FTDNF

[+Dread_Pirate_Bruce]

Today I got to be the First To Did Not Find on a 1/1 cache. I don't think it is the first time I've done that, but it is the first time I've thought about it. How humiliating.

 

I realize that is not as bad as being the Last To Find, i.e., the one who potentially caused a cache to be lost, but it is a real miserable feeling to know that there is a cache that just about everyone else can find, that you can't find.

 

And talking about it does not make it feel better.

[+Shiku]

I went for a 1/1 the other day. Many other cachers had to come back to look for it, including myself.

 

I really do hate it when it seems like everyone else can find it and you can't. Make sure you look at the logs, pictures, and a map of the coords. If that doesn't help, bring a friend along-they'll have a different perspective.

 

For my 1/1 cache, it really shouldn't have been a 1/1 due to many factors that I guess the placer didn't consider for the rating.

 

But always remember that the cache could have been muggled and you've found much harder ones

[+gof1]

Happens to all of us and anyone who denies it is lying through their teeth.

Hell, I have days when I can't find my backside with both hands.

[+Kit Fox]

It could be worse, much worse. Imagine DNFing on an easy cache (with over 1000 finds) then the next log is from someone that post this, "This was our first cache find, thanks for the easy hide."

[+Dread_Pirate_Bruce]

It could be worse, much worse. Imagine DNFing on an easy cache (with over 1000 finds) then the next log is from someone that post this, "This was our first cache find, thanks for the easy hide."

 

Precisely so. I'll have to watch to see what the next log is.

[+tozainamboku]

Ammo cans in that park have a tendency to disappear quickly. My guess is a muggle found it and took the ammo can and the swag. Too bad cause it was really close to me.

[+briansnat]

How humiliating.

 

Try going out with a newspaper reporter and photographer and DNFing a cache after a 2 mile hike. THEN having it found by a novice two days later.

 

Seriously though why would a DNF be humiliating? Sometimes you just don't see something that others see. Other times you find something in a few seconds that take others forever to find.

 

I (and many others) easily found a 1/1 cache that a super cacher with 20,000 plus finds DNFed. I doubt the super cacher was humiliated, but just looked at it as one of those things.

 

Finally, you aren't necessarily the first to DNF. Just the first to admit it. A lot of people won't log their DNFs.

[+uxorious]

Happens more then I would like to admit.

 

Take heart in the fact that you most likely are not the first to DNF the cache, you were just the first to do the right thing and admit it.

[+poohstickz]

Today I got to be the First To Did Not Find on a 1/1 cache. I don't think it is the first time I've done that, but it is the first time I've thought about it. How humiliating.

 

I realize that is not as bad as being the Last To Find, i.e., the one who potentially caused a cache to be lost, but it is a real miserable feeling to know that there is a cache that just about everyone else can find, that you can't find.

 

And talking about it does not make it feel better.

Perhaps you can take pride in the fact that you are probably the first person who was big enough to admit that they didn't find that cache. That's being honest, it's not being humiliated.

[+chuckwagon101]

Today I got to be the First To Did Not Find on a 1/1 cache. I don't think it is the first time I've done that, but it is the first time I've thought about it. How humiliating.

 

I realize that is not as bad as being the Last To Find, i.e., the one who potentially caused a cache to be lost, but it is a real miserable feeling to know that there is a cache that just about everyone else can find, that you can't find.

 

And talking about it does not make it feel better.

 

That's why ya don't see many people logging DNFs! Who needs that extra pain in their life!

 

To many cachers, nothing says LOOOOOOOOOOOZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR like a DNF!

 

Quips come up like......."Are ya BLIND!?? It's right under the Big Pile of Sticks!!"............or..."Diddy want thumb-body to help little baby look for that mean old cache?".....or......"Have you ever thought about switching to crochet? That's a nice, easy thing for you to do!".........

 

Of course not all cachers think in terms of the above....only the warped, misguided individuals that do not appreciate the TRUE VALUE of the DNF!

 

Now excuse me! I have to go log a DNF!

