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Ftf - Post Find Right Away?


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Posted

One of the fun things to do geocaching is the challenge of getting a first to find (FTF). Usually when I get one, I'll post my log right away. Lately I've been wondering if that is the right thing to do or not.

 

I've noticed:

- when I post right away, there are very few logs posted immediately afterward

- if I wait a little while, then there are more logs from all the other FTFers who tried to get to the cache first as well.

 

I feel like I didn't "win" if nobody else was out there going for it too! (I know - you don't "win" at geocaching, but humor me!) Is the right thing to do:

- post right away, so that others don't bother running out at 2am to try to get the FTF

- wait until the first logs start coming in, thereby not depriving others the excitement of the FTF race, and getting a lot of logs to the cache in the first day (which also makes the cache owner happy)

Posted

Well, I would recommend logging it right away. If you continually race out for the FTF, but don't log it until you see someone else log the cache, I think eventually, your local cachers are going to become disgusted with you.........I know I'd get tired of pushing stuff out of my schedule to try and get a FTF, only to get there and realize I was second, and someone just didn't log it, until they saw my "second to find" log.........

 

But hey, when it comes down to it, you can do whatever you want pretty much.....

Posted

It can get annoying if not logged within a reasonable period. I've got one cache logged a month ago, but not by the FTF according to the log book. Book shows FTF, muggle, 3rd visitor. Web page has only the 3rd visitor so far. :)

Posted

When I go caching, I usually go for the next closest cache to my house. When it comes to a FTF, I will make an exception to this rule. I would start getting very annoyed if someone started nabbing FTF's in the area and not logging them online within a reasonable period of time.

Posted
I'm not going to end a day of caching early and run home to post a log just because I was FTF. I'd rather go out and get another one.

I'm not saying that you should, either. If someone beats me there the same day and it's not logged, it's one thing. It's another thing entirely, if I noticed the cache is 4 days old, and still not a FTF, only to get to the cache site, and see you found it the day it was listed, and just waited to log it until you saw me post my second to find log online..............

Posted

There is officially no competition in geocaching. There is no prize for the most finds, most hides, or most FTFs. The whole FTF race exists in the minds of a small subset of cachers. Since there are no rules about how fast you have to log a find online, or even that you have to log a find online at all, people playing the FTF game should expect to lose every so often to the majority of people who aren't.

Heck, I've gone out in the middle of the night, in the middle of winter, while I was sick with a fever, and found the cache had actually been found and logged before it was even listed on the site by a cacher clever enough to find the cache based on a few clues the hider mentioned in passing at a local event. Oh well. Makes up for the FTFs I have hundreds and even thousands of miles from home that I got because I just happened to be in the right places at the right times.

Posted

I have not had an FTF yet. All my logs have been made as soon as I got home mostly because they are fresh in my mind. They also have mostly been on weekends when the server can be busy which means I am prepared to take care of the logging a few days later if necessary. Having the first spot on the page does not seem all that important to me as long as I had a good hike and the kids had a good time. :)

Posted

We allways try to log our finds, FTF or not, in a timely manner. We too like being FTF so can see why it would be a bit irritating to think we might get the chance for one after not seeing an online log, then find when we get there that it had indeed been found a few days earlier.

 

On the same note, we have been on vacation and have been FTF a time or two. Have also picked up a Geocoin. With us having no access to a computer and having to wait to post our online logs, can see that someone could have been a bit disappointed when they got to these caches!

Posted

If you read the original post, you can see that this is not about those occasions when you cannot log a FTF quickly. The original poster seems to be asking whether it is OK not to log a FTF promptly in order to sucker more people into trying for FTF.

 

It's incredibly rude to purposely delay logging an FTF. I ought to be surprised that people would even consider it.

Posted
- post right away, so that others don't bother running out at 2am to try to get the FTF

That would be my suggestion. I would make a special trip home in the middle of a caching day but logging it when you log all you finds for the day is appropriate.

Posted

I had to read this thread a few times to form an opinion. I went back and forth, actually.

 

I decided that I just didn't care. Of course, that's because I no longer rush to be FTF. But what if I did? Would it matter if I was beat by five minutes or five days? I don't think so. Either way, it means I have to be quicker to get FTF.

 

It also wouldn't matter to those who aren't in on the FTF race. They still get the :D.

 

Log it fast, log it slow. Whatever makes you happy. I only ask that if you swap a TB that you log it promptly and that you promptly post if there is a problem with the cache.

 

Have fun!

Posted
It's incredibly rude to purposely delay logging an FTF.

Nonsense. There is no requirement to log online, therefore it is impossible "to be incredibly rude" not to log a FTF promptly ... or at all.

I think fizzy was specifically referring to delayed logging of an FTF in bad faith. Specifically to enjoy the misplaced efforts of other FTF hunters. That would have been mean indeed.

But you can seldom tell if somebody hasn't logged it yet because of some mean-spirited reason. Good caches often require more extensive write-up, and I can't just log them instantaneously 'cause I gotta think about the contents of a log, and let the kids finish their computer games, and write it, and proofread it...

I only feel that I am in a hurry to log anything, ASAP, when the cache s*cks and I don't want other seekers to have the same bad experience I've just had.

Posted

As Bassoon Pilot pointed out, there's no requirement to log and many folks in my area are always on the 3rd page with StayFloopy and Bassoon Pilot hitting it up #1/#2 or #2/#1.

 

I was thinking of placing in my first cache, a FTF prize for StayFloopy, a FTF prize for BassoonPilot and a FTF for the rest of the general population. :D

 

I log when I get home after caching. I log them in the order I did them. I don't think I'd ever come home just to log a FTF nor would I intentionally not log a find to throw someone else off. I understand that some don't like to log and I respect their option to do so, but writing the logs is something I actually enjoy most of the time.

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