Rude Geocachers

[jdpatey]

Hello,

I'm a geocacher who lives in a small town, so obviously you figure out who a lot of the geocachers in the area are. One particular geocacher finds pretty much all of our geocaches but many times they take two or three items from our swag and put nothing back in return. They don't even log that they took anything sometimes but when we check on the cache theres items missing that weren't accounted for in the logs. We don't want to be rude to them about it but its very frustrating that they think they can take whatever they want and put nothing back after you spend money on this stuff.

[+Sol seaker]

Very few people around here ever log what they took out of a cache.

 

The problem is addressing this issue with them. That's tough.

 

If I were you I'd treat it as a global problem (even though you know who's doing it) and just put signs in big letters on your cache pages and in your caches saying, "if you take something, leave something. trade even or trade up."

 

That's about all you can do really.

[hoosier guy]

Given the number of people who geocache you are gonna have some jerks. Sadly beyond deleating logs in some situations there is no real way to police that. There are however some really fine people who cache as well. We recently had a fellow cacher pass away and there were many people offering to help the family. Another cacher's child was ill and local cachers took it on themselves to collect money for the family and send cards to the child.

 

I understand your feelings. I have been the victim of some pretty poor cacher behavior in the past. But I won't dwell on what I can't change.

[+GeoBain]

Zombie? Is that you?

[+Team-ZKK9U]

Given the number of people who geocache you are gonna have some jerks. Sadly beyond deleating logs in some situations there is no real way to police that. There are however some really fine people who cache as well. We recently had a fellow cacher pass away and there were many people offering to help the family. Another cacher's child was ill and local cachers took it on themselves to collect money for the family and send cards to the child.

 

I understand your feelings. I have been the victim of some pretty poor cacher behavior in the past. But I won't dwell on what I can't change.

 

And they may not even know they're doing it-We're pretty new at this too, and until I read this, I didn't know we were supposed to be putting what we took/left in the log either. We've been great at replacing items, and even as a courtesy leave more than we take, but I've never put that in the log before. Guess we'll start keeping track!

[knowschad]

Very few people around here ever log what they took out of a cache.

Actually (and I had forgotten this), that used to be fairly common when I first started caching. It was very common to see logs like:

 

T: Brand-new Leatherman

L: Gum wrapper

 

Almost never see that sort of log anymore, though.

[+Team Dennis]

Very few people around here ever log what they took out of a cache.

Actually (and I had forgotten this), that used to be fairly common when I first started caching. It was very common to see logs like:

 

T: Brand-new Leatherman

L: Gum wrapper

 

Almost never see that sort of log anymore, though.

 

**AHEM** You saw that in a log last week. This much I know for sure. Oh, wait...you did say "Almost" so I guess you are off the hook.

[+Team Dennis]

A little back on topic: I thought this thread was going to be a list of cachers that are rude. I wonder how fast that sucker would get locked down...

[z0mbieCache]

Zombie? Is that you?

 

lol, not this time...

[+Cartman67]

Is it not common practice now to write on the log TNLS or TNLN rather than the items you took, I only log what I took if it was a TB or a coin.

 

If I'm doing it wrongly let me know, cheers.

[jdpatey]

Very few people around here ever log what they took out of a cache.

 

The problem is addressing this issue with them. That's tough.

 

If I were you I'd treat it as a global problem (even though you know who's doing it) and just put signs in big letters on your cache pages and in your caches saying, "if you take something, leave something. trade even or trade up."

 

That's about all you can do really.

[jdpatey]

Its not so much that they don't log it, its that they take stuff and leave nothing in return. Its not a huge deal but it gets annoying sometimes! Thanks for the idea.

[+GeoBain]

Its not so much that they don't log it, its that they take stuff and leave nothing in return. Its not a huge deal but it gets annoying sometimes! Thanks for the idea.

 

Unfortunately, it's just the reality of cache ownership. Unless you want to keep continually restock your caches, the swag will degrade over time.

[AZcachemeister]

So are you doing daily inventories on your caches?

Do you know FOR CERTAIN the person you are (anonymously) accusing is the real culprit?

Swag degradation is (and almost always has been) a part of the game.

 

I used to log 'T/XXX, L/YYY', but with the proliferation of micros and nanos, I am rarely prepared to trade fairly for anything I really want (Except cool stickers! I want stickers to put on my guitar cases!), so I usually T/N, L/something.

[+L0ne.R]

It's the reality of the game. Swag depletes. Swag degrades. Some people take something and leave something of lesser value. Some people take something leave nothing. But many enjoy leaving something.

