Jump to content

Failure To Log Tb's


JohnnyDingo

Recommended Posts

I too ,am fairly new in Geocaching and was tickled pink to get my own tbs going..only to be really disappointed. Out of 4 I putout there, two were not logged except in cache log. Both were brand new tbs. One of them, I have contacted the people who have it and they claim they are too busy right now to place it. I offered to send a postage paid box for my bug and my daughters bug, which they also have..no response.

It is rather turning me off to the fun of owning my own caches or tbs. Can't people be fair? Donig this hobby is fun and with a disable husband, allows us to choose what we can do, terrain wise. Part of the fun for him is to be able to track caches and tbs while I am gone.

I know the amount of spoilers for this hobby is a small percentage but it does discouage me. Thanks for allowing my input

Link to comment

I wrote to a geocacher to ask him if he had seen a travel bug I had placed in a cache. Looking at his cache statistics, I noted that he had nearly 100 finds yet no travel bug findings. This seemed odd to me, since the odds of finding more than 90 caches without seeing a travel bug in any them is very low.

 

He replied to me with a succinct reply, "What do they look like?"

 

Therefore, it appears to me that there are many geocachers who don't even know what travel bugs are. This appears to me to be a reason why many travel bugs become lost. Many people participate in geocaching without learning about the rules and customs of the activity.

 

How should I best reply to this geocacher with more than 90 finds who doesn't know what a travel bug is? I don't want to emphasize his ignorance, but I feel that this geocacher needs to know what travel bugs are and how to properly log and move them.

 

Ken Akerman (a.k.a. Highpointer)

Link to comment

This is my first time on the forums so I have a few things to get off my chest. Having read the rest of the notes on this page it made me think about some of the experiences I have had regarding travel bugs.

 

Firstly I always put a mission card with my travel bugs so that others know what to do with them. I’m not sure where I stand on the whole adding tags to other peoples bugs but I guess it is probably best to ask first.

Maybe I take them too seriously but if I set a mission for my travel bug then that’s what I want it to do. I was a little stressed when some one picked up my first travel bug (which was in a race) and moved it in the opposite direction. Also I have picked up a number of bugs and coins, which want to travel Yorkshire and the northeast of England. I moved them in that direction only to find the next cacher to pick them up has moved it back to Cumbria (which is in the northwest). I know they are not my bugs but I also know it would really annoy me. Why can’t people move bugs TOWARDS their goals or leave them for someone else to. I always make an effort to move travel bugs I pick up in the right direction/towards its goal or I leave it for someone else to move. If it has been in the cache for a long time then I may move it to a spot where it can be picked up easer to move to it's goal. I don’t agree with the comment that you should pick up every travel bug you find and just move it on.

 

I put out a couple of travel bugs while on holiday a few weeks ago. When checking on their progress I noticed one had been in the cache for a while. I checked the logs on the cache page to find that someone had picked it up but they haven’t logged it out of the cache yet. Looking at their profile they have found 2 caches and no other bugs. I emailed them to see if they need any help in logging the bug out of the cache but have received no reply. Any one have any suggestions?

 

I think that’s me for now apart from to say I love finding bugs in caches it adds something extra to the game. I especially love reading the missions people set for them. Sometimes it can be a bit boring when most of the caches in the area are ones who ‘just want to travel around’ I think people should be a little bit more imaginative sometimes!

 

And relax. And breathe. AAARRRRRRRRRR that’s better!

Link to comment

[i go to a cache specifically to pick up a TB and it's not there, not logged, MIA.

 

I feel the same way. There should be a way (perhaps there is?) for the cache owner to check things out & remove the bug from the cache inventory if it is no longer there & put it in a central MIA file or something. That way the cache doesn't show the bug, and if it does surface at some point, the database will relink it to an active status. The MIA file could be the "graveyard" of former active bugs until refound. Just a thought.

 

As for my own bugs, I purchased one, attached it to a nice object, but am waiting for spring to pick a suitable location for my own first placed cache. It will be like a child leaving home...........(sob)

Edited by ianafraser
Link to comment

Many times I have grabbed a TB while on a road trip and get it some miles. Low and behold, the next time I get on the internet, I find I have taken the TB in the wrong direction of it's goal.

 

I understand what you're saying, but personally, I don't feel there is a "wrong" direction. Who knows who will find it next? Will it be someone who travels by air alot & can get it on it's way, or someone who just hangs out locally & will only move it a short way? It's a crap shoot. One direction is as good as another as long as it moves, regardless of how far, because there will be someone different at the drop to move it on it's way in their particular fashion. At least that's how I feel.

Link to comment

[i go to a cache specifically to pick up a TB and it's not there, not logged, MIA.

 

I feel the same way. There should be a way (perhaps there is?) for the cache owner to check things out & remove the bug from the cache inventory if it is no longer there & put it in a central MIA file or something.

There is a way to do that. If a travel bug is listed in a cache's inventory, but appears to be missing, then either the cache owner or the travel bug owner can go to the travel bug page and select Mark item missing. This removes the travel bug from the cache's inventory and puts it in "Unknown Location."

 

Cache owners should regularly review their caches and move travel bugs that have been taken by cache visitors but not logged in a long time to "Unknown Location." To me, it is annoying to continually see the travel bug icon on cache listings that do not have a travel bug in it, or to see the travel bug icon for a travel bug that has been missing for a long time. If the missing travel bug is found and logged, then the travel bug's history reverts to the last cache in which it was logged.

