The birthplace of letterboxing, located in southwest England, home to a reputed 10,000 or more letterboxes.

A small ink pad, loved by many letterboxers for their small size and ability to do detailed stampings with multiple colors. They look like miniature pens with a small ink pad on each end.

The difference in degrees between magnetic north and true north for a given point on earth.

A dependency is a type of restricted letterbox that cannot be seen on Atlas Quest unless someone has recorded a find on specific unrelated box. Most commonly, these sorts of restrictions are used on bonus boxes—which clearly cannot be found by someone until after the box with the clue has been found first.

The edge of the compass housing marked with degrees.

The arrow on the base plate of a compass that points in the direction of interest.

Another term for talk list.

You’ll see a page of one’s logbook labeled as donations. These are boxes that you’ve contributed to someone else for them to plant. Technically speaking, AQ counts a box as a donation if you are listed as a carver but not listed as the planter of the box.

Road maps typically designate particularly scenic roads by marking the road with a series of small dots along them. On one of our road trips, Amanda and I started calling them “dot dot dot roads.” For example, “Hey, Amanda! The left side of the lake is a dot dot dot road while the right side isn’t, so let’s go around the dot dot dot side.” Then she would usually say something like, “Turn here?” while swerving across several lanes of traffic to get into the correct exit.

Sturdy, watertight plastic containers manufactured by Holiday Housewares under the name Milan. Originally touted by Silent Doug and adopted by a large number of letterboxers. A eponymous Letterbox in Douggerware was planted to honor it (and Doug).

A wide, shallow depression sculpted to drain water off a trail.

A drive-by letterbox requires little or no walking and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to nab. Usually located in or near parking lots. These types of boxes usually aren’t favorites, but their accessibility often makes them popular finds.

Ground cover consisting of organic matter such as needles, leaves, twigs, etc.

The counterpart to pigment ink, dye ink pads are quick to dry. Because they are water-based, they can bleed or run if the image gets wet. Dye ink pads should be stored upside-down to prolong their life.