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FTF's: Overrated?


313JTG

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I've lurked several forums about FTF's and talked to some cachers who can't resist going after FTF's, but still don't see what's so special about being the first to find. There's no real statistic on your GC profile (unless you use third party stat counters) to show them and really the only prize you get is bragging rights, possibly a dollar if the CO has one in his/her wallet.

 

In my opinion, rushing out to be the first one to find a cache doesn't make any sense, especially if you have to go 20 to 30 miles. So the question is, for all of you FTF hounds or people who believe they're important, what drives you to get the FTF? Is it about the numbers? pride? lack of anything else to do? I'm just curious...

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Lol, you no what they say about opinions? Them and belly buttons have one big thing in common.

 

You totally sound like the muggles in my family when I explain Geocaching. So what do you get? What is the reward? Why do you do it?

 

The same reasons you geocache. It makes a person feel good at a level that a hobby should. It really doesn't need to be more complicated than that. Whether or not it is an official aspect of our game doesn't matter, it is an active portion for many of your fellow geocachers.

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I've lurked several forums about FTF's and talked to some cachers who can't resist going after FTF's, but still don't see what's so special about being the first to find. There's no real statistic on your GC profile (unless you use third party stat counters) to show them and really the only prize you get is bragging rights, possibly a dollar if the CO has one in his/her wallet.

 

In my opinion, rushing out to be the first one to find a cache doesn't make any sense, especially if you have to go 20 to 30 miles. So the question is, for all of you FTF hounds or people who believe they're important, what drives you to get the FTF? Is it about the numbers? pride? lack of anything else to do? I'm just curious...

 

I have no problem with enjoying ftf, but when it's a source of angst that's where I draw the line.

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The same reasons you geocache. It makes a person feel good at a level that a hobby should. It really doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

 

FTF and geocaching are not the same thing.

 

They are both a part of the same hobby; they are one and the same for me. I also didn't say they were the same, but that they can be done for the same reasons.

Edited by Flintstone5611
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The same reasons you geocache. It makes a person feel good at a level that a hobby should. It really doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

 

FTF and geocaching are not the same thing.

 

They are both a part of the same hobby; they are one and the same for me.

 

I set out to find an eight year old cache. You rush when it'd two hours old so let's not pretend.

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The same reasons you geocache. It makes a person feel good at a level that a hobby should. It really doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

 

FTF and geocaching are not the same thing.

 

They are both a part of the same hobby; they are one and the same for me.

 

I set out to find an eight year old cache. You rush when it'd two hours old so let's not pretend.

 

For which we both get a smiley. You might want a little more perspective.

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Which is fine. My reason for geocaching is to have fun and detox from my day to day life, to enjoy the outdoors and get to use some creativity. I get to do that finding 10 year old caches and running for FTFs.

 

Couldn't agree more and can you go for every FTF you want provided your effort meets guidelines.

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Which is fine. My reason for geocaching is to have fun and detox from my day to day life, to enjoy the outdoors and get to use some creativity. I get to do that finding 10 year old caches and running for FTFs.

 

Couldn't agree more and can you go for every FTF you want provided your effort meets guidelines.

 

If I want to. Just like searching older caches I may not be successful.

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Which is fine. My reason for geocaching is to have fun and detox from my day to day life, to enjoy the outdoors and get to use some creativity. I get to do that finding 10 year old caches and running for FTFs.

 

Couldn't agree more and can you go for every FTF you want provided your effort meets guidelines.

 

If I want to. Just like searching older caches I may not be successful.

 

I think they call that LTF (Last to Find)

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I guess it's just the feeling that you have won the race to the cache. And after you have a few FTF's under your belt you earn a bit of respect from other cachers. I've tried so many times but failed, but the six times I've got an FTF they just made my day, and sometimes there can be prizes, (very rare in my area) But yes, after a few FTF's you can earn a bit of respect and it sort of shows that you are serious about geocaching and that you care. That's just my opinion anyway. :)

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Years ago when a good share of the caches contained trade items a FTF gave you first crack to make trades. With most of the caches nowadays being pill bottles or bison tubes it takes that advantage away, so if I get a FTF I'll take it, but I'm not going out in the middle of the night to get one.

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what drives you to get the FTF? Is it about the numbers? pride? lack of anything else to do? I'm just curious...

The steak dinner for two, the parade, the brand new kitchen appliances, but most of all, the ribbons:

 

qpji1f.jpg

 

...all over my face!

 

Let's not forget the all-expense-paid two-week vacation to the destination of your choice!

 

And the huge oversized check presented by Bono from U2. B)

 

Personally, I like being FTF on a cache that has been out for several months, that took me two or three trips to figure out how to get to, and takes up a whole day to finally achieve success.

