Perks of being FTF?

[caotsstoac]

Does being first to find give you any higher rank or does it give you a badge of any kind or is it more to just have first grabs/dibs at the items in the cache? I feel like there should be some sort of digital reward like a badge, if there isn't one yet.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

FTF and $2 gets you a cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts.

[+Chief301]

Since the FTF game is not an "official" part of Geocaching, no, there are no digital rewards. Perks include:

 

-there's a pretty good chance the cache is still there

-almost guaranteed there's place on the log sheet to sign

-who needs sleep anyway?😄

 

Seriously though, some CO's do put a FTF prize in their caches....a nicer bit of swag than the usual. Maybe an unactivated Geocoin or a gift certificate or something.

[+The_Incredibles_]

Adrenalin rush, bragging rights. No digital reward, unless you count a private bookmark list.

[+Beach_hut]

Since the FTF game is not an "official" part of Geocaching, no, there are no digital rewards. Perks include:

 

-there's a pretty good chance the cache is still there

-almost guaranteed there's place on the log sheet to sign

-who needs sleep anyway?😄

 

On the flip side, you're the one taking the risk if the coords are wonky...

[+tom k.]

I have gotten over 200 FTF”s and it gives me an adrenaline rush. It let’s you find it just as the CO intended it to be found, usually hidden pretty will. It also leads to a little competition between other cachers = more fun. That’s the only reward you get as far as I know.

Edited August 30, 2013 by tom k.

[+Mudfrog]

I was going for FTFs hot and heavy in an effort to take Briansnat's US Geocacher of the Year title away. Thought i had it in the bag until i found out that ftf count was not even recognized by the USGA. Guess now i'll have to try something else. I know, i know,,, placing a record number of LPCs should do it!

 

The friendly competition between other cachers can be alot of fun. Finding a cache the way it was originally hidden is always nice. And every once in a while, a ftf prize is nice to get.

[+Walts Hunting]

It's my understanding that as a magnanimous display of their prowess and a concession to all lesser beings that they have to buy the first round at the next event.

[+Flintstone5611]

Does being first to find give you any higher rank or does it give you a badge of any kind or is it more to just have first grabs/dibs at the items in the cache? I feel like there should be some sort of digital reward like a badge, if there isn't one yet.

 

Well Badgegen does have a little something, but as stated it doesn't do much else except show how awesome you are.

 

[+J Grouchy]

It let’s you find it just as the CO intended it to be found,

 

This, primarily. I just got one this morning because I got a notification and it was only a tiny detour on my way to work. I was a very clever hide and there were two $5 bills inside for the FTF. I would have left one for the second person, but it was wrapped in such a way that I couldn't take one and put the other back in a stealthy manner. Yeah...that's the reason...

[+lamoracke]

Groupies. Fame. Recognition. Riches.

 

Then I wake up and realize I was thinking of someone else.

[+frinklabs]

To me, the actual finding first is incidental. Newly-published caches provide an opportunity to meet other local cachers. Weirdly, there are not a lot of events where I live for which you don't need a car (one in the past three years).

 

Even better, one of the usual suspects in the FTF crowd here has an excellent dog; I will gladly trade 2TF for a chance to pet, scratch and play with this awesome canine.

 

I don't get enough dog time and it is rough...

[+K'J']

Since the FTF game is not an "official" part of Geocaching, no, there are no digital rewards. Perks include:

 

-there's a pretty good chance the cache is still there

-almost guaranteed there's place on the log sheet to sign

-who needs sleep anyway?

 

On the flip side, you're the one taking the risk if the coords are wonky...

 

I like to call FTF hounds "Beta Testers". But not in a negative way. They get their rush of the hunt and indirectly confirm issues with the hide (coords, hint, D/T ratings) for the rest. I think that's a perk for non FTF'ers.

[+lamoracke]

yeah, what KJ said as well. There are many FTF hunts which can be wasted time because sometimes cachers forget to hide the cache or the coordinates are terrible or its already been muggled, or its been hidden on private property and the FTFer has to deal with that landowner or police. Not all FTF hunts are glory so sometimes, especially if a relatively new cacher, its worth to let someone else have all the fun.

