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Letterbox Hybrid


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We recently found a letterbox hybrid on one of our geocaching adventures.

 

Currently, we have a few other caches in place but would like to add a letterbox hybrid cache.

Our attempt to find more guidelines in the knowledge books did not broaden our understanding all that much.

 

For what I can gather, we need to create a stamp to place into and stays with the cache...that we can get covered quite easily.

 

Our Questions:

1. Is there anything else special that needs to be done for a letterbox hybrid other than the stamp?

2. For those who own a letterbox hybrid or have experience with them, are self-inking stamps a good idea?

3. The letterbox hybrid we found did NOT have an ink pad only the stamp...is this typical?

 

Any insights would be appreciated.

 

FWIW, we did bounce the general concept off our local reviewer and he was supportive in concept.

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The answer to your first question is "no." The sole distinguishing feature of a letterbox hybrid is the required presence of a stamp. Letterbox style clues are not required. These are allowed, however, so long as GPS use is also an integral part of the cache design.

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The only thing that a letterbox hybrid needs to qualify it on this site is a stamp. As the guidelines state, these caches "must contain a signature stamp that stays with the cache." I have done a few letterbox hybrids where the stamp is the only thing that distinguishes the cache from a traditional.

 

With that said, in my letterbox hybrid caches I try to do a bit more. I want the cache to bear some relation to letterboxing (but keep in mind the guideline that hybrids cannot be designed to be found only using clues) and have designed them to be cross listed on letterboxing sites. I have a separate log book for letterbox stamps than I do for geocaching signatures - and include a separate informational note about each. None of this is required, but to me it is what makes letterboxing hybrids more fun to create and to do. I enjoy it when letterboxers come to the cache and have positive comments about the experience.

 

Many actual letterboxes have hand carved stamps. As the Atlas Quest letterboxing site states; "The box is expected to have a logbook that finders can log into and a unique stamp, usually hand-carved, that the finder can stamp into their own personal logbook as a record of all the letterboxes they've found." The North Amertican letterboxing site states that the choice between commercial and handmade stamps is a personal and artistic one. I am not a good carver, so I have found hand made stamps online that fit into the theme of my letterbox caches. That is not required to list a letterbox hybrid on this site, but again I think that it makes the cache stand out.

 

Letterboxes themselves do not require ink pads. Although many do contain stamps, Atlas Quest recommends that people bring their own ink pads:

 

"Many letterboxes contain ink pads, but you should always bring your own since most do not, and even if they do, the ink pad in the box could be frozen solid, dried up, and otherwise incapacitated. Most letterboxers carry several small ink pads with varying colors."

 

I have put ink pads in my caches for the convenience of cachers, but if I bring my stamp to a letterbox cache, I also bring my own ink pad -- as Atlas Quest noted, ink pads left in boxes can become unusable. In this regard, I would not recommend a self-inking stamp because it seems like there might be more potential for problems. An ink pad, then, is not required in either letterbox hybrid caches or in letterboxes - nor would I necessarily expect to find one in a hybrid cache.

Edited by mulvaney
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As Keystone noted, letterbox-style clues aren't required for a letterbox hybrid cache. But they are fun, since they help to distinguish a letterbox experience from that of your more typical caches. Here's a good example.

 

Letterbox hybrid caches should have a stamp that people can use to mark their personal letterbox journals (if they have one). Some people who do letterbox caching bring a personal stamp that they will use to "sign" the cache's log book. But most geocachers won't have a personal stamp, so it's nice (but not required) if you can provide several stamps that they can pick from to mark the cache's log.

 

I think most letterbox caches start off with either a self-inking stamp or an ink pad. Sometimes, however, someone might swap for the ink pad if you don't make it clear that it should stay with the cache. Ink isn't required, but it's courteous to provide it.

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1. Is there anything else special that needs to be done for a letterbox hybrid other than the stamp?

 

See Keystone's answer

 

2. For those who own a letterbox hybrid or have experience with them, are self-inking stamps a good idea?

 

In the LB world hand carved stamps are de riguer, so if you are going to make a cache that is available to letterboxers you might want avoid self inking or any store bought stamp.

 

3. The letterbox hybrid we found did NOT have an ink pad only the stamp...is this typical?

 

I've found letterboxes with stamp pads but most don't have them because if water gets inside it makes for quite a nasty mess.

 

Letterboxers almost without exception carry their own stamp pads and most geocachers won't be stamping, so a stamp pad inside isn't really necessary

Edited by briansnat
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We recently found a letterbox hybrid on one of our geocaching adventures.

 

Currently, we have a few other caches in place but would like to add a letterbox hybrid cache.

Our attempt to find more guidelines in the knowledge books did not broaden our understanding all that much.

 

For what I can gather, we need to create a stamp to place into and stays with the cache...that we can get covered quite easily.

 

Our Questions:

1. Is there anything else special that needs to be done for a letterbox hybrid other than the stamp?

2. For those who own a letterbox hybrid or have experience with them, are self-inking stamps a good idea?

3. The letterbox hybrid we found did NOT have an ink pad only the stamp...is this typical?

 

Any insights would be appreciated.

 

FWIW, we did bounce the general concept off our local reviewer and he was supportive in concept.

 

Please make the letterbox stamp an important part of the experience. So many people just throw any old stamp into the box and call it a "letterbox". The stamp is usually something found in the kid's toybox and has no connection to the box's theme or location. If your main purpose in hiding a letterbox is about taking someone to a landmark and then giving them directions from the landmark to the letterbox, that cache type is already covered as an Unknown, or even a Multi if you use stages. Here's my vent about letterboxes: Letterbox hybrid pet peeve

 

If you really want to make your box special and unique, carve your own stamp. Get an xacto knife with a #11 blade and a white vinyl eraser and make your own.

