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Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Jan 31, 2007 7:37pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I'm getting ready to plant my first box. I was hoping someone would tell me what note they leave in the box to explain letterboxing to finders (boxers or muggles). Also, what containers are favorites, besides tupperware or rubbermaid? Thanks in advance! - Lars
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68241 by Lars
Jan 31, 2007 7:47pm
Thread (disabled) Board
We asked the same question when we first planted.....a good form can be found here: http://www.atlasquest.com/toolbox/forms/

I prefer Lock n Locks as they keep water and anything out the best. They can often times be hard to find though. Have fun with your first plant!

~Bookworms
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68241 by Lars
Jan 31, 2007 7:52pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I'm getting ready to plant my first box. I was hoping someone would tell me what note they leave in the box to explain letterboxing to finders (boxers or muggles). Also, what containers are favorites, besides tupperware or rubbermaid? Thanks in advance! - Lars


Go to the Toolbox pull down and you will find 'Form Center'.

There are about as many different containers to use as there are letterboxers, 35 mm film canisters, peanut butter plastic jars, anything that might be somewhat water tight.

I don't mean this to come off wrong, but if you found more letterboxes before you plant then you would have a better idea what works and what doesn't. This goes for containers, clues, etc.
I have noticed that in some areas newletterboxers are finding other newletterboxers plants and not really getting a diverse menu of the different ideas. This could lead to a kind of stagnation. I'm not saying this is the case where you are, just mentioning it as a cautionary info post.

Don
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68241 by Lars
Jan 31, 2007 7:56pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I could go on and on and on about what to do when planting a box for the first time, but let me give you the brief version:

1) Don't hide it where finders will have to trudge through sensitive areas where there's no trail.

2) Hide it where the finders have some degree of privacy.

3) Make sure you're not planting it right on top (or too close by) another letterbox or a geocache. To find out where geocaches might be in your area, see my post/s (which was featured on Boxers 'n' Briefs... *nodding*):

http://www.atlasquest.com/boards/message.html?gMsgId=67372

Good luck!

StarSAELS
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68246 by Don and Gwen
Jan 31, 2007 8:04pm
Thread (disabled) Board
<<<<but if you found more letterboxes before you plant then you would have a better idea what works and what doesn't. This goes for containers, clues, etc.>>>>

I agree with this. I planted one box before I really 'got it' and made some simple, avoidable mistakes. Now, just a few months later, I've seen so many more ways to hide, ideas for containers and I've gotten a better feel for what good hiding places are. I am sure I still have barely scratched the surface. I have much to learn!
Not to say that you shouldn't plant yet. Just plant carefully. Make sure your logbook has all the information you want on it, like a contact for when it gets full. Find a good place that won't necessarily attract a lot of attention and don't be afraid to hide it well. The more obvious your plant is, the more likely it will get muggled.
Containers: Use your imagination with what you have around the house, too! I have seen some neat containers that have screw on lids used. I have seen pill bottles covered in camo tape. Lock and locks seem to hold up very well and we can find them at a grocery store here (Ingles). You just want water proof.
Also, double check your clues or have someone else try them out to see if they work. I let my kids follow my clues after I hide it to see if they can find it.

Happy planting
't'
dtandfambly
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68241 by Lars
Jan 31, 2007 8:19pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Hi Lars, Welcome to the wonderful world of letterboxing! When we plant, we consider the location. If the box is going to be outdoors, exposed to the elements, I would highly recommend lock n' lock boxes. They are durable, come in many sizes, and guaranteed water tight. If you are going inside for the plant you can afford a bit more creativity ... altoids tins, hollowed books, key keepers, the list could go on. As for the information you include, to some extent this depends on how much room you can spare inside your box. If you have a small box, you might want to keep it to a simple request to leave the box as found and give them a website (like AQ!!) to visit for more information. We have also come to include a request with our boxes for geocachers to leave the stamp with the box. If you have more room in the box, you may want to include mini, business card-like flyers about letterboxing that a finder can take with them. When we first started planting we used to include tons of information, but we have trimmed down to a request very similar to the one found on the form page. Tweak it to your liking because in the end this is a really artistic, loose form hobby, populated by people full of understanding and patience. You will find what works best for you with time, and rest assured, letterboxers will come for your boxes, no matter how they're packaged!

Happy planting,
Padfoot Treehuggers :)
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68248 by BrewHiker
Feb 1, 2007 4:08am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote 1) Don't hide it where finders will have to trudge through sensitive areas where there's no trail.


