FTF

[+cachensfun]

We would love to get one FTF but we don't rely try that hard. The one attempt at it we drove up just as the real FTFder was signing the log book. How many of you try for them and how many get one?

 

Cachensfun

[+9Key]

We would love to get one FTF but we don't rely try that hard. The one attempt at it we drove up just as the real FTFder was signing the log book. How many of you try for them and how many get one?

 

Cachensfun

I don't try for them. Too busy with work, family, life, etc. Those that do, more power to 'em!

[+Knight2000]

If they are close enough I don't mind going just to beat the FTF hounds. Cruel, isn't it?

[GOF and Bacall]

If the stars align just right, and the wind is with us, it is possible that if we aren't in the middle of something we may decide to jump in the car and give it a try. We used to be more into it but it just wears thin after a while.

[+Minimike2]

If you absolutely must have a FTF above all things in your life -

 

Create another account, hide a cache under the new account and find it under your name. Voila, a FTF.

[+flask]

i used to be a real whack-a-loon about it, and i got most of the ones i tried for.

 

i still get most of the ones i try for, but i try for fewer.

 

it gets to be a real sickness: i used to keep a "go bag" by the door and i got up at 0200 and 0400 every day to check new cache listings. if i had to cancel meetings or social engagements, i did that.

 

and then i kind of realized it was starting to be a problem.

 

picture this: i'm home with a high fever, between two serious hospital stays and i hear a cache notification come in, dress myself and head out into cold and rain for the privilege of putting my name first onto a torn piece of notebook paper in the fenceline of a forlorn pocket part.

 

not what they call a "peak experience" but i couldn't NOT go.

 

and it's like crack. i started to need to get firstfinds farther and farther from home, in other people's territory because that was a bigger rush.

 

if you've ever woken up in the back seat of your car in a parking lot in a bad neighborhood in another state after two hours' sleep just so you could be on the ground when new caches hit, you know what i'm talking about.

 

so it's probably just as well you don't care enough to try all that hard.

[+bittsen]

I go for them from time to time. I like to have a reason to go.

The last one was because it was a cruddy night and it was going to be a little bit of a hike from the nearest road and I was pretty sure nobody else would be going for the cache at 11PM. The one before that was because the cache location was about 500 yards as the crow flies from my house and I KNEW I would get there before the rest of the FTF chasers. As it turned out, one was arriving as I was leaving. It can be that competetive here.

[+StarBrand]

I get them from time to time but I don't really try. My last FTF was on a cache that was 12 miles from my house and I found it 2.5 days after the publish.

[Dinoprophet]

Like most who have posted, I'm an FTFer of opportunity. My first one, I really tried for, but that was long ago (I don't think the FTF abbreviation had even been born yet). The rest -- I couldn't even tell you how many that is, but I think it's less than five -- I did because things happened to fall into place to allow it.

[+Chrysalides]

I've never gone out just for a FTF attempt. The two I managed to get are because no one else did either (and they're puzzles, which narrows down the list of people considerably).

[+geodarts]

Its basically a matter of time, geography, and personal circumstances (although these categories tend to overlap) -- so I have gotten a few over the years, never bothered to add them up until I wanted to verify whether I qualified for a challenge cache. Its fun sometimes to see a blank log, and at other times my sense of instant gratification overwhelms me: do I want to sit in my office or go out and find a quick cache? But its hard to take credit for any of the three factors above. So I never use the three initials, put in a Wahoo or two, or add extra smileys to my log. Its seems self evident, If anybody cares they can read the log.

 

In my area, some initial visits are fairly easy to do if you are willing to take a hike.

Edited November 11, 2009 by Erickson

[+Team Cotati]

If they are close enough I don't mind going just to beat the FTF hounds. Cruel, isn't it?

 

Do you find that you have a high success rate when going up against those hounds?

[+Team Cotati]

We would love to get one FTF but we don't rely try that hard. The one attempt at it we drove up just as the real FTFder was signing the log book. How many of you try for them and how many get one?

 

Cachensfun

 

We don't try but we have a couple. We really enjoy geocaching.

[+Scubasonic]

We would love to get one FTF but we don't rely try that hard. The one attempt at it we drove up just as the real FTFder was signing the log book. How many of you try for them and how many get one?

 

Cachensfun

 

I try for them, and enjoy the thrill

 

ScubaSonic

[+Curioddity]

Around here there are a group of cachers who are fondly known as Piranhas and a new cache will typically trigger a FTF party or "feeding frenzy" as it's often called. These are actually pretty neat events because it's an opportunity for the locals to get together for a brief time to spin yarns and swap notes. Occasionally the CO will even be near GZ with a cooler full of beverages and snacks for everyone.

 

I have to confess to having new cache notifications "pushed" to my mobile device and it alerts me with a "new cache noise" just seconds after one is published. I'll also fess up to choosing the Android OS for my latest mobile device because of how well the GPS works and how quick and easy it is to go from new cache notification to a GPS lock on the cache. I'm even guilty of rushing off when a new cache is published if I'm not doing something else at the time, however I'm a lot more interested in the FTF party than I am in being FTF.

 

But it's still a lot of fun to be first once in awhile.

 

Pete

[+fyrefyterlarry]

We would love to get one FTF but we don't rely try that hard. The one attempt at it we drove up just as the real FTFder was signing the log book. How many of you try for them and how many get one?

 

Cachensfun

 

I try for them, and enjoy the thrill

 

ScubaSonic

I have one FTF under my belt, no make that 2! It's kind of fun when they come up within 5 miles of the house but I don't really go after them like some do.

[Andronicus]

Before I had a FTF, I was a little obsesed trying to get one (without a Primium Member account it is way more dificult). Now I have (I think 2 or 3), I realy don't get worked up at all. If I happen to find a FTF oportunity, I guess I would go for it, but I haven't even looked for FTF chances for a few months.

