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Ftf.... Discuss.


Bekandian

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I considered donning a fireproof suit for this one, but decided it's not that sort of post…

 

Why do people obsess over getting an FTF (e.g. Driving 100s of miles in the pouring rain at 3 in the morning just to get FTF)???

 

Note: I'm in no way suggesting people shouldn't, don't have the right to or anything of the sort. I'm just puzzled on the hysteria of finding a piece of Tupperware first?

 

Most convincing answer wins an advance warning on our next cache ;) (only kidding)

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I considered donning a fireproof suit for this one, but decided it's not that sort of post…

 

Why do people obsess over getting an FTF (e.g. Driving 100s of miles in the pouring rain at 3 in the morning just to get FTF)???

 

Note: I'm in no way suggesting people shouldn't, don't have the right to or anything of the sort. I'm just puzzled on the hysteria of finding a piece of Tupperware first?

 

Most convincing answer wins an advance warning on our next cache ;) (only kidding)

 

Any one know who was FTF on Longdean Hyde

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We did. It was the nearest cache we hadn't found from where we were at the time. Plus it had been out for 3 days and just happened to find it before anyone else. We don't ever go out to get an FTF, which is why we are curious about what drives other people who specifically go out to get FTFs ;)

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I must admit I am not one who goes for FTFs - although I can see the attraction. I did get quite a thrill on the only FTF I have got. My view is - if it fits my caching opportunities, I will go for it, but I will not make the special effort that some make. But if that is their thing - well geocaching is large enough to cater for different approaches - that is what makes it such a great sport!

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Everyone looks at Geocaching in their own way and gets their own enjoyment out of it.

Some people enjoy the competition of being the first to find a new cache, especially a puzzle cache that requires some effort to solve.

Perhaps a cacher has exhausted all their local caches and eagerly awaits anything new in their area.

Perhaps the cache setter has left something nice for the first to find.

Perhaps the cacher just likes to see those virgin cache stats mount up

 

I'm sure there are lots of reasons.

We've had a few FTF and they always seem a bit special, exploring new frontiers and all that. No clues in other peoples logs, no cachers track to follow, no damp log book and mouldy contents. Everything nice and new just as the setter left it.

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Why do people obsess over getting an FTF (e.g. Driving 100s of miles in the pouring rain at 3 in the morning just to get FTF)???

If you're thinking of the same story as I am, the newly-placed cache had been stocked with a special travel bug (a white jeep or something). So if you wanted to log the TB, you (probably) had to be FTF. Special TBs do add an entertaining extra dimension to the game and by definition there aren't very many of them, so I'm not surprised people go to extraordinary lengths to grab them when they can.

 

As for regular FTFs - it's just natural human competition I think. You get to "know" the people in your area and some people enjoy racing against each other. Others don't, obviously.

 

Personally I'm not interested in FTFs on regular caches. But on a complicated puzzle which requires real effort to solve, I do think it adds to the fun if you're trying to crack it before anyone else. I don't think I've ever actually succeeded in that though!

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Personally I'm not interested in FTFs on regular caches. But on a complicated puzzle which requires real effort to solve, I do think it adds to the fun if you're trying to crack it before anyone else. I don't think I've ever actually succeeded in that though!

 

And Morton's adventures on 3 consecutive nights at a certain central Edinburgh cache are worth a read! ;)

Edited by Firth of Forth
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.....because amongst geocachers there is a higher than average preponderance of obsessive personailty types. :D

 

LOL ;) I do like that :D

 

I can also see wanting to solve a particular puzzle cache first, there have been occations when we've sat up till the wee hours solving a puzzle else it would drive us mad not knowing the solution!! (Not just in caching either!)

