The Type of Stamps in Letterbox Hybrids

[+vw_k]

I've found over 100 letterbox hybrids on geocaching.com now and in at least 90% of them the stamp has been a pre-made children's crafts type stamp with something simple like a smiley face or a star shape. Only a handful have contained custom made stamps that are relevant to the cache. I've seen people say that they only want cheap stamps to put in so the cache qualifies for the letterbox hybrid icon.

 

I also find traditional Dartmoor letterboxes in Dartmoor national park, England and by comparison the majority of stamps are custom made (either hand carved or made professionally to the owner's design) and are relevant to the location, featuring the name of the place or perhaps something to do with the history or culture of Dartmoor. Even those with a pre-made stamp are usually of a higher quality with an interesting and sometimes relevant picture.

 

Does the "cheap children's stamp" phenomenon occur in other parts of the world too? How many cachers actually carry a notebook and ink to take a copy of the stamps they find? And if the stamps found in letterbox hybrids were more interesting would more people start carrying a letterboxing notebook?

[+lee737]

Another phenomena I'm noting more and more is the stampless LBH..... unfortunately these seem to be gaining traction....

The ones we have published so far, we've designed a stamp and had it custom made - they cost c.$30 I guess, but are a nice touch.

[Keystone]

1 hour ago, lee737 said:

Another phenomena I'm noting more and more is the stampless LBH..... unfortunately these seem to be gaining traction....

 You should be logging "Owner Action Requested" logs on any "stampless LBH," because that isn't a thing.  The presence of a letterboxing stamp is the sole distinguishing feature of the Letterbox Hybrid cache type.  Without a stamp, the cache would just be the underlying design - Traditional, Multi-Cache or Mystery Cache.  If the maintenance isn't performed, bring the problem to the attention of the local Community Volunteer Reviewer.

[+barefootjeff]

2 hours ago, vw_k said:

Does the "cheap children's stamp" phenomenon occur in other parts of the world too? How many cachers actually carry a notebook and ink to take a copy of the stamps they find? And if the stamps found in letterbox hybrids were more interesting would more people start carrying a letterboxing notebook?

 

LBH's are a rare cache type around here, with only four in the region (one of which was only published a couple of weeks ago), so probably not a good sample. I'm not sure now what sort of stamp the older two have, but my one (published last year) and the most recent one use similar custom-made stamps:

 

 

[+Goldenwattle]

6 hours ago, vw_k said:

at least 90% of them the stamp has been a pre-made children's crafts type stamp with something simple like a smiley face or a star shape.

90% . I would say it's 100% of the 132 letter box caches I've found. With a few memorial exceptions, none have been different from a traditional cache with a stamp. My own wattle stamp, bought from a stamp speciality shop, even though a commercial offering, has been better and more interesting than them all. The micro letterbox (an oxymoron if ever there was) bison tube, naturally had no stamp or a log big enough to stamp, but called itself a letterbox. Also I have done a challenge cache that required a letterbox find of all sizes. How did that pass with being published? If Earthcaches with inactive owners are being archived, how about archiving all micro-sized letter box caches (a few exception, if any exist, such as the only cache in a country and similar), because if even if the stamp is outside the cache, the log is too small for others to stamp. Micro sized letterbox caches shouldn't exist, nor challenge caches demanding you find one.

[+Goldenwattle]

4 hours ago, Keystone said:

You should be logging "Owner Action Requested" logs on any "stampless LBH," because that isn't a thing.

That wouldn't work, as if others continue to log the find any NM becomes irrelevant and swamped. If someone continued to monitor the cache and finally puts an NA that might work, but not everyone continues to monitor caches, and might be shy to do this, if it isn't in their own country.

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, Goldenwattle said:

Micro sized letterbox caches shouldn't exist, nor challenge caches demanding you find one.

 

There's a micro LBH in Sydney I found earlier in the year. The container, from memory, was a small pill bottle or something similar, with a little round self-inking stamp in it, and there would have been room on its folded log sheet for someone to stamp it with a similar-sized stamp if they wanted to. I see someone even gave it an FP for being a micro LBH.

 

My own LBH (GCACAA0) is a regular-sized container with a spiral-bound A7 96-page logbook, so plenty of room for stamped logs but I don't think any of its 9 finders has done so.

[+Goldenwattle]

1 hour ago, barefootjeff said:

There's a micro LBH in Sydney I found earlier in the year. The container, from memory, was a small pill bottle or something similar, with a little round self-inking stamp in it, and there would have been room on its folded log sheet for someone to stamp it with a similar-sized stamp if they wanted to.

