Geocaching, more than most hobbies, has a lot of etiquette, rules and lingo that you simply won’t see anywhere else. Most of the terms are fairly easy to understand with some context clues, but the plethora of abbreviations can easily become overwhelming for new cachers.
So, today I’ve put together a list of some of the abbreviations I’ve run across along the translation:
- CO – cache owner
- SL – signed log
- FTF – first to find
- STF – second to find
- DNF – did not find
- SWAG – stuff we all get (trade items)
- GC – geocoin
- TB – travel bug
- TB Hotel – a cache designed for travel bugs to be exchanged
- TBD – travel bug drop; meaning you left the bug in a cache
- D/T – difficulty and terrain, used to rate caches
- TFTC – thanks for the cache
- TFTH – thanks for the hide
- TFTE – thanks for the event
- TFTFTF/TF3 – thanks for the first to find
- LN – left nothing
- TNLN – took nothing, left nothing
- TNLNSL – took nothing, left nothing, signed logbook
- TNSL – took nothing, signed logbook
- TOTT – tools of the trade
- ROT13 – a variant of the Ceasar Cipher for encrypted geocaching hints, where each of the letters are rotated 13 characters up or down in the alphabet.
- PQ – Pocket Query
- LPC – lamp post cache or light pole cache; a common type of geocache hidden under an unsecured lamp post base
- GZ – ground zero, the point where your GPS device shows you’ve reached the geocache location
- GPSr – another term for your GPS device
- CITO – cache in trash out; an ongoing environmental initiative where geocachers help clean up parks and other places.
- BYOP – bring your own pencil/pen
- ALR – additional logging requirement; usually requires something other than signing the logbook
- P&G – park and grab; means the cache is close to a parking spot that can easily be found.
- YAPIDKA – yet another park I didn’t know about
- SOOP – something out of place; describes an oddity at the location that hints at finding a cache.
Those are just the ones I’ve seen around; I am certain there are other abbreviations that aren’t included here, and you can also check out the official glossary for Geocaching for more terms and definitions.
Can you think of any other abbreviations that you’ve seen on logbooks or around the forums? Share with me in the comments and I’ll be sure to update the list!
