Ever wonder what the First To Find (FTF) fuss is about? Come and ask those that are FTF addicted.
WHERE?:
Fuddruckers, Club House Loft (Upstairs seating. Overflow will be in the general seating downstairs)
Willows Shopping Center
1975 Diamond Blvd # E260
Concord, CA 94520
WHEN?:
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Saturday, March 4th, 2017. PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE BEFORE 5:30 PM
6:30 PM – Game: KCSearcher's Blackout Bingo Mixer
7:15 PM – Announcements
7:30 PM – Prize raffle begins. Numbers will be called and listed on the white board.
8:30 PMish – last Prize will be a nearby FTF for all those that attend (yes, you must go with the group and sign the log)
WHO CAN ATTEND?:
Any current or future Geocacher of any age.
OR, anyone wanting to know more about Geocaching.
OR, anyone wanting to be bored by people talking about Geocaching (my geowidow is in this category).
WHO'S PROVIDING THE FOOD & DRINK?:
Each attendee is responsible for purchasing / bringing their own food and drink.
WHO'S PROVIDING THE NAME TAGS / BADGES?:
Fritz (a.k.a. ByeTheWay) will create a very nice name badge for you.
Click here ByeTheWay and send him an email with your Geocaching Name, Real First Name and City of Residence for each person attending either alone or in a group.
Examples: (FYI, Fritz had nothing to do with the hand written red Geowidow. That was Mr. KCSearcher's addition to Mrs. KCSearcher's badge)
WHAT ABOUT Trackables?
Yes, bring them. Place them. Discovery them. Retrieve them.
There will be a large container for all to share. There will be a "Place" and "Retrieve" log also.
Please record your Username and Tracking Code for each one you Place and/or Retrieve.
I don't want any to go missing as a result of my event. Hate when that happens.
For refresher on how to place them in this event, review Dropping off a Travel Bug section of How to use a Travel Bug®
WHO'S ELIGIBLE FOR RAFFLE PRIZES?:
100+ RAFFLE PRIZES: 1 ticket per person when registering (1 prize per person)
29 FTF PRIZES (pre-publication): 1 ticket per person when registering and 1 ticket per person for each donated quality raffle prize. A quality raffle prize is defined as:
1) a container with log ready to hide
2) an unregistered (a.k.a. unactivated) trackable
3) a Tool Of The Trade (TOTT)
4) a Gift Certificate valued at least $10
5) a geocaching related publication
6) any other geocaching item valued at $10 or more
WHO'S PROVIDING THE RAFFLE PRIZES?: (listed in order received)
KCSearcher
Lisa Breitenfeldt at Cache Advance, Inc.
KarenLona
David Rives at drives Cache Closet
Seek2FindMe
JoyfulNomad
camper248
Currymvp
Erin Thompson at Geocaching.com
Clyde England at GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife)
Magnus at Project-GC
Renee Freitas at Geoswag AND Oakcoins
JSQuack
A-JerseyThing
NoETA4
w01f
Virgojams
MelBindi
nsearls25
eeMintaka
Micro-Owls
SandCraze
fizzymagic
Annie Organ
lindyfind
whtabtbob
LSTee
Golfing Gal
Neophile
Team 5-12
ArchyTex
Mockteam
others TBD
Memberships:
2 of "One-Year Premium Membership Gift Certificate" to Geocaching.com
2 of "One-Year Membership Gift Certificate" to Project-GC"
1 of "Fully Paid Registered Version of GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife). Includes 3 separate 2-hour sessions with KCSearcher on how to use GSAK."
Gift Certificates / Discount Coupons:
1 of “$25 Gift Certificate” for shop.geocaching.com
1 of "$25 Gift Certificate" for REI
40 of "5% off coupon" for Cache Advance, Inc.
