Do laminated info tags help?

[+Radmando & Sons]

Being fairly new at travel bugging didn't stop me from getting my son's entire school to track four of them -- John, Paul, George and Ringo. They were sent out into the wild last Saturday. I have observed some bugs with laminated tags stating their goal, and that *seemed* like a good idea, so I laminated a photo of the school kids holding all four Beatles, with the goal and request for photos on the back. I'm hoping that will reduce the chance of loss. Their goal is Liverpool, continental Europe and back again. The kids will be watching their progress on a big map. My prediction is four years, and two will go missing. (Tracking numbers TB3MMMK, TB3MMMG, TB3MMMX and TB3MMMJ.) My questions:

1) What's your predictions? Will they all make it, and how long will it take? (We're north of Seattle, in Ferndale, by the Canadian border.)

2) Do you think the laminated tags help? What should (and should not) be on them?

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

No guess as to how far or how long they will live. It's a gamble.

 

Laminated mission sheets or tags are a must IMHO.

For those who do not have "immediate" access to the website, it lets them know where the TB wants to go. Whether they help it or not, is a different matter. Most will, or at least not hinder it.

 

We downsize it before printing, laminate both sides, place a grommet in the corner and attach the TB tag/mission sheet/traveler all with a cable (1/16") sealing both ends together with a crushable ferrule (making sure that no frayed ends protrude).

This eliminates the use of a zip-lock bag which is bulky, clunky and beyond use in a short period of time anyway.

What do we do with the beaded chain? Find another use for it, but not for TB's.

[+BlueDeuce]

Absolutely they help by putting the information directly into the hands of the finder. Include the mission and basic logging instructions.

[+mpilchfamily]

If for nothing else it informs new comers to the game what the item is and what to do with it. I'll be sending my first coin into the wild soon and it has a laminated tag. One side tells the person about the mission. Then other side reminds the person to log there find and to log the drop. Weather it will help or not has yet to be seen. But anything i can do to help keep the item moving is good in my book.

[+the hermit crabs]

Do you think the laminated tags help? What should (and should not) be on them?

They will help to reduce one of the many causes of TB disappearance: the one where someone picks it up and has no idea that it's a TB, or what a TB even is. This might even be the most common cause, so the laminated tag can certainly be worth it.

 

Unfortunately it won't help with many of the other causes:

• TB is picked up by someone who just stops caching for any number of reasons
  
• TB lands in the bottom of a caching backpack and is inadvertently forgotten
  
• TB is in a car that gets stolen, or luggage that gets lost by the airline
  
• Cacher's child spots the TB and quietly moves it to her toybox
  
• Cacher's dog eats the TB
  
• TB is logged into an event and is never heard from again
  
• TB is placed in a cache which is subsequently run over by a bulldozer and torn to shreds
  
• TB is placed in a cache which is subsequently stolen and archived
  
• Malicious cacher steals / collects / tortures / discards TB
  
• etc.
  

 

As for what should go on it: I'm not really crazy about the wording (or the formatting) of the standard "Print Info Sheet" available from the TB's page, so I adapt the text and change the size and shape so that it can fit into a snack-size ziplock. My most recent batch had this for text:

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is no ordinary geocaching trade item!

"TB name here"

is a travel bug, moving from cache to cache.

This item is not meant to keep. Please

only take it if you intend to log it on the

geocaching.com web site, and then drop it *** picture of TB here ***

off in another geocache. It's easy!

If you have never done this before,

please see "How to log a Travel Bug" at

geocaching.com/track

 

My Current Goal:

TB goal here

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

(If the TB doesn't really have a goal, I change "My Current Goal" to "About this TB" instead.) I used to attach the laminated tag to the chain, but decided against it this time around; I just put it in a ziplock with the TB. Here are a couple that are ready to go:

 

Edited October 5, 2011 by the hermit crabs

[+Bear and Ragged]

They help.

 

But don't make them too big, or they get folded/damaged, removed/lost, in an effort to fit them in the cache...

[+thehawkers3]

We did something similar at Girl Scout summer camp a couple of years ago, sent out 3 TB's along with a picture of each group. This cute entry was posted on one of the TB's pages.

 

"Seeing the eight smiling faces on this TBs page gives it a more tangible reality (you little ones look it up) and make logging and passing this dragonfly on more... personal, or something. Knowing they may all get another little grin from anew log makes it better. I will try to get this into a safe cache to keep moving soon. Hope you're enjoying watching it move from person to person, cache to cache. You look like a happy bunch of kids! Greetings from Santa Rosa!"

 

Good luck with your travel bugs!

[lcombee]

I also consider a laminated label a must, I first looked at the 'print info sheet', but it is too big and has too much unnecessary text. So I made my own, the same size as the travelbug tag, printed on two sides and laminated. A small hole on one side to feed the chain through.

 

Text on one side: "Please note: this is no ordinary geocaching trading item, but a “Travel Bug” with the name “NNN”, travelling from cache to cache with a mission. If you take this item, you MUST log its journey at www.geocaching.com after you have taken it and again when you drop it in a next cache. Please do NOT keep this item!"

 

On the other side I would typically have a shortened mission.

 

Here's a pic showing one of my TB's done like this:

 

For Geocoins I am not yet sure what to do, i.e., how to attach a laminated info tag. I don't consider drilling holes in coins an option. I probably will try to make a laminated "pouch" that on one side (e.g, left) has the info sheet similar to as what I use for TB's and on the other side (e.g., right; not front/back) the coin. While it won't stop people stealing coins (nothing seems to help anyway) it may contribute the a lower loss rate.

Edited October 8, 2011 by lcombee