Trackable items

[+Cas & Crew]

I've noticed many times that a cache will indicate that it has a trackable item like a coin or bug but when I find it, it's not there. I check the log and it never shows what happened to it. Do you think muggles get them or people just don't log that they have it or don't know how to log it? Wish we could update the database so it was more current to reflect the true placement of them.

[+jennkarita]

I've noticed many times that a cache will indicate that it has a trackable item like a coin or bug but when I find it, it's not there. I check the log and it never shows what happened to it. Do you think muggles get them or people just don't log that they have it or don't know how to log it? Wish we could update the database so it was more current to reflect the true placement of them.

 

It definitely does get annoying to others expecting to find something in a cache and then there's nothing.

 

Often I think it is just people forgetting to log when they take something.

 

I was out caching with my boyfriend the other day. We found a cache and it had no trackables, and I decided to drop one in there. The last person to be at the cache was there a week prior. On the online log, they mentioned that they took the TB, but it was still in the caches inventory. In my log I posted that the previous finder took the other TB, it was not in the inventory, but the TB I just dropped was in there. By the next day, the other cacher had logged the TB as grabbed from the cache. They probably go back and look at caches they've found when other people find them like me. Things like that seem like an honest OOPS moment

 

Unfortunately, there are probably also some not so good people who like something so much they want to steal it, so they don't log it so there will be no connection to them. I really like to hope this is few and far between

[+Touchstone]

....or people just don't log that they have it or don't know how to log it?

 

Most likely, and one of a host of reasons.

 

Additional reading:

 

Trackable item listed on web page but not physically there

[+power69]

I just look at who dropped it and if someone logged a find on the cache after them i assume the trackable is not there.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I've noticed many times that a cache will indicate that it has a trackable item like a coin or bug but when I find it, it's not there. I check the log and it never shows what happened to it. Do you think muggles get them or people just don't log that they have it or don't know how to log it? Wish we could update the database so it was more current to reflect the true placement of them.

Those reasons, and also deliberate theives. There is a way to get them removed, the owner of the Cache OR the owner of the trackable can mark them missing. This will remove them from the inventory, but will do no harm to the Cache or the Trackable. In order for this to happen though, first someone has to let those two know that the Trackable is indeed missing, and also, the owners need to be aware that they can do it.

The part that each player can do is to let BOTH owners know about the missing items. Mentioning that in your Cache logs will let the Cache owner know, and posting a "Note" on the Trackables page will inform the Bug/Coin owner. You'll have to decide for yourself how much you are willing to work on that.

[+Fiver1]

I think this is a sad, sad element that has reared its head in our sport. I see this all the time. Had it happen in my cache also. I believe a lot of it is people are just taking the items and keeping them. While a small portion of them might do this out of ignorance, I think most are just thefts.

[+ADTCacheur]

You forgot two possibilities! They just took the trackable, and you saw it on the computer before they'd gotten home and logged it. Or you're using a paperless unit. You haven't updated your caches on there in a while...

[+Cas & Crew]

You forgot two possibilities! They just took the trackable, and you saw it on the computer before they'd gotten home and logged it. Or you're using a paperless unit. You haven't updated your caches on there in a while...

I don't think that's the case. Some of them I've seen have not been logged for months or years. None I have in question were ever logged as picked up. Think they just get taken and not logged because some one wants to keep them.

[+Cas & Crew]

I've noticed many times that a cache will indicate that it has a trackable item like a coin or bug but when I find it, it's not there. I check the log and it never shows what happened to it. Do you think muggles get them or people just don't log that they have it or don't know how to log it? Wish we could update the database so it was more current to reflect the true placement of them.

Those reasons, and also deliberate theives. There is a way to get them removed, the owner of the Cache OR the owner of the trackable can mark them missing. This will remove them from the inventory, but will do no harm to the Cache or the Trackable. In order for this to happen though, first someone has to let those two know that the Trackable is indeed missing, and also, the owners need to be aware that they can do it.

The part that each player can do is to let BOTH owners know about the missing items. Mentioning that in your Cache logs will let the Cache owner know, and posting a "Note" on the Trackables page will inform the Bug/Coin owner. You'll have to decide for yourself how much you are willing to work on that.

Good to know, I'll let them know. Thanks

[+RatRunCrew]

I have said this elsewhere, and will repeat it here, I picked up a TB from a new cache, and took it to a previously known 'hotel' on the same trip out. Logged the find and grab on the original cache, but discovered the previously public 'hotel' has now become a premium members cache...AND NO WAY TO LOG THE DROP.

What to do, join (my finances isnt up to it just yet) go back out and remove it..what if its already gone? I wonder if this is the norm, or if I have been exceedingly unlucky as a newcomer

Edited May 26, 2010 by Kazim1959

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I have a TB Hotel. The inventory is never accurate. It seems that folks like taking bugs but don't much care for logging them.

