What counts/doesn't count??

Ok so we've just started letterboxing this year and are trying to get to 100. We've been to around 10 tors collecting anything between 0 (Down Tor and Gutter Tor) and 30!!! boxes (Bone hill Rocks/Bell Tor). These are mainly kids boxes with commercial stamps and it is kids (my son and nephew) doing the collecting.
But what counts/doesn't count? Do the kids boxes count? how do you prove you've collected 100 boxes if you can't get to a meet as you live too far away or name the boxes you've found because they're just kids ones? Can we send the books as proof?
We're at about 60 now so just wanted to check things out....
Also are there any letterboxing courses/compass and map courses that take place on Dartmoor for children and adults? It would be good to graduate from scouting to using the clues in the book at some point.....
Thanks for your help!!! Apologies if I'm asking questions that have been asked 100 times before.....

If you / your kid likes them - I think it counts I have to say that 0 on Down Tor is odd as I found at least 3 dozen there in the last 12 months alone. Not so many on Gutter tor - but still a few. It is usually a good idea not to search near the top but stay a bit lower down.

any stamps found inbetween the dartmoor boundaries count wether they have a number or not, or if found in a building (pubs or fox tor cafe). they are all letterboxers.

as to register for the 100 club, send a list via email (quick and simple) to the email address but if you want the badge as well your better sending the list with the cheque for the badge.

Tamerton Chocolates wrote:If you / your kid likes them - I think it counts I have to say that 0 on Down Tor is odd as I found at least 3 dozen there in the last 12 months alone. Not so many on Gutter tor - but still a few. It is usually a good idea not to search near the top but stay a bit lower down.

We like them, but we're not fussy lol.
I put not finding any on Down tor/Gutter Tor down to not having our lucky mascot with us (my lovely and very keen nephew (-:). We do have a tendency to head for the top pretty quickly, I guess I'm less of a clitter sort of girl, prefer to get to the main event although really I'm generally just trailing in the wake of the kids who like to get to the highest point asap!

moorland wizard wrote:any stamps found inbetween the dartmoor boundaries count wether they have a number or not, or if found in a building (pubs or fox tor cafe). they are all letterboxers.

as to register for the 100 club, send a list via email (quick and simple) to the email address but if you want the badge as well your better sending the list with the cheque for the badge.

I know this is probably a really stupid question but how do you list them if you don't have numbers/names just a stamp in your book?? I know the boys are really excited about gettting the badge and I am so pleased to have found a fantastic, free!!! activity that we all really enjoy.

we just makes up a name if there is not one ie: a cow stamp on bonehill rocks we would call it a cow on bonehill

"cow" or maybe " fat cow/ skinny cow/ spotty cow" - bonehill

Yep our kids names them

About 15 years ago, Tony was asked this question at a premeet night, obviously bored of this question he said they all count - I was led to believe that this was meant to mean catalogue boxes (which the 100 club was about) and WOM boxes.
However since this announcement the proliferation of what is called "kids boxes" has grown,
This definitely causes confusion, technically they count, but this I believe is down to the individual, for myself the majority of kids boxes do not count towards the total as they are cheap shop bought stamps with duplications all over the place.
I have nothing against kids boxes, I encourage it as long as they are looked after and not just left as a legacy of a visit to Dartmoor and forgotten about. I look at it as an intro/training area for young boxers.

Oh Nik are you a box snob I appreciate though that the large amounts of kids boxes can end up leading to a lot of plastic rubbish if they are placed and then forgotten about. I can also see that as an adult you wouldn't be interested in collecting stamps bought in Hobbycraft - it is such a great way to get the kids into it though!!!

Perhaps it would make sense that as you're not technically supposed to have the clue book till you get to 100 that the first 100 could be 'allowed' to be any stamps you find, then if you want the subsequent badges you have to find the proper boxes - oh look I've only been doing this 6 months and I'm already trying to make up the rules!!!

A big thankyou to everyone who explained naming the stamps, makes life a lot simpler then sending the books as proof!!!

Does no one run any kind of introduction to letter boxing walks with a bit of map reading/using a compass thrown in then? Could be a new career for me, just need to learn how to use that compass properly first

{{Whispers so Nik doesn't hear - is it cheating to use a GPS? }}

people use both compass and gps it all depends on the clues, some have partial grid ref and you have to switch to compass for the rest of the clues. people say using gps is cheating but when you meet them on dartmoor you find out they use gps as well, lol... just remember if you are using gps that you should have a good knowledge of a compass to find yourself back to your car, incase your batteries go dead..

keep plodding on to get your 100 boxes then get the badge and see your kids eyes light up...

moorland wizard wrote:people use both compass and gps it all depends on the clues, some have partial grid ref and you have to switch to compass for the rest of the clues. people say using gps is cheating but when you meet them on dartmoor you find out they use gps as well, lol... just remember if you are using gps that you should have a good knowledge of a compass to find yourself back to your car, incase your batteries go dead..

keep plodding on to get your 100 boxes then get the badge and see your kids eyes light up...

Awww thanks - can't wait!!!

