The evolution of logging

[+Viajero Perdido]

I just swapped out the logbook from a cache I own, one that involves a bit of a hike. I noticed an interesting trend with the number of logs per page. This is a small pocket-size notebook.

 

2006: 1 log per page

2007: 2 logs per page

2008: 2 logs per page

2009: 3 logs per page (early 2009)

2009: 5 logs per page (later 2009)

2010: 5 logs per page

 

In 2006, we were getting a bit of a story with each find.

By 2010, we were getting basically date, nickname, TFTC.

 

So it goes...

[+Chrysalides]

I thought this is going to be something like ISBN 9529086164

 

The latest in the evolution of logging is probably this.

 

On topic, I don't bother writing too much in the logbook - I save it for the online log. Of course, these days many logs don't say much online either.

[+Chokecherry]

I sometimes write really detailed logs in micro and nano logs but the owners don't seem to like that much...

 

Truthfully... I write if there is room in the log book. Usually a personal little note. I don't write real small so I tyr to keep it short.

[Mr.Yuck]

I thought this is going to be something like ISBN 9529086164

 

The latest in the evolution of logging is probably this.

 

On topic, I don't bother writing too much in the logbook - I save it for the online log. Of course, these days many logs don't say much online either.

 

Probably because you came along after people stopped writing much in the logbook.

 

Yup, this topic has been coming up even before the first smartphone online log was ever posted. In my experience, The major trend towards name and date only in the physical log started around 2007. No, I'm not making it up, I have a logbook from a May 2004 placement that was retrieved in early 2010 right in front of me.

 

Full sized log books in regular caches in my area these days? I'd say 90%+ of the logs are name and date only. Some of those books will last 100 years.

[+mpilchfamily]

Most logs tend to be small. I prefer to save the stories and all for the online log. Isn't that what the online log is all about. Giving you the opportunity and space to relate your experience for the CO to read.

[+DanOCan]

I'm guilty of that. I tend to only write Date and Name in the physical logs now, and sometimes if I am not sure of the date I'll just put my name.

 

If the cache is at the turnaround point for a hike, or if the cache is a planned rest stop along a hike I might write a few more words while eating/drinking, otherwise it's "sign and move on".

[+briansnat]

I recently pulled an old cache with the original log book and noticed the same thing. The cache was placed in 2002 and many of early logs were a full page and even the shortest logs were a sentence or two. By about 2007 there was a change to much shorter logs and it was a pretty sudden change. Most logs were a sentence or two at most with the rare longer ones. By 2008 most logs where name and date only, and sometimes someone added a TFTC or other short note.

 

It seems the few longer logs come from long time cachers. I still write a few sentences in the paper log and I cache sometimes with newer cachers and noticed they just write their names and dates.

 

I miss it. I used to enjoy sitting at the cache and paging through the book and reading the logs. Sometimes I'd be sitting there dripping sweat and smacking mosquitos and would find it interesting to read a log from someone who found the cache in the winter and was complaining about the cold.

Edited June 8, 2011 by briansnat

[+L0ne.R]

I thought this is going to be something like ISBN 9529086164

 

The latest in the evolution of logging is probably this.

 

On topic, I don't bother writing too much in the logbook - I save it for the online log. Of course, these days many logs don't say much online either.

 

Probably because you came along after people stopped writing much in the logbook.

 

Yup, this topic has been coming up even before the first smartphone online log was ever posted. In my experience, The major trend towards name and date only in the physical log started around 2007. No, I'm not making it up, I have a logbook from a May 2004 placement that was retrieved in early 2010 right in front of me.

 

Full sized log books in regular caches in my area these days? I'd say 90%+ of the logs are name and date only. Some of those books will last 100 years.

 

I think it came with the trend towards the numbers game (sign the log quick and get on to the next cache) and the huge increase in micro hides.

 

The last 3 years I've been noticing more logsheets in regular size caches. These are caches that can easily hold a 25 cent spiral dollar store notebook, big enough for comments. The first one of these finds threw me for a loop. It was a dollar store sandwich size lock n lock. New hide but no logbook. I thought that was odd. There were no complaints from the previous couple of finders about a missing logbook. Then I checked the folded up "Congratulations you found a geocache" note. I opened it, turned it over and on the back was a printed out table with 3 columns of tiny cells for about 200 signatures. Wow. I felt let down. I was so tempted to use up about 15 cells to leave a comment but chickened out.

Edited June 8, 2011 by Lone R

[knowschad]

I have rarely seen cache logs with anything more than name and date, occasionally TFTC. I have seen a few, and I have written a few, and yes, mostly on ammo can hides after a long hike, and then, only when they had large notebooks. My logging is done online where the cache owner can still see it if the cache goes missing, I can still see it, and others can see it. Even when you do write a bit in the cache log, odds are the next finders aren't going to go back and read it, and it may be a long time, if ever, that the cache owner does.

