My turn to whine!

[+Mama<3Bear]

Well, so much for another trackable....I've been geocaching for a while now. I just, finally, hit 100 caches! So, I thought, "okay, now I'm ready to get my own trackable and send it out into the world".

 

I've helped a few trackables along the way and was naive to think that all other people were like-minded.

 

I released my first trackable, which was a "Live Free or Die" New Hampshire magnet. I dropped it in a cache that seemed to have quite a history of trackables. It was also near an airport, so I thought that would help it travel quite far. Well, needless to say, there seemed to be no activity for a while so I revisited the cache and IT WAS GONE!!! So, I checked the inventory, according to the geocache, and found that only one of the 5 trackables listed was still in the cache. It appears as though someone had found that cache and raids it regularly, leaving the logbook and the geocache intact, so as not to cause any suspicion.

 

Okay, so I took a bit of time to grieve and when I felt completely healed, I decided to make a second attempt. This time, I placed a red heart-shaped carabiner with a travel bug tag attached. I also attached an index card with a bit more info about the trackable, including the fact that this was my second attempt. I also stated that it was not a collectible, just to clarify it's purpose.

 

I've been revisiting the cache, every few days, to try to keep an eye on my dear trackable. Today, another cacher posted that they were not able to find the cache and were concerned that the entire cache may have gone missing. So, I got in my car and drove to the cache. It was there! THANK GOD! But wait!!!!! When I opened the cache, my trackable was GONE!!!! OH NO!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!

 

I don't know if someone just raided the cache and never logged their visit or if they logged their visit and just thought the trackables were "cool" and decided to keep them or if they just haven't gotten around to logging their visit or the fact that they retrieved my trackable....oh, forever an optimist....

 

So, I decided to visit the Groundspeak Forum to see if anyone had any advice about trackables and lo and behold, I find this place for all of us to share our pain and grief!

 

After reading a lot of posts and taking it all in, I've come to the conclusion that my next trackable is going to be a ziploc bag full of dryer lint!!!! Or some other distinctively uncollectible item!!! Am I bitter? YES I AM!

 

Okay....now I feel much better....thanks for allowing me to rant!!!!

 

I'll try to remain optimistic that someday, one of them may come out of the woodwork and resurface.

 

(Neither one of my trackables even logged one single inch in travel! How sad is that!)

[+NanCycle]

Well, so much for another trackable....I've been geocaching for a while now. I just, finally, hit 100 caches! So, I thought, "okay, now I'm ready to get my own trackable and send it out into the world".

 

I've helped a few trackables along the way and was naive to think that all other people were like-minded.

 

I released my first trackable, which was a "Live Free or Die" New Hampshire magnet. I dropped it in a cache that seemed to have quite a history of trackables. It was also near an airport, so I thought that would help it travel quite far. Well, needless to say, there seemed to be no activity for a while so I revisited the cache and IT WAS GONE!!! So, I checked the inventory, according to the geocache, and found that only one of the 5 trackables listed was still in the cache. It appears as though someone had found that cache and raids it regularly, leaving the logbook and the geocache intact, so as not to cause any suspicion.

 

Okay, so I took a bit of time to grieve and when I felt completely healed, I decided to make a second attempt. This time, I placed a red heart-shaped carabiner with a travel bug tag attached. I also attached an index card with a bit more info about the trackable, including the fact that this was my second attempt. I also stated that it was not a collectible, just to clarify it's purpose.

 

I've been revisiting the cache, every few days, to try to keep an eye on my dear trackable. Today, another cacher posted that they were not able to find the cache and were concerned that the entire cache may have gone missing. So, I got in my car and drove to the cache. It was there! THANK GOD! But wait!!!!! When I opened the cache, my trackable was GONE!!!! OH NO!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!

 

I don't know if someone just raided the cache and never logged their visit or if they logged their visit and just thought the trackables were "cool" and decided to keep them or if they just haven't gotten around to logging their visit or the fact that they retrieved my trackable....oh, forever an optimist....

