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Question on moving trackables from lonely caches…
We try to follow the rules of each cache, and if the rules say trade trackables one for one, or take/drop as many as you want,/just keep them moving, etc., that’s what we do. We don’t usually have coins or bugs (and none of our own), but we like to help any along on their journeys, if we can.
If we find any trackables in any lonely caches, should we leave them there if the cache says trade one for one and we don’t have any trackables to trade? There are points for verifying “not present”, so would there be any points for verifying “present”? We’d like to help any bugs/coins get moving if we can (assuming we find any lonely caches, and assuming they have any trackables in them, and assuming that any extra points would really affect our point total…), but we also want to abide by the spirit of the cache.
Please don’t say to get a bunch of our own trackables for trade–that’s not our thing.
IMO, the purpose of trackables is to move. If you don’t have a trackable but are willing to move one, by all means take it along, even if it leaves the cache devoid of bugs and even if it “violates” the cache-owners wishes to keep bugs in the cache. Feel free to take all the bugs if there are a bunch and you feel like moving them–as long as you log and move them!
Cache owners who “require” finders to trade bugs one-for one are being tremendously unfair to bug owners, particularly when their caches become lonely TB prisons as a result. The wishes of the trackable owner should come first; after all, they (in most cases) paid for the dang thing and put some thought into releasing it.
On the Left Side of the Road...did you hear that Sagasu? 😈
I have to agree with gottarun on this one. (that doesn’t happen much…)
Move the bugs that what they are there for.
@-cheeto- wrote:
did you hear that Sagasu? 😈
Sagasu knows that I (respectfully) disagree with him on this issue!
Though by far the bigger problems are people taking trackables and not logging them, or making them part of their personal mission/collection. And that bad behavior is NOT by any means limited to inexperienced cachers!!!!
On the Left Side of the Road...My rule is that I only move bugs or coins when:
1. I know I will be able to help them on their mission (Missions of “Just move around alot” don’t count)
2. they are geocoins in caches which are vulnerable to coin theft (anything where either the terrain or difficulty do not exceed 2 in a metro area.)
3. everything in caches which haven’t been found in 2 months or more.@Team Deejay wrote:
My rule is that I only move bugs or coins when:
1. I know I will be able to help them on their mission (Missions of “Just move around alot” don’t count)
2. they are geocoins in caches which are vulnerable to coin theft (anything where either the terrain or difficulty do not exceed 2 in a metro area.)
3. everything in caches which haven’t been found in 2 months or more.Great rules to abide by! There is a TB hotel in town that many of us fear for when TB’s or coins end up in it. To date, dozens of TB’s and GC have gone missing, yet the cache remains active and the trackables continue going in it.
It is great to help a trackable on a mission, but some of them are so well-defined, that it’s difficult to grab it based solely on the mission. Just moving them from one place to another at least keeps them moving.
I also agree with the languishing trackables and I too will grab them and move them without a trade even.
Sagasu just loves to see trackables in his caches, don’t we all. I think he gets more worked up about the uneven trades because he, more than any of the rest of us, works diligently to place trackables in his caches.
But, this mission of most trackables, is NOT to sit in a cache so the listing looks good. It is to move to some destination or another and the only way to do that is to grab them and move them along.
I would be nice to have a “verify present” option though, especially if you aren’t into moving them or don’t want the responsibility.
As stated, as long as you keep the TB and GC mission at the forefront of your choice to move or not to move, you probably can’t go wrong.
Sagasu just loves to see trackables in his caches, don’t we all. I think he gets more worked up about the uneven trades because he, more than any of the rest of us, works diligently to place trackables in his caches.
I wasn’t trying to pick on Dave. It was more of a joke then anything. One thing to keep in mind about Mr Sagasu is he visits his own caches and exchanges trackables and adds them. That is probably a rare occurence. Most who build these travel bug “jails” with rules are not like him. That is why even though I am not admimant like he is about even trade in any random cache, I do respect his wishes on his caches because he cares for them and the items that go into them and come out of them.
For the most part, the TB/GC owner’s wishes come first. Then those of the cache owners. And they were put out by owners to move. I have a bunch of trackables out there and only 1 of them continues to move. The rest are basically in someone’s toybox or in the garbage I’m sure.
Oh, no! I always feel sorry for TBs stuck in cold caches for the winter, now I’ll be thinking of all the TB prisons. 😥 😥 😥
We check missions if we know of a TB or coin in a certain cache in advance, and if we can head them in the right direction, we might move them. Some TBs don’t “carry” their missions with them, so those we try to leave alone (unless we feel sorry for them).
If we plan on hitting a Lonely Cache that has TBs or coins now, we’ll check out the missions before we make the attempted find.
I say if you can help the TB by all means take it and move it along!
As for “trading” TBs…I see that on a cache page and it’s my cue to raid the prison and set them all free. 😀 😀 No cache owner can/should make “rules” for my TB or anyone else’s for that matter.
One note on TB Prisons: Whenever we receive one of these to publish, we hold them up and explain to the owner that this is not well received by the community, point them to relevant forum threads, and suggest that maybe this isn’t a good idea. Most take the hint. For those that that don’t, well, this isn’t a guideline issue. Just be aware that these folks were warned before they listed these caches.
TB hotels shouldn’t automatically be prisons. I don’t do much caching lately but I am going to try to keep a closer eye on TB’s and GC’s coming into the area this year. If there’s a mission that suits me or a TB that I have an interest in, I’m going to go grab it.
I just released a bunch of TB’s this past weekend with very specific, interesting and heart-warming missions. I am trying to get others to not only get creative with their caches, but also with their trackables. Many TB’s have a generic “Move me as far as you can” or “I’m in a race with so and so to get to” mission which is fine, but doesn’t do much to inspire cachers to grab them and share in their mission unless the route or destination appeals to them. I find that a little personal experience or a goal to revisit some event or place from one’s past makes for an interesting and compelling mission.
So, I’d suggest putting a watch on the few closest “prisons” in your neighborhood and when something of interest gets interred therein, go ahead and mount a prison break. The trackable owner will thank you.
Seldom|seen wrote:
I don’t do much caching lately but I am going to try to keep a closer eye on TB’s and GC’s coming into the area this year.
You mean you are actually going to visit some caches that aren’t lonely? Won’t that mess with your statistics of having over one hide for every five finds? And if you slow down on finding those lonelys your percentage of lonely finds to finds will drop below that 24% you stand at.. lol
There are the numbers, and then there are the numbers…My head is spinning from the statistical variations!
@sagasu wrote:
Seldom|seen wrote:
I don’t do much caching lately but I am going to try to keep a closer eye on TB’s and GC’s coming into the area this year.
You mean you are actually going to visit some caches that aren’t lonely? Won’t that mess with your statistics of having over one hide for every five finds? And if you slow down on finding those lonelys your percentage of lonely finds to finds will drop below that 24% you stand at.. lol
No wonder I failed statistics in college, I hate em!!!! Where do you come up with these numbers, and more importantly, WHY?
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