 

That said... I do think it is cool when I see a nice story written down, and I will take time to read them.

[+ShowStop]

I still get full page logs on my remote caches. Urban caches only get 1 line per finder.

[+Lightning]

I've been away from Geocaching for about 4 years. In coming back I have noticed the trend of one line logs. Doesn't make much difference to me. I'm mostly interested as to when the cache was last visited.

 

I am disappointed in the trend towards micro-caches. I don't even bother looking for them. I don't like them and my grandkids don't like them.

[+Coldgears]

I am disappointed in the trend towards micro-caches. I don't even bother looking for them. I don't like them and my grandkids don't like them.

If you don't like swag it doesn't matter to you what size the cache is.

[+geocat_]

I wish I was able to say I have fond memories from the "good ol' geocaching days" where people wrote in log books, hid ammo boxes in cool places in forests, and didn't just log "TFTC" from their iPhones.

[+Chokecherry]

I had to sit and think about the log books I've paged through when the bugs aren't eating me alive (which is the biggest problem for me and writing longer things in the log books).

 

The caches where there are still log books I've found still have stuff written in the log books from finders. Usually not a novel but at least a few lines. In the more memorable caches with large enough books I usually drop a thought or two that I don't necessarily want in the online log. Seems from what I can think a bunch of people still do that on the caches I've found that have the log book and not log sheet.

 

The more interesting thing to me is that I tend to find some lengthly if not humorous notes from muggles in those caches who never log online. I think I enjoy the random findings of other people. Sat a buggy cache by a camp site not long ago reading about anniversaries and honeymoons there. New babies, children and vacations. Tons of muggle logs.

[+Coldgears]

The more interesting thing to me is that I tend to find some lengthly if not humorous notes from muggles in those caches who never log online. I think I enjoy the random findings of other people. Sat a buggy cache by a camp site not long ago reading about anniversaries and honeymoons there. New babies, children and vacations. Tons of muggle logs.

I love them too, very common with the blatantly obvious caches in the cities. Surprisingly, there are a number of muggles who wont "muggle" a cache.

[+BaylorGrad]

When I come across a cache that has (1) a large enough logbook--as in, a 3x5 inch notepad or larger, and (2) contains other logs that have written notes, I will always leave a nice paragraph. I have noticed this drop-off in length as well (just by looking at the first pages of some logs), and so I make an effort to bring the words back.

[mtbikernate]

I've encountered a lot of poor-quality logbooks in my area that are damp enough to make writing a full sentence a chore, but dry enough to scrawl a name. And those are the better ones - I've found too many around here that are just too wet to sign period.

 

But, if the logbook is in good shape and it's at least a little book (not a sheet of paper with grids that aren't even big enough for me to sign/date most of the time), I will write something, and the length of what I write will be fairly commensurate with the size of the book.

 

I try to leave good quality logbooks in my caches that are made from waterproof paper, and I will use the largest size that realistically fits in the cache to allow people to write as much as possible.

[AZcachemeister]

Mostly I see this as a repercussion of the urban micro.

No room in the log to wax eloquent, save it for the online log (assuming the cache has any redeeming qualities anyway). Pretty soon you only sign your name and the date on every cache you find as a reflex action.

 

This also correlates to the (reported) lack of good trading practices, since micros and nanos seldom have any trades (or probably nothing worthwhile). After finding a boatload of micros, your trading etiquette becomes stifled and atrophied...there is a good chance you will not trade fairly if you should encounter a regular size cache.

[Mr.Yuck]

I wish I was able to say I have fond memories from the "good ol' geocaching days" where people wrote in log books, hid ammo boxes in cool places in forests, and didn't just log "TFTC" from their iPhones.

 

Just so you know though, we're not grumpy, and we're not just imagining this. People would actually sit on a rock and write a paragraph in your logbook for an ammo box in the woods. And even though this ammo box cache of mine is less than a year old, I certainly never received 4 "TFTC" or emoticon online cache logs in less than a month on any of the other ones.

[+L0ne.R]

I am disappointed in the trend towards micro-caches. I don't even bother looking for them. I don't like them and my grandkids don't like them.

If you don't like swag it doesn't matter to you what size the cache is.

 

And if you do like swag it does matter what size the cache is.

 

If a CO hides a swag size cache he appeals to the greater audience - everyone - both the people who like swag and the people who could care less about swag.

[+L0ne.R]

I wish I was able to say I have fond memories from the "good ol' geocaching days" where people wrote in log books, hid ammo boxes in cool places in forests, and didn't just log "TFTC" from their iPhones.