 

So, I decided to visit the Groundspeak Forum to see if anyone had any advice about trackables and lo and behold, I find this place for all of us to share our pain and grief!

 

After reading a lot of posts and taking it all in, I've come to the conclusion that my next trackable is going to be a ziploc bag full of dryer lint!!!! Or some other distinctively uncollectible item!!! Am I bitter? YES I AM!

 

Okay....now I feel much better....thanks for allowing me to rant!!!!

 

I'll try to remain optimistic that someday, one of them may come out of the woodwork and resurface.

 

(Neither one of my trackables even logged one single inch in travel! How sad is that!)

 

I know just what you mean. A couple of my trackables have gone missing from the very first cache I placed them in, too. I have found that the more trackables I put out there, the less I obsess about each one. Now I just expect to be reissuing them every few years. And yes, they might show up again some day, when you least expect it.

[+TriciaG]

My first attempt had zero miles as well. But eventually the TB tag resurfaced, without its special add-on (a rubbery bracelet from a charity bike event). So I grabbed it from the local cache it was found in, added a different add-on (several links from an old bike chain) and sent it back out. Well, I handed it over to a cacher that was going to Europe, and he dropped it there. It has survived! Maybe North America is more prone to TB thieves.

 

EDIT to add: I have one more TB tag I purchased at the same time as the above one. I am waiting to decide what to attach to it, and also scared to send it out. But after this I won't purchase any more. I'm afraid it's a money pit.

Edited August 28, 2016 by TriciaG

[+Goldsmith]

Our first experiences with trackables was fairly discouraging as well. One went less than 2 miles before disappearing and another was picked up by a person who decided to geocache exactly one day and then quit. As a family who enjoys the TB side of the game, we figured we could either give up or we could keep trying. We figured people lose kites all the time in trees and they survive to fly kites again. Geocachers are at probably a little tougher than kite fliers. We were pretty sure if we put more out there, some would have greater longevity and travel. As has been stated already, we also found that the more we put out, the less we obsessed about the fate of each one. We already have a schedule for re-releasing MIAs so it's accepted that some will disappear and have to be reincarnated. We never fall in love with things we are sending out into the world and we never have the expectation of seeing them again. Most of the stuff we attach to trackables come from the thrift store, unclaimed baggage or the dollar store so there is no huge expense. And we are trying more and more to think creatively and up-cycle stuff. Coming up with an story and a mission for things can be a lot of fun. I don't think it would be any fun though if we constantly worried about people stealing them. I think anyone who is very concerned with maintaining control over a trackable item would be better served doing exactly that--keep it in their possession and just visit it to caches. We have a coin we do that with. You can decrease the odds of a trackable going astray by being selective about where you leave it, putting a mission tag on it and using sturdy materials to hold everything together, but ultimately you have okay with the unpredictability of the game.

[+fizzymagic]

I've been revisiting the cache, every few days, to try to keep an eye on my dear trackable. Today, another cacher posted that they were not able to find the cache and were concerned that the entire cache may have gone missing. So, I got in my car and drove to the cache. It was there! THANK GOD! But wait!!!!! When I opened the cache, my trackable was GONE!!!! OH NO!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!

 

A couple of things. First, the time scale of trackable movements are generally measured in months, not in days.

 

Second, a trackable gone from a cache without being logged is by no means evidence that it has been stolen. It might be that the person who took it has not logged the cache yet, or, more likely, that the person who took it won't log taking it until they put it into another cache.

 

When I used to do trackables, that was how I did it. I didn't log removing the trackables because of the number of anxious emails that would come within days from owners demanding that it be immediately placed into a new cache. Instead, I delayed the log until the trackable was already in another cache. (As an aside, I was sufficiently unhappy with my own behavior that I stopped doing trackables except under extraordinary circumstances).

