the fifth oldest active cache in the world.

 

:laughing: Poor little puppy. NYPC you're a big meanie. :laughing:

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...