FTF Beefs

[+The_Incredibles_]

What bothers you about the FTF game (other than the behavior of FTF hogs as being discussed in the other thread). Stories welcome.

 

Bad coordinates, publishing in the middle of the night, lack of FTF prizes, speeding tickets etc...

[+SwineFlew]

Waste of gas. I dont play it very often.

[+redants]

Arriving to an impromptu party- in pajamas. Twice

[+lamoracke]

Well, FTF hounds do have the issue of dealing with wrong cache placements before anyone knew its an issue....like neighbors who do not like the cache placement or terribly wrong coordinates or security guards at malls, etc, the chance of these kind of things are obviously more common if its someone's first hide.

 

Also for me, I feel like when I am on a FTF, every single stop light is a bigger deal than it is, every second looking for the cache is more pressure than it should be....so I only do it so often. However, its fun once in a while.

[+Flintstone5611]

For me it is the fear of a newbie hide. I have been stung a few times by rookie placers, that is not to say that I haven't seen some amazing first hides. I just find that if I am having trouble and it is a first time hide I sometimes default to thinking the problem is theirs not mine. My error, but I hate when that happens!

[+The_Incredibles_]

Hoping, as you drive to GZ that the cache is not hidden in an unsavory area, such as one with lots of garbage, dog poop or possibly used needles. Normally I could read the logs ahead of time and decide to stick it on the ignore list. When you're going for a FTF you just have to hope for the best.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Hoping, as you hike (or at this time of the year, snowshoe) the area is not littered with shreds of deer hide, bear and wolf scat -- and as of late, cougar droppings. Not to mention the piles of chewed upon bones.

 

Not that we have a ton of FTF's, but enough to not worry about it anymore. The FTF race grew old fairly quickly -- partly because most around here are vacation caches anyway. As such, they oftentimes are hardly worth the chase.

[+TheLegoFool&Missus]

Not getting enough of them

 

Mostly here, it's the lateness of the publishing.

I am a night person, but looking for a cache in the middle of the night simply to say you there first is sometimes, as others have said, unsavory.

[+ephemeraleve]

How about not being a huge FTF avenger and showing up, first on scene, having another show up without a light and turning over your flashlight almost instantly and not wanting to *claim* FTF when you have not actually been the one to pull the cache from it's hiding spot and not being at least accredited with a *share*?

 

Sometimes it's annoying not to be competitive enough to say.... dweeb!

[+E_ZIG_A]

Lack of FTF prizes! ha ha well I try to put an FTF prize in mine to mark the occasion for the truly first person to get there and find it, but having been FTF on a small handful now, not one single one had anything in it to claim as the FTF prize! Ah well.... Actually the biggest beef is racing there hoping to meet a heap of other FTF hounds and then nada. zilch. lonesome. no impromptu FTF gathering! I was lucky enough to join in on a few of those in Melbourne and it was heaps of fun, but every FTF I had up here in Brisbane so far was a solo affair. But I live in hope!

[+wmpastor]

Bad coords on a FTF quest are annoying. The posting for one near here said something like, "If you get better coords, let me know and I'll update them." He was 70 feet off....and he wasn't new to the game.

 

Have also seen noobs publish caches with bad coords, of course.

[+whh0]

Now for me it's not the ones that are published late, it's the ones published during the day, when I come home from work and check my emails.... Luckily round here a series of new caches have been published at different times and days and I think that a different person has got a FTF on each one which is something I really like.

[Mr.Yuck]

What bothers you about the FTF game (other than the behavior of FTF hogs as being discussed in the other thread). Stories welcome.

 

Bad coordinates, publishing in the middle of the night, lack of FTF prizes, speeding tickets etc...

 

I am bothered by not being immortalized for all eternity on the cache page with a bouncing Marquee, like this.

 

Just messin' witya, Mrs. I. I remember you brought up that cache once.

[+fbingha]

Lack of FTF prizes!

