Stocking My First Cache

June 9, 2006

I understand that FTF is a big deal. I have an ammo box that will hold a good amount of items and will stock it well when I put it out. My question is will the FTF clear it out, is that their "right" ? I personally would like only 1 or 2 items traded, to give the next few finders "good" items. I just bought 6 really cool things and don't want FTF to get them all, will that happen.

I don't want to sound mean, I'm just not sure how much the first finder will take. I know no one know for sure, but what is the norm?? :laughing:

I'm also thinking of putting only a couple cool things with 1 special for FTF, and them going back maybe every 5 finds or so and re-checking the stock and added to it when needed. What do you all think of that??

Please help, I'm still new and this will be my first hide.

June 9, 2006

I'm pretty new too but it seems to me that FTF still has to respect good trading guidelines.

They may take one item but they have to leave one item.

June 9, 2006

What is an FTF?

I am new and have not even figured out how to use my Garmin GPS60.

Edited June 9, 2006 by Johnmelad

June 9, 2006

What you might wish to do is place the FTF items in a ziplock bag, with a small sign that reads "Greeting! You are FTF. Here's your prize!"

That way the first person to find your hidden cache will know what prize to grab.

That doesn't mean he or she will take the FTF prize. Its there for them to take, but there may be something else in your cache that may catch their eye instead. Most FTF are honest people that enjoy the hunt, and the surprise at the end.

So I wouldn't worry to much about them emptying the cache in one big haul. You may be surprised to find that the 2nd, or even the 3rd to find may take the FTF prize. It's been known to happen.

So bag the FTF stuff up, set the cache out there, sit back and watch the fun begin.

But if you're worried, bag the FTF items and keep the good stuff for later, and place a bit less fancy stuff in the cache.

Again, you may be surprised to learn FTF doesn't always mean they'll take the FTF prize. It's up to the Cacher who finds the cache first.

Me, its just a game, and the thrill of the hunt. FTF is an extra bonus...

BTW What is the FTF prize? :laughing:

24.7k · June 9, 2006

If you have a FTF prize, and prize typically means "Bonus" where they don't need to trade, then they can take that prize. Anything else normal trading rules apply.

Also you don't have to have an FTF prize. I only use them on a cache I want to generate sime interest in, or which is harder than normal.

June 9, 2006

What is an FTF?

I am new and have not even figured out how to use my Garmin GPS60.

FTF= First to Find

June 9, 2006

BTW What is the FTF prize?

I ordered a couple things from Groundspeak...a license plate holder, a hat and a caching pins. I also picked up a compass whistle, a set of 6 bungee cords, a "D clip??" with a built in flashlight (includes hearing aid batteries), and a bunch of other things along those camping/hiking lines. Not sure what I'll use for FTF but I THINK that my cache will be nicely stocked. I am comparing that to the caches we have already found (only about 6 or 7 so far) that have been filled with mostly junk.

I'm doing a Delaware event tomorrow with multiple caches, so I plan to get more finds and experience with stocking. And more input from other experienced cachers. I can't wait. :rolleyes:

3.2k · June 9, 2006

I understand that FTF is a big deal. I have an ammo box that will hold a good amount of items and will stock it well when I put it out. My question is will the FTF clear it out, is that their "right" ? I personally would like only 1 or 2 items traded, to give the next few finders "good" items. I just bought 6 really cool things and don't want FTF to get them all, will that happen.

I don't want to sound mean, I'm just not sure how much the first finder will take. I know no one know for sure, but what is the norm??

I'm also thinking of putting only a couple cool things with 1 special for FTF, and them going back maybe every 5 finds or so and re-checking the stock and added to it when needed. What do you all think of that??

Please help, I'm still new and this will be my first hide.

Never had an issue with that. FTF is just another person finding the cache. Sometimes there is a "special" item for the FTF and other times there isn't. A local FTF hound might well miss the item since he rarely goes through the swag - he just signs the log. If a FTF prize is listed in the cache listing he may see that and grab the prize. (Although if you list an Indian Head Penny in the cache he will be sure to snag that. Sure, it only costs about $0.90 but he really likes those things.)

