First Ten To Find (fttf) - Instead Of Ftf?

[+Ellteejak]

Well I kind of think that caches are for people to have fun to do at their leasure and not a racing game. I wanted races wouldn't I go for the wilderness running community, or other cross country or orienteering communities??

 

So lets see if I can set off a movement for the FTTF community.

 

FIRST TEN TO FIND. Maybe get people to put laminated cards (something cheap) in thier caches, to collect.

 

Maybe this is a lame idea, so let me know you COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION folks.

[CoyoteRed]

On first blush this sounds like a good idea. However, I guess I've become cynical about a portion of the geocaching population.

 

I'm afraid the movement wouldn't last or there would be "issues" in certain areas. We know how the idea of "take something, leave something" goes. In general, it's okay, but there's always the "trade even" and "junk trades" issues; and that's part of the core of the hobby!

 

Look at geocoins. They go missing in the wild at an alarming rate and many aren't even a collectible.

 

Unfortunately, I'm afraid the cards wouldn't actually go to the first ten finders.

 

With all of that said, I think it a fine idea and there is nothing stopping anyone from doing just that. I think it would be neat to come across a cache with such a trade item.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

It's always cool to find a signature item in a cache, but leaving 10 of them won't ensure that they go to the next 10 cachers.

[+Ellteejak]

It's always cool to find a signature item in a cache, but leaving 10 of them won't ensure that they go to the next 10 cachers.

 

I was thinking serialize them (cacher #1 cacher #2, etc.) and make the card unique for each cache. Okay someone could come along and steal all the cards at once, but why would that matter? They are unique for the cache, you can replicate them, they cost nearly nothing (how much does perforated inkjet printer card stock, and lamination sheets cost?).

 

You could even replace the "card momento" by sending a SASE to the cache owner, to ask for a replication. The owner could check his/her cache actual log, and his/her cache web page log, and then send back a replicated card.

 

This kind of removes competition a little from the FTF issue. It gives a memento for the find. It also serves as proof of completion (not debated that on this discussion).

[+Wild Thing 73]

Well I kind of think that caches are for people to have fun to do at their leasure and not a racing game. I wanted races wouldn't I go for the wilderness running community, or other cross country or orienteering communities??

 

So lets see if I can set off a movement for the FTTF community.

 

FIRST TEN TO FIND. Maybe get people to put laminated cards (something cheap) in thier caches, to collect.

 

Maybe this is a lame idea, so let me know you COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION folks.

I'm new to this sport and I have noticed that some cachers are a little obsessed with the "FTF" label. I have not yet been bitten by that "bug" and I don't think I will be. I just like the hunt and challenge The first 3,000 miles is easy, but that last 3 feet is a killer. Enough said...except I hope your idea works

[av8or426]

If you dont want to put out the effort to be the FTF then dont. Personally, I could care less if I was the FTF or not. But there's a lot of cachers out there who enjoy the challenge. Why water down the achievement by making it the first 10? If you dont want it to be competative then do what I do & dont make it that way. Just remember, second place will always be the first loser.

Edited April 15, 2006 by av8or426

[+Isonzo Karst]

I doubt if I would pick up any card, even if I was FTF. That in itself would throw off the whole count. And I expect I'm not alone in that.

[+Taranis]

I imagine that the first finder of this cache would claim first find ..

 

Then someone else down the road, lets say the 7th finder, might actually catch on to the "first 10" idea and proudly proclaim "I am one of the first 10 finders!!"

 

Everyone else would just look at that person funny, say "who cares?" and everything would move on as normal.

[+Klondike Mike]

If I'm not 1st then I don't care if I'm 2nd or 102nd

[+Adrenalynn]

If I'm not 1st then I don't care if I'm 2nd or 102nd

 

Well said!

[+Ellteejak]

If I'm not 1st then I don't care if I'm 2nd or 102nd

 

Well said!

 

I guess that is the point. FTF is FTF, and nothing changes that handle. Not trying to start an FTF hater club, but rather to put us back to the caching roots. Then again if you are not into FTF then just ignor the whole FTF thing completely. I like that idea. Just ignor FTF until you accidentally become one.

[Dosido]

I put out a cache with special prizes for the first 5 to find, with a bigger version for FTF. However, I'm not sure what you're really looking for here...

 

A 'special prize' for finding the cache? If that's the goal, then seek out caches that have finder buttons placed in them - that are specific to the particular cache. Any finder gets them - not just the first ten. Seems like they're fewer and farther between that when I first started, but they're still out there.

 

I'm not big into the FTF race - I won't go out of my way for one - however, when there are no online logs and you might be FTF, the whole experience changes - you're a bit excited, always wondering if that 'other' car in the lot belonged to another cacher, or if the person you hear in the woods is a cacher, and then when you open the log book, you're excited to see whether the log book is still blank. It's a different experience all together, which you wouldn't get if you were just trying to be 'kind of close to FTF'.

 

That said, if you have an idea, place a cache using that approach - if people think it's cool, it'll get copied down the line.