What does a 16-year-old letterbox look like?

 I was beyond shocked when I found one of my local boxes, planted oh-so-long ago, still alive. Well, it was findable, but not well, really. Let me show you ...

Looks OK, right? But wait ... 

it was half full of gooky brown liquid -
this was after I poured most of it out on the trail

yikes! yep, there is a logbook in there! lol!

ew.

at this point I was hoping the stamp was worth salvaging

Well, that's the logbook - a slimy mess and unreadable

OK, so maybe not worth saving :(
This was a MasterCarve stamp and a very early carve

We used to cut MasterCarve into to 'sheets',
to make it go farther - this is an example

Ooh, this is a crumbly mess. Oh well.

So, can I learn anything from this mess? Of course!

1. Freezer containers are not watertight, but this one was still was hangin' in there!

2. The camo tape was still in good shape after all this time - cool!

3. A good hiding place ensures longevity. Full stop.

I use pouches now because they are easier to hide and I have found that they don't collect water half as much as plastic boxes. I used lock-n-locks for a while, but they are sometimes pretty challenging for finders to close properly, and the knock-offs get brittle and break, I have found. Honestly, there is no perfect 'box container. One of my favorite containers were the plastic film canisters, preferably black - they were watertight and small. The only problem with those was that they could get lost super easy, or overlooked; this usually resulted in a missing-report. All the container-types have faults - the best thing is, as a finder, to carry a bit of 'box first-aid, to try to keep them alive as long as possible.

This series had another box on the same trail. Regrettably, there was so much blow-down and growth there was no discernable match to the clues. The box is probably in there, somewhere - I'll not ever find it!

Sixteen years is a long time for a box to live. I am sure there are older ones - I would like to hear how the rubber withstood the test of time out in the wild. I would imagine stamps would last better if they were not snugged up to a slimy logbook *smirk*

The last word about this box is that I will be re-carving and restoring this letterbox (actually two). The trail is fantastic - the locals have groomed and expanded the trails, and it is beautiful. I do know it can get pretty buggy in the heat of the summer, but we boxers take our chances, right?

And, just for fun, Samsonite captured my shock and surprise at finding this gem still awaiting visitors ... thought it might give you a chuckle :)

what a goob! hahaha!