View Full Version : Bounce Box
Hi Just wonder what is a bouce box made out of can you use just a reg box or should it be more heady . I was thinking for the size 12" 10" 15"
any though on this. Thank For The Help :-?
the goat
11-19-2006, 19:08
yeah, any box will do. by the end of your hike, it'll most likely be held together by priority mail tape anyways.
as long as it's somewhat sturdy & fits your stuff, you're good to go.
i saw a 5gallon bucket w/ good lid being used as a bounce box this summer, it was even big enough for one of those massaging foot baths to go in it.
Lone Wolf
11-19-2006, 20:15
You really don't need a bounce box. You'll realize that after a few weeks.
Appalachian Tater
11-19-2006, 20:48
Ditto what Lone Wolf said. They are a lot of trouble. The postage is expensive, too.
Blissful
11-19-2006, 20:55
I'll start with the trouble and see where it goes from there. Plus I like the idea of having town clothes available to me. Batteries. Laundry soap. Some back-up medicines I can't get trail side. Disposable razor. The charger for my cell.
We'll see.
Lone Wolf
11-19-2006, 20:56
Times have changed.
Appalachian Tater
11-19-2006, 21:36
Batteries and laundry soap are always available. You don't need much in the way of town clothes and what you do need you should have with you as a backup for when you get cold and wet. A disposable razor weighs almost nil. I hiked with one but never had to buy another one after the first because I always found a new razor in a hiker box. You could have someone mail your meds if you need them. How heavy is your cell phone charger?
Also, consider what you'll do if you get to town Saturday afternoon after the PO closes or on Sunday. You'll have to wait until Monday morning to get your bounce box, then use the charger, soap, etc., and then get back to the PO again. Ditto if you get into town at 5 pm during the week. Try to mail your boxes to hostels or other places instead of the PO.
Also, something expensive or irreplaceable, like meds or memory cards with photos, you don't want to mail any more than you have to because they could get lost. Two people that I know had the PO lose their memory cards with hundreds of photos this year.
If you must use a bounce box, the post office provides sturdy Priority Mail boxes and Tyvek enelopes and tape for free.
Jack Tarlin
11-19-2006, 21:46
Tater raised some good points.
I'd ONLY send a bounce box to a town or place where I was planning to spend some time off, so there wouldn't be any problem going back and forth to the P.O.
Along those lines, people that have to leave town when the Post Office is closed and can't wait around for it to re-open frequently will give other folks money and have them send the parcel along when the P.O. re-opens. If you ever do this, be ABSOLUTELY SURE these are reliable folks. I know of several people who lost both money and mail by doing this.
And when sending something home that's important (photos, completed journals, whatever) spend the extra money and insure it. It's MUCH easier to find a missing box if it has tracking number so they can tell exactly where it travelled or was delivered. Also, having someone else sign for it upon delivery is another protection.
Using a bonce box is very much a personal choice. I never really had any problems in all the years I used them and will have one if I ever get back out there. You don't NEED one and some don't prefer them, but if you got a system worked out they can and do work quite nicely. I use an orange box because it slides over itself and thus, adjusts to hold mre if needed. I don't use mail drops because of cost and some of the reasons mentioned above, but bouncing a box is pretty cheap and practical if you plan as you go.
TinAbbey
11-20-2006, 01:36
hey jeff, this is off thread topic but you shuttled me to amicola for my thru in march. thats awesome to see you're planning a thru hike, best of luck.
steve
Blissful
11-20-2006, 12:07
Yes I had planned to use more of the hostel type places for the mail as I have heard the stories of not making it to the PO before it closes.
I'd be curious to know though if women use them more than men. There are some things I would like to have and also necessities I need. I don't want to have to spend more money on items on the trail or end up with a bulk item of something I will then have to mail to myself or home anyway. To me it seems to work out cost-wise.
Hi,
I started out using the bounce box routine and gave up on it at Demascus, VA.
Problems with bounce boxes in my view are:
1) gets quite expensive
2) you may by choice or chance, arrive in the town too early
3) you may not want to stick around the town or you may not want to visit the town in the first place.
4) a bounce box can force you into an itinnerary of having to be in a certain place by a certain time.
5) the bounce box is really unnecessary. What ever you need you can find in or near a trail town. If you don't need it most of the time, the item can always (and probably should) be sent home.
David
Hi,
I started out using the bounce box routine and gave up on it at Demascus, VA.
Problems with bounce boxes in my view are:
1) gets quite expensive
2) you may by choice or chance, arrive in the town too early
3) you may not want to stick around the town or you may not want to visit the town in the first place.
4) a bounce box can force you into an itinnerary of having to be in a certain place by a certain time.
5) the bounce box is really unnecessary. What ever you need you can find in or near a trail town. If you don't need it most of the time, the item can always (and probably should) be sent home.
David
Hey David, you are right, bounce boxes are not for everyone. I found you need a system worked out and I can address some of the problems you had and point out why, to some, it's simply worth it.
Problem solved:
1) Don't mail it so much. I send mine about 200m at a time- every 2nd(sometimes 3rd, 4th, 5th:D ) trail town. Thats ten times w/ a short distance mailed. It's conceivable that some could afford it.
2) If you are hiking so fast that you walk 200 miles before it takes the mail to arrive, send your box ahead 3, 4, whatever hundred miles ahead.