On one FTF I left the prize for another cacher and noted in the log that I had done so. The prize was a nice flashlight and I noted in the log that, since I already had a very nice light, I would leave it for another finder. At the time my watch band was broken so I took a cheapo watch on a fob from the dollar store to hang on my cache bag and I left a heavy duty programmable combination lock. Definitely a "trade up" deal. :rolleyes:

Anybody who would "clean out" a cache, whether a FTF or not, would be a pretty big jerk. The term "cache maggot" comes to mind.

I found that a couple of times when I put out a really well stocked cache folks in this area hesitated to take anything because they didn't have "trade up or trade even" quality swag with them. I had to encourage them to take an item even though they were leaving a lesser item. Maybe it's just that I live where folks are nice. :laughing:

June 9, 2006

I have stocked my caches and left a FTF. It was clearly marked for the FTF. I have a cache that was a book exchange and I had a FTF for an adult and a child. It was gift cert. to a book store. The child FTF had sat in the cache for a long time and adult first adult took their FTF. About a month later someone came with a child and took the Child FTF. That is how good people are about FTF prize. I also try to put nice Swag in my caches from the dollar store. Cachers have traded or not traded. At times I think I have put to much but that is ok that is the fun of caching.

Just my .02

June 9, 2006

Kudos that as a newbie (me too!) you're taking the time and effort to put together a really cool, fun cache. There's been some discussion about that around here lately.

Best of luck hiding your first, I can't wait to hide my first!

Mike

2.3k · June 9, 2006

My FTF dont require a trade as they are worth 5-15 dollars and a prize not swag

38.2k · June 9, 2006

I understand that FTF is a big deal. I have an ammo box that will hold a good amount of items and will stock it well when I put it out. My question is will the FTF clear it out, is that their "right" ? I personally would like only 1 or 2 items traded, to give the next few finders "good" items. I just bought 6 really cool things and don't want FTF to get them all, will that happen.

I don't want to sound mean, I'm just not sure how much the first finder will take. I know no one know for sure, but what is the norm??

I'm also thinking of putting only a couple cool things with 1 special for FTF, and them going back maybe every 5 finds or so and re-checking the stock and added to it when needed. What do you all think of that??

Please help, I'm still new and this will be my first hide.

No need for anything special for the FTF. Some people do it, but not most. Generally people, including the FTF, only trade 1 or 2 items so don't worry about it being cleaned out right off the bat. I've heard instances of people not getting this sport and cleaning out the cache, but that's very rare.

Rather than the FTF cleaning it out, what you will see is a slow degeneration in the quality of the contents.

What is more likely to happen is that someone will take something nice like the hat and leave 5 - 6 pieces of junk in return. As if trading an expired Sanka coupon, half a book of matches, a ticket stub for a minor league baseball game, 12 cents in change, a broken McToy and an acorn is an even trade for a new Geocaching.com hat.

June 9, 2006

No need for anything special for the FTF. Some people do it, but not most. Generally people, including the FTF, only trade 1 or 2 items so don't worry about it being cleaned out right off the bat. I've heard instances of people not getting this sport and cleaning out the cache, but that's very rare.

Rather than the FTF cleaning it out, what you will see is a slow degeneration in the quality of the contents.

What is more likely to happen is that someone will take something nice like the hat and leave 5 - 6 pieces of junk in return. As if trading an expired Sanka coupon, half a book of matches, a ticket stub for a minor league baseball game, 12 cents in change, a broken McToy and an acorn is an even trade for a new Geocaching.com hat.

I just went out to check my hidden cache today. I didn't find any of the things you mentioned above. I wish I had have, because it's better than what I did find in my cache.

I found a rock!

Yes, that's right, a rock. It was not a fancy, or shiny rock. It was just a plain old river rock that was gray in color, flat and about four inches across and about a half an inch thick. I checked the log and no one mentioned placing the rock in there, but I noticed that a few good swags I had placed in there earlier were missing.

So I have a new paperweight sitting here, and my cache has been re-hidden until I can get out again with more, and better swag.

I feel like Charlie Brown at Halloween.

Edited June 9, 2006 by Drgnsrealm

June 9, 2006

I feel like Charlie Brown at Halloween.

Good Grief!

Who leaves a rock in a cache?

Definitely not "trading even or trading up".

Mike

June 9, 2006

Who leaves a rock in a cache?

Someone did it in my cache. Check out this log.

I haven't gone to the cache yet to see if it really was just an ordinary rock or something more extravagant so I can't rightly complain to him yet. And yes, it was a radio that I had in the original contents.