 

Third, a missing trackable does not mean a stolen trackable. I had an interesting experience just this last week. I was helping a friend who is no longer an active cacher move from one state to another. In packing up his house, he discovered a trackable in a corner of a drawer that he'd had without knowing it for several years. We took it and put it back into circulation. I am sure that the owner will be thrilled! The oversight was not intentional -- people have busy lives and misplacing trackables is not uncommon.

 

So my advice is this: wait a couple of months and see what happens. I think it is likely that your trackable will show up. When it does, please, please, please do not berate the person who took a while to move it. There is just no good that can result from that.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I've given up on trackables long, long ago. Of the forty-six that I have put out, one has moved this year. Most are listed as 'missing' or in someone's possession since 2006! Not interested anymore. Mot even interested in moving them anymore. The last ones I moved to nice caches some distance away have disappeared.

Not interested anymore.

[+Jobu35]

I found a cache full of trackables that had gone missing a few years ago. Whoever took the whole cache brought the whole thing back, trackables and all. Signed the log book 'I'M BACK". I also found two tags without the attachments that went missing in a different state. I did my best to put a similar objects on them and sent them back out in the world only to have someone retrieve them immediately and hold on to them for two months now.

[+Mama<3Bear]

Thanks everyone for sharing your personal experiences with trackables.

 

I'll be patient and attempt to send a few more out into the wild. Then, I'll just put all of them out of my mind and see what happens.

 

Happy Caching!

[+Team Chupacabra]

Even when I'm moving along someone else's traveler I feel responsible for it and follow it for a few stops afterwards. I felt bad when I took someone's virgin TB to a cool cache 300 miles away, and it has vanished since then.

 

Now I only leave TBs in member's only caches. There might be something to the idea that the problem is worse in the US. My one and only travel bug escaped the country to Poland after a few stops, and its been bouncing around Europe for a few years now.

[+Mama<3Bear]

Even when I'm moving along someone else's traveler I feel responsible for it and follow it for a few stops afterwards. I felt bad when I took someone's virgin TB to a cool cache 300 miles away, and it has vanished since then.

 

Now I only leave TBs in member's only caches. There might be something to the idea that the problem is worse in the US. My one and only travel bug escaped the country to Poland after a few stops, and its been bouncing around Europe for a few years now.

 

I agree completely. I'm definitely going to put a lot more thought into where I place my next trackable. I may specify that it's mission is only to travel to premium caches. Hopefully, if anyone reads the mission and follows it, that it may have a better chance...or not...

[+cerberus1]

Even when I'm moving along someone else's traveler I feel responsible for it and follow it for a few stops afterwards. I felt bad when I took someone's virgin TB to a cool cache 300 miles away, and it has vanished since then.

 

Now I only leave TBs in member's only caches. There might be something to the idea that the problem is worse in the US. My one and only travel bug escaped the country to Poland after a few stops, and its been bouncing around Europe for a few years now.

 

I agree completely. I'm definitely going to put a lot more thought into where I place my next trackable. I may specify that it's mission is only to travel to premium caches. Hopefully, if anyone reads the mission and follows it, that it may have a better chance...or not...

That's the biggest issue in this hobby...

 

Unlike others it seems, I rarely ever look back after dropping a trackable.

It isn't mine, and my responsibility for another's property ended when I dropped it.

 

Funny how some believe that pms and pmo caches mean something, when quite a few new folks asking basic questions in these forums are brand-new pms.

Pmo pill bottle guard rail/lpc hides are special too.

At least two major trackable hoarders on this site were pms.

[cezanne]

I'm definitely going to put a lot more thought into where I place my next trackable. I may specify that it's mission is only to travel to premium caches. Hopefully, if anyone reads the mission and follows it, that it may have a better chance...or not...

 

I think that other aspects (like how easily can the cache be reached, how exposed is the hideout, how likely is it that the cache is found by muggles etc) play a much more important rule than whether a cache is a PM-only cache or not.