 

Ken Akerman (a.k.a. Highpointer)

Link to comment

I too ,am fairly new in Geocaching and was tickled pink to get my own tbs going..only to be really disappointed. Out of 4 I putout there, two were not logged except in cache log. Both were brand new tbs. One of them, I have contacted the people who have it and they claim they are too busy right now to place it. I offered to send a postage paid box for my bug and my daughters bug, which they also have..no response.

It is rather turning me off to the fun of owning my own caches or tbs. Can't people be fair? Donig this hobby is fun and with a disable husband, allows us to choose what we can do, terrain wise. Part of the fun for him is to be able to track caches and tbs while I am gone.

I know the amount of spoilers for this hobby is a small percentage but it does discouage me. Thanks for allowing my input

 

When I look through the list of travel bugs that I have moved, it seems that the largest number of the ones no longer in action were picked up by newbies who have stopped geocaching. There also a number of cachers who do not know how to log a TB out and into caches. We had one that seemed to be sitting a long time in a cache in New Hampshire. So I read the logs. A cacher had picked it up, but did not log it. I followed the log finds by that cacher and found that they had left it in a cache in Vermont. So, I logged it out of the one, and into the other, and it was picked up a short time thereafter.

We had one that wanted to go to Hollywood via San Antonio. Well, after San Antonio, it went to Minnesota, and was never heard of again. (A local cacher checked the cache for us.) This broke my caching partner's heart, and he does not put out anymore travel bugs.

Some people steal them, or lose them an do not want to admit to it.

A Travel Bug's life is uncertain, but they are fun anyway!

Link to comment

I went to three caches today to specifically pick up a TB None of the three had the bugs that were showing as being in there. I researched each one thoroughly before heading out because earlier in the day I accidentally took a TB on the wrong mission and I wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. Can anyone tell me what's going on? Should I look in caches that aren't showing as having a TB to get a TB? I have had more luck finding a TB in a cache that isn't showing as having one in it.

Link to comment

Did you check the log books in the caches to see if anyone logged them out? Perhaps someone was there just before you and got them.

I know that many people take bugs and have no clue how to log them. Why do they take them if they don't know how. I have no idea. It's the age old question.

Link to comment

We just started this weekend and we found a TB motel that was missing 2 TB's. No visitors to this motel in a couple weeks so I dont think somebody just grabbed them and hadn't had time to log them yet. :blink:

I also have been looking at a lot of caches that say they have bugs in them but then comments posted say they are missing. I found 1 where a cacher posted a comment that he was going to move one along but on the TB page he just posted that he "discovered" it, not "retrieved" it so it looks like it is still in the cache where he took it. I really don't think this is that complicated so I am having a hard time understanding why people can't just do thing right or if you don't want to pay attention to the details then just don't take them. :lol:

Edited by KJcachers
Link to comment

I believe it is very easy for anyone new not to understand the process of logging a travel bug. I had no idea and didn't read it anywhere on the site except in the forums. If it wasn't for the person that introduced me to the sport I would have not known what to do with one. A mission statement and the instructions on how to log would go with any bug I release. We have some experienced cachers here who hold onto bugs for weeks before logging them, so I may also add to note something like Please log as soon as possible.

Link to comment

On a related topic, I have a question about what to do if you are the owner of a cache where a TB was logged in, but not out? Some one took a jeep TB out of the cache without logging it. I don't need to worry about contacting the owner about its theft since it is JEEP. But i would like to get it out of the TB contents for my cache page. People come in hopes of grabbing it and it isn't there. (it was placed in the fall and still not logged, so I doubt the cacher is just behind in his paper work...) thanks for the help!

Link to comment

On a related topic, I have a question about what to do if you are the owner of a cache where a TB was logged in, but not out? Some one took a jeep TB out of the cache without logging it. I don't need to worry about contacting the owner about its theft since it is JEEP. But i would like to get it out of the TB contents for my cache page. People come in hopes of grabbing it and it isn't there. (it was placed in the fall and still not logged, so I doubt the cacher is just behind in his paper work...) thanks for the help!

 

Open your cache page and click on the TB listing. You should then be able to drop the TB into a "missing" category (drop down menu). If the TB resurfaces the owner can retrieve it from the missing category and get it moving again.

 

Hope that helps. I wish more cache owners kept their cache pages up to date in this manner. :P

Link to comment

On a related topic, I have a question about what to do if you are the owner of a cache where a TB was logged in, but not out? Some one took a jeep TB out of the cache without logging it. I don't need to worry about contacting the owner about its theft since it is JEEP. But i would like to get it out of the TB contents for my cache page. People come in hopes of grabbing it and it isn't there. (it was placed in the fall and still not logged, so I doubt the cacher is just behind in his paper work...) thanks for the help!

 

As the cache owner you have the ability to mark bugs missing. Just access the bug/jeep page and under Trackable Item Options you'll see the option.

Link to comment

:)

I to am a victim of a lost TB. It was my first. It had special meaning to me and my son, who thought of my hobbie when he was in Australia, studying abroad, and thought I would love a small kangaroo key tag to use as a travel bug. Well, because my son and I love to travel, that became Adventuresome Skippy's goal to travel the world and return to Massachusetts. He did travel to a lot of destinations in Europe, the pictures were fantastic! And it gave him and me great joy to "visit" through this TB many different places we would probably never see. A cacher was nice enough to see the travel bug tag and no Skippy atached and added a mouse. That I am grateful for, but still disappointed that the meaning of the Skippy, the Australian kangaroo travel bug is no longer dear to my heart or my sons.