I agree with your other points, but this is one I hear over and over and, frankly, I think it is a load of BS. I really grow weary of this whole sesitive area nonsense. How about you just put big "keep Off The Grass" signs in the forest, because that is what this amounts to.

You ever actually walk into a forest. There is nobody there. There are not enough people traipsing around the woods to do any kind of irreparable harm.

I say, the further off trail you can plant a box, the better. People are not going to stumble upon it by accident that way.
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68270 by Cyclonic
Feb 1, 2007 7:19am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I agree with your other points, but this is one I hear over and over and, frankly, I think it is a load of BS. I really grow weary of this whole sesitive area nonsense. How about you just put big "keep Off The Grass" signs in the forest, because that is what this amounts to.

You ever actually walk into a forest. There is nobody there. There are not enough people traipsing around the woods to do any kind of irreparable harm.


Have to disagree respectfully there. There aren't enough people on any given day walking off trail to do serious damage, unless you encourage them to do it. Before too long you do get "social" trails. In some areas (esp. with lots of rocks) that's no big deal, but it may encourage noxers to walk near the box, which is not something you generally want to do. What I sometimes do is use a big patch of Multiflora rose as a buffer. (I think you've seen this.) Noxers aren't going to be casually heading into areas where they may get scratched. Also, this is a highly invasive exotic, planted with the best of intentions in the 1930s, that is very damaging to native plants. Anything people do to discourage the growth of this weed is OK by me.
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68336 by Otis' Friends
Feb 1, 2007 7:26am
Thread (disabled) Board
I like this idea. So trampling this particular vegetation actually 'helps' the environment! I took one of my sons to several environmental education classes with me, including non-native, invasive plants. He would LOVE this idea as he now HATES multiflora roses.
Let's see, there's also privets, nepalese brown top, rose of sharon (in more landscaped areas), honeysuckle, oriental bittersweet...
Then if you live in the south, there's always kudzu, but you have to make sure it doesn't grab you and pull you in: )

't'
dtandfambly
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68340 by dtandfambly
Feb 1, 2007 8:12am
Thread (disabled) Board
Then if you live in the south, there's always kudzu, but you have to make sure it doesn't grab you and pull you in: )


Man, I don't know about that kudzu....I've always been really leary about what critters live in that stuff.
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68348 by zoemomma
Feb 1, 2007 8:27am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Then if you live in the south, there's always kudzu


I call it *The vine that ate Mississippi*

Shiloh
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68336 by Otis' Friends
Feb 1, 2007 8:30am
Thread (disabled) Board
The best method is always caution, consideration and respect for the environment. Last summer we took a trip to Acadia Natl. Park ... and atop Cadillac Mountain there are numerous signs about damage to the sensitive vegetation there with requests that people stay on the trails. And yet, people were disregarding the signs and carelessly trampling the delicate groundcover ... very sad to see. Locally, we found a geocache hidden INSIDE a patch of poison ivy while trying to locate a spot for one of our boxes. We are still wet behind the ears when it comes to letterboxing, but it has given us even more reason to find out all we can about native, invasive, helpful and harmful species and how to recognize them. It's a learning process.

Happy boxing,
Padfoot Treehuggers :)
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68241 by Lars
Feb 1, 2007 9:56am
Thread (disabled) Board
Here is mine:

**************************

NOT trash - Please do not throw this away!!
NOT a Geocache - Please do not remove items or leave trinkets!
You have found an official LETTERBOX. Please rehide where found!

ESTE ES UN “LETTERBOX” (CAJE DE CORREO).
NO DESTRUYA NI QUITE, POR FAVOR.
Vuelve todo a donde lo encontro', escondiendolo de la vista de otros.

If you found this letterbox by accident, you are welcome to sign in.
Please do NOT take the stamp or anything in this box. Make sure it is well sealed and hidden when you are finished. To learn more about letterboxing, visit www.letterboxing.org and/or www.atlasquest.com.

If contents are damaged or missing, please email dobarton@pol.net.

