LetterBox hybrids

[+crosschk]

I went to the Letterboxing.org site and looked at the caches here. Are the typical letterbox hybrids just a stamp in addition to a box o swag. Or a completely different way of doing them?

 

Do I need to make/buy a stamp to do these?

[+seldon]

You can treat it just like a regular cache, trading swag or not. It will have a stamp in it that you can stamp your log with if you want, and you can use your own personal stamp (if you bring one along) to stamp/sign the log. Either way works.

[CoyoteRed]

I went to the Letterboxing.org site and looked at the caches here. Are the typical letterbox hybrids just a stamp in addition to a box o swag. Or a completely different way of doing them?

First, you have to understand a letterbox hybrid is a different animal than a pure letterbox. If you want to understand letterboxing go to the letterboxing sites with an open mind, not preconceptions from geocaching. For one thing, many boxing enthusiasts consider all trade items trash. They don't want it in their boxes. Ever.

 

Hybrids are part geocache and part letterbox. Some folks like them. Others, like myself, don't see the two hobbies as perfect meshes. I've gotten rid of my hybrids and made them pretty much one or the other. We've got two still listed as hybrids and they do have stamps, but don't have boxing-style clues or listed elsewhere. I just been too lazy to get a friendly reviewer to switch them over to traditionals, yet.

 

Do I need to make/buy a stamp to do these?

For pure letterboxes, it's part of the hobby. While you don't strictly need a signature stamp, it is part of the hobby.

 

For hybrids, you don't really need a stamp though it's part of the fun.

[+J-Way]

A letterbox hybrid as listed here can be nothing more than a traditional cache with a 50¢ stamp in it. It does not have to be cross-listed on Letterboxing.org or on Atlasquest.com (another popular letterboxing site).

 

Typically, though, a letterbox uses clues instead of coordinates to get to the final box, and is more fun (to me) than a follow-the-arrow type of cache. You still have to provide coordinates for at least the starting location to be listed here, and the coordinates have to be meaningful (not just the nearest parking lot).

 

The clues can be simple and direct, such as with this hybrid near me:

.. Follow your GPS to the posted coordinates, which are at a picnic area where you will see a sign noting "Outdoor Classroom" an an Eagle Scout Project. Enter the woods; follow the main trail away from the tracks. Within 1/4 mile, the trail will divide; turn right and follow the trail with the orange ribbons on trees. When you see a large V-Tree, you are very close. Go another 8 paces and look behind the next adult tree on the left, less than 8' off of the trail. This is an ammo box-cache and contains the usual log sheet, rubber stamp, separate stamp-log and cat-themed items. ...

 

Or more cryptic, like with this one:

Here is my journey, I liked it a lot.

Walk in my footsteps or hike you own thoughts.

I wore long pants and took a big stick,

after getting advice from a guy I call Rick.

Coordinates above are for a car lot,

but no cache you'll find, for there it is not.

Backtrack instead to the very first spot

towards cola road that leads to this lot.

About six five behind a round dot.

It's not very far, it's just a short trot.

About four tenths just short of a mile

you'll find the left road with rocks single file.

Six squatty sentries that were very stout

were guarding the entry that was my best route.

From the sixth stone look left to the crown

where three iron giants are there to be found.

Three brothers stand: slim, middle, then fat

the latter is where you need to be at.

His south eastern foot is where you should be

and from this position a new spot you'll see.

For yonder one hundred and sixty degrees

plus eight more they'll be a very strange tree.

It's old and quite big and sleeps on its side

although its split sister I think may have died.

But since it was winter t'was so hard to tell

and something so broken couldn't be well.

Speaking of winter, that White Witch's spell,

it was the best season and meant fewer yells.

But I digress, its time to move on

to find the lamppost and with it the Faun.

One hundred and seventy (to that add three)

is the course that you'll take, when leaving the tree.

Stick to the woods if that is your taste,

but I neared the road so as to make haste.

I walked in an arc, t'was a bit of a curve

till I met guards placed there to serve.

