Turned to the dark side......got me thinking.....

General letterboxing discussion.

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Brinnie
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Post by Brinnie »

Of all the geocaching forums, facebook pages etc, this is the most entertaining to read, keep up the good work!! :D

Brinnie
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reg the bullmastiff
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Post by reg the bullmastiff »

See what you have started now bog baby :shock:
bog_baby
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Post by bog_baby »

Don't blame me, blame the frisky foxes :lol:
Nik you are funny, Geocashing is SO going to be my next hobby.
WAIT JUST A MINUTE NOW, Nik did you just admit to, no I must have read it wrong, did you just write, no surely not OMG Nik did you just admit to geocaching :shock: :lol: (strictly off moor of course :D ).
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The Sly Fox
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Re: Turned to the dark side......got me thinking.....

Post by The Sly Fox »

bog_baby wrote: I know this is probably opening a can of worms but if there was a website listing letterbox clues (pay to join as you do for the book of clues) where people could log finding the box/if it's waterlogged/missing altogether/stamps been taken that would be really useful wouldn't it?? Updates would just be put into the website rather than having to be sent on bits of paper.

Could letterboxing do with being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century or would it lose it integrity and originality by moving it online?
My two pennies worth ...

Listing boxes online with the purpose of box 'information' may not be a bad thing.
You could simply go online before you set out and find out if any of the boxes on your list have been reported as missing. You could then decide to either scrub it from your walk or validate it as missing. Perhaps the site could have a section where letterboxers tick boxes to match the condition of the box (found, damaged, missing, removed etc). This information would then build a picture ... 95 found it 8 couldn't, for example.
However, I do not believe the clues should be posted online. Just a list of letterbox names in alphabetical order. I do not believe it would cause any harm or help potential thieves without clues.

One more thing, I think you should prove that you are a 100 Club member before being sold a catalogue when you attend the Meet. They used to ask me for my name and membership number. But nowadays any Tom, Dick or (Magic) Harry can get one.

sorry Harry
:wink:
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Post by Nik - KOTM »

The ONLY geocache boxes I have ever found were on the moors, yet I get the regular update for geocache boxes as yet I have not gone out looking for one.
I do like the idea of an availability list of boxes without the clues online, but sadly this too could be subject to abuse by saying it is there when it isn't and vice versa. It's a no win situation. :(
Nik 245 to go
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Gemma
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Re: Turned to the dark side......got me thinking.....

Post by Gemma »

The Sly Fox wrote:
bog_baby wrote: I know this is probably opening a can of worms but if there was a website listing letterbox clues (pay to join as you do for the book of clues) where people could log finding the box/if it's waterlogged/missing altogether/stamps been taken that would be really useful wouldn't it?? Updates would just be put into the website rather than having to be sent on bits of paper.

Could letterboxing do with being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century or would it lose it integrity and originality by moving it online?
My two pennies worth ...

Listing boxes online with the purpose of box 'information' may not be a bad thing.
You could simply go online before you set out and find out if any of the boxes on your list have been reported as missing. You could then decide to either scrub it from your walk or validate it as missing. Perhaps the site could have a section where letterboxers tick boxes to match the condition of the box (found, damaged, missing, removed etc). This information would then build a picture ... 95 found it 8 couldn't, for example.
However, I do not believe the clues should be posted online. Just a list of letterbox names in alphabetical order. I do not believe it would cause any harm or help potential thieves without clues.

One more thing, I think you should prove that you are a 100 Club member before being sold a catalogue when you attend the Meet. They used to ask me for my name and membership number. But nowadays any Tom, Dick or (Magic) Harry can get one.

sorry Harry
:wink:
DO NOT AGREE with listing boxes that in my veiw is not Letterboxing. Yes it is a bit of a fag when one looks for a box that is no longer there but hay that is all part of the game. :D
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Dartymoor
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Post by Dartymoor »

It is very dispirating not finding box after box when they're listed in the book - and has in the past caused me to just stop looking and enjoy the walk instead. Not being able to easily notify the owner they're gone is imo the biggest drawback of Letterboxing, and the book is far less helpful than it otherwise would be when confidence in its contents are knocked.
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Post by Sowerby Streaker »