 

Being FTF in a car race to the Walmart lampskirt just don't cut it...unless I happen to be in the parking lot when the cache is published. :lol:

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And after you have a few FTF's under your belt you earn a bit of respect from other cachers.

 

Respect? Perhaps. You can also earn a lot of angst from people. Not necessarily because you beat them to a cache. But because your log says things like "Woo-hoo! This is FTF #325 for me! I so enjoyed the look on SomeCacher's face when I was hiding behind the pine tree and he opened the logbook to see my name in it ahead of him!" Many of the FTF crowd posts annoying logs like this. How about posting how much you enjoyed the cache itself? (I used to post logs like that, and then realized how stupid it made me look - now I never even say anything about FTF on the rare times I get them these days.)

 

But yeah, FTFs can be fun. To each his own - enjoy the cache, or enjoy the race, or both. Just don't be obnoxious about it.

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Just don't be obnoxious about it.

I don't even use the term "FTF" or "First To Find" anymore in online logs (the paper log generally has a space for "FTF" to sign). I mention who I was with (somtimes a friend wants to go get the new caches), and, in case of confusion, sometimes post the time I found it.

Edited by kunarion
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The thrill man.. just the thrill :-)

why do you do stuff ? if YOU feel it is fun, you do it, right ?

 

Why do people play ANY game at all..

Research the term GAME, and you find a few things,

the more you can win, the more you can loose, the harder it gets to win, the harder you try

the more fun when you manage to handle it,

the FTF part of the game, is a side game, but you play directly against your local cache friends,

it is a gentlemans sport like anyother parts of this game, we do it only sometimes

when we feel the change of FTF is there.

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And the huge oversized check presented by Bono from U2.

OOOOOOooooooo! I love that check! :yikes:

 

Personally, I like being FTF on a cache that has been out for several months, that took me two or three trips to figure out how to get to, and takes up a whole day to finally achieve success.

I enjoy the FTFs that all the regulars can't find. They're busy posting logs about how the coords must be off, and I know for sure the area within 30 feet of GZ has been searched already. Now there's a mystery to solve. Sometimes I work it out, and that's a lot of fun. But I'm on the clock, since the coords will get fixed, hints added, at any moment without warning.

Edited by kunarion
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I've lurked several forums about FTF's and talked to some cachers who can't resist going after FTF's, but still don't see what's so special about being the first to find. There's no real statistic on your GC profile (unless you use third party stat counters) to show them and really the only prize you get is bragging rights, possibly a dollar if the CO has one in his/her wallet.

 

In my opinion, rushing out to be the first one to find a cache doesn't make any sense, especially if you have to go 20 to 30 miles. So the question is, for all of you FTF hounds or people who believe they're important, what drives you to get the FTF? Is it about the numbers? pride? lack of anything else to do? I'm just curious...

 

i was geared to get a first to find in the beginning of all this but what made me give up was when there was one up the street literally two minutes and well we got up ran to it and someone was already there we knew basically we would probably never beat anyone specially if there are people that are hard core about getting first to finds. i personally try and lean away from first to finds as some people in my opinion ruin the fun of it if you have say 12 `ftf` than why not let some one else get a first to find but meh first to finds to me dont seem like part of it but getting the geocaches :D thats another matter

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I have a personal policy of never FTFing a cache on it's first day of publication. The reason I do that is because I actually have a shot at the FTF, and those caches that the FTF hounds couldn't find tend to be the harder ones that I consider a worthy FTF.

 

I FTF caches in that way as a way to get my name out amongst the local geocachers, but not in a bragging way. Usually when a cache goes unfound in my area it is watchlisted by 5 or 6 people, so it really gets my name out there when I FTF it. Right now I only have 187 finds with 13 FTFs, that isn't to bad.

 

So that is why I do it, not for the FTF per say, but as a way to connect with the greater geocaching community in my area because I am still new to geocaching. But I can always see myself FTFing caches the way I do now because that usually guarantees me the FTF considering all the FTF hounds in my area.

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Some people like ice cream in a cone. Some like it in a dish. Some eat it right out of the container. Ask each one why they make such a big deal of eating ice cream a certain way. Does this really matter?

 

There are clearly some people who enjoy making a game out of getting as many FTFs as they can. For others, the effort seems wasted because in the end you still find a cache.

 

How do you eat your ice cream? :mmraspberry:

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Why go after a FTF?

 

Getting a FTF is like:

 

Walking through a field of snow before anyone else.

 

Winning a race that could start at any time.

 

Seeing the cache as the CO wanted you to see it.