2 of “$5 Gift Certificate” for drives Cache Closet
1 of "For current users of GSAK, 3 separate 2-hour sessions on how to use Geocaching Swiss Army Knife"
Trackables (all Unregistered):
5 of "First to Find Micro Geo-Award"
5 of "First to Find Geocoin" - polished gold
1 of “CACHE CRATE”
1 of "Mardi Gras 2015 World Wide Multi Event Geocoin"
1 of "Josey Joy - Emotion Travel Tag"
1 of "Diana Disgust - Emotion Travel Tag"
1 of "Boonsboro 2015 Geocoin"
1 of "Holiday Ammo Can"
1 of "2016 CITO Tag"
1 of "Community Volunteers Tag"
1 of "Travel Bug Origins Tag"
1 of "1st Cacher Geocoin"
1 of "Geocaching Travel Bug"
1 of "Geocoin"
1 of "Travel Bug dog tag"
1 of "Holiday Ammo Can"
4 of "green tag"
1 of "magnetic travel bug, 3x6.5"
2 of "velcro-backed geocaching patch"
1 of "2x3" geocaching logo"
1 of "1.5x3" travel bug"
Publications:
1 of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching, 3e" by The Editors of Geocaching.com
1 of "Geocaching: Basic Beginner's Guide" by Vince Migliore
1 of "How To Puzzle Cache" by Cully Long
1 of "Creative Containers for Geocaching" paperback by Vince Migliore
1 of "101 Devil Caches" paperback by EJ Martin & Kurt Milligan (I know I'm going to regret this)
1 of "Managing Anger with CBT For Dummies" for those that get cranky when the FTF is found and not logged promptly. Watch this video of a crazed FTF fanatic reacting to late FTF logging.
2 of "Geocaching GPS: Great Personal Stories of Geocaching Firsts, Volume 2" by Kimberly Eldredge.
Tools of the Trade (TOTT):
1 of "Pik Stik Telescopic Reaching Arm - Blue - Adjustable (30-44")"
1 of "Telescoping 15 pound magnetic pick up tool"
6 of "Ming Qun Invisible Ink Pen with Uv Light"
1 of "KMASHI 12 LED UV Light Ultraviolet Flashlight Blacklight (bundled with UV pen)"
3 of "CACHE ADVANCE OFFICIAL GEOCACHE Stickers, 3.75" x 6.25”"
5 of "Celebrating 15 Years of Geocaching badges, orange, 2.5 in diameter"
2 of "Tall Boy 16 oz cup" to hold your favorite beverage while you're doing container prep
1 of "Copy Tag Buddy" to attach to your lost or missing trackable geocoin or tag
2 of "Camo Duck Tape Role, 10 yards"
1 of "LED Flashlight with flexible telescopic head with 7 pound magnetic head pull capacity, water resistant & shockproof"
1 of "3 foot retractable claw with lighted end"
1 of "UV flashlight"
2 of "Small First Aid Kit"
1 of "slightly used Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx GPSr. Includes: a) Owner's Manual, b) Quick Start Guide (is there ever a 'Slow Start Guide' 
), c) computer cable d) automobile power cord, and e) Maps: City Navigator-North America NT, version 214.1"
1 of "Bucket of AA batteries" see Team 5-12's log
Containers:
2 of "11” x 5-1/2” x 7” Ammo Can, metal, green"
2 of "10” x 3-1/2” x 6-3/4”Ammo Can, metal, green"
1 of "Loaded Ammo Box"
1 of "Silver Small Bison Tube"
1 of "Gold Small Bison Tube"
1 of "Green Small Bison Tube"
1 of "Red Small Bison Tube"
1 of "Blue Small Bison Tube"
1 of "Black Small Bison Tube"
1 of "Cammoed Small Bison Tubes"
5 of "Regular size"
5 of "Small size"
5 of "Micro size"
5 of "Nano size"
2 of "5 pack Stubby Bison Tubes - Silver"
1 of "2 pack small bison, black & camo"
4 of "10” x 2-1/2” cylinder"
4 of "8” x 2-1/4” cylinder"
1 of "5” x 2-1/2” cylinder"
3 of "3 pack Preforms"
2 of "4 pack 1-5/8” x 3-1/2” cylinder"
2 of "3 pack 1-1/2” x 1-1/2” cylinder"
2 of "6 pack tapered specimen tubes"
1 of "4 pack cylinder specimen tubes"
1 of "2 pack 1/2” x 1/2” glass bottle"
1 of "1-3/4” x 3/8” tan specimen tube"
1 of "Bison Tube Micro Cache - Camo"
2 of "Hanging Nano Cache - Green"
1 of "Nano Cache - Silver"
1 of "Micro Ammo Can v.3"
1 of "Texas Style Squatty Bison"
3 of "HAK (Hide-A-Key) magnetic rectangular black"
1 of "HAK (Hide-A-Key) rock"
2 of "2-3/4” x 1-3/4 x 4” Decon Kit"
1 of "Pine Cone camoed micro specimen tube"
1 of "Camoed Nano of Olaf Itoff's design"
1 of "Camoed Small of Olaf Itoff's design"
2 of "Small magnetic nanos"
2 of "Bison tubes"
2 of "Camo pill bottles"
2 of "Camo large peanut butter jar size"
2 of "Camo flat packs"
1 of "Ammo Can"
1 of "Small Camo Pill Bottle"
2 of "Micro Camo Pill Bottle"
1 of "5 inch Camo Preform Soda Bottle"
4 of "Nano Tubes"
10 of "small containers cammoed with logs"
1 of "small birdhouse, 3.5 x 4 container with logsheet"
1 of "match holder container with log"
1 of "key case container with log"
1 of "film container with log"
1 of "1.9 quart Lock & Lock" fully-loaded with rite-in-the-rain log booklet, pen, an unregistered travel bug, and a bunch of swag
2 of "Ammo Cans"
2 of "Wooden logs"
2 of "Camo Flat Packs"
2 of "Large Camo Containers"
1 of "Sprinkler Head"
1 of "Camo PVC peg"
2 of "Camo Pill Bottles"
2 of "Small Bison Tubes"
1 of "Medium Bison Tube"
1 of "3 ¼” X 2” camo'ed snus can"
1 of "4 1/4" X 2 1/2" camo'ed lock 'n lock"
3 of "Camoed Pill Bottles"
1 of "Title Cache Submarine. Magnetic."
