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FTF (first to find) etiquette


riskybizness

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I recently placed a cache with a friend, and it was our first cache to hide. I need to know what the etiquette rules are for First to Find. We planted the cache that went live on Friday night about 945pm. the next day about 9 am, I took my IPhone 4 to see how well the coords read on my phone based on the gps averaging from gps the day before. It was within 3 feet, I was happy with that.

 

About an hour later, my husband came by with our son who has never cached before. They knew we had planted a cache but had no idea, where or what the cache looked like I gave no influence to find the cache. I sat in the middle of the park and gleefully watched them attempt to find the cache. It took about 30 minutes with two I phones to locate our well hidden cache. It has been rated a 3 for difficulty

 

My question is. Since they are family, is it okay for them to log First to find? There was no coaching, or helping in any way. please let me know. I don't want to go against any rules or etiquette and skilled cachers would be best to let me know if its okay that my sons first cache was truly a first to find with his dad who is a premium member. If its not, then I will delete it.

 

Riskybizness

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Did anyone find it before them? No? Then they are the first to find. Simple as that.

 

Some peoe doing what you did- some call it beta testing- will sign the back of the logbook, and not log it online until someone else does, but still when you get down to it, the fist person to find it is the first.

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It's not wrong, but if I were related to (or friends with) the CO, and the CO was in sight during the search, I'd consider myself a beta tester, essentially helping the CO hide the cache by confirming the coordinate accuracy and findability, so I'd leave FTF honors to the next person. It's not an ethical question, just an attempt to avoid disappointing someone that doesn't already love the CO. As the CO, you can always give them full kudo's by adding to the description that they found it first, and then make them look like saints for "giving up" the FTF honors for the first non-family find.

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If it was already published then FTF is OK IMO. I would only question it if it was found before being published so you should be good.

The cache was live and no one had found it. I thought, well maybe the coordinates are off and I checked them the next day. They were within 3 feet, (My own beta test I suppose!) then was leaving park with my dogs when husband came to park with our son. I decided to stay in the middle of the park with the dogs while they searched the Outskirts of the park no where near me.

 

It took them 30 minutes or more to find the cache as they went from site to site until my son figured out for his first find how to use a gps. It was comical to watch, but no influence by me and I was proud my son found it.. Maybe he gets his geosenses from his mom! His dad is the premium member and they logged the two on his log in as FTF.

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It's not wrong, but if I were related to (or friends with) the CO, and the CO was in sight during the search, I'd consider myself a beta tester, essentially helping the CO hide the cache by confirming the coordinate accuracy and findability, so I'd leave FTF honors to the next person. It's not an ethical question, just an attempt to avoid disappointing someone that doesn't already love the CO. As the CO, you can always give them full kudo's by adding to the description that they found it first, and then make them look like saints for "giving up" the FTF honors for the first non-family find.

 

Piffle! Anyone who wanted to be FTF should have got out right away. They had 12 hours to find it and couldn't manage to go for it. You snooze, you lose!

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It's not wrong, but if I were related to (or friends with) the CO, and the CO was in sight during the search, I'd consider myself a beta tester, essentially helping the CO hide the cache by confirming the coordinate accuracy and findability, so I'd leave FTF honors to the next person. It's not an ethical question, just an attempt to avoid disappointing someone that doesn't already love the CO. As the CO, you can always give them full kudo's by adding to the description that they found it first, and then make them look like saints for "giving up" the FTF honors for the first non-family find.

 

Piffle! Anyone who wanted to be FTF should have got out right away. They had 12 hours to find it and couldn't manage to go for it. You snooze, you lose!

 

Thanks Nancy, I felt that way too. I was under impression FTF were huge draw for geocachers. Seeing that the first cache has only two entries, I think differently now.

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It's not wrong, but if I were related to (or friends with) the CO, and the CO was in sight during the search, I'd consider myself a beta tester, essentially helping the CO hide the cache by confirming the coordinate accuracy and findability, so I'd leave FTF honors to the next person. It's not an ethical question, just an attempt to avoid disappointing someone that doesn't already love the CO. As the CO, you can always give them full kudo's by adding to the description that they found it first, and then make them look like saints for "giving up" the FTF honors for the first non-family find.

 

Hi Dprovan. In response to your comment if they helped hide the cache. They did not help hide/create the cache at all. My friend and I did all that the day before. The next day I went to the park to check coordinates to make sure they were right with my four legged friends on a leash. The coordinates were right so that made me happy! the rest was up to them to do their due diligence to seek and find the cache which did indeed take them some time. Thank you for responding. ~riskybizness

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It is your cache. You make the rules. Your local community may have some nominal rules that they use, but in the end, it is your cache.

 

Personaly, FTF is a statment of fact. If your family members found it before anyone else, they are FTF (regardless of if it has been published on geocaching.com or any othere site yet or not). If you had shown them (I realize that you have said you didn't, so this is hypithetical), then they really wouldn't have FOUND it, would they. They would have been shown.

 

Anyway, that is my take on it. Come November (Puritan Month), I would have a different take, but that is it for now.

Edited by Andronicus
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Yes. This is a Valid FTF. My wife and I cache under differen names, and when I place a cache she is sometimes with me. Of course, she don't go after mine cause she don't drive. When She places a cache, I'm there with her, and I never go after her caches. The ONLY Exception to this was one that she placed at her parents house while I was at work once. It was Published, I waited 24 hours and then went after it.

 

Basically, If you know its there Before its published, then No FTF... After it's published, then Fair game.

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In response to your comment if they helped hide the cache. They did not help hide/create the cache at all. My friend and I did all that the day before.

I understand they had nothing to do with the hide. I was saying that if it were me, I'd consider my "beta test" part of helping you hide the cache because it confirmed its quality, not because my actions had anything to do with where you hid it.

 

The bottom line is that FTF isn't a big deal, so there's really no good reason for your husband to claim it for your cache regardless of how valid you think the FTF was. But it's up to him: I'm not saying I think he'd be wrong to claim FTF, I'm just explaining why I wouldn't.

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