Mailboxes

[+WhipArtist]

Is there any reason not to hide a magnetic micro on the outside of a mailbox? I'm thinking about the standard-issue USPS blue things that live on streetcorners.

 

The container (and that's a fairly generous word) would be in plain sight, but would not look like a danger to the box.

[+Planet]

You could probably be accused of tampering with the US Mail, which is a Federal Offense. It's a federal offense if you have a fender bender with a mail truck. I know that much.

[+DustyJacket]

It might invite a one-on-one between a postal inspector and a cache finder.

You may want to continue looking elsewhere is these sensitive (over sensitive ?) times.

Edited April 25, 2004 by DustyJacket

[+Planet]

Maximum penalty for theft or misuse of postal property is $1000 fine and 3 years imprisonment. (18 USC 1707). Better rethink it.

[ghOzt]

I'm so glad you asked first instead of just placing it! Please heed the advice of the previous posters.

[+The Two Navigators]

I would say to go for it. But we are in another country and having already done a mailbox cache and a mailman placed it. We could also have more relaxed laws towards that type of deal.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

I would say to go for it. But we are in another country and having already done a mailbox cache and a mailman placed it. We could also have more relaxed laws towards that type of deal.

Unfortunately, the US Postal Service doesn't quite agree

[+Brenin Tegeingl]

Here in the UK, we have just had a locationless cache closed down by the "Security Services". For Which you had to find a Victorian Mail Box, as the information was considered a security risk, useful to terrorist. Never mind the fine, you could end up with the men in the black suits knocking on your front door.

Dave.

[+GrizzlyJohn]

Last I heard buried somewhere in the US code is a law that actually makes it illegal to take a picture of a post office without consent. I have to think that some legal dweeb in the post office is going to find someway to bring you in.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

Make sure it has the proper postage on it first

[+WhipArtist]

OK, that sounds like consensus to me. My plan was to paint a sheet magnet to match the box (and I was actually going to do a relay box rather than an actual mailbox) and then just slap it on the outside.

 

It's time for Plan B.

[+LETaylor]

I had thought of creating a phony mailbox along a country road but decided that I didn't want the Feds looking me up. It's too bad because there would be some great opportunities for interesting hides.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

OK, that sounds like consensus to me. My plan was to paint a sheet magnet to match the box (and I was actually going to do a relay box rather than an actual mailbox) and then just slap it on the outside.

 

It's time for Plan B.

Out here in Oregon phone booths are a lovely shade of blue.

[Keystone]

This issue came up in our reviewers' forum a few months ago, and the consensus there was that a cache placed on a USPS mailbox would not be listed unless the cache owner could demonstrate that permission had been obtained.

[+Confucius' Cat]

My brother-in-law (a postmaster) placed an urban micro series in a small town. The coordinates hit right at the corner mailbox- what are the chances? I decided (I think wisely) that that would not be the place to go prowling around. A micro on the bottom would be very easy, but fooling around with mailboxes is just asking for trouble- not only for the hider but for seekers too.

[uperdooper]

it would give new meaning to the term, "going postal."

[AC Student]

...My plan was to paint a sheet magnet to match the box ... and then just slap it on the outside...

Sounds like a great idea - not on a mailbox as others have pointed out, but this idea would work in many non-mailbox urban placements.

[CoyoteRed]

While an approver has already spoken about it and given the fact that many government officials would rather the public at large be locked in their homes to make that official's job easier, here is something from the USPS about vandlizing mailboxes.

 

It can be argued that a magnetic keyholder on the bottom of a mailbox does nothing to the box, it doesn't alter the box, it doesn't affect the mail inside the box in any way. In fact, the box is not changed in any way, nor can you tell any difference before or after the cache is placed or removed.

 

But with today's paranoid dumbasses, it's best to save yourself, and the seekers, any trouble and leave them alone.

[+robert]

ChurchCampDave could ask his brother-in-law what the logistics of this would be. I met a cacher a while back who is a letter carrier, you could ask him: Snailman22030.

 

I would think that everyone is right, however. Might be quite a risk, especially if it is perceived as a threat (even if it is just a hide-a-key!) Keystone Approver gives solid advice as well, you may have a hard time getting it approved if you mention it is on a mailbox.

 

If it were me, I'd come up with another idea.

[bug and snake]

It can be argued that a magnetic keyholder on the bottom of a mailbox does nothing to the box, it doesn't alter the box, it doesn't affect the mail inside the box in any way. In fact, the box is not changed in any way, nor can you tell any difference before or after the cache is placed or removed.

 

But with today's paranoid dumbasses, it's best to save yourself, and the seekers, any trouble and leave them alone.

True, and, I think the most 'dangerous' aspect would be when some local person see someone examining the mailbox while looking for the cache.

 

It's just too risky...

[+Confucius' Cat]

That's my concern. Not for the placer, but for the potential hassling of the seekers. CR is correct about the excessive paranoia. It is becoming "American as apple pie" to be suspicious of every little thing.

 

Seekers don't need the potential hassle and interrogation of overly paranoid "powers that be".

 

It's risky enough poking your nose in every little crack on a street corner without poking around the mailboxes.

 

Putting a cache there would probably not truly be a crime, but would certainly cause trouble somewhere down the line.

[+Renegade Knight]

Mailboxes are interesting. They are considered federal property, and yet I'm the one who has to buy it, place it, and maintain it.

[CoyoteRed]

They are considered federal property, and yet I'm the one who has to buy it, place it, and maintain it.

This is actually good in a way. You're required to have one if you want mail delivered. In some places you're required to have one, period.

 

Because you don't want anyone going through your mail and getting personal information or just stealing your magazines, they've had to have some kind of mechanism for the mailman to securely give you your mail without you being there. While it may not be secure physically, because it's considered Federal property it does have the weight of the Federal governement behind if one is caught screwing around with it. If you owned it, it wouldn't.

 

Personally, I don't have a problem with clues on mailboxes. I wouldn't have a problem with looking for a clue on a mailbox. That's just me. I like high risk caches and have decent skills on not getting caught with my pants down. Not everyone likes that, nor do they have the skills to properly judge the situation and back off if things aren't right. With that said, I'd still advise against it as you have to consider the lowest common demoninator in cachers.

[bug and snake]

I think I have got this thread a little confuzed in my mind. When we say 'mailbox' here are we talking about where your mail is delivered to or the place where we place our mail for collection? I mean, the one outside your house or the one on the corner where the mail is collected from? (or both!)

[CoyoteRed]

(or both!)

Both.

 

Mailboxes hold incoming and outgoing mail, and all fall under the same laws, I believe. Basically, there needs to be an unbroken chain of custody (for lack of a better term) between you and the USPS.

[bug and snake]

(or both!)

Both.

 

Mailboxes hold incoming and outgoing mail, and all fall under the same laws, I believe. Basically, there needs to be an unbroken chain of custody (for lack of a better term) between you and the USPS.

Thanx CR. I started out thinking in the frame of the blue US Mail box but I am re-reading the thread from the point of view of the home delivery box also.

I was considering this as, say, someone seeing a cacher fumbling around under a 'blue box' and calling the police. That's the last thing we need right now in the caching world. For the good of all I would say, please think again folks, if that is what is on your mind.