The Letterboxer's Companion [Hardcover]

Randy Hall (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of hiking, puzzle solving, treasure hunting, and rubber stamp artistry, topped off with the thrill of discovery. The basic idea is simple. Clues, usually posted on a web site, will lead the person who correctly follows them to the secret location of a "letterbox." The letterbox contains a unique rubber stamp and a logbook. The searcher carries a personal rubber stamp and logbook. When the letterbox is found, its finder stamps the box's logbook with his or her personal stamp, and stamps the personal logbook with the stamp in the letterbox. The letterbox is then secreted away again.

There is something for everyone in this quaint, Old World pastime. Artists and writers enjoy the opportunity to express themselves in their stamps and clues, while hikers and outdoor adventurers have found this an excellent way to share their special places with others. Letterboxing has been used for education, teambuilding, and as a way to explore a community's heritage.

The Letterboxer's Companion is a complete introduction to letterboxing. It includes a history of letterboxing, instructions on making personal stamps and letterboxes, letterboxing etiquette and conventions, basic land navigation teckniques, writing and following clues--everything the aspiring letterboxer needs to get started in this fascinating, family-friendly pastime.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Letterboxing is a quaint, Old World pastime that offers something for everyone. Join in the fun of figuring out cryptic clues, hiking beautiful trails, hunting for hidden boxes, and discovering exquisite hand-carved stamps. Once you master the basics of finding letterboxes, you'll naturally want to learn how to create and hide your own.
The Letterboxer's Companion is a complete introduction to the world of letterboxing. The book includes a history of letterboxing, tips on writing and following clues, instruction in carving personal stamps, advice on constructing letterboxes, basic land navigation techniques, and tips on letterboxing etiquette ¿everything an aspiring letterboxer needs to get started in this fascinating, family-friendly hobby.

About the Author

Randy Hall is a co-founder of the Letterboxing North America . He lives in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Falcon; 1st edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762727942
• ISBN-13: 978-0762727940
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #666,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who'd'a thunk?? There's treasure in them thar hills ..., March 14, 2004

By 

Ellen Etc. (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Letterboxer's Companion (Hardcover)

Well shut my mouth. Here's an application for physically active rubber stampers that was completely unknown to me until I picked up this book on a library display shelf. Letterboxing is in the same family of hobbies as geocaching, where enthusiasts use their GPS (global positioning systems) to track down treasures hidden by other enthusiasts somewhere in the countryside. Letterboxing is geocaching's Luddite cousin, as all you need is the clues and a compass. You might go to a letterboxing website, find out about letterboxes hidden in your area, read the clues, and take off on an entertaining day hike with a "pot of gold" at the end. When you find the treasure, which can consist of a logbook and a rubber stamp in a small Tupperware container "under the rock at the end of the fence," for example, you stamp your own signature stamp in the letterbox's logbook, stamp the letterbox's rubber stamp into your own logbook, then replace everything exactly for the next treasure seeker.

The author has done a great job of introducing this fast-growing sport, which is new to the U.S. in the past decade or so. The instructions on using a compass and triangulating kind of threw me, so if I go off on a letterboxing hike, I'll need someone who knows how to use a compass to go with me and explain it.

But otherwise, the book is a quick read, tells how to get started, how to carve your signature stamp, letterboxing etiquette, and answers frequently asked questions while assiduously avoiding spoilers or giving away too much. There's plenty here, including web resources, to arouse curiosity and interest in the activity, one about which I myself knew absolutely nothing before picking up this charming book. Really a good job for the first U.S. book on the subject.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction!!!, March 13, 2004

By 

"sholyfield" (Groton, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Letterboxer's Companion (Hardcover)

Randy (aka Mapsurfer) did a wonderful job on this synopsis of letterboxing. This (hobby, sport, past-time) has exploded in the past 6 years across america. Living in Connecticut and being active letterboxers it was exciting to see this topic finally come to print. If you are at all interested in a fun new way to enjoy a hike, or treasure hunt, but this book! We found the images particularly fun...some of the stamps used as examples in this book we have collected in our travels.

-Steve, Heidi, and Madras
Groton, CT

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Run, don't walk to buy this book!, July 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Letterboxer's Companion (Hardcover)

My local librarian ordered this book and suggested it to me. Having never heard of letterboxing I was instantly hooked. The book is well written, comprehensive, and inspiring. My life as I knew it is over.
I have bought a number of copies to give away to friends and family as I know that they will become hooked too, so that way we can still do something together, hunting for letterboxes!
For more info you can check out www.letterboxing.org and they tell you all about it too, but the book is just really special.