 

Sometimes a cache owner needs to be a bit of a geo-santa. But it doesn't have to cost much. About $5 a couple of times a year to replenish the cache with a few dollar store items. Don't put expensive stuff in the cache, it's not necessary. Just a few decent, clean, intact, inexpensive items so the cache has that treasure box feel to it, is all that's needed.

[knowschad]

Very few people around here ever log what they took out of a cache.

Actually (and I had forgotten this), that used to be fairly common when I first started caching. It was very common to see logs like:

 

T: Brand-new Leatherman

L: Gum wrapper

 

Almost never see that sort of log anymore, though.

 

**AHEM** You saw that in a log last week. This much I know for sure. Oh, wait...you did say "Almost" so I guess you are off the hook.

 

That's what made me think of it, actually!

[knowschad]

Is it not common practice now to write on the log TNLS or TNLN rather than the items you took, I only log what I took if it was a TB or a coin.

 

If I'm doing it wrongly let me know, cheers.

 

I think we (or at least, me) are talking about the online log, mostly. But writing in the cache log if you took a TB is a good idea, in case the next person to get to the cache is maybe looking for that TB or coin, they will know why it isn't in the cache any longer. I'm glad that you do that.

[+captnemo]

Very few people around here ever log what they took out of a cache.

Actually (and I had forgotten this), that used to be fairly common when I first started caching. It was very common to see logs like:

 

T: Brand-new Leatherman

L: Gum wrapper

 

Almost never see that sort of log anymore, though.

If I trade, which isn't all that often anymore, I log what I trade, if I don't it's just TNLNSL. Bujt that's just how I play the game.

[+akkatracker]

Well I don't trade anymore. I do know people who armchair log which i consider rude

[+The Blorenges]

We've seen a few of these laminated notices dropped into UK caches:

 

 

MrsB

[+ngrrfan]

Hello,

I'm a geocacher who lives in a small town, {snip}. One particular geocacher finds pretty much all of our geocaches but many times they take two or three items from our swag and put nothing back in return. They don't even log that they took anything sometimes but when we check on the cache theres items missing that weren't accounted for in the logs. We don't want to be rude to them about it but its very frustrating that they think they can take whatever they want and put nothing back after you spend money on this stuff.

SWAG is SWAG.... it isn't trackable, and imho doesn't need to be accounted for. I will say if I remove a trackable item but I sure won't say I swapped X for Y if it is just swag. Also I see no need to put in the listing what the initial load of swag was. When a cache is several years old I know I'm not going to find that one toy truck that was initially put in.

 

I load my caches with a little bit of everything for all ages. Toys for kids, cards, tools, "stuff". I don't worry about what people trade in and out. In the long run it all works out.

[knowschad]

Very few people around here ever log what they took out of a cache.

Actually (and I had forgotten this), that used to be fairly common when I first started caching. It was very common to see logs like:

 

T: Brand-new Leatherman

L: Gum wrapper

 

Almost never see that sort of log anymore, though.

 

The oldest active geocaching in Minnesota is Alvin's Phone Line (http://coord.info/GC9FF). I decided to take a look at the very first page of logs, from 2001 and 2002, to see if and how they were logging their swag:

 

• We took the mug and left a bunch of stuff in return.
• We left a hand warmer, a deck of cards and a photo of our visit (proof that I dragged my girls along). We took the leatherman tool and will probably leave that in another cache in the future.
• I'm not even sure what we left, but ended up taking a small stuffed animal.
• We took the prized '99 Sunfish Classic highball glass and left the following:
• A Star Wars Rebel Assault II PlayStation game, a Society of American Foresters Bumper Sticker (suitable for framing), a handful of collectable Smokey Bear refigerator magnets along with a b/w air photo of the vicintiy (albeit sort of poor resolution I'm afraid).
• We took a Smokey the Bear magnet, McDonalds bear toy. We left a frog, alien Key Chain, pooping pig key chain, Geocaching.com button, dog chew, our card and a pencil. the one in there was getting short.
• Exchanged the martian keychain, Jesus card and Geocaching.com pin, for Aladin figure, Free Dew cap and a 1934 Ford Hot Rod Hot Wheels car. I drove 450 miles round trip for this one.

And, interestingly enough... after all of those, this one!

 

• it would be nice if people started putting things in caches that were worth swaping, not just the junk in their pockets.

 

(of course, I am certainly NOT implying that not logging like this is rude!)

[+geodarts]

The oldest active geocaching in Minnesota is Alvin's Phone Line (http://coord.info/GC9FF). I decided to take a look at the very first page of logs, from 2001 and 2002, to see if and how they were logging their swag: . . .

