Found a trackable not in the cache's inventory. Now what?

[Carnildo]

I just discovered a trackable that's not in the website inventory of the cache I found it in. How do I (a) log a find on it, and ( indicate that it's present in the cache?

Edited June 18, 2017 by Carnildo

[+Mn-treker]

Make sure that you entered the code for the TB correctly.

Did you type O or 0. Did you type 1 or l.

Is the TB even trackable on Geocaching.com, it may not be.

Maybe you need to go to another website to log it.

[+niraD]

Is the trackable listed as being in someone's possession? Perhaps that person hasn't had a chance to log dropping the trackable yet. I've sent email to the person holding such trackables, and asked when they're planning to log the drop. Then, after they logged the drop, I logged my grab.

 

Or perhaps the person hasn't figured out how to log dropping the cache. In which case, maybe you could point them to the Help Center article:

https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=30

Or you could offer to walk them through the process.

[+fuzziebear3]

Or if it is has been a while, you can just 'Grab it from somewhere else'. Then it will be in your inventory, and you can then 'drop it' into the correct cache.

[+Cachez]

I found a TB in a cache in Monterey which wasn't logged into the cache but was still in someone's ownership. Oddly, that person hadn't even logged the cache, but had logged others since so god knows how the TB got there. I grabbed it off them, 'dropped' it in the cache, then retrieved it. I messaged the person who had the TB in their inventory but never got any reply.

[+Zoidrums]

Many people forget to "drop the TB" on the website. You can grab it from the hand of the geocacher

[+niraD]

Many people forget to "drop the TB" on the website. You can grab it from the hand of the geocacher

And conversely, if someone grabs it from you before you get a chance to log dropping it, then as long as you still have the tracking code, you can grab it back from them so that you can log the drop yourself.

[+noncentric]

As others have mentioned, it's quite possible that the person that dropped the TB into the cache just hasn't logged the drop yet. What I'd suggest is looking at the logbook whenever grabbing a TB to see if the cache has been found in the past week. If that's the case, then maybe wait a while before grabbing it.

 

If you don't want to check or wait, then you could log a Discover on the TB's page right away - and note in your log which cache you found it in. If you log the Discover, then you could go back and do a grab/drop later.

 

I recently dropped a TB into a cache, then got an email alert an hour later that someone grabbed the TB from me. They grabbed it and dropped it into the cache I'd visited. I would've preferred that they'd looked at the logbook to see that someone had been there that day and maybe waited a day before making the grab.

[+on4bam]

I recently dropped a TB into a cache, then got an email alert an hour later that someone grabbed the TB from me. They grabbed it and dropped it into the cache I'd visited. I would've preferred that they'd looked at the logbook to see that someone had been there that day and maybe waited a day before making the grab.

 

In such a case I grab the TB back and drop it where I left it and then email the cacher it would be nice to at least give me the opportunity to log when getting home in the evening.

[+cerberus1]

Many people forget to "drop the TB" on the website. You can grab it from the hand of the geocacher

And conversely, if someone grabs it from you before you get a chance to log dropping it, then as long as you still have the tracking code, you can grab it back from them so that you can log the drop yourself.

I recently dropped a TB into a cache, then got an email alert an hour later that someone grabbed the TB from me. They grabbed it and dropped it into the cache I'd visited. I would've preferred that they'd looked at the logbook to see that someone had been there that day and maybe waited a day before making the grab.

 

In such a case I grab the TB back and drop it where I left it and then email the cacher it would be nice to at least give me the opportunity to log when getting home in the evening.

This is where we've seen the most errors coming from. Guess it's good it's still moving.

Some want to wait, some want to grab it immediately.

There are quite a few like us, who don't keep track on what others did with trackables after we've dropped them.

- It doesn't belong to us...

We'll wait a day or two if we know it was dropped just before us and that's about it.

We don't email cachers anymore (most never respond...) and we won't attempt to "fix" others errors anymore either.

 

The lady who did nothing for three months, then dropped a trackable that went through a dozen people/caches already should have simply not logged that one.

- Instead, all of us got an email to help fix her issue.

Sheesh...

[+hzoi]

I recently dropped a TB into a cache, then got an email alert an hour later that someone grabbed the TB from me. They grabbed it and dropped it into the cache I'd visited. I would've preferred that they'd looked at the logbook to see that someone had been there that day and maybe waited a day before making the grab.

Yes, that seems a little impatient. Of course, there's no way they knew it had been there for an hour unless you put a time stamp in the log -- but still. What's even more curious is that they didn't even take it with them. Maybe some OCD issues, who knows.

 

I don't want to take the chance of forgetting to drop a TB in the right place, so when I can, I use my phone to leave a note and do a TB drop and then follow up with the found it log later. Not 100% of the time, though.

[+on4bam]

There are quite a few like us, who don't keep track on what others did with trackables after we've dropped them.

 

I don't keep track what happens AFTER I've dropped them either but I do keep track of the TBs I have with me and in which cache I drop them. They are supposed to be in my inventory until I log the cache and drop them. I'm not online while caching but the first thing I do after getting home is hooking up the GPS to GSAK and start writing logs (OK, sometimes I eat first ) I expect at least to be given the time to get home and log before TBs are "grabbed". I guess we'll have the app users to thank (blame) for instant logging I guess. TFTC, grab TB.. done, next one...

