Missing trackables

[+cazayoux]

Over the past year I have noticed a severe lack of trackables in geocaches that show trackables in it's inventory. I estimate that 80% of trackables that are supposed to be in geocaches are not there. It is not that they were recently picked up and the person that picked it up just hasn't logged it. These trackables have been in the geocaches inventory usually well over a month. Most of my trackables have gone missing. I have recently released 10 trackables and hope that they survive. One of them is already missing. All of my trackables that I purchase, I keep in my inventory for fear of them meeting the same fate and only allow them to be discovered.

My question: Has missing trackables become an epidemic?

My solution: Only allow trackables to be moved by premium members through premium member only geocaches.

( I noticed that when one of my trackables went missing, the last person to have it usually had less than 100 finds)

[+NanCycle]

Over the past year I have noticed a severe lack of trackables in geocaches that show trackables in it's inventory. I estimate that 80% of trackables that are supposed to be in geocaches are not there. It is not that they were recently picked up and the person that picked it up just hasn't logged it. These trackables have been in the geocaches inventory usually well over a month. Most of my trackables have gone missing. I have recently released 10 trackables and hope that they survive. One of them is already missing. All of my trackables that I purchase, I keep in my inventory for fear of them meeting the same fate and only allow them to be discovered.

My question: Has missing trackables become an epidemic?

My solution: Only allow trackables to be moved by premium members through premium member only geocaches.

( I noticed that when one of my trackables went missing, the last person to have it usually had less than 100 finds)

 

"All of my trackables that I purchase, I keep in my inventory for fear of them meeting the same fate and only allow them to be discovered."

Where's the adventure in that?

 

"My question: Has missing trackables become an epidemic?"

'Fraid so.

 

"My solution: Only allow trackables to be moved by premium members through premium member only geocaches."

You can't control this.

 

"I noticed that when one of my trackables went missing, the last person to have it usually had less than 100 finds"

Yep, usually way less; like, "My very first cache find--this is so much fun." And they're never heard from again.

[7rxc]

If you keep them in your inventory, you don't release them... but keep them with you at home...

 

Once you put them in a cache they are 'out there' to be moved, the only option you have is collectible/non collectible which has nothing to do with people moving them or even collecting them... it only moves them on and off your 'drop list' as I understand it.

This is being further clarified by the system. But it offers them NO protection at all... it's just a convenience for you. They still show on your 'inventory' of owned trackables... different from your 'inventory' of held / moved trackables.

 

Doug 7rxc

[-Hitman-]

IVE nothice on ebay. they offer display books that let you show off the coins that you have found. i dont understant that. isnt the purpose of the coin to watch it move from place to place. they cant move if people are collecting them. Or can we collect them? Some insite to this would be great.

[+cazayoux]

IVE nothice on ebay. they offer display books that let you show off the coins that you have found. i dont understant that. isnt the purpose of the coin to watch it move from place to place. they cant move if people are collecting them. Or can we collect them? Some insite to this would be great.

I have a book like that with about 30 coins that I have purchased and activated. I take the book with me to events so that other people attending the event can "discover" them. That way I can keep them in my possession. I also have some special coins that I will "dip" into geocaches that I have found. For instance, I have a first to find (FTF) geocoin. Every geocache where I am the FTF, I will "dip" the coin in and out of the geocache with my log. That way my FTF geocoin visits every one of my FTF geocaches. You can do this with travel bugs as well. We have turned our geocaching back pack into a travel bug. Fellow geocachers that we run into on the trail can discover it, but it stays with us instead of traveling on its own.

[+magkirk]

I too have noticed a severe lack of trackables in caches where they are supposed to be. I've begun posting a note on the TB/coin page to let the owner know it's missing from the cache. Some people mark the TB/coin missing and some people have actually thanked me for posting a note. That has led to some pleasant emailing back and forth so it was worth doing for that reason alone. After reading some other threads here, I think I will start noting that some TB's are missing on the cache page so maybe the cache owner will mark them missing if they clearly are. I had not known the cache owner could do that until I read it here.

