My Geocache, Your Letterbox

[+Gan Dalf]

Below is what I Posted in the Atlas Quest forums. did I come off OK? didn't want to sound like a jerk...

 

Start copied thread:

 

Hello everyone (I hope) I am a geocacher that signed up for and came to this web site specificlly for the purpose of trying to solve a mutual problem. I live in a town where I have placed two geocaches in close proximitey to each other but far enough apart to meet the geocaching guidlines. They are both in interesting spots and desireable locations.

 

I recently started getting strange logs on one of them commenting on how easy it was to find, this despite it being historicaly a little on the harder side. To make long story short someone has placed a letterbox practically right next to where my cache is hid, alhtough in a much more obvious spot. Now everyone that goes to look for my cache, sees the letterbox and assumes that is the cache. Since the LB has gone in, all of the people that thought they were signing the log in my cache have actually signed the LB.

 

I don't see any reason why geocachers and Letterboxers can't coexist. I'd like it if the letterboxer would move their container away from mine (it is litteraly less than two feet away) so that people are not confused by it. This will be better for the letterboxer in the long run because undoubtedly a geocacher will at some point take the stamp from the LB thinking it is swag.

 

After logging onto this site I have subsequently found out that the same letterboxer did almost the same thing at a site just down the street where I have another geocache. I'm not as concerned about that one because it is not as close but it is still close enough that it could be mistaken for my cache.

 

I'm basiclly here looking for advice. How should I handle this? I've already sent a note to the person that hid both Letterboxes but I'd like to know what I should do if they do not respond. The one container is going to be a real problem.

 

Any advice would be appriciated.

 

Thanks

[mresoteric]

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a letterbox?

 

-- Nevermind, I googled it. http://www.atlasquest.com/

Edited May 3, 2011 by mresoteric

[+Max and 99]

The EXACT same thing happened to me! What frustrates me the most is that a GEOCACHER is the one who placed the LETTERBOX 15 feet from my cache. They should know better!

They placed their first geocache last summer, and I actually helped them with a big problem they had getting it reviewed (they listed really bad coords, then found out the good coords were already taken. I was nice enough to give them my spot since they had already published the coords in their magazine before waiting for approval from the reviewer). So, point is that they KNOW about geocaching and the distance issue, and months after they placed their first geocache, they placed the letterbox, 15 feet from a cache that I had adopted, and has been there for many years. I emailed them asking them to please move it since the cache had been there for so many years before their letterbox, but they will not respond. I only asked that the letterbox be moved a slight distance away so the two containers wouldn't get mistaken for each other.

 

It's frustrating since there's no reason this can't be worked out. I am a geocacher and a letterboxer.

[+sword fern]

Below is what I Posted in the Atlas Quest forums. did I come off OK? didn't want to sound like a jerk...

 

Start copied thread:

 

Hello everyone (I hope) I am a geocacher that signed up for and came to this web site specificlly for the purpose of trying to solve a mutual problem. I live in a town where I have placed two geocaches in close proximitey to each other but far enough apart to meet the geocaching guidlines. They are both in interesting spots and desireable locations.

 

I recently started getting strange logs on one of them commenting on how easy it was to find, this despite it being historicaly a little on the harder side. To make long story short someone has placed a letterbox practically right next to where my cache is hid, alhtough in a much more obvious spot. Now everyone that goes to look for my cache, sees the letterbox and assumes that is the cache. Since the LB has gone in, all of the people that thought they were signing the log in my cache have actually signed the LB.

 

I don't see any reason why geocachers and Letterboxers can't coexist. I'd like it if the letterboxer would move their container away from mine (it is litteraly less than two feet away) so that people are not confused by it. This will be better for the letterboxer in the long run because undoubtedly a geocacher will at some point take the stamp from the LB thinking it is swag.

After logging onto this site I have subsequently found out that the same letterboxer did almost the same thing at a site just down the street where I have another geocache. I'm not as concerned about that one because it is not as close but it is still close enough that it could be mistaken for my cache.

 

I'm basiclly here looking for advice. How should I handle this? I've already sent a note to the person that hid both Letterboxes but I'd like to know what I should do if they do not respond. The one container is going to be a real proble

 

Any advice would be appriciated.

