Reasonable time for logging?

[+katster]

Hey guys, got another newbie question that I'd love to get a consensus on.

 

What's considered reasonable and timely in regards to submitting logs to the web site? Does your answer change if it's an FTF log?

 

I'm curious because I generally strive for a 24 hour turnaround where possible, but I was told that wasn't fast enough. (And yeah, it involved an FTF, which I suspect means that what I was told is probably a bit irrational.)

 

Thanks in advance.

 

-kat

[ao318]

Basically, log when you can. If it is a FTF, log when you can. With FTF's you have a group of people out there that try very hard to get these. If they see a found on it they will not attempt it. So, you are probably getting some flack from a FTF hound who feels as though you wasted their time in making them go out and go caching when they probably wouldn't have.

 

For me, I don't care how you log. If I was gonna go for it I'm gonna go for it. There are some people that will delay their FTF log on purpose to get others to hunt for it and see how many people looked for it after them, I would not do this personally and from what I read doesn't appear to be what you are doing. Just log them as soon as practical for you.

 

Good luck

 

edited for spelling and to add:

 

I see you are near me. I know who some of our local FTF hounds are and they are very competitive. Yet my answer is still the same, "Log when you can, it's just a game."

Edited May 2, 2010 by ao318

[jholly]

When I did the FTF thing I generally got them at the start of a caching day and would not log until later that evening. My FTF log was several logs after the first electronic log. The electronic log is not what determines the FTF bragging rights, an empty logbook does, besides GC.com does not track such things. As for what is reasonable? I've had logs as much as 6 to 8 months after the fact.

[+Bear and Ragged]

I try to log by the end of the day, or if it's been a long day, the next morning...

However, if you're away from home/internet access -such as on holiday- it can be later.

 

Went on a 2 week holiday to Scotland. The caches were logged the day after I got home.

 

If the FTF hounds get upset that life/the Universe/everything get in the way of you logging immediately you find a cache -tough! That's their problem!

 

(But I don't encourage deliberately holding back logging your FTF's)

[+Chokecherry]

THere are some people who never log online as well...

[+Harry Dolphin]

If I go on a trip, I log the caches found, when I get back. Unless my sister is along with her wifi. Then we log everyday, unless we're at that cheap mmotel in Carlisle that claims to have wifi, but it doesn't work... Except, of course for caches requiring or requesting photos. Those we log when we have photo uploading abilities.

Or, do you mean the cat fight between the kids? FTF didn't log until the next day. SecondToFind drove a fair distance for the FTF opportunity, and was rather miffed, to say the least. I stay away from those cat fights.

What annoys me are the people who grab TBs before I've had the opportunity to drop them. It happened on a vacation trip. At an event where the person grabbed the TB via phone, with me sitting across the table. Or when I drove the half hour home, only to find that the next cacher grabbed the TB whilst I was on the road!

Breathe deeply, and say "Oh, well." As mentioned previously, holding off loggig the FTF just to annoy other cachers is reprehensible.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

If you are caching locally to home, that day or the next (normally)...

 

If you are caching on vacation elsewhere, it depends on when you can get online... (dates of the log can be adjusted to the correct date even tho logging long after)

 

FTF has little to no bearing as it is the first in the pencil & paper log, not the online log. Aside from that, it really doesn't matter because "FTF" is not recognized as an official anything at/in geocaching.com.

[+Trav'lin Two]

Now that we upload field notes, it is usually within an hour of returning home, but in no case longer than 12 hours.

 

It makes me suspicious when someone logs a cache after 3-6 months saying they forgot to log.

[BCProspectors]

There was a topic around here somewhere where a cacher logged their find 7 years after they found the cache.

 

We log our finds when we get home from our caching trip. Once we procrastinated several months, but that only happened once.

[+Huntleigh]

Hey guys, got another newbie question that I'd love to get a consensus on.

 

What's considered reasonable and timely in regards to submitting logs to the web site? Does your answer change if it's an FTF log?

 

I'm curious because I generally strive for a 24 hour turnaround where possible, but I was told that wasn't fast enough. (And yeah, it involved an FTF, which I suspect means that what I was told is probably a bit irrational.)

 

Thanks in advance.

 

-kat

 

As others have said, as and when you can.

 

I wouldn't be the slightest bit worried if some FTFer had visited a cache he didn't "need" to do. FTF is not part of the geocaching game. It is an ancillary, nice to have.

 

If FTF becomes ascendant and the FTFer starts complaining about wasted time I would suggest they are no longer geocaching.

[+cache_us_if_you_can]

Hey guys, got another newbie question that I'd love to get a consensus on.

 

What's considered reasonable and timely in regards to submitting logs to the web site? Does your answer change if it's an FTF log?

 

I'm curious because I generally strive for a 24 hour turnaround where possible, but I was told that wasn't fast enough. (And yeah, it involved an FTF, which I suspect means that what I was told is probably a bit irrational.)

 

Thanks in advance.

 

-kat

I usually try to log my finds within 24-48 hours. If I've gone out for a FTF, I usually try to log that online as soon as I can, but sometimes even that's not possible until later in the day. The basic rule of thumb I'd follow is to just log them as soon as practical for you.

FTF is not part of the geocaching game.

It may not be an official part of the game, but it can still a part. All depends on the cacher.

[+Annie & PB]

We log our caches whenever we next get to a computer. Might be an hour, might be a day, might be a couple of weeks if we are travelling. That could include FTFs.

 

It's their problem, not your problem. You can't run your life around someone else's wish.

 

Annie

[+Fjordi]

I log my finds as soon as possible. Usually in the evenings when we go caching on weekends.

 

And if I am on holiday I note date/time and the ins/outs on some sheets and then log it when I am at home again.

[+simpjkee]

You can log when it's convenient for you. I would suggest though that you do it as soon as you can. You never know if a cache might get archived right after you find it and then you can find it on the website and such. Or you forget what day you found them. Or maybe something cool happened at the cache, but 3 or 4 days later you kinda forgot and just go with a 'TFTC' log.

 

Every night that I cache, I sit down at my computer and log all my finds of that day. I think that is the best way to go fo sho.

[+Markwell]

But if you're looking for this consensus as ammunition to delete someone's find because it was a long time ago - the answer is infinity.

 

There are those that split their accounts off from a "team" account to a single account, and the separate owners go back and "back log" their finds.

[+katster]

Hey, thanks everybody.

 

Your consensus generally seems to be mine -- as I said, I generally work on a 24 hour turnaround when I'm caching in the local area. I'm still fairly new, so I haven't made any long trips where I'm away from the computer for a few days, but that seems reasonable too.

 

I wouldn't dare hold out on logging anything just to see how many people log it after me. What's the fun in that? Same thing with firsts. It's a thrill to sign a clean logbook, I won't deny it. But you know, if I'm not first, the fun of the hunt isn't any less diminished by the fact I'm signing a log book that's been signed by others. This activity/hobby gets me out of the house and into the great big room with the blue ceiling, it's led to some fun times with my sister, and I get to see new and interesting places and meet new and interesting people.

 

Everything else is gravy.

 

I suppose that's the proper attitude.

 

-kat

Edited May 4, 2010 by katster