First to Find prizes?

[Fly4Free]

I have never been the FTF, and was wondering what some people that have been FTF have gotten as a FTF prize..

 

Thanks

[+wing-it]

$20.00, $10.00, $5.00, Dunkin Donuts gift card, Starbucks gift card, lottery scratch tickets just to name a few.

[+Thrak]

Gold dollars are fairly common in local micro caches. One cacher likes to leave $2 bills although I've only been FTF on one of his zillion caches. Sometimes a FTF button from Bumble Buttons or the like. FTF certificates.

[+Ambrosia]

A couple FTF pins. Although one of them was long after the ftf, just nobody had grabbed it yet.

[+Tank Hounds]

We have a cacher in the area that gets most of the FTF's but I found one this week that had an Applebees GC for $20 in it! It was a great surprise!

[+Stunod]

I had fun...isn't that why we do this?

[+SLO Trekker]

Most of the caches where I have scored the FTF did not have any sort of special gift. Some were micros, so there was not much room for anything. The best we have seen personally was a $5. I have placed an unactivated geocoin in some of my caches as a FTF prize. This seems to go over very well, and helps to heighten the interest in the cache once it is published.

[n0wae]

I've picked up some neat FTF crafted items that were cool. I like to spoil my FTFers on my caches... I often leave a pair of Regal Entertainment Group movie tickets with a custom made FTF token. I've also been known to put $20 bills in the cache as a FTF gift. I don't do it every time so that cachers get in the habit but it's still fun to surprise a FTFer once in a while.

[+briansnat]

I've been FTF on about a dozen caches. None had a FTF prize.

 

I don't think they are all that common in most areas.

[+jackrock]

Just the fun of the game and the satisfaction of being first. I did leave an unactivated coin as a prize in a multi puzzle.

[bogleman]

The best thing I have received as a FTF was a clean, dry and uncrumpled log to sign

[+mudsneaker]

out of my 35 FTFs, most have little to nothing special. But theres have been a few nice ones.

$10 Starbucks card

Sydney geocoin (unactivated)

Nice Seahawks Tshirt

Pins

misc nice swag

 

My caches often have had something extra special in them for FTFers, trying to lead by example

[+michigansnorkelers]

Less than half of my FTFs have had prizes.

 

I've picked up 4 TB tags, a $5 blockbuster card, a $10 starbucks card, and personal sig items.

 

Even a micro can have a FTF prize. The micro might contain a note with coordinates to the FTF prize. I've run into this twice.

 

Another great thing about being FTF, or STF or TTF on a regular size cache, is that you're visiting a cache when it is still stocked with high quality swag. You won't find a golfball in a newly published cache, I hope.

 

Yet another great thing about going after FTFs are the impropmtu FTF "parties" that can follow. Basically, this is where you run into several other FTF hounds all attempting to beat each other to the draw. It's all in good spirits, and you get to meet a lot of interesting people. Last night I attempted a baffling FTF, and after about 20 minutes was met by 7 other geocachers! One of THEM found it, but we all signed the log as a shared FTF.

 

Happy Geocaching!

[+Miragee]

For my very first FTF, there was no "prize" as such, but the ammo can was full of nice swag. I chose a strand of cool-looking, large beads. Later on I put them on my caching hat.

 

Subsequent FTFs yielded little silver Gecko charms, which have now been put on that strand of beads.

 

Last weekend I got three FTFs and in each of those caches, there was an unactivated Geocoin and a FTF token thanks to bradybunchboys generosity.

[+Ambrosia]

I had fun...isn't that why we do this?

I don't think I've ever specifically tried to be FTF, although it happens every so often just by chance. But it's fun for some people, and they enjoy a prize, otherwise people wouldn't keep making them and putting them in caches!

[+pointofthejourney]

Found this thread interesting as I'm preparing my first large cache, which I am planning to be a 2-stage multi with a challenging but fun degree of difficulty.

 

I'm thinking the FTF Prize for this one is going to be an opened, but unused iPod Shuffle (1st gen).

[+tollerdudes]

I've gotten unactivated geocoins, thats about it.

[Fly4Free]

I was not first to find the other day, but I was the second and I what I found in this cache was amazing... There was a pair of Uniden Walkie Talkies, a nice military style foldable shovel with attached compass, and other high quality things of the sort.

 

I only have a couple of questions of this thread...

 

1) what is the significance of an unactivated geo-coin? Do you keep it as a souvenier or do you activate it yourself?

 

Thanks!

[+jackrock]

 

I only have a couple of questions of this thread...

 

1) what is the significance of an unactivated geo-coin? Do you keep it as a souvenier or do you activate it yourself?

 

Thanks!

 

Whatever you want. You can keep it and activate it, keep it and not activate it, activate it and move it along to another cache, . . . Whatever you want to do, it's a gift.

[+PJPeters]

I was 'FTF' (for the season, anyway) on one the other night that had been restocked with some pretty decent swag - a 'new, but dusty VCR' and a box fan (See Big Boy GCXTPX). Didn't need either, so I left 'em for the next guy.

[+AStargirl]

I've only had 2 FTF and one was a micro, so no swag and the other didn't have anything special in it, although I still found a goody to trade for.

[crawil]

We've gotten a 14 karat gold ring, a non-trackable geocoin as a FTF prize. We were 4th to find one (a 5/5) that had tickets for 6 to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park!

 

When we hid our first hide, "Alien Droppings", we included a $10 flying saucer shaped keychain flashlight.

[+Renegade Knight]

A couple of times roman coins. Once a 20.00 gift certificate for a sporting goods store that I was going to send back to the cache owner since the store was 100+ miles away and I moved. Alas I lost that.

 

That's all I recall.

[+plumbrokeacres]

My first FTF had no prize just the honor of being first to sign, my second FTF was April 1, it had been there since Dec 26, I found a $5 gift certificate for Tim Hortons. it was a easy cache to find once i found a better way to it the hider had the start 3/4mile away. I found a spot under 500'.

I have hidden 2 caches the first had a FTF Coin and a Laminated Certificate with cache info for a keepsake. when i get my coins I will leave unactivated coins. my second was a micro (modified tire valve) and didn't have any room for a FTF prize.

[+NickRac]

my only FTF I got a $10.00 bill

[+Tweedledum & Tweedledee]

On one particualr cache we recieved hand made hiking staffs. It wasn't the typical cache and the staffs wern't actually in the cache.

[+nekom]

I've never scored a FTF yet. My first 3 hides I didn't bother putting an FTF prize in, my latest one is a lot more of a challenge so I wanted to give the FTF something. I put an unactivated travel bug in there, figured that made sense.

[+Brayden's Brigade]

We have only had one FTF, and there was a certificate and FTF magnet. In the cache we put out, we left a $10 gift certificate to a local department store.

[Broken Knee]

I'm working on putting together a 7 cache multi-cache where the final prize is a $75 gift certificate to a local resturant. I've been working on coding the clues. Don't want to make it too easy. LOL. The locations are set, and I've been testing them just to make sure the GPS Co-ords work right. Then I'll submit it for posting. When that happens, I'll let you all know.

 

Happy caching all

[+hairball45]

My best FTF prize was a 1934 $10 Silver Certificate. Worth at least ten bucks.

[+pilot172]

Here on the prairies there is a lot of variety over our 10FTFs. The best was our triple find where the generous donor left a semi certificate envlope adding $5.oo in each! Other use certificates and/or invite the FTF and sometimes the STF to choose a great item and not trade! Enjoyed reading the idea of leaving co-ordinates for a FTF prize for a micro somewhere else!