I guess I shouldn't get so attached. I do respect the game/hobbie and feel others should respect the purpose of putting time, effort, and expense into travelling momentos or don't bother with them. This goes for kids too! Parents should be teaching their children the concept of the movement of TB/coins to gain a greater respect of the game.

I hope I have made some people feel something and think twice about what they take and not move on.

I know this forum has made me feel better. In the long run I have become cynical of putting out more TBs/coins. :)

Link to comment

:D

<snip>I to am a victim of a lost TB. It was my first. It had special meaning to me and my son, who thought of my hobbie when he was in Australia, studying abroad, and thought I would love a small kangaroo key tag to use as a travel bug... In the long run I have become cynical of putting out more TBs/coins. :) <snip>

 

I'm sorry to read that your Skippy has "gone walkabout" somewhere in Europe. :)

 

A while back I found a TB tag in a cache with nothing attached and contacted the owner about it. I agreed to hang on to the tag for a while until the owner posted me a replacement hedgehog to be attached so the journey could continue. Perhaps you could do something similar? - Find another little kangaroo, then contact whoever has the TB (or the cache owner) and see if they would let you post them the replacement.

 

I know this wouldn't be quite as good as the "real" Skippy, but at least you would have the personal link to the TB item once again.

 

MrsB :D

Link to comment

O.K., maybe I'm screwing up here, but I'm new to the forums and I probably don't know any better. I get so irritated when I go to a cache specifically to pick up a TB and it's not there, not logged, MIA. I usually try to figure out who grabbed it, if recent enough, and I check their stats. I often find that it is NEW geocachers who may have found their first TB and don't know what to do with it. I often e-mail those who show in the cache log or on the page that they have taken the bug, but have not logged on the TB page. I try to explain or offer help and almost NEVER get a response. I have started to print the Bug page and put it in a zip-lock bag with TB's that pass thru my hands. People just need to know what to do with them or the system breaks down. Forums are GREAT, but those responsible for this problem probably don't read the forums either. Anyway, I guess I just needed to vent a little. :)

 

I know - that frustes me too. I have had conversations with some of the offenders, but to no avvail...

Link to comment

My travel bug was picked up last October - I contacted the people who took him - they claim they've left him in a "botanical gardens" in Mauritius, but I can't seem to locate the cache they mentioned and subsequent emails have gone unanswered.

 

I reckon if you pick one up - you move it along...I'm really annoyed as this is the 2nd travel bug I've had go missing.

 

If you aren't moving it along - leave it where it is!!!!

Link to comment

My travel bug was picked up last October - I contacted the people who took him - they claim they've left him in a "botanical gardens" in Mauritius, but I can't seem to locate the cache they mentioned and subsequent emails have gone unanswered.

 

I reckon if you pick one up - you move it along...I'm really annoyed as this is the 2nd travel bug I've had go missing.

 

If you aren't moving it along - leave it where it is!!!!

Three's one in Mauritius called Garden Treasure (GCH02Z), described as being "located in the beautiful public botanical Garden of Pamplemousses", but:

  1. the person who has your bug has never logged that cache;
  2. the cache is listed as a micro (edit: at first I assumed that this meant that TBs would not fit, but a log describes it as "an inside-out cache" -- the cache is a film can inside a ziplock; the ziplock also has rooms for trades and trackables.)
  3. the owner wrote a note that the cache was missing earlier this year; another cacher has since replaced the container -- so if your bug ever was in the cache, it's not there any more.

Edited by the hermit crabs
Link to comment

Good grief this topic evokes way too much emotion for me... :unsure:

MIA from cache TBs: I too look at the logs as well as try and back track the potential newbie who has taken the TB from it. Some call me the cache police-i don't care. I have met and assisted wonderful people on their TB adventures - we are were newbies at one time.

Nothing bothers my geobuddy more then when she is headed for a cache with a TB listed and it is not there.

I also have some instances of finding TBs in a cache that are not listed. I contacted the last to have the TB but had already grabbed the TB from the cache so they could not log their miles with it...oops

Now more weird circumstances:

I found a cute lil toy eyore in a cache with no tag-a few months later I run across another cache that has the same critter listed as a TB in it. The cache hasn't been found for awhile so I am wondering if this lil guy is the TB. I will hold on to him and take him away from my cat :laughing: until I get out to that cache and see.

Yesterday we hiked to a difficult cache only to find just a TB tag. It was 100 degrees we were deep in the woods and the sun was setting so we took 3 potential toys that the tag could belong to and yes we will put them in other caches. When I got home I emailed the owner and found out it was supposed to only be a tag.

Being that they are new I replied and asked it they would like to add a tag on it with that info so that another cacher is not left looking for the missing TB companion.

So I think that TB mission statements are an excellent idea. And I appreciate all the assistance that I am provided even if sometimes it is not needed.

 

EMT

Link to comment

I totally agree. It is upsetting with how many folks don't do the responsible thing with trackables or caching in general for that matter. It is supposed to be a fun and enjoyable thing and many times it is not. When bosac and I first started geocaching we would try to figure out what happened and try to correct the problems or contact those we felt caused the problem. Try to explain how things are done. Sometimes people still didn't get it. I recently released a TB and it has gotten lost due to it not being dropped into the cache. I checked the person's profile and it appears that this happens regularly for them. Beware of tkahike1. Either he'll lose your trackable or he'll steal it. Perhaps a laminated attached info card with the trackables wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. Maybe it would help those that aren't computer savy to do the proper thing with the trackables. One can only hope right?

