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What's the deal on letterboxing vs geocaching?


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Some letterboxers do seem to look down on geocachers. I've heard geocaching called "letterboxing for stupid people" and similar derogatory comments from letterboxers about geocachers.

 

I'm sure its not the majority of letterboxers who feel that way, but some people just have a need to feel superior about something.

 

I do both, but I admit I'm much more of a geocacher than a letterboxer. I have 480 some geocache finds and 30 letterbox finds.

 

This website does allow for the placement of letterbox/geocache hybrids and there are some guidlines that must be followed to do so (as with any geocache) but other than that there is no protocol involved with mixing the two.

Edited by briansnat
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Several of us discussed this on a similiar thread.

 

I do both and enjoy both.

 

For various reasons, many LBers seem anti-GC. Some is understandable (GCers mistakening taking the LB rubber stamp thinking its a trade item), others not so (an anti-tech attitude, still pissed at Jeremy, etc).

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Some letterboxers do seem to look down on geocachers. I've heard geocaching called "letterboxing for stupid people" and similar derogatory comments from letterboxers about geocachers.

We should pick another hobby to feel superior to and make fun of.

 

How about the Where's George crowd? We could decide that WGing is "geocaching for stupid people" since they don't even use a GPS, they wait to accidentally stumble upon a WG bill.

 

:);):);)

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hey all, we are letterboxers and geocachers. We have had fun doing both.

There is no need to be catty on either side. They really are compatible sport/hobbies.

I know some LBers have been upset having their letterboxes removed or parts thereof

by geocachers who did not like the letterbox to be there, or simply not understanding the hobby.

we have had a couple muggled...and it is frustrating no matter what type of muggler it is, likewise with caches that go missing.

I think any 'nasty' type comments from either side are from people who are not fullly aware of the sport.

I

I 'used' to think that using a GPS was cheating too, until I tried it,

mind you the GPS was rather antiquated, but I saw it is cahllenging as well. I am totally intrigued

by the camoflouging done, some so good I still haven't found those particular geocaches.

The kids like geocaching much better as for them they get a 'prize'.

SO we like to do both. I have found some geocachers to be friendly towards our boxes too.Thank You!

I have found it rather strange that most geocachers I have treid to connect with re:letterboxing have had no interest in it. To each his own.

We are all out there just trying to enjoy creation (and some manmade stuff too)

have fun.

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Letterboxers are smug intellectual elitists creating cute puzzles to help find tupperware in the woods. :)

Geocachers are number hungry high tech louts who need an electronic gizmo to tell them where to turn both on the roads and trails to help find tupperware in the woods. :)

Georgers are just curious characters who like to see who handles a dollar bill after they have stamped and registered it, and stuck it in the dancer's garter belt. :huh:

 

Who's next? :):P:)

 

j/k different strokes for different folks I guess. I have never sought a letterbox on it's own merit. I've found 14 hybrids using a GPS, and stumbled on 3 letterboxes that were hidden near a geocache I was seeking. One of them had been hidden for three months without a find, and it took the owner almost a week to reply to the note I posted telling him I had found it. I guess geocachers are more into instant gratification? Around here a new cache gets multiple hits within 3 hours, not 3 months. :)

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We were in Maryland last week at a small State Park (Sandy Point State Park) near Annapolis. Unfortunately, we hadn't done any prior searches for area geocaches before our trip, and we didn't have computer access at the motel, and hadn't found a suitable wifi spot, either.

 

Anyway, walking back to the car from a small nature trail our son (age 14) spotted a plastic ziplock bag partially hidden under a stump. Rushing over, we were hoping to have found a geocache accidentally. At first glance, it looked like one, albeit one that had been long abandoned, but it turned out to be a letterbox (Bay Bridge/Sandy Pt.). The logbook was soaked, but the original stamp was still there. We didn't have a pen with us, or we would have attempted to at least sign the logbook. We got the name of the letterbox from the soaked info sheet (placed in 2003) and the name of the placer.

 

When we had access the next day, I looked up the info, and found the correct letterbox. It has been reported missing, so we created an account and sent the placer a letter stating we had found it. The last time it had been found was in 2004!

 

I also posted on the letterbox yahoo group about the find, and have gotten 3 replies... two in general about letterboxing and how to log it online, and one from a local letterboxer that is planning on adopting it, now that it has been found.

 

All in all, I don't know how much letterboxing we will do (there are quite a few in central Texas, though not NEAR as many as there are caches), but it was a fun experience finding it. I wish we had been able to make a stamp in a book for our own records, though. I may contact the person that adopts it and ask her to make an imprint so we can start our own logbook, and I'll send her our stamp, too, so she can put it in the new logbook.

 

Also, I do find that site to be very awkward... I really like the aspect of reading the online logs that other cachers post after their find. The logs can be almost as rewarding as finding a cache! I also like the mapping aspect (pulling up a map to see how close it is to us) that geocaching has available.

 

Malia

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Having participating in Letterboxing for a couple of years I finally "took the plunge" into geocaching after my dad had a heart attack last year and was looking for a way to get some excercise. Two years previously on a cross country trip I had introduced him to letterboxing. So I could probably say I see both sides of the cache/box.

 

Before I geocached I would hear about cachers that had destroyed letterboxes, natural areas and such in their search for caches. Most letterboxers feel that their sport spawned geocaching and that theirs is the "pure form" and that geocaching is just "cheating". But admittedly most of them have never geocached. Yeah a set of written clues that you have to decipher may appeal to some while looking at a simple set of coordinates on a GPS seems to be too easy. What they don't understand is that a GPS doesn't get you closer to the cache than a written set of clues gets them to a letterbox.

 

As mentioned before, geocachers innocently have happened upon letterboxes and took stamps by mistake. Nine times out of ten the 'cachers may not even realize that 'boxers may of spent many hours handcarving the stamp for the box. Stamps are unique to the boxes and to the 'boxers.

 

Both sports have a similar goal of finding a cache/box in a neat place! So what happens is that we all end up looking at areas that would be great for hiding a box/cache!

 

Most letterboxers don't realize that the same complaints are said about them that they say about us!

 

In summary, why do I cache...well...my dad is a technology geek and loved the fact that he was able to use his GPS for something other than hunting. He needed to get out and knew I liked the whole "search" since we letterboxed together. THere were more geocaches in our area than letterboxes and I had pretty much found all of the letterboxes already. Looking back over the past four years of enjoying both sports I can say that it is easier to place/hide a cache than it is a letterbox in urban areas.

 

Finally...as we all know....GPS Coordinates can be way off so I don't consider geocaching an easy, no brainer version of letterboxing. Afterall you can only create a logbook/stamp combination to be so small. I think the smallest letterbox I ever found was a 35mm film canister and I know I've found plenty of caches smaller than that!

Edited by MiniBullyMom
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(snip).......as we all know....GPS Coordinates can be way off so I don't consider geocaching an easy, no brainer version of letterboxing...... (snip)

 

This seems to be one of the biggest misconceptions by LBers that I've run across. Not being familiar with the way a GPS works, many LBers do in fact assume that a GPS will lead you smack dab right up to the exact location of the geocache, when anybody who has used a GPS will know that plenty often it is SOOO not true! I've spent WAY longer looking for some very easy caches because my GPS was non-cooperative and there were no hints, than I have looking for some moderately difficult LBs with decent clues.

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yup..it always adds an element of fun when your GPS shows the location with 90 feet of accuracy!

 

Then there was the time quite recently when I was walking along cliff that was about 10 feet in the air along our waterfront and the GPS was showing that I was 6 feet below sea level! Um...I don't think so!!

Edited by MiniBullyMom
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