grabbing a travel bug

[+KN77]

if I find a travel bug in a cache and I retrieve it but the previous cacher who dropped it has not logged it as dropped into the cache, how long should I wait before I grab it?

[+cerberus1]

You've logged a good number already, never had that happen?

Luck I guess if no...

We've had that happen dozens of times, and we logged around half your total.

 

I try to play it by ear because, believe it or not, not everyone has a sorta-smart phone to log immediately.

I'll wait a few days if I know the person's on vacation, or hitting a lotta caches over a weekend.

We've seen others do that at Mega events too, realizing the previous holders were possibly traveling home a couple states away.

[+dprovan]

You don't have to wait at all, so my answer to how long you should wait is as long as it's convenient. I normally drag my feet and try not to grab it until I need to have it so I can log my subsequent drop or visit. I would never dream of delaying logging the TB's continuing journey in order to wait for a slow drop. That would just compound the problem.

 

While you're waiting, be sure to post a note in the TB log saying you're waiting so if you forget to check back, someone can work out that you have the TB and remind you. Also a good idea to mention the TB and the fact that you're waiting for the drop in your find log for the cache.

 

And if you do have to grab it, don't forget to have it visit the cache you found it in, and edit the visit log to explain why you had to grab it. I used to make sure to have the TB when I first logged the find just so I could log the visit at the same time, but now that they've gotten rid of that forced text about the find log being edited, I can just go back an add the visit by editing the find log after I've realized I have to grab the TB.

[+hzoi]

I usually just grab the bug, visit it to the cache, and get on with my day.

 

I can think of once, maybe twice where the cacher who dropped a bug I grabbed thought I was being impatient and took issue with it. That was ages ago. I am still not sure why they got their feelings hurt, and I still don't really care.

 

I still prefer logging my finds in order on the website with an actual keyboard at the end of the day versus in the field. Ten years' habit is hard to break. But the one exception I do make is to write notes to caches whenever I drop a bug before I move on to the next one. Usually something along the lines of, "TB drop, more later." While it'd be nice if everyone did this, I don't expect it.

[+kunarion]

While you're waiting, be sure to post a note in the TB log saying you're waiting so if you forget to check back, someone can work out that you have the TB and remind you. Also a good idea to mention the TB and the fact that you're waiting for the drop in your find log for the cache.

+1

 

Communication is good. And there may be complications that caused it to not be logged as Dropped, so prepare for some work unscrambling things.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I would advocate waiting a week, out of courtesy to the other cacher. I had one grabbed before I got home to log it. A half hour! Courtesy to other cachers is generally a good idea.

[+JoesBar]

Thank you for asking this question. Given that the item is safe with you, it is your decision when you log that you have it. Harry Dolphin gave a good reply. If you pick up a TB or geocoin and discover it is not where you found it, look at the logs for that trackable item. If it was picked up from another cache a month or so ago, then give the person a week or two to log the drop. After that time, you could send a message to the last holder asking about the item. If no reply, log that you grabbed it from them, then have it visit the cache where you found it.

[+KN77]

Thank you all for your input, you have confirmed my belief's that there are no hard and fast rules to follow

other than, try to be polite, give the previous holder a reasonable amount of time to act (24hr),

and then carry on with your logging in a timely manner.

[+dprovan]

I would advocate waiting a week, out of courtesy to the other cacher. I had one grabbed before I got home to log it. A half hour! Courtesy to other cachers is generally a good idea.

The problem with waiting for a week is that the TB is frozen for a week. If I need to drop or visit the TB in the next cache, then any downside of grabbing the TB from the previous cache before it's dropped becomes insignificant. Remember, the only downside to the early grab is that the late dropper has to file a Note instead of a Drop, which seems really unimportant compared to the idea of putting the TB in a drawer for a week just because of some technicality.

 

I'm particularly worried that someone will hear "wait a week" and interpret it to mean that they should delay their drop log if they drop the TB the next day, thus compounding a problem instead of applying the simple, low impact solution. Besides, in most of the times I've run into this problem, the dropper had simply forgotten to log the drop, so waiting a week wouldn't have made any difference except to delay my grab log by a week.

[+cerberus1]

and then carry on with your logging in a timely manner.

+1

Similar, though we sometimes give pause on others, some almost thoughtless in their logging, we log trackables before we even start the Found It log.