Personal Tracking Bug Ettiquite Question

[+gatoller]

Hey y'all-

 

I've just gotten a few tracking bugs, and was considering making one my personal tracking bug. I've seen some of these, where you 'dip' your own bug in caches you visit, so it basically tracks your travels as you cache. Also, other cachers can 'discover' you as a bug.

 

In any case, I had a question - I've found 50 caches in my so far short tenure in the hobby, I was wondering if it's bad form to go back and 'dip' it in each cache I've visited previously so that the record would go back to the start of my caching. I don't want to spam the cache owners with notes (my understanding is I'd have to post a note to drop it, then retrieve it, then delete the note), if those notes all get emailed to the cache owners.

 

Anyone else done this? 50 isn't a ton, but it'd take some time to do. It'd be great to get a full record of what I've done from day 1, but if it's bad form, I'd pass on it.

 

Thanks!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Most who do this activity do so with a geocoin. Could be wrong here, but I don't know anyone that does this activity with a "personal" travelbug.

 

Aside from that, you cannot be discovered. A TB or a GC can be.

 

Bad form to revisit a cache? No.

It is bad form to "find" a cache more than once. If you revisit a cache, it should be done by posting a "note" rather than a "find". There is no harm in revisiting a cache.

[+Chrysalides]

I've known a few people with either travel bug (dog tags) or geocoins that they dip in every cache they visit. Most people give up doing that after a while because it gets tedious, but I don't think it is bad form.

 

Any new log you create will generate an e-mail to the cache owner.

 

By the way, if it is the mileage you're interested in, GSAK's FindStatGen macro will keep track of your total cache to cache mileage.

[+gatoller]

Aside from that, you cannot be discovered. A TB or a GC can be.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=270112

 

I've seen several of these, the idea is that you ARE the item attached to the TB dogtag, so in essence you're a travelbug. This is similar to the TB patches I've seen lately, or the TB stickers for cars, but it's a bit simpler. If you're at a CITO event, or a get-together that's an event cache, other cachers can write down your number and 'discover' you, just like they'd discovered a truck with a sticker or any other TB.

 

The example above is just one (of about 10) I found quickly searching the keyword 'human' on the TB page. I remember seeing one someone linked that was a fellow that had more than half a million miles logged on his.

 

Thanks for the advice, all!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I'll surrender that point to you.

 

Keep in mind though, much of TB etiquette is a person's viewpoint. Some will argue that a vehicle or a person doesn't fit into (most) geocaches, therefore they cannot be placed or retrieved from such. Hence, they do not fit the within the guidelines. I stand neutral on the subject, just pointing out some other opinions.

 

Whatever you do, make it fun.

[+Kabuthunk]

I use a travelbug as a personal tracker. The tag is attached to my geocaching bag, and the "spare" half was cut to be resized smaller (with the number still showing) and attached to my keys.

 

Luckly, like you I started when I was at about 50 finds, and indeed went back and dipped my TB into each cache I had previously found, back-dated to the day I found it. I always posted it as a note with the comment being something like "Sorry cache owner and watchers, dipping a personal travelbug into the cache. I'll be deleting this note about 5 seconds after it's created, so don't mind me, just passing through". There was a few I came up with that were fairly comical, and I actually got a few emails from owners saying they found it funny... so hey, whatever works .

 

Although, on the actual travelbug page, after I dip it into a found cache, when I "retrieve" it, I delete the retrieve log on the TB page, so that there's only the drops showing, and people discovering me. A little bit of trial-and-error seemed to indicate that the distance is attached to the "drop" log, and not the "retrieve" log. And since (I assume to keep people from using your TB data to find premium caches or harvesting locations to steal them or something) the coordinates of the drop and the pickup are slightly randomized to just be "close", it's rare that the coords for the drop and pickup are the exact same.

 

That in itself didn't bother me, but on a whim, every now and then I'll pop my personal TB's data into google earth and watch the kinda "path" I took cache-to-cache. If you keep both the drop and retrieve logs, it'll basically be jumping to a cache, doing a tiny hop or turn to the 'retrieve' coordinates, then going to the next cache, doing a tiny turn, etc.

 

But I'm getting off-topic. Yeah, I backlogged then, and none of the cache owners seemed to mind. After all, I AM the travelbug, and I HAVE been to the cache. I was just late in logging it, so to speak .

[+COMC]

You really don't need a TB to track your caches. Geocach.com does it for you. Just go to your profile and see all your activity right away.

[+isuquinndog]

You really don't need a TB to track your caches. Geocach.com does it for you. Just go to your profile and see all your activity right away.

There is no mileage accumulated that way. TB will keep track of that.

[+weathernowcast]

You really don't need a TB to track your caches. Geocach.com does it for you. Just go to your profile and see all your activity right away.

There is no mileage accumulated that way. TB will keep track of that.

 

The GSAK software can track your total mileage without all th edata entry on your part.