I need ideas to keep my mailbox from being bashed.

edbgon

There was a picture on here once that showed a smaller mailbox encased in about 2-3" of concrete inside a larger mailbox. The smaller one had the door removed so that just opening the larger mailbox was sufficient to put mail inside. Couple this with a metal post and it would give them quite the surprise when they come to bash it in.

squidboots

You can always do it the redneck way and put a standard-sized mailbox inside of a slightly larger mailbox and pour concrete between the two.

Bonus points if you mount it on fixed metal pipe frame (which you also fill with concrete) and mount in the ground with a lot of concrete.

I guarantee that if you do this, you will know who did it by the screams of agony as a baseball bat is shattered some stupid kid's arm is broken. I would recommend putting some kind of disclaimer warning on the side of the mailbox for the over-litigious.

javadpup

Put a strong metal pole in front of the mailbox on the side of the mailbox they would come from, and try to set it in concrete or something else strong. I used to have the same problem, and that seemed to fix it, if they're dumb enough to try to hit it, it'll knock the bat out of their hands and give them some nice bruises.

Edit: Sorry, I missed that you wanted to catch them, but making them stop can be just as good

redikulous

Leave the current bash-able mailbox in place and every night put a gallon bag full of brightly colored paint, so when they smash it the paint goes all