Member status does not say anything about the experience a cacher has and how much care they handling trackables. While I can name many very new and inexperienced cachers in my area who are PMs (and make many mistakes) I could list you quite a number of very experienced and considerately acting cachers who are basic members (either have neither been PMs or quite common recently they let their PM-ship lapse as mass caching let geocaching sink down in their personal priorities though many of them still visit caches). I'd prefer to have my trackables in the hands of the latter group when I had the choice to choose.

 

Moreover, you should take into account that in some areas the density of PM-only caches is very low and then your wish leaves almost no choices which is particularly relevant in areas which are not cache dense anyhow.

 

Of course you could ask cachers to choose the locations for your trackable with care, but most cachers when they move along trackables do not read the description and the majority also does not look at the mission when logging trackables.

[+Mama<3Bear]

You're absolutely right. After reading many posts on this forum,i think over just got to release another trackable and then forget about it.

[+Team Chupacabra]

I'm definitely going to put a lot more thought into where I place my next trackable. I may specify that it's mission is only to travel to premium caches. Hopefully, if anyone reads the mission and follows it, that it may have a better chance...or not...

 

While I can name many very new and inexperienced cachers in my area who are PMs (and make many mistakes) I could list you quite a number of very experienced and considerately acting cachers who are basic members (either have neither been PMs or quite common recently they let their PM-ship lapse as mass caching let geocaching sink down in their personal priorities though many of them still visit caches). I'd prefer to have my trackables in the hands of the latter group when I had the choice to choose.

 

 

The problem is I *can't* choose the type of cacher that comes after me so I'd like to avoid the griefer that uses a basic account to deliberately ruin our fun.

[cezanne]

The problem is I *can't* choose the type of cacher that comes after me so I'd like to avoid the griefer that uses a basic account to deliberately ruin our fun.

 

Actually, you have at least some choice - for example when you avoid dropping off trackables in caches that are very easy to go to and/or are stealth required caches you will reduce the risk that the next visitor will not care much and the risk that the next visitor is not even a cacher.

 

Of course no advantage comes with no drawback - by dropping off trackables in more challenging and/or more remote caches, the trackable owner will receive less logs.

 

In my experience (close to 14 years into geocaching, around 800 trackables moved from cache to cache) dropping off trackables in typical self-attributed TB hotels (often in very exposed locations and the containers not secured by locks) is a very good way of having trackbles quickly lost. It does not play the slightest role whether such caches are PM-only or not.

 

Quite a number of those (fortunately not too numerous) cachers who are into stealing precious GCs (TBs are not very endagered by this sort of people) and later e.g. selling them or keeping them are PMs anyway and have access to PM-only caches anyway.

 

When TBs get lost, it's hardly because anyone deliberately wants to keep the TB - either muggles are involved, people who know nothinh about trackables, cachers who do not care much and are not very organized and/or lose things or forget about them etc - all nothing related to the member status.

Edited September 1, 2016 by cezanne

[+Pink Paisley]

The trackable is to all intents and purposes, dead.

 

Groundspeak have no concern about TB safety - they can just sell more tags if anyone is daft enough to buy them.

 

Geocoins? You would be mad to put them in a cache. There are enough dishonest or ignorant cachers out there to make it inevitable that a coin WILL go missing in time.

 

Nano and micro caches dominate - they are just so easy to throw down without thought about the hobby's roots and without any thought about what happens when you fill up space and give new cachers a narrow experience. I've heard old hands complain that they have given up with trackables because they can't find caches big enough to take one. And set predominantly micros themselves.

 

Groundspeak COULD control access to the site and ensure that unregistered users can't access. But they don't.

 

A large proportion of my TBs are missing. I'm not giving them any more money.

 

PP.

[SunCatRune]

The 'dryer lint' made me lol. So sorry about your trackables. I have yet to buy any, but am thinking about it. It seems like such a neat concept, except there seems to be so many problems with them disappearing! I can understand them going missing eventually, that much is inevitable, but going missing right away? Crazy.