 

Oh and yes, how many times do you go to a cache expecting to trade when an item that is listed there isn't there? Many times. I think those people that can't log them right away should not take them. There is a cacher locally who typically won't log for 3 or more days. Occasionally you'll get a log entry from a few months ago.

Link to comment

I totally agree. It is upsetting with how many folks don't do the responsible thing with trackables or caching in general for that matter. It is supposed to be a fun and enjoyable thing and many times it is not. When bosac and I first started geocaching we would try to figure out what happened and try to correct the problems or contact those we felt caused the problem. Try to explain how things are done. Sometimes people still didn't get it. I recently released a TB and it has gotten lost due to it not being dropped into the cache. I checked the person's profile and it appears that this happens regularly for them. Beware of tkahike1. Either he'll lose your trackable or he'll steal it. Perhaps a laminated attached info card with the trackables wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. Maybe it would help those that aren't computer savy to do the proper thing with the trackables. One can only hope right?

 

Oh and yes, how many times do you go to a cache expecting to trade when an item that is listed there isn't there? Many times. I think those people that can't log them right away should not take them. There is a cacher locally who typically won't log for 3 or more days. Occasionally you'll get a log entry from a few months ago.

Link to comment

I totally agree. It is upsetting with how many folks don't do the responsible thing with trackables or caching in general for that matter. It is supposed to be a fun and enjoyable thing and many times it is not. When bosac and I first started geocaching we would try to figure out what happened and try to correct the problems or contact those we felt caused the problem. Try to explain how things are done. Sometimes people still didn't get it. I recently released a TB and it has gotten lost due to it not being dropped into the cache. I checked the person's profile and it appears that this happens regularly for them. Beware of tkahike1. Either he'll lose your trackable or he'll steal it. Perhaps a laminated attached info card with the trackables wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. Maybe it would help those that aren't computer savy to do the proper thing with the trackables. One can only hope right?

 

Oh and yes, how many times do you go to a cache expecting to trade when an item that is listed there isn't there? Many times. I think those people that can't log them right away should not take them. There is a cacher locally who typically won't log for 3 or more days. Occasionally you'll get a log entry from a few months ago.

Link to comment

Well, here I am again. Missing TBs still abound with all of our TBs. I wish Groundspeak had a tab on our caches where we could list "no longer in this cache". I still come up missing TBs, in spite of writing the people who should have them. I still run into my asking please notify me if you are going to hold on to them and I still run into going to a TB Hotel, only to find none in them. My daughter has a hotel and has asked specically, please trade TBs or do not take them with you. People often, write they took one, will return to trade later, etc., etc. and it never happens.

When we place TBs out there, not only is it for everyones pleasure but the tags do cost us money. It isn't that much but.... I would like to see a way to ban people who will not at least respond to our querys from Groundspeak but guess that won't happen.

Link to comment

Well, here I am again. Missing TBs still abound with all of our TBs. I wish Groundspeak had a tab on our caches where we could list "no longer in this cache". I still come up missing TBs, in spite of writing the people who should have them. I still run into my asking please notify me if you are going to hold on to them and I still run into going to a TB Hotel, only to find none in them. My daughter has a hotel and has asked specically, please trade TBs or do not take them with you. People often, write they took one, will return to trade later, etc., etc. and it never happens.

When we place TBs out there, not only is it for everyones pleasure but the tags do cost us money. It isn't that much but.... I would like to see a way to ban people who will not at least respond to our querys from Groundspeak but guess that won't happen.

 

Both the cache and bug owner have the ability to Mark a bug as missing. Simply access the bug page and under Trackable Item Options is the option to Mark as Missing.

Link to comment

Hi Guys, well, it seems that one of my travel bugs is MIA. I emailed the people who found the cache after I had and I hope they will email me back saying they forgot to log it! The other bug has been moved by a newbie, but still in their hands. Soooo dunno if it's going to get anywhere! lol They said they would place him in a new cache soon so...lets see.

 

Today I went to a cache to specifically correct the fact that one guy moved a coin but couldn't find it's tracking number. I grabbed it and now it's corrected listed. Hoping some seasoned cacher will grab my bug when it's found in another cache.

 

People need to be more through in their trackable moving skills!

Link to comment

:rolleyes::lol:

Okay, I'm new to this, I've only started this past W/E, I've sought 6, I've found six my most recent find included 2 T.B.'s I took Woody and Waldo stayed behind

 

(MHO is that if there are more than 1 TB in the cache, you should only take 1, someone will pick up the other and move it along)

 

back to the discussion at hand, I see travel bugs as pets that have been placed for adoption, when your dog has pups and you give the pups to "A GOOD HOME" yourelenquish control over the pup, his name gets changed from spot to lucky, he doesn't get to climb on the furniture like he would in your house, you may see him in a christmas card with antlers on, you would never do that to him, the new owners move from that big house they were renting with the big yard into a condo in the city, making spot/lucky a housebound doggie

the point is, you hope for the best when you release your TB, but you no longer have a say in what happens to him unless you want to chase him and get him back and keep him safe at home, but that's just not the idea now is it?

but hey, just my opinion, and what do I know, I;m a newbie

 

Vegasmoose

P.S. I plan to take Woody to Utah next W/E and cache him near Zion or Bryce Canyon

 

I don't agree. As Groundspeak and i see it "THE Travel Bug, In witch we can see the world through inanimate objects"

Sure, if my TB was in bad condition i would want to find a nice spa. But i would like to choose the package.

