Customer Reviews

The Letterboxer's Companion

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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.

Honestly, we didn't expect this to be an in-depth letterboxing tool, just a neat way to explain the hobby to our kids, and interested family members.
However, the presentation is easy to read and has tips we had forgotten about & find very useful.
This book is graphically pleasing, in an aesthetic format, with little touches that truly capture how enchanting letterboxing is.
It has now become a constant gift for people we love.
You will not regret this purchase if you have an interest in a family-friendly activity with an artistic touch.

Good material to get you started. Very good reading for the beginner. However, this book will soon be sitting on the shelf as it has no advanced information. Still, worth the purchase.

The book was much smaller than I expected. Read it cover to cover in an hour or so. Good information, though no real revelations. Kind of spendy for such a small book.

This compact little book is both a great overview of the wonderful world of letterboxing as well as great "how to" practical knowledge about this hobby.

This arrived in brand new condition, and well packaged, and quickly. Since I'd seen it in the library I knew what to expect...a beginner's guide. It is easy to understand.

Good book, no doubt. I enjoyed it and found it very useful. But that's not the issue. Why is it for sale from $19 to $45 when the actual price is $14. Look at the back cover! Buyers beware.