Edited June 9, 2006 by Team Smokey

June 10, 2006

What is more likely to happen is that someone will take something nice like the hat and leave 5 - 6 pieces of junk in return. As if trading an expired Sanka coupon, half a book of matches, a ticket stub for a minor league baseball game, 12 cents in change, a broken McToy and an acorn is an even trade for a new Geocaching.com hat.

I just went out to check my hidden cache today. I didn't find any of the things you mentioned above. I wish I had have, because it's better than what I did find in my cache.

I found a rock!

Oh, Drgnsrealm, that is too bad! I have been keeping an eye on the cache since you placed it, and I know you have been good about keeping it stocked with goodies. I was pleased for you when I saw the notes from people saying how much great stuff it had in it.

Hopefully the next round of people that come through will treat it more kindly!

Neos2

Edited June 10, 2006 by Team Neos

1.4k · June 10, 2006

I try to stock my caches with sound items, I do look for bargains when shopping, I enjoy shopping more, my wife likes that. Unopened packages of batteries, small toys, I also place things like bags of bandages and bundles of small plastic bags or things that might be useful for any cacher. I usually stick to new inexpensive items. Teens and older children often do not like trading and adults who take up geocaching because they see valuable goods changing hands are not my intended audience. I may leave an FTF prize but I always make it a piece of geocaching swag, usually a patch or a sticker or something like that. On really difficult caches I may leave a TB tag. The largest FTF prize that I have ever placed is $20.00CDN but no one seems to want it so far. It is clearly marked as the FTF prize and I do not expect the first finder to trade for that as it is a "prize".

On the other hand I do remove junk from all my caches on a very regular basis. Any unprotected piece of paper gets removed, post cards, expired coupons, business cards, pamphlets and brochures - out. Anything broken, any rocks or pocket trash. I usually bag any decent items, people often throw in little pins and things that trade much better if placed in a small baggie. I often restock baggies of bandages and small bundles of baggies in several sizes. You can get small bags at the craft store for just a few cents. I do regular maintenance visits on all my caches and I clean them as I go. I remove mud and grass and dead sticks. I remove anything that is rusted, lights that don't work, lighters, matches and food. I remove all liquids and bottles of hotel conditioner and hotel shampoo. I have found herring and crackers, toothpaste and hotel soap, sand and shells, all removed. I leave nothing volatile, I have taken out knives and unidentified pills, broken coffee mugs and packages of lactase enzyme, hats that people have worn and lots of pennies, dimes, nickles and quarters. I have found a lot of junk and I have seen that people also place wonderful things. I do know that by keeping my caches well maintained I find that people tend to put nice items in there as well. I do not try and keep up with restocking caches, I may restock a theme cache but not a regular cache.

More important than the swag (stuff we all get) is to focus on the total cache experience. I tend to put more work into the container, the location and the actual hiding spot than the goods. People will remember a fun challenging adventure long after the $10.00 travel clock is busted and gone. Good luck with your first cache.

2.3k · June 10, 2006

Who leaves a rock in a cache?

Someone did it in my cache. Check out this log.

I haven't gone to the cache yet to see if it really was just an ordinary rock or something more extravagant so I can't rightly complain to him yet. And yes, it was a radio that I had in the original contents.

I live close by and had no idea this trail existed! It was a nice walk on a georgous day- Left a stone and took a radio. Thanks!

38.2k · June 10, 2006

Who leaves a rock in a cache?

Someone did it in my cache. Check out this log.

I haven't gone to the cache yet to see if it really was just an ordinary rock or something more extravagant so I can't rightly complain to him yet. And yes, it was a radio that I had in the original contents.

I live close by and had no idea this trail existed! It was a nice walk on a georgous day- Left a stone and took a radio. Thanks!

one of the lamer trades I've seen. When they are that lame, they rarely have the nerve to mention it in the log.

5.7k · June 10, 2006

The FTF will not 'clear it out' becuase that would be a very selfish, irresponsible and immature thing to do. It is no one's 'right' to be irresponsible, selfish and immature.

Relax and enjoy this wonderful activity. I wouldn't advise putting out all your 'really cool' stuff out at once but that is clearly your own decision. This activity has grown by leaps and bounds and as it does unfortunately the number of irresponsible participants though very small in my opinion, is noticably on the increase. This is a fact that you and I have very little influence over. Don't sweat the small stuff and small people. The truth is that except for a relatively small minority, cache hunters care very little about the monetary 'value' of a cache's contents, the attraction and enjoyment is in the adventure whether going alone or with family and friends. As with most things in life, let common sense be your guide.

