My first year of caching, I had maybe 25 finds or less, I went solo to a find that required a moderate hike to GZ. I got there, found the cache, and realized I had no pen and there wasn’t one in the cache. So, wanting the find to count, I went back to my vehicle, got my pen, and returned to sign the log. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to do anything but, since it was my own eagerness/inexperience that caused me to leave the pen behind. Any other time I forgot, I borrowed from cachers I was with. An idea that might work for those who forget their pens is to have them take a photo that has a date stamp on it, or take a picture of their watch if they are using a camera and not a smartphone, and attach it to the online log. Or take a group photo if the cacher is with others. For my one cache, I wouldn’t get too wrapped up in someone needing to sign the log unless I suspected an armchair log. I might contact the cacher and ask what the puzzle solve was. I guess for the most part I figure people put into and take out of geocaching what they want, and if I got too strict about it, it would cause hard feelings. No sense creating ill will over that for me. That being said, however, I do think people should sign the log. It is in the spirit of the hobby and it shows you were there.
