My First TB (how long will it live)

[+JimHegs]

I just released my first travel bug into the wild. Anyone want to guess how long it lasts before it disappears for good? let's hope I get my five bucks worth.

 

 

Typical Seattle Driver (TB4JCXZ)

 

Edited January 13, 2012 by JimHegs

[+Kochibu]

2 months, 3 days, 4 hours, 32 minutes and 11 seconds.

 

 

On the serious side: I think it's all a matter of luck. At least the item you attached doesn't seem very desirable so it might have a long life...but it could also be stolen after the first cache. Are you asking for a visionary?

[+Isonzo Karst]

I've had a bug make 2 moves and disappear, and then reappear 30 months later, only to disappear again.

I have coin that I released 6 years ago still moving.

 

It's a crap shoot.

 

Enjoy it while it lasts...

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

It might do you well to ask the Oracle of Delphi...

 

Somehow though, I think you already know that!

 

 

 

Good luck to you and your Bug!

[+JimHegs]

...I think it's all a matter of luck...

 

Yup, that about sums it up.

[+TeamPennyFinder]

The magic 8 ball knows all.

[+uconn]

The magic 8 ball knows all.

 

Ask the 8 ball travelbug

[+BlueDeuce]

Holy cats, have you read nothing in this forum?

 

For the most part Travel Bugs are like drug deals, you rarely ever hear about the ones that succeeded.

[+JimHegs]

2 months, 3 days, 4 hours, 32 minutes and 11 seconds.

 

Just to update everyone (like you haven't heard this story before)

 

I have released 3 travel bugs:

 

#1 - 2 stops then whole cache stolen

#2 - 1 stop then contents of cache stolen

#3 - 0 stops, picked up by a newbee the next day, cache never logged, TB logged as discovered when they grabbed it.

 

My Average TB lifespan = 1 stop

 

#4 - how long will it last????????????????????

Edited April 23, 2012 by JimHegs

[+Nomesquad]

We've had a couple disappear in their first caches. We've had a couple travel quite a bit.

 

Having said that, watching for traveler logs is an addiction - we have a pile of them unactivated on the kitchen counter ready to be given a mission and dropped as whim permits.

 

I hope yours will resurface and continue their journeys

[+Lieblweb]

It's all about luck....

 

I have 7 TB's.... 2 of them are missing.

 

One of them.....I've had it since 2002 and we finally set it free last summer. It's traveled 25,000 miles and is currently in Russia!! It's been in the hands of only like 8 people who have taken it everywhere!!

It's been GREAT!!!! We've e-mailed folks to THANK them, put THANK YOU on the web page and have posted notes on the page telling everyone that we've enjoyed watching it travel (and we really have!!). I don't know if there's a secret to it.....but this little guy has done more than we ever expected.

 

It's the luck of the draw....set 'em free and watch 'em go.

[+Walts Hunting]

It will live forever. You might know where it is though!

[+ProfessorBenson]

I'm planning on releasing four travel bugs in the next few weeks. Any idea what sort of item attached to the tag stands the best chance for survival? I have these around-the-world trip ideas.

Ever see the book or movie PADDLE TO THE SEA? That's how I think of a travel bug.

[+scrapcat]

I have quite a few out there.... Some lost... Some traveling... Although I tend to get attached to things, I came to the realization early on that I was basically throwing away money every time I send one out. So, when I DO get an email update, I'm pleasantly surprised! I seems like the more boring ones go the farthest....

 

I'm attending the Midwest Geobash in July and am sending out four different color travel bugs attached to rubber duckies. I figure I have about a 1 in 4 chance any of them will survive into the Fall.

[+The Blorenges]

I'm planning on releasing four travel bugs in the next few weeks. Any idea what sort of item attached to the tag stands the best chance for survival? I have these around-the-world trip ideas.

Ever see the book or movie PADDLE TO THE SEA? That's how I think of a travel bug.

 

What sort of item?

 

I'd suggest a small one, no longer than 2". And make it something fairly ordinary, dull even, that no one would want to keep. But you can give it an interesting back story.

 

I hadn't heard of "Paddle to the sea" but I just googled it... That's the idea Maybe you could even carve a very simple small canoe shape yourself to use as a TB? Nothing too elaborate because when it goes missing (as it surely will, eventually!) you'll need to carve a replacement...

 

Have fun.

 

MrsB

[+LizzyHoops]

My first hasn't been logged since getting grabbed out of the cache I left it in. Next time I am doing sets of four at a time.

[+The Blorenges]

My first hasn't been logged since getting grabbed out of the cache I left it in. Next time I am doing sets of four at a time.

 

It's been nearly a year, hasn't it? have you tried contacting the (very new) cacher who's got your Minxy Mouse?

 

MrsB

[+BlackRose67]

On Friday morning I picked up a TB that was originally released in September 2005, it made the jump from the US to Canada last month.

 

I dropped it off at it's new home this afternoon.

[+gtmiller87]

Hopefully longer than mine, mine was logged taken out 6 months ago (my first one) and never replaced. At 3 months the guy would respond to my PM saying he'll put it back out soon and now he won't even respond. It's a shame because my wife was excited to see where our first trackable would go(after her carefully picking out what stuff was going to get put together to build it) and it logged 0 miles before being smuggled away but some rude cacher. I even offered to drive and pick it up from him (he is fairly local to me) with no response. I wish you better luck than me, I bought a bunch of trackables but now we are afraid to set them free.

[hoosier guy]

After 2 disappeared right out of the first cache I started sending a note thanking the finder for moving my tb. Seems to have extended their longevity