 

I've had several TBs disappear for years and then show up, like this one:

 

Grab It (Not from a Cache) 5/24/2010 abcthatsme grabbed Rambler's Road to Sacramento Geocoin from Visit Log

It seems it didn't make it to Sacramento on time, but it will be hitting the road again soon! It's back in the game!

 

Retrieve It from a Cache 1/14/2008 chili36 retrieved Rambler's Road to Sacramento Geocoin from I - 81 Bug Stop Tennessee Visit Log

Time for the hippie bus to move west down the highway!

No telling where it has been all that time but I'm glad abcthatsme found it and got it back on the road!

[+palmetto]

Over time there's been an accumulation of trackables logged into caches but never logged out.

 

There are cache and trackable owners who don't know to mark an item missing, or who aren't playing any more. There are novices who don't understand what a trackable is, and plenty of players who do know, but get busy and never get around to it. Smaller bugs and coins are vulnerable to ending up in the bottom of a bag, forgotten.

 

Last month I queried all caches in Florida with trackables over a year old. I gradually worked through opening every one of them, and following the links to every single trackable item.

I marked roughly half missing, I'd guess another 20% are missing, but there wasn't a single clear log to make that call.

 

I'd guess it looks like this all over, with perhaps slightly better numbers of trackables being in caches in areas with less vacation caching, and in areas where reviewers run sweeps for missing trackables.

 

I'll probably never do it again (carpal tunnel isn't appealing). Continuing to education cache owners and trackable owners to mark the items missing seems like the best idea.

 

I had a number of trackable owners contact me, quite upset that I'd "marked missing". Apparently they'd rather see the item in inventory then disappear, they seemed to think that mark missing was "giving up". Even though they understand that the item is not in the cache.

Edited May 26, 2010 by palmetto

[+palmetto]

Kazim1959, use this URL to go direct to the logging page of the cache:

 

www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?wp=GCCode

[+dorqie]

There is also the possibility that whoever picked it up is on vacation and won't have access to a computer untill they get home. This happens a lot here as people like to start their TBs in tourist areas, and by the airport or cruise ship dock. I had one of mine dissapear for a few weeks, then show up in Holland.

I have also found TBs in caches where the inventory stated there were no tbs, or that tb wasn't there. In each case I wen't back over the logs, but nobody had mentioned dropping it, so I figure it's just someone that doesn't log very often. (I wish people would always make the effort when tbs are involved, but some people dont)

[+Markwell]

I think the problem lies in the fact that "Trackables" have now become "Collectibles". People spend all this time coming up with a cool travel bug or coin design, and then they fall into the hands of someone that has something like this.

 

The original idea for any trackables was for them to TRAVEL - that's why they're called TRAVEL bugs. A long time ago, they would move from cache to cache and complete a mission. Now travel bugs and geo coins (with a tracking number) are placed in collections, hoarded for icons, and "discovered" at events (kind of a replacement for Pocket Caches*).

 

My best suggestion with regards to not finding trackable items in caches is to completely disregard any list of items on the cache page until you are logging the cache at the computer. Then, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find one in a cache.

If there's one listed in a cache that's not there, it may have been take by someone that...

A)...hasn't logged YET

B)...will never log the movement because they got out of caching

C)...will never log the movement (intentionally)

D)...will never log the movement because they were along as a friend of a cacher

 

What I would do is indicate on your log for the cache that the trackable wasn't in the cache. If you're feeling extra nice, you can log on the trackable page (notes don't require tracking number) that it wasn't in the cache. Then the owner of the cache and/or the owner of the trackable can "Mark as Missing" as they see fit.

 

 

 

 

*Pocket Cache – A pocket cache is a cache carried on one's person, usually to geocaching events. Often these are actual caches that the owner has moved from their assigned location. Since geocaching.com no longer supports Traveling Caches, and the removal of active caches can cause confusion for those seeking them in their posted location, Pocket Caches are not condoned. Using a cache in this manner may cause it to be permanently archived and locked.

[DannyCaffeine]

It could be stolen

It could be lost

It could not be logged as taken just yet

It could be computer/user error

 

Plenty of things can go wrong so I try not to expect to see TB's or coins. I try not to be negative and think people stole them because why knows for sure. No sence in blaming people lol. Who knows that the coin is not in a similarly named, or nearby cache that the trader made a mistake in logging? I think people do steal them sometimes but, I don't think it is as common as people would like to think. I am a newbie so mabey I have not seen enough to know what goes on as well as people that have been in the game for years.

Edited May 26, 2010 by DannyCaffeine