I would like too see what would be done. And i would not like the main theme of the object to be diminished.

But still, yes. i would snail mail you a new TB tag and picture. (Yes i take backup pics) and have you repair it. :lol:

Link to comment

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=247904

 

Noone wants bugs in bags.. Paper Mission Tags don't stand up to wear and tear.

 

Groundspeak needs to make a mission statement entry for each TB. This then is included in the GPX file from PQ's

 

Now for the large majority of us that have some kind of paperless caching. We have the bug info right with us. and Can use GSAK to create a TB database as well.

 

For those that print there sheets. When they print the cache info page that says where the cache is and that there is a TB there. They always get a 1 line mission statement for the bugs currently in that cache.

Link to comment

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=247904

 

Noone wants bugs in bags.. Paper Mission Tags don't stand up to wear and tear.

 

Groundspeak needs to make a mission statement entry for each TB. This then is included in the GPX file from PQ's

 

Now for the large majority of us that have some kind of paperless caching. We have the bug info right with us. and Can use GSAK to create a TB database as well.

 

For those that print there sheets. When they print the cache info page that says where the cache is and that there is a TB there. They always get a 1 line mission statement for the bugs currently in that cache.

 

You might be in the Print Is Dead club but I will go on record to instruct every bug owner to include some type of mission sheet with your bug. Laminated is best but never assume that every cacher goes paperless. In fact assume most don't.

Link to comment

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=247904

 

Noone wants bugs in bags.. Paper Mission Tags don't stand up to wear and tear.

 

Groundspeak needs to make a mission statement entry for each TB. This then is included in the GPX file from PQ's

 

Now for the large majority of us that have some kind of paperless caching. We have the bug info right with us. and Can use GSAK to create a TB database as well.

 

For those that print there sheets. When they print the cache info page that says where the cache is and that there is a TB there. They always get a 1 line mission statement for the bugs currently in that cache.

 

You might be in the Print Is Dead club but I will go on record to instruct every bug owner to include some type of mission sheet with your bug. Laminated is best but never assume that every cacher goes paperless. In fact assume most don't.

Even if they do go paperless, the TB info is not part of the data that gets sent with the PQ. This info must be looked up individually and prior to going out. The biggest problem to this is that the TB info listed on the cache page is wrong a lot of times so basing your caching on getting TB's may become somewhat disappointing.

 

I think the better way to cache is look at each cache as a surprise. If there is a TB in there and it doesn't have a mission card, take it and move it as you please. If the TB does have a mission card take it if you can help it or just discover it if you can't. TB's are a side game to the caching game. More TB's go missing than caches do.

 

"Caches are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

 

Edited for spelling

Edited by ao318
Link to comment

First of all, I'm a newbie, and was an even newer newbie not that long ago. Using the excuse that people are newbies and might not know what to do with a TB is a poor one indeed. I figured it out, no problem, on how to log a TB or geocoin--it's pretty straightforward. I may get some negative feedback for my opinion, but the cynic in me is far more suspicious of the reasons behind trackables that go MIA. I feel certain that some just steal them.

 

I was in BC recently and went to a cache that had 8 TBs listed when I went (GCP3CB) and NOT ONE was there! What are the odds that 8 people just 'forgot' to log them? Or didn't know how to log them?

 

Even worse, I had brought several TBs and coins from caches here in Ontario with me when I went to BC, placed them. It wasn't until I had gone to several BC caches that had trackables listed, and finding none there, and after speaking with some local cachers, that I realized that Vancouver Island is infamous for TBs and coins going missing. <sigh>

 

The truth of the matter, IMHO, is that some people are just plain party poopers.

 

As for cleaning up and bagging TBs with a printed copy of their mission, I think that's great! It doesn't harm the trackable, and may even ensure it a long life. I like it when people care about our wonderful hobby by taking good care of our traveling buddies and taking pics of them in their travels and whatnot. Yayyy to those cachers! :ph34r:

Link to comment
I may get some negative feedback for my opinion, but the cynic in me is far more suspicious of the reasons behind trackables that go MIA.

 

When I started I pestered a kind soul cacher named Welch about travel bugs. I even had to ask about the concept of Grabbing a bug away. It's easy once you know how but it is not intuitive for everyone. I know first hand that not everyone gets it at first. A simple explanation and they are on their way helping someone else with the same question.

Link to comment

My experience with travel bugs is limited however I agree with whoever said that if the bug has a serious mission attaching that mission to the bug would likely get it going to where it needs to be better. I've found the information on cache pages to be highly inaccurate when it comes to travel bugs. Sometimes they're not in caches and sometimes bugs are in caches where it said there were no bugs. That being said my paperless caching includes my phone which I don't drag to every cache with me due to terrain etc. Also I might not have internet abilities where the cache is so I can't look up every wayward bug and determine if I can meet it's goal while at the cache. With a couple I got when I got home I discovered that I needed to immediately rehome them where more tourists would be found to help them reach their goals (which I didn't know).

 

And I've also held on to one but e-mailed the owner of the travel bug to notify him of this so that I can bring it on a trip with me and rehome it closer to some of its goals so it's not just bouncing around here. Now the owner knows where it is and that I didn't steal it and in the mean time I take it around with me and take pictures at various local caches with it and update the owner with pictures.

 

I can see how people without paperless caching can have quite a quandry on their hands on if they are going ot take a bug or not or if they're actually hindering the travel.