How many people's stamp is micro sized? The idea is that people stamp the log, so the log needs to be big enough for most stamps. However, try putting a stamp in the bison tube one I found.

[+barefootjeff]

22 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

How many people's stamp is micro sized? The idea is that people stamp the log, so the log needs to be big enough for most stamps. However, try putting a stamp in the bison tube one I found.

 

Actually a lot of the stamped logs I've seen in my own caches' logbooks would have been small enough to fit on the logsheets often used in the larger micros (containers smaller than 100ml but not by much). A micro doesn't have to be as small as a bison tube to still be a micro; one of mine (now archived) was a long narrow plastic tube (about 80ml volume) with a rolled up multi-page logbook inside that would have been okay for most of the stamps I've seen.

[+lee737]

I could make a micro letterbox.... admittedly it would be bigger than a bison, but wouldn't be hard. You just need a tiny stamp - you could make a weeny stamp that would slip into a bison I guess - we fit pencils in a lot of ours. No ink pad though....

[+Goldenwattle]

2 hours ago, lee737 said:

No ink pad though.

It should have that, as you can't expect others to necessarily want to use their own ink pad for another stamp. My stamp is wattle for example, and matching that the ink pad I use has yellowy orange ink*. The ink pad would be contaminated to put a stamp on it that last had been used on stamp pad with dark ink.

 

* Waterproof ink. I mention that as an aside, as too many people don't use waterproof ink and their stamp becomes illegible if the log gets damp. Buy waterproof ink. It exists.

[+cerberus1]

On 9/15/2024 at 4:30 PM, vw_k said:

Does the "cheap children's stamp" phenomenon occur in other parts of the world too? How many cachers actually carry a notebook and ink to take a copy of the stamps they find? And if the stamps found in letterbox hybrids were more interesting would more people start carrying a letterboxing notebook?

We've only found 14 LBHs, and twelve had a "cheap child's" china stamp inside.  Maybe it's different in the PMO ones (I don't do them...).

Our Crayola hardbound stamp book travels with us, as well as an ink pad and one of three custom Cerberus stamps

CJ's looks like three Scooby Doo heads....    I personally don't believe many are interested in the stamp, it's done for the smiley/stats...

[+Goldenwattle]

4 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

I personally don't believe many are interested in the stamp, it's done for the smiley/stats...

That's possibly because nearly all are cheap children's stamps. I don't think I have ever come across a special stamp in 132 letter box finds, unless it was maybe an early find and I was still finding out about the game. I thought it would be nice to collect the stamps, but then thought, do I want a book full of very boring children's stamps. The answer was no, so that's the reason I don't collect the stamps. If each stamp was individual (home made or a fancy commercial offering) I might have been collecting them.

[+JL_HSTRE]

On 9/16/2024 at 9:40 AM, Goldenwattle said:

It should have that, as you can't expect others to necessarily want to use their own ink pad for another stamp. My stamp is wattle for example, and matching that the ink pad I use has yellowy orange ink*. The ink pad would be contaminated to put a stamp on it that last had been used on stamp pad with dark ink.

 

* Waterproof ink. I mention that as an aside, as too many people don't use waterproof ink and their stamp becomes illegible if the log gets damp. Buy waterproof ink. It exists.

 

It because common in Florida not to include an ink pad in a Letterbox because ink pads ended up leaking everywhere far too often. At the every least they're in a good Ziplock, but even that is a risky proposition. 

[+JL_HSTRE]

I couldn't tell you how many Letterbox caches I've found are unique stamps because I have never been interested in collecting the stamps and thus rarely look at them. At least some where hand-carved.

 

I was gifted a LBH to hide which had a store-bought stamp, but was of decent size and quality. I hid it somewhere on-theme with the stamp. 

 

For me the appeal was that the extra effort usually meant a better CO and the ink stamp usually guaranteed a good container size (less likely to be a Small listed as a Regular and certainly no Micros listed as Small). They also tended to be non-urban hides to decrease muggle risk but not very difficult because of the size and family appeal.

 

One day I saw a new LBH in a parking lot and was confused how that could even happen. It was a self-inking children's stamp about the diameter of a quarter. It was a hint of things to come.

 

Hand-carved stamp usage has probably also declined due to risk of theft. Newbies or vultures taking stamps as swag, no matter the note in the container or on the cache page.

