Letterbox Perth is a fun outdoor activity for people of all ages. It can be a short walk or a strenuous hike – there are clues for every level of ability.
Searchers follow clues to find a hidden box containing a rubber stamp and a record book. Visitors leave their signature stamp in the book and a letterboxing “trail name” to mark their visit.
Brick is a type of building material that was first developed in the early days of human civilization. It is commonly used for buildings and walls, but can also be made into doors, windows, steps and other items. Bricks are primarily made from clay, which is mixed with water and pressed into forms to shape it. When cured in the heat of a fire, it becomes strong and durable. The process of making bricks has changed little over time, except technological advances in firing and manufacturing methods.
Brickmakers trudge through the dirtiest, filthiest stages of their work: mixing and shaping clay into block forms, driving oxen over the mixture to trample it into a thick paste, scooping the mixture into standardised wooden frames (to produce a brick roughly 42 cm long, 20 cm wide and 10 cm thick), printing the fronts and backs with stamps that indicated where the bricks came from and who made them, removing the bricks from the frame and smoothing the surfaces with a wire-strung bow, stacking the bricks in kilns, loading them with fuel (likely wood rather than coal), burning them in the kiln, cooling them, and bundling them into pallets for transportation. The bricks are then sold to builders and contractors.
Historically, bricks were shaped by hand using wooden tools. Eventually, machine-made bricks became popular. These were made with a mold that produced a single block of uniform size and shape, although some companies still make bricks by hand.
Modern bricks are usually classed as either solid (no more than 25% perforations), cellular or hollow. They may also be “frogged,” having indentations on one of the longer faces, or even glazed.
The term letterbox refers to a container hidden in the ground that contains a logbook and rubber stamp. A visitor to the letterbox leaves a self-addressed stamp in the book and a note describing their experience. The stamp and the notebook remain in the box for the next visitor to find and enjoy. Letterboxing is a variation of geocaching, an activity that appeals to the primal treasure-hunt instinct in many people.
Mailbox
A mailbox is a file on a mail server that is the final destination for email messages. It can be a user name, or a depository into which messages are deposited for someone with a specific function such as the postmaster. Mailboxes can be on a local system or on a remote system such as an ISP. A mailbox name can include a percent sign (%) to designate a local address that is expanded when the message arrives at its destination.
In recent years, a wide variety of mailboxes have been created with products designed for both multi-occupancy residences (typically tower block private accommodation properties) and individual homes. These have been manufactured by many different companies with a range of features from the simple to the complex. Many of these are ‘banked’ into groups to allow mail delivery personnel to deposit items at a single location rather than going to each property door. Other products have been designed to reduce vandalism and theft of deposited items such as aperture restrictors and security chains.
The practice of finding and using letterboxes has become popular in the US, where the ‘letterboxing’ website Atlas Quest provides clues and directions for those wishing to find a box. The boxes are often hidden in nature, and the search for them requires a certain degree of discretion, so as not to reveal their hiding place to passers-by or other people engaged in a letterbox hunt. Once found, the box should be carefully re-hidden and sealed so that it is not exposed to the weather or easily spotted by inquisitive animals.
Discretion is also required when stamping-in at a letterbox, as this must be done without revealing the container or its hiding place to other hunters. A good way to do this is to take a picture of the box’s flag, which will provide a unique identifier for the letterbox, and then use your personal stamp to record your visit to the site. This must then be done quickly, so as not to draw the attention of other people.
Clues
Clues are the written directions that lead you to find a letterbox. They can be very simple or complex. Simple clues usually just tell you the steps that you need to take and what to look for. More complex clues may incorporate the steps into a story or make them more interesting to read. The clues should also reflect the theme of the box. For example, if the box is a Shakespearean tragedy, the clues should be related to that theme.
If you are new to letterboxing, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the rules and guidelines of the game. This can be done by visiting a letterboxing website. These websites offer a list of letterboxes and their locations and are also an excellent resource for finding clues. The most popular letterboxing website is AtlasQuest.
Once you’ve found a letterbox, it is important to record your experience in a journal or logbook. This is how other letterboxers can learn from your experiences. In addition to recording your own findings, you should also write down the trail name of the box and the date that you found it. This will help other letterboxers locate the box later on.
Some letterboxers also keep track of their finds and exchanges by including them in a PFX count. A PFX count is an acronym that stands for Plants, Finds, Exchanges, Event stamps, and Hitchhikers. Some people include virtuals in their PFX counts, although others do not.
When hiding a letterbox, you will need to create a waterproof container in which to place your stamp and logbook. A typical container is a plastic food storage box, but other types can be used, as long as they are watertight. You can also use a plastic bag to protect the stamp and logbook.
Be sure to leave the area in better condition than you found it. For example, don’t pull out plants or tear up the ground while searching for a letterbox. This can damage the environment and create a “social trail” that will give away the location of the box to other hunters. It is also important to avoid creating a muddy path, as this will ruin the chances of finding the box.
Safety
A brick letterbox can be a good way to secure your post. However, it is important to follow a few safety measures. For instance, you should avoid putting a letterbox where it will be visible from a busy road or intersection. This can cause a dangerous situation for motorists, mail carriers, and pedestrians. You should also make sure that your mailbox is not located next to a curb or driveway entrance. It should be at least 6 feet away from these surfaces.
You can make your letterbox safer by installing a cage to prevent thieves from stealing valuables or items deposited inside it. This cage fits around the internal side of the letterbox and prevents thieves from sticking their hands or tools inside. You can also fit cowls to your letterbox to stop criminals seeing what is in it.
Another safety measure is to replace your mailbox with one designed to prevent ‘fishing’. Fishing is when criminals use the gap in a letterbox to steal car or house keys that have been left within reach of the box. They often target people who live in high-rise flats as they have less chance of noticing what is in their mailbox.
Stooping down to retrieve and post items through low-level letter plates can take its toll on Royal Mail staff, with back issues causing more than 16,800 days of sickness in 2018. This is why it is a good idea to get a wall-mounted letterbox that has an angled design so that the letter plate is higher up.
Lastly, if possible, you should try to locate your letterbox 1m to 1.2m above the roadway. This will allow the carrier and patron to remain clear of traffic while they deposit or collect their mail. It will also reduce the potential for injury to both of them from being struck by vehicles or falling on their way to or from the mailbox.
Keeping your letters, documents, and parcels safe is essential to protect your privacy and property. With so many ways for criminals to steal personal information, it is crucial that you take steps to secure your letterbox.