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FTF Rules


SG One

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I am trying to figure out if there are any. Long story short I am tring to get all the facts. There is a small dispute with another cacher I am trying to settle. A google search turned up nothing, but I may be blind. I always thought FTF was just another off shoot of the game. Thank you for any and all help.

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I am trying to figure out if there are any. Long story short I am tring to get all the facts. There is a small dispute with another cacher I am trying to settle. A google search turned up nothing, but I may be blind. I always thought FTF was just another off shoot of the game. Thank you for any and all help.

First to find is just that. If someone found the cache and signed the log it is still FTF. Whether someone got extra help, found it pre-publication or whatever, it is still FTF. However you (and I) feel about the way it was gotten, it is still first to find. The are no rules, only guidelines and none pertaining to first to find.

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I am trying to figure out if there are any. Long story short I am tring to get all the facts. There is a small dispute with another cacher I am trying to settle. A google search turned up nothing, but I may be blind. I always thought FTF was just another off shoot of the game. Thank you for any and all help.

Pretty much...some people really get involved with being the First to Find...while others don't. Personally, after I got my first, I usually don't bother with being first.

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As far as First to Find...the most common "rule" is who ever signed the log first was the First to Find...(whether it is before or after publishing)...

Edited by ArcherDragoon
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ild say first to find after it has been published, best log with hour and minute :-)

 

if you genuinely "happen to find" a virgin log, the cache may not been published yet, and it may not be published "as is" for some reason, then i guess its ok. and as rjb43nh mentioned, ther ecould be an ALR.

 

I would NOT log as FTF or STF or TTF if im going along with the owner during the hide or the recon of the final location. Log as 4th or 5th.

 

here in belgium even the testrunner (person trying it for you BEFORE its published, just to check) doesnt log as FTF, he usually logs 4th online and in the logbook (or on the cover).

 

my take on this is : as long as it hasnt been publised its not a cache, but just a container with stuff in it.

logging before its published is like a false start at the 100m sprint.

 

the people so avidly agreeing that whoever writes the first log is the FTF, even if you sign the log at the owners house before placing the cache or when you go out on the hide with the owner.

may have some FTF claims of their own to protect

Edited by Guinness70
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There are cache hiders who have others check their caches before the caches are published and these 'beta testers' generally make it a point to say that they are not first to find so the first person to sign the log may not be the FTF after all.

 

There is also the theory that until a cache is published it isn't a cache at all. I stumbled upon an unpublished cache, as did another cacher who followed my tracks, and neither of us felt it would be fair to claim FTF.

 

There was also a cache that had ALR (additional logging requirements) that had to be met before you could claim the cache as a legitimate find or a FTF and the log was signed before the requirements were met so that log only counted as a note.

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FTF is the first person to go out and find the cache and sign the logbook. Nothing more or less. No offcial recognition, no stats are kept on the site, no mntion in the guidelines or FAQs. That and 50 cents will buy a pop out of a vending machine.

So, a FTF is worth between 25 and 75 cents. Good to know. :anibad:

Edited by sbell111
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FTF is the first person to go out and find the cache and sign the logbook. Nothing more or less. No offcial recognition, no stats are kept on the site, no mntion in the guidelines or FAQs. That and 50 cents will buy a pop out of a vending machine.

So, a FTF is worth between 25 and 75 cents. Good to know. :anibad:

:ph34r:B) - ok so our small town still has several machines around at 50 cents. Even the nearby larger towns are at 75.

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FTF is the first person to go out and find the cache and sign the logbook. Nothing more or less. No offcial recognition, no stats are kept on the site, no mntion in the guidelines or FAQs. That and 50 cents will buy a pop out of a vending machine.

even if you go out with the owner to hide the cache? and perhaps signed the log at the home?

 

how do you date your online log? a date before the published date and do you mention you were at the hiding of the cache?

or do you lie and claim yer "find" as soon as its published, like 1 minute after its published.

 

people doing this are on my "fakes&lamers" list. if this is what it takes for you to claim an FTF ... you gonna hate the real world when you grow up.

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The place I work has a Coke machine vending for 40 cents and our local Wal-mart sells their store brand in cold 12 ounce cans for 25 cents.

 

Eh, you beat me to it. Wally World and the local supermarket have yucky store brand machines for a quarter or 35 cents or so.

 

FTF is not a recognized activity. So there are no rules, and no one cares. OK, maybe that's just me who doesn't care. :anibad: As you can see from Guiness70's post, there is even dispute over the "whoever's name is on the paper first" statement many have made.

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Some people view Geocaching as a competitive activity. I think the majority look at it as non competitive even though they might like looking at statistics for some entertainment value. Those who are seriously competitive of course want official rules to make the competition "fair". The people who have made FTF into a competition may have done so because this seems on the surface to be a "fairer" competition than who has the most finds or even who has the most finds in a 24 hour period. Their idea is that when the cache is published everyone (or at least premium members who have set up notifications) gets an "equal" chance to be FTF. Of course people who have jobs or other responsibilities and can't just run out when they get a text message are at a disadvantage, but hey that's life. The non-competitive geocachers of course see no reason to follow the "rules" of the competitive FTF community. So they may give a friend heads-up on a cache that hasn't been published yet. Sometimes these "testers" will not claim an FTF online. They wait till some finds the cache after it is published before logging or they post a note and change it to a find only after someone else has posted. This allows the people who want to be competitive to have a chance to claim FTF. Of course, the person who found the cache may not "play" that game and instead logs that they were the first to find the cache - since they were.

