So. This Pig is crazy and is thinking about building their own Mecca. How many stamps would Piggy have to plant in a location to knock Stone Mountain off the list as the place with the highest concentration?

Where would be a good place on the upper east coast with lots of trails and woodland forests for hiding boxes in? I'd be willing to come to your state if the conditions are favorable and make it a destination for our kind.

As a new boxer from Stone Mountain I have to warn you- I have only just started planting, and while I have not planted at Stone Mountain Park- because of its density... I would love an excuse to do so... so I'm gonna take that as a friendly challenge.

I’d suggest CT since it already has, I believe, the most boxes per capita/per square foot of all the NE states.

Warrior Woman
right next door in RI

Yes I love Connecticut, but Stone Mountain is a location, not a state. So I'm looking for a location big enough to handle that kind of density while not being spread out over an entire state :) Any suggestions of parks you think fit the bill?

I’m flashing back to The Mansfield (CT) Monster Mash of ?? 2004 ?? There were hundreds and hundreds of boxes planted in Mansfield for that event (think on the scale of L&B). I’d be curious to see how many boxes are still there - perhaps a good starting point to build upon.

Warrior Woman
trying

Why not plant in Virginia? Plant them...we will come!

I agree that Virginia State parks would be an awesome location. The ones in the lower part of VA have very few boxes and most have been abandoned.

The great thing about LBing in VA State parks is that they welcome boxes with no charge to plant them. All you have to do is talk to staff at Park offices and give them a list of where you have planted. (I wish NC state parks felt the same way).

Bear Creek Lake State Park
Holliday lake State Pk
James River State Park
These are close together.

Welp, I did a quick search of the boxes from Mansfield Monster Mash in 2004 LISTED HERE IN AQ (I did not check lbna) and, ta da! there is a grand total of TWO (2) that are still active.

Warrior Woman
sitting down and shutting up

Sounds like something me and my husband did a few years ago. He needed some gold dollars to put in a birthday card with a present. I drove an hour to be close to where he was. I hid them and then sent him clues to where he could get them later that night. Loving our letterboxing skills.

Fall River, MA. The SE Mass Bioreserve is a 15,000 acre forest with at least a hundred miles of trails. http://www.thetrustees.org/assets/documents/places-to-visit/trailmaps/Bioreserve_trail_map.pdf

If you could get everything planted by late September next year, that would be great! https://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.php?eventId=4101

Yes I love Connecticut, but Stone Mountain is a location, not a state. So I'm looking for a location big enough to handle that kind of density while not being spread out over an entire state :)

If you consider a single box and a 1 ft² area, that is a pretty high density per square foot. It gets twice as high if you plant letterboxes on top of each other.

So, since we don't want this small of an area considered, what do people think should be a reasonable size considered for boxing density. Should it be a minimum area be considered a city or a park? Beware of the "park" thing though because Mill Ends Park is an official park. It is "a small circle 2 ft (0.61 m) across, with a total area of 452 in² (0.292 m²)."

What shall the standard be?

So, how do I arrange to get an area like this? (For statistical purposes only.)

So, how do I arrange to get an area like this?

Ah, Grasshopper... to achieve such a worthy feat requires the rare combination of stealth, persistence, and thinking outside the box (but just barely outside it).

And where do I get those statistics for an area that I want to test?

Roughly how many boxes are there at Stone Mountain, and how big is the area?

Stone Mountain Park is 3,200 sq acres, about 3,000 of which are accessible. There are currently atleast a hundred active boxes (boxes I have physically touched since 6/18) plus another 250 or so I'm still trying to figure out or in parts of the part that I'm saving for group boxing trips, or that have just confounded me. I'm pretty sure stone mountains claim to highest density was more true ten years ago than it is today- but the density is high enough that I found a handful of boxes before I ever read a single clue...in some parts of the park it's like every 100 yards there is or once was a box.

Just a thought I had this weekend when talking to a friend about letterboxing. Her comment is one I hear a lot, "that sounds really fun... but I'm not into art, so I don't want to carve stamps."

Well, of course you don't have to carve stamps to find boxes.
You don't even have to carve your own stamps to hide boxes.

But, I find there is a perception when letterboxing is explained that you CAN use commercial stamps, but really shouldn't...

Her other comment was "Do you have to go hiking a lot - because I don't have time."

Well, no. There are urban boxes. Or drive bys. But the impression is they are deep in the woods in hard-to-get to spots.