 

Being the first person in line to buy or see that special something.

 

Not having any geo-track to help you out.

 

Getting to a cache before it's archived.

 

A chance of having a mini event at GZ.

 

Doing something that no one else has done.

 

Being put to the test on how good you really are.

 

Having first chance to trade for some real cool items.

 

Getting something special if there is a FTF prize. (This is always a nice bonus no matter what it is.)

 

Adding one more level to already a fun game.

 

I have more I could add, but I hope that you get the idea. In geocaching there is no winning. but with a FTF there is.

 

Tobias

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Years ago when a good share of the caches contained trade items a FTF gave you first crack to make trades. With most of the caches nowadays being pill bottles or bison tubes it takes that advantage away, so if I get a FTF I'll take it, but I'm not going out in the middle of the night to get one.

I'd have to agree to the above, in the early days I was a FTF nut I remember one Saturday morning driving over 30 miles to grab a FTF when I got home to log it there was another new one within 600 feet of where the first one was, 120 miles for two FTFs. Those were the crazy days :lol: :lol:

Edited by vagabond
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Years ago when a good share of the caches contained trade items a FTF gave you first crack to make trades. With most of the caches nowadays being pill bottles or bison tubes it takes that advantage away, so if I get a FTF I'll take it, but I'm not going out in the middle of the night to get one.

Even better in those days was that any cache that required a bit of effort would sit unclaimed for days or even weeks. There were fewer cachers to go after them and fewer for whom FTF mattered. There's nothing as grueling as putting out your cache and waiting weeks for a find. So cache owners started putting in FTF prizes $$ in the cache to encourage a visitor.

 

This eventually led to people thinking that a FTF prize or recognition of the FTF was something every cache should do and likely part of the reason that FTF became part of the lexicon of geocaching. It started with people who just wanted to see someone log their cache. Back then anyone who logged a FTF was greatly appreaciated.

 

My first cache was unfound for 3 weeks.

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I personally have very mixed feelings about FTFs. Generally, I'm not that interested. But when the stars align, sometimes I see one and get the urge to get a FTF. I tend to get that "urge" more if they are very close to home, and/or if it is a puzzle. When I decide to go for one, I'm excited when I get it, and a bit disappointed if I'm not first.

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Mostly playing devils advocate here but some of these are too hard to resist...When first following up I tried quoting each item on the list and got a " You have posted more than the allowed number of quoted blocks of text

" error so I had to combine a few of them. Very annoying.

 

Why go after a FTF?

 

Getting a FTF is like:

 

Walking through a field of snow before anyone else.

Winning a race that could start at any time.

 

Seeing the cache as the CO wanted you to see it.

 

While a pristine field of snow does have some atheistic value (even for those that live where it snows several months a year) being the first to walk through a field of snow more than a foot deep is not very efficient.

 

If you happen to be standing 10 feet from the finish line when the races has started (when the cache is published) what have you really won?

 

Whether or not seeing the cache first is a benefit kind of depends on the cache.

 

Being the first person in line to buy or see that special something.

 

Not having any geo-track to help you out.

 

I'm not really seeing the attraction of being first in line for something. Then, I also don't see the attraction of camping out over night in front of the Apple store so that you can smugly update your Facebook status to make sure everyone know that you were an early adopter (someone I've managed to surive with my iPhone 4S even the the iPhone 5 has been available for quite awhile). It also presumes that what you're seeing is actually special. To me, there are not a lot of caches, especially with such a strong emphasis on numbers, that are all that special. I could see how being first to sign the log for a cache that many have searched for but couldn't find, or one which required a long hike that many would be unwilling to take, could actually be meaningful, but not so for much for an LPC in a parking lot or a one of the many park-n-grab styles that are so prevalent today.

 

If what you're after regarding the geo-track is that the lack of a geo-track provides more of a challenge, I suppose one of the other "advantages" is that you're searching for a cache using coordinates that have not been verified, possibly coordinates that might not be anywhere close to the actual location where the cache was placed.

 

Getting to a cache before it's archived.

 

Are caches being archived after a FTF common in your area? I'd suggest that such as scenario is so rare that it's not even worth mentioning as advantage. A cached that is archived that soon it's life probably shouldn't have been placed in the first place, and I just don't think we should be characterizing finding a cache which violates the guidelines as an advantage.

 

A chance of having a mini event at GZ.

