Some GREAT News concerning Trackables!

Once you have been geocaching long enough, you will decide to buy some trackables.  Then you will decided to set them free into the world to see how far they can travel.  The thing is, from our experience, more often than not, they tend to disappear.  Not sure why but we have heard all sorts of excuses:  didn't realize they were supposed to put them back out, lost them, thought they put them out only to realize a year later they were in the bottom of the back pack (but still never put it back out).

After losing almost 40 trackables, we stopped buying them, except one or two real cute ones, but still we try to go to great lengths to make sure we do our best to try and get them where they want to go.    

Anyway, towards the end of our local mega-event here in Hampton Roads - The 13th Annual GCHR Picnic - I noticed the trackable area was still pretty full of trackables waiting to be picked up.  Once over there I noticed a bunch of what appeared to be the same trackable.  After reading them carefully, I realized some really nice cacher was putting out free proxies for people.

After getting home, I contacted her and got some proxies from him and then asked her some questions about what she was doing.  She answered all my questions and then gave me permission to talk about her here, where she may end up getting a little more business.  So, if you have lost a trackable or two, or maybe you are one of the lucky ones, read below to find out about proxies and how she makes them for you.

A sample of a proxy

McKenzie-Binns is the name to look up and you can do that right on geocaching.com.  Send her a message and ask her about creating a proxy (or two) for you.  After getting you free proxy, other proxies will cost you about 50 cents each,,,, yes I realize that is a tremendous amount of money but I am sure you can search the couch cushions for extra change {lol}.  She also does this in his spare time and she does have a regular job so please do not expect your proxy to hit a cache in the next day or so - give the man time - after all, million and millions of people read this blog (hah!) and they all will be contacting her for proxies (double hah!).

this note will be attached to the chain on the proxy

How many trackables have your put out?

The other side of above

Over 500 so far but 300 were for my own collection. I own over 1,500 trackables and I like keeping them in the game to travel. I hope to have 500 more done of my own by the end of the year. The problem will be finding big enough caches for them all. LOL I actually took 200 Proxies to the Block Party this year. My Inbox has been crazy since!

How do you charge for proxies after giving the first one for free?

Really I do this for fun and to add to the game. I have charged Fifty cents per Proxy Button if people wanted more. It covers what I pay for the metal button parts, ball chain and laser printed laminated tag. They have been surprisingly durable.

What made you think of putting out proxies?

There are a few reasons. I started noticing that I rarely came across a trackable in the last few years. When I stopped at a cache most trackables were MIA and I was marking a lot Missing. I have over 100 Missing Trackables myself. Since I had purchased Wearable Buttons before that came with Copies I though I would make some for my Geocaching Events too. I looked into buying a machine because in the long run it would cost more to have the amount I needed made elsewhere. I found another design that worked to make my own Proxies for my personal collection. I started offering to make some for friends, then I started adding Proxies to some of the Wearable Event Buttons, more people asked for them and here we are.

How long have you been doing this?

I have been making Proxies in general for over six years. They were the typical laminated paper kind so I could save my money for buying New Trackables of course. However they didn't get noticed much and were scrutinized often. I picked up my two button machines about six months ago and I have had a good response. My trackables get noticed and moved more now! :o)

Are there any rules, guidelines, or things that geocachers who want your proxies can do to help you and make the process easier?

*You can Get 1 FREE Proxy for any 1 Trackable you Own! MIA or NOT! Email: McKenzie~Binns through Geocaching.com with the tracking number. The Trackable must be on the Profile you contact me from. I’m trying to help more trackables get into the game. I will Grab your Trackable, make the Proxy and drop it in a cache to travel. It will be made on a 2 ¼” Button, with chain and a Laminated Tag with this info. **If your trackable is Missing please be sure it is MIA and for at least 18 months unless you have been notified it has been destroyed or un-retrievable. If your MIA trackable re-appears in the future (It has happened years later.) you can ask the Proxy holder to discard the Proxy. ***You can have a Proxy made your trackable you still have in your possession. This way you can take the actual trackable to events while allowing the Proxy to travel in the game. If you do this, please do not grab or move the trackable as it will mess up the mileage and the location of the traveling Proxy. ****Please be sure to put that you have a Proxy traveling on the trackables page. This will help the finder so they will know what to look for. This will also help you avoid having cachers emailing you that they did not find the actual trackable. User's Profile: http://coord.info/PR1KBPB

So there you have it.  Simple, right?  I will let you know as soon as my proxies hit the trails.

So, as always...

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

Suffolk Nana & Papa - - - or just plain ol' - - - -  SNAP!!!