 

Even by the time I began, it was not unusual for caches to list the initial contents and for the log book to contain detailed accounts. These days, its rare to see more than a signature or find a well-stocked cache, even when it is new. So recording trades probably seems much less important than it once did -- although it was not something that I ever personally chose to do.

 

As for cache depletion, I have given up being disappointed by what happens to the contents of the caches I place.

Edited September 30, 2011 by geodarts

[+germanybert]

The swag where I live, if there is any at all is just junk and many times I find old candy. Who in their right mind would eat anything they find in a cache? Plus candy and other food items just attract insects.

[tomowens]

Not to try and turn this into one of those other threads...

 

Back in the day, caches were a lot more rare and much more widely spaced. If I planned a caching trip, I would carefully choose which one I was to search for for that day and then spend a few hours getting there, seeking and returning home to log my find. It was much more conducive to writing about each find.

 

Now that I can grab hundreds of micros and traditional caches just while traveling to/from work, it's much easier to just bulk-log them.

[+EdrickV]

Hello,

I'm a geocacher who lives in a small town, {snip}. One particular geocacher finds pretty much all of our geocaches but many times they take two or three items from our swag and put nothing back in return. They don't even log that they took anything sometimes but when we check on the cache theres items missing that weren't accounted for in the logs. We don't want to be rude to them about it but its very frustrating that they think they can take whatever they want and put nothing back after you spend money on this stuff.

When a cache is several years old I know I'm not going to find that one toy truck that was initially put in.

 

You might be surprised. Earlier this year I found a cache placed in 2006, with 67 finds before me, that still had some (possibly most) of it's starting swag items.

I don't trade swag much, (haven't seen much beyond kid stuff) but when I do I note it in the log. And I'm thinking of buying some stuff in bulk specifically to drop off in a whole bunch of caches. (Though it may be a couple months before I buy the items.)

[+Mushroom finder]

Hello,

I'm a geocacher who lives in a small town, {snip}. One particular geocacher finds pretty much all of our geocaches but many times they take two or three items from our swag and put nothing back in return. They don't even log that they took anything sometimes but when we check on the cache theres items missing that weren't accounted for in the logs. We don't want to be rude to them about it but its very frustrating that they think they can take whatever they want and put nothing back after you spend money on this stuff.

When a cache is several years old I know I'm not going to find that one toy truck that was initially put in.

 

You might be surprised. Earlier this year I found a cache placed in 2006, with 67 finds before me, that still had some (possibly most) of it's starting swag items.

I don't trade swag much, (haven't seen much beyond kid stuff) but when I do I note it in the log. And I'm thinking of buying some stuff in bulk specifically to drop off in a whole bunch of caches. (Though it may be a couple months before I buy the items.)

 

I'm not surprised at all actually, but I'll bet it wasn't a P&G either. My first cache was placed in 2008 and it still has some of it's original swag. Good swag too, not the stuff that's only still there because it's too crappy for anyone to take. Of course, it does require some effort to get to and I think that makes a difference because the type of person who takes more than their share (or all) of the swag typically won't put in very much effort.

 

I believe that the quality and quantity of swag degenerates at a rate that is directly proportional to the popularity and the level of accessibility to your cache. I placed a new cache just over a month ago that is a 1.5/1.5 that only requires a very short walk. It was chocked full of decent swag when I hid it, but I stopped by last week and it was down to just 2 items- a sticker and a fake golf ball Stopped by today and restocked it. I don't really mind having to restock this soon because in the 1 month it has been out, it has already become the 4th most favorited cache in the KC area. I'm sure it will need to be restocked again in a month or two, but as long as people seem to be enjoying the hide, I don't mind keeping it full.

[knowschad]

The oldest active geocaching in Minnesota is Alvin's Phone Line (http://coord.info/GC9FF). I decided to take a look at the very first page of logs, from 2001 and 2002, to see if and how they were logging their swag: . . .

 

Even by the time I began, it was not unusual for caches to list the initial contents and for the log book to contain detailed accounts. These days, its rare to see more than a signature or find a well-stocked cache, even when it is new. So recording trades probably seems much less important than it once did -- although it was not something that I ever personally chose to do.

 

As for cache depletion, I have given up being disappointed by what happens to the contents of the caches I place.

 

By "the log book", I am assuming you mean the physical log book. I was referring to the online log. I've never seen much besides date and name in most log books since I started caching.

[+The_Incredibles_]

TFTC

[+The_Incredibles_]

The swag where I live, if there is any at all is just junk and many times I find old candy. Who in their right mind would eat anything they find in a cache? Plus candy and other food items just attract insects.

 

I"m not in my right mind, but I did eat a chocolate bar I found in a cache.