[+ApanAnn]

After playing around with BookCrossing I'm very pleased with the found rate and log rate of trackables. I guess I'm used to releasing items into the wild without knowing if they'll ever be heard from again. Sure, the cost of a BC-bookplate is peanuts compared to a bug-tag so there's less economical risk involved I suppose.

[+Jagski]

I too have noticed a severe lack of trackables in caches where they are supposed to be. I've begun posting a note on the TB/coin page to let the owner know it's missing from the cache. Some people mark the TB/coin missing and some people have actually thanked me for posting a note. That has led to some pleasant emailing back and forth so it was worth doing for that reason alone. After reading some other threads here, I think I will start noting that some TB's are missing on the cache page so maybe the cache owner will mark them missing if they clearly are. I had not known the cache owner could do that until I read it here.

 

I have had the same experience. I've emailed lots of TB owners about not seeing their TB in caches I've found and they were happy someone let them know. I have my own TBs out there and 3 are gone, missing in the world...one in Denmark. That's a bummer but one TB of mine I noticed hadn't been moved in almost 2 years, so I checked the cache that it was supposedly in. It was a Beanie Baby Glow Worm. I posted a note to ask if the next person to log the cache noticed it there. The owner quickly replied to me and told me his cache was a bison tube and no TB would fit in it. I was mad! I promptly emailed the cacher that dropped it there and he replied that the cache had been muggled he thought....I replied that the cache was a bison tube, way too small to fit my TB in....needless to say he never replied to me. I don't like it when people are thoughtless like that. So I followed up with releasing a new TB: a Sherlock Holmes Troll doll and its mission is to go out into the world to search for my missing TBs. Yes, that is just a little humor but what else could I do?

[+GrateBear]

I've only had one trackable, which was one that I found that hadn't been registered. It had a short life-span of less than a year. On 10/3/08 it was left in a cache. On 10/4/08, a cacher noted that they ran into Holiday Boys at the cache, but no mention of the coin. On 10/17, Holiday Boys logged the cache as a find. Holiday Boys geocaching career started on 9/19/08 and apparently ended on 10/28/08 with a grand total of 17 finds. I suspect this former cacher took the coin and it is now in the bottom of a junk drawer.

At least it didn't cost me anything.

[7rxc]

I have had the same experience. I've emailed lots of TB owners about not seeing their TB in caches I've found and they were happy someone let them know. I have my own TBs out there and 3 are gone, missing in the world...one in Denmark. That's a bummer but one TB of mine I noticed hadn't been moved in almost 2 years, so I checked the cache that it was supposedly in. It was a Beanie Baby Glow Worm. I posted a note to ask if the next person to log the cache noticed it there. The owner quickly replied to me and told me his cache was a bison tube and no TB would fit in it. I was mad! I promptly emailed the cacher that dropped it there and he replied that the cache had been muggled he thought....I replied that the cache was a bison tube, way too small to fit my TB in....needless to say he never replied to me. I don't like it when people are thoughtless like that. So I followed up with releasing a new TB: a Sherlock Holmes Troll doll and its mission is to go out into the world to search for my missing TBs. Yes, that is just a little humor but what else could I do?

 

I'm left wondering if perhaps the cache ID might have been a typographic error... it's easy to do. (Giving the benefit of a doubt).

All it takes is one character to be off by one letter/number. I came across one while looking for a missing TB online here.

The chap who was moving that TB seems to cache mostly in France, maybe a bit of the rest of Europe as well... However I found an interesting log (not about a TB) that had a photo of a micro cache in camo, taken at what looks like a street cafe in France... but the whole thing was logged on a cache in the Texas bushland. I never did find the cafe cache listing though... there are lots of combinations that could be in error. So yours might be somewhere waiting to be found... or not!

 

Edit: I just came back from some log reading... the ones from 2009/08/20 to 2009/09/08 (Y/M/D) say a lot. The container went missing... apparently under duress!