 

As for TBs that are not yet in a cache, they do not show up in the cache's inventory in GSAK so I put them on my watchlist and wait for it to be dropped in the cache I took it from. I will check the current holder's profile to see if they logged anything in between and if so send them an email asking if they might have forgotten to drop the TB. If no reply in a few days, and they were active on the site, I'll grab the TB but that hasn't happened often.

 

I do keep a TB database in GSAK with each trackable's listing, tracking number and my retrieved/dropped/discovered logs so it's easy to enter logs even if I don't have the TB anymore.

[+nextlogicalstep]

I guess we'll have the app users to thank (blame) for instant logging I guess.

And the non-app users to thank (blame) for all the logs that are not at all in the order of when the cache was visited, and sometimes even weeks later, in the middle of a string of DNFs.

[+The A-Team]

I recently dropped a TB into a cache, then got an email alert an hour later that someone grabbed the TB from me. They grabbed it and dropped it into the cache I'd visited. I would've preferred that they'd looked at the logbook to see that someone had been there that day and maybe waited a day before making the grab.

Yes, that seems a little impatient. Of course, there's no way they knew it had been there for an hour unless you put a time stamp in the log -- but still.

There really isn't any need to inspect the physical logbook. If, when you get home, you find that the trackable is in the hands of someone else, it's trivial to look at the online logbook for the cache and see if that cacher has logged it. If they haven't, there's a decent chance they just haven't had time to log the find/drop yet. Give them a day or two to do so and then retrieve the trackable. As Axl Rose once sang, "all we need is just a little patience".

[+niraD]

I guess we'll have the app users to thank (blame) for instant logging I guess.

And the non-app users to thank (blame) for all the logs that are not at all in the order of when the cache was visited, and sometimes even weeks later, in the middle of a string of DNFs.

FWIW, I do most of my geocaching with a smartphone app, and I still don't post real-time logs from the field. Instead, I use field notes drafts, and then post my logs later, when I have access to a real keyboard.

 

But using field notes drafts makes it easy to date the logs correctly, so my logs that are posted "even weeks later" have the dates when I actually visited the cache.

[+on4bam]

I guess we'll have the app users to thank (blame) for instant logging I guess.

And the non-app users to thank (blame) for all the logs that are not at all in the order of when the cache was visited, and sometimes even weeks later, in the middle of a string of DNFs.

 

You read I log "first thing after getting home" did you. On short trips I take my laptop for just that, on longer holidays I use GDAK, same routine, same day evening log. TBs are logged on the website though as trackable logging is not (yet) implemented.

 

Fact remains, have patience, most people don't log on the spot.

[+nextlogicalstep]

To be honest, I don't really care that much. Mostly, I'm just sick of people always complaining about people who use smartphones to cache. And as a cache owner, I would prefer that people write their logs promptly.

 

I'm not sure what you mean when you say trackable logging is not yet implemented. I've logged trackables on my phone before, using the official app.

Edited June 21, 2017 by nextlogicalstep

[+Mn-treker]

One other posibility that I forgot and happened to me. The TB may have been logged into another geocache by mistake.

I found a TB not logged into a cache.

I then discovered it was logged elsewhere.

I grabbed it. Then placed it into the cache for the mileage. Then grabbed it from that cache that I found it. All well then and on it moved.

Edited June 21, 2017 by Mn-treker

[+on4bam]

I would prefer that people write their logs promptly.

 

Define "promply"

 

I don't feel the need to write logs (more than one line) in the middle of nowhere. I'd rather spend my time enjoying the area and finding WPs and caches than fiddling with a software keyboard.

 

I'm not sure what you mean when you say trackable logging is not yet implemented. I've logged trackables on my phone before, using the official app.

 

In GDAK (I don't do "official" apps).

[+JohnCNA]

FWIW, I do most of my geocaching with a smartphone app, and I still don't post real-time logs from the field. Instead, I use field notes drafts, and then post my logs later, when I have access to a real keyboard.

 

But using field notes drafts makes it easy to date the logs correctly, so my logs that are posted "even weeks later" have the dates when I actually visited the cache.

 

I do the same thing in the field. I record a field note immediately after finding a cache. It gets date stamped properly and I just save a super brief note; enough so I can remember later which cache this was, etc. Then flesh it out nicely when in front of my laptop and have a decent keyboard. I usually use the Speech to Text feature that's on all phones now to just dictate a quick field note. Later when I'm in front of the laptop, there's usually a little gobble-de-gook to correct, but the basics of the field note are all there and it saves typing in the field.

 

One thing I have seen folks around here do is to switch from a stored field note to a Live log and post a Note to take care of a trackable drop or pickup so it adjusts the cache inventory and trackable status right away. Then switch back to field notes for the actual log. The Found log can come much later. They do the same with an FTF find. Other FTF chasers will see the note right away and the finder can take his time posting the actual Found log.