+NanCycle Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I own 36 trackables. 1 is my personal tracking item. 1 is a beautiful coin which has not been released. So of 34 that have been released-- 18 are currently in "Unknown" - of those, 4 were already on their 2nd incarnation. 8 are currently shown as being in caches and 8 in the hands of cachers. Of these 3 are on their 2nd incarnation, so 21/34 have gone missing so far, and I suspect that about half of the 16 out in the wild are probably lost also. (not just a WAG, but based on reading logs and caching histories) One of these days I'm going to get my rear in gear and make replacements for all the missing ones. Quote Link to comment
farmermike Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Both Bugs I've released went missing rather quickly. The one on my truck has been "discovered" twice in four years. Quote Link to comment
+bequiet Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Hello NanCycle, My friends and I have the same problem too. i own 11 trackables since good > 6 months. 3 of them are now missing one in Ireland, one in France and one in Rumania. they are all started in South-Germany. i hope that someone will find this TBs and i will get an email where stands "was grabed from somewhere else" hope that some of your tbs will found by someone! best regards from Germany, George Quote Link to comment
+NanCycle Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Hello NanCycle, hope that some of your tbs will found by someone! best regards from Germany, George Hi George- It just so happens that 3 of my trackables that are still traveling are in Deutschland. Maybe you will find one of them. Nancy Quote Link to comment
+gunnerb Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I sent out three over a year ago. One is still alive up in Minnesota and the other two have "disappeared" from the caches they were in. Very disappointing since none of the prior cachers claim to have seen them. The last individual who visited the cache before the TB went missing mentioned he took his small children with him to the cache. This particular TB was a purple octopus that was in a kids meal from Sonic. Hmmmmm. I guess I spent too many years in Intelligence and Law Enforcment to not wonder. I probably won't order any more TB dogtags, maybe just make up my own and make the traveler as ugly and uncollectable as possible so no one will want to keep it in their possession. Quote Link to comment
+Bushwalker53 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 So far I own 15 TB's and one I know for sure is missing, (dadgum first time geocachers) but that's about it. Quote Link to comment
+EXMAN Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Hi all, My thoughts are... -cachers are SOOOOO disappointed in their trackables disappearing that they no longer want to participate in this part of the caching game. -disappointed to the point that they decline an offer of a free replacements for their missing trackables. For the past year i've been making FREE replacements for missing trackables, but i've given up on my mission. - first....the lack of excitment and participation by the caching community has been really discouraging. Just a wild guess here, but i'd bet that WELL over 10,000 cachers have heard of my offer, but less than 200 have chosen to take me up on it. -second....the number of these replacement tags that have already vanished is just SAD. I've made about 750 replacement tags, and about 25-30% are gone already. It's been a fun ride at times though. -i've received MANY thank you's and other words of praise. -these replacement tags have probably been touched by 1000s of cachers, have been placed in or visited over 10,000 caches and have traveled over 100,000 miles. Blue Deuce ...... i have some interested people for you. Quote Link to comment
+NeverSummer Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Missing a TB? Here is the first actual, full-on admission of wanting to keep a TB that I've seen on the forums. Now that someone new has said it here, I wonder how many other new cachers have thought and acted on a similar desire and not said a thing... Quote Link to comment
+gunnerb Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Hi all, My thoughts are... -cachers are SOOOOO disappointed in their trackables disappearing that they no longer want to participate in this part of the caching game. -disappointed to the point that they decline an offer of a free replacements for their missing trackables. For the past year i've been making FREE replacements for missing trackables, but i've given up on my mission. - first....the lack of excitment and participation by the caching community has been really discouraging. Just a wild guess here, but i'd bet that WELL over 10,000 cachers have heard of my offer, but less than 200 have chosen to take me up on it. -second....the number of these replacement tags that have already vanished is just SAD. I've made about 750 replacement tags, and about 25-30% are gone already. It's been a fun ride at times though. -i've received MANY thank you's and other words of praise. -these replacement tags have probably been touched by 1000s of cachers, have been placed in or visited over 10,000 caches and have traveled over 100,000 miles. Blue Deuce ...... i have some interested people for you. Quote Link to comment
+gunnerb Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 EXMAN, I commend you on your mission to replace the missing TB's. I'm sure it takes a toll to keep producing and not hearing any thanks. I didn't know you were doing this but want to say thanks for all those for whom you did the job and didn't get back with you. I'm not sure what I'll use to send out in the future, but like my earlier post said, gotta make it ugly and certainly not worth anyone taking home. Just neat enough to move from one place to another. I have one in my possession now that I picked up yesterday that is a simple rubber keyring (motorcycle) glued to a thin plywood back. Ugly enough to not want it, but good enough to travel from England to other European countries and here to Texas. Thanks again for what you've done. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Missing a TB? Here is the first actual, full-on admission of wanting to keep a TB that I've seen on the forums. Now that someone new has said it here, I wonder how many other new cachers have thought and acted on a similar desire and not said a thing... There are more than just one. I've seen posts from people who take and keep Trackables marked “Collectible” (no appropriate logs or anything, they simply pocket it). And some that insisted that if a Trackable has “Collectible preference not set”, they will keep it just in case it's going to be changed to “Collectible”. There are plenty of posts where people insist they discard a “coin proxy” when they find one in a cache. There's a Geocacher selling other people's activated TBs on Ebay, and people buying them, everyone justifying their actions. The Forums are pretty chock-full of TB takers. As you mention, these are only the ones who proudly admit it. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 BlueDeuce ...... i have some interested people for you. Sure thing, but I've known only those who ask are so discouraged that they aren't even willing to re-release one on their own. Then they are even more discouraged when that one goes missing. I tell them, don't worry, enjoy it while it travels and learn how to keep them in play. Quote Link to comment