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When I first started there were only about 15 caches spread between Durham , Northumberland and Cumberland, so you got in first, hoping Gaz , Moss Trooper or Jason W hadn't yet spotted them. and we had quite a bit friendly competition. then it got to be about 25 hidden within 60 miles of home and a few more cachers came along and you had to be up with the birds, or do a night shift. it has always been a bit of a thrill to get a FTF. all part of the fun. ;)

Nige :D

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I might be tempted to go and find a new cache that is only a few miles from home, but I'm not concerned if I'm beaten to it, I could have been the first to find and log on a cache at the Manchester Triple event but I just let it be and carried on chatting with the cachers in the McD's, In fact I forgot to actually do the thing! But then again it was nothing brilliant just a Motorway Mayhem cache with little in the way of beauty to look at (Sorry Harold, I know you are trying your best)

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When I first started it seemed like the next stage to attempt after just actually finding a cache. Then you get competitive with your new mates. But for me now I wont chase them as sometimes mistakes are made in setting them and you read posts of people wandering around for ages in vain. I prefer to let other people find any potential problems. Saying all that I had a FTF yesterday (with 2 mates) :)

Edited by Skate and Jane
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Just popped out to get a FTF and this whole thread appeared.

 

Sometimes the fun leaves geocaching, you do a run of average caches, you get drawn down by the constant bickering on the forum, or you just get a bit bored so you need a little extra motivation to overcome the malaise.

 

FTF does that, especially when you look at the G:UK stats. I saw, ages ago that you needed about 50 to be in the top 50 - I had 6. I decided that it was one stat that I could try to achieve a good league table position. Of course, you need more than 50 these days to be in the top 50.

 

So there you go.

 

Obsessed about stats - yes.

If you say that caching is enjoyable, then, to me FTF is just slightly more enjoyable.

 

I was second to find the FTF with one of the 1st White Jeeps at 3am in the driving rain cache. I arrived 30 mins after Mollinis Crew - they'd driven from Cornwall, me from Southampton. I met more cachers on the walk back to the car. That one was special though, it had had some build up on the forums.

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Why do people obsess over getting an FTF (e.g. Driving 100s of miles in the pouring rain at 3 in the morning just to get FTF)???

 

Note: I'm in no way suggesting people shouldn't, don't have the right to or anything of the sort. I'm just puzzled on the hysteria of finding a piece of Tupperware first?

Why do you assume that such people are obsessed, or even hysterical?

 

I've been on FTF-missions in the early morning, and no hysteria was evident. (There was a lot of yawning in the passengers' seats, though.)

 

On the telly at this very moment, there are people sliding down a concrete chute on tea-trays, at 75 m.p.h.

 

Now THAT'S obsessional... :)

 

-Wlw

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FTF does that, especially when you look at the G:UK stats. I saw, ages ago that you needed about 50 to be in the top 50 - I had 6. I decided that it was one stat that I could try to achieve a good league table position. Of course, you need more than 50 these days to be in the top 50.

 

As far as I see it the G:UK stats are less than perfect, I think that anyone who finds a cache on the same day as an FTF also gets FTF on G:UK. For instance I know that I have only ever had 3 FTF's but on G:UK it says This cacher has defiled 24 virgin caches

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FTF does that, especially when you look at the G:UK stats. I saw, ages ago that you needed about 50 to be in the top 50 - I had 6. I decided that it was one stat that I could try to achieve a good league table position. Of course, you need more than 50 these days to be in the top 50.

 

As far as I see it the G:UK stats are less than perfect, I think that anyone who finds a cache on the same day as an FTF also gets FTF on G:UK. For instance I know that I have only ever had 3 FTF's but on G:UK it says This cacher has defiled 24 virgin caches

 

I just knew it was madness to "unignore" your post. One day you'll have something positive to say instead of constantly rubbishing what everyone else thinks is a good thing. We all know and accept how it works and respect the work that went into creating it.

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FTF does that, especially when you look at the G:UK stats. I saw, ages ago that you needed about 50 to be in the top 50 - I had 6. I decided that it was one stat that I could try to achieve a good league table position. Of course, you need more than 50 these days to be in the top 50.

 

As far as I see it the G:UK stats are less than perfect, I think that anyone who finds a cache on the same day as an FTF also gets FTF on G:UK. For instance I know that I have only ever had 3 FTF's but on G:UK it says This cacher has defiled 24 virgin caches

 

Don't the stats count the first one to log a cache, rather than look for the words or letters FTF.

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As far as I see it the G:UK stats are less than perfect, I think that anyone who finds a cache on the same day as an FTF also gets FTF on G:UK. For instance I know that I have only ever had 3 FTF's but on G:UK it says This cacher has defiled 24 virgin caches

 

I just knew it was madness to "unignore" your post. One day you'll have something positive to say instead of constantly rubbishing what everyone else thinks is a good thing. We all know and accept how it works and respect the work that went into creating it.

