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

[Yurt]

I'm sure this has been discussed in the past but I just keep finding caches with missing trackables. Some are long gone - if I see a cache that is regularly found and has a trackable that's been there more than say two months then I can guarantee it's gone (unless it's a proxy!) Lately they seem to disappear within a few days. I've watched them afterwards and they've not turned up. Some people may do a burst of caching but then suddenly don't care any more and don't even bother logging their caches and trackables maybe? Some people must be just plain thieves. "Ooh I like that. I'll have that." Terrible thing to say but I can't explain it otherwise. What made me post now (this has been building up) is that I brought a nice Geocoin back from Canada, feeling a little guilty about taking it out of the country, although there was no specific ban on it, I placed it in a local cache with low muggle-ability and a week later it seems to have gone according to the latest logs. Of course it may not have been logged yet.
The second trigger was a travel bug I released in Canada which was a simple Track-a-Bear with Aussie and Canadian flag keyrings attached. The last finder says that both flags are now missing - the Track-a-Bear is still going (the cacher very nicely replaced the Canadian keyring). So it's not just a local thing but occurs elsewhere (found caches in Canada with missing trackables as well).
I don't know what can be done about it. Trackables are one of things that maintain our interest but they are getting thin on the ground for obvious reasons. When I read here about how many GCs people have lost I can understand. I just don't get it though. Why keep them? They don't cost a fortune. If they like them why don't they just order or trade?

Not a rant but I felt a little fired up for a Monday so I had to vent somewhere.

[caughtatwork]

This is why I no longer play with trackables.
They're too expensive to go missing all the time.

[Freddo]

There is a problem. No one talks about it but there is definitely a problem.

[mtrax]

perhaps there should be a cheaper type of trackable , like a swaggie?

[cdmark]

Yep. Have to agree here. Don't think I will put any more out as we have had a few coins go AWOL and the kids 2 TB's for the race to South Africa to the Mega Event have disappeared as well.

$8.00 per TB tag. Nasty.

[caughtatwork]

<conspiracy>GC employ people to visit caches and steal the trackables so you have to buy more of them </conspiracy>

[Echo]

Have to agree, everyone we talk to now doesn't put them out. Infact, as a rule we don't tend to move them either, unless they are very clearly marked with a mission. Discovering them is a different story though...
It's almost as sad when you have to email the people that are still caching and have your trackable impounded.

[Green Team 2]

We won't release anymore trackables either. We didn't have many. A couple of coins we have the better half photographed and printed out and laminated. They moved for a while but have disappeared as well. At least we still have the coins. As was said some of the TB's aren't worth anything but they are to the cachers that released them. It was interesting to see how far they travel and the comments you get back from fellow cachers.

[Shael6636]

Hmm im getting ready to put out my 1st trackable shortly.....

Maybe i shouldnt???
I actually wonder if people are delibaretly stealing them or just forgetting they have them and then losing them?
It would be interesting to find out. I laways try t move a trackable on as quickly as possible.....but obvioulsy some people dont

[caughtatwork]

Oh, they are being thieved alright.

http://www.geocaching.com/track/search. ... 454c9b6b42

This is one of my caches in the Melbourne CBD.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... ?wp=GCNWD8

A lot of coins and bugs seem to go missing from this cache. There is little explanation when someone drops a coin in and the next person identifies the cache as having no coins / bugs in it.

[rbirtles]

Well, I just got confirmation that a CacheKinz I released up at Goulburn (GWM 1914-18) 10 days ago has gone missing - the only thing left was it's laminated mission card. A Stirling silver fish was attached to the Cachekinz and this cache had two geocoins registered to it which were also not there. It is a shame as it's journey ended even before it started... I had already informed the owners of the geocoins and they have listed them as missing.

Leaves a bad taste in my mouth but I still remain faithful to any TBs or Geocoins I come across and will always pick them up and move them.

[Shael6636]

Oh, they are being thieved alright.

http://www.geocaching.com/track/search. ... 454c9b6b42

This is one of my caches in the Melbourne CBD.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... ?wp=GCNWD8

A lot of coins and bugs seem to go missing from this cache. There is little explanation when someone drops a coin in and the next person identifies the cache as having no coins / bugs in it.

I just dont understand it personally!

Why would anyone steal someonce elses trackable It makes no sense considering the nature of this game / lifestyle. I might have to rethink my trackable as it was going to be in honor of my father who passed away recently......

Stealing a trackable is worse than having a cache muggled! Because more than likely the thiefs are cachers! (not every cacher of course) and they should no %*^#^@ better

[bshwckr]

A lot of cachers do not play fair. Its not just trackables but swaps as well. Go to any well stocked cache after half a dozen visits and all that is left is 5c pieces, stickers and golf tees. Its no surprise that nice shiny trackables go missing.

[Dvixen]

I'm reluctant to put out new travelers as well, as mine have a horrid track record of staying in circulation. (The last one disappeared from the cache I released it to. Blarg.) One can always hope they'll turn up, and that the disappearances will stop.

I've a few that I want to release, but I keep having second thoughts each time I go to activate them. I don't really want to release something meant to travel and be discovered only to have it pad someone's personal collection.

[squalid]

I (D) was pretty much over coins and bugs from the start. Too much hassle for something that's likely to go mising straight away. Path tags re my preference - the may or may not be logged, and there's no big deal if someone holds on to them.