Blank Logs:
11 of "7 pack 3-1/2” wide logs"
8 of "20 pack 1.5” bison logs"
3 of "12 pack 1-1/8” wide logs"
Apparel:
1 of "New Men's Large T-shirt, logo “Will work for cache”"
1 of "New Men's Medium Sweatshirt, Picture of an “Ammo Can” on the front"
1 of "XL Men's Geocaching T-Shirt"
1 of "LEG Women's Geocaching Footprint T-Shirt"
AND MORE:
to come prior to and on the day of the event. THANKS
29 New caches for Pre-publication FTF runs (all within 7 miles 
of the event). Some names have been partially redacted as the entire name would have given the location away.
Eat Left or Right. This one will be the group FTF for all attendees that actually go and sign the log on the night of the event.
Tight Fit
Waterfowl & Petroleum do mix
Ivy Trees
NOT Ivy Trees
NOT in the Ivy
Metal protecting Wood
National Guard
Whole Bench
Pole Binder
... Another ... Trailhead
... see the plastic bag catchers?
... 3/4
... EXIT ONLY
... EXIT NOW!!!
... See the EXIT
Urban Forest
... Truely ...
Colliding Galaxies
Are There Yutes Nearby?
Got Water?
Right Turn, Left Turn depends on travel
Keep Keep Keep Clear Clear Clear
Palms can be as bad as Ivy
Don't Park Here
Money, Gas, & Shopping
NO COPPER WIRE USED ON SITE
Bison - California - v2.0
Gone to the dogs
The pre-publication caches have been placed and will be published on or about 4:00 PM on March 8th.
HUGE Thank You to Nomex for reviewing these, reserving the location, and staging them for publication after the event!!!
I LOVED this when I saw it the first time: The Geocaching Junkie “The 10 Types of Geocacher” HUGE THANKS to Sarah Murphy for her clever and creative writing skills.
Of the 10 counts against me, here’s how I plead:
On count #1, Guilty - of course, except that I share as many as practical. When a potentially disagreeable and tense situation threatens to erupt over who gets to claim the FTF, consider verbal de-escalation techniques. Really, no aggression is necessary or called for!!!
On count #2, Guilty - love stats no matter how meaningless.
On count #3, Guilty - mostly when an FTF is involved.
On count #4, Not Guilty - what's a map? what's a compass?
On count #5, Guilty - only of a misdemeanor.
On count #6, Guilty - again, only of a misdemeanor. My Caching Karma is above 2.0, what's yours?
On count #7, Guilty - I only committed this offense 3 times (and it was exhausting). There will be people at this event the will have committed multiple felonies.
On count #8, Not Guilty - Break the rules? Me?!?!?! 
On count #9, Guilty - Have done this a few times.
On count #10, WAY Not Guilty - However, my geowidow IS GUILTY, especially the “…looking tired and bored” part.
From the Geocache Tribune: The FTF Code of Honor. I agree with these for the most part. Sharing is a good thing, as long as it minimizes damage to the person doing the sharing. IMHO, that’s always the case with FTF’s.
