FTF Prize ?

[+Team Lyon]

I'm ready to place my first cache and I'm fretting over my FTF prize. I know I don't have to put one in but I would like to put something nice in since I'm new to this and have never been even close to FTF I was woundering about what you you have found ?

BYW thanks to everyone who replyed to my camera Q

[+evergreenhiker!]

quote:

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Originally posted by Team Lyon:

I'm ready to place my first cache and I'm fretting over my FTF prize. I know I don't have to put one in but I would like to put something nice in since I'm new to this and have never been even close to FTF I was woundering about what you you have found ?

BYW thanks to everyone who replyed to my camera Q

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Well, I've found gift cards. 10-15 dollar values...e.g. Starbucks, REI, card good for a cluster of restuarants, etc. For my Gem Cache, I put ten bucks in for the first finder. A little folding stove that uses pellets in antoher one that was a very hard cache to reach. Anyhow, FTF prizes in my experience probably on average run about 10 bucks or so in value. The better FTF gifts are for the harder caches in my opinion.

 

Your garden variety city caches...hit adn run types...maybe 5 bucks value. I try to have useful things in my caches and will have more than one item for the user to chose from.

 

Geocoins are a great FTF items. Good way to get folks to chase dwon a hard mountain cache is to put one of Moun10bikes coins up there if you are lucky enough to lay hands on one.

 

Hard to get signature items also make great FTF prizes. Anyhow, no hard fast rules here, just put out what you feel like and can afford.

[+BadAndy]

A pretty cool FTF prize is an unactivated new set of travel bug dogtags.

 

"Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni!"

[+briansnat]

I rarely put FTF prizes in my cache, but when I do I've used new Geocaching.com hats. I've also placed decon boxes, complete with a logbook, pencil and laminated "geocaching letter", as a ready made hide yer own cache. The person just has to add some trinkets and find a good spot.

 

"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on his hind legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" - Max Beerbohm

[+Scott Johnson]

I like make my caches First To Find premium members only, and then open it up to the rest of the world. That way we support those who support us.

 

Never underestimate the stupidity of people in large groups.

[Wintertime]

If your cache has a theme, it's great to offer an FTF prize that's related to the theme.

 

For example, someone recently placed a cache in my area that required decoding Morse code to get the coordinates, and they put a pair of two-way radios in the box as the FTF prize. (Yeah, I know, they should have used straight keys, but they probably figured that few people would want those. :-))

 

A friend and I are working on a cache that's about a certain area of the Sierra Nevada, so when I was in that area recently, I found a nice pewter keychain that has a map of the area.

 

Patty

[+gallahad]

FTF "prizes" are certainly a nice idea; and they seem to promote competition. A geocaching associate of mine recently offered free gold panning lessons for FTF. We hadn't met until I achieved FTF on his cache and the pleasure of meeting him personally, for the gold panning lesson, was a much greater "prize" than any material object I can imagine.

Some of those who participate in our sport aren't financially able to lay out ten or fifteen bucks for a FTF award. In my opinion, just about anything that qualifies as being unique (even in a small way) or worthy of collecting as a trophy or souvenir of the activity, would prove to be quite satisfying.

 

"Today's truth remains valid only as long as it withstands the test of tomorrow's discoveries" - George Hicks

[+Team Lyons]

I see you placed you first cache. What did you end up using as a FTFP?

[+GIDEON-X]

The Last couple of caches that I put out I put a Lotto Scratcher in for a first finder's prize The last one was a chance to win $25,000 a year for life (cost me $3/00) I feel that this added a bit to the quest.

 

~~~ "And now where" ~~~

[+Team Lyon]

woo hoo the forms are back !!!

I got my 1st cache up and running 3 hits the first day I diceded to use some TB dog tags as it was something I had on hand. The guy the was FTF seemed to like them and once they get out into the wild I track the bug

[+joefrog]

Around here, it's actually being the FTF that's becoming the prize. However, i do leave some goodies. I've left teeshirts, a gift certificate for $10, and (more likely) one of Joefrog's Famous Marshmallow Guns. Check here for more info on them.

[Dosido]

For my last cache I hid, I created a logo for the cache (The Devil's Cache) and bought some buffalo wing hot sauce from the store.

 

Took the labels off of those, put my own on, and used those for the first group of finders. FTF got a very large bottle, the others, small ones. So there were prizes for the first 6 people.

 

Now people have a souvenier from the cache itself.

[+Night Stalker]

I placed a cache today and left a 1942 brilliant uncirculated mercury dime as a first to find prize. This is a micro cache so anything much larger would not fit. It also has a coin theme. The coin was reasonably priced and hopefully will be desirable to my fellow cachers.

[+Huntnlady]

Last week I was FTF on Anthony's Last Hurrah, and there was a GPSr in it! I was blown away. I'm going to give it to my dad for Christmas.