Should this be ignored?

[Celestya22]

I'm still very new to geocaching (only 40 finds), however my first step when starting was to read the intro to geocaching guides. They clearly state that travelbugs and (activated) geocoins are not trade items.

 

I've recently noticed a very active cacher in my area (many many finds, and lots of FTFs, been to many events, etc) has a habit of logging in his visits that s/he takes an item from the cache and leaves a TB or geocoin. Is this something I should just try and ignore (as the many ppl who have cached with this person have)?

It just...irks me a little. It's one thing if someone doesn't trade equal value, but to take something and leave nothing in trade just hurts the sport imo.

Any suggestions?

[knowschad]

You are correct that they should not be leaving a TB or coin as trade for swag. The swag will be depleted when the next finder takes the TB and leaves nothing.

Edited December 8, 2009 by knowschad

[+BrrrMo]

Swag is Swag! TB's and GC's do not have to be traded for.

[+cycler48]

I'm still very new to geocaching (only 40 finds), however my first step when starting was to read the intro to geocaching guides. They clearly state that travelbugs and (activated) geocoins are not trade items.

 

I've recently noticed a very active cacher in my area (many many finds, and lots of FTFs, been to many events, etc) has a habit of logging in his visits that s/he takes an item from the cache and leaves a TB or geocoin. Is this something I should just try and ignore (as the many ppl who have cached with this person have)?

It just...irks me a little. It's one thing if someone doesn't trade equal value, but to take something and leave nothing in trade just hurts the sport imo.

Any suggestions?

 

Perhaps he/she is trading an unactivated TB or geocoin?

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Ditto what has been said. We will add... don't worry about it (s)he probably isn't going to change now anyway.

[knowschad]

Perhaps he/she is trading an unactivated TB or geocoin?

Yer dreamin'!

[+larryc43230]

Perhaps he/she is trading an unactivated TB or geocoin?

Yer dreamin'!

I actually found an unactivated coin in a cache back in July. There was no note to explain why the coin had been left in the cache. I made some inquiries, but never did find out who had left it, or why. At that point, I figured I might as well activate it and send it on its way. Since then, it's found its way from here in Ohio to the state of Delaware.

 

--Larry

[+briansnat]

Any suggestions?

 

Ignore it.

[aniyn]

I had the same thing come up a while ago. In the end I decided I didn't want to be "that guy" and said nothing. After all, that means he's leaving swag for the travelers too.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I'm still very new to geocaching (only 40 finds), however my first step when starting was to read the intro to geocaching guides. They clearly state that travelbugs and (activated) geocoins are not trade items.

 

I've recently noticed a very active cacher in my area (many many finds, and lots of FTFs, been to many events, etc) has a habit of logging in his visits that s/he takes an item from the cache and leaves a TB or geocoin. Is this something I should just try and ignore (as the many ppl who have cached with this person have)?

It just...irks me a little. It's one thing if someone doesn't trade equal value, but to take something and leave nothing in trade just hurts the sport imo.

Any suggestions?

It may also be that ther ARE leaving trade items, but not stating so. I'm not going to guess if that's the case, but it could be. I don't think it's safe to assume that they leave nothing, but if that is what they do, then it's not fair to other players.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

Perhaps he/she is trading an unactivated TB or geocoin?

Yer dreamin'!

Do it all the time...Both...

I leave unactivated items, and I dream.

[+kunarion]

It just...irks me a little. It's one thing if someone doesn't trade equal value, but to take something and leave nothing in trade just hurts the sport imo.

One of my signature items is a "Trade up or even" reminder card, specifically for the people who haven't grasped the concept. But some people may place something nice and not say so, just to reduce theft, or maybe as a surprise for the next cacher.

 

I usually leave swag that’s not junk. Some of the items are collectible, and may even be much more valuable than I realize. I don’t mention such swag in the online log. If I do also take an item, I’ll parse my words so it doesn’t appear that I left nothing in trade. That’s tough to do without causing irkage. In reality, it was more a more than fair trade. But I almost never take anything anyway, except an occasional sig item.

 

I’m just glad to see there are still people who log what they’ve taken.

[Mr.Yuck]

Any suggestions?

 

Ignore it.

 

What he said. But if it's any consolation, I have noticed people doing it a handful of times, and was temporarily annoyed.

[Celestya22]

Thank you for all the replies. Yes they were activated coins/bugs s/he was leaving. I'll just ignore it and hope it doesn't discourage local cachers from making caches and having them depleted.

[+ThePetersTrio]

Perhaps he/she is trading an unactivated TB or geocoin?

Yer dreamin'!

Do it all the time...Both...

I leave unactivated items, and I dream.

 

I have done it as well, mostly as FTF prizes but sometimes just when I'm doing cache maintenance and I want to leave something fun for the next cacher.

 

That being said, if I leave an unactivated coin for swag I always include a note explaining that the coin is meant to keep but also reminding the finder that the rule is "trade up or trade even" and that if they take the coin, they should plan on paying it (the value) forward on the next cache outing.

[+flask]

back in the day there was a debate about whether or not a traveler was a trade item or not. coins were so rare that many of them weren't even considered to be travelers.

 

i belonged to the camp that held that a TB was a trade item, and should be traded for.

 

the general practice went the other way. the person to whom the OP refers may be a holdout, in which case s/he will have traded something for the TB when s/he took it, in which case there isn't any cache degradation in the long run.