Er... well I don't know the history behind that comment, but I *didn't* know how the "virgin cache" calculation worked and I'd assumed it was just broken right now.

 

Now I've been pointed in the right direction, I can see why it has to work that way and it all makes a lot more sense. It may be time to review my claim that I'm not interested in ordinary FTFs :)

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FTF does that, especially when you look at the G:UK stats. I saw, ages ago that you needed about 50 to be in the top 50 - I had 6. I decided that it was one stat that I could try to achieve a good league table position. Of course, you need more than 50 these days to be in the top 50.

 

As far as I see it the G:UK stats are less than perfect, I think that anyone who finds a cache on the same day as an FTF also gets FTF on G:UK. For instance I know that I have only ever had 3 FTF's but on G:UK it says This cacher has defiled 24 virgin caches

 

I just knew it was madness to "unignore" your post. One day you'll have something positive to say instead of constantly rubbishing what everyone else thinks is a good thing. We all know and accept how it works and respect the work that went into creating it.

I was just stating a fact, if you are not happy with that then that is not my fault.

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FTF does that, especially when you look at the G:UK stats. I saw, ages ago that you needed about 50 to be in the top 50 - I had 6. I decided that it was one stat that I could try to achieve a good league table position. Of course, you need more than 50 these days to be in the top 50.

 

As far as I see it the G:UK stats are less than perfect, I think that anyone who finds a cache on the same day as an FTF also gets FTF on G:UK. For instance I know that I have only ever had 3 FTF's but on G:UK it says This cacher has defiled 24 virgin caches

 

Don't the stats count the first one to log a cache, rather than look for the words or letters FTF.

No the G:UK stats just look at the first date it was found, and then everyone who found on that date gets counted as a FTF stat.

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I personally don't see why people go to great lengths to be FTF but then I was once late for work because I took a (slight) detour to grab a Jeep, and paid a second visit to the same cache in 24 hours to grab a geocoin I hadn't seen before.

 

If there's something unusual in the cache it's safe to assume the FTF will take it, and the sport can cope with everyone's own preferences regarding how they play it.

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I nearly got arrested on my one and only FTF. The xxxx inexperienced cacher who's only found one cache himself placed it in the wall of a city Nursery. Luckely I was able to blag my way out of it :)

 

We have a local FTF hound who only goes for FTF's - I think he's got 80 of them under his belt. And another logs them at 5am on his way to work. Its rare to get a FTF unless its listed at a certain time of the day.

 

I've given up on them now, as I cant see me ever getting another :D

Edited by Alice Band
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FTF does that, especially when you look at the G:UK stats. I saw, ages ago that you needed about 50 to be in the top 50 - I had 6. I decided that it was one stat that I could try to achieve a good league table position. Of course, you need more than 50 these days to be in the top 50.

 

As far as I see it the G:UK stats are less than perfect, I think that anyone who finds a cache on the same day as an FTF also gets FTF on G:UK. For instance I know that I have only ever had 3 FTF's but on G:UK it says This cacher has defiled 24 virgin caches

 

Is this closer ? Cachetools for moote

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I simply don't have the time these days to go out caching as much as I would like, so going for FTF is my way of regulating my caching trips.

 

But, cynically knowing how the GCUK stats have to work, I don't really worry when, like today, someone beats me to it. I had to go to work this morning, they didn't. Good luck to them!

 

Having said that, I suspect that I got a taste for FTFs when my first cache was a FTF, and I even have one FTF in America! Oh, and GCUK has me at nearly 50% caches found on the first day of finding...

 

[:)] [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D]

 

Bob Aldridge

Edited by Belplasca
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FTF does that, especially when you look at the G:UK stats. I saw, ages ago that you needed about 50 to be in the top 50 - I had 6. I decided that it was one stat that I could try to achieve a good league table position. Of course, you need more than 50 these days to be in the top 50.