"Cache on Garth!"

Edited June 10, 2006 by Team Cotati

June 10, 2006

I just went out to check my hidden cache today. I didn't find any of the things you mentioned above. I wish I had have, because it's better than what I did find in my cache.

I found a rock!

Oh, Drgnsrealm, that is too bad! I have been keeping an eye on the cache since you placed it, and I know you have been good about keeping it stocked with goodies. I was pleased for you when I saw the notes from people saying how much great stuff it had in it.

Hopefully the next round of people that come through will treat it more kindly!

Neos2

Hey Team Neos! I sure miss you guys. And yep, I hope so too

Yes, I try to keep goodies that I think other cachers would like to find in a cache. I've placed first-aid kits, signature pens with soft grip, games and puzzles for the kids, small can's of bug spray, solar powered calculators, hot wheel cars, some sweet looking key chains with compass's on them that really work, playing cards, DVD's, packs of battries and about anything else I can stuff in an ammo box, and still have room for the log.

The swag items I've pulled out have been colored beads, golf balls, golf T's, sea shells, a pocket full of change, mostly penny's, an empty book of matches, though the box was rather nice, a used mini golf pencil....etc, etc.

OH!! And a rock!

I'm still puzzled over that one, but I will give the person some credit. Because there are no rocks like that anywhere near the cache. They had to have carried it with them to place it in the box. And it's no light weight rock either.

But a rock? Maybe it thinks it's a diamond?

So I'll be going out tomorrow, after I make a trip to the store, and flea market for more goodies.

Funny thing though, I haven't found one McDonald toy yet.

Oh gee! I may have just angered the Geo gods...

Edited June 10, 2006 by Drgnsrealm

June 10, 2006

Ha! You know what they say about one person's trash being another person's treasure...

It's funny that in this relatively short thread, there are 2 different people mentioning that they remove shells as trash.

I have pretty high swag standards and I've left several shells over the past several months. I think most shells are very pretty. Much more interesting than a McToy, even if the toy was new!

Recently, I traded for a fairly simple shell, which I took home and plopped into my little salt-water fish tank. Immediately, one of my marine hermit crabs abandoned the shell he was living in & took over the one from the cache!

June 10, 2006

I put in a FTF gift and usually put it in a plastic baggie along with the logbook so that its found right away. I add a 'congrats on being first finder' note. Often I will also start a cache with a travel bug and maybe tuck a geocoin away somewhere hidden in the cache. I hope that the first finder will just take their gift, cuz the other items sweeten the cache for other finders, but sometimes the first finder takes all the good stuff first. Can't control that at all. You put a box out in the woods you can't control what happens to the stuff inside.

1.4k · June 11, 2006

The Trash/Treasure comment has been a real anchor (read a heavy dragging weight) for geocaching. This is usually cited chapter and verse by those who do not want to throw anything of value into caches. I have no doubt that many shells deserve a place in geocaches, I see packages of them at the dollar store and know that they are worth ten or fifteen cents a shell. Placed in a baggie and thence into a cache and I would never think of it as junk. I also have no doubt that half of a freshwater clam with bits of the deceased clinging to the shell are not treasure.

I have a cache which was visited by a geocacher who is wealthy enough to buy and fly an airplane. They took a geocaching sticker and a two dollar coffee certificate, about $6 worth of stuff and left pocket lint and junk in the cache. To pretend that the junk they leave is treasure is absurd, this is stealing, plain and simple. I never mind TNLN, I often do this. I object very strongly to "Took good items, left pocket trash."

Junk is not treasure, it is junk.

Some human beings think junk is treasure, it doesn't actually make the junk treasure though, it is still junk. Treasuring junk still leaves the junk being junk, even if it is treasured. Kids often treasure junk, I took a small dead bird's wing away from one of my children and they actually cried because they lost their treasure. I am especially impressed by adults who understand the treasure/junk principle and apply it to geocaching. I had a cache visited by an older geocacher who actually left a cereal box toy. I know that the cereal box toy is junk but one of my kids treasured it and the adult who kept it and placed it deserves kudos.

Sand and shells - Out

Cereal box toys - In

Stocking My First Cache

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