It may be a bison now, although they talk about tupperware as opposed to altoids cans. Still might be a typo. The placer doesn't sound either inexperienced or hostile. Still something happened and I wonder about how big the container was on the placement date.

That would be some sort of indicator since that traveller looked quite large.

 

Doug 7rxc

Edited March 25, 2011 by 7rxc

[+ipzld]

Are there "caching rules of etiquette" that 'govern' when/if a TB owner should mark a missing TB officially missing? I have several special (to me) TB's and coins in the game, several of which are currently MIA. One in particular has been missing for about a year. A cacher who dropped it in its last known location was kind enough to email me when they read a log stating the TB wasn't in the cache. They even went back out to the cache they'd dropped it in to be sure it really wasn't there. I've recently received another email from them suggesting that I need to officially mark it missing. Any protocol or rule of thumb I should be following?

[+The Blorenges]

Are there "caching rules of etiquette" that 'govern' when/if a TB owner should mark a missing TB officially missing? I have several special (to me) TB's and coins in the game, several of which are currently MIA. One in particular has been missing for about a year. A cacher who dropped it in its last known location was kind enough to email me when they read a log stating the TB wasn't in the cache. They even went back out to the cache they'd dropped it in to be sure it really wasn't there. I've recently received another email from them suggesting that I need to officially mark it missing. Any protocol or rule of thumb I should be following?

 

There isn't any rule but if you know that your trackable is definitely not in the cache (and it hasn't been in there for a month or more*) it would be sensible to mark it as missing. Doing so will remove it from the cache inventory. Alternatively, the cache owner themselves could mark it as missing.

 

Marking your trackable as "Missing" doesn't kill it off for ever - if it mysteriously turns up again a year later, 500 miles away, the finder can bring it back into the game by using its tracking number to start logging it once more.

 

MrsB

 

*You have to leave time for forgetful geocachers to discover your trackable at the bottom of their caching bag and finally get round to logging it. If they haven't got round to it after a month then I think it qualifies as being temporarily missing at least!

[+Jagski]

I usually give the one that placed my TB the benefit of the doubt and just send an email to see if perhaps they placed it in a different cache. They usually reply and it's not hostile by any means. I'm not upset or anything, but I just want to be sure to mark the item missing so no one else thinks they are finding a TB in that cache. I think it's fun to send out TBs to see where they go, and if they don't come back, well, that's just the way it is. No harm done (except for a cache being muggled of course).

[+Is_907]

Just adding to the conversation a bit of the same...

I'm a new cacher and really wanted to find a TB or coin while I'm up here in New Jersey to take back home to Texas (good number of miles!)

Last night I tracked down two caches that said had TBs. After dinner with an old friend, we went out to find those caches. Turns out the TBs were missing in both =/

 

While it was disappointing, especially since one had no finds logged since the TB was logged as dropped into the cache, it is the nature of the Trackable-game.

 

My personal solution? I'm going to buy a batch of trackables and release them so I can (hopefully) fill the gap of missing TBs and coins. If they disappear, I can't care too much. I have more important things to worry about... like finding the next cache...

[+magkirk]

Yes, I realized right away too that sometimes the trackables listed were in the cache but most of the time they weren't. I don't bother to look and see if there are any listed in any of the caches we intend to find on a particular day. Either I find one or I don't but it's fun when I do. It's a great idea to add to the supply of trackables out there, especially if it's not going to bother you when they go missing. I do think, though, that posting notes to the bug owner and in your log so the cache owner can mark them missing is a good thing to do. If more people did it, the info would be more accurate.

[+jmw61]

It's weired how some disappear almost immediately and some never do. I have one in my inventory now that I just picked last thursday that's travelled over 40,000 miles since 2004. It's basically a piece of cardboard too.

[+Papa Chanoli]

This being my first forum post, I came to the forum looking for a creative way to remedy the fact that I am one of the guilty parties. I found a TB a couple of years ago with my little one who proved to be too young to really enjoy geocaching yet. We recently picked up the hobby together again and when I logged in I realized I had forgotten and lost a geocoin in my inventory. I posted a log and wrote to the owner apologizing and offering to buy him a new one or make amends somehow, but he has apparently dropped geocaching for the time being. I have kept the TB in my website inventory in case I run across the coin and can put it back into the wild.

