tommyrocks06 Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Hi, I'm very new to geocaching. I just bought my first trackables, and they're all activated. What do i use the copy tag for? which code do i write on them? Quote Link to comment
+lee737 Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 I throw them out... Unless they are the generic blank ones, then they can be useful for engraving a different number on at times (like making the old Mary Hyde trackables).... Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, tommyrocks06 said: Hi, I'm very new to geocaching. I just bought my first trackables, and they're all activated. What do i use the copy tag for? which code do i write on them? It's mainly a souvenir to keep while the actual TB does the traveling (because you'll never see it again). Write the Tracking Code on the Copy. They used to have the code inscribed by the factory. A "Copy" tag could be a sturdy replacement for a lost tag, or as mentioned, using any Tracking Code, if you can engrave the Code and remove the "Keep Me" text. Edited July 29, 2021 by kunarion 1 Quote Link to comment
+cerberus1 Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, tommyrocks06 said: I'm very new to geocaching. I just bought my first trackables, and they're all activated. What do i use the copy tag for? which code do i write on them? We keep and save the copy tag with a double of whatever we sent out attached, as a souvenir. They're never released into the wild. If the tag says "Don't keep me", a copy tag with "keep me" is doomed... Ours are still like those listed in Shop Geocaching. , with the Tracking code on each. Maybe I see where your problem lies. Shop Geocaching has incorrectly called the Tracking code a tracking "number". There's only one trackable code. There is a Reference number on the trackable's page, and the tracking code is on the tag. For more information, if you're not getting the difference, there's good info in the Help Center. ETA: If you plan on having your trackables traveling to caches, I feel putting your trackable back to it's default setting of Not Collectible a best bet. - Unless you really want to ask about how to fix it all later. Edited July 29, 2021 by cerberus1 Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, cerberus1 said: We keep and save the copy tag with a double of whatever we sent out attached, as a souvenir. They're never released into the wild. If the tag says "Don't keep me", a copy tag with "keep me" is doomed... Yep. I figured that the intent of including Copy Tags was for TB Owners to keep on a string — or in a binder like Geocoins, if the name of the TB is also written on each one. So Owners can tell them apart. More as a souvenir than as an eventual replacement, and a physical item to keep while the actual TB does all the dangerous adventuring. But it's something tangible. And if on a string or in a binder, they are physical items that might be “Discovered” by others, although not the traveling ones. It's not perfect, because the attachment often has all the sentimental value. Edited July 30, 2021 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
tommyrocks06 Posted July 30, 2021 Author Share Posted July 30, 2021 thanks for all the help! Cant wait to hide these in a cache and start tracking them! 1 Quote Link to comment
Darwin473 Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 Welcome to the hobby! My personal preference is to send out TB's as a proxy. A proxy is where the original TB is kept at home, but the tracking code is copied onto some other thing. My preference is to etch it onto aluminium, though it can be as easy as a laminated bit of paper or hand scribing onto a bit of wood or something more elaborate. The key is to try to make it as durable as possible, without spending a lot of money. A quick and easy option that is quite durable is to stamp metal. Since 99% of TB's eventually go missing (some make it home, some travel for years but don't return to the owner), sending out proxies means that when it goes awol, a new proxy can be sent out. Proxies are less of an advantage for the standard TB tag, though they are almost a must-have for GeoCoins and more expensive, rare or highly sought after trackables. Quote Link to comment
+lee737 Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 You always have access to the tracking code of your own TBs, so you don't need to proxy a TB tag - it's certainly reasonable for geocoins though. I must say I find the actual finding of geocoin proxies a bit underwhelming though! 1 Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 2 minutes ago, lee737 said: I must say I find the actual finding of geocoin proxies a bit underwhelming though! People in these Fori are on record as insisting they will throw away a Geocoin proxy. Not sure what they do with a coveted actual coin, so I just guess. But, sure, it’s not like finding the real thing. 1 Quote Link to comment
+lee737 Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 At an event last year I picked up a literal handful of geocoin proxies from an avid trackable hound, a dozen or so, they were quite large and difficult to place, so I ended up putting all of them in a good sized cache we had, that had been in place for a few years. It hasn't been found for a while, so I checked it last week to find it muggled, scattered all over the ground. No sign of the proxies except one.... Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, lee737 said: At an event last year I picked up a literal handful of geocoin proxies from an avid trackable hound, a dozen or so, they were quite large and difficult to place, so I ended up putting all of them in a good sized cache we had, that had been in place for a few years. It hasn't been found for a while, so I checked it last week to find it muggled, scattered all over the ground. No sign of the proxies except one.... I’ve found a bunch of that kind. Supposedly an actual metal original Geocoin, with no indication in the logs or cache page that it’s become a photo of a coin. Even more were handmade tags with a trinket, and at some point it changed to a different trinket. Edited July 31, 2021 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+cerberus1 Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 5 hours ago, lee737 said: You always have access to the tracking code of your own TBs, so you don't need to proxy a TB tag - it's certainly reasonable for geocoins though. I must say I find the actual finding of geocoin proxies a bit underwhelming though! Most we see are cheap, fragile pieces of laminate, sometimes cut in the shape of the geocoin it's supposed to represent. They're often crumpled, dirty, or torn, and either stuck to the top/sides from who-knows-what , or mixed in with fragments of broken toys and "stuff" at the bottom. We find actual geocoins usually in with the log, where it'd be noticed, so we sorta assume the "proxy" isn't appreciated by many... Quote Link to comment
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