[team tisri]

Does being first to find give you any higher rank or does it give you a badge of any kind or is it more to just have first grabs/dibs at the items in the cache? I feel like there should be some sort of digital reward like a badge, if there isn't one yet.

 

You get gloating rights, especially if you're one of a few FTF hounds in the area and you get it first. You even get to leave a message for the next person to find it, if you want to gloat without hanging around to do it in person.

[+fizzymagic]

Does being first to find give you any higher rank or does it give you a badge of any kind or is it more to just have first grabs/dibs at the items in the cache? I feel like there should be some sort of digital reward like a badge, if there isn't one yet.

 

You get gloating rights, especially if you're one of a few FTF hounds in the area and you get it first. You even get to leave a message for the next person to find it, if you want to gloat without hanging around to do it in person.

 

You forgot to mention that this benefit only accrues if are an actual jerk.

 

The good news, though, is that your gloating logs will let everybody in the area who cares know you are a jerk.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

To me, the actual finding first is incidental. Newly-published caches provide an opportunity to meet other local cachers. Weirdly, there are not a lot of events where I live for which you don't need a car (one in the past three years).

 

I've been caching since 2007 and have somewhere between 15-20 FTFs. I don't think that there are any other geocachers in my area that I would characterize as a FTF hound and although I've met a few cachers while making a find I've never met anyone while getting a FTF or near FTF. I can only go by what I read here but I think it's safe to say that the FTF game isn't the same everywhere, and that if meeting other cachers is a perk, one should not expect that meeting other local cachers is something is going to happen frequently consider the significantly different geocache environments throughout the world.

 

I can only remember three of the FTFs I got. I remember my first, one a short time later that required solving a multi-step puzzle, then a 30 minute drive and kayaking out to an island (the second to find was about a month later), and most most recent FTF. That was a cache published on a Thursday. I left my house the following morning and I didn't get to ground zero until Sunday afternoon. It was in Malaysia, about 9400 miles from home.

 

 

[+Dogmeat*]

I have six, and in my area a FTF is a big thing because there's huge competition for them. I've showed up with four other people looking and made the FTF. The bragging rights are great, especially because there's a guy who has an obsession with being first. My 6th find was a FTF, actually. Only been caching since March, so it's going well for my FTFs, seeing as there aren't many posted lately.

[+K13]

Does being first to find give you any higher rank or does it give you a badge of any kind or is it more to just have first grabs/dibs at the items in the cache? I feel like there should be some sort of digital reward like a badge, if there isn't one yet.

 

[+jellis]

Since the FTF game is not an "official" part of Geocaching, no, there are no digital rewards. Perks include:

 

-there's a pretty good chance the cache is still there

-almost guaranteed there's place on the log sheet to sign

-who needs sleep anyway?

 

On the flip side, you're the one taking the risk if the coords are wonky...

More then that, if it turns out the cache is not there, or you need something like a ladder to get to it and it's not mentioned. Or someone beat you to it and didn't log it yet.

[4wheelin_fool]

If the CO goes MIA the FTFer is the only one who knows exactly how it should be hidden.

[+WRASTRO]

The FTF on my few caches hidden gets to find the cache the way I hid it. That's it. All the other reasons for people to define perks or lack thereof are simply their opinions.

[team tisri]

Does being first to find give you any higher rank or does it give you a badge of any kind or is it more to just have first grabs/dibs at the items in the cache? I feel like there should be some sort of digital reward like a badge, if there isn't one yet.

 

You get gloating rights, especially if you're one of a few FTF hounds in the area and you get it first. You even get to leave a message for the next person to find it, if you want to gloat without hanging around to do it in person.

 

You forgot to mention that this benefit only accrues if are an actual jerk.

 

The good news, though, is that your gloating logs will let everybody in the area who cares know you are a jerk.

 

Or if you have a bit of friendly rivalry going on with other local FTF hounds. One can have friendly rivalry without being a jerk. Of course you can be a jerk at the same time. That said if I want people to know I'm a jerk there are other, better ways of doing it.

