I'm organizing an event that has a night boxing element to it. I have a good place all picked out with interconnecting trails and not alot of difficult terrain. I'm not very familiar with this type of boxing...I've only done one myself and I want this part of the gathering to be a sort of come-try-it-out kind of thing. I know some of you have organized these types of event before and was looking for any advice you can give me.

Did you mark off trails with fire tacks, reflective tap, glowsticks..etc..then the clues led the finder to a specific spot off-trail? Were the boxes hidden right off the trail? Were boxes light-colored or had reflective tape...easy to spot with a flashlight?

My initial idea is to mark off trails with different colored glowsticks then split groups of people up to do one "color" at a time to avoid a "line" for boxes.

So any good advice for this newbie organizer and night boxing chicken?

Wyvern

I would strongly recommend contacting hawkeye, T-Rex and/or drgdlg. They planted most of the 20+ boxes for a night only gathering in Georgia last year that was spread over numerous locations.

All boxes were marked with fire tack or reflective paint rather than things like glowsticks since the problem with glowsticks is that the boxes are event only boxes. The ones planted here are, as much as possible, still in the wild and being found months later [some got removed due to development].

http://www.atlasquest.com/events/event.html?gEventId=135

As far as marking the trails, I would say it depends on what you want the duration of the plant to be. We didn't use glowsticks, but ours were all intended to be long term boxes. I know others who have used glowsticks had had mixed success.

We used a variety of things to mark the path. Fire tacks are always a good choice. Rex also got some reflective paint (sorry, I don't know that much about it) that reflects back when you shine your flashlight on it. Very effective. The downside is that the paint gradually loses it's "glow", so if these are longterm boxes, they will need to be checked more often. If they are event only boxes, that won't be a problem. We also tried reflective tape. We would nail small pieces (or, in the case of one box a VERY large piece...) to the tree and direct that way.

Those are a few methods we used. Like I said, though, I think a lot depends on how long you want them to last. Most of the ones we planted last June are still there. A few have been removed due to construction, but nonw have gone missing.

This was a really fun, different kind of gathering. It was much more work than any of our other gathers, but a lot of fun!

Desi

We really enjoyed night boxing at the Fear Faketor event two years ago. Glow-in-the-dark necklaces were used to mark the location of the boxes - there weren't even clues, we just looked for the next glowing spot on the circuit we were following. Another thing that sped it up and prevented "lines" for boxes - there weren't logbooks in the boxes (as far as I remember). That made stamping in much faster. Maybe a few of them had logbooks??? But definitely not all. Ooh, and we each got a cute little flashlight on a necklace to use and then keep - that was a fun bonus. (a la the Oriental Trading catalogue)

Papa Bear did night boxing at last year's WNY event, but I had sprained an ankle that day and stayed behind, so I don't know how Sprite organized that one.

-Mama Bear

Oh! And another thing that the post by 3Bears (I think) reminded me of...

I know not all will have them and they are sort of expensive, but head lamps are THE BEST for night boxing. It frees up your hands to stamp!

Desi

Speaking of headlamps... my husband recently aquired a baseball cap with a tiny little lite stuck in the end of the bill part. Extremely useful for stamping in the dark... and fashionable too. you can hardly tell there is a light there at all... and it sure puts out a lot of light! Love it!

I have no idea where to get another one though... it was a gift.

Rhea

Oh... someone needs to organize one of the night events out here. They sound like so much fun! Especially in the summer around here when night time is when it finally starts to cool down enough to go outside and enjoy outdorsey things =o)

Rhea

Yes, that's when we had ours. It was great! Instead of potluck lunch or dinner, we had a "potluck" ice cream sundae bar :)

Desi

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We really enjoyed night boxing at the Fear Faketor event two years ago. Glow-in-the-dark necklaces were used to mark the location of the boxes - there weren't even clues, we just looked for the next glowing spot on the circuit we were following. Another thing that sped it up and prevented "lines" for boxes - there weren't logbooks in the boxes (as far as I remember). That made stamping in much faster. Maybe a few of them had logbooks??? But definitely not all. Ooh, and we each got a cute little flashlight on a necklace to use and then keep - that was a fun bonus. (a la the Oriental Trading catalogue)

Papa Bear did night boxing at last year's WNY event, but I had sprained an ankle that day and stayed behind, so I don't know how Sprite organized that one.

I stole my idea from Fear Faketor, too...glow in the dark necklaces that lead to the boxes. They boxes were only there for that night, but frankly, it was much easier to hide them that way. I had a big park area that was pretty barren as far as trees and bushes, but the dark made it hard to see things hidden right on the ground. I didn't have to cover stuff with leaves or anything, I just made sure that each glow stick could be seen from the glow stick before it.

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Speaking of headlamps... my husband recently aquired a baseball cap with a tiny little lite stuck in the end of the bill part. Extremely useful for stamping in the dark... and fashionable too. you can hardly tell there is a light there at all... and it sure puts out a lot of light! Love it!

I have no idea where to get another one though... it was a gift.

The Highlander got one with his Ducks Unlimited membership a while ago, but Wal-Mart has one that's a bit more involved and brighter (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=5127156)

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The Highlander got one with his Ducks Unlimited membership a while ago, but Wal-Mart has one that's a bit more involved and brighter (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=5127156)

His was an actual baseball cap. I have never seen anything like it before =o)
Rhea

I would also suggest contacting Archimedes Screw or Cape Cod Lightning Bug regarding their great Halloween glow-in-the-dark boxing extravaganza. It included black light flashlights! Too cool!

stripedbass

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It included black light flashlights

I have considered trying to rig up a way for my light to have a red filter or something similar for those times when I am night boxing and don't WANT the peanut gallery to know where I am!!! Anyone ever tried anything like this?

I've seen the baseball caps in Gander Mt.

jackbear

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I have considered trying to rig up a way for my light to have a red filter or something similar for those times when I am night boxing and don't WANT the peanut gallery to know where I am!!! Anyone ever tried anything like this?

There used to be a kit for the mini maglight that had a red filter in it. I have one from my days as a student pilot.

Shiloh

Thanks for all the great ideas and advice so far! I would really like 10 boxes to be permanent plants so I'm going to invest in some fire tacks. Then, I'll go from there.

Thanks,
Wyvern

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I have considered trying to rig up a way for my light to have a red filter or something similar for those times when I am night boxing and don't WANT the peanut gallery to know where I am!!! Anyone ever tried anything like this?

Ooh! I know this one! My hubby has an army green flashlight that takes C or D cell batteries and has a compartment that stores 4 extra lenses (Blue, red, white/opaque, and I think one that has a textered pattern but is still clear) It also has a place to store a spare bulb too. His buddy got it from and army/navy surplus store for him. It has a ring at the end so you can clip it on your belt or something and the head of it is at a 90 degree angle to the rest of the flashlight body, so if you hold it like a normal flashlight it would point down or up or to the side NOT stright in front of you.

We never knew what sort of secret spy type uses these extra filters had but it is very water tight and fun to play with.

Hope that help!
FlyGirl409

I found one that looks like it online here:
http://store.crownsurplus.com/product_info.php?products_id=184

It says it has 2 filters but doesn't say what they are though. I'm sure if there is one online there are many more to be found there too. Here is the description of the one I found.

GI ANGLEHEAD FLASHLIGHT $18.20USD
High impact plastic body
Super bright krypton bulb
Uses 2 "D" batteries (not included)
Includes spare bulb and 2 extra lenses
Switch guard and sturdy clip