curman & neogirl Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I am getting ready to hide my first cache.I'm looking for suggestions on a FTF prize.Any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment
ATMouse Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I've used gift certificates, nice pins, nifty stuff like special pens that fold up or look cool. I like gift certificates - they fit well into even micros.... Quote Link to comment
ImpalaBob Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 Gift cards ..... like WAWA or Gasoline. Movie Tickets are cool! Mag lights, compasses, quality carabiners. How about a pack of firetacks to encourage someone to put out a night cache. ImpalaBob Quote Link to comment
+tabulator32 Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 Starbucks Gift Card. Quote Link to comment
ju66l3r Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I've found that a number of the Starbucks near me don't actually take the gift cards. Only certain ones do (yes, haha, just walk half a block to the one that does, right?) but seriously, not many in my area take them, so it might not make a great FTF gift since the person may live in a localized area that doesn't take them everywhere. One of the best "geek in the woods" toy/tools that I've seen lately: The Forever Flashlight. Needs no batteries, works to power a capacitor with magnetic flux ala Faraday's Principle. Floats, waterproof, lightweight... That whole website has fun/geek merchandise and you can even search for things under $20. Quote Link to comment
+Yamahammer Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 Best FTF we've picked up is a $5 bill and a yellow road dot! ... a TB is a good one. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I think that FTF is its own reward. FTF prizes fly in the face of the tenet of trading fairly. Quote Link to comment
+teamjack&birdie Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I like the idea of FTF prizes. The TB idea is great, I would love to find that, and come to think of it, I might just steal that idea! I thought about a Starbucks card but then realized not everyone drinks coffee. I also thought about having numbered sig coins made up in the future, the first of the series would be a good prize (but I might wanna keep it for myself ).. I wonder what the first ever FTF prize was? Quote Link to comment
twjolson & Kay Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 What I do is use a 10 or a 5 dollar bill, and register it at "www.whereswilly.com" or "www.wheresgeorge.com". They get money, better then a gift card, and you get a kind of travel bug. Quote Link to comment
ju66l3r Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I think that FTF is its own reward. FTF prizes fly in the face of the tenet of trading fairly. Not everything needs to be adversarial (i.e. "fly in the face of"). FTF prizes simply don't fall under the tenet of trading fairly. They are in a category independent of the trade items in a cache and therefore do not require a "trade", but instead are a reward. They don't even have to be taken by the FTF for those that feel they've already been rewarded by being FTF. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I rarely put a FTF prize in my caches, but here are a few things I have used: Geocaching.com hats unactivated TB's binoculars Petzel Micro headlamp packs of area trail maps Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I think that FTF is its own reward. FTF prizes fly in the face of the tenet of trading fairly. Not everything needs to be adversarial (i.e. "fly in the face of"). FTF prizes simply don't fall under the tenet of trading fairly. They are in a category independent of the trade items in a cache and therefore do not require a "trade", but instead are a reward. They don't even have to be taken by the FTF for those that feel they've already been rewarded by being FTF. What's adversarial? DId you notice how I started it out with 'I think...'. This marks a comment as that person's opinion. I gave mine and you gave yours. We don't agree. Thats all there is. Quote Link to comment
+MadMoravian Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 1897 Morgan Silver Dollar. In my cache Slavonic Dances. I'll probably be using more of them in future caches. Quote Link to comment
+popop Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 Came across one recently that was a TB tag (just the tag - nothing attached) that the FTF'r could then create his/her own TB! Great idea! Quote Link to comment
ju66l3r Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 What's adversarial? DId you notice how I started it out with 'I think...'. This marks a comment as that person's opinion. I gave mine and you gave yours. We don't agree. Thats all there is. Your opinion is based on FTF prizes being adversarial to trading fairly. I was just pointing out that the mindset of "one or the other must be true" isn't necessary. That point can get into a greater social commentary on how we've developed this insatiable need for ideas to be mutually exclusive, but that's not my aim. I just wanted to point out that FTF prizes can be considered outside the realm of "trading fairly" and therefore they don't "fly in the face" of it. Quote Link to comment
+caderoux Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I got BillsBayou's first sig item from Pursuing Palindrome Parkway (GCPE9M) as FTF prize - it's cool because it's 001, it's a neat clay coin, and it reminds me of this cool multi-cache which also let me do some programming to find palindromic waypoints and a bonus locationless I had never heard of (GC202B). On the other hand, I have a FTF on a devious Chief's Special which I never turned in to Bamboozle for the prize and a 4th to find on School Days which I also haven't got around to redeeming for its prize. I left a special FTF in my Lost Cemetery (So Sadly Misted) (GCMMXJ) which was a variation of the seed packets (containing king cake babies and doubloons) in there meant to seed new caches. It had a special king cake pin and extra doubloons. This cache is not designed for trades at all. I don't want to participate in an argument about how FTF relates to trade items - I don't usually trade myself; I rarely find anything I really want. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 What's adversarial? DId you notice how I started it out with 'I think...'. This marks a comment as that person's opinion. I gave mine and you gave yours. We don't agree. Thats all there is. ...I was just pointing out that the mindset of "one or the other must be true" isn't necessary. ... Did you notice how I posted that we disagree and that's OK? Kind of fly's in the face of 'adversarial' and 'one or the other must be true', doesn't it? Quote Link to comment
+geodarts Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 I try to make sure my caches are well stocked, so I do not see any need for an FTF prize. I have seen a few FTF's takee the best item(s) in the cache for little or nothng, but that is another issue. I did put in a prize in a recent cache, spun a wheel from one of my daughter's games, and left it for the person who logs that (undisclosed) number -- a something like a geocaching sweepstakes. Quote Link to comment
+cudlecub Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Here's my FTF prize. The local cachers seem to love them and many times my caches are found within an hour of being approved. I like to think it's because of the stickers I leave in there. They also help us spot other cachers out on the road and near the trails. The sticker can be printed at any sign shop and mine is about a 3 x 5 oval costing me about 85 cents. Cheaper than dollar store items but something highly sought after in these parts. Quote Link to comment
+WYZE01s Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Our friends We R Lewis & Clark leave the best FTF swag! They fill their caches with homemade embroidered "mug rugs", custom made geocaching keychains, etc. They also make a custom embroidered patch with the cache name on it for the FTF'er. It's fun to try and collect the patches for the local caches they hide around here! And the really clever STF prize is a custom made tissue holder filled with tissues (for them to dry their sniffles with when they just missed the FTF!) Quote Link to comment
+Silly Look Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 I bought a slew of Geocaching refrigerator magnets and include one in each new cache for the FTF (except micros - $5 bill for a coffee/tea). In my area we have some awesome cachers and they rarely take more then one. Quote Link to comment
+Iceburger Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 The 2 best that I've used so far were, a first aid kit, and a handmade leather satchel. Quote Link to comment
+TeamAO Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 The greatest first to find prize is the location of the cache, by a waterfall, a scenic view, a picnic area, or just something that the cacher can really appreciate. Quote Link to comment
+halffast Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 The greatest first to find prize is the location of the cache, by a waterfall, a scenic view, a picnic area, or just something that the cacher can really appreciate. I agree but I also leave a little something for the first to find just so they will have a rememberance of my cache. Quote Link to comment
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