[+Mocadeki]

We have plenty of FTDNFs.. or at least we are the first to log one online. 1/1s give us the most DNFs.. It's just one of things that happens. If it's an area we want to return to we'll try again. If it's not an area we liked then we'll get back there when we are in the area for other reasons. The funniest ones are when new cachers find it the next day and say how easy it was.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Try going out with a newspaper reporter and photographer and DNFing a cache after a 2 mile hike. THEN having it found by a novice two days later.

 

Too funny, that happened to me too! When asked to take a reporter caching I went out and re-stocked five caches, made sure they were clean, well-hidden, etc.

 

The next day I took the reporter to my Irondale Park cache first; it was gone!

 

Went back a couple days later to replace it, the cache was right where it was supposed to be, all swag intact, with a note from a Mom saying "My son found this and I told him to return it".

[sdarken]

A while back I seemed to be getting FTDNF so often that I jokingly said that I was going set a new personal goal of being the world leader in FTDNFs. Based on that comment someone set up a cache in my honor called FTDNF:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...de-a3f23fdb8a01

 

I did actually end up being FTDNF on it too - not intentionally either.

 

I haven't checked the World FTDNF Leaderboard recently but I'm sure I'm well up there.

[+Renegade Knight]

Today I got to be the First To Did Not Find on a 1/1 cache. ...

 

Not finding 1/1 caches is my best skill. Give me a super hard cache and I can find that. 1/1. Nope.

[+markandsandy]

Today I got to be the First To Did Not Find on a 1/1 cache. I don't think it is the first time I've done that, but it is the first time I've thought about it. How humiliating.

 

I realize that is not as bad as being the Last To Find, i.e., the one who potentially caused a cache to be lost, but it is a real miserable feeling to know that there is a cache that just about everyone else can find, that you can't find.

 

And talking about it does not make it feel better.

Perhaps you can take pride in the fact that you are probably the first person who was big enough to admit that they didn't find that cache. That's being honest, it's not being humiliated.

 

I'm proud of our 3 FTDNF's

 

One has only had 4 finds, and the last of those was last November - could be gone, could be we just missed it.

 

One had 56 finds, then a string of 6 DNF's, ours being first. If nobody logged the FTDNF, the owners might not have checked and found that it is missing.

 

One had 114 finds, then our FTDNF, then 7 more finds. Most say it is easy, some that it was harder than they expected, but they found it. I don't feel humiliated. Maybe we'll find it next time we're in that area; If not, we may be STDNF (Second To DNF) .

[+Jeepster++]

I rushed out to try for a FTF on this tricky hide but after searching for quite a while I had to give it up and log a FTDNF. I walked away disappointed but started feeling better when other experienced cachers logged their DNFs also. Well, at least I was the FTL (First To Log.)

[+Dread_Pirate_Bruce]

Thanks, folks. Reading your posts makes me feel better.

[Akeybabe]

I had one recently that was a HUGE ammo can.....NOPE no luck couldn't find..

Yaah makes you feel like crap...

Ake

[+steel city babes]

Try going out with a newspaper reporter and photographer and DNFing a cache after a 2 mile hike. THEN having it found by a novice two days later.

 

Went back a couple days later to replace it, the cache was right where it was supposed to be, all swag intact, with a note from a Mom saying "My son found this and I told him to return it".

 

Nice!!!

 

Here is my ftdnf cache....I guess it is gone but oh well!!! Not sure I seen any bulldozer tracks....LOL

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...50-24f57edb8f27

[southpawaz]

On this cache I had the displeasure of both a FTDNF (bad coordinates) AND a STDNF (couldn't find the dadgum thing). Now that it has been found, I'm still working up to a third trip.

[+tozainamboku]

Ammo cans in that park have a tendency to disappear quickly. My guess is a muggle found it and took the ammo can and the swag. Too bad cause it was really close to me.

Guess I was wrong. The cache is still there.

 

And talking about it does not make it feel better.

If it makes you feel any better its a 1.5/1.5 cache not 1/1. You do have to leave the trail to find it.

[+J-Way]

Take heart in the fact that you most likely are not the first to DNF the cache, you were just the first to do the right thing and admit it.

