Trackable Removal Editique

[Unicorn!]

Hi I'm really new to Geocaching so what my questions here are really simple. I'm currently in a position to give some trackables a big trip but before I go scoop some up I'd like to know the following:

 

- When taking a trackable should it be replaced by another item and if so should that replacement item also be a trackable?

- If a single cache has many trackables is it ok to take all of them in one go?

 

I looked around for the answers for my questions but couldn't find anything.

 

Cheers

[+Eartha]

You never have to trade a TB for a TB, or a geocoin for a geocoin. Unless it was unactivated and left as a gift. Then you should trade up, trade even, or don't trade at all. Trackables are not swag, they are not trade items, they are game pieces, and they are meant to travel according to their goals on their pages. They are meant to be picked up, logged and moved along to travel. You do not need to trade a TB for a TB. Just move 'em right along, little doggie, move along.

[+BlueDeuce]

As long as you can assist the bug towards its goal you may take more than one.

[+Walts Hunting]

Treat it like a buffet. Take all you want. Log all you take.

[+rav_bunneh]

The rules, as I a fellow newbie, see it are:

 

1. 
    
   
2. Take it.
   
3. Log it and read the mission.
   
4. Promptly move it a step closer along its mission.
   
5. Log the new home as a 'drop off'
   

.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

The rules, as I a fellow newbie, see it are:

 

1. 
    
   
2. Take it.
   
3. Log it and read the mission.
   
4. Promptly move it a step closer along its mission.
   
5. Log the new home as a 'drop off'
   

.

Really, would be best served to have the "read the mission" as #1....

 

Saw a TB the other day from Alberta (I believe), mission was to travel to China. It made it to Hawaii and the next cacher picked it up and took it to Virgina. Duh..........

[+rav_bunneh]

 

Really, would be best served to have the "read the mission" as #1....

 

Saw a TB the other day from Alberta (I believe), mission was to travel to China. It made it to Hawaii and the next cacher picked it up and took it to Virgina. Duh..........

 

I've seen a LOT of TBs that don't have the mission on the item itself. Since I don't have an iphone or net access while geocaching I can't make "Read the mission" #1. Yes, there are some trackables with little laminated rules on them. In those cases by all means go and read the rules. If some person has net access while caching then feel free to read the mission first. Normally, however, reading the mission first is not an option.

 

As for China; it can be reached in both directions around the globe.

[+BlueDeuce]

...

Edited April 21, 2011 by BlueDeuce

[+Eartha]

Making read the mission #1 can be hard when you are in the field, we don't all have smartphones, and carry laptops in the woods. Not all trackables are equipped with a mission tag, and not all are actually where they say they are. If there is a mission tag, by all means, read that before you take it.

[+Eartha]

Or, even if we have a smartie pants phone, it might not have reception at the cache site.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Yeah, I could have explained it a little better....

 

Read or check the mission to cause no harm (or at least as little as possible). Didn't address smartie-phones as we don't use one. Still, we check all TB pages that we pick up BEFORE we cart them (too far) in the wrong direction.

 

The point was, to get others to check rather than just scoot them willy-nilly anywhere, unless that is where the TB wishes to go.

 

I'll ignore the globe/China remark. TYVM

[+Ambient_Skater]

Didn't address smartie-phones as we don't use one. Still, we check all TB pages that we pick up BEFORE we cart them (too far) in the wrong direction.

I don't get it... if you don't use a smartphone or ruggedized laptop, how do you read these pages in the field?

[+NanCycle]

Didn't address smartie-phones as we don't use one. Still, we check all TB pages that we pick up BEFORE we cart them (too far) in the wrong direction.

I don't get it... if you don't use a smartphone or ruggedized laptop, how do you read these pages in the field?

 

They never said they read the TB pages IN THE FIELD. They didn't say they read them before they picked up the trackable. They said they read them before they took the trackables too far in the wrong direction (ie maybe at home or in the motel that evening before the next day's caching.)

[+CarolinaGeOCocks]

The rules, as I a fellow newbie, see it are:

 

1. 
    
   
2. Take it.
   
3. Log it and read the mission.
   
4. Promptly move it a step closer along its mission.
   
5. Log the new home as a 'drop off'
   

.

Really, would be best served to have the "read the mission" as #1....