 

I agree LBH placements have become stats-driven, which has hurt the LBH experience for not only the true LBers, but even for people like me for whom LBHs are no longer reliable the way they once were.

[+hzoi]

I confess, I have never done a hand carved stamp for any of our litter box hides. I'm just not that creative, I'm afraid what it would look like if I tried. So I use store-bought, or found from the office stamps.

 

But I found one a couple weeks ago that was pretty weak. It was a bison tube, with a single character stamp glued to the outside. (Almost looked like they cut it out of a typewriter.) Technically a stamp was included, but definitely a cop out.

[+barefootjeff]

On 9/18/2024 at 11:17 AM, Goldenwattle said:

I don't think I have ever come across a special stamp in 132 letter box finds, unless it was maybe an early find and I was still finding out about the game.

 

Another new LBH was published locally last night, so I headed out this morning to attempt it (for the record, I was beaten to FTF honours by about half an hour). It has quite a sizeable commercially-made custom stamp in it, with this imprint of the stamp on the front page of the logbook.

 

[+arisoft]

6 hours ago, hzoi said:

But I found one a couple weeks ago that was pretty weak. It was a bison tube, with a single character stamp glued to the outside. (Almost looked like they cut it out of a typewriter.) Technically a stamp was included, but definitely a cop out.

 

The guideline strictly states that the stamp must be made of rubber.

 

A Letterbox Hybrid container must contain:

• A rubber stamp
• A logbook

I know a case where the stamp was replaced with a bunch of stickers and the reviewer was not satisfied when found out about it.

[+Oxford Stone]

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC718C2 the original poster visited my cache last May. Ammo box with what was originally a Dartmoor Letterobxer stamp inside. I agree with the OP - but as we live a few miles apart we're finding the same caches.

[+Hynz]

9 hours ago, hzoi said:

for any of our litter box hides

icky 

<scnr>

[+Goldenwattle]

10 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Another new LBH was published locally last night, so I headed out this morning to attempt it (for the record, I was beaten to FTF honours by about half an hour). It has quite a sizeable commercially-made custom stamp in it, with this imprint of the stamp on the front page of the logbook.

 

And that's how a letterbox cache at minimum should be. A special stamp and a good sized book to stamp. Otherwise, just make a traditional cache. If they were all that good I might consider collecting the stamps and carrying another ink pad.

 

Is the cache hidden under the bridge, and is that the view from the cache? If so brilliant🥇!

Edited September 20 by Goldenwattle

[+hzoi]

10 hours ago, arisoft said:

17 hours ago, hzoi said:

But I found one a couple weeks ago that was pretty weak. It was a bison tube, with a single character stamp glued to the outside. (Almost looked like they cut it out of a typewriter.) Technically a stamp was included, but definitely a cop out.

 

The guideline strictly states that the stamp must be made of rubber.

 

To clarify, it was rubber. I was just describing it.

 

7 hours ago, Hynz said:

17 hours ago, hzoi said:

for any of our litter box hides

icky 

<scnr>

 

LOL. You got me on the unintended typo. In this case, I applaud voice-to-text's editorial choice.

 

But(t) while we're on the subject, yes, actually...after finding GC6GG5Z, we were inspired to keep it going...

 

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC7CJX5

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC7XY96

 

Thanks for reminding me to get moving on #3. This time I need to actually use the appropriate cache type.

Edited September 20 by hzoi

[+barefootjeff]

7 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Is the cache hidden under the bridge, and is that the view from the cache? If so brilliant🥇!

 

The cache is a bit upstream of the bridge, but if using the water-access route you paddle under the bridge. Once ashore, there are letterboxing-style clues to follow to get to GZ and the cache itself is a "large" that sure isn't going to be muggled. It took the CO and his sons two days using a power boat and a trolley to place it.

[+Harry Dolphin]

On 9/15/2024 at 11:19 PM, Goldenwattle said:

If Earthcaches with inactive owners are being archived, how about archiving all micro-sized letter box caches (a few exception, if any exist, such as the only cache in a country and similar), because if even if the stamp is outside the cache, the log is too small for others to stamp. Micro sized letterbox caches shouldn't exist, nor challenge caches demanding you find one.

 

My micro LBH has two MKHs.  One with the log.  The other with the hand carved Bear Stamp.  It got a lot of favorite points.

[+Goldenwattle]

20 minutes ago, Harry Dolphin said:

 

My micro LBH has two MKHs.  One with the log.  The other with the hand carved Bear Stamp.  It got a lot of favorite points.