+acachebox Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 (edited) BlueDeuce ...... i have some interested people for you. Sure thing, but I've known only those who ask are so discouraged that they aren't even willing to re-release one on their own. Then they are even more discouraged when that one goes missing. I tell them, don't worry, enjoy it while it travels and learn how to keep them in play. I will not place a TB in a cache that has had one go missing from. If i find a cache that lists a TB and there is not one there I will not place one there. I figure if they stole one and are in the area they will keep and I out for the next one placed there and go get it. This limits where i can place TB since New Jersey is not generally a safe place for them. Edited December 15, 2012 by acachebox Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 BlueDeuce ...... i have some interested people for you. Sure thing, but I've known only those who ask are so discouraged that they aren't even willing to re-release one on their own. Then they are even more discouraged when that one goes missing. I tell them, don't worry, enjoy it while it travels and learn how to keep them in play. I will not place a TB in a cache that has had one go missing from. If i find a cache that lists a TB and there is not one there I will not place one there. I figure if they stole one and are in the area they will keep and I out for the next one placed there and go get it. This limits where i can place TB since New Jersey is not generally a safe place for them. Understood. I have no problem with my bug being placed in a cache that takes a bit of a walk to reach. And if it sits during winter, so be it. Happy caching. Quote Link to comment
+three-amigoz Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 It gives me great pleasure to report some good news in this forum. QTEEEE found my MIA TB just outside of the cache that I placed it in in October. The news made my day. Have faith fellow cachers. Quote Link to comment
RedShoesGirl Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 It gives me great pleasure to report some good news in this forum. QTEEEE found my MIA TB just outside of the cache that I placed it in in October. The news made my day. Have faith fellow cachers. awesome! nice to hear some good news. Quote Link to comment
+bequiet Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 great!! how long was your tb lost? Quote Link to comment
+three-amigoz Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 great!! how long was your tb lost? It was gone for about 2 months, then it was found near the cache Quote Link to comment
+E_ZIG_A Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Well I have 40 Trackables out there, an even mix of coin and bug. Of those six are marked as location Unknown and I have another significant handful that are still in the hands of other cachers, who haven't logged them for many many months (some since 2011) but I've sent out one polite reminder email and I've updated the cache page with some instructions on what to do with a trackable, but beyond that I have no control and I won't be getting my undies in a bunch over it. The game is all about chance and there is little point in worrying about something you have absolutely no control over. The only thing to do really is release a few more and watch with interest what happens to them! I get a lot of enjoyment seeing the adventures of my other travellers; I have sufficient out there who are in the care of great Geocachers, who are taking my team on some awesome journeys, so I think that is the key here: release enough so that you aren't frantically worried about THE ONE or TWO. Quote Link to comment
rostwolf Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I released 28 trackables over the last 5 years and at least 14 are gone. But one arrived back home today! Quote Link to comment
+sparklefingers Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I have 5 tbs and a coin. I placed my first two tbs in caches that are not visited often so... They're still in the first cache. No one has been to them since. Half tempted to go to both and pick them up to put in a cache visited more often. The rest are still with me as I have been working on them. So at the moment I haven't lost any. Quote Link to comment
+shellbadger Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 This and similar threads is why I started keeping records on all my travel bugs. Some of my travelers had also gone missing and I wanted to know if these reports and my experiences were anomalies. In 2010 I released 237 TBs. At the beginning of this month (January 2013)all had been abroad for at least two years, some for almost three years. Their status at that time was as follows: a total of 101 (43%) TBs were missing, 100 (42%) were in the hands of cachers, 35 (15%) were in a cache and 1 TB has been retired. Details of the study may be seen at the website address below. http://shellbadgertbs.weebly.com/index.html Quote Link to comment
+EXMAN Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 This and similar threads is why I started keeping records on all my travel bugs. Some of my travelers had also gone missing and I wanted to know if these reports and my experiences were anomalies. In 2010 I released 237 TBs. At the beginning of this month (January 2013)all had been abroad for at least two years, some for almost three years. Their status at that time was as follows: a total of 101 (43%) TBs were missing, 100 (42%) were in the hands of cachers, 35 (15%) were in a cache and 1 TB has been retired. Details of the study may be seen at the website address below. http://shellbadgertbs.weebly.com/index.html BlueDeuce will make FREE replacements for all of your missing trackables. http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=306266&pid=5191053&st=0entry5191053 Quote Link to comment
+EXMAN Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 'MY' conclusion is that MANY TBs are deliberately taken and disposed of by disgruntled cachers. 'MY' guess as to why someone might be disgruntled?........... - maybe they were accused of something they didn't do. - maybe they were treated unfairly on a forum.... or banned from a forum. - maybe they were permanently banned from geocaching. Whatever the reason, i think we have some ticked off people out there that are taking their frustrations out on our TBs. Reports of the actual caches being stolen or destroyed are on the rise also. GEOCOIN THEFT IS A WHOLE SEPARATE TOPIC Quote Link to comment
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