I've been FTDNF gobs of times. Sometimes I just missed an easy cache, and sometimes I just happened to be the first person to bother logging a DNF on a missing cache. Edited August 18, 2008 by J-Way

[Skippermark]

DNFing the easy ones is always more frustrating than DNFing a hard one. They're supposed to be easy. How come we missed it?

[+anakerose]

I've had plenty of DNF's on a 1/1 only to go back a second and a third time in some cases to find the cache was way easier than I thought. Sometimes I wonder if we're making these harder than they are. Don't be discouraged if you can't find a 1/1. It happens to everyone. Just try again!

[+Snow Birds]

My first traditional, I tried 4 times and even got hints from the owner. I was ready to give it all up when I got help from an experienced cacher who doubled over laughing. I was almost standing on the ammo can! I just didn't know what I was looking for!

 

Speaking of humiliating: this last weekend, I went to a cache (cache A) with directions "from the coordinates, go 100 feet in a 295 degree direction". I did this and would have ended up standing in the middle of Main Street! I tried it with a real compass and got the same results. I tried it about 5 times and always got the same thing. So I left.

 

I got to another cache (cache and hunted and searched at the coordinates and just could not find it. I tried 3 approaches before I gave up.

 

When I went in to log the DNF on cache B, I discovered that IT was the one with the "100 feet at 295 degrees", not cache A!! I DNFed on both of them because I got the directions crossed. Doh!

 

Cache B was "Wyoming Cowboy". It is a plaque commemorating the cowboy on the Wyoming license plates. Cache A is a statue of that very same cowboy! So I see how I got confused, but it's still humiliating!

[+Silfron Mandotheneset]

Happens more then I would like to admit.

 

Take heart in the fact that you most likely are not the first to DNF the cache, you were just the first to do the right thing and admit it.

 

My thoughts exactly! Another thing might be that the cache owner has been deleting all the DNFs. I had that happen once, and thought it was odd... I wish I could remember which cache that was

[+Guinness70]

at first i didnt log a DNF unless i had completely given up and wont bother to return.

but then after reading up here at the forum i realised there is use for seeing a DNF, as much for the owner as for the other cachers.

 

so now i log a DNF and give info that can be relevant to owner or cachers, and if you are worried about stats : unless im mistaken a DNF only effects the stats of the cache. you dont get a -1, just not a +1. and if you return later with a find you get the +1 and that evens out the caches -1.

Edited August 18, 2008 by Guinness70

[Skippermark]

I've had plenty of DNF's on a 1/1 only to go back a second and a third time in some cases to find the cache was way easier than I thought. Sometimes I wonder if we're making these harder than they are. Don't be discouraged if you can't find a 1/1. It happens to everyone. Just try again!

Sometimes a "1/1" isn't really a "1/1". If it's an older cache, it may have been released before the rating system was implemented. Any caches placed before that were automatically rated 1/1.

 

Or, if it's a newer cache and it has a lot of DNFs, it's probably rated incorrectly. Owners sometimes presume that because it's easy (to them because they placed it), it'll be easy for everyone, but if it has a lot of DNFs, even if it seems easy, then it's not that easy and should be upped a bit.

 

My son placed a cache that was rated a 2, thinking it wouldn't be that hard, but it turned out that every log that came through was a DNF, so many in fact that we thought maybe the cache went missing. Someone eventually found it, but several people had to go back 2 or 3 times before they finally found it. Even though we thought it would be easy, it wasn't that easy to others, so the difficulty needed to be adjusted.

[Skippermark]

at first i didnt log a DNF unless i had completely given up and wont bother to return.

but then after reading up here at the forum i realised there is use for seeing a DNF, as much for the owner as for the other cachers.

We appreciate seeing DNFs. If people hadn't logged them on my son's cache, we would have thought it was fairly easy and figurd everyone was finding it without any trouble and left it rated as a 2. But, after seeing all the DNFs, it made us realize that it wasn't as easy as we thought and made the proper adjustments.

[+Dread_Pirate_Bruce]

Ammo cans in that park have a tendency to disappear quickly. My guess is a muggle found it and took the ammo can and the swag. Too bad cause it was really close to me.