Link to comment

If my bugs have a particular mission, I will print the "bug sheet" and enclose it and the bug in a bag. I have no objection if someone wishes to refresh this, such as 2 "bug spas" have done for a couple of mine. In fact, I very much appreciate it.

 

If no mission, just wander, then such is not needed. However, after losing a couple of bugs, I am becoming of the opinion that special instructions may be need attached to the bug telling of how to log it, and to remind that it is not swag or a toy for someone's rug rat.

 

Recently, in the survey, I did mention that the "bug box" seen at the bottom of the page when you log needs to be moved up so that bugs are not forgotten to be dropped as frequently.

Link to comment

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=247904

 

Noone wants bugs in bags.. Paper Mission Tags don't stand up to wear and tear.

 

Groundspeak needs to make a mission statement entry for each TB. This then is included in the GPX file from PQ's

 

Now for the large majority of us that have some kind of paperless caching. We have the bug info right with us. and Can use GSAK to create a TB database as well.

 

For those that print there sheets. When they print the cache info page that says where the cache is and that there is a TB there. They always get a 1 line mission statement for the bugs currently in that cache.

Me again.

 

First, some bugs belong in bags. Plush toys pick up too much dirt and become nasty in some caches without this protection. Paper tags can be included in this case, but you are correct they don't hold up well without the bag.

 

Why is it Groundspeak's responsibility tom make a mission statement entry. Bug owners can do this right on the bug page, the problem is that the info is not present when someone is at the cache looking at the traveler.

 

I am not getting the bug info or mission statement into GSAK when I download caches, only that it is there. This means it isn't in the Palm either. Please offer tips on doing this.

Link to comment

;) So what do you do when someone has had your TB for over 6 months? One person has one of mine and I keep sending them messages to please place it back out there. It is my daughters and she is a little upset that it has went 50 miles then you got it 6 months ago. They are active finding and placing caches but they refuse to answer messages or to just place the tb back out in a cache. I even said let me know if you lost it not a big deal to me I will just get a new one and set it lose. Nothing not even a a go BLANK yourself.

 

This really upsets me in the fact that people are this petty.

Link to comment

O.K., maybe I'm screwing up here, but I'm new to the forums and I probably don't know any better. I get so irritated when I go to a cache specifically to pick up a TB and it's not there, not logged, MIA... :D

 

Yeah, this seems to be turning into a big problem. Of the last SEVEN travel bugs that should have been in caches I found, none of them were present and none of them had been logged as retrieved. Some of them have been MIA for years. I think geocaching.com needs to do something: education for new users, education for purchasers of TBs (make it clear that when a bug goes missing, they should indicate the fact so it doesn't show as supposed to be somewhere it hasn't been for a while), maybe some form of oversight, or ability for a person who found the cache w/o the TB to record it as missing. ;)

Link to comment

I see this is a very old thread with a few new comments, so I'll add mine:

 

I'm pretty new, and the first few trackables I found (a TB and a couple of coins) were not logged properly into the caches in which I found them. When I went to log them, the distinction between "grabbing" and "discovering" wasn't intuitively obvious, especially since the "retrieve from cache XYZ" wasn't there due to the improper logging...but I figured it out. However, then when I went to place them, that caused even more problems, because then the TB logs claimed that I had both "retrieved" and "placed" them into the cache in which I "placed" them, so the things didn't get credit for the cache from which I *actually* retrieved them. It was very frustrating.

 

Now, having read the forums and gained more experience, I have learned the whole "write a note to drop it in the cache where you found it, then retrieve it, then delete the note" thing and have used that so that the TB page will be more accurate. That, however, is a more complicated process which I can see some people not exactly getting. (I think of trying to explain the procedure to my mom, who has an account, and I shudder.)

 

If the whole "TB's aren't in the cache, even though they're listed in the inventory" problem was bad a couple of years ago...I think it must be epidemic now. I like moving TB's along, and have planned trips to help a bug meet its mission. We specifically look for caches with bugs and specifically look for the bugs when we get there. I can tell you that only twice has a TB been where it was supposed to be, so that I could log it out "properly." All other incidents have involved no bugs where they were supposed to be, or a bug there that was not listed in the inventory. I wish the cache owner or bug owner would take the step to remove them from the inventory, especially when several logs mention there are no bugs there.

 

Right this minute I am looking at three TB's here on my desk that I picked up this Saturday. They weren't logged into the caches where I found them, so I'm giving the previous holders a few days to log them before I go through "the process" and do it myself. There were four, but it so happened that Sunday we went on a caching trip that fit with one of the bugs' mission, so I went ahead and logged it and moved it on.

 

I'm one who will take every bug I see. I figure an owner would rather the thing be moving than not. I don't know if I'll ever release any bugs myself; the stories are so discouraging! I do pathtags which is more of a sig-item concept, not as much emotional investment.

 

I'm so sad to read these stories of bugs that were important to the owners so quickly going missing. Especially since two of the bugs I've moved were named "Travel Bug Dog Tag" and had newbie owners who haven't cached much since. One has four finds, the other 2 and hasn't logged in for a year. Why are their bugs moving on, while some of these others are MIA? Life's not fair! :lol:

 

Anyway, that's my rant. Still love travel bugs, though, and will always move them on. I also do Where's George, another "release it into the wild and take your chances you'll ever hear from it again" concept. It's a lot of fun!

 

--Q

Link to comment
(I think of trying to explain the procedure to my mom, who has an account, and I shudder.)