************************************

As for containers, this is the info I have collected:


Medium
• Lock & Locks (#1 preferred)
• Rubbermaid Sealin Saver 3.4 cups
• old Thermos
• plastic peanut jug
• Rubbermaid .5 gal plastic jar
• screw-on containers from softee protein stlying gel (black jar)
• Institutional size steak sauce (black) or other condiments

Small
• Aveeno daily cleansing pads jar
• Plastic food containers from deli/produce section
• Crystal Lite tube
• the cylindrical pots that chemists (Pharmacists) get their bulk pills in. There are several sizes and often a smaller one is pleced in a larger for improved waterproofing.
• little jar of jewelry cleaner
• swim goggle containers
• see www.sciplus.com
• screw-on containers from soy protein
• screw-on containers from Citrucel
• tub from Crayola air-dry clay

Very Small
• Film canister
• Pill bottles
• Sucrets can
• Altoids cans
• Canning Jar (Michael’s has small ones)
• the tubes from the "Airborne" tablets?


To get the food smell out: Place clean cat litter in a large container that has a lid and place your container in it and seal the larger container. Take them out, and a week later, or so, no smell. Then run it through the dishwasher.

Avoid the margerine tub. They don't hold up in the wild, I've found them crumbled to pieces.

I've found a lot of Folger's containers, those cylindrical plastic containers with the snap-on top, used as both letterboxes and geocaches. They were ALL wet inside.

In general, I find food containers with screw-on lids to be the most reliable at keeping things dry, as good or better than the Lock-N-Lock. The only problem with the screw-on top is that some boxers don't screw it on tightly enough (some have arthritis), and sometimes a baggie gets caught in the cap when closing.

Don't use genuine Tupperware. It's no good.

With *any* plastic, keeping the sun off of it is essential for longevity. A coat of paint helps.

I personally like to wrap mine in camouflage duct tape (from Walmart).

***************************
Also, I just figured out that if you enter a valid address for your location (or close to your location), finders can map them. I had only entered the cities, so the map was usually way off for my boxes.
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68270 by Cyclonic
Feb 1, 2007 11:03am
Thread (disabled) Board
I think it is a load of BS. I really grow weary of this whole sesitive area nonsense. How about you just put big "keep Off The Grass" signs in the forest, because that is what this amounts to.

Not so. And this philosophy is precisely why the National Parks and many State and Regional parks do not allow geocaching and letterboxing.

Part of being responsible (and the key to overcoming this restriction) is to know what a sensitive environment is. If you're not sure, spend a weekend in a free or low-cost plant ID or ecology class at a local nature center or a state park.

There are two extremes here:

If you choose to plant in an area where tall trees are the main flora and ground cover is limited to shrubs and bushes, then feel free to walk until you drop off the end of the earth.

But if you choose to plant in an area where the shade of those tall trees and the water table supports a tremendous variety of flora (ferns, mosses, lichen, grasses, fungus, algae, etc) and in turn a tremendous variety of fauna (many of them smaller than your fingertips, but ecologically important nonetheless) then please, please, please watch your step.

Case in point: while planting the first three 99 Bottles boxes I deliberately avoided numerous (too many to count, really) hiding spots because the narrow trail led through a wonderfully rich ecosystem and I was not going to be the cause of any part of its demise for the sake of a rubber stamp.


You ever actually walk into a forest. There is nobody there. There are not enough people traipsing around the woods to do any kind of irreparable harm.

All it takes is one letterbox or geocache in a locale where letterboxers and geocachers outnumber the police and fire personnel and you've got social trails... sometimes where it doesn't matter... and sometimes where it does.


I say, the further off trail you can plant a box, the better. People are not going to stumble upon it by accident that way.

While I agree philosophically, the reality is: the better you can hide a box, there's less likelihood that people will find it accidentally.

StarSAELS
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68244 by Baby Bookworm
Feb 2, 2007 7:40pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I prefer Lock n Locks as they keep water and anything out the best. They can often times be hard to find though.


We found some generic lock n lock type boxes at a local dollar store. I got so excited I bought 6! They seem to be just as watertight as the regular ones. We have not found them at the national chains like Dollar Tree. If there is a mom and pop type dollar store in your area, check it out.
K
Re: Tips for First Letterbox
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #68250 by dtandfambly
Feb 2, 2007 7:46pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I planted one box before I really 'got it' and made some simple, avoidable mistakes.


I had the same experience with my first plant. I planted it in what I thought was a pretty clever location but didn't really think about what would happen in a windstorm (it being a nice sunny day when we planted it.) It disappeared quickly and I was pretty disgusted until I went to check "just one more time" and realized that it had just blown off of it's hiding spot in a storm. It is now at home waiting to be planted in a new, more weather resistant, location.

So stand there and think, hmmm, would this be a good spot in ____________ weather?

Good luck!
K