Im sure if you ask on here someone might offer to take you out for the day and teach you a bit

(Un)fortunately I work and can't pick & choose the days when I am able to get out. The most annoying thing is that that one day happens to be a misty or drizzly one where a compass is of no use due to the visibility. So I almost always use a GPS - at least until I am close after which I may finetune the location using the clues.

When I am looking for a box I either do it properly with a compass - trip over it without a compass or if in a hurry - like a charity walk I use a GPS...does that answer your question?

Deciding upon which boxes count, is entirely up to you. As I said I might stamp up the kids boxes - make a note of the name - but they don't count towards my total.
It's like having 4999 boxes and trying to get the 5000 badge - you are only cheating yourself!

bog_baby wrote:Oh Nik are you a box snob I appreciate though that the large amounts of kids boxes can end up leading to a lot of plastic rubbish if they are placed and then forgotten about. I can also see that as an adult you wouldn't be interested in collecting stamps bought in Hobbycraft - it is such a great way to get the kids into it though!!!

Perhaps it would make sense that as you're not technically supposed to have the clue book till you get to 100 that the first 100 could be 'allowed' to be any stamps you find, then if you want the subsequent badges you have to find the proper boxes - oh look I've only been doing this 6 months and I'm already trying to make up the rules!!!

A big thankyou to everyone who explained naming the stamps, makes life a lot simpler then sending the books as proof!!!

sense that as you're not technically supposed to have the
clue book till you get to 100 that the first 100 could be 'allowed'

Not true: that "rule" was dumped many years ago

, then if you want the subsequent badges you have to find the proper boxes

Again NOT True any Letterbox stamp found on the Moor counts.

I guess there are more WOM boxes out there than Clue list. so not numbered..............

you find out most WOM boxes are registered and end up n the catalogue after a couple of years, it helps keep the LTB from getting there hands on them and gives friends time to get the stamps.

as for the catalogue you dont have to get 100 stamps if you go to the meet as you dont need to prove you have them, just hand your money over.

Once we get to 100 might have ot invest in a GPS then, and try to hone my compass using skills at the same time......
Thank you everyone for your help with all my questions

We have a GPS which to be honest takes most of the fun out of diving under rocks (Which is my personal if slow favorite way of boxing)

I tend to use the GPS for Charity walks just because there is a time limit to how long they are available.

Tim is getting very good with compass after a brief lesson frm Richard one day on the moor.

As for what counts we stamp them all except the ones that are degraded beyond repair.

Here is a link to a compass reading website that I found useful

http://geographyfieldwork.com/UsingCompass.htm

The GPS is essential for one thing as far as I am concerned, and that is finding my way back to the car quickly especially when the weather turns nasty.

I actually resisted getting a GPS because I'm a bit of a tightwad, but what decided me was around May this year.

I went up to Okehampton camp for the first ever time, determined to get to Cranmere Pool. I didn't know about the roads going into the moor, although I now know they went even closer forming the north dartmoor loop.

Anyway, it was very very foggy. Unfamiliar area. I drove south as far as I could and parked up next to an observation post where a sign prevented further access. Consulting the OS map, there were 3 or 4 possible places I could be and I didn't know which one. (Turns out I was actually at another place and that OP wasn't on the map!)

I did go walking, and the fog lifted after a couple of hours and I did find Cranmere, but starting a walk without knowing where I was meant I had to stick to the roads. No reference points, no starting position. Map and compass aren't so useful at that point

There have also been many times in the past where the weather has got worse and finding the car again hasn't been easy. With a gps, provided you have batteries, these are worries that go away.

They are a very useful bit of kit to have with you when the weather turns nasty.

Only problem with them is their ability to win first prize in a battery eating contest!

I too have recently succumbed to buying a GPS having started boxing long before such things existed. The GPS certainly came in handy on a couple of misty days last week, but I got more satisfaction out of tracking down boxes using a map and compass when the requisite 8/10 figure grids were not provided with the clues.

They do eat batteries, as Kenton Kestrel says, and for that reason I'm not sure we should suggest that they are "essential" for anything, least of all finding ones way back to the car if the weather turns bad. This could encourage too much reliance on fallible technology. For me, letterboxing the traditional way was an excellent way of honing micro-navigation skills using map and compass. With a bit of practice, these skills should certainly be good enough to find your way to something as large and poorly concealed as a car, even in a thick Dartmoor mist!

I use a GPS also and use recharchable batteries in mine. Do make suure that if you use recharchable ones they have a high mAh figure or they will not last long, mine are 2450.

As I am always running out of batteries when using my camera I could certainly imagine the GPS having the same problem. It probably wouldn't be wise for me to be too reliant on it but at the same time I can see how it could be very useful!!!

As long as you make sure the GPS has a lock (otherwise it will be forever desperately trying to find satellites) the batteries should easily last longer then the couple of hours spent on the moor in one day. If they don't then invest in a pair of new high powered (rechargeable) ones.

I use the garmin etrex h (the yellow one) the batterys last for about 4 day and that is useing the the sony batterys from poundland

I also have a Garmin Etrex H and I must say it never drains my batteries. I use rechargeable batteries as well.

To the question of "what counts". They all count to me whether I get them on the moors at a meet or in a pub, in they go.