+Herdo Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hello, I am new to Geocaching, and so far in my 12 caches, I have picked up 2 trackables. I picked both of these up because I am going on a trip in 2 days and I plan on dropping them off while on vacation. Both of the trackables I have are NOT Travel Bugs, at least I don't think they are. They certainly are not any of these. One of the trackables I have found is called a "Cachekinz". So I am assuming these are third party trackables, that geocaching.com allows to be tracked through their website? Could someone please explain this to me further? Quote Link to comment
+T.D.M.22 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) There are travel bugs-What you've linked to. There are also coins that anyone could make-some rules including Groundspeak has to see the design before it's allowed) Those cover most of what you'll find. The Cachekins could be referred to as TB's or just trackables. They are sold by Groundspeak. There are a variety of trackables-coins, TB's, A miniature space shuttles, trains, christmas ornaments. pretty much anything you see is-or could be trackable. If you want to get into it...here's the nutshell. Company X will say I want to make a fireman themed geocoin. They buy 1000 tracking codes. Send in the design to Groundspeak and once they approve the coins can be made and sold. Edited January 23, 2013 by T.D.M.22 Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) Hello, I am new to Geocaching, and so far in my 12 caches, I have picked up 2 trackables. I picked both of these up because I am going on a trip in 2 days and I plan on dropping them off while on vacation. Both of the trackables I have are NOT Travel Bugs, at least I don't think they are. They certainly are not any of these. One of the trackables I have found is called a "Cachekinz". So I am assuming these are third party trackables, that geocaching.com allows to be tracked through their website? Could someone please explain this to me further? Travel Bugs are officially the aluminum dogtags with the barcode bug, the words Travel Bug, and a barcode bug icon. Any of the other "tags" are properly called "Geocoins". An item tracked on Geocaching.com is referred to as a Trackable. Edited January 23, 2013 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+Herdo Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 There are travel bugs-What you've linked to. There are also coins that anyone could make-some rules including Groundspeak has to see the design before it's allowed) Those cover most of what you'll find. The Cachekins could be referred to as TB's or just trackables. They are sold by Groundspeak. There are a variety of trackables-coins, TB's, A miniature space shuttles, trains, christmas ornaments. pretty much anything you see is-or could be trackable. If you want to get into it...here's the nutshell. Company X will say I want to make a fireman themed geocoin. They buy 1000 tracking codes. Send in the design to Groundspeak and once they approve the coins can be made and sold. Ok, so cachekinz are just another form of geocoins? Thanks! Hello, I am new to Geocaching, and so far in my 12 caches, I have picked up 2 trackables. I picked both of these up because I am going on a trip in 2 days and I plan on dropping them off while on vacation. Both of the trackables I have are NOT Travel Bugs, at least I don't think they are. They certainly are not any of these. One of the trackables I have found is called a "Cachekinz". So I am assuming these are third party trackables, that geocaching.com allows to be tracked through their website? Could someone please explain this to me further? Travel Bugs are officially the aluminum dogtags with the barcode bug, the words Travel Bug, and a barcode bug icon. Any of the other "tags" are properly called "Geocoins". An item tracked on Geocaching.com is referred to as a Trackable. So it doesn't actually have to be a "coin" to be a geocoin? I was unaware of that, and I have been calling everything travel bugs that isn't shaped like a coin. So technically this and this are geocoins, and not travel bugs. I think I get it. Travel bugs are the brand name of the trackables that Groundspeak sells, and geocoins are anything else offered through outside companies? Thanks for the reply. Quote Link to comment
+Herdo Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) Sorry, double post and I can't figure out how to delete comments. Edited January 23, 2013 by Herdo Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Did you log them? Quote Link to comment
+Herdo Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Did you log them? Yes, I logged the first one when I got it a few days ago, and the new one I got today. I can see them both under my "Trackables Inventory" tab. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) So it doesn't actually have to be a "coin" to be a geocoin? I was unaware of that, and I have been calling everything travel bugs that isn't shaped like a coin. So technically this and this are geocoins, and not travel bugs. I think I get it. Travel bugs are the brand name of the trackables that Groundspeak sells, and geocoins are anything else offered through outside companies? Thanks for the reply. Yes, you're right. "Travel Bug" is a registered trademark. But that term is loosely used for a "tag" attached to an item (Cachekinz). And it's quicker to just type "TB" instead of "Travel Bug", so you'll see "TB" applied to most any discussion of "Trackables", whether TBs or coins. The tracking number and the tracking works, regardless. All of the Tracking Numbers are purchased from Groundspeak. You could even drill a hole in one of your own actual "Geocoins" and attach it to a toy as if it were a Travel Bug. And I have a "Car TB" that is in fact a Geocoin, although it's displayed as a "Travel Bug Barcode" sticker in the car window (due to being unlikely to ever be logged if I instead used a "Geocoin" logo sticker). And, one of my Geocoins is named "TB Night Fury". It's not a Travel Bug, it's a Geowoodstock Cachekinz tag. So I perpetuate the confusion. Sorry about that! Edited January 23, 2013 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+Herdo Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 So it doesn't actually have to be a "coin" to be a geocoin? I was unaware of that, and I have been calling everything travel bugs that isn't shaped like a coin. So technically this and this are geocoins, and not travel bugs. I think I get it. Travel bugs are the brand name of the trackables that Groundspeak sells, and geocoins are anything else offered through outside companies? Thanks for the reply. Yes, you're right. "Travel Bug" is a registered trademark. But that term is loosely used for a "tag" attached to an item (Cachekinz). And it's quicker to just type "TB" instead of "Travel Bug", so you'll see "TB" applied to most any discussion of "Trackables", whether TBs or coins. The tracking number and the tracking works, regardless. You could even drill a hole in one of your own actual "Geocoins" and attach ot to a toy as if it were a Travel Bug. And I have a "Car TB" that is in fact a Geocoin, although it's displayed as a "Travel Bug Barcode" sticker in the car window (due to being unlikely to ever be logged if I instead used a "Geocoin" logo sticker). And, one of my Geocoins is named "TB Night Fury". It's not a Travel Bug, it's a Geowoodstock Cachekinz tag. So I perpetuate the confusion. Sorry about that! Haha, it's all good, I understand. Thank you for the explanation. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Did you log them? Yes, I logged the first one when I got it a few days ago, and the new one I got today. I can see them both under my "Trackables Inventory" tab. Then you are good to go. Seriously. Quote Link to comment
+Herdo Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Did you log them? Yes, I logged the first one when I got it a few days ago, and the new one I got today. I can see them both under my "Trackables Inventory" tab. Then you are good to go. Seriously. Haha, alright thank you. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Did you log them? Yes, I logged the first one when I got it a few days ago, and the new one I got today. I can see them both under my "Trackables Inventory" tab. Then you are good to go. Seriously. Haha, alright thank you. If you need help logging the drop that's fine, but otherwise I'm not sure what the problem is. Quote Link to comment
+Herdo Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Did you log them? Yes, I logged the first one when I got it a few days ago, and the new one I got today. I can see them both under my "Trackables Inventory" tab. Then you are good to go. Seriously. Haha, alright thank you. If you need help logging the drop that's fine, but otherwise I'm not sure what the problem is. There is no problem... I was asking for an explanation of the difference between Travel Bugs, geocoins and things of that nature and I got an answer. I said thank you and moved on. Quote Link to comment
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