3) Don't send your box to a place that you don't want to visit. Of course there are other factors to consider as well. Timing, supplies, friends, town layout, $, etc.:-?
4)Not really, the box will still be there when you arrive. A data book and a calendar always do the trick for me. How flexible/ rigid you are as a person and how you approach your walk could also be factors. :sun
5) What you carry and what you like are a matter of personal preference. I enjoy my town clothes, coffee grinder and fresh beans, guides and maps, etc. etc. What you could and probably should :) carry, hike, live.....depends on each person. Thank you for pointing out some of the mistakes to be avoided if one plans on trying a bounce box.
SalParadise
11-20-2006, 13:21
Jack makes a good point about buying some assurance that your mail gets back home; those photos are priceless and it's not exactly uncommon that they get lost in the mail.
Be sure to send your bounce box via Priority Mail; they can be forwarded on at no charge as long as you haven't opened it.
Jack makes a good point about buying some assurance that your mail gets back home; those photos are priceless and it's not exactly uncommon that they get lost in the mail.
Be sure to send your bounce box via Priority Mail; they can be forwarded on at no charge as long as you haven't opened it.
I believe that goes for first class too. I have used priority when timing was a consideration w/ a bounce.
And I agree about the photos, take every precaution and never burn them onto a CD and carry it in your pack!!
Appalachian Tater
11-20-2006, 15:38
Insurance will only cover the cost of the media that holds the photographs. What you want is a tracking number so the package can be traced to the point where it disappeared, so it can be found.
So when sending a bounce box or just doing maildrops, how long will a post office hold onto the box before they decide you're not going to pick it up and just toss it?
Jack Tarlin
11-20-2006, 16:12
Blissful:
To answer your question, women may indeed use bounce boxes more than men. Some of the items they might want in town would be personal care/personal hygeine stuff, maybe extra underwear, maybe even a few cosmetics, tho most women go without.
Another thing some folks do is have a decent set of town clothes in their bounce box. This comes in handy when all your other clothes are in the wash, or if you perhaps want to go out somewhere half-decent for dinner. (This is VERY useful if you meet up with friends/family along the way, or visit a friend at their home, or take a side trip off the Trail for a day or two. Sometimes it's nice to have something to wear other than hiking shorts and a tank top).
Many hikers, however, discover that bounce boxes aren't really necessary, and that when one considers the time spent retrieving them, going thru them, re-sealing and re-mailing them, etc., never mind the postage expense, a lot of folks simply don't think they're worth the trouble. Most of the places you'll be staying (motels, hostels, etc.) will have all the toiletries you need to freshen up, many will have personal care items (razors, women stuff, etc.) and usually, in most trail towns, there'll be dollar stores or discount drugstores (or even supermarkets) where you can get travel-sized shampoos, toothpaste, etc.
In short, if you're thikng of a bounce box, I'd keep it small, I'd get ruthless about what I had in it, and I'd only send it to places where I KNEW I'd be staying awhile and would actually need some of the contents of the box. Spending eight bucks to send a box seventy miles ahead when all you need out of it are a dollar's worth of spices, a week's worth of vitamins, and an 89 cent tube of conditioner is a waste of money.
Also, be aware that a lot of folks use their bounce boxes to collect stuff they accumulate along the way.....maps, personal mail, etc. Folks frequently throw this stuff in their bounce box, which gets heavier, bulkier, and lots more expensive to mail, especially when the same stuff gets mailed ahead time and time again. If there's stuff you no longer need, it's lots cheaper in the long run to send this stuff home right away than to keep re-mailing it in your bounce box. I've seen people with Georgia and North Carolina maps in their bounce boxes.....in New Hampshire. This is pretty silly. Many times this summer, people walked the mile to my house from the Post Office, and then BAcK AGAIN, with enormous, bulky town boxes, which in many cases, contained stuff they didn't need, or stuff that should have been sent home hundreds of miles before they got to Hanover. So unless you have money to burn on postage or want to haul aound a big box of crap every time you get to a Trail town, get ruthless with your bounce box. If you REALLY wanna get ruthless, don't have one at all; you'll probably do just fine.
Lone Wolf
11-20-2006, 16:13
usually 30 days then send it to the return address.
Jack Tarlin
11-20-2006, 16:14
Guthook:
Most Post Offices will hold stuff several weeks at least or even longer. Motels and hostels or Outfiters will generally hold stuff longer than that.
Always make sure there's a clearly legible return address somewhere on the box in case it needs to be returned to you, or forwarded ahead somewhere.
So when sending a bounce box or just doing maildrops, how long will a post office hold onto the box before they decide you're not going to pick it up and just toss it?
I believe the law says 10 days but I've never known* a trail town P.O. that enforces it. They usually wait until the end of the season.
*I do recall one year out west I sent myself a pkg. to Beldon. When I got there a few days later they said they sent it back the next day because they thought all the hikers had come through.
smokymtnsteve
11-20-2006, 16:17
Jack please be more specfic..is it the cosmetics or the underwear that most women do without????
also how do U know??
Guthook:
Most Post Offices will hold stuff several weeks at least or even longer. Motels and hostels or Outfiters will generally hold stuff longer than that.
Always make sure there's a clearly legible return address somewhere on the box in case it needs to be returned to you, or forwarded ahead somewhere.
An ETA doesn't hurt either.;)
HOLD for THRUHIKER is also recomended.:)