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Read Thread: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?

Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665777 by Dizzy
Dec 31, 2011 9:42pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I'm sure your opinion might be different if you were in an area that depended on plants from "outsiders."

I couldn't agree more.

Feel free one and all to orphan some boxes in my area, I'll take care of them!
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665245 by deniserows
Dec 31, 2011 11:16pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I planted 3 this summer when we went cross-country for a family reunion (they haven't been found yet....will people go boxing in NE please???). Also plant when we go on vacation to the beach. I figure if I'm going somewhere on vacation to find letterboxes, I can at least return the favor and plant some for others, including the ones who planted the ones I found.... Plus, if it's where I'll return to vacation in the future, I can enjoy maintaining my boxes while out boxing.
I'm also always appreciative of those who help me maintain my box, wherever it's planted!
-Morris Five
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665808 by Bumble
Jan 1, 2012 12:01am
Thread (disabled) Board
Feel free one and all to orphan some boxes in my area, I'll take care of them!

Oddly enough, I very rarely get offers to adopt any of my boxes. Doesn't bother me much, but I am a bit surprised. I'd think that more boxers would be up for adopting boxes in their area. That's something even newbies can do, before they've built up enough confidence to plant their own boxes.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665467 by Kirbert
Jan 1, 2012 12:17am
Thread (disabled) Board
Wow! Those results aren't even close!
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665826 by Kirbert
Jan 1, 2012 7:41am
Thread (disabled) Board
I very rarely get offers to adopt any of my boxes. Doesn't bother me much, but I am a bit surprised

Hmmm. I would think you would need to solicit help with boxes from the local boxers if you felt the need.

OPH
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665874 by One Particular Harbor
Jan 1, 2012 7:55am
Thread (disabled) Board
I find this thread very interesting, from a geocacher's perspective. There are thousands of caches near me, many are not well maintained and it's irritating. I feel like some of them are just abandoned trash. There are just too many (and of poor quality) for anyone to want to adopt.
I've come across letterbox pouches, full of ants and soggy, and it grosses me out. I have no interest in maintaining other people's boxes, but I agree, it is because I live in a pretty active area.

I can see where if there are only a few letterboxes in an area, it would be good to have outside planters. We do have quite a few in my area. I AM thinking of planting one when I go to the Philippines, but I am going to try and find it a "guardian".
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665876 by FloridaFour
Jan 1, 2012 8:06am
Thread (disabled) Board
".....from a geocacher's perspective." " I have no interest in maintaining other people's boxes"

Hmmm.... That sounds like a geocacher perspective.

"I've come across letterbox pouches, full of ants and soggy, and it grosses me out"

That could happen in your front yard...that is a bad hide or re hide in a poorly sealed container.

I always try to do what ever I can to help a box in the woods. I contact owner if needs more TLC.

It is LB version of trail magic so to speak.

But....THIS is a Letterboxer perspective. IMHO :) T
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665878 by T REX
Jan 1, 2012 8:29am
Thread (disabled) Board
I always try to do what ever I can to help a box in the woods. I contact owner if needs more TLC.

Absolutely. It's kind of a "do unto others" situation. Besides, I want the boxes to be in good shape for whoever comes after me--it's kind of a downer to find a box in poor repair and if I can salvage it, then I do.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665878 by T REX
Jan 1, 2012 8:45am
Thread (disabled) Board
".....from a geocacher's perspective." " I have no interest in maintaining other people's boxes"

Hmmm.... That sounds like a geocacher perspective.

Yes, definitely.
I think the GA folks are always out at Stone Mtn caring for 'boxes (whether it is theirs or not). As I recall full park maintenance of boxes would get done before LbSE events. And then there was Brewhiker posting on FB how he would go out on his lunch breaks from work, put in a couple of miles and check on some boxes.

I also do full park maintenance on about 3 local parks annually.