 

If you want to be a jerk your FTF privileges include unrolling the log in the nano and writing "First to find, on a lovely sunny morning on 31 August 2013. Cache in good order and located after a brief search of the area. Thanks ever so much for bringing me to this wonderful spot, I really enjoyed the area and the hunt", then rolling it back up and logging FTF and NM on the basis the cache log is full.

 

For bonus points this is best done to nano caches that are in spectacularly remote areas.

[+sduck]

You guys don't know? Get enough FTF's, and maintain a certain rate of them, and you get your platinum status renewed for free.

[+Team OPJim]

For those of you who are afflicted with the FTF addiction, there is a way out.

1. Go on a streak, finding a cache a day for a given period of time. Unless you are in an area with hundreds of easily accessible caches to find (which I am not), you will have to choose between going for FTF or saving the cache for another day

2. Try to fill in your calendar, so you have one or more finds for every day of the year. You can find your own calendar on your statistics page.

 

I think it is fun to be FTF, but no longer worry much about them, because they are so random (one cache is found within minutes of publication, and another won't be found for weeks or months). They also are beta testing: I've gone several times only to determine that the CO entered the coordinates incorrectly. At some point you have to decide what you are caching for. For me, it is about location, not FTF.

[fendmar]

You get your name in lights...

 

[+Fridge01]

It's an opportunity for an impromptu gathering of local cachers. You're more likely to run into other cachers at a newly published cache, especially if there are several FTF hounds in your area.

 

also, it's more material for your post. I'll often write a narrative about the FTF battle when I log the find.

[+wimseyguy]

You get to share your fierce first person insight in threads like these?

You get to explain to the unhappy land owner what geocaching is all about when they are placed on private property without permission.

Edited September 9, 2013 by wimseyguy

[+geodarts]

You get the opportunity to sign a blank log without using any initials. It always makes me feel good.

[+redsox_mark]

I am not a FTF hound. In 4+ years I've found 23 FTFs (0.60 % of my finds) - Average Interval 58.4 days.

But I do keep track of them, so they mean something to me.

I'm not a "bragging rights" person. And I find most cachers aren't. Though as a previous post said, often there is friendly banter between FTF "hounds" in an area.

 

Personally the ones that mean the most to me are difficult caches (especially ones which involve a puzzle).

 

I don't try for a FTF very often. When I do, I get a little extra adrenalin rush if I am FTF.

Edited September 9, 2013 by redsox_mark

[Clan Riffster]

The FTF on my few caches hidden gets to find the cache the way I hid it. That's it.

This has proven true with most of my hides, though at least one notable exception comes to mind. On one of my 'bushwhack a gazillion miles through a swamp' caches, the FTF noted that the hide did not match the hint. Originally, the ammo can had been tethered inside a huge hollow stump. The FTF sent me an email explaining that he found it as far from the stump as the tether would allow, and returned it to the stump. The STF made a similar observation. I made the trudge back to the cache, and sure enough, the cache was 8' away from the stump. I returned it to its hiding place, scratching my head. Because it was hot, and I was exhausted, I did not investigate properly to determine cause and effect. The next log reported similar findings. I stomp my way back there again, and again the ammo can was 8' away. This time I did check things out, finding stiff black hair inside the stump. It seems I had picked a black bear nest as my hiding spot. I guess he didn't appreciate having something with sharp corners sitting on his bed, and tossed it out?

[+Scubasonic]

Does being first to find give you any higher rank or does it give you a badge of any kind or is it more to just have first grabs/dibs at the items in the cache? I feel like there should be some sort of digital reward like a badge, if there isn't one yet.

 

You get gloating rights, especially if you're one of a few FTF hounds in the area and you get it first. You even get to leave a message for the next person to find it, if you want to gloat without hanging around to do it in person.

 

You forgot to mention that this benefit only accrues if are an actual jerk.

 

The good news, though, is that your gloating logs will let everybody in the area who cares know you are a jerk.

 

The only JERK I see here Fizzy is you for criticizing those that enjoy the FTF part of the game, and how they post about it.