How big is the log? My stamp (not oversized) for instance is too big to stamp a micro log. And if I did stamp it (a strip of my stamp), and others did too, a micro log would be full in no time.

[+justintim1999]

The area in which I volunteer wanted me to add a letterbox series along with the geocaches I already had there.   I reached out to some active letterboxers for help and was surprised at the response I received.   They were all to happy to carve me a great stamp to replace the store bought one I had in my hybrid.  They were also able to carve just the right size stamp for the space.   Over time the stamp and gone missing a couple of times and they've replaced it with a new one every time. 

 

Stamp carvers love to carve.   If your considering adding a letterbox hybrid to your geocaching portfolio, don't hesitate to reach out for some local help.     

[+IXLegionAD120]

As a young teenager living in Plymouth, Devon on the doorstep back then of the original Letterboxing on Dartmoor before it spread to other Counties and Abroad and before Mobile phones and the internet! I was lucky enough to get into it by accident, seeing a small article in a local newspaper with subtle Hints where newcomers could begin to find clues. I remember with a friend we took a bus onto the Moors, we had been directed to visit one of the pubs, possibly The Two Bridges (the lounge area and a coke as we were fairly young), once we'd bought a drink we talked to the barman who gave us a few clues to closeby Letterboxes, One or two Dartmoor Pubs even have their own Letterboxes in the Pub these days.

 

One thing that became quickly clear was we needed to get our own Stamps made, we also needed a Compass and Ordnance Survey maps of Dartmoor, every Letterbox had a Stamp and ink pad and back then there was a Club, you had to collect and show 100 Stamps from letterboxes in your personal Logbook and you became a Member of the '100 Club' (Is there such a Club with Patches and Certificates in the GeoCaching community?), it wasn't easy to get clues to Letterboxes in the early stages, for us it was several Pubs on the Moors with clues behind the bars, also meeting fellow Letterboxers usually word of mouth how to contact them from the Pubs once they realised you were a serious Letterboxer. When you became a member of the 100 Club many more Letterbox clues were open to you as you could then gain access to a catalogue of clues.

 

The Clues to many letterboxes were fairly vague and put you into the rough vicinity of a Letterbox, others gave Co-Ordinates, popular Clues would be Co-Ordinates to a certain starting point and then the clues would be for instance: "head on a Bearing of 'x' degrees for 50 paces where a lone Oak Tree stands, from there walk 30 paces Due North, you will come to the left hand rock of a group of large rocks heading West, you are now very close to the Letterbox!" they were great because when you found one it really was a great achievement, several were well known as being extremely difficult to find and would require many visits before finding them. All had a Stamp and Ink Pad in them, rarely you would discover a Letterbox where one had been taken, if I remember correctly you would inform those rnning the 100 Club, another Pub was the Dolphin where Letterboxers would meet on a certain day, swap clues etc;

 

I am aiming to start placing a few Letterbox Hybrids out here very soon, I would like to think that anyone placing a Letterbox would need to show an image of their Rubber Stamp to the Reviewer before being Published, there is no reason why every Letterbox shouldn't have a very nice Stamp design reflecting the location of the Letterbox, the UK and US have really good Stamp companies online who sell a huge array of different types of stamps and ink pads, I really like the idea someone mentioned above of the waterproof ink.

 

How many Geocachers here have had a personal Stamp made? it's really interesting to see Stamps from fellow Geocachers, I got mine made from the UK for a few Pounds, I'll do the same for the Letterboxes I place out here, I was really pleased to see one difficult to reach Mountain Top Geocache I recently visited and Logged was almost 3 years old and only had one entry the FTF from a couple of years before and they had used a personal Stamp also. My thoughts are to accurately bring the Finder to a Start Point, from where there will be several clues leading from one waypoint to another before eventually leading to the Letterbox.

 

The first image below shows examples of how brilliant and detailed the Rubber Stamps were on Dartmoor, most back then had been hand cut, we can all these days come up with great design ideas and have company artists finalise them. My own Stamp is based on my GeoCaching name and to do with the infamous Roman Lost Legion, the Ninth Hispanic Legion IX, I'm originally from Sccotland and one of the myths is the Legion disappeared after crossing through Hadrian's Wall heading into Scotland's then Wild interior.

 

If other members have their own Stamps it would be really interesting to see them posted here and of any interesting Letterbox Stamp designs members have Found.