And her final comment was, "what if you go looking for it and it isn't there."

Well, that happens of course. They are hidden outside so things disappear.
But it does help that you can identify boxes with a 'recent find' date and they are more likely to be there.

So, thinking about all that, I am wondering if it might not be a easier to attract new letterboxers if we had a certain approachability to the hobby. Commercial stamps are still fun to find. A quick drive by on the way out of town is still like a treasure hunt. And the more new boxes there are - the more 'easy' finds there are for new lookers. Certainly, there is still the thrill of the elusive box that hasn't been found in 5 years, but that's more likely to appeal to those of us in the hobby for a while than someone trying their first find.

It's like a video game - sort of. The first few levels are really easy to get through and level-up. It keeps the player interested.

So I have decided to do a series of boxes with small commercial stamps in easy drive by locations -- I have discovered that the base of many commercial lighting polls have a plastic box that covers the bolts where the light is bolted to the concrete base. That box just lifts up - and is a great place to hide a small urban letterbox.

I can make the pouches - but I'd like to find a really good deal on the stamps as I'd like to do about 20 or 30 of these (I live off of a major interstate). And, ideally, I'd like them to be thematically connected, although I can get over that.

Does anyone know where someone can find a set of small stamps for a bargain?

This depresses me so much I have no words. Please be a troll.

two suggestions:
1. Michaels Craft, etc have sets of small stamps that you can buy
2. You can put out a request for stamps on the stamp exchange, specify the theme you want and the size you want, and be sure to mention they will be permanent plants and not returned

Strictly my opinion--for what it is worth

I applaud your wanting to share the hobby. My concern is that by planting a large number of commercial stamps under lamp post skirts in generic parking lots, you will be watering down the quality of boxes as those who find these plants will think that commercial stamps under lamp post skirts in generic parking lots are the norm and either not be inspired to search further, or be inspired to reproduce more of the same.

And those wonderful boxes,that are a bit off the beaten path will continue to sit unfound, and newbies in your area will not know the joy of hand carved stamps.

What if you planted one or two boxes specific for that person you are trying to hook? Don't make them "throw away" boxes, but short walks or quality drive bys with appropriate stamps and fun clues to help them see the fun of boxing.

Just a thought

Kelsung -

I'm a little confused by your comment.

Are you depressed because people new to the hobby maybe don't see it the same way you do? - isn't that true of nearly any hobby?

Or are you depressed because non-letterboxers have these perceptions? I think there is no question that there are some in letterboxing who are elitists - and elite things are, well, elite. Perhaps Geocaching has a greater following than letterboxing because they aren't elite. No one says you have to find the stamps that aren't handcarved - or look for boxes that don't require you to climb Mount Kilamanjaro - but I do think it would be easier to get people interested in the hobby and the craft if they had an easier entry point.

I do, of course, recognize your fear about 'watering down.' But I think looking at it from the perspective that most hobbyists begin with something simple. Coin collections are started with a single silver quarter. Stamp collections are started with a single foreign postage stamp. And so forth and so on. Once you enjoy something about a hobby -- running a 5K - you look to running a marathon.

I will give it some more thought - I haven't invested any time or money yet, so I'm not sold on it completely, but I think that things that are hard to begin are hard to begin.

but I do think it would be easier to get people interested in the hobby and the craft if they had an easier entry point.

I, like Kelsung, find the idea of 20 or 30 such letterboxes in one area problematic. My fear would be people would find such boxes and conclude that is the norm so why bother--never would they find those letterboxes that make one go, "Oh, my! That is what the fuss is all about."

I'd like to find a really good deal on the stamps as I'd like to do about 20 or 30 of these.

When I go into a thrift store. I see bags of commercial stamps at Savers whenever I go in there. If you really go through with this, this is where you can get a variety of inexpensive stamps, to answer the question.

I know that people around here don't like commercially produced stamps. Nevertheless, I seek them. I kind of like the hide.

Plus, in a specific case I'm thinking of, a new boxer was hiding commercial stamps, the set of small animal stamps available at one of the craft stores. After hiding all of this set of stamps, this boxer started carving her own.

But in the case of this topic, this boxer wants to encourage/recruit new boxers by planting easy-to-find boxes. Every region that I know of has some wild places that aren't very far from parking. The only problem that I see is that clues in the wild places are more difficult to reference unique landmarks than in a parking lot, with the boxes' own ubiquitous covering.