 

I'm inserting the post here for no real reason other than to say that I have gone looking for TB's with my son and the first three caches we've looked at had no TB though it was listed on the inventory. I think the idea of posting a log on the TB page is good. At least it gives people hunting for TB's notice that it isn't really in the cache.

 

I would hate to think that this idea would eliminate my own ability to log bugs, but maybe some sort of geocacher rating system would help. Maybe TB owners could have the ability to rate geocachers and negative ratings could suspend the cachers ability to log TB's. This idea seems problematic for a number of reasons. It would be hard to administer and may breed hostility in a cacher. I can almost imagine some cacher going out and taking TBs out of circulation to be vindictive. The concept is definitely flawed but maybe this is the seed of a better idea.

 

I hope this post is somehow helpful to the problem. I hate the fact that I am one of the guilty cachers.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Just adding to the conversation a bit of the same...

I'm a new cacher and really wanted to find a TB or coin while I'm up here in New Jersey to take back home to Texas (good number of miles!)

Last night I tracked down two caches that said had TBs. After dinner with an old friend, we went out to find those caches. Turns out the TBs were missing in both =/

 

While it was disappointing, especially since one had no finds logged since the TB was logged as dropped into the cache, it is the nature of the Trackable-game.

 

My personal solution? I'm going to buy a batch of trackables and release them so I can (hopefully) fill the gap of missing TBs and coins. If they disappear, I can't care too much. I have more important things to worry about... like finding the next cache...

 

When you are looking (online) at caches that display a traveler in the inventory, you are best served if you also look at the traveler page too! One that has been "in" the cache for a year or more, well... good bet it isn't there at all! You could even slim that down to 6 - 9 months, if you want.

 

NOW, when you do find a discrepancy as above, do SOMETHING about it, instead of just letting it languish as most others do. Mention that the traveler (by name) is not in the cache. Then, go to the traveler page and log a note saying the same thing.

Either the CO or traveler owner can remove it from the cache inventory, but it needs to be verified that it isn't there. YOU are the verification. The CO receives the log email, the traveler owner receives a traveler note log. It's all part of the game, and we all have to do it (you can see what happens when only some do it).

[+Chokecherry]

Are there "caching rules of etiquette" that 'govern' when/if a TB owner should mark a missing TB officially missing? I have several special (to me) TB's and coins in the game, several of which are currently MIA. One in particular has been missing for about a year. A cacher who dropped it in its last known location was kind enough to email me when they read a log stating the TB wasn't in the cache. They even went back out to the cache they'd dropped it in to be sure it really wasn't there. I've recently received another email from them suggesting that I need to officially mark it missing. Any protocol or rule of thumb I should be following?

 

There isn't any rule but if you know that your trackable is definitely not in the cache (and it hasn't been in there for a month or more*) it would be sensible to mark it as missing. Doing so will remove it from the cache inventory. Alternatively, the cache owner themselves could mark it as missing.

 

Marking your trackable as "Missing" doesn't kill it off for ever - if it mysteriously turns up again a year later, 500 miles away, the finder can bring it back into the game by using its tracking number to start logging it once more.

 

MrsB

 

*You have to leave time for forgetful geocachers to discover your trackable at the bottom of their caching bag and finally get round to logging it. If they haven't got round to it after a month then I think it qualifies as being temporarily missing at least!

 

I would probably give more than a month in the winter months. I had a trackable for over a month that I just dropped today. Between snow and ice issues I wasn't able to get it into any cache.

[+The Blorenges]

Are there "caching rules of etiquette" that 'govern' when/if a TB owner should mark a missing TB officially missing? I have several special (to me) TB's and coins in the game, several of which are currently MIA. One in particular has been missing for about a year. A cacher who dropped it in its last known location was kind enough to email me when they read a log stating the TB wasn't in the cache. They even went back out to the cache they'd dropped it in to be sure it really wasn't there. I've recently received another email from them suggesting that I need to officially mark it missing. Any protocol or rule of thumb I should be following?

