Coexistence of Geocaches and Letterboxes

[Dartmoor Dave]

I’ve seen a few logs recently (some on my caches, others not) complaining of geocaches being placed near to letterboxes, the implication being that this will result in damage to the letterbox. I do understand this concern, as obviously the letterbox is now more likely to be discovered by a geocacher (whether or not that is likely to lead to damage is another discussion!)

However, in most cases this coexistence is purely accidental. I have placed several caches not realising that a letterbox was nearby – and why should I? There is no central register of letterboxes and you only know if they are there if you have found them. In one case my cache was replaced by a letterbox – I was definitely there first! (link to log) So, whilst I understand the concern, in most cases the geocacher does not know the letterbox is nearby.

But sometimes I have seen letterboxers thanking a geocacher for finding a letterbox and mentioning it in the log. I assume that they will then go out to find and stamp the letterbox, which may be a long lost one. When I placed a recent cache I did find a letterbox that hadn’t been found for about 10 years, and that did cause some interest.

Would it help letterboxers if geocachers recorded the position of boxes they find, say on this web site, or would that not be the thing to do? It seems a shame to find a box without a stamp for 10 years and not to tell anybody?

[dartymoor]

Firstly; it was a sad day when I realised that some letterboxes hate geocaches and anything to do with them.

Secondly; some people moan about everything and you should not go out of your way to please everyone.

One cache log I read recently, whilst sitting in evening sun miles from anywhere said “Found whilst letterboxing. What a lovely idea, we’ll join up when we get home to Cornwall”

Thirdly; Many letterboxers would not want the coordinates of their boxes posted publically. I suspect you already know this and are testing the water… 🙂

[clownpunchers]

I know people get worked up about it but I can’t see the issue really other than “I found this spot first”. People in the middle of the moor are usually familiar with both, and respectful enough to re-hide both caches and LBs when found.

One of my caches actually shares a hide with a letterbox now, I had to find a better place for it in the vicinity and it was the only hide available. I wouldn’t have shared if the hide wasn’t huge, in the middle of nowhere and totally obvious in the first place (piled stones in front of big overhang)!

I get a lot of logs saying why they’re in the same place and I guess I will have to archive it when I visit them next, but it does seem a shame, a lot of people myself included enjoy finding a letterbox as much as a cache, and surely a letterbox is meant to be found by those who are looking!

For some reason letterboxes go missing a lot (unlike geocaches which are easier to find, go figure), so giving hints to locations openly would be a huge issue. Nice topic!

[reb10]

Clownpunchers at least the frog is happy!
I think that in the letterboxing guidelines it says that owners should leave contact details in case of any problems with the box, this would be a good way of geocachers to make contact with the letterboxer. So if clownpunchers was to contact the box owner and ask if it was ok to place the cache with it, surely everyone is happy.
But this will only work if the letterboxers follow their guidelines.

[Author]

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