 

I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling by stocking the shelves of the same two FTF hounds. To top that off, it seems many FTF hounds don't even care about prizes, they only want the credit for being the quickest. So, in order to leave something for someone who will appreciate it, I have to leave something for someone who won't and they will get there first about 99% of the time.

 

Still, if I hide something where I know the typical FTF hounds are not inclined to go on short notice, say something that makes them have to walk a mile, then I will leave a prize.

Edited January 24, 2013 by fbingha

[+DragonsWest]

Violation of park rules, hours. Nothing like an eager beaver to sour park relations.

[+sir dumil]

I picked up my first and only FTF's on Christmas Day.

My mom was visiting. She enjoys geocaching.

On Christmas Day, a Christmas Light tour series was published.

With my mom's encouragement, we took a leisurely tour guided by the series, finding geocaches as we went.

Nobody else was out, there was no stress, it was cold (-26°C), it was fun, and we shared FTF's along the whole series.

We even helped the CO find a co-ordinate bug in the final puzzle cache.

 

That evening, we re-traced the route to enjoy the fabulous (really FABULOUS!) Christmas light displays in the rural acreages.

 

Other than that, I haven't really had a good opportunity to snag any other FTFs.

I work on week days and I have Toastmaster obligations, so new cache postings generally don't jibe well with my schedule.

 

It's all good though. I just quietly cheer on local geocachers as they snag their FTFs.

The local geocaching association is fun and friendly, so I've met and I appreciate many of the local FTF snaggers.

Edited January 24, 2013 by sir dumil

[+StarBrand]

Around here the FTF is often about 3 days after publishing and by somebody who really wasn't trying all that hard to get one. But occasionally we will see a flurry of new hides over a few days and a mini rush ensues to get them all - never had any issues with the locals other than perceived slow logging after the true FTF.

[+sparklefingers]

My beef is that normally new caches are posted when I am not able to get to them. Lol. Not had a ftf yet. Everyone else here is took quick anyway so I probably won't get one.

[+supertbone]

I have no beef with people racing to be the FTF. I love getting them and I love to see who is the FTF on my caches. My only complaint are people who whine about FTF hunting.

[+hzoi]

- People who show up to events early in order to claim "FTF." Seriously. I'd link to it if I could, but I think the cacher in question edited their log later.

 

- People who ask me to play referee and make a ruling on "who's first." Because of this, not only do we no longer recognize FTF on the cache page, we went back and removed all the references to FTF that we could on our old caches. (Except archived caches -- that would require a reviewer, and it's not worth their time.)

 

I have other beefs (beeves?) with the FTF game overall, but enough people subscribe to those practices that I'm not going to bother bringing them up.

 

The only time we're first to find anymore is by accident.

[Andronicus]

The only beef I have run into was a cache that was not placed yet. I was first to GZ, but after searching for an hour, I gave up. Later it turned out that the cache wasn't placed yet. Later (a month or so) I found it exactly where I had looked 10 or 20 times the first time I was out there. Newbee cacher though, so should not have been a surprise.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Just checked in on the general topics forum section and the first (un-pinned) topics are

 

FTF Beefs

FTF CHICKEN

FTF Hogs

 

So who's going to start a FTF Seafood thread? How about FTF Vegan?

Edited January 24, 2013 by NYPaddleCacher

[+The_Incredibles_]

Just checked in on the general topics forum section and the first (un-pinned) topics are

 

FTF Beefs

FTF CHICKEN

FTF Hogs

 

So who's going to start a FTF Seafood thread? How about FTF Vegan?

 

Great minds think alike. There should definately be something for those who don't eat meat.

[+The_Incredibles_]

I have no beef with people racing to be the FTF. I love getting them and I love to see who is the FTF on my caches. My only complaint are people who whine about FTF hunting.

 

So you're complaining about people who complain?

[+The_Incredibles_]

What bothers you about the FTF game (other than the behavior of FTF hogs as being discussed in the other thread). Stories welcome.

