Goal Tags

[+Gargoyle]

I am a graphic artist and I have access to a laminator and lots of supplies. I have gotten into the habit of adding a laminated "Goal" tag to every TB that I scopp up that does not have an instructions. I started doing this AFTER I released eight of my own TBs. I am not sure how many TBs I have tagged but it is more then a few. I have mentioned in logs each time I tag a TB and I have not gotten any complaints about it yet.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

I've seen many tagged bugs and it's a huge help. At least this way you'll know in the field what direction to take the bug. Everyone should do this.

[+JeeperDad]

There is a cahcer around here who is doing that too. I think it a great idea, and the bugs he has tagged seem to be making better headway toward their goals.

[+donbadabon]

Any examples of these tags available? If we see what they look like, we can start doing the same thing, and maybe it'll catch on.

I think it is a good idea. I never know where they are going until after I get back home.

[+brad.32]

This subject comes up frequently.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=59108

[+Gargoyle]

Here is one example... this is not my bug but that is my tag... I added it last week.

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/track/log/384486_200.jpg

[+Gargoyle]

Here is another... not my bug but it is my goal tag.

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/track/log/376679_200.jpg

[+Gargoyle]

Here is one of three bugs I tagged today...

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/track/log/405032_300.jpg

[+donbadabon]

Cool. Thanks.

[+BVCY Swim]

I can attest that having a good goal tag attached to your bug, helps it move. The tag is similar to one mentioned in a thread quite a while ago. I have it in a Word document. If anyone is interested, send me an email.

 

Our The Bug Hops Here bug made it back home to Xenia, OH from the Smokey Mountains in better shape than he left

 

Cheers ... BVCY Swim

[+Gargoyle]

I feel like I am making my contribution to geocaching by adding the tags... so I will continue to do so as I find them... Happy Holidays everybody!

[+Iowa Tom]

The way I express my TB goals is I use the key tags like what is seen in the picture of the TB shown below.

 

I make a table with this size column and this size row. I put the goal in that cell as font 7 or even less if need be. Magnifier not included. I make sure to print the words using a laser printer to ensure that the ink will not dissolve if (when) it gets damp in someone's leaky cache.

 

Here’s an example of what I insert into the table cell.

 

My name is Chicken Little. I would like to cross as many roads as possible. Thanks!

Owned by Iowa Tom.

 

Here lies Chicken Little.

 

I purchase the tags in a three pack that costs about 80 cents at Wal-Mart.

 

-it

[+oldnavy59]

the tags are great how do you make them I am getting ready to send my 2nd one out first one i didnt put any instructions with it

[+Rich the Bushwhacker]

I use a large roll of clear packing tape and cover both sides of the tags with a bit of overlap. It takes some practice, but you can make presentable bug tags that are weather resistant and stay on the chain reasonably well.

[+Iowa Tom]

"how do you make them "

 

The table cell parameters to make using "tables" in Microsoft Word are linked in my previous post. I make a table cell so that I know exactly what size to cut out to fit into the tag. Don’t run the words all the way to the edges either. Ideally one should make a multiple cell table using the size cells that I use then just fill in the number of cells that you need goals for. Keep the Word document as a master to use as needed.

 

Once you print it off just cut it out and stick it in on top of the little piece of cardboard included with the plastic key tag. To get the cardboard out of the plastic holder you have to remove the key ring.

 

There is a colorless plastic cover over the cardboard insert.

 

If you use an ink-jet printer make sure to get some matte spray or something equivalent to seal the ink off from water. Spray both sides of the paper to get it good and sealed.

 

-it

Edited December 10, 2005 by Iowa Tom

[+Iowa Tom]

By the way, I use these key tags, the ones I use on my TBs, to identify my car keys and camera and GPSr and on and on. The note in those tags says something like, "Please return if found. Thanks!" and has an e-mail address I hardly ever use.