 

Saw a TB the other day from Alberta (I believe), mission was to travel to China. It made it to Hawaii and the next cacher picked it up and took it to Virgina. Duh..........

 

Didn't address smartie-phones as we don't use one. Still, we check all TB pages that we pick up BEFORE we cart them (too far) in the wrong direction.

I don't get it... if you don't use a smartphone or ruggedized laptop, how do you read these pages in the field?

 

They never said they read the TB pages IN THE FIELD. They didn't say they read them before they picked up the trackable. They said they read them before they took the trackables too far in the wrong direction (ie maybe at home or in the motel that evening before the next day's caching.)

 

 

I think the confusion is coming from the idea that even taking the bug out of the current cache could be taking it too far from its original location. For example, if I live inland and were to go to our local beach for the day and I found a cache that wanted to make it to the Florida Keys, HOWEVER, I don't have a smartphone and cannot check the mission before I take it - me grabbing it will ultimately move it FURTHER from its goal. I wouldn't know its mission until I went home, so I would have no idea that I am taking it further away from its goal until I attempted to log it...at home...inland. All I can really do is log it, place it in a cache as close to the beach as I can get it, and hope someone takes it back. I think this is to be expected when you send a bug out. Especially if you send it without a laminated tag expressing its mission. And still then, these laminated tags can still fall off. Honestly, it's all part of the fun of the game pieces!

 

If you can, please read the bug goals before taking them. Sometimes this includes before you go caching (the night before, the morning of, etc). But sometimes we are in an area and have a little free time so we pull out our GPS and get going! No time to look up caches. So ultimately: Read the goals beforehand, but if you cannot, take them (because all buggies want to move!) and then follow their goals accordingly, or as best you can. If you don't have a smartphone and there is no mission tag, then there isn't much you can do if the goal is specific. Don't stress out over it. This hobby is a fun game - not something to cause stress!

 

Lastly, for those that have been caching and on the forums for a while: Keep in mind that newbies ask questions for reasons and if you create an atmosphere that causes apprehension when a question is asked, expect unfortunate caching etiquette to follow. As always, treat others as you wish to be treated, and speak to them as you'd want to be spoken to. Most mistakes are made because people simply do not know. And they aren't going to ask if they aren't welcome to do so.

 

Keep smiling, Keep caching!

[+Lieblweb]

. Does it really get that critical for people? What I mean is, do people actually get upset about their bug not going exactly where it's goal is?

 

It's a game and half the fun is moving and watching it move ( for me anyway).

 

How easy is it (or not) to search for a TB by their goal? Say for instance you're traveling out of state and want to find a bug to take with you? What are the chances of finding/searching one thats going south (for example)?

Edited April 26, 2011 by Lieblweb

[+kc9fmy]

That is why I don't plan to take any TBs or SWAG, as I never know when or where my next cache hunting would be.

[+Crow-T-Robot]

Does it really get that critical for people? What I mean is, do people actually get upset about their bug not going exactly where it's goal is?

 

I would hope not. If you have a TB that wants to go to China, is picked up in Hawaii and taken to Virginia and that causes you to pitch a fit, maybe it's time to rethink being a travelbug owner. I'm just using the example posted in this thread to illustrate my point that bugs move at random. If they just went from A to B, there wouldn't be much adventure in that.

 

I like to think of trackables as hobos. They jump aboard a train whenever they can, hoping that it is going to their destination but if not, they'll get dropped off in a new town and try again.

[+Fianccetto]

Didn't address smartie-phones as we don't use one. Still, we check all TB pages that we pick up BEFORE we cart them (too far) in the wrong direction.

I don't get it... if you don't use a smartphone or ruggedized laptop, how do you read these pages in the field?

 

They never said they read the TB pages IN THE FIELD. They didn't say they read them before they picked up the trackable. They said they read them before they took the trackables too far in the wrong direction (ie maybe at home or in the motel that evening before the next day's caching.)

 

If you are heading for a cache specifically in the hope of picking up the trackables there that you've looked at sitting at home, you could read their missions before deciding which ones to get. If someone drops more off before you get there, it's up to you. I enjoy it more to move the game pieces the way they want to go, but it's like snakes and ladders. Sometimes you're the snake, sometimes you're the ladder.