 

Bad coordinates, publishing in the middle of the night, lack of FTF prizes, speeding tickets etc...

 

I am bothered by not being immortalized for all eternity on the cache page with a bouncing Marquee, like this.

 

Just messin' witya, Mrs. I. I remember you brought up that cache once.

 

LOL. I've actually succumbed to the criticism and removed the bouncing Marquee from most of my cache pages. I'd hate to think that at least 50% of the population is rolling their eyes at me.

[+NeverSummer]

It's been said in other threads, but the beef I have with FTF game play is when it impacts the way others play the general game of geocaching.

 

I enjoyed running out after publication to grab caches. It was even better when the cache would be a tough puzzle that I would solve the same day. It wasn't about beating others, it was about pushing myself mentally with puzzles, or physically to just stop making excuses and get myself outside.

 

The FTF game was soured for me when I ran into another cacher while out hunting a newly published cache. He was new, and really got excited about a "FTF". While we hunted in the dark, I followed my GPS methodically, and he crashed through the woods using his iPad. My GPS took me right to GZ, and the cache was in hand while he was searching a tree 100 yards away. I offered to "share" the FTF with him, and we went on our way home.

 

For following caches, he would race out and rub it in my face if he found it first. At one cache, he and 2 others were at GZ when I returned for a daylight hunt of a cache I DNFed the night before. The three of them heckled me as I looked around (there were bad coords, and no hint; hidden by a friend of this guy). Every interaction from that point on soured me on hunting for caches after publication. There were few caches in the area that I hadn't found, so going out for a hunt after a notification email hit my inbox was how I kept finding caches close to home.

 

It got to the point that I didn't want to be associated with hunting caches in proximity with him. I stopped going out after publication and let him and his new cronies have all the FTF they could eat. Days after a publication I might have headed out for a find. But it still meant that from local events to finding one of their caches, geocaching was uncomfortable because of how they treated me and their idea of geocaching and the "necessary" FTF hunt. It changed the way I played the game, and certainly made the way I play more complicated and less fun.

Edited January 24, 2013 by NeverSummer

[+dprovan]

The FTF game was soured for me when I ran into another cacher while out hunting a newly published cache....

Sounds like a jerk alright. Are you suggesting the FTF game is the only thing that makes him a jerk?

[SAVVY18]

Watching a new cache to see if it hasn't been found yet, then getting there only to find that it was actually found hours ago, but not logged. This is normally when it is published late at night and then check it out early morning or it is published very early and watching it until lunchtime when I can make the run.

 

There's a couple of cacher's in my area that purposely don't log. The one said he does it to generate more traffic to the cache. I think he's just being a jag.

 

[+cerberus1]

Watching a new cache to see if it hasn't been found yet, then getting there only to find that it was actually found hours ago, but not logged.

Hours ago ?

Sorry, but if I'm hitting that one hide, there's probably a few others I've been waiting to hit in the area too - and I'm gonna be awhile...

With gas the way it is, I'm sure not turning back now.

It's no ones business if I stopped for an oil change on the way home (hair cut, shopping - you get the idea) either.

- Not everyone has a smartphone to log in immediately.

 

The jerk who purposely kicks back looking for a reaction or cacher who truly (in some odd way) believes the "open" find will generate interest is very different though.

It's possible he may well just like being a jerk. I don't know him, so I can't say.

 

- Also realize that there are a (very) few who never or rarely log their finds online. I have two of them in my area.

[+niraD]

Just checked in on the general topics forum section and the first (un-pinned) topics are

 

FTF Beefs

FTF CHICKEN

FTF Hogs

 

So who's going to start a FTF Seafood thread? How about FTF Vegan?

I thought about starting a thread titled "FTF Fish", asking whether any FTF hounds "fish" for FTFs by suggesting possible (nearby) hide locations to others, rather than hiding caches there themselves.

 

But then I thought better of it...

[GOF and Bacall]

What bothers you about the FTF game (other than the behavior of FTF hogs as being discussed in the other thread). Stories welcome.

