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What to exchange for special items?


Gengatron

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Hi all,

 

I'm new to Geocaching and have recently found a Travelbug. I didn't take it as I wasn't sure if I needed to leave anything in exchange.

 

Does the rule of "If you take something leave another item of greater or equal value" apply to Travelbugs / Geocoins? If so, what would be an acceptable exchange?

 

Thanks all,

 

Gengatron

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Hi all,

 

I'm new to Geocaching and have recently found a Travelbug. I didn't take it as I wasn't sure if I needed to leave anything in exchange.

 

Does the rule of "If you take something leave another item of greater or equal value" apply to Travelbugs / Geocoins? If so, what would be an acceptable exchange?

 

Thanks all,

 

Gengatron

Travelers (coins and TBs) are not trade items. You may leave it in the cache (note the tracking number), and do a "discover" log, or take it and do a "retrieve" log. One important thing is to take it only if you're willing to properly place and log it in another cache soon, and help it on its goal.

Edited by kunarion
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Hi there, welcome...

 

No, that rule doesn't apply to travel bugs and/or geocoins. If you can help them on their journey feel free to do so without leaving anything in exchange. (Although, of course, you can leave some small item if you want to!)

 

Also, feel free to ignore any "rule" imposed by a cache owner on their cache which says anything like, "Only take a trackable if you leave one in its place."

 

Have fun and keep the trackables moving onwards. :)

 

MrsB

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Glad this came up as I have recently started and have already found a TB and a coin, both of which I have taken with the intention of moving them on within the next week but wasn't sure if I was meant to trade or not.

 

Not to try and hijack the thread (sorry) but what is an acceptable time to be in possession of a trackable before you put it in another cache? I intend moving mine on within a week but say for instance I knew I was going further afield in a few weeks....Would that be frowned upon or encouraged with the knowledge that the item will travel further?

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Glad this came up as I have recently started and have already found a TB and a coin, both of which I have taken with the intention of moving them on within the next week but wasn't sure if I was meant to trade or not.

 

Not to try and hijack the thread (sorry) but what is an acceptable time to be in possession of a trackable before you put it in another cache? I intend moving mine on within a week but say for instance I knew I was going further afield in a few weeks....Would that be frowned upon or encouraged with the knowledge that the item will travel further?

 

Generally it's good to move any trackable onwards within 2 or 3 weeks. If you know that you can give it some extra mileage (or you can help the mission in a specific way) some further time ahead, it's a good idea to email the owner and ask if they're happy for you to keep it a bit longer. Or, put a note on the trackable's page stating what you would you plan to do and add something like, "If the owner would prefer I drop the item off earlier just let me know".

 

(Personally, I don't start feeling twitchy about my trackables until they've been static for 6+ weeks but others may show more/less anxiety!)

 

MrsB :)

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Glad this came up as I have recently started and have already found a TB and a coin, both of which I have taken with the intention of moving them on within the next week but wasn't sure if I was meant to trade or not.

 

Not to try and hijack the thread (sorry) but what is an acceptable time to be in possession of a trackable before you put it in another cache? I intend moving mine on within a week but say for instance I knew I was going further afield in a few weeks....Would that be frowned upon or encouraged with the knowledge that the item will travel further?

 

Generally it's good to move any trackable onwards within 2 or 3 weeks. If you know that you can give it some extra mileage (or you can help the mission in a specific way) some further time ahead, it's a good idea to email the owner and ask if they're happy for you to keep it a bit longer. Or, put a note on the trackable's page stating what you would you plan to do and add something like, "If the owner would prefer I drop the item off earlier just let me know".

 

(Personally, I don't start feeling twitchy about my trackables until they've been static for 6+ weeks but others may show more/less anxiety!)

 

MrsB :)

Great stuff, sounds like good advice to me, thanks a lot :)

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I recently retrieved a travel bug that has been in the same cache for 6 months. I don't think it hurts too much to keep it for few weeks, until I find a good cache for it to continue travelling. The owner probably prefers that his bug continues its journey than lies in one cache forever, even if I don't drop it the next day.

I want to be especially careful with this bug, since it started its journey already in 2003 and has travelled a lot around the world. It would be awful to see that the cache I place it, would be muggled or the bug disappears. So has to think carefully, where to drop it. I don't want to be the last cacher holding it!