Here are some of my favorite FTFs:
| ~ Date ~ |
~ Description ~ |
~ Cache Name ~ |
~ Cache Owner ~ |
~ My FTF log ~ |
| Aug 8, 2007 |
1st in Oregon AND my very 1st |
D.I.R. CACHE |
daveydude |
log |
| Aug 12, 2007 |
1st in California |
HIGH 5 |
Jug & Roon |
log |
| Jul 10, 2008 |
1st in Idaho |
In Honor of Winning the GBES Rally 2008 |
seven valleys |
log |
| Jul 11, 2008 |
Took 2 days |
Owyhee River Overlook |
KidsDog&I |
log |
| Oct 9, 2008 |
Coords really bad |
Cheap Seats Nano |
Fathom16 |
log |
| May 13, 2009 |
1st in Florida |
Maitland Creek Bridge |
Hang Em High |
log |
| May 13, 2009 |
Furthest at 2,412.58 miles |
Maitland Creek Bridge |
Hang Em High |
log |
| May 13, 2009 |
Most Easterly about 7 miles north of Orlando Florida |
Maitland Creek Bridge |
Hang Em High |
log |
| May 16, 2009 |
Most Southerly about 9.5 miles southwest of Orlando Florida |
Platitudinous #25 Undercover at Sand Lake |
War1man and MiMi |
log |
| Feb 28, 2010 |
Took some planning |
Pump it up! |
Larry4567 |
log |
| Jul 27, 2010 |
OTF (Only one To Find) then Archived |
Lost Lake Overlook |
NateSquared |
log |
| Mar 4, 2011 |
Most Westerly about 5 miles east of Port Orford Oregon |
Hatch and Cache |
family explorer |
log |
| Mar 6, 2011 |
Nice to have a caching sister & brother |
KCSearcher is 60!!!!!!!! |
LSTee |
log |
| May 25, 2011 |
1st in Nevada |
WilE's Challenge |
Baad Daata |
log |
| Jun 3, 2011 |
Favorite TV Show |
Leave It To Beaver |
lambergeknee |
log |
| Jun 18, 2011 |
My 1st Earthcache FTF |
Castle Lake – Moraine |
TerryDad2 |
log |
| Jul 15, 2011 |
Grew up nearby and 1st time this close was 40 years later |
Giant Golf Ball in the sky |
Adventure Tours |
log |
| Oct 9, 2011 |
OTF (Only one To Find) still Active |
Uatu the Watcher |
sujojeepers |
log |
| Jan 7, 2012 |
Took some stamina & perseverance |
Eager Beaver Challenge |
Alamogul |
log |
| Feb 25, 2012 |
My 1st Puzzle FTF |
Bear Bryant |
Bear Creek Cachers |
log |
| Apr 13, 2012 |
I DID lose my glove |
KC's Lost Glove |
Alamogul |
log |
| Jul 19, 2012 |
Most photos |
Cabin Fever |
Annellef7 |
log |
| Jul 23, 2012 |
My 1st Multi FTF |
Electromagnetic Radiation |
bassocantor |
log |
| Jul 28, 2012 |
One of highest Terrain |
Ode to Signal Peak (a.k.a. Red Mountain) |
Clan Mac! |
log |
| Aug 4, 2012 |
Took lots of teamwork |
Merty Mt. (McLoughlin) |
HsSrvnt |
log |
| Aug 21, 2012 |
Qualified in a 17+ hour day traveling 410.7 miles |
The 15+ Counties Cached in a Day Challenge |
camper248 |
log |
| Jun 23, 2012 |
1st in Washington |
Doubloon Dune |
flexifoil21 |
log |
| Oct 8, 2012 |
I like finding caches in different counties |
Counties Challenge |
Alamogul |
log |
| Feb 9, 2013 |
Great view from here with 2 of my grandsons & lindyfind |
Mt. Caroline Livermore |
DragonsWest |
log |
| Mar 24, 2013 |
1st in Iowa |
Feast 2 |
corefam jr |
log |
| Mar 30, 2013 |
1st in Wisconsin |
Hard left |
inbedby10 |
log |
| Apr 2, 2013 |
By far the most expensive |
6 States-1 Day-West of Mississippi River Challenge |
JoyfulNomad |
log |
| Apr 4, 2013 |
1st in Illinois |
Pine Corner |
1996xr650l |
log |
| May 5, 2013 |
1st in Arizona |
Tall Cotton |
Allred |
log |
| May 5, 2013 |
1st in Utah |
Old Farts Beware |
KanabPJs |
log |
| Sep 11, 2013 |
Early cacher gets the FTF |
Did you know? The history of binoculars! |
GeoGrins |
log |
| Jan 4, 2014 |