 

Send her my way, I've had a lot of practice.

 

I'm one who will take every bug I see. I figure an owner would rather the thing be moving than not.

 

Thank you.

 

I don't know if I'll ever release any bugs myself; the stories are so discouraging! I do pathtags which is more of a sig-item concept, not as much emotional investment.

 

I have no emotional ties to my bugs other that we are in this together. If they go missing I wait the grace period and release them again. I'm just happy to see some action and I really don't care if it's a unbroken line of travel. That would be too much of an emotional investment.

Link to comment

Send her my way, I've had a lot of practice.

 

Now, why would I do that to a nice person like you? :lol: Trust me, this woman is so...NOT tech savvy... She's the type who sees one of those "Is Your Computer Infected? Click here to find out!" popups and will do it. Her desktop is so covered with icons and accidentally created folders that you can't see the background picture. And she once heard about this poor prince in Nigeria... :lol::grin:

 

I have no emotional ties to my bugs other that we are in this together. If they go missing I wait the grace period and release them again. I'm just happy to see some action and I really don't care if it's a unbroken line of travel. That would be too much of an emotional investment.

 

So it can be done! :lol: Maybe I'll break down and send some out there one of these days. A couple of the bugs I have on my desk now ready to travel on have over 1000 miles on them and have gone far and wide. It's neat!

 

Thanks for the kind words / voice of wisdom in this forum!

 

--Q

Link to comment

Well this seems like a good place to tell my story ...

 

I recently released a traveler, I was so excited about it, it is a very cool traveler (TB35TT4). I made the first hand-off, he put it in a respectable cache, all is well. A few days later someone logs this sentence:

 

First of the day was able to pick up a charm bracelet TB to take to it's preferred destination.

 

Ok. Very likely they are talking about my TB. Cool. But they haven't logged it out of that cache. Looking at their profile, they have 747 finds, but no trackables moved or discovered. And it doesn't really have a 'preferred destination', it is just a travel around kind of bug. How can this person move bugs, but not have any logged? How can you have 747 finds without knowing what to do with a travel bug? I tried looking at other caches they visited after that log, but there is no mention in the logs of leaving the poor thing anywhere else either. I sent a nice e-mail, but haven't received any response. I am saddened, this was to be a great TB, and now it is going to go underground and has only moved 15 miles. :o:o:)

Link to comment

O.K., maybe I'm screwing up here, but I'm new to the forums and I probably don't know any better. I get so irritated when I go to a cache specifically to pick up a TB and it's not there, not logged, MIA. I usually try to figure out who grabbed it, if recent enough, and I check their stats. I often find that it is NEW geocachers who may have found their first TB and don't know what to do with it. I often e-mail those who show in the cache log or on the page that they have taken the bug, but have not logged on the TB page. I try to explain or offer help and almost NEVER get a response. I have started to print the Bug page and put it in a zip-lock bag with TB's that pass thru my hands. People just need to know what to do with them or the system breaks down. Forums are GREAT, but those responsible for this problem probably don't read the forums either. Anyway, I guess I just needed to vent a little. :(

 

I imagine many folk make a mistake.

 

An example, I've just logged a TB in the wrong cache. So I deleted the log (expecting it to be intelligent enough to put the TB back into my inventory)

 

Where's the "Oops I logged the TB in the wrong cache" button? Perhaps I've missed it and it exists?

Result - the TB is marked in a cache it isn't in.

 

AFAICT, I can't do anything about it online, because the system requires the Tracking number for you to do anything with the TB (like pretend to take it from that cache and move it to the correct one) - But that is written on the TB which is, obviously, not in my hands any more.

 

So I'm screwed, unless I go back to the cache, grab the tracking number and so on and so on (or possibly email the owner. The point is, you visit that cache before it's sorted and there won't be a TB there whilst at the same time, someone else might take it from the one it is in.

 

I can quite imagine folk doing the above and simply not realising they made the mistake at all and / or reaching this point and thinking it's too much effort for something that should be a few button clicks to undo what must be a common mistake.

 

As I say, unless actually is a few button clicks, the problem with the trackables page is, it has pages of stuff making the pretty obvious FAQs likes "What is a TB" "how do I log it?" verbose but nothing at all for the more obvious FAQs like "I screwed up...how do I undo it?"

Edited by needaxeo
Link to comment

O.K., maybe I'm screwing up here, but I'm new to the forums and I probably don't know any better. I get so irritated when I go to a cache specifically to pick up a TB and it's not there, not logged, MIA. I usually try to figure out who grabbed it, if recent enough, and I check their stats. I often find that it is NEW geocachers who may have found their first TB and don't know what to do with it. I often e-mail those who show in the cache log or on the page that they have taken the bug, but have not logged on the TB page. I try to explain or offer help and almost NEVER get a response. I have started to print the Bug page and put it in a zip-lock bag with TB's that pass thru my hands. People just need to know what to do with them or the system breaks down. Forums are GREAT, but those responsible for this problem probably don't read the forums either. Anyway, I guess I just needed to vent a little. :(

 

I imagine many folk make a mistake.

 

An example, I've just logged a TB in the wrong cache. So I deleted the log (expecting it to be intelligent enough to put the TB back into my inventory)

 

Where's the "Oops I logged the TB in the wrong cache" button? Perhaps I've missed it and it exists?

Result - the TB is marked in a cache it isn't in.