 

There isn't any rule but if you know that your trackable is definitely not in the cache (and it hasn't been in there for a month or more*) it would be sensible to mark it as missing. Doing so will remove it from the cache inventory. Alternatively, the cache owner themselves could mark it as missing.

 

Marking your trackable as "Missing" doesn't kill it off for ever - if it mysteriously turns up again a year later, 500 miles away, the finder can bring it back into the game by using its tracking number to start logging it once more.

 

MrsB

 

*You have to leave time for forgetful geocachers to discover your trackable at the bottom of their caching bag and finally get round to logging it. If they haven't got round to it after a month then I think it qualifies as being temporarily missing at least!

 

I would probably give more than a month in the winter months. I had a trackable for over a month that I just dropped today. Between snow and ice issues I wasn't able to get it into any cache.

 

Yeah... I meant a trackable that's still showing in a cache inventory but hasn't been physically in the cache for a month or more. I guess that although you had that trackable for more than a month you had logged it out of the cache you retrieved it from, so the owner knew where it was?

 

MrsB

[+Chokecherry]

Are there "caching rules of etiquette" that 'govern' when/if a TB owner should mark a missing TB officially missing? I have several special (to me) TB's and coins in the game, several of which are currently MIA. One in particular has been missing for about a year. A cacher who dropped it in its last known location was kind enough to email me when they read a log stating the TB wasn't in the cache. They even went back out to the cache they'd dropped it in to be sure it really wasn't there. I've recently received another email from them suggesting that I need to officially mark it missing. Any protocol or rule of thumb I should be following?

 

There isn't any rule but if you know that your trackable is definitely not in the cache (and it hasn't been in there for a month or more*) it would be sensible to mark it as missing. Doing so will remove it from the cache inventory. Alternatively, the cache owner themselves could mark it as missing.

 

Marking your trackable as "Missing" doesn't kill it off for ever - if it mysteriously turns up again a year later, 500 miles away, the finder can bring it back into the game by using its tracking number to start logging it once more.

 

MrsB

 

*You have to leave time for forgetful geocachers to discover your trackable at the bottom of their caching bag and finally get round to logging it. If they haven't got round to it after a month then I think it qualifies as being temporarily missing at least!

 

I would probably give more than a month in the winter months. I had a trackable for over a month that I just dropped today. Between snow and ice issues I wasn't able to get it into any cache.

 

Yeah... I meant a trackable that's still showing in a cache inventory but hasn't been physically in the cache for a month or more. I guess that although you had that trackable for more than a month you had logged it out of the cache you retrieved it from, so the owner knew where it was?

 

MrsB

 

And I left a note after a couple unsuccessful attempts too. Finally dropped it today. My friend was holding a trackable for the same reason with the plan to drop it this weekend and the owner of the trackable marked it missing even though it's in my friend's inventory. That bugged him a little bit.

[GeoCop99]

travel bug #TB3EW8V is missing last found by a axeman95 over three months ago and has not came up as dropped in any other location. Is this guy not following the rules or what dont let another one be lost

Edited April 5, 2011 by Eartha
remove tracking number, insert reference number

[+Eartha]

travel bug #TB3EW8V is missing last found by a axeman95 over three months ago and has not came up as dropped in any other location. Is this guy not following the rules or what dont let another one be lost

 

Three months really isn't that long in some parts of the country. Winter has been pretty harsh this year for a lot of people. If you feel you must email them, keep it as nice as you possibly can. Please read the pinned thread called "Snoogan's Longevity Clinic".

 

As for the guy holding it, he hasn't logged in since December. He has not logged a single cache. The only thing he has logged is picking up your travel bug, so not me we can do as far as research goes. Just have patience, set your expectations very low, and if it stays missing for a very very long time (like a year) you can release the copy tag, just don't delete anyone's logs on the page, but feel free to edit the page, to reflect the fact that it's a new bug. But now is too soon to release the copy. Travel bugs have come back from the dead years later, MANY times. If you release the copy, and the original comes back, try to call one of them home, by having the holder mail it to you. You could offer to send them a self addressed stamped padded mailer to send it back in.

