Trackables are not swag!

[Captain and Mate]

@smashing ground wrote:

trackables are made to move,you do not need to trade for trackables.
just take and move on.

Total agreement here.

[HeliDood]

@labrat_wr wrote:

There are those out there that take this to the level that they grab every trackable in a cache if there are multiple travelers just ’cause they can.

I’d be OK with that. Just so long as they intended to move them.
They’re called “TRAVEL Bugs”, not “sit in some cache for several months at a time bugs”

“take one, leave one” policy on their caches.

I will never enforce such a policy. I disagree with it entirely.
The goal for a trackable is for it to move. They’re the property of their respective owners, NOT of the cache owner.
TB’s are NOT in circulation for a CO to use to boost the appeal of his/her cache.

While trackables are not swag, and perhaps, leaving swag and taking a trackable may seem in poor form, it is not against any rules. I am sure that this will get yeas and nays but that, in my mind, is the issue.

[/quote]
This is the least of my concerns. I don’t see it as poor form at all. If someone wants to “donate” swag to my cache, great!

The issue I will now have is a person taking my swag only leaving their TB.

[gotta run]

Yep it has been going on since the dawn of time (or the dawn of travel bugs at least) which is why it’s good to keep bringing it up. There’s a particular team who seems to think it’s fun for them to on one hand grab every travel bug from caches they find (not a bad thing), and then to leave travel bugs they acquire as trade for swag. Apparently this way they never have to actually acquire any actual swag for trade, as best as I can tell.

Assume everyone plays the game by this practice, and what happens over time? A cache gradually loses all its swag.

Basically we quit caring about swag long ago for this and other reasons, and as a cache owner I just assume sooner or later our caches will either be empty or filled with crap, as is the nature of the game. People are people. Not our fault.

On the related note that was brought up, I do not agree with the principal of “one for one” trades on TBs and coins, because if you are in a position to move them, by all means take them. Caches should not be travel bug prisons. Just my opinion.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[HeliDood]

I’ve recently had in my possession a geocoin that came with a note that says “Do not put me in caches that say coins may only be traded 1 for 1”
-among a bunch of other coin ‘guidelines’

That coin has helped me understand why 1for1 coin caches (or “TB prisons”) are not really a good thing.

Ive recently ordered some coins to set loose (and likely never see again).
With that coin I think I will include a similar note to the one I saw.

And I’m very against “TB Prisons” What to do with them? so many mixed emotions with those..
Boycott them?
“rescue” the contents?
TNLN and just go for the smiley?
what to do what to do…

I think Groundspeak should write a guideline prohibiting new caches with a 1 for 1 policy regarding travel bugs.. Just to remind everyone that TB’s are not in circulation to add to the appeal of a particular cache, but to travel.

And if not Groundspeak, maybe someone else locally… The WGA?

[Team Black-Cat]

Even IF the WGA made a policy on trackable trading, what would it change? The WGA doesn’t have the time, resources or authority to police how people choose to cache.

[amita17]

What I have to say doesn’t really express an opinion on the subject one way or another, so much as it is to offer a personal explanation that may be more common than one might think.

I have been caching for a while now, but still consider myself new to many aspects of the sport. I don’t trade swag, I don’t carry swag. I don’t purchase coins, I don’t trade coins, I don’t leave coins. I don’t place travel bugs, move them, or take them and keep them. Why to any of this? Because the whole concept of them was never really explained to me. It isn’t in anything I have ever read. It was never in a workshop. As you can see from most topics on the forum, there is much diversity of opinion on many aspects of geocaching, so that is probably why it doesn’t have a well-known policy, written or commonly understood.

All I had been able to glean was “if you take something, leave something of equal value”, so to someone who really doesn’t get it, it would seem taking a travel bug and leaving one was a good thing. I have read many logs where people do this. Also, people seem to trade swag and often post what they took and left. The ones who aren’t trading fairly must not be posting the items taking and/or left. I don’t specifically recall a log about coins, but I thought they were considered of value. I would think if someone left a geocoin, that would be a good thing.

So, to avoid all the craziness of what was intended and what is fair, I simply try to cache respectfully, avoid muggles who might sabotage a cache, sign the log, hide as found, and TNLN. Some think I am missing out on a great part of the game, but really, life is about balance, and I’m obsessed enough with just the finding 😉

[sandlanders]

@amita17 wrote:

So, to avoid all the craziness of what was intended and what is fair, I simply try to cache respectfully, avoid muggles who might sabotage a cache, sign the log, hide as found, and TNLN. Some think I am missing out on a great part of the game, but really, life is about balance, and I’m obsessed enough with just the finding 😉

You’re not missing a thing, amita17. You are playing the game in a way that gives you your own sense of fun and accomplishment, and you’re respectful of others while you do that. Keep on having fun!

[Astro_D]

I admit I have cleaned out the TBs in caches with the 1:1 rule. 😀

The problem I see with TBs nowadays – more and more caches are becoming micros, preventing the ready movement of TBs. And those that could hold a TB, might not be the best place to leave a TB. Makes TBs less attractive for me to pick up.

I don’t practice leaving TBs in place of taking swag either. I admit we did it once or twice when we first started aching, but figured out pretty quick, that it wasn’t the smart thing to do.

But like anything else, one cannot dictate how another can/should play.

[seldom|seen]

It seems like you can boil down all of these threads that have to do with the question of fair play to one overarching principle, which is to respect the wishes of the cache owner, GC owner or TB owner.

But what do you do when you know a certain cache owner makes a serious effort to keep caches stocked with good trade and trackables, while the cache itself contains a number of TB that haven’t moved in months?

In that case I default to the TB owner, as most respondents in this thread do. Sure, a bunch of icons looks great for the cache and you can tell the CO cares, but in the end the TB and GC missions take precedent, don’t they?

I try to trade even, but if I see a TB or a GC that is getting stale, you can bet I will move it along, despite what any CO might feel is an uneven trade.

When it comes to general swag, it’s not difficult to improve the quality of most caches since most of the residual swag ends up being worse than what you can find on Goodwill’s discount shelf. I always try to trade up if I trade at all, which isn’t too often.

[zuma]

@seldom|seen wrote:

It seems like you can boil down all of these threads that have to do with the question of fair play to one overarching principle, which is to respect the wishes of the cache owner, GC owner or TB owner.

It is even simpler than that. Just use this as your guide, and you wont go far wrong:

“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

z

[gotta run]

@zuma wrote:

I “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

z

Funny that my Cub Scout den was just talking about that last night. The boys agreed that if everyone stuck to that principle, there wouldn’t be many problems left in the world to fix.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[lone_gunman]

@gotta run wrote:

@zuma wrote:

I “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

z

Funny that my Cub Scout den was just talking about that last night. The boys agreed that if everyone stuck to that principle, there wouldn’t be many problems left in the world to fix.

“out of the mouths of babes”

[zuma]

@gotta run wrote:

@zuma wrote:

I “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

z

Funny that my Cub Scout den was just talking about that last night. The boys agreed that if everyone stuck to that principle, there wouldn’t be many problems left in the world to fix.

Are you young enough to be a Cub Scout? 😉

z

[gotta run]

Har har, Mr. Misplaced Modifier Police… 😛

On the Left Side of the Road...

[beezers958]

If I see one, I move one, whether or not I have one to trade. Trackables are meant to be moved and I move them in good faith to the owners.

[Author]

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