 

I hear this one a lot. I've been caching for six years and have somewhere between 15 and 20 FTS and probably about the same number of 2TF, and as much as I've always enjoyed meeting other geocachers out in the field it's never happened to me for any of those FTF or 2TF caches. I suppose this might be more common if you happen to live in an area which has a large regular group of FTF hounds but given the vast diversity of geocaching communities (and in most places there really isn't much of a semblance of a community) it only a benefit enjoyed in some areas. Yes, the chances of meeting another cache while searching for a recently published cache are greater, but for many it's like the increased odds of winning the lottery by buying two tickets instead of one.

 

Doing something that no one else has done.

 

Being put to the test on how good you really are.

 

I don't know anyone that has stuck an ice pick up their nose but that doesn't mean I want to be the first one to try.

 

I just don't see being FTF as a measure of being a "good" geocacher (whatever that means). To me, getting FTF is more a function of opportunity, desire, and a willingness to prioritize going after a FTF over other aspects in their life. Being "better" and being to locate a container only really comes into play if you manage to find the cache first after several others have attempted it, and even then, sometimes you just get lucky because you picked the right rock to turn over in a field of similarly looking rocks. I don't see it as a test of how good your are, as something that one can point at to tell themselves how good they are.

 

Having first chance to trade for some real cool items.

 

Getting something special if there is a FTF prize. (This is always a nice bonus no matter what it is.)

 

I'll grant you this one even though for the most part I'm often not really interested in swag. If there is one that that is almost universally true about geocaches, it's that the quality of the swag deteriorates quickly. That said, I doubt that there is a measurable different between what you find in a cache as a FTF or as a 2TF.

 

I have only one FTF prize that I actually kept. It was on my 2nd FTF (found on the day it was published) on a cache that required spending a couple of hours solving a fun puzzle, then a 35 mile drive to a spot where I launched my kayak and paddled 1/2 a mile out to an island...the 2TF happened over a month later) and I've traded for better swag on other caches for which I was not FTF. On the other hand, I know of a cache where the CO put a $100 bill in for FTF.

 

Adding one more level to already a fun game.

 

I have more I could add, but I hope that you get the idea. In geocaching there is no winning. but with a FTF there is.

 

Tobias

 

First, I'm glad that you didn't include "bragging rights" in your list, and thought I'd add one more.

 

To me, "why go after FTF" is more intangible. When trying to be FTF, there is this anticipation that you might be first, I know that I've told this story before and some don't want to hear it again but I don't really care as I think it illustrates what I'm talking about. Whenever I travel to some new area which doesn't have a lot of caches I'll take note of those that have not yet been found (in some cases they might have been unfound for a long time) to see if it might be feasible to go after one. Awhile back, prior to a trip to Malaysia I set up a PQ for the area where I would be staying which resulted in only 10 or so caches within 100 miles and there were 3 of them that still had not been found but realistically being able to go find one of them was not high unless I rented a car or somehow managed to transportation to the locations 30 or so miles from where I was staying (coincidentally, one of the regular posters in the forum traveled a great distance and got one of them shortly after I was there). The day before I left on my trip I refreshed my PQ and a newly placed cache appeared on the list and was actually only a few miles from where I was staying (close enough that hiring a cab was a viable option). I left home early the next day, on a Friday morning, then spent the next 30 hours or so either on a plane or in an airport before I finally got to my final destination late Sunday morning. Despite the anticipation of whether I could still get a FTF, getting some sleep took precedence so I took a 3 hour nap before finding a taxi that would take me to the small but beautiful park where the cache was hidden. Having checked the listing online about as soon as I got to my hotel I saw that the FTF was still up for grabs, but even before that the expectation that I might get it was high given how often caches were found in that area. If I recall, tho most recent logs on any of those 10 caches within 100 miles were at least two weeks old. The anticipation of getting that FTF built as I paid the taxi driver (and told him to wait 20 minutes or so) and went off to search for the cache. My expectations were fulfilled when I felt the container, opened up the cache and saw a blank log sheet...on a cache that I had traveled nearly 9400 miles to find.

 

I don't know if I was successful in doing so but it's hard to capture and describe that feeling of anticipation of "being first" and then have that expectation fulfilled in a forum post, but that, to me is "Why go after FTF?".

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We are speaking about motivation. What's yours?

 

It's not being first.

 

My motivation is the smiley, closely followed by reaching the next milestone for finds.

 

If i was bored and had the urge, i would go for a FTF when my phone beeps, but most of the time i'm happy to just find it, irrespective of when.

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I personally have very mixed feelings about FTFs. Generally, I'm not that interested. But when the stars align, sometimes I see one and get the urge to get a FTF. I tend to get that "urge" more if they are very close to home, and/or if it is a puzzle. When I decide to go for one, I'm excited when I get it, and a bit disappointed if I'm not first.

This is how I approach FTFs, except that I'm not at all disappointed if I'm not first.

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