 

Thanks

 

Man I can just picture it In my head. Pretty funny!

 

I think you should write on the letterbox (or let the LO do it)saying: this is a letterbox-geocache very close by and on the geocache write:this is a geocache- letterbox very close by

[+Max and 99]

 

Man I can just picture it In my head. Pretty funny!

 

I think you should write on the letterbox (or let the LO do it)saying: this is a letterbox-geocache very close by and on the geocache write:this is a geocache- letterbox very close by

 

That's exactly what a geocacher suggested I do: include a note in the letterbox explaining that the letterbox has been found, NOT the geocache. I hate messing with someone else's letterbox, but the owner will not respond to any emails (from myself and others) so I feel this action is warranted.

[+Gan Dalf]

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a letterbox?

 

Letterboxes predate and are the precursors to geocaches.

 

In the days before the Social Networking, GPS devices and even the internet, people used to hide containers in remote or rural areas. They would then mail (the old kind using paper and a stamp) descriptions on where they had hid the object to other "letterboxers" that would then go out and find it. To log that they had been there the letterboxers carried stamps around with them, some bought, some hand made, some simple, some very elaborate that they would use to stamp the log book with. The letterbox itself usually contained an ink stamp pad that the finders would use to load their stamps up with ink prior to stamping the log. The finder would then re-mail the same description to another letterboxer down the road, I'm sure they talked about their tales at letterboxing events at their local pizza restuarants.

 

letterboxes have been around for decades, way before anyone ever thought of geocaching. There is actually a category of cache called a letterbox hybrid...

Edited May 3, 2011 by FobesMan

[+Gan Dalf]

I think you should write on the letterbox (or let the LO do it)saying: this is a letterbox-geocache very close by and on the geocache write:this is a geocache- letterbox very close by

 

I put a note in the baggie with the log in it that the letterbox is not the geocache. Hopefully people will see it. Can't do the same thing with mine, it's much too small.

 

The other thing I'm wondeirng is what I should do about the loggers that didn't find mine. I'm a bit of logging snob and have always palyed by the rule that if you didn't sign the paper than you can't log it online...

[+Tobias & Petronella]

A while back we found a cache and a letter box inside the same hollow spot in a tree, one on top of the other. The cache is GC10E93, and it even says "Also there is a letter box in the same hide, so get the right container." and "THE LETTER BOX IS NOT PART OF THE CACHE." on the cache page.

 

We all are looking for good hiding places. My thought is for both owners to state what their container is or looks like.

[mresoteric]

The other thing I'm wondeirng is what I should do about the loggers that didn't find mine. I'm a bit of logging snob and have always palyed by the rule that if you didn't sign the paper than you can't log it online...

 

That is, of course, completely up to you. But if these letterboxes have logbooks and the people that posted finds on your cache signed that log I would do nothing. They did find something that probably looks like a geocache and had a logbook at the given coordinates.

[+Gan Dalf]

I e-mailed and heard back from the letterbox owner who said he'd move his...

 

Two of the people that I e-mailed about signing the wrong log told me to go ahead and delete their logs and they'd go back and find the right one. I guess if you write to people, explain the situation and are nice about it, most people are understanding...

[+Max and 99]

 

Two of the people that I e-mailed about signing the wrong log told me to go ahead and delete their logs and they'd go back and find the right one. I guess if you write to people, explain the situation and are nice about it, most people are understanding...

 

Everyone who has accidentally found the nearby letterbox instead of my cache has been very understanding when I explained the situation. Most have been happy to go back and find the REAL cache.

[+geodarts]

The other thing I'm wondeirng is what I should do about the loggers that didn't find mine. I'm a bit of logging snob and have always palyed by the rule that if you didn't sign the paper than you can't log it online...

 

I have seen cachers place containers within feet of existing letterboxes -- I don't know who placed theirs first in your case, but if it were mine I would move the cache to create a buffer to avoid confusion. It should be simple. Geocache = log signature book; Letterbox = stamp. But as a practical matter, it leads to confusion. People will probably not read the note in a letterbox baggie. Take the high road. There are enough strained relations between people within each group.

 

As to the logs, I would leave them, just as I have left logs in place even though a few people signed a throw down, which took me a couple of weeks to remove. They had the same experience in getting to the cache site, found a container, and signed the log. It is just a game.