I'll tell you that I wanted to hide a box in a lamp post. Through discussions (badgering) here, I found a place near the store that isn't a lamp post. I still have to actually carve the stamp. However, I may still go back to the lamp post because I've seen what happens to containers that are placed under enough rocks to hide them, even when you tell people to be careful.

Still, do what you want. I'm going to do what I want. And others will do the same. People will complain, and we can chose to listen to them, or not.

Agreed. And N=1, but I'm not sure that this is really going to achieve your goal of getting new boxers excited about the hobby. What really got me hooked when I was new was finding really cool, interesting boxes whether that meant finding a box that made me see a familiar place in a new way or finding an amazing stamp/logbook that someone had made. If all I found were store-bought stamps in parking lots, I'm not sure that I'd still be letterboxing.

I am guessing I felt about the same way as Kelsung when I read your post. It's not that lots of people feel they are "too busy" or "not artistic enough" to letterbox. That doesn't bother me at all ~ they may be right. Letterboxing has survived for a long time without people who are timid about trying something unusual that everyone else doesn't do, especially when verbal explanations don't really convey the level of coolness and fun that's involved.

My first reaction was Oh, no, not more drivebys under lamp post skirts.
Why? Because it sets the standard, the norm, the definition of what letterboxing is, and it isn't that. What ever happened to taking people to a worthy destination? That is, I believe, part of the package.

Beginners should experience the variety of letterboxing - drivebys, short hikes, easy puzzles, stamps by several carvers (early carves and OH MY! carves), and they should fail to find a box once in a while because that's what happens. Spoon feeding adults just doesn't make sense to me.

Beginners should experience the variety of letterboxing - drivebys, short hikes, easy puzzles, stamps by several carvers (early carves and OH MY! carves), and they should fail to find a box once in a while because that's what happens. Spoonfeeding adults just doesn't make sense to me.

Trying VERY hard not to jump into the AQ database and put 100000 "Agrees" on this post...

Let's face it, there are ALREADY more than enough "Lamppost Boxes" and drive-bys, that we don't need to dumb things down even more. My fear is that we are already chasing off a lot of folks who ARE creative, adventurous, artistic, and clever, by offering fewer and fewer new "cool" boxes to hold interest... not every box has to be a masterpiece, but every box SHOULD have SOME redeeming quality!

If someone is insistent on just the lowest-of-low-hanging fruit... well, that's why there are Munzees.

I guess I feel like if someone told me no three times about something, especially three big noes that, be they misperceptions or not, will diminish their enjoyment of boxing, I'd just let it go. Yes there aren't as many boxers, but I want the new ones to be excited from the get-go, not half-reluctant and lukewarm at best. True, they might try it and be sold on it, but I tend to feel like people who can't say no outright, but who try their damnedest to do so, should be heard at the first no. It's okay to correct misperceptions, but not every hobby is really for every person. I just want boxers who are super excited to box, even if they only find five a year.

For what it's worth, if my first finds had been lamppost boxes? I never ever would have continued doing this. My first find was a beautiful tribute box for a man who died of ALS and the stamp was really lovely. It (a) taught me something and made me feel connected, however briefly, to the person that planted it (b) showed me what carvers can do, even though I didn't know how to carve and didn't feel learning at the time (c) took me to a cool spot, taught me how to use a compass and I stumbled into what an SPOR is and (d) showed me that something could be hiding in plain sight in a place I'd visited twenty times before.

It is true, there is a box for every boxer, but I feel like every drive-bys should be a little more than just racking up a number. A huge number of carvers have tons of stamps laying around. When I first started planting, I did so primarily with other people's stamps. I think what I would have told your friend is this: not everyone needs to carve or plant to box. It's perfectly fine to find them only and you can give back to the community by bringing duct tape to fix boxes, empty logbooks to replace the wet ones, and plastic baggies to replace the busted ones. There are many ways to contribute that don't have to cost much, be it financial, physical, or emotional.

Does anyone know where someone can find a set of small stamps for a bargain?

Yes, the stamp exchange on this site. There are often people offering stamps.

Also, you can send me your address through AQmail and I will send you some simple carves I have around for you to plant. They aren't super special but if planted in interesting places with a reasonable logbook and box, they may lead to your goal of more and hopefully satisfied letterboxers.

FORAYCH - Jeff