 

Bad coordinates, publishing in the middle of the night, lack of FTF prizes, speeding tickets etc...

 

I think it extremely rude that anyone would expect a prize for being FTF. Can't just be happy that you found a blank log book?

[+Ma & Pa]

Just checked in on the general topics forum section and the first (un-pinned) topics are

 

FTF Beefs

FTF CHICKEN

FTF Hogs

 

So who's going to start a FTF Seafood thread? How about FTF Vegan?

 

So we need a thread entitled

FTF CRABS

[+The_Incredibles_]

What bothers you about the FTF game (other than the behavior of FTF hogs as being discussed in the other thread). Stories welcome.

 

Bad coordinates, publishing in the middle of the night, lack of FTF prizes, speeding tickets etc...

 

I think it extremely rude that anyone would expect a prize for being FTF. Can't just be happy that you found a blank log book?

 

That was just a list of possible things people might want to talk about. For me, personally, a blank log is all that is needed to make me deliriously happpy.

[+NeverSummer]

The FTF game was soured for me when I ran into another cacher while out hunting a newly published cache....

Sounds like a jerk alright. Are you suggesting the FTF game is the only thing that makes him a jerk?

It was certainly the only thing that he did that impacted the way I play the game, and my enjoyment of how I play.

 

He was (is) an interesting fella, and I thought at first he would have been good company in the community or hunting caches. I was wrong. His actions related to a FTF race changed the way I play.

 

I also came across a cache that he assuredly had hunted and not found for a FTF. I found GZ trashed, but no DNF log. He doesn't know it, but I saw him hiking away from GZ while I was on my way in. It was dark, and no more than 20 minutes after publication that I arrived on site. The area around the cache site looked like a tornado came through and hit a 30-foot radius. I was shocked and saddened.

 

Edit to add:

There were no incentives to a FTF other than a blank log sheet for most of the caches that were published when he joined the game. Other than bragging rights, or whatever motivation he found in the FTF hunt, there was little to get excited about. The idea of "being FTF" made him seem, to me, rabid and boorish.

Edited January 25, 2013 by NeverSummer

[+popokiiti]

A couple of our FTFs were 2 days and 2 weeks (or thereabouts) after the caches were published. The first was on a logging road to Bamfield, the second in Port Renfrew....both quite a long way from Victoria BC. The best part about them was that it was a surprise finding the log books were still blank. As far as FTF prizes go, we aren't bothered.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

A couple of our FTFs were 2 days and 2 weeks (or thereabouts) after the caches were published. The first was on a logging road to Bamfield, the second in Port Renfrew....both quite a long way from Victoria BC. The best part about them was that it was a surprise finding the log books were still blank. As far as FTF prizes go, we aren't bothered.

 

I suppose a beef could be the surprise of finding a log book that is *not* blank when you really expected that it would be. I'm not going to open the signing the log before publication can of worms, but a few years ago I just got into work and I saw a notification of a new cache that appeared to be about 100' from where I had just parked my car (about a 2-3 minute walk). I took maybe five minutes to check if I had any important email message that needed addressing then went back out to get what I assumed would be a sure FTF and found a name already in the log book (and no other geocachers in sight). I knew who it was, and where she worked. She was about the same distance from the cache when the notification went out, had arrived at work about the same time but didn't bother to take off her coat before going for the cache. I know that a lot of people that love the FTF game say that one of the reasons is the impromptu gather of other FTF hounds shortly after a cache publication, but in my 6 years of caching I have never met another geocacher when I went to look for one just after publication.

[+hzoi]

How about FTF Vegan?

 

Not applicable. It's like the Air Force joke about pilots -- how do you know you're in the same room with a pilot? Don't worry, they'll tell you. It'd be like "hunting" for a car alarm or a strobe light.

 

The FTF game was soured for me when I ran into another cacher while out hunting a newly published cache....