Edited by Lone R
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3. The letterbox hybrid we found did NOT have an ink pad only the stamp...is this typical?

 

I use to include stamp pads in the box but

 

1. If water gets in the box it'll make a mess of everything

2. The stamp pad can still make a mess of everything eventually, ink gets all over the baggie and the logbook and the inside of the box

 

Just mention in your description that it's BYOI (bring your own ink). Anyone who's really into letterboxes will have their own supplies (and usually an assortment of colors).

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Before I made my first letterbox I didn't realize the value the stamp had to LBers. I was contacted by one of the finders of my cache and they kindly offered to make one for me. It is fantastic and really adds to the overall quality of my LBH. Put the thought and effort into your LBH (or find a person kind enough to do it) and you will enjoy the reactions.

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Wow, we sure hope we did not inadvertently offend the letterbox crowd...not our intent.

It appears we may have and we apologize for our clumsy information gathering.

 

We have only dealt with this site and did not realize the other sites provided so much information...probably why the knowledge books are so sparse on this topic.

 

We appreciate all of the replies, links and suggestions...looks like we are going to need to figure out how to carve a stamp.

 

Happy Caching...oh and Happy Letterboxing, too! - hawkeyetob

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Wow, we sure hope we did not inadvertently offend the letterbox crowd...not our intent.

It appears we may have and we apologize for our clumsy information . . . .

 

There is no need to apologize and nothing you asked should have offended anyone here. People do letterboxes caches in many different ways. Some just put a commercial stamp in a cache that is at the coordinates. Some work to design a cache that is similar to the original letterboxes. Some like to cross-list their cache on a letterboxing site. Some like to hand carve stamps. The choice of what you do is a personal one and there is no right or wrong answer - although, like any other cache, the more work you put into it, the better it will be received.

 

As I indicated in my first reply, I like to make my letterbox caches similar to the original letterboxes - although I do not hand carve stamps myself they are hand made in keeping with the theme of the cache. But I would not suggest that this is the only way or even the best way to do it. I trust we did not come on too strong and overwhelm you in any way. None of the posts in this thread appear (to me) to take offense, but the forum works in strange ways sometimes and there is no shortage of opinion.

Edited by mulvaney
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have done 88 LBHs now (hope to have 100 by August) and I wish I had kept a little notebook of all the stamp designs from day 1. However, have learned that so many caches do not have them, or they have gone missing, I bet I would have been lucky to have found half with stamps still in them that were usable.

 

When they are in there and nice stamps, I think they are very cool. Another nice thing about a LBH is that is can be traditional like, multi like, or even puzzle like.

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Please make the letterbox stamp an important part of the experience. So many people just throw any old stamp into the box and call it a "letterbox". The stamp is usually something found in the kid's toybox and has no connection to the box's theme or location.

 

Guilty. I need to get some better stamps, I know this.

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Wow, we sure hope we did not inadvertently offend the letterbox crowd...not our intent.

It appears we may have and we apologize for our clumsy information . . . .

 

There is no need to apologize and nothing you asked should have offended anyone here. People do letterboxes caches in many different ways. Some just put a commercial stamp in a cache that is at the coordinates. Some work to design a cache that is similar to the original letterboxes. Some like to cross-list their cache on a letterboxing site. Some like to hand carve stamps. The choice of what you do is a personal one and there is no right or wrong answer - although, like any other cache, the more work you put into it, the better it will be received.

 

As I indicated in my first reply, I like to make my letterbox caches similar to the original letterboxes - although I do not hand carve stamps myself they are hand made in keeping with the theme of the cache. But I would not suggest that this is the only way or even the best way to do it. I trust we did not come on too strong and overwhelm you in any way. None of the posts in this thread appear (to me) to take offense, but the forum works in strange ways sometimes and there is no shortage of opinion.

 

 

went on letterboxing-found a letterbox to locate-lbna #34395--cuddle bear now if i go find this letterbox how do i record it without a gc # help have never done this before any help would be good

jazminedolly@hotmail.com

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Wow, we sure hope we did not inadvertently offend the letterbox crowd...not our intent.

It appears we may have and we apologize for our clumsy information . . . .

 

There is no need to apologize and nothing you asked should have offended anyone here. People do letterboxes caches in many different ways. Some just put a commercial stamp in a cache that is at the coordinates. Some work to design a cache that is similar to the original letterboxes. Some like to cross-list their cache on a letterboxing site. Some like to hand carve stamps. The choice of what you do is a personal one and there is no right or wrong answer - although, like any other cache, the more work you put into it, the better it will be received.

 

As I indicated in my first reply, I like to make my letterbox caches similar to the original letterboxes - although I do not hand carve stamps myself they are hand made in keeping with the theme of the cache. But I would not suggest that this is the only way or even the best way to do it. I trust we did not come on too strong and overwhelm you in any way. None of the posts in this thread appear (to me) to take offense, but the forum works in strange ways sometimes and there is no shortage of opinion.

 

 

went on letterboxing-found a letterbox to locate-lbna #34395--cuddle bear now if i go find this letterbox how do i record it without a gc # help have never done this before any help would be good

jazminedolly@hotmail.com

 

If it's a pure letterbox you don't log it here. Sometimes you don't record it anywhere other than your personal stamp book. SInce it's on LBNA there is a green flag in the upper right hand corner of the LB clue. Click on that if you found it and update the info.

 

Only letterbox hybrids listed here can be logged here.

Edited by briansnat
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