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How long for the FTF?


Chief301

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MMMmmm! I have mixed feeling on this FTF hunt thing . . .

 

On the one hand, if some people enjoy the challenge of collecting FTFs, that should be their right.

 

On the other hand, I'm sick of seeing the same gizmo-laden nerds hogging all of them,

and not giving at least a CHANCE for newbies to get their first prized FTF.

I've looked at the new ones in my area, and the same 3 or 4 people claim about 95%

of them. They have cell-phone apps that alert them in real time.

 

I just wonder if they realize that it's a fun, family activity, and at least some of it

should be shared with with kids, newbies, and grumpy old men like myself.

It took be 5 months to get my first FTF.

 

<_<

 

I think the same scenario exists in most areas. I am retired so I can go caching when most other cachers are working and can therefore get a few FTFs. Unfortunately there is a culture of trying to amass a great number of finds and FTFs and easy caches are easy picking for this sort of cacher. Perhaps after you have found 20 caches you should no longer be allowed to log easy caches. If such a rule was implemented then we might even see better quality caches being hidden.

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MMMmmm! I have mixed feeling on this FTF hunt thing . . .

 

On the one hand, if some people enjoy the challenge of collecting FTFs, that should be their right.

 

On the other hand, I'm sick of seeing the same gizmo-laden nerds hogging all of them,

and not giving at least a CHANCE for newbies to get their first prized FTF.

I've looked at the new ones in my area, and the same 3 or 4 people claim about 95%

of them. They have cell-phone apps that alert them in real time.

 

I just wonder if they realize that it's a fun, family activity, and at least some of it

should be shared with with kids, newbies, and grumpy old men like myself.

It took be 5 months to get my first FTF.

 

<_<

Well that makes two grumpy old men, ha ha. My FTF was #139 and, yes, I saw a FTF signed at 1:15 A.M. . That's an eager beaver!

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MMMmmm! I have mixed feeling on this FTF hunt thing . . .

 

On the one hand, if some people enjoy the challenge of collecting FTFs, that should be their right.

 

On the other hand, I'm sick of seeing the same gizmo-laden nerds hogging all of them,

and not giving at least a CHANCE for newbies to get their first prized FTF.

I've looked at the new ones in my area, and the same 3 or 4 people claim about 95%

of them. They have cell-phone apps that alert them in real time.

 

I just wonder if they realize that it's a fun, family activity, and at least some of it

should be shared with with kids, newbies, and grumpy old men like myself.

It took be 5 months to get my first FTF.

 

<_<

 

The problem there, as I see it, is that you consider FTFs to be important (a "prize"), but not so important as to "gizmo-up" like those "nerds" that consider it more important than you do. FTF is a competitive thing. If you aren't willing or able to do what is necessary to compete, don't complain about those that do. We're not talking about performance-enhancing drugs here.

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Perhaps after you have found 20 caches you should no longer be allowed to log easy caches.
Good luck enforcing that...

 

If such a rule was implemented then we might even see better quality caches being hidden.
You're assuming that there is a correlation between "not easy" and "better quality".

 

Actually, you're assuming that there is a correlation between "listed on geocaching.com as not easy" and "better quality". If there were some sort of restriction on logging finds for "easy" caches, then cache owners would just list their caches as "not easy" (assuming they wanted anyone but newbies to log them). The listings would change, but the actual caches would probably change very little.

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Just a quick note about my FTF motivations. I don't get a trophy for being first. But, here's why I personally like FTF runs.

 

  1. There are a jillion caches in my metro area. I will never get to all of them. And, there's no incentive to go right now. It will be just as easy to go look for that cache tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. Like so many things in life, anything that CAN be put off til tomorrow, WILL be put off til tomorrow. But FTFs can't be put off. And I hate that. I am a fanatic cacher and sometimes, having an external incentive to go right now is a good thing. The notification comes, and I have to decide right then... Do I go now and try for the (admittedly valueless) FTF? Or do I just put that cache into my endless queue of things to do someday. So if I can, I go. It just adds to the fun. The closer they are, the more likely I am to drop whatever I am doing (usually something EQUALLY valueless) and make the dash. It's just fun, and adds something to the caching experience for me.
  2. I meet a lot of people. Take a look at my profile. In 2.5 years and 2,400 caches, I have met a WHOPPING 86 cacher out in the field. I don't include events, I don't include people I am caching with... That's 86 cachers that I have met spontaneously while out caching. That's an astonishing number. I know cachers with 5,000 finds that have never once bumped into a cacher on the trail. That is one of the best parts of caching to me, and of theose 86, probably 70 have been at FTFs. It's the one and only fixed point in time where cachers tend to converge on a cache.

That's my story and I am sticking with it.

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Perhaps after you have found 20 caches you should no longer be allowed to log easy caches.
Good luck enforcing that...

 

If such a rule was implemented then we might even see better quality caches being hidden.
You're assuming that there is a correlation between "not easy" and "better quality".

 

Actually, you're assuming that there is a correlation between "listed on geocaching.com as not easy" and "better quality". If there were some sort of restriction on logging finds for "easy" caches, then cache owners would just list their caches as "not easy" (assuming they wanted anyone but newbies to log them). The listings would change, but the actual caches would probably change very little.

 

I think it would probably be self enforcing but you are absolutely correct in that some "easy" caches are of excellent quality which sort of trashes my idea. However Groundspeak had installed a feature for highlighting beginners' caches so maybe the idea has been toyed with before.

Probably best just to leave things as they are. People wishing to do FTFs will just have to get up earlier in the morning (or night) or try more difficult caches. There was a moving cache came into my area a short time ago which I thought was a great idea but this type of cache is no longer allowed. Perhaps a new type of temporary cache would allow more people to do FTFs

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I enjoy FTF's because I get to find the cache exactly as the CO intended it to be found before it's moved or comprosmised. Also, the log is usually dry and there is no mold. The paint job still looks great. The swag is good and gives me an opportunity to trade up. There is no social trail. I don't get approached by an officer with "reports of suspicious behavior in this area for several months." I meet other cachers. Sometimes an FTF prize, etc.

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