What would you do ...

[+KristenSh]

What would you do if, say, you found there's a geocoin hotel type cache nearby, and you wanted to check it out, but beforehand you looked at the coin missions to see which ones you could best help (thanks to a tip I read here someplace) ... and you discovered that the cache ownere wrote a "Take one, Leave one" rule for the cache and none of the poor coins (about half a dozen) have moved since the middle of last year? Folks have visited and dipped their own coins into the cache during that time, but it doesn't appear that many have been moved at all.

 

I don't happen to have any moving coins on me at the time, and I am pretty sure that cache owners aren't supposed to set that sort of rule. We'll be (hopefully) attending a big geo-event later in the month. I am SO tempted to go rescue the poor coins, take them with us, and distribute them (with mission printouts) to anyone who wants to pass them along.

 

On the other hand, I figure if I do that, I'll tick off the cache owner.

 

If they were your travellers, would you want a grand rescue staged? Or is there a better middle ground that I'm overlooking somehow?

 

Thanks for any advice!

[+MoonCatKDT & Peanut]

Trackables are meant to travel- not sit around in a TB prison. If I were you i'd rescue them.

 

Keep in mind that all those coins may not actually be in the cache. I've been to a TB hotel will 13 listed coins, and none were in the actual cache.

[+KristenSh]

True, that may be what's happened. Which I guess would technically be worse. I will definitely have to take a look myself at some point.

[+TeamEccs21]

WE once had a coin trapped in a prison where you had to solve some puzzles to get the combination to unlock the cache. It was stuck there for over a year until some kind sole took the time to solve the combination and release all the trapped travelers. If I find a coin or TB in a cache and can help it on its way I'll usually grab it regardless of if I can leave another.

I say go ahead and move the travelers, they are not swag and do not need to be traded for.

[+Fianccetto]

If it were a cache in an area I wanted to go to anyway, I would check each TB page and if I could help any of them, I'd take them and move them on, asap.

 

You are not allowed to publish new caches with that 'one for one' rule anymore, and even for these old ones that still do, it can only be a request, not a demand.

[+OshnDoc]

It is against geocaching rules to even impose such a rule on any cache even worse to enforce this rule.

There is nothing that can or should stop you from moving all of the coins at the same time out of that cache into other caches.

If one of my coins would be in the cache I would commend you for saving it.

 

If the cache owner wants coins to be displayed in his cache, he can purchase and display his own coins there, instead of keeping other peoples property locked in that cache

 

My humble opinion: Go do a good deed and safe the coins and let them go free of such a "prison".

[+KristenSh]

Thanks for the validation! I'll wait till closer to our departure date, and then see if I can find it. And as for my concern about ticking off the cache owner ... if it wasn't a prominent and prolific cacher in the area, I wouldn't fret, but I don't want to set off a ruckus. I'm finally breaking out of my shell and making some friends in the caching community, and I kinda like that.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Please set them free. These are TB/Coin prisons, not hotels.

 

For more feedback search using the term "prison" or some combination of "TB prison" and you'll see the majority of people (including Groundspeak) agree.

[+OshnDoc]

Thanks for the validation! I'll wait till closer to our departure date, and then see if I can find it. And as for my concern about ticking off the cache owner ... if it wasn't a prominent and prolific cacher in the area, I wouldn't fret, but I don't want to set off a ruckus. I'm finally breaking out of my shell and making some friends in the caching community, and I kinda like that.

 

If this cacher is so prominent, he or she should know the rules of the community and respect them.

[+KristenSh]

Good point ... thanks.

[+manu luq]

Last week I found one of these "hotels" where it says "take one and leave one. "

Some coins were not in the list, others were not in the cache. That is, a disaster.

 

Rescued half of which contained, I signed the logbook, and wrote that the GCs, TBs, and other trackable, are not objects of exchange.

 

It seems that some people don't even know the most basic rules of geocaching.

 

Should have released all the coins, leaving empty the prison.

 

Edited: I think that should not be allowed these "hotels. "

Edited May 13, 2011 by manu luq

[+G & C]

I'm going to bet you that the first poster is correct, and that those travelers that have been there since the middle of last year are probably not there at all.

[+Jackalgirl]

A good TB hotel doesn't need a "take one/leave one" rule. It gathers up bugs automatically due to its good location and other good cache qualities. If TBs aren't collecting there naturally, the owner should consider the cache's size, location, security etc., before attempting to set a rule (that he or she can't set, anyway).

 

I'll chime in and say: clear it out. Especially of the bugs that have been there for that long. Get them moving; their owners will thank you!

[+mpilchfamily]

So what if you make the CO mad. I say go and take every TB from it and move them to caches where they have a better chance of moving along. Weather it puts those TBs closer to there goal or not. Free those poor prisoners.

[+Blueflashlight]

I agree with everyone else here. First of all, I would bet there are no trackables in this cache in the first place. If there are, they deserve to be set free and sent along on their journeys.