Oldest at 4 years, 11 months, 16 days from publication to FTF |
Tinky |
articul8 |
log |
| Feb 27, 2014 |
Youngest at 6 minutes from publication to FTF |
Lindys first cache(take two) |
lindyfind |
log |
| Mar 12, 2014 |
Nearest at 0.34 miles |
IS THAT A CAR WASH? |
HairboneZombieGEO |
log |
| May 7, 2014 |
My 1st Letterbox Hybrid |
Maker Made-- Gibson Hill |
rtmyss |
log (short) |
| Jul 11, 2014 |
My 1st Wherigo™ Cache |
Crayola Series: Mulberry |
Alamogul |
log (short) |
| Sep 1, 2014 |
3 FTFs in 3 States in 1 day, last one was |
Cherry Hill |
SKYWISE1 |
log |
| Sep 2, 2014 |
Most Northerly about 5 miles north of Sandpoint Idaho |
The Bark Stops Here |
lizhan |
log |
| Sep 12, 2014 |
1st in Montana |
Tee Pee Point Lookout |
DicksRock |
log |
| Oct 11, 2014 |
5 FTFs in 5 Counties in 1 day, last one was |
The Cattle Guard to the Carrizo Plain!!! |
elrojo14 |
log |
| Oct 23, 2014 |
One of the best lone night hike FTF |
Rust Bucket |
bobf |
log |
| Nov 16, 2014 |
Favorite Sunrise (see 4th photo in log) |
Hanna Grove Trail Singletrack #3 |
JSQuack |
log |
| Nov 19, 2014 |
1,000th FTF |
D.V.C. San Ramon Campus: Gravel Lot |
mgallinatti |
log |
| Dec 4, 2014 |
Favorite guardrail FTF |
guardraiL |
CShare |
log |
| Apr 8, 2015 |
One of highest Difficulty |
Well Mapped Cacher (mjp303 motorbug) Challenge |
bthomas |
log |
| Apr 10, 2015 |
Finally, my 1,111 day streak pays off (also OTF - Only to find) |
3 years - 1,095 consecutive days Challenge |
Logscaler and Red |
log |
| Jul 24, 2015 |
Finally, an FTF in every California County |
Cub Scout Pack 411 - Inagural Camp-out |
mahlerosa |
log |
| Jul 24, 2015 |
Last one of longest power trail (105) |
Oh I wish I was in Dixie 154 |
Team SageBrushers |
log |
| Jul 24, 2015 |
Last one of the longest day (107) |
Don't Moooove Me |
Floragaard |
log |
| Sep 30, 2015 |
1st in Wyoming |
Bridger Gap or Bust! #11 |
dragonaz |
log |
| Oct 1, 2015 |
One of highest D/T Combinations |
The Beady Beach |
Zavor62 |
log (short) |
| Oct 3, 2015 |
1st in Colorado |
COUT |
GPS Nav |
log (short) |
| Feb 29, 2016 |
Final to complete my FTF Blackout Bingo (only 177 feet from my house!!!) |
February 29 GZ: 00:00 |
Tempus Fugit |
log (short) |
| Feb 29 2016 |
Most recent on 02/29/2016 |
Animal Bucket R1 |
Olaf Itoff |
log (short) |
And of course: KCSearcher's Feb29 Experiment RESULTS See KCSearcher's Feb29 2012 #01 Experiment cache page for details.
Please feel free to add your favorite links when you post your log.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS based on logs posted thru 3/4/2016:
Cachers getting more than 1 FTF in the series on 2/29 (count - who):
7 - Shark Z
6 - GeoTabG (at an event in Walnut Creek we attended, he told me “It’s like eating potato chips. You can’t stop with just one“
4 - Dalphin
4 - BIG BEAR.
4 - Blackknight9
4 - Storyhaven
2 - Budzdunwerkin
2 - LewisClan77
2 - lindyfind
2 - skwirlqueen (but she offered to rectifiy the situation with her log on “KCSearcher's Feb29 2016 #B12 Experiment” )
2 - Virgojams
2 - where2next?
Cachers exemplifying the sharing spirit:
1 - whtabtbob, AF6PU, RV CREW, CShare, hydnsekr on “KCSearcher's Feb29 2016 #A08 Experiment”
Hypothesis observations have been put forward (and I think they have a point after seeing 12 cachers find more than 1):
dkata's log
alveragiro's log
Looking forward to seeing you there!!!