 

Edit to add: Don't post the tracking number in public places. I took it out of your post, and put the reference number in its place.

Edited April 5, 2011 by Eartha
additional info

[+Ghostryder1972]

Today, I found (14) caches and one of them in particular (GCVV3R) Michigan J. Frog stated it had (7) trackables. When I found the cache there was nothing. As a matter of fact, someone had dropped a TB on 4/29/11, and on 5/15/11 someone logged a find. they must have taken the TB and not logged it.

 

Ive been thinking of releasing some TB's but am wary.

 

Dave

[+hobohemians]

I'm rather curious about the disappearance of items...

 

is it more things like coins? or just anything?

 

i am a maker at heart and want to make a series of metal robots to release, but i'm wondering, do unique items stand a better chance of living than something seen as "collectable". I realize this is not really an easy thing to track, but i'm curious about possible trends. does it seem certain cashes loose more items than others, are ones in well trafficed caches more or less likely to be pilfered.

 

ultimately i like everyone else would like my items to succeed, and i realize it isn't the end of the world if they don't but would like to try and hedge my bet if possible.

[+hobohemians]

I'm rather curious about the disappearance of items...

 

is it more things like coins? or just anything?

 

i am a maker at heart and want to make a series of metal robots to release, but i'm wondering, do unique items stand a better chance of living than something seen as "collectable". I realize this is not really an easy thing to track, but i'm curious about possible trends. does it seem certain cashes loose more items than others, are ones in well trafficed caches more or less likely to be pilfered.

 

ultimately i like everyone else would like my items to succeed, and i realize it isn't the end of the world if they don't but would like to try and hedge my bet if possible.

[+BlueDeuce]

Snoogans' TB longevity strategy #1. Drill a great big friggin hole in it to eliminate any collectable qualities of your TB.

 

While people suggest site development to hide the traveler from being listed on the cache page, or cache page stats to rate the best (or worst) places to put your coin, or ban people who won't respond to emails, all of them still miss the fundamental fact that you don't release anything you don't want to lose.

 

Translated, that means if you want your bug to keep going - Don't release anything that someone might want to keep.

 

Put your effort into the goal/mission and skip the trinket. I'm going to give your bug more effort if I find the mission worth trying for, not because it's cute or cool.

[+BlueDeuce]

i am a maker at heart and want to make a series of metal robots to release,

 

You know, what you should do is make signature items that you want people to collect. A pared down version if you need. Cool items like that will make you very popular in your community.

 

If that matters.

Edited May 30, 2011 by BlueDeuce

[+clivecops]

i have bought and put out there 4 TB/TC and 3 are now missing ............. i wont be buying anymore

[+BlueDeuce]

i have bought and put out there 4 TB/TC and 3 are now missing ............. i wont be buying anymore

 

After your bugs been missing for a year you can re-release it. Any plans on doing that?

[+clivecops]

didnt know i could ?

[+The Blorenges]

didnt know i could ?

 

Yes, you can, as BlueDeuce suggests.

 

Travel Bugs never really die, you can resurrect them after they've been missing for a year. (A year is the recommended period of "mourning" to be fairly certain they've really gone... although TBs do sometimes become active again after a year+ of dormancy.)

 

You can release the same/a similar item/a completely different item using the Copy TB tag (if one was supplied). If it's one of the trackable tags and there was no Copy tag provided then you can make a new tag yourself on laminated card or metal. Make sure it has "Trackable at geocaching.com" on it as well as the tracking number. You can edit all the details on the TB page, changing the name, photograph and mission but please don't delete the logs from those who logged the TB in its original form. That history should remain on the TB's home page.

 

MrsB

[+Eartha]

If you re-release it as a copy, and the other one shows up, one of them has to come home. You can't have more than one item traveling on one tracking number.