Geocaching Acronyms
Geocaching Terms and Acronyms
Geocaching can be great fun but sometimes a little puzzling in the some of the acronyms or terms you may find in logs and forums. Bellow is a list of some of the most commonly used, it’s by no means all of them so if you know of others please let us know so we can add it and keep everybody up to date.
| Ammo Can | Ammunition can, a large-sized cache container. |
| Attributes | Attributes that are asigened to a cache giving details terain, equipment needed and more. See here for more detail |
| Bison Tube | A small cache container normally 3-5 cm tall. example |
| BYOP | Bring Your Own Pencil. |
| CITO | Cache in, Trash Out, |
| CO | Cache Owner, the person who placed the cache |
| Dipping | The logging a Travel Bug or GeoCoin into a cache, and immediately logging it back into ones possession. Someone might “dip” a Travel Bug or GeoCoin in order to register miles |
| Drunken Bee Dance | The movements of a geocacher, trying to pinpoint Ground Zero, chasing the directional arrow first one direction and then another, has been termed the Drunken Bee Dance. |
| D/T | Difficulty / Terrain ratings for a cache, The difficulty number is always first and each number can range from 1 to 5 in 0.5 increments. A 1/1 cache is the easiest to find and get to and a 5/5 been the hardest. |
| DNF | Did Not Find, Always worth logging in case the cache has been moved or muggled. |
| Earth Cache | A virtual cache exploring a unique geographic feature, shown as a cut-away earth icon. IE GC1HWY9 |
| Event Cache | A gathering of geocachers at the same place, date and time, shown as a "thought bubble" icon. |
| FTF | First to Find a new cache |
| GC Code | Geocaching code, or GC number. The unique identification number of a cache, always starting with GC. Ie GC2ZCEN |
| Geocoin | Small or large coin with unique trackable number on it, left in a cache with a goal to travel. examples |
| Geotrail | Geocaching trail, a series of caches designed to explore a region, wood, park, or other area of interest. |
| GPS | Global Positioning Satellite receiver. Normally hand-held devices are used for geocaching |
| GPX | A cache database file format. Files in the GPX format are available only to Premium Members. |
| GZ | Ground Zero, the GPS specified place of a cache |
| Letterbox Hybrid Cache | A traditional cache that is also a Letterbox, shown normally as an envelope icon. Letterboxing is not the same as Geocaching, as it uses clues instead of GPS coordinates to find the hidden item. |
| Log | Paper strip or notebook inside a cache where you sign with your name and the date you visited the cache |
| Micro | Very small traditional cache container, Simlier to bison tube. example |
| MOC | A Members Only Cache is one that's reserved for Premium Members |
| Muggle | A Non-Geocaching person |
| Multi-Cache | A traditional cache with multiple finds required, which leads you to the last cache, Icon as a perpendicular pair of yellow box's. example |
| Mystery Cache (Puzzle Cache) | A traditional cache that requires a puzzle to be solved to learn the last coordinates, shown as a question mark icon. Can sometimes be part of Multi-Cache |
| Nano | Extremely tiny traditional cache container. Can be quite hard to find!!! |
| Pocket Query (PQ) | Pocket Query is a custom geocache report that can be uploaded to your GPS device. This is a premium members feature |
| Reviewer | A person who validates a cache submission prior to the cache being posted. |
| R.O.W | Right of way |
| S.B.A | Should be archived. Log type indicating that there is a severe problem with a cache maybe its missing or been muggled |
| STF | Second to find a cache. |
| SL | Signed Log |
| Spoiler | A log or picture that could give the cache location away. |
| Swag or Geoswag | Non-trackable trade items found and/or placed in a geocache. |
| TB Hotel | A traditional cache set up as an exchange point for Geocoins and Travel Bugs. |
| TFTC | Thanks for the Cache |
| TFTH | Thanks for the Hide or Hunt |
| TNLN | Took Nothing, Leave Nothing |
| TNLNSL | Took Nothing, Leave Nothing Signed log |
| TOTT | Tools of the trade |
| Trackable | Any trackable item, usually a Geocoin or Travel Bug |
| Traditional Cache | A normal cache containing at least a log, shown as a green box icon. example |
| Travel Bug / TB | Small metal tag, often dog-tag shaped, including a unique trackable number that is attached to another object. example |
| UPS | Unnatural Pile of Sticks, a common way to find a cache container hidden in the woods |
| Virtual Cache | A location with no physical cache, shown as a ghost icon. Cachers "prove" a visit to a virtual cache by taking a photo, answering a question, or otherwise demonstrating you were at the right spot. |
| Webcam Cache | A cache at the site of a webcam, shown graphically as a webcam. You must get "caught" by the webcam, and capture the cam picture as proof of visit. Not as simple as it sounds! |
| WatchList | A list of caches or trackables which you will receive an email from when any logs are made for those caches/tracables |