Count thirty four posts, including the wood,

and stop at the joint, indeed yes you should.

Then one, one, and one feet you should pace

at sixty degrees till the lamppost you face.

[+crosschk]

I went to the Letterboxing.org site and looked at the caches here. Are the typical letterbox hybrids just a stamp in addition to a box o swag. Or a completely different way of doing them?

First, you have to understand a letterbox hybrid is a different animal than a pure letterbox. If you want to understand letterboxing go to the letterboxing sites with an open mind, not preconceptions from geocaching. For one thing, many boxing enthusiasts consider all trade items trash. They don't want it in their boxes. Ever.

 

Hybrids are part geocache and part letterbox. Some folks like them. Others, like myself, don't see the two hobbies as perfect meshes. I've gotten rid of my hybrids and made them pretty much one or the other. We've got two still listed as hybrids and they do have stamps, but don't have boxing-style clues or listed elsewhere. I just been too lazy to get a friendly reviewer to switch them over to traditionals, yet.

 

Do I need to make/buy a stamp to do these?

For pure letterboxes, it's part of the hobby. While you don't strictly need a signature stamp, it is part of the hobby.

 

For hybrids, you don't really need a stamp though it's part of the fun.

 

Ok. so if its on gc.com, chances are its got both and I could almost treat it like a traditional. Having hte stamp makes it fun

[+joranda]

I set one up myself. I have a stamp and a ink pad along with a log book. That way both hunters get what they need.

[+Quiggle]

A letterbox hybrid as listed here can could be nothing more than a traditional regular cache with a 50¢ stamp in it.

Fixed to avoid confusion.

 

A LB hybrid can be pretty much any cache type, not just a traditional with a stamp. You talked about other options in the rest of the post, but the first bit could be misunderstood.

 

Ok. so if its on gc.com, chances are its got both and I could almost treat it like a traditional. Having hte stamp makes it fun

Doesn't have to be a traditional cache (ie at the posted coordinates). It must be a physical cache, and GPS must be used at some point.

Edited June 27, 2008 by Quiggle

[J.A.R.S.]

...Are the typical letterbox hybrids just a stamp in addition to a box o swag. Or a completely different way of doing them?

Letterbox hybrids can be packaged different ways but the essence of a letterbox hybrid is that it includes a stamp in the box.

 

Personally, I ask that people do not leave trinkets in my letterbox hybrids, for a number of reasons:

• I'm worried that the stamp might get confused as one of the trinkets and get traded out.
  
• I can use a smaller box if it does not contain trinkets. Smaller boxes are easier to hide.
  
• People still get to trade something. Instead of trinkets, you trade stamp images.
  
• I don't have to re-stock the cache every few months with new, clean trinkets.
  

In my area the typical letterbox hybrid does not include trinkets.

 

Do I need to make/buy a stamp to do these?

You do need to include a stamp in the letterbox hybrid cache. You can buy them or make them. Many letterboxers really enjoy a hand-carved stamp. They are a unique treasure - a one-of-a-kind piece of personal art. To make your own stamp, have a look at some of these "Carve your own stamps" tutorials.

[+briansnat]

Many people are confused by this category. A letterbox hybrid is simply a geocache AND a letterbox. It's not necessarily a geocache that is found LIKE a letterbox.

 

You can post a traditional cache here, meaning a cache directly referenced by coordinates. You can then list it on a letterboxing site using letterbox clues. Cross listing it on a letterboxing site would make sense, otherwise there is really not much of a point in making it a hybrid ( though GPS coordinates alone are a legit letterboxing clue). What makes it a hybrid in this website's eyes is the presence of a stamp in the container.

 

You can also create an offset cache with the GPS bringing you to a certain spot, and follow letterboxing-like clues from there to the cache. As long as the GPS is an integral part of finding the cache somewhere in the process it's eligible for publishing here. Of course the letterbox type clues are not necessary to make it a hybrid. Again, what makes it a hybrid is simply the stamp and the cache type.