+JetMonkey Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Hi, my family and I are new to Geocaching (started last weekend). We've found four so far and enjoy the searches. I have a question about TB's, I think they are a cool idea but was wondering, if I were to buy some of my own, do I have to attach it so something (such as a doll or toy) then leave it in a found cache or can I drop my TB in a found cache without attaching it to something (a doll or toy, or whatever)? I'd like to just track the TB around the country, I'm not really interested in getting a toy to travel with it. Thanks, JetMonkey Quote Link to comment
+YodaDoe Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Well, technically, the tag with the serial number on it is the only part that is necessary. However, the tag is small and easy to lose. It is also pretty plain, boring and uninspiring. Half the fun of a travel bug is attaching some sort of history or story to it so that the people who find it will be interested in it. You should check out Geocoins if you want to send off just the simple token. It's a large metal coin with the serial number on it. However, geocoins tend to have bad luck getting lost. I released 6 of them a while back and three of them are gone. Alternately, here's an idea for you. I took a TB tag and cut off the edges and bent it slighty so that it would fit into the average Micro geocache (which is typically no more than a 35mm film cannister) Here is one of them and here is the other. It's really up to you, though. But I can tell you that if you send off just the tag by itself, everyone will assume that it fell off of something else! YodaDoe Quote Link to comment
+SeventhSon Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 You could just send the tag and make it "The Invisible Man" TB 7 Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Don't forget to read 'Snoogans' Tb Longevity Clinic' at the top of this forum. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
+Eartha Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 You've been given good advice in the above posts. You can send it out however you want. adding something to it helps it to be seen when it's among other items in a cache, and gives people something to play with when they want to post interesting pictures that might go along with the theme of the bug, or for their stories. But it's all up to you. A travel bug with no specific goal is bound to end up in some interesting places. Quote Link to comment
+JetMonkey Posted August 27, 2004 Author Share Posted August 27, 2004 I had no idea that a concept that seams so simple and cool could be such a pain, I ordered 4 TBs because I thought this would be something my kids would have fun tracking across the country (they are 6 and 8 years old) but now I'm not so sure. From what I've read about geocachers they seem to be a pretty neat and unique crowd especially when I read the comments left by members who have found another member's cache. This isn't meant to sound like a negative comment but I'd never thought that some of these very same people could be so disrespectful of other people's property. I was hoping that the TB thing was going to be something fun. Oh well, I'm still hoping for the best and I'll make note on a lot of the tips already offered, thanks to everyone for their help! Quote Link to comment
+Eartha Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 It is fun! It just has some minor risks. Don't set your hopes too high and you won't be disappointed. Quote Link to comment
+YodaDoe Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 (edited) It's all still very fun and easy! We are just telling you about all of the possibilities. Most of my travel bugs do just what they are supposed to do: travel from cache to cache. I have attached TB tags to all sorts of things: keychains, a concert wristband, plush toys, a harmonica, dime-store trinkets, Matchbox cars, a disposable camera, and as I mentioned before, nothing at all. Only a few of mine have gotten lost. Most of the time, they turn up somewhere a few months down the road when I thought they were lost. I even had one with a mission to go to my brother in Italy... someone did take it to Italy from my hometown of Raleigh, NC, but someone else picked it up without first reading the mission statement at the website and they took it back to Maine before realizing that it "wanted" to stay in Italy. But the risk and the unknown factors is what makes it fun, in my opinion; you never know where it will go and what will happen to it. You can make whatever kind of Travel Bug you like. You should be aware that they sometimes sit in caches or in the hands of a geocacher for weeks or months before moving on again. And they do get lost into oblivion for no known reason on occassion. But I still find it fun and rewarding and you will too. I don't mean to tell you NOT to release the dogtag by itself. I just wanted to warn you that, if it's not attached to anything, it MIGHT have a higher probability of getting lost. And since most cachers are used to seeing these dogtags attached to something, you might get some cachers who are slightly confused by the lone dogtag. That doesn't mean they will fail to log its travels! YodaDoe Edited August 27, 2004 by YodaDoe Quote Link to comment
+JetMonkey Posted August 28, 2004 Author Share Posted August 28, 2004 Thanks YodaDoe, I feel better, too bad about the Italy thing, kind of funny though. Am I allowed to attach a TB to a cinder block or car fender? OK, maybe not such a good idea, I think I'm leaning towards something that can held in the palm of someone's hand. Thanks for the reply. JetMonkey Quote Link to comment
+planetrobert Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 Thanks YodaDoe, I feel better, too bad about the Italy thing, kind of funny though. Am I allowed to attach a TB to a cinder block or car fender? OK, maybe not such a good idea, I think I'm leaning towards something that can held in the palm of someone's hand. Thanks for the reply. JetMonkey Cindy evil 14lb bug Quote Link to comment
+JetMonkey Posted August 28, 2004 Author Share Posted August 28, 2004 ralann, those are great! I was only kidding but now that I think about it I wonder if I can take my bug to a cache along with some wood screws and a screw gun so I can attach it to a tree near the cache? OK maybe not. I am amazed though that the cinder block and bowling ball have moved around as much as it has, very cool! Quote Link to comment
+Eartha Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 ralann, those are great! I was only kidding but now that I think about it I wonder if I can take my bug to a cache along with some wood screws and a screw gun so I can attach it to a tree near the cache? OK maybe not. I am amazed though that the cinder block and bowling ball have moved around as much as it has, very cool! Absolutely not, no defacing of the forest! You could kill the tree, or definitely scar it for life, or you could be in serious trouble with the park rangers and give geocaching a black eye. Unless you own the tree, please don't even think about it. Whatever you decide to do, think about the big picture, how does it look for the community as a whole? A simple bug is one thing, screwing it to a tree, well out of the question, and how would it travel from there anyway? Quote Link to comment
+JetMonkey Posted August 28, 2004 Author Share Posted August 28, 2004 Sorry Eartha, I was only kidding about the tree thing! Quote Link to comment
+AuntieWeasel Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 I'm holding one now that's just a tag. It feels funny, I have to say. So funny, in fact, that somebody a couple of caches back attached a giant laminated instruction sheet to it. I suspect he felt better handling it with something on the chain besides the dogtag. I enjoy bugs that are stupid. I mean, you see tons of cute plush toys and matchbox cars. How about a big hex nut or a ring of useless keys or a refrigerator magnet from Bob's Sheet Metal in Hancock, Michigan. If the object seems completely at a tangent, or irrelevant to, the mission, so much the better. Quote Link to comment
+Eartha Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 Sorry Eartha, I was only kidding about the tree thing! ok then! I'm happy. I hope you are too. Quote Link to comment
Shoobie & the Sand Crabs Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 of course you can!! Quote Link to comment
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