 

A long time ago (like 2002 and earlier), you could hide a cache, even in a urban area, and have to wait several days or even weeks till someone found it. The idea of hiding a FTF prize and doing other things to encourage FTF was meant so that caches wouldn't sit unfound for so long. Some people would even wait till a cache was found since the FTF would be verifying the cache coordinates and perhaps even providing some feedback on the terrain and difficulty. The people who ran out to be FTF were seen as doing a service for the geocaching community. Everybody, cache owner, the FTF, and others who were watching the cache to see when it would be found would feel the joy of a cache being found the first time. The competitiveness of the FTFers has taken some of that joy from me. I only see it now when a particularly difficult or high terrain cache goes unfound for a few days or weeks.

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I had always thought FTF was an offshoot that happened later. As far as I knew the only real rule was first to sign = FTF. I am also a firm beleiver in waiting till a cache is published. Which this one was. I am pleased to report the this dispute was settled. Thanks for the help.

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StarBrand- Just out of curiosity, how much is gas per gallon? (Seriously!)

 

Deane

AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

$3.72 this morning........ Bridegport NE 69336 - about 1,200 population - no stoplights, grocery stores close at 7pm, all else by 6pm except the Gas station open till 10pm. I live near the edge of town and regularly have deer and wild turkeys in my front yard. The pop machines downtown on Main street were 35 cents until a few months ago. Neighbors house is for sale about 1900 sq feet - $45,000. Bought our house with nice yard and 2400 sq feet for $70,000 a few years ago. Sleepy little place....

 

sorry to be off topic...........

 

Caches still go weeks around here with no FTF.

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If you sign a virgin log, then you're FTF. If you see another signature, then you isn't. :D

Well, it's not quite so simple and clear. There are some people around here who will find the cache before anyone else, but "leave the FTF for the next person." :)

 

They could find the cache at noon and be first to sign the blank log, and another cacher comes along at 12:30, and is second to sign the log but gets to claim FTF. Yup. It's confusing.

 

Not always true. There may be Alhpa of Beta tester signatures on the log. These are the cachers that were with the hider when it was hidden.

Or, the cache is really complex and the owner asked someone to run through it before publishing to make sure the math was good and things like that. Most people I know would not claim that as an FTF, though. They would leave a blank spot for the FTF and wait to log the cache online until after it was published and found by someone else.

 

Now, for a more "normal" situation. Cacher 1 has been at the cache site for 10 minutes looking. Cacher 2 shows up and they agree to call it a co-FTF and share in the fun and sense of community that geocaching provides.

 

But, there are others who won't co-FTF because they are competitive and are all about keeping the FTF for themselves. Cacher 1 could have been there 30 minutes and Cacher 2 shows up and finds it in 5 minutes. He sneakily signs the log, rehides the cache and walks off, leaving Cacher 1 to continue searching in the wrong spot.

 

Oh, and then there are some who claim a FTF because they found the cache before it was published, either while they were out with the owner when it was placed, or they gave the coords to some friends before it was released, something like that.

 

So, what is a true FTF? That's hard to say, but I would say it's the first person to sign the log after the cache was published and made available for anyone, anywhere to find. But, as seen from the examples above, it can really mean anything.

 

Oh, forgot to add that we saw a cache where the FTF was awarded by a drawing of the first 5 people to sign the log. The first 5 finders signed in, and then the owner drew names and one of them got to claim the FTF even though they might have been 4th to actually find and sign in.

 

And there are also caches where everyone who finds the cache can claim a FTF, even if they're finder #127.

Edited by Skippermark
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Not always true. There may be Alhpa of Beta tester signatures on the log. These are the cachers that were with the hider when it was hidden.

 

If you sign a virgin log, then you're FTF. If you see another signature, then you isn't. :D

????????If they were there when it was hidden how did they FIND IT???????? Its first to find. Not first to sign the log. :)

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Not always true. There may be Alhpa of Beta tester signatures on the log. These are the cachers that were with the hider when it was hidden.

 

If you sign a virgin log, then you're FTF. If you see another signature, then you isn't. :)

 

For cache hides where I accompanied the owner when the cache was placed, I won't ever log the cache as a find. It just doesn't seem right to me to log it as a find, since I helped place it.

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I didn't say the ones with the hider claimed FtF. I'm saying the true FtF cacher might not find a clean log sheet.

 

Not always true. There may be Alhpa of Beta tester signatures on the log. These are the cachers that were with the hider when it was hidden.

 

If you sign a virgin log, then you're FTF. If you see another signature, then you isn't. :D

????????If they were there when it was hidden how did they FIND IT???????? Its first to find. Not first to sign the log. :)

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As always, everyone plays it their way.

If I never log a find when I was there when the cache was hidden, then I would have a lot of local unfound by me caches.

 

Not always true. There may be Alhpa of Beta tester signatures on the log. These are the cachers that were with the hider when it was hidden.

 

If you sign a virgin log, then you're FTF. If you see another signature, then you isn't. :)

 

For cache hides where I accompanied the owner when the cache was placed, I won't ever log the cache as a find. It just doesn't seem right to me to log it as a find, since I helped place it.

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As always, everyone plays it their way.

If I never log a find when I was there when the cache was hidden, then I would have a lot of local unfound by me caches.

 

 

And the reason you couldn't put them on your ignore list, and not see them as unfound caches without adding a smiley to your find count is what? :)

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