 

Just so you know though, we're not grumpy, and we're not just imagining this. People would actually sit on a rock and write a paragraph in your logbook for an ammo box in the woods. And even though this ammo box cache of mine is less than a year old, I certainly never received 4 "TFTC" or emoticon online cache logs in less than a month on any of the other ones.

 

You can see our Arboretum Letterbox Hybrid logbook for examples of how people wrote in the olden golden days. Here are a couple pages:

 

Notice the little arrow at the bottom - they even used a 2nd page to continue writing.

 

[+L0ne.R]

The more interesting thing to me is that I tend to find some lengthly if not humorous notes from muggles in those caches who never log online. I think I enjoy the random findings of other people. Sat a buggy cache by a camp site not long ago reading about anniversaries and honeymoons there. New babies, children and vacations. Tons of muggle logs.

 

They are quite special. Here's an example of a muggle comment:

 

 

The cache inspired poetry from this muggle:

 

[+JL_HSTRE]

I don't write much in the cache's physical log. I make up for it by what I write in the online log.

[+GroveBird]

I try to keep it short and sweet in the physical log, unless its requested by the cache owner. I save it for the online log.

[+Ambrosia]

I've mentioned this before when this subject has come up, but I only write my name and the date in logbooks. When I first started, I wrote more, but after a couple years (maybe around 2004), it started getting to me that I was essentially having to think up two unique logs for each geocacache. I didn't want to write the same thing in the physical log as I did in the online log. I started second guessing myself and working too hard, and it wasn't fun anymore. So I saved my writing for online, where more people would see it and I would have a sort of diary of where I've been and what I've done.

 

Of course, it makes me a bit sad to not see longer logs in the physical logbooks anymore. There's just something about flipping through a logbook and reading what people wrote, that gives more satisfaction than the online log. I guess it's the difference between a letter through the mail, and an email. You get to see the person's handwriting, feel the pages, etc. There's more of a connection. Even though I'm guilty of it, I still feel sad about this loss. I don't even have the excuse that a lot of you have, about bugs eating you at the cache, because we don't really have bugs like that here (very rarely might have mosquitoes sometimes).

[+dphickey]

I've mentioned this before when this subject has come up, but I only write my name and the date in logbooks. When I first started, I wrote more, but after a couple years (maybe around 2004), it started getting to me that I was essentially having to think up two unique logs for each geocacache. I didn't want to write the same thing in the physical log as I did in the online log. I started second guessing myself and working too hard, and it wasn't fun anymore. So I saved my writing for online, where more people would see it and I would have a sort of diary of where I've been and what I've done.

 

Of course, it makes me a bit sad to not see longer logs in the physical logbooks anymore. There's just something about flipping through a logbook and reading what people wrote, that gives more satisfaction than the online log. I guess it's the difference between a letter through the mail, and an email. You get to see the person's handwriting, feel the pages, etc. There's more of a connection. Even though I'm guilty of it, I still feel sad about this loss. I don't even have the excuse that a lot of you have, about bugs eating you at the cache, because we don't really have bugs like that here (very rarely might have mosquitoes sometimes).

[+dphickey]

I'm new to all this, so I'm guilty of logging just name and date in the physical log. With only 6 finds, one being a micro hidden in a drilled out hole in a log, I followed previous logs as examples. One thing that I will say is that 4 of the six logs had damp log books, not so wet as needing maint, but enough to make it difficult to get the pen to write more than a few letters at a time before needing to coax the ink out of the pen by writing on some drier material. I do log more info about my finds in the online log, as I would imagine that would be more permanent.

[+geocat_]

I wish I was able to say I have fond memories from the "good ol' geocaching days" where people wrote in log books, hid ammo boxes in cool places in forests, and didn't just log "TFTC" from their iPhones.

 

Just so you know though, we're not grumpy, and we're not just imagining this. People would actually sit on a rock and write a paragraph in your logbook for an ammo box in the woods. And even though this ammo box cache of mine is less than a year old, I certainly never received 4 "TFTC" or emoticon online cache logs in less than a month on any of the other ones.

 

You can see our Arboretum Letterbox Hybrid logbook for examples of how people wrote in the olden golden days. Here are a couple pages:

 

Notice the little arrow at the bottom - they even used a 2nd page to continue writing.

 

 

Thanks for the pics. I might just have to start writing a bit more when I find suitable log books. I think it would be nice for the CO to find even if he/she doesn't see it for a couple years.

 

[+edscott]

yes not only are the logs mostly one liners, but many seem to feel they need their own private page. It you got nothing to say then just squeeze it in after the last entry.