Guess I was wrong. The cache is still there.

 

And talking about it does not make it feel better.

If it makes you feel any better its a 1.5/1.5 cache not 1/1. You do have to leave the trail to find it.

 

So, not only was I First To Did Not Find ... I think I am Only To Did Not Find.

 

But, on a more positive note, I'm supposed to be in the area tomorrow and I'll give it another try.

[+SimbaJamey]

We appreciate seeing DNFs. If people hadn't logged them on my son's cache, we would have thought it was fairly easy and figurd everyone was finding it without any trouble and left it rated as a 2. But, after seeing all the DNFs, it made us realize that it wasn't as easy as we thought and made the proper adjustments.

 

I thought we're not supposed to change that sort of thing once a cache has been published?

I'm new to the hiding side (even newer than to the finding I guess, which I'm still pretty new at) and my biggest struggle has been with the D ratings. I get very few DNFs logged online so I keep working under the impression that they aren't that hard and I haven't really seen ones worthy of the higher difficulty #'s to compare to. So I've kept the #'s fairly low, this may start to become a problem though...I put one out a couple of weeks ago and rated it a 3. It has one unassisted find, one find where I showed up while someone was looking and he signed the log after I had to spend a few minutes looking for it before I found it. One other find from someone that called him for help, and one logged online from someone that may not actually exist (I need to go look at the signatures on the paper one of these days).

The guy I met there said 2 other people had looked and left but they never logged it. Since then there have been 3 DNFs logged, including 2 when the guy I showed it to and I were there with them but none of us could find it in the dark.

The area has shown increasing search evidence, the English Ivy ground cover that provided the location it's cammo has been pretty much cleared for about 5' around GZ, every time I go back the area is even more bare (And no, it's not a cammoed ivy leaf type thing, in fact...it's bright red and sticks out like a sore thumb!).

 

So now I'm worried that I under-rated that caches difficulty (as well as others probably) since it's the same # as others I've placed with 15-1 find to DNF ratios. I was actually thinking earlier tonight about emailing my reviewer to ask him how I should handle the situation, if it's possible (acceptable) to bump up or down a caches difficulty rating early in it's life.

 

As a final note, it probably doesn't help as far as me knowing what to do that there are 2 caches around here that are a very similar type of cache, both were tough finds for me...but one is rated a 2.5 and one is rated a 4.5

 

[+Walts Hunting]

There's nothing about a DNF that a margarita and the Ignore Listing button won't fix. Blackouts help.

[AZcachemeister]

I've had a few FTDNFs...in a couple of cases, 20-30 found it before me, and 20-30 more found it before I could go back.

**It happens.

Got four more DNFs today, not sure yet if any might be FTDNFs though.

[+GrateBear]

Keep in mind that there are a lot of caches out there that have no DNFs, but you know there are cacher who refused to say so. I have a couple of caches placed where I've been asked for hints because the asker couldn't find them. But, no DNF listed. So, from now on, hints will only be given to those who post a DNF.

[+Ladybug Kids]

228 DNFs and still counting and logging all our cache attempts. We're either completely humiliated or completely shameless.

Edited November 9, 2008 by Ladybug Kids

[+Butwait]

My first DNF was a bummer, My wife and I looked for an hour, the area had been cleaned up and bushes trimmed so I thought the cach was found by the workers, wrong, found the next day by someone else. I will usually go back and and attempt to find again. This was on a trip so it will be awhile before i look again. Hurt, not abit the worst day of caching is better than the best day of work.

[+Isonzo Karst]

SimbaJamey, by all means, adjust the difficulty level of your cache if it needs adjusting. Reviewers sometimes make suggestions about terrain and difficulty levels, but those aren't guidelines issues, and are entirely the owner's prerogative and responsibility.

 

So now I'm worried that I under-rated that caches difficulty (as well as others probably) since it's the same # as others I've placed with 15-1 find to DNF ratios. I was actually thinking earlier tonight about emailing my reviewer to ask him how I should handle the situation, if it's possible (acceptable) to bump up or down a caches difficulty rating early in it's life.