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These aren’t my words, I found them in a cache description last week, but I do have a lot of sympathy with the CO who wrote them. I find it particularly disappointing to get a simple “TFTC” log when you spent hours planning and placing a cache. He wrote as follows:
Logging Etiquette: Geocache hiders sometimes go through a great deal of planning to place their caches. As a result, they’d like to hear your feedback on whether you liked or disliked any aspect of the hide, the journey or location, or if you feel that some cache maintenance is required. Single word, acronym, or “copy and paste” logs may be easier when you have a lot of caches to log, but it doesn’t tell the hider or other finders anything about your adventure (or lack thereof) in finding the cache. Please keep this in mind when entering your log.
Quite often cachers feel embarassed about leaving a DNF log but these are vital to let the owner know if there is a problem with their cache. Please include any details about the DNF in the log, for instance, it makes all the difference if it wasn’t found because of lack of time or muggles being nearby rather than spending 15 minutes searching for a cache that others have found fairly easily.
I write logs as I’d like to receive them. If it’s a driveby that serves just to boost numbers, a quick TFTC may be all it deserves! But if it’s a clever hide, or takes you to a nice spot or there is some sort of challenge that you enjoyed – yes, totally agree – share your experiences!
I write my logs as I feel about a cache. So if the cache is boring litter as many now are, it deserves the log entry it gets. If there is a maintenance issue I always say. I nearly always put in a poem or song lyric that I think is relevent to the cache in some way to make the cache owner’s mail a little more interesting. It’s very sad a cache owner felt they needed to add a ‘Logging Etiquette’ clause to the cache page. Maybe he/she should consider making their caches more deserving of a good log entry, it works both ways. Of course, one has to remember that the interweb is an open door and anyone can come in, there are plenty in the world who have not been taught to respect the efforts of others. Just relax and take it as it comes. GH.
Good advice, GH, and your poetic logs always stand out 🙂
The only thing that niggles me slightly is cut and pasted logs for a series. Seems lazy, and makes the logs boring for anyone else reading them, but then for me, writing the logs is part of the fun of caching.
As for plain TFTC caches, haven’t you ever met a cache that you can’t think of anything to say about, nice or nasty? Just a box, under some sticks, somewhere not very interesting….
Yes, there is a long series of about 109 and another with several loops of about 150 in total both not far from me. I often think ( usually when driving home after a long day caching) about how I’m going to log them when I eventually get round to attempting them. I also feel obliged to have a go as I know and respect the two who have worked so hard to lay them out and then maintain them and all their other caches. (open feindish voice) There must be some way to make the log entries interesting. (close feindish voice).
Regards GH.This is a thorny issue, and it’s too easy to cause unintended offence by email in general, and in this situation by casual logs. I personally feel uncomfortable telling somone their cache is a load of rubbish (although have been unable to contain myself on a couple of occasions, tut tut). In this situation a simple “TFTC” can be used as a cork in a bottle that is best kept shut. Having said that I think maybe people are busy and in too big a rush to log their finds to spend the time thinking of anything more, and no criticism is being implied. That’s the problem though, you don’t know what the finder really thinks of your cache. As regards long series, there’s no way I’ll be able to remember them apart, so I make paper notes as I go along, just to put something meaningful in the logs as I agree that cut-and-paste logs are a bit lazy.
Afaik I’ve only logged as just “TFTC” once (for a “liar cache” for which, while I’d found it, I didn’t want to contribute to the ongoing myth), but sometimes it’s quite hard to think of anything interesting to say about a stand-alone drive-by in the form of a micro on the back of a road sign.
For a long series, where the caches themselves aren’t very interesting but serve as an excuse for a good long walk somewhere nice, I tend to comment on the walk instead of the caches eg “Cool view coming up the hill”, “Nearly fell off the wobbly stile”, “Got glared at by evil maybe-a-vampire sheep” etc etc. It only takes seconds to write a quick note on the crib sheet and then I’ve got something to refer to when I do the online logs at home.
Must agree with many of the comments on here.As we have 3 circular walks out at the moment I do understand people making quick TFTC comments,but I do look forward to receiving constructive comments ether positive or negative.There are also some cachers out there who go out of their way to make their comments interesting or amusing and they are especially welcome as they make placing the caches worthwhile-take a bow Phil of the Bogtrotters and the Master of Disaster the Bradfordgull, along with others who make opening the emails a pleasure rather than a chore.
It normally takes me longer to write the log than it does to find the cache! My pet hates in logs are:
Found with abc … and then abc writes: found with xyz (do we care?)
Logged from my iphone or similar (so – I own one of those as well!)
Just a smilie face (as though that makes the laziness ok)
Wife who copies and pastes the same log as hubby (or vice versa)This is what you should write in a log: Leap Day Trail Bonus
This is just about the most enthusiastic and comprehensive log I have ever seen. It’s this sort of log that really motivates a cache owner to go and place another cache. Thank you so much James (metal-bijou). 🙂
Heh, timely log for one of mine just now – raised a smile, seems you weren’t the only one visited by metal-bijou 🙂
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