Best way to handle a TB

[+IOError]

My fiancee and I found a TB this weekend and retrieved it from the cache. So far so good. She left some trade goods behind and picked up the TB. This was our first TB find so being a nice guy and since she left stuff, she 'retrieved' the TB and put it in her inventory (I still need to add a 'discovered' log). Again so far so good. Now I know what to do with the TB, is to get it someplace nice for another friendly cacher to pick up and move along. My fiancee is all on board with that and excited to do it. We will be heading some place nice this or next weekend where we can drop it off, so will do. Here is my question, she isn't a big cacher, but I go out every day. Should I 'grab' the TB from her and 'dip' it into all the caches I visit between now and then for the TB owner, then have her grab it back before we pass it along and drop it off, or just leave it in her possession until we drop it off? The TB's goal is "To travel the world".

 

On another note If I were to go with the dip route, would it automatically dip into the caches that I log if it were in my possession, or would I have to place it in the cache and the retrieve it each time?

 

Thanks.

 

I/O Error

[+kunarion]

You would have to do a Grab log to have it in your Inventory. While making the cache log, you may select "Visited" from the drop-down may next to the TB. I don't "dip" a TB in every cache, just a few choice ones, each with photos of the TB in its surroundings (post no photo of the Tracking Number).

 

It will not be automatically "visiting" caches, when a cache log is made on the website.

Edited February 16, 2016 by kunarion

[+Manville Possum]

You could ask the TB owner if they want it dipped in every cache you visit. I only want my TB's placed in caches and not dipped.

[+cerberus1]

My fiancee and I found a TB this weekend and retrieved it from the cache. So far so good. She left some trade goods behind and picked up the TB. This was our first TB find so being a nice guy and since she left stuff, she 'retrieved' the TB and put it in her inventory Thanks.

Trackables are not trade items (swag).

You did not need to "leave stuff" to grab a trackable.

- Nice you left something for the few who still trade swag.

[+niraD]

I will dip a trackable if the cache is too small to hold it (or otherwise inappropriate), but the cache somehow relates to the trackable's goal. And I dip my own trackable hiking stick whenever I take it to a cache or to an event. But otherwise, I don't dip trackables. Some owners (and some non-owners) get annoyed when they have to wade through a bunch of Visited logs before getting to the actual Dropped or Retrieved logs.

[+noncentric]

Also, depending on how you are logging the caches you've found, you might be automatically dipping the TB's without even realizing it. Some apps have a setting to automatically 'Visit' all TB's in your inventory when you log a 'Find' through the app. So it's a good idea to check for this when logging your cache find.

 

As others have noted, some trackable owners do not want their TB's to be visited at every cache. I've seen many TB's where there are pages and pages of 'Visit' logs to caches and the mileage on each log is less than 1 mile. Personally, I think these types of Visit logs are just clutter.

Edited February 17, 2016 by noncentric

[+J Grouchy]

Clutter or not, I don't mind 'visited' logs at all since they are generally a good indication that at least the TB is moving...which is more than I can say for most of my trackables. Usually when my trackables stop visiting caches, that means it's been stolen or lost.

 

I fail to see why it matters if a trackable was "dipped" or not. I'm more interested in the map view and the path it takes, which is a better representation of the actual movements it makes than when it just gets dropped into a cache.

 

To each their own.

[+noncentric]

Clutter or not, I don't mind 'visited' logs at all since they are generally a good indication that at least the TB is moving...which is more than I can say for most of my trackables. Usually when my trackables stop visiting caches, that means it's been stolen or lost.

I've read that many visited logs, especially the mass visits where a cacher 'dips' the TB in every cache they find, are just automatically logged by the app or program that the cacher is using to log their finds. The cacher may not have the TB in their possession anymore, so there's no guarantee that 'mass visits' indicate the TB is still moving along.

 

For example, I grabbed a TB during a trip and went to log it a couple days later. The TB wasn't in the cache's inventory and was still "in the hands of..." another cacher. The TB was still collecting 'Visit' logs with that cacher after I had already picked up the TB. I waited a couple more days, saw still more visit logs, then finally just 'grabbed' the TB so that I could place it in another cache.

 

I find occasional 'Visit' logs to be more believable, since it seems more of a deliberate action. By deliberate, I mean that the cacher takes some action (clicking 'visited' from a drop-down menu) to create that Visit log. It seems like these occasional logs are more likely to reflect the true movements of a TB.

 

Edit: Formatting.

Edited February 20, 2016 by noncentric

[+dprovan]

I will dip a trackable if the cache is too small to hold it (or otherwise inappropriate), but the cache somehow relates to the trackable's goal. And I dip my own trackable hiking stick whenever I take it to a cache or to an event. But otherwise, I don't dip trackables. Some owners (and some non-owners) get annoyed when they have to wade through a bunch of Visited logs before getting to the actual Dropped or Retrieved logs.

I'm pretty much the same as niraD. My criteria is that if you don't have a good enough reason to want to go edit the visit log to write the reason down, then you don't have a good enough reason to dip it to begin with.

 

I typically dip a TB I'm carrying in one cache per day. If I spot a cache that I can relate to the goals, however weakly, then I'll use that, else I just pick a cache that was important to my trip so the TB gets credit for being in that area.

[+noncentric]

I will dip a trackable if the cache is too small to hold it (or otherwise inappropriate), but the cache somehow relates to the trackable's goal. And I dip my own trackable hiking stick whenever I take it to a cache or to an event. But otherwise, I don't dip trackables. Some owners (and some non-owners) get annoyed when they have to wade through a bunch of Visited logs before getting to the actual Dropped or Retrieved logs.

I'm pretty much the same as niraD. My criteria is that if you don't have a good enough reason to want to go edit the visit log to write the reason down, then you don't have a good enough reason to dip it to begin with.

 

I typically dip a TB I'm carrying in one cache per day. If I spot a cache that I can relate to the goals, however weakly, then I'll use that, else I just pick a cache that was important to my trip so the TB gets credit for being in that area.

That's similar to what I've done. I'll dip TB's occasionally, as a sign to the TO that the TB is still in play. If I come across a cache that relates to the TB theme, then I'll dip the TB there if it's not suitable to actually hold the TB.

 

It's the 'mass visit' logs that I think cause some angst.

[+Harry Dolphin]

It's the 'mass visit' logs that I think cause some angst.

 

Yes. We have a local cacher who dips 50-70 TBs into each found cache. Clutters up the page badly, and the TB owner is not aware of dips, unless s/he checks the TB page. I usually go through a delete all the dips, to keep the page cleaner.

[+dprovan]

It's the 'mass visit' logs that I think cause some angst.

Yes. We have a local cacher who dips 50-70 TBs into each found cache. Clutters up the page badly, and the TB owner is not aware of dips, unless s/he checks the TB page. I usually go through a delete all the dips, to keep the page cleaner.

Right. When one uses the term "cause some angst", it's easy to think that the only problem is an emotional one, but this vacuous tipping has a very real impact on the database, diluting the information content of the logs on both the TBs and the caches.