 

-it

[+nielsenc]

I feel like I am making my contribution to geocaching by adding the tags... so I will continue to do so as I find them... Happy Holidays everybody!

I think it is great you add tags to the travel bugs you come across. I know Marky and Joani in the Bay Area do this as well. Here is a log from them:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/log.aspx?L...5f-e054e06bf51f

[+AuntieWeasel]

I've added goal tags to TB's that seem hopelessly lost, but I always ask first. I'd definitely want to be asked before anything was added to one of mine, even in the spirit of being helpful. Especially those large laminated instruction sheets; I find them kind of intrusive and unpleasant.

 

That said, I'm thinking of taking up a career in TB portraiture:

 

 

I take the official TB tag, trace around it on a piece of cardboard, cut it out, draw a picture on one side and write the goal on the other, 'laminate' it with clear tape, and there you go. I haven't had a chance to see one after a year soaking in a damp cache in the woods, though. I'd love to know if they hold up.

 

(Come to think of it, I don't believe Ellen's owners answered my query. But the poor thing had been languishing on the East Coast for a year, trying to get to the West Coast).

[+briansnat]

The way I express my TB goals is I use the key tags like what is seen in the picture of the TB shown below.

 

I make a table with this size column and this size row. I put the goal in that cell as font 7 or even less if need be. Magnifier not included. I make sure to print the words using a laser printer to ensure that the ink will not dissolve if (when) it gets damp in someone's leaky cache.

 

Here’s an example of what I insert into the table cell.

 

My name is Chicken Little. I would like to cross as many roads as possible. Thanks!

Owned by Iowa Tom.

 

Here lies Chicken Little.

 

I purchase the tags in a three pack that costs about 80 cents at Wal-Mart.

 

-it

I used laminated tags that I make up on Word, but this is better. Smaller and less likely to fall off. Thanks for a great idea!

[+didge23]

...I take the official TB tag, trace around it on a piece of cardboard...

What about acytate or some more sturdy material? I suppose it would depend on what you have lying around, but both my office and my home are totaly cluttered with old presentation folders that could be cut up. (I'd still add the tape to protect your ink, tho).

 

I found this thread because I just released my first TB a couple days ago and forgot to put a sheet on it. I, too, find those large laminated pages a bit cumbersome. Love the sketch of the mouse tho!

[+Iowa Tom]

Using a very good engraver I once engraved a small "Iowa Tom" (my nickname) into the travel bug dog tag. I also thought of using my coarser engraver to engrave a goal etc. using thicker letters into plastic or aluminum. I’ve used it with success engrave "geocache" into micros. The engraving is not real obvious though.

 

Merry Christmas

 

-it

[+RubberToes]

I'm of two minds about goal tags. Some bugs should have them, some should not.

 

I've released a few bugs, and where I've had a specifiic goal, I include goal information. In other cases, where the purpose of the bug is not as specific I purposefully refrain from attaching a bug sheet.

 

My hope is that people will find the hitchhiker itself interesting and will want to pick for that reason. Then they can go to the web page and discover what I have in mind for the bug.

 

No doubt there are many bugs whose travels would be helped along by a good Samaritan adding goal tags, but I don't think the lack of a goal tag necessarily means that one is needed.

[+jackrock]

The way I express my TB goals is I use the key tags like what is seen in the picture of the TB shown below.

 

I make a table with this size column and this size row. I put the goal in that cell as font 7 or even less if need be. Magnifier not included. I make sure to print the words using a laser printer to ensure that the ink will not dissolve if (when) it gets damp in someone's leaky cache.

 

Here’s an example of what I insert into the table cell.

 

My name is Chicken Little. I would like to cross as many roads as possible. Thanks!

Owned by Iowa Tom.

 

Here lies Chicken Little.

 

I purchase the tags in a three pack that costs about 80 cents at Wal-Mart.

 

-it

 

I really like this idea. Much less bulky and much more sturdy than the laminated tags I've used and seen used by others. I'm going to try this out, just picked up some tags.