 

Sounds like a jerk alright. Are you suggesting the FTF game is the only thing that makes him a jerk?

 

It was certainly the only thing that he did that impacted the way I play the game, and my enjoyment of how I play.

 

He was (is) an interesting fella, and I thought at first he would have been good company in the community or hunting caches. I was wrong.

 

Clearly the guy has little to no self awareness. I think I'd be having a one way conversation with someone who acted that way with me.

[+Michaelcycle]

Watching a new cache to see if it hasn't been found yet, then getting there only to find that it was actually found hours ago, but not logged.

Hours ago ?

Sorry, but if I'm hitting that one hide, there's probably a few others I've been waiting to hit in the area too - and I'm gonna be awhile...

With gas the way it is, I'm sure not turning back now.

It's no ones business if I stopped for an oil change on the way home (hair cut, shopping - you get the idea) either.

- Not everyone has a smartphone to log in immediately.

 

<snip>

 

Agreed! A few days ago I was deciding where to mountain bike on my day off. An unfound cache (sitting for over a day, very unusual around here anymore) at a large park where I hadn't been for a while determined my destination. After pedaling the mtb over some nice singletrack I got to GZ and signed the blank log (note, I hunt with a GPSr, not a smartphone.) I continued riding and caching for about three more hours and then made the roughly 1 hour drive home. When I opened the cache page to log my find on the FTF I found an FTL had complained that the cache had been found but not logged on line. C'mon, are we going to demand that geocachers have to use a smartphone if they log an FTF?

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Watching a new cache to see if it hasn't been found yet, then getting there only to find that it was actually found hours ago, but not logged.

Hours ago ?

Sorry, but if I'm hitting that one hide, there's probably a few others I've been waiting to hit in the area too - and I'm gonna be awhile...

With gas the way it is, I'm sure not turning back now.

It's no ones business if I stopped for an oil change on the way home (hair cut, shopping - you get the idea) either.

- Not everyone has a smartphone to log in immediately.

 

<snip>

 

Agreed! A few days ago I was deciding where to mountain bike on my day off. An unfound cache (sitting for over a day, very unusual around here anymore) at a large park where I hadn't been for a while determined my destination. After pedaling the mtb over some nice singletrack I got to GZ and signed the blank log (note, I hunt with a GPSr, not a smartphone.) I continued riding and caching for about three more hours and then made the roughly 1 hour drive home. When I opened the cache page to log my find on the FTF I found an FTL had complained that the cache had been found but not logged on line. C'mon, are we going to demand that geocachers have to use a smartphone if they log an FTF?

This kind of shows the disparity between cacher "types". Those that have become accustomed to instant gratification, and those that prefer GPSr units, and desktops -- or are simply relegated to the latter.

 

Griping (or being "concerned") because somebody hasn't logged within a couple of hours reveals ones' "camp", and in a sense, their expectations of what isn't within the capabilities of others... Meh, it's a big world, folks.

 

This is part of the reason we dumped the FTF race, too much angst.

[Mr.Yuck]

Watching a new cache to see if it hasn't been found yet, then getting there only to find that it was actually found hours ago, but not logged.

Hours ago ?

Sorry, but if I'm hitting that one hide, there's probably a few others I've been waiting to hit in the area too - and I'm gonna be awhile...

With gas the way it is, I'm sure not turning back now.

It's no ones business if I stopped for an oil change on the way home (hair cut, shopping - you get the idea) either.

- Not everyone has a smartphone to log in immediately.

 

<snip>

 

Agreed! A few days ago I was deciding where to mountain bike on my day off. An unfound cache (sitting for over a day, very unusual around here anymore) at a large park where I hadn't been for a while determined my destination. After pedaling the mtb over some nice singletrack I got to GZ and signed the blank log (note, I hunt with a GPSr, not a smartphone.) I continued riding and caching for about three more hours and then made the roughly 1 hour drive home. When I opened the cache page to log my find on the FTF I found an FTL had complained that the cache had been found but not logged on line. C'mon, are we going to demand that geocachers have to use a smartphone if they log an FTF?