Edited May 3, 2011 by mulvaney

[+WRASTRO]

I would suggest you place information right on the cache page, and make it very visible, that states what you have shared here. I took a quick look at your caches and think I found the other cache you are referring to, the ammo can cache. I didn't feel like poking around in PMO caches to locate the other one. From what I can tell you are doing everything you can do to resolve this issue. Good luck, and I hope to hunt some caches in Snohomish later this year.

[+Max and 99]

 

I have seen cachers place containers within feet of existing letterboxes -- I don't know who placed theirs first in your case, but if it were mine I would move the cache to create a buffer to avoid confusion.

 

In my situation, the cache in question is one that I adopted and it has been there for many years, so I don't feel right about moving it from the original chosen location.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I had a letterboxer log a find on one of my caches. The humor is that it's one of my mystery caches, and not that easy to find. She was looking for a spot for a letterbox. I don't know if she hid one nearby. If she did, there has not been a mix up between the two.

[+Gan Dalf]

All fixed. The following is from the "clue" on the letterbox page:

 

Standing looking at the Gazebo facing the steps into it, look to your Left, there is a green hedge bush. I placed it in there. It is a 7cup size Lock top with woodland camo tape on it. I had to move it from its original location at the request of a Geo-Casher who has the cutest matchbox size ammo can geo-cache near by, and the geo-cashers were logging into my box thinking it was the geo-cashe. I re-planted when it was rainy, but it can be busy on a good day, so just take your time, enjoy the view, and when things are mostly clear do a fast grab, and take it to the gazebo to stamp

Edited May 3, 2011 by FobesMan

[knowschad]

To answer your question, I thought you worded your letter very well, and the response you got seems to support that. Nice work!

[+Too Tall John]

Wow! This is a rarity!

 

A thread with a question, asked, opinions and advice given, and. . . (Drum Roll Please!) . . .a satisfying conclusion!

 

Well done! Well done indeed!

 

[+Gan Dalf]

Wow! This is a rarity!

 

A thread with a question, asked, opinions and advice given, and. . . (Drum Roll Please!) . . .a satisfying conclusion!

 

Well done! Well done indeed!

 

Edited May 3, 2011 by FobesMan

[+sbell111]

Wow! This is a rarity!

 

A thread with a question, asked, opinions and advice given, and. . . (Drum Roll Please!) . . .a satisfying conclusion!

 

Well done! Well done indeed!

 

Agreed.

 

As I started to read the OP, I thought that we were going to have double forum angstiness.

[+Gan Dalf]

Wow! This is a rarity!

 

A thread with a question, asked, opinions and advice given, and. . . (Drum Roll Please!) . . .a satisfying conclusion!

 

Well done! Well done indeed!

 

Agreed.

 

As I started to read the OP, I thought that we were going to have double forum angstiness.

 

The ones that responded in the other forum were very helpful, thought it was great I was trying to amicably resolve it and agreed that the Letterboxer should move his box. They all thought that since I was there first, I should get the spot.

 

In reponse to an earlier post about taking the high road and moving my cache, that really wasn't an option for me, I would have had to archive it without replacing it. The hide requires a certain feature in order to hide and there were proximity issues to other nearby caches where if I moved my cache to a comperable location it would have been too close to others to be allowed. I thought it was great that the letterboxer responded so quickly and was willing to move his without argument.

[+wimseyguy]

I e-mailed and heard back from the letterbox owner who said he'd move his...

 

Two of the people that I e-mailed about signing the wrong log told me to go ahead and delete their logs and they'd go back and find the right one. I guess if you write to people, explain the situation and are nice about it, most people are understanding...

 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

 

I have found about 8-10 letterboxes while seeking caches. Most were far enough apart to not create issues, but within 20-25' so I looked at an obvious hiding spot. Once I was the FTF on a LB that had been out for almost six months without a find. Guess it isn't as popular around these parts as caching? Most caches don't go six hours without a FTF.

Edited May 3, 2011 by wimseyguy

[+roziecakes]

I'm totally thrilled that you took the time to get this solved and were nice about it. Kudos to you!! Most of the time this sort of thing goes completely unsolved and people just build up resentment and confusion. You are awesome!! I'm glad there are cachers out there like you Fobesman.