Listing Letterboxes

[+Touchstone]

I did an actual Letterbox the other day that wasn't listed on gc.com (I got the clues off of the letterbox.org site), and thought it was such a great location that it was a pity that cachers don't get to see it.

 

Has anyone listed letterboxes that they didn't own on this site. I didn't feel right "hijacking" the box and listing it, so I contacted the owner through the letterbox site. Either the email isn't working over there, or the owner is blowing me off. I didn't feel right putting another box in the location, thinking it would just contribute to more geo-litter.

 

Any thoughts?

[+strikeforce1]

Do not list it. It's not yours. As for the email to the owner, give it two weeks min., they could be on vacation!

Try emailing again, then.

Do not hijack the box, you would not want it done to your box/cache .

You must be patient !

Just sit on , is the advice I can give you!

SF1

[+Renegade Knight]

Letterboxers don't always want geocachers hacking their log book.

 

I found a letterbox on accident with a hand bound log book with nice stamps on some of the pages and all the geocacher signatures adn TNLN comments on it really were tacky compaired to the stamps. Looking back I regret signing it at all and it made me decide to get a samp.

 

If you really want to show the area to geocachers I'd place a cache there far enough away to prevent accidental finds (point out the letterbox on your cache page just in case) and use that method. If you have the letterbox within 528' of your cache you would be doing them a favor. When a cache does find the spot and place a cache there they may not knwo about the letterbox and place to where confusion rules the day creating problems for both the cache and the letterbox.

[+Boo & Kitty]

I placed a cache in a park that already contained a letterbox. I thought that some cachers might want to try to find both. So I posted a link to the letterbox's page.

 

FWIW, no cacher has yet mentioned the letterbox in any of my cache's logs.

[+SixDogTeam]

Hide your own cache there!

[+Thot]

Has anyone listed letterboxes that they didn't own on this site.  . . .  I contacted the owner through the letterbox site.  Either the email isn't working over there, or the owner is blowing me off.

 

I'd say you definitely should not list somebody else’s letterbox as a geocache.

 

I think there are several reasons not to but, number one, it’s not yours and he may not want to maintain a cache.

 

I think it's very possible he's blowing you off. From what I've read some (many?) letterboxers specifically oppose (refuse to) listing their letterboxes as caches. They have objections to the geocaching process that I can't recall right now.

Edited September 11, 2004 by Thot

[+Boo & Kitty]

I think it's very possible he's blowing you off.  From what I've read some (many?) letterboxers specifically oppose (refuse to) listing their letterboxes as caches.  They have objections to the geocaching process that I can't recall right now.

While I would not brand all Letterboxers this way, there are some that deffinately have a real chip on their shoulder. I'm sure they could say the same about us cachers...

 

However, one of the problems that GGA has encountered is that since Letterboxing flys under the radar, Letterboxes have shown up in places that have restrictions on GeoCaches.

 

Here's a link to one of the threads on the GGA board: Letterboxing in State Parks?!?

Edited September 12, 2004 by Boo & Kitty

[Agent N.]

I think it's very possible he's blowing you off. From what I've read some (many?) letterboxers specifically oppose (refuse to) listing their letterboxes as caches. They have objections to the geocaching process that I can't recall right now.

 

Sometimes Letterboxers have a differant e-mail for LBs and don't check it every day sometimes it takes a week or two befor I get a reply

 

I would not list my Letterbox as a cach because they are differant Letterboxes use rubber stamps caches have other goodys half the fun of letterboxing is "stamping in" if you listed it as a cach, geos who don't letterbox (and dont have a stamp) would find it and not stamp in. you have to stamp in, its the rules of letterboxing.

[+Touchstone]

Just to follow up:

 

I got a very nice reply from the Letterbox owner (he wasn't snooty at all), and their family decided not to have it listed on GC.com. His reason was that he was afraid that the increased traffic to the site would increase it's chances of getting plundered. I can respect his decision, especially considering the fact that the homemade stamp in the box is very nice. Two nearby caches have been archived within the last year because of plundering and I'd feel pretty rotten if the same happened to his Letterbox.

 

Thanks for all the comments. I love you guys

[funhog_Lb]

Greetings cachers, I am a very active (shall we say obsessed) letterboxer. I'd like to comment on this thread. I have lost more than one of my handcarved rubber stamps to geocachers and have visited other letterboxes where this has also happened. Those tell-tale plastic toys are a dead giveaway to the whereabouts of the stamps. As disheartening as this is, I attribute it to newbie error. I figure some new cachers have never even heard of letterboxing and wouldn't recognize a letterbox if they saw one.

 

I have contacted owners of nearby caches when I have lost a stamp and requested that they put a note on their listing asking not to mistake the letterbox for the cache. Most have been very nice and happy to do so. I have also started putting "This is NOT a Geocache" label on my boxes. For the most part I would rather not have my boxes listed on the geocaching.com site just to avoid the increased traffic and the resulting environmental impact.

 

As for the issue of letterboxes in State Parks... I have personally met with a number of Rangers in various Oregon State Parks to discuss letterboxing on their properties. In every single case I have left with a positive result. I even managed to sway one park director away from a firm "no!" Hopefully, this will benefit both of our hobbies. Let's all try to be good stewards of the land so that we can still use the land... Funhog :@)

[nobby.nobbs]

on this subject. i know of an area where they are allowed to place letterboxes only if they do not advertise them in any way. ie if they were listed on a website they would all get removed by the land managers! all new people have to find out by word of mouth.

so another reason for people to not hi-jack!