And I take extra baggies and logbooks with me as I letterbox.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665894 by The Wolf Family
Jan 1, 2012 8:50am
Thread (disabled) Board
And I take extra baggies and logbooks with me as I letterbox.

My kit always contains bags, logbooks, planter's pouches, a sharpie, and sometimes extra painted LnLs. If everyone treated every box that they found as their own, maintenance wouldn't be a problem. I bring a ton of freezer bags with me because virtually every sandwich bag that I've found has at least one hole in it (and if it doesn't when I find it, it will soon).

[._.]
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665826 by Kirbert
Jan 1, 2012 9:28am
Thread (disabled) Board
I very rarely get offers to adopt any of my boxes...

While I would be more than happy to adopt any of your boxes, I meant more along the lines that because there are so few people in some of the areas around that there isn't the critical mass of letterboxes for new letterboxers to really get into it if they so choose. That's part of the reason I try to plant letterboxes when I travel, particularly in areas where it isn't established. My hope is that they give potential boxers something to find... and if the box slowly decays and dies, so be it.

I'd love to know the numbers of those who start, find the a couple boxes within a reasonable distance of their homes than give up the hobby for lack of boxes. It seems reasonable to *me* that you'd just go and start planting to make up for that lack, but I liked carving before letterboxing.

But as I said Kirbert, you feel free to strand some boxes north of Toronto - I'll watch over them for ya ;)
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665878 by T REX
Jan 1, 2012 10:39am
Thread (disabled) Board
It is LB version of trail magic so to speak.

I rather like that description. =) Or should we just call it "box magic"?

-- Ryan
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665874 by One Particular Harbor
Jan 1, 2012 1:36pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Hmmm. I would think you would need to solicit help with boxes from the local boxers if you felt the need.

Okay. Hey, everybody! If you find one of my boxes anywhere outside the Tallahassee, Florida area, you're welcome to adopt it! Just drop me an AQ mail, and I'll transfer ownership pronto! Thanks!
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665906 by Bumble
Jan 1, 2012 1:40pm
Thread (disabled) Board
But as I said Kirbert, you feel free to strand some boxes north of Toronto - I'll watch over them for ya ;)

Ya wanna plant some for me? Anyplace an airplane or automobile image would be appropriate...
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665876 by FloridaFour
Jan 1, 2012 5:10pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I've come across letterbox pouches, full of ants and soggy, and it grosses me out.

From what I've heard on these forums, pouches in wet climates don't hold up very well. Around here, in Utah where it is fairly dry, they seem to hold up well enough. I haven't had a problem with one yet.

Coming from geocaching as well, it took me about half a dozen pouches before I remembered to seal the outside bag. (I may have sealed them before that, but I know I didn't get all of them.) Geocaches have inside bags so I always sealed them well. I have yet to make my first pouch, but the process looks simple. I'm going to need some for some of the places I plan on planting.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665878 by T REX
Jan 1, 2012 5:24pm
Thread (disabled) Board
".....from a geocacher's perspective." " I have no interest in maintaining other people's boxes"

Hmmm.... That sounds like a geocacher perspective.

Yes and no. Some geocachers want to maintain other's geocaches, some are willing to do so, but most aren't interested. I adopted two geocaches, one when the owners were moving to another state in the Southeastern U.S., and another that had been clearly abandoned (back when they could be adopted when the owner obviously hadn't logged on in quite a while).

The first one I have maintained in the same type of container. It has gone missing three times but I've found a place where it had been safe for a few years, and geocachers have to read the hint that I left (on the page) to be able to find it. It is hidden very well.

The second one was near a place where I traveled to about once a month. When I wasn't going there as frequently I put it up for adoption and a geocacher who lives nearby maintains it now.