 

AFAICT, I can't do anything about it online, because the system requires the Tracking number for you to do anything with the TB (like pretend to take it from that cache and move it to the correct one) - But that is written on the TB which is, obviously, not in my hands any more.

 

So I'm screwed, unless I go back to the cache, grab the tracking number and so on and so on (or possibly email the owner. The point is, you visit that cache before it's sorted and there won't be a TB there whilst at the same time, someone else might take it from the one it is in.

 

I can quite imagine folk doing the above and simply not realising they made the mistake at all and / or reaching this point and thinking it's too much effort for something that should be a few button clicks to undo what must be a common mistake.

 

As I say, unless actually is a few button clicks, the problem with the trackables page is, it has pages of stuff making the pretty obvious FAQs likes "What is a TB" "how do I log it?" verbose but nothing at all for the more obvious FAQs like "I screwed up...how do I undo it?"

 

Nice approach. Do you really think it'll make your case? Granted I'm sure the developer can get past the angst but is it really necessary or helpful?

 

Edit: re-clarification

Edited by BlueDeuce
Link to comment

Nice approach. Do you really think it'll make your case? Granted I'm sure the developer can get past the angst but is it really necessary or helpful?

 

I'm not sure what you're talking about? What case? What developer? Did I miss a memo?

 

I was just pointing out to the OP how easily a TB can be placed by mistake in the incorrect cache. And, even if someone is aware of their mistake how it appears to be impossible to easily undo that mistake.

 

I did put a few question marks hoping that, perhaps, I had missed the option.

 

Would your rather cryptic response be implying that I was right in my observation?

 

I also suggested, that there appears to be no mention of the possibility that someone might make said mistake in the first place in any of the documentation on the subject. Again, as you don't appear to have replied "No, there is...look on this page..." are you actually implying that I'm right in that observation too?

 

If that is the case and you're saying you think I'm right, I can only answer your question above that I would never expect pointing out such an obvious thing would be necessary, let alone helpful. Yet here we are some seemingly amazed that TBs aren't in caches they say there are, and others seemingly amazed that they can't undo a mistake.

 

But, in truth, I wasn't trying to report a bug and don't expect "the developer", whoever that might be, to ever read it let alone get past it.

Edited by needaxeo
Link to comment

Nice approach. Do you really think it'll make your case? Granted I'm sure the developer can get past the angst but is it really necessary or helpful?

 

I'm not sure what you're talking about? What case? What developer? Did I miss a memo?

 

I was just pointing out to the OP how easily a TB can be placed by mistake in the incorrect cache. And, even if someone is aware of their mistake how it appears to be impossible to easily undo that mistake.

 

I did put a few question marks hoping that, perhaps, I had missed the option.

 

Would your rather cryptic response be implying that I was right in my observation?

 

I also suggested, that there appears to be no mention of the possibility that someone might make said mistake in the first place in any of the documentation on the subject. Again, as you don't appear to have replied "No, there is...look on this page..." are you actually implying that I'm right in that observation too?

 

If that is the case and you're saying you think I'm right, I can only answer your question above that I would never expect pointing out such an obvious thing would be necessary, let alone helpful. Yet here we are some seemingly amazed that TBs aren't in caches they say there are, and others seemingly amazed that they can't undo a mistake.

 

But, in truth, I wasn't trying to report a bug and don't expect "the developer", whoever that might be, to ever read it let alone get past it.

 

Okay, so are you just looking for commiseration? When you say things like

So I deleted the log (expecting it to be intelligent enough to put the TB back into my inventory)
I have to assume you are talking to the site.

 

If you are just talking about it, heck you don't have to explain it to us.

 

And yeah, I do think it could be better. I just think you could catch more bears with honey...cause for the most part it's us users that is having to listen to you.

Link to comment

I just go to the TB page for that TB, go to OPTIONS, print BUG SHEET and add a copy. It just has the info about the bug and it's goals. Is this bad etiquette? Should I NOT do that without contacting the owner? I guess I never thought aabout it that way. Perhaps in my effort to improve something, I have in fact committed a faux pas!

Not bad etiquette in my book. I would welcome it. I sent a TB and wish I had done that before sending it out into the world.

Link to comment

Oh and yes, how many times do you go to a cache expecting to trade when an item that is listed there isn't there? Many times. I think those people that can't log them right away should not take them. There is a cacher locally who typically won't log for 3 or more days. Occasionally you'll get a log entry from a few months ago.

 

Trollcacher, you're out to ruin geocaching... You might taken TB's and sold them on ebay.

Link to comment

I actually forgot to attach an info sheet to my first travel bug, and before I was able to go to the cache it was dropped in and attach a sheet, it was on the move again... I emailed the person who had picked it up, and asked them to add a sheet.... they had replied that they had already added it, and bagged it, and placed it in a cache towards its goal..... All I can say is that I was very happy that they did that for me, and I thanked them for being so nice....

Link to comment

I place a laminated card the size of a name tag. Actually it is a name tag that I get from Office Depot-self laminating. On one side I have its goal so anyone picking it up will know if they can meet the goal. On the other side I info on it being a trackable item and where to log a trackable. I have it stored on my computer so all I have to do is change a little info from my last TB and done. I attach it with wire strand I get from Home Depot and crimp it on so it is going to stay put(I don't use the ball chain given with the TB tags). Easy as that. I don't want my TB placed in a bag. I really don't like the baggies. They are large, take up too much room and usually things are just thrown in there with some piece of paper that is getting torn up anyhow. Laminating is the way to go.

Link to comment
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...