It is kind of funny, how we make pieces of plastic so valuable :-)

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I recently retrieved a travel bug that has been in the same cache for 6 months. I don't think it hurts too much to keep it for few weeks, until I find a good cache for it to continue travelling. The owner probably prefers that his bug continues its journey than lies in one cache forever, even if I don't drop it the next day.

I want to be especially careful with this bug, since it started its journey already in 2003 and has travelled a lot around the world. It would be awful to see that the cache I place it, would be muggled or the bug disappears. So has to think carefully, where to drop it. I don't want to be the last cacher holding it!

It is kind of funny, how we make pieces of plastic so valuable :-)

Yeah I know what you mean, it's probably not far by some standards but the TB I found started in Florida, went on the Germany and is now in the UK, it's done over 6500 miles so I was just a little reluctant to put it back in a cache 0.5 miles away when I know I'd be going further afield in the next week or so.

 

Is there a way of seeing which bugs have travelled the furthest etc?

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I recently retrieved a travel bug that has been in the same cache for 6 months. I don't think it hurts too much to keep it for few weeks, until I find a good cache for it to continue travelling. The owner probably prefers that his bug continues its journey than lies in one cache forever, even if I don't drop it the next day.

Be sure to take The Blorenges good advice to inform the owner of the Trackable what you intend. A profile message, and a note on the TB's page would be good ("I'm still looking for the perfect cache to place it in", or whatever). When it's in a cache, the TB owner may receive updates that it's still there, that all is fine, but once some one takes it, no one but the current holder knows what happened to it.

Edited by kunarion
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Is there a way of seeing which bugs have travelled the furthest etc?

 

There is no mechanism for this type of action. There has been a few threads in the forums regarding long-time/distance trackables. A forum search should bring it up to you. You should search specifically under the Travel Bug forums for the best results.

Thanks, I will have a look now :)

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Hi

I'am also new to this geocaching lark,so I'll tell you the mistake I made,I took and moved on bugs & coins without logging that I had grabbed them or that I had moved the on,this was kindly corrected by a cachet above( thank you ) about how to do this using a code on the coin or bug, good luck

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Is there a way of seeing which bugs have travelled the furthest etc?

 

There is no mechanism for this type of action. There has been a few threads in the forums regarding long-time/distance trackables. A forum search should bring it up to you. You should search specifically under the Travel Bug forums for the best results.

There used to be long ago but some folks were constantly trying to 'game' the system and inflate actual mile to get thier trackable listed.

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What about personalised objects which some cachers leave on finding a cache? Should they be left in the cache or traded?

 

These are treated just like any other swag and may be traded. Some people like to collect these signature items from other cachers.

 

MrsB :)

 

Personally, I don't expect anybody to trade for a dorky Thrak button! If you want to collect it - TAKE IT. It's not worthy of being a trade item and most folks I know don't consider their sig items to be trade items. If you want to collect it then go ahead and do so.

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Glad this came up as I have recently started and have already found a TB and a coin, both of which I have taken with the intention of moving them on within the next week but wasn't sure if I was meant to trade or not.

 

Not to try and hijack the thread (sorry) but what is an acceptable time to be in possession of a trackable before you put it in another cache? I intend moving mine on within a week but say for instance I knew I was going further afield in a few weeks....Would that be frowned upon or encouraged with the knowledge that the item will travel further?

 

Just make SURE that you properly record that you took it on the TB's page. A note on the cache page is NOT sufficient!

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A little advice that may come in handy in the future: If you find a trackable item that is not listed as being in the cache but in someone's posession or in a different cache, it would be a good idea to wait a bit before doing a grab or retrieve from somewhere else log. Sometimes people may move a trackable item but don't have a chance to log it immediately. If after a few days the item has not been logged into the cache it was found in, and it shows up as being in someone's hands, you could try contacting them to ask when they are going to log it into the cache you found it in.

 

I also recommend not dropping an item off until you've had a chance to log retrieving it, because not everyone will wait for days and see if you log it. (So it's also a good idea to log a TB/Geocoin drop off as soon as you can. When traveling, libraries are usually a good source of free internet access.) :)

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