 

C'mon, you guys have to know there are FTF hounds out there who "sandbag", and never, ever log their find until after someone else logs. One of the major FTF'ers in my area has been doing this since 2005. I can't believe he's still one of the major FTF hounds in my area after 7 or 8 years, but whatever floats his boat. 90% of the caches this guy goes after are for the FTF, and believe me, he could be logging them 20 minutes later, but that's how he rolls. Despite good-natured kidding, and sometimes downright hostility from from other FTF wannabee's in the logs over the years.

[+DonB]

What bothers you about the FTF game (other than the behavior of FTF hogs as being discussed in the other thread). Stories welcome.

 

Bad coordinates, publishing in the middle of the night, lack of FTF prizes, speeding tickets etc...

Nothing about it really bothers me, I just don't understand someone thinking a FTF is such a big deal that they would go out at 10:00 at night in their PJs in a rainstorm to get one.

[GOF and Bacall]

What bothers you about the FTF game (other than the behavior of FTF hogs as being discussed in the other thread). Stories welcome.

 

Bad coordinates, publishing in the middle of the night, lack of FTF prizes, speeding tickets etc...

 

I think it extremely rude that anyone would expect a prize for being FTF. Can't just be happy that you found a blank log book?

 

That was just a list of possible things people might want to talk about. For me, personally, a blank log is all that is needed to make me deliriously happpy.

 

Glad to hear that this isn't you. But I stand by the statement.

[+dprovan]

Nothing about it really bothers me, I just don't understand someone thinking a FTF is such a big deal that they would go out at 10:00 at night in their PJs in a rainstorm to get one.

You're looking at it backwards: it's a big deal because you get to go out at 10pm in your PJs in a rainstorm.

[+tweetiepy]

I don,t think there are any new ones in our area - I think we jumped on the bandwagon late and we're getting to logs just before they get archived or have to be maintained.

 

Most caches have already been found way before we discovered this. We did, however come across a new clean log for 2013 lately. That was nice.

 

Is finding a cache first a big deal because you get a prize or sometimes your name is posted on the cache page? I'm just happy to be able to actually find a cache - any cache

Edited January 26, 2013 by tweetiepy

[+Don_J]

Watching a new cache to see if it hasn't been found yet, then getting there only to find that it was actually found hours ago, but not logged.

Hours ago ?

Sorry, but if I'm hitting that one hide, there's probably a few others I've been waiting to hit in the area too - and I'm gonna be awhile...

With gas the way it is, I'm sure not turning back now.

It's no ones business if I stopped for an oil change on the way home (hair cut, shopping - you get the idea) either.

- Not everyone has a smartphone to log in immediately.

 

<snip>

 

Agreed! A few days ago I was deciding where to mountain bike on my day off. An unfound cache (sitting for over a day, very unusual around here anymore) at a large park where I hadn't been for a while determined my destination. After pedaling the mtb over some nice singletrack I got to GZ and signed the blank log (note, I hunt with a GPSr, not a smartphone.) I continued riding and caching for about three more hours and then made the roughly 1 hour drive home. When I opened the cache page to log my find on the FTF I found an FTL had complained that the cache had been found but not logged on line. C'mon, are we going to demand that geocachers have to use a smartphone if they log an FTF?

 

Well, I guess if I had to list a "beef", it would be two. What you just wrote as well as those that admittedly delay logging on purpose to mess with people. I don't have a smartphone, and while I do have access to a computer at work, "Geocaching.com" showing up on the logs would not be a good thing. I occasionally will FTF a cache on the way to work and not be able to log it until I get home later. That's just the way it is. On the other hand, I think that it total BS to do this on purpose, just to mess with people.

[+Don_J]

Watching a new cache to see if it hasn't been found yet, then getting there only to find that it was actually found hours ago, but not logged.

Hours ago ?

