Calling cards vs signing the log
This has always been a beef of mine, opening a cache to find a dozen old and moldy calling cards. I understand why some people do it, they think it is cool and others like to read the cards or they just want to open the cache, toss in a card and keep moving as fast as possible. I don’t think anyone takes the time to read them or log books any more because there are so many caches and not enough time to find them all 😉 It is very rare to find a regular to large cache anymore and cachers no longer have pride in taking the time to write a nice note in the log book and I am guilty of that. When I first started geocaching I would leaf through the log book and see who found it and what they had to say and I would write a short thank you as well, but for the past 5 years or so, when the power trails started to show up and people’s numbers started to rise, the art of the “nice log in the cache” died and was replaced with the longer online log.
I like to open a cache and find a personal token left by some one, like a wooden nickel, poker chip, pathtag or any other homemade piece but the paper calling card is just clutter and adds to the mess inside of the container as the cache ages and perhaps gets wet and moldy. No one ever takes them out like a trade able item so the just keep piling up. I have removed them in the past to help keep a good cache clean if the container is filling up. I also remember a calling card causing some “FTF confusion” in one of my caches because of a calling card being tossed in and the next person not looking at the contents of the container all that closely and found a clean log sheet to claim the FTF but don’t get me started on FTFs and the grief they can cause.
So now I have a few questions:
Do you take the time to read the log book and look at the calling cards?
Do you use calling cards and if so why?
Do you think they make the caches “messy”?
Do you think placing a card inside a container meets the requirement of “signing the log book/sheet”?
I sign my name in the log book. I don’t bother with getting cards made for the same reasons Rev mentioned. Plus a pen is cheaper.
I have also removed calling cards from caches because they had gotten wet, along with anything else that had gotten wet also. But that was the only reason.
If people want to leave a card instead of signing the log that’s their business, but I would rather sign the log myself. It’s more personal. The cache owner placed a log in the cache to be signed and that’s what I do.
Anyone placing a card in a cache must remember that it could get wet and become trash, therefore getting removed. I guess the log can get wet to if not placed in a plastic bag.
I never look at the cards to see who the cacher was. There is no date to see when it was placed there. With the log book you can go back through in order by date.
I don’t look through the log book very often. But I do usually look at the past few finders to see if I know them. If it’s a really old cache and the original log book is still in it I will take a look at it. Unless it’s summer and the bugs are eating me alive. Then it’s just scribble my name and get the heck out of there.
To each their own, but when I hide a regular container I would rather someone take their time to actually sign my log book and take a quick peek in the container to see what is inside, rather than just take the lid off, drop a card in and close it without even seeing the inside of the container. Are the numbers really that important and are we really that short on time.
You don’t find calling cards in micro containers, so the time is taken to sign the log. And with there being more micros around than regular containers how much longer will signing a log slow down your caching day.
I know the cards can look cool and be personalized, but I would rather ink on paper any day.
I get annoyed with the calling cards as well. I think they’re the lazy man’s way of signing the log. If you really find it that tedious, split the difference and have a stamp made with your caching name and a little logo. Given how terrible some cachers’ handwriting can be, something the stamps are the most legible log entries anyway.
Calling cards do not replace the Need to sign the log! In Victorian times folks left their calling card to show that they had been there. But that was before the ballpoint or gel pen! Ideally we will move to the cache where you swipe your smart phone & it records your visit. Oh wait! That was the Munzie!!!
I strongly dislike the cards. I’ve found many in my hides, and only probably one out of ten is clean and “touchable”. The other 9/10ths are usually too gross to touch.
I could be wrong, but isn’t the premise of logging a find, to SIGN the log book or sheet? Isn’t it a rule that a log book be in the container so as finders are able to sign?
As for those that use cards and think that they are cutely personalised, well, I never really look at them. Again, most of the time I don’t even want to touch them.
Sorry, I know I’m being a little harsh, but I couldn’t agree more with others here. Sign the log as it is meant to be done, and leave business cards for business purposes.
I don’t mind the stamps. I just held an event in Prague, and fully half the cachers signed the event log book with their own personalized stamp. Some of the logos were quite cute.
One cacher’s opinion.
I normally don’t look at the cards or the logs, unless it was a special cache. As for myself, I have plastic Guitar picks I use as my calling card (part of the name game) that don’t erode in a cache.Nothing I hate worse than a cache full of mush! But I even put the picks in 35mm canisters, not everyone I visit. I have one of Zor’s pokerchips and they last just like my picks. If someone feels the need to leave a calling card, make it weatherproof. I met Supermanboy in Edmonston last year and he has his cards in plastic, still a great Idea!