logging etiquette

[+deerdad]

Hi. I'm still pretty new at geocaching and not sure if I made a mistake or not. A new cache had appeared and my girlfriend and I went off to log it and hoped to be FTF. We got to the location and no one had logged it online that they found it so we were excited that this was going to be our first FTF. Upon finding the cache, another person had already STL. Disappointed, I STL and proceeded to log it as a find online. Should I have waited to log it online until the FTF had logged it?

 

Greg (deerdad)

[+TriciaG]

Nope, you're fine. Log it online just like usual. The FTF can still "claim" FTF in his/her online log when they finally get around to posting it.

[+Bear and Ragged]

There are 'some' First To Find cachers who will deliberatly 'delay' logging that they were FTF on a cache...

[+Wildcat314159]

You can log it before them, as long as you log it as a STF. They may log the cache later as the FTF. All that matters is who signed the material log first.

[+deerdad]

OK thanks. Was just wondering. Came across another one that I got notified for. We went to get it and no one had logged it online but yet the logbook was signed two hrs before us. Pretty discouraging to bother rushing and thinking you stand a chance as FTF when some one else already did but didn't log it online for people to see.

 

Greg

[+niraD]

OK thanks. Was just wondering. Came across another one that I got notified for. We went to get it and no one had logged it online but yet the logbook was signed two hrs before us. Pretty discouraging to bother rushing and thinking you stand a chance as FTF when some one else already did but didn't log it online for people to see.

Yep. That's just part of the FTF race.

[+BCandMsKitty]

OK thanks. Was just wondering. Came across another one that I got notified for. We went to get it and no one had logged it online but yet the logbook was signed two hrs before us. Pretty discouraging to bother rushing and thinking you stand a chance as FTF when some one else already did but didn't log it online for people to see.

 

Greg

You shouldn't look at it as if someone is deliberately not logging online just to irk you.

2 hours is not a long time for someone to find the cache and then log it online.

Not everyone uses a smart phone to be able to log it online instantly at the cache site.

FTF is first to find the cache, not rush back home to log it online so others will see.

[+Walts Hunting]

OK thanks. Was just wondering. Came across another one that I got notified for. We went to get it and no one had logged it online but yet the logbook was signed two hrs before us. Pretty discouraging to bother rushing and thinking you stand a chance as FTF when some one else already did but didn't log it online for people to see.

 

Greg

You seem to be under the impression that everyone uses a phone to find and log a cache. I use a handheld and have to wait until I get home to log a FTF if I grab one. So just because the finder hasn't logged don't assume some nefarious intent.

 

OOPS Look like I am a repeat

Edited September 11, 2016 by Walts Hunting

[+Great Scott!]

You can log it before them, as long as you log it as a STF. They may log the cache later as the FTF. All that matters is who signed the material log first.

 

This is total BS! You do not ever have to mention in your log what order you found the geocache.

And who signed first is not all that matters.

Edited September 11, 2016 by Great Scott!

[+TriciaG]

You can log it before them, as long as you log it as a STF. They may log the cache later as the FTF. All that matters is who signed the material log first.

 

This is total BS! You do not ever have to mention in your log what order you found the geocache.

And who signed first is not all that matters.

I think Wildcat meant that you should not claim FTF for yourself simply because you logged online first. In that sense - in the FTF race sense - who signed the physical log first IS what matters.

[+Team DEMP]

'Back in the day' we would go out for an entire day and log on printed cache pages or an offline device/GPS. Once we got home, showered and ate, we would then log our caches. Sometimes Groundspeak would get so bogged down you had to wait until Monday or Tuesday to log your previous weekend finds.

 

Real time, though nice, isn't necessary. Log whenever you want.

[+deerdad]

I didn't even think about the ones without a smartphone. I thought I was one of the last people in the world to own one. That makes a bit of sense looking at it that way.

 

Greg

[+on4bam]

'Back in the day' we would go out for an entire day and log on printed cache pages or an offline device/GPS. Once we got home, showered and ate, we would then log our caches.

 

Exactly the way we do it for the last 10 years.

No need to be connected 24/7.

[+hzoi]

Sometimes Groundspeak would get so bogged down you had to wait until Monday or Tuesday to log your previous weekend finds.

 

And woe betide you if you were trying to download a pocket query on those days. I am pretty happy with the site infrastructure now, but even in 2007 and 2008, there were definitely times when it was best not to even think about hitting the website.

[+dprovan]

Other responses in this thread have made it clear you don't have to wait. Although never important, I used to drag my feet a little to give the FTF time to log first so the on-line log would be in find order, but that no longer makes sense because just recently they changed how they order logs, so you logging after FTF no longer means your log will always appear after the FTF's log and vice versa. (In fact, our working theory on the current log ordering is that if you log in the field from the app, your log will appear after the FTF if he logs at home through the web site.)

 

On your follow up comment, although it would be gracious of you to log your FTF right away, always go into an FTF hunt expecting to find someone else found it first. After all, it's not just people logging slowly: if you dashed out to GZ and someone else found it 2 minutes before you, the situation is just the same: it would have been impossible for you to learn the FTF had already been taken before you decided to leave. Just think of it the same way whether the FTF was 2 minutes before you or 2 hours before you.

[+NanCycle]

Not everyone uses a smart phone to be able to log it online instantly at the cache site.

 

You seem to be under the impression that everyone uses a phone to find and log a cache.

 

I'm starting to feel like a dinosaur for using a GPS instead of a smartphone, just like using a landline instead of a cell phone.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Not everyone uses a smart phone to be able to log it online instantly at the cache site.

 

You seem to be under the impression that everyone uses a phone to find and log a cache.

 

I'm starting to feel like a dinosaur for using a GPS instead of a smartphone, just like using a landline instead of a cell phone.

 

I still pay for dial service.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Not everyone uses a smart phone to be able to log it online instantly at the cache site.

 

You seem to be under the impression that everyone uses a phone to find and log a cache.

 

I'm starting to feel like a dinosaur for using a GPS instead of a smartphone, just like using a landline instead of a cell phone.

 

Found two caches today.

Both using a phone...

 

First find at 9.10am

Second find at 5.05pm.

 

Logged as Found, at home, 11.00pm.

[+JeepFreak81]

I have a smartphone but prefer to cache with my etrex 20. My caches get logged sometime that evening in most cases.

[+WarNinjas]

You can log it whenever you want and others can as well. Around here most of us FTF's know each other so we will usually log a note or found it log from our phone when found. It is often "FTF More Later" or something like that. It isn't necessary but can be nice to log it for others. I find it nice because sometimes I will wake up and see a new cache and try to hit it on my way to work making me a bit later then I would be. To see that notification it has been found is nice.