Sorry, but if I'm hitting that one hide, there's probably a few others I've been waiting to hit in the area too - and I'm gonna be awhile...

With gas the way it is, I'm sure not turning back now.

It's no ones business if I stopped for an oil change on the way home (hair cut, shopping - you get the idea) either.

- Not everyone has a smartphone to log in immediately.

 

<snip>

 

Agreed! A few days ago I was deciding where to mountain bike on my day off. An unfound cache (sitting for over a day, very unusual around here anymore) at a large park where I hadn't been for a while determined my destination. After pedaling the mtb over some nice singletrack I got to GZ and signed the blank log (note, I hunt with a GPSr, not a smartphone.) I continued riding and caching for about three more hours and then made the roughly 1 hour drive home. When I opened the cache page to log my find on the FTF I found an FTL had complained that the cache had been found but not logged on line. C'mon, are we going to demand that geocachers have to use a smartphone if they log an FTF?

 

On the other hand, I did once get upset about just this. I had a choice of several hikes to take and choose the one that was three times the drive, plus required access fees to park, because there were ten FTFs up for grabs. I drive for an hour, pay the fee, hike for a mile almost straight uphill, get to the first cache and see that the FTF hound from two towns over was there three days ago.

 

He sought me out at the Ten Year event and apologized that his computer had died and he actually had to buy a new one before he could log them. I jokingly replied just like Hitler in that video, "go to the freaking library!"

[+Don_J]

I don,t think there are any new ones in our area - I think we jumped on the bandwagon late and we're getting to logs just before they get archived or have to be maintained.

 

Most caches have already been found way before we discovered this. We did, however come across a new clean log for 2013 lately. That was nice.

 

Is finding a cache first a big deal because you get a prize or sometimes your name is posted on the cache page? I'm just happy to be able to actually find a cache - any cache

 

For most people that actively go after FTFs, a prize is the last thing they are thinking about. Recognition and bragging right are important to some, but can put others off when they get obnoxious. For me, a FTF race is kind of like two kids hanging out at the playground and one says, "race you to that tree". The winner really didn't win anything, and as long as he doesn't make his friend feel like a loser, they both had fun.

[+JL_HSTRE]

Most of the time it seems like a waste of gas because you're going far out of your way for a single mundane.

[+Team OPJim]

Sometimes I go out at first light for a cache that was published the night before, only to see a log that could only have been done via flashlight. The next time I see a cache published, and three days later it is still unfound. There is simply no logic in getting FTF, so making a big deal about it seems more random than than anything.

The two major reasons I don't like FTF are:

1. Some people get so competitive that they behave poorly and make geocaching cease to be fun. Many cases of this are documented above.

2. I have placed many caches that I spent alot of time and energy on. Once the FTF is claimed, the cache is ignored. I even started a series of Second to Find caches, where I would give minimal information or hints until after the FTF, to encourage the STF.

[+Team Mars]

Watching a new cache to see if it hasn't been found yet, then getting there only to find that it was actually found hours ago, but not logged. This is normally when it is published late at night and then check it out early morning or it is published very early and watching it until lunchtime when I can make the run.

 

There's a couple of cacher's in my area that purposely don't log. The one said he does it to generate more traffic to the cache. I think he's just being a jag.

 

 

Love that video.

 

With 55 FTF's, the thing that bothered me at one point was getting there and it was found hours ago as SAVVY stated. I have found it was nothing to get crazy about. Not sure if it was discussed in another forum or on FB, but basically it was stated that is the risk you take going for an FTF. If you want to save yourself the agony, leave for another day. If I get there first, great. If not, its another smiley.

 

It is funny that in some circles FTF has been distorted into FTL online. There is a program locally that when you sign up, they give you the coords early. Some people got rubbed wrong because it was "unfair", so they said since they signed the log first after publishing they were the real FTF and everyone else can go sit and spin. Really?? This is a game and supposed to be fun.

 

To each his own. If I get an FTF, Woohoo!