[Clan Riffster]

Like many, I'll nab a FTF if opportunity presents itself.

Other than that,... "Meh".

[+Xaa]

I have to confess to having new cache notifications "pushed" to my mobile device and it alerts me with a "new cache noise" just seconds after one is published.

 

If I read the stories correctly, you'd lose big time over here... cache notifications are way too late, since the reviewer starts by putting waypoint and coords on Twitter, and only then publishes the caches.

[+jhauser42]

I have never left the house when I got the notification although it has been tempting at time. I do, however, have 3 FTFs. 1 was published about 1/2 hour before I had to leave for work and it was on the way. Easy decision to stop. The other 2 I got the next day since no one else had bothered to log them by then.

[+Stargazer22]

Like many others, I will go for an FTF if the opportunity presents itself.

It's not a big deal to me. As long as there's a log to sign, I'm good to go.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I have to confess to having new cache notifications "pushed" to my mobile device and it alerts me with a "new cache noise" just seconds after one is published.

 

If I read the stories correctly, you'd lose big time over here... cache notifications are way too late, since the reviewer starts by putting waypoint and coords on Twitter, and only then publishes the caches.

Interesting. Is it widely publicized that he does this so that it does not give a small group a distinct advantage over those who get Instant Notifications?

[+Curioddity]

If I read the stories correctly, you'd lose big time over here... cache notifications are way too late, since the reviewer starts by putting waypoint and coords on Twitter, and only then publishes the caches.

So is that existance of that Twitter account widely known, or is it privileged information among some insiders? To be a Pete who's frank, the whole concept kind of stinks of preferential treatment.

 

frank Pete

 

** if I had read to the end I could have saved myself some time and simply written "What TheAlabamaRambler said."

Edited November 11, 2009 by Curioddity

[+W7WT]

We started geocaching in August 2001. We found a lot of FTF, not because we tried, but there were very few caches and not very many cachers. We are in our 80's and do what I call simple caching. We don't do FTFs, we don't do coins, we don't do trackables, we don't trade swag. More power to those that do enjoy those. Dick and Arlene

[+kraushad]

I went as far as signing up for email notifications, just in case. Turns out it took almost two years before I got my first one!

 

All the others I wasn't around or was at work when it was published, but finally one was published a few miles from my house at 6:30AM on a Saturday morning. Since I have two kids under age 5, I was obviously awake early enough to get my first FTF.

 

I don't go nuts for them, but I was really happy to get at least one of them.

[+jellis]

My first FTF I had to beat out the FTF hounds when I realized that notifications really help. I woke up early and traveled over 20 miles and got two in the same morning. After that it was sometimes a race with local cachers. Then I decided to only do local ones, or if I was heading in the direction anyway and not do any alone in the dark. I've been lucky on some where a half or whole day goes by in a heavily cacher populated area and the FTF is still there. A group of 4 of us recently went to do a cache run 80 miles away and we found a multi that had been sitting for a week with no one even watching it, in an area there are enough cachers to sure would have gotten it but didn't. When I moved to Washington last year for a year, I went to get familiar with the area and did a cache run north on 101 50 miles. I noticed 4 day old FTF that no one tried or put on a watchlist but when I got there the area didn't match the cache page. When I got home I contacted the owner and they realized the coords were wrong. A few days later I went to cache the area again and this time I got the FTF with still no one trying for it.

[+Xaa]

I have to confess to having new cache notifications "pushed" to my mobile device and it alerts me with a "new cache noise" just seconds after one is published.

 

If I read the stories correctly, you'd lose big time over here... cache notifications are way too late, since the reviewer starts by putting waypoint and coords on Twitter, and only then publishes the caches.

Interesting. Is it widely publicized that he does this so that it does not give a small group a distinct advantage over those who get Instant Notifications?

 

If you read the local forum, you'll probably know, so it's public enough.

[geodorksupreme]

.

Edited November 11, 2009 by geodorksupreme

[+Geoextreme87]

We would love to get one FTF but we don't rely try that hard. The one attempt at it we drove up just as the real FTFder was signing the log book. How many of you try for them and how many get one?

 

Cachensfun

 

When I first started the game I did but now a days its not a big deal for me. In all honesty with time you will get one.

 

I've pulled two FTF due to the difficulty or isolation of the cache in which it was weeks before anyone even attmpted the caches. One being out in Delaware where I had to Kayak to a lighthouse. Another in the middle of BLM land in Wyoming and I so just happen to be a mile away at a Geology Field Camp, It was an easy hike out it was just the fact that the area was very desolate and you have to be willing to put in the legwork.

 

If you really want a FTF just check up on your cache search in your area once or twice a day and you'll eventually hit one.

 

Good Luck!

[+PT_Tex]

We have two poeple in our area that must not have jobs and never sleep. They have Iphones and they get every FTF in a 30 mile area.They will go out at 3:00am to get a cache . So I don't even try anymore.

[+Cherokee Bill]

I've gotten a few, but it's not that high on my priority list. In fact my interest is a small group I have formed doing "Extreme Caches" (caches with a T/D rating of 5+) and performing cache rescues

[+rjb43nh]

Team Cotati -"Do you find that you have a high success rate when going up against those hounds?"

I do. Although I don't have any sort of notification, I've beat them over 300 times.

[+Ralfcoder]

I have just over 600 finds, and only 2 FTFs. Both came when the hider gave me a "heads up" just prior to registering the cache. I found one of them just this morning, but it turns out that the cache was too close to an intermediate stage in a multi-stage cache. So - the hider has to go move it.

 

If I go out and find it right away again after he moves it, does that count as 2 FTFs on one cache?