 

As far as I see it the G:UK stats are less than perfect, I think that anyone who finds a cache on the same day as an FTF also gets FTF on G:UK. For instance I know that I have only ever had 3 FTF's but on G:UK it says This cacher has defiled 24 virgin caches

 

Is this closer ? Cachetools for moote

Well 2 that were not first to find are in there, and 1 that I was FTF on is missing, I think that the issue here is that it is not easy to extract this data from GC.com as there is no FTF flag within their database. This makes it harder to write a SQL query that will pull back accurate data. I will create a SQL database on the works Sun server and import a load of data I have exported from GSAK, and see what I can come up with. If I feel I can get the answer, I will pass the SQL to your good self to try on the G:UK data.

Edited by Moote
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At risk of being a bore, I will say that my first FTF was also my first find and I did go 100 miles from home. But then it was the nearest to home at the time and may well be I was the nearest to it, there only being 37 caches in the UK at the time. Then for the next three I had to go to Nige's delightful part of the country. Now I am very hard pushed to have a real FTF anywhere near home.

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Do you remember setting your first cache! That sense of anticipation, waiting just waiting for someone to log it. Hoping you hadn't cocked up. Waiting for the remarks, the feedback, all of that.

That's how i feel every time i get a FTF. Obsession no, but just a great feeling.

I can't get too used to it can i ? I live within Snerdbe's hunting zone. :):D

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Not being a great one for doing FTFs ( :) ), I just like getting them because it's finding something that no-one else has found, and finding as the cache setter intended. (Even if it is in a black plastic bin liner, under a POS).

 

Somehow being first is an extra incentive. For example, I was unable to try to find Longdean Hyde yesterday, but today I didn't go (slightly) out of my way to find it because it had been found, but I knew it would still be there at the weekend.

 

I suppose a lot of it is that it's a case of using the facilities of premium membership for what they appear to be there for.

 

Still, it's not about the numbers. :D

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QUESTION :- Why would I get up at 04:30 a.m, drive 150 miles, poke around a churchyard looking for obsure graves, fiddle with my PDA, swear at Fugawi (always thought that should be "were the F are we"!!), drive up and down a road looking for an obscure footpath sign, trudge through the mud into a wood, swear at the sky to get a GPS lock, walk round and round in circles, go back to the churchyard to check the dates, kick the van for getting the dates wrong, go back to a different wood, walk round and round again, swear at the cache placer for being so devious, swear at myself for being in the middle of a wood at 06:30 a.m and now sure I've got the dates from the graves wrong, stand in the open waiting for GPS lock, walk slowly in circles to calibrate the compass, walk round and round again, go back to the tree I first looked at, check GPS Sonar to see if it is a micro, swear at the placer again, get down on my hands and knees, pray, and YES!!! a tubberware box and a nice blank log book. Trudge back to van, go home, try to explain to wife why I'm covered in scratches and mud!!!

 

ANSWER :- AGE & SEX!!!

 

Well at my age what other chance would I get to "Defile a Virgin" :P:P

 

Nick

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We love going for FTF - the thrill of the chase and the adulation when you find an empty logbook is well worth the effort.

 

It's not that often we get one as we're about 1/2 hour or more drive from where most of the new caches seem to come out round here but we've struck lucky a few times when the other two FTF regulars round here have been at work or out and not able to see a new FTF has come out.

 

We keep on trying though as it's great fun!

 

As with everything, different people play the sport in different ways - this is one way we get great enjoyment out of caching but we appreciate it's not for everyone.

Edited by The Bolas Heathens
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To be honest I've never really given much thought to why I like to be FTF....If a new cache appears nearby and I've got the time I'll go and bag it there and then. I've managed to get about half or dozen or so that way and I must admit I get this sort of warm, fuzzy feeling... :D

 

I am sure everyone in our area knows your gonna beat us all to the ftf golem :D think we wait for you to bag it then we know its safe to go :D

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<<<<<<<<<<<<< deeply sad obsessive compulsive

<<<<<<<<<<<<< anally retentive - typical male

 

but I cant help it .... so I sit hunched over my PC waiting for the next new local cache to be declared ... agggghhhhhhhh

 

HELP ME SOMEONE

There, there, Kewfriend. Just lie back and have a nice cup of tea.

 

And leave the FTFs for me! :)

 

Bob Aldridge

Edited by Belplasca
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