If it is a catalogue box that is missing then you should just notify Malcolm Alderidge who co-ordinates all that sort of info for the updates and if the box has gone will delete it from the next issue of the catalogue. If its a WOM box you are looking for and its gone missing, then you should already have received the clues in the first instance from the owner and therefore can inform him/her when you return from your trip. Simples...... :lol:
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Post by Gemma »

Sowerby Streaker wrote:If it is a catalogue box that is missing then you should just notify Malcolm Alderidge who co-ordinates all that sort of info for the updates and if the box has gone will delete it from the next issue of the catalogue. If its a WOM box you are looking for and its gone missing, then you should already have received the clues in the first instance from the owner and therefore can inform him/her when you return from your trip. Simples...... :lol:
Yep wot they said.

:D :D :D
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Post by Dartymoor »

Even if everyone does that, it's still six months between books - and no easy and cost-effective way to update an electronic copy (I'll not be spending days typing in the details again!).

There's probably no way around it, and as mentioned is a part of letterboxing - it's just, at least for me, not a very enjoyable part.
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MagicHarry
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Post by MagicHarry »

LetterBoxes should be listed Online (no clues though - don't want to upset anyone Gemma! :wink: ). Then at least if the boxes are damaged or missing (or have been eaten by those hungry little foxes), folk can then post a message, so that other people don't waste their time looking. The said letterbox can then be flagged as "unavailable" until the owner sorts it out.
I wouldn't worry about whether you have to proove if you belong to the 100 club, as I've seen the catalogue on Ebay many a time!!..
Anyway, locations and clues are safely on my SATMAP and I'll be finding some of those non-existence boxes sometime soon.
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Gemma
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Post by Gemma »

MagicHarry wrote:LetterBoxes should be listed Online (no clues though - don't want to upset anyone Gemma! :wink: ). Then at least if the boxes are damaged or missing (or have been eaten by those hungry little foxes), folk can then post a message, so that other people don't waste their time looking. The said letterbox can then be flagged as "unavailable" until the owner sorts it out.
I wouldn't worry about whether you have to proove if you belong to the 100 club, as I've seen the catalogue on Ebay many a time!!..
Anyway, locations and clues are safely on my SATMAP and I'll be finding some of those non-existence boxes sometime soon.
Oh but there is a place for folk to list boxes that are missing in bad condition etc.

viewforum.php?f=6

So I can look forward to EVERYONE posting their two penny worth then. :wink:

PS Does every one post DNF "the dark side" if there is a DNF or needs Maintenance note???
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Brinnie
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Post by Brinnie »

Has anyone ever visited any letterboxes listed on one of these US website, I believe one is call atlas, not sure about the other one. :?:
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Post by bog_baby »

I think one of the problems with emailing someone to say a letterbox is missing so it can be deleted is that maybe the reason you didn't find it was because you just didn't look under the right rock/you're useless with a compass (two reasons why I'd never email someone to say a letterbox is missing!! :oops: )

However with geocaching a single DNF doesn't have to mean a box is missing but 3 in a row suggests it is (and I know one box I found a couple weeks ago had had to be replaced after 3 DNF's). I think people will generally post a DNF at the same time as logging caches they have found although maybe the exactness of GCing gives people confidence that if they didn't find it it probably is missing - so maybe wouldn't work as well for letterboxing?

Would everyone on here would be confident that if they didn't find a box it must be missing?
Anyway I'm going to pop down to friskyfoxesrus and get myself a fox to take letterboxing with me, they must be better at it than me :D . It'll be my secret weapon :lol:
Haven't been on any US sites though, I always thought there probably wouldn't be many UK letterboxes on them?
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Gemma
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Post by Gemma »

Brinnie wrote:Has anyone ever visited any letterboxes listed on one of these US website, I believe one is call atlas, not sure about the other one. :?:
Yep!!! Not many Boxes listed for the UK, and not very many finders.Guess UK Boxers are not bothered. :D :D
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