Frustrations With Trying to Get a Cache Published

I was at a geocaching event last weekend and someone was mentioning that around their home, Letterbox Hybrids don't actually take you right to the cache.  You get close with your GPS (like to a trailhead or something) and then you follow clues to find the box like you do on real letterboxes.  I thought that sounded cool, so I thought I would try a couple.  I have some very small stamps, so I put out a couple of them in small containers (too small for ink pads or markers).  These have been listed on Opencaching.US along with the rest of the series, but I thought I'd share a couple with Geocaching.com trying the clues as we talked about since there are not a lot of Letterbox types around this area.

This was my cache description:
Short description:  LETTERBOX: Bring your own stamp pad/marker

Cache Description:

This is one in a series that we have placed around Burleson County.  These are small stamps and the log is 2" wide, but is 8 1/2" long.  You will need to bring your own stamp pad or marker since the container does not have one in it. Bring a pen. Watch for a little poison ivy on the way.

To make this more like an actual letterbox, you will need to follow these directions. Step away from the GPS and have fun.
In Snook, turn northeast (left if you are coming from FM 60) off of FM 2155 onto CR 269 and go about 1/2 mile until it dead-ends into CR 268. Turn left and then immediately right to continue on CR 269.  The dirt road will start here.  Go another 1/2 mile and you will cross a small wooden bridge.  Just passed the bridge, you will see a large tree on the right very close to the road. The cache will be hidden near the base. It's blue, so it should be easy to spot.  There is a good place to park just across the road.

In case you are not familiar with Letterboxes: 

• Bring your own personal stamp (and stamp pad or marker)
• Bring your own letterbox journal
• Stamp your stamp in the cache log, sign and date it
• Use the stamp in the cache to stamp your journal so you will have a record of your visit

I put the Starting Point coordinates about 1/2 mile from the actual cache container.  The final coordinates were listed as another waypoint set so that Prime Reviewer could see it.

Disabled by PR and this was the comment:

09/21/2012

quote:

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To make this more like an actual letterbox, you will have to follow these directions. Step away from the GPS and have fun.

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Hybrids are just regular caches, that may be posted elsewhere as letterbox caches. The posted coordinates should be for the actual cache coordinates, and people should be able to find them using GPS navigation, as with any other cache. You can include the letterbox-style clues on the cache page, if you like, but only as an optional way to find the cache.

How To Respond:
Respond by posting a new Reviewer Note. Go to the cache page in question, and click on Log Your Visit. Select "Post Reviewer Note" as the log type, and enter your message. Doing that, I'll know exactly what cache your message pertains to, which will speed the communication process. Reviewer Notes are automatically removed when a cache is approved, so no one else will see them. I will receive your Reviewer Notes because I have placed your cache on my watchlist. Once the review process is over, it will be removed from the watchlist.

If you're reading this as email, don't reply to the sending address. It won't reach me. Follow the contact instructions above.

If more than 60 days have passed without a response, the cache page will be considered abandoned. Abandoned cache pages may be archived at a future date without notice.

OK...so I went in and removed the Starting Point coordinates and put the actual coordinates of the cache and submitted Version 2.  My note to Reviewer: This should be ready now. The GPS coords are where the box is, but people can use the description as well.

Disabled again with this comment: Signing letterbox-hybrid letterbox style is completely optional. People can simply sign the log, if they like. Your cache page is full of imperative statements implying that people have to bring a stamp, rather than just signing the log. You need to edit this so that it's understood that stamping is completely optional.

Revision 3.  I added more "optional" wording.  My comment:  Not trying to be difficult, but y'all are way to restrictive and picky about certain things. Why didn't you say this at first so I could correct everything at once? Try it now. I added the "Optional" language to it. Trust me, from logs that I've seen on other letterbox types, cachers will, more often than not, normally just sign their name and date. My instructions just make it more fun and help those that are new at this type to enjoy it a little more.

Disabled again with this comment:  quote:

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LETTERBOX: Bring your own stamp pad/marker

You will need to bring your own stamp pad or marker since the container does not have one in it.

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 This won't cut it. You need to be consistent throughout. You're telling people what that HAVE to do at the top of the page, then saying it's option at the bottom.

Revision 4.  I went in and added even more "optional" wording. The description now reads as follows (Revisions are highlighted in Blue):

This is one in a series that we have placed around Burleson County.  These are small stamps and the log is 2" wide, but is 8 1/2" long.  If you are wanting to use the stamp, you will need to bring your own stamp pad or marker since the container does not have one in it. Bring a pen. Watch for a little poison ivy on the way.

To make this more like an actual letterbox, you can follow these directions. Step away from the GPS and have fun.
(Same directions as the original submission listed abover).

In case you are not familiar with Letterboxes, the following is optional, but makes the letterboxing experience complete:

• Bring your own personal stamp (and stamp pad or marker)
• Bring your own letterbox journal
• Stamp your stamp in the cache log, sign and date it
• Use the stamp in the cache to stamp your journal so you will have a record of your visit

My comment (yes, I'm frustrated by this point): This is my last attempt to submit these letterboxes on your site. There are cachers out there that specifically search for letterbox types and I'm trying to add to a scarcity of them around this area. Either you want a good variety of cache types or you don't.

Disabled again: quote:

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LETTERBOX: Bring your own stamp pad/marker

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Last try to get you to remove or edit this additional logging requirement. Unless it's clear throughout the cache page that using a letterbox type stamp is completely optional, the cache page cannot be published. Are you interested in actually putting out caches, or are you more interested in making people only log them the way you want them to?

Seriously?! That quoted section above is the short description of the cache.  To be honest, I didn't even look at that part when adding all of the "Optional" wording in the first 4 revisions to the actual Description area, but there is enough "If you want" and "optional" wording that it should be clear enough.  I now perfectly understand Prime Reviewer's icon.

I'm done! At this point, I don't care if it gets published or not.  I see other LB Hybrids in Texas that say to bring an ink pad and to use the stamps and use your own stamp. Another random one I looked at had "The cache is not at the listed coordinates" and had the directional info as I tried to do at first.  So why is this one receiving so much opposition?!  There are only a limited number of hoops I am willing to jump through.  I am going to archive the other one and this one too if there is ONE more disabled message.  This, along with other Letterbox caches that I have (and there are several in this series), will remain on Opencaching.US where reviewers are not so uptight.  Please check the listings in/around Snook, TX for 70+ caches.