There was a series of caches (not a multi-cache) placed by a single cacher that I went to find. Three of the caches had no bag for the log or it had been torn. I put the log in a plastic bag so that it would remain dry. I actually favorited the whole series because of the consistent and fun theme that it had used. (Favoring can help visitors to the area decide if they want to visit a cache. It's the same idea but vastly different implementation as the Blue Diamonds.) I even hid a new cache at the end of the series with a similar name, for those who wanted to have one more on that remote location. The placer of the original series visited my cache and liked the idea.

I did run out of spare bags on this trip. I'm going to have to stock up again.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665777 by Dizzy
Jan 1, 2012 6:20pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I joined the LBNA yahoo site in 2001. The Wes Garrison letterboxing site (now defunct - I believe it was the precursor to the LBNA database) in 2003 and Atlas Quest in 2004. Member #137.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #666055 by Lone R
Jan 1, 2012 6:49pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Most of the pouches here in Florida were nasty. ;) Definitely not suitable here, IMHO. I would never offer to maintain one. If I really loved the stamp, I would offer to replace with a LnL, though.

I do help with geocaches of people I know, and in better hides, but not the abandoned ones. I barely have time for my own.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665826 by Kirbert
Jan 1, 2012 7:49pm
Thread (disabled) Board
How would local boxers know to offer to adopt one of your distant boxes? Do you mention it in the clues?
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #666042 by Oberon_Kenobi
Jan 1, 2012 11:08pm
Thread (disabled) Board
From what I've heard on these forums, pouches in wet climates don't hold up very well. Around here, in Utah where it is fairly dry, they seem to hold up well enough.

I'm not as sure that it's the wet climate as the specific location. Pouched aren't suited for being buried in the mud, that's for sure. If you plant one off the ground or otherwise in a well-drained spot, they do all right -- even here in Florida.

Perhaps a bigger factor is how the pouch itself is made. The ones with a flap that folds over the opening definitely seem to do better.

BTW, yes, just recently I did find a letterbox buried in the mud. As in, that's where it was supposed to be, not where someone rehid it poorly.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #666045 by Oberon_Kenobi
Jan 1, 2012 11:17pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Yes and no. Some geocachers want to maintain other's geocaches, some are willing to do so, but most aren't interested.

There was a geocacher who was a prolific planter who was here in Tallahassee for graduate studies for some years. When he got his Ph.D and moved away to get a real job, I adopted a whole bunch of his caches. I didn't adopt all of them because I hadn't found all of them, but I adopted a bunch.

It's weird, though, a bit down the pike, when it comes time to pull one of them and archive it. It was clearly my decision, he had made that clear when he left, but it still feels weird. Fortunately, geocaches are not considered nearly as valuable as letterboxes, even by their planters. You need to remove one? Go ahead! No big deal.

One thing I don't do, though, is replace them. If one goes missing or is otherwise out of commission, it gets archived. If I decide to replant in that area, it'll be a new cache of my own creation.

Since I usually travel prepared to maintain letterboxes I find, I likewise am prepared to maintain geocaches. Sometimes I even replace containers, as I keep a couple of gallon-size screw top jars ready for such an occasion. However, I generally only provide such maintenance on really good geocaches; if it's not worthy, it's not worthy.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #666075 by PI Joe
Jan 1, 2012 11:23pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Well, that's kinda why I've long wished for an icon or something. It gets old writing an entire paragraph in the clues explaining that I don't live nearby, please adopt this box if you do. I've added that to a few boxes, but gave it up.

Actually, doesn't need to be an icon, I guess. Could just be a simple text statement next to the Owner listing: Available for adoption. When listing a box, you could check a box.

Frankly, I don't really care if anyone formally adopts my boxes. To me, it's more important that they maintain the box when they find it -- replace torn baggies, whatever.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #666110 by Kirbert
Jan 1, 2012 11:25pm
Thread (disabled) Board
as I keep a couple of gallon-size screw top jars

What are you buying in such large jars? And I assume they are plastic, right?
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #666112 by Okie Dog
Jan 1, 2012 11:34pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I'm not buying anything. SWMBO is a teacher, and the school cafeteria gets Ranch Dressing in them. I asked her to ask them to save up some, and within a week I was inundated with the things. They'd even give me the boxes they came in, four jars to a box.

Honestly, they're not the best containers. The Planters nut jars and Kraft mayo jars I use for letterbox containers are made from clear plastic, and the top edge of the opening -- where the shower pan liner gasket makes its seal -- is a narrow, uniform ridge that makes secure contact with the gasket. These gallon jars are milky white plastic, the top edge where the gasket seals rolls over to form a broad contact surface, and that surface has a couple of mold marks that interfere with good sealing. The lids are exactly the same as the Planters lids -- they are interchangeable -- but on the gallon jars I sometimes have to do some work on that edge before I can get a reliable seal, even with a shower pan liner gasket.

Besides that, I've had a couple of them get deformed. Apparently sunlight can melt them. Normally they're hidden where sunlight can't get at them, fortunately.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #666111 by Kirbert
Jan 2, 2012 5:58am
Thread (disabled) Board
Frankly, I don't really care if anyone formally adopts my boxes. To me, it's more important that they maintain the box when they find it -- replace torn baggies, whatever.

I couldn't agree more. If everyone took a couple moments to bring boxes up to condition when they find them, there wouldn't be the need for adoptions. If we consider them as community property and not private property, they should last a lot longer without requiring explicit maintenance.

[._.]
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665921 by Green Tortuga
Jan 2, 2012 6:24am
Thread (disabled) Board
Box majic" works for me...Lets pay it forward! :)
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665633 by FloridaFour
Jan 2, 2012 6:45am
Thread (disabled) Board
I prefer not to leave any boxes that I can't get out to maintain

Back in July of 2010, Shorty stared a tracker to enlist letterboxers to carve and plant boxes near a series of statues that are scattered across the U.S. and Canada. He's planted about 18 in the course of his travels and I've planted 5. And other people have planted multiples as well. Neither Shorty nor I live close enough to maintain all of those boxes, and several of those statues are located in areas where there are few or no letterboxers. So it's hard/impossible to get someone else to maintain some of those boxes. But from the messages, I've gotten from finders, people have been happy to have boxes planted in areas where there aren't many boxes.

And, as a person who lives in a state where there aren't a lot of letterboxers, I'm happy to see boxes planted by people passing through. It's fun to see carves by people whose stamps you wouldn't ordinarily see.

dp
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #666152 by dancingpecan
Jan 2, 2012 11:07am
Thread (disabled) Board
For the longest time I didnt plant. No one can do maintenance on a vaca box, and we move often so no long term maintenance on home boxes. Then I became friends w a boxer near my folks and planted on a visit so she had something new to find. That got me started. It's a slow start. Won't pretend that I'm a big planter. But I'm so grateful when someone plants on vaca where I live. And I will maintain as long as I live there.
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #666111 by Kirbert
Jan 2, 2012 5:09pm
Thread (disabled) Board
It gets old writing an entire paragraph in the clues explaining that I don't live nearby, please adopt this box if you do. I've added that to a few boxes,

Dude! Can you say Copy/Paste and My notes on My Page. i've found that specific action SO useful for the many times the many same questions/answers/definitions etc. come up.
As they say "Try it. You'll like it."

deniserows
by right clicking
Re: Do you plant while visiting kinfolk/on vacations/reunions?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #665777 by Dizzy
Jan 5, 2012 10:32am
Thread (disabled) Board
I prefer not to leave any boxes that I can't get out to maintain, or that someone else I know can't maintain or at least pull for me if needed.

I'm sure your opinion might be different if you were in an area that depended on plants from "outsiders."

Yes- think Las Vegas! Some of the most fun I've ever had letter boxing was in Vegas, and it's almost entirely populated with boxes planted by visitors. My box there has had more traffic than any other I've planted, and I have been SO pleased at the fantastic response I've had from other visitors helping to maintain it for me.