'Theft' of trackables - it's getting ridiculous.

[WellsInc]

Hi Yurt
Just started a topic on this as well. Our coin went missing from the first cache. didnt even get to track some miles. Sigh. . I was wondering if some muggles keep eyes on caches and quickly dip in to see what has been left after some one passes buy. Well its just a theory anyway.
Wells Inc

[blossom*]

I agree that it's lousy when trackables go missing. But I just had a weekend of caching where I came across heaps of them for some reason and they were great. There was one from Estonia that had been travelling since 2004 and a number of others that all had interesting little stories. It really added to my fun this weekend.

So even though they might go missing, I still have a heap of them recently released becasue I reckon that's all part of the fun of caching. But I do make sure I don't send off expensive things to be TBs and I hang on to my favourite coins

[ruzzelz]

A bit of monitoring on my missing GC's reveals cachers from one particular part of the world visiting the cache and either taking them never to be seen again or the GC seeming to disappear from the cache (without being logged) around the same time as a visit.


I'm not talking about the one stolen along with the cachers vehicle contents in NZ either. That one was just bad luck for all concerned.

[RobWinmar]

Oooh do elaborate, russelz!

I tend to pick them up if I notice they've been there for a while, but otherwise I feel bad if I take them and don't get around to moving them for a couple of weeks. Always log them though. I don't understand why anyone would want to hang onto them, even if they do look nice.

[Yurt]

I had a look at the trackables I'd handled and clicked on a few to see their current status. Well 2 out of 3 were missing.
Maybe I'm a curse!
I might list them some time after I've had a good look through them.

[Hunter-Finder]

I'm the same. I'm very careful where I place any sort of trackable. If it looks in an easy spot then muggles may find and take the lot.
On the other hand if they were placed in more inaccessable caches then they would sit there for a long time until they were collected and passed on.
I scan all GC's I find so at least I have a momento of what they looked like. I use them as my screen saver.

[scotty_308]

Not sure I would class mine as stolen as I know it is still in the hands of the last person to make a log with it, after contacting them I was told they were planning a new cache for coins and bugs, but never seen anything more of it, pity too as it was the first coin I put out and would have liked it to move around a hell of a lot more before going missing.

Have to add its been nearly nine months since its last log so guessing that its not going to be coming back into ciculation.

[Yurt]

Yes it all sucks big time. I was looking to take some to NQ and bring some back this week. I looked at several caches in Townsville that are listed as having trackables. When I read the logs I don't think a single one is actually there.

I think I'll give up on them. Will put my remaining stock back in circulation and stop picking them up.

[rbirtles]

I am only putting the cheaper trackables out into the big bad world these days. I bought a few nice geocoins and I cannot bare the thought of some other person claiming them as their own.

If I do I might put a mission on them to only go to caches with a combined terrain and difficulty of 6+ or so. Maybe those more dishonest people will leave the harder caches alone and thus lessen the chances of the trackables going missing.

Don't stop picking up trackables and moving them on to other caches. Keep them moving and maybe just think which caches may be the better caches to place trackables in. You are not responsible for another person's dishonesty. That is my view and 2c on this one.

Cheers,
Rob.

[If]

So many missing geocoins or trackables have been blamed on so called professional collectors, but I think that is probably not the cache
Apart from the inevitable mugglings of caches containing trackables I think that an awful lot of missing trackables, especially geocoins, can be put down to them simply being souveniered by junior geocachers while the grown-ups are not looking
Think back to your own childhood BC (before caching)
As an eight year old let loose at a so called 'treasure chest', how could you have resisted grabbing the nice shiny, colourful coin that outshone all the plastic dinosaurs packed within the box ?
Maybe in a few years when these junior geocachers discover these baubles lying around in a crate under their bed they might take the time to investigate the meanings of those code numbers etched upon and log their find
Assuming of course that the whole geocaching thing hasn't self destructed because of it's own popularity and the dark forces of officialdom quashing something they cannot control

[Big_Red]

I have only been this for a few days but saw a heavy coin in a 2 pocket plastic pouch at GC1X0PZ ...
as i didn't know what it was or what i was supposed to do with it i left it.

also saw a pink plastic purse and money in a plastic bag at GC143EZ
but i didn't open the plastic bag.

can someone give me a brief explanation of what to look for and what to do with them?

[blossom*]

Big_Red, you will basically recognise a Trackable item by the fact that it has a unique tracking number either engraved on it or attached to it on a Dog Tag. There are basically 2 types of Trackable items, a Travel Bug and a Geocoin. The Travel Bug can be anything and will have the Dog tag attached to it with it's unique number. You have already seen the Coins, that was what you saw in the little plastic pouch.

What are you supposed to do? You can just look at it and admire or you can join in the fun of moving them along from cache to cache. Most of them will have a "Mission" and it's fun to help them along on the mission. For example, to travel from an Adelaide cache to any cache in Darwin.

Check out the explanation on the geocaching.com web site here http://www.geocaching.com/track/

You can also have a look at some of my trackables if you'd like
http://www.geocaching.com/profile/defau ... 877c0a4253

Trackables are quite different from the usual swap items in caches. The swap items can be taken and kept if you like one of them and of course the idea is to replace it with something you have. Kids especially enjoy this, swapping toy dinasoars for a toy car etc. But I love finding something special too and I'm no longer a kid! I carry a little container of things I can leave in case I find a swap item I like and want to take.

But a trackable remains the property of the owner. You can't keep it, you can just move it from one cache to another and when you do so, it's important to log each step on geocaching.com.

Hope this gives you a few ideas. You might get a trackable of your own - you can buy the tags from a geocaching shop in Aus (track-a-bears) at http://www.geocachestore.com.au/ or you can also order them from USA

[Big_Red]

thanks heaps for the explanation

[mtbikeroz]

So many missing geocoins or trackables have been blamed on so called professional collectors, but I think that is probably not the cache
Apart from the inevitable mugglings of caches containing trackables I think that an awful lot of missing trackables, especially geocoins, can be put down to them simply being souveniered by junior geocachers while the grown-ups are not looking [

A year ago I carried 20+ Geocoins up from the ACT and dropped them ALL off in the OLDEST Qld cache in the Sth Brisbane area. I often do things like this, bulk carry to give the a huge leap in km travelled.
Anyway, within a day or two, some local Qld cachers reported there were NONE in the cache. I consequently got accused of souveniring coins! Several people contacted me, asking did I really drop them off. Politely, &*(&*%&*%Yes, I did.

So, after that sting. I no longer drop off BULK in a cache. I still carry 20+ interstate, but drop them off considerable distances apart.

Also, sadly, I brought back several from friends in Canada who wanted their Geocoins to travel Australia, alas, a few went AWOL within 6 mths.
Alas also, one of two MTB Geocoins has also disappeared HERE IN AUSTRALIA. (not the US as is usual).

[Yurt]

Putting them in Premium Members only caches is no defence either. I was prompted to start this thread when one I brought back from Canada disappeared in Kid's Dump (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 7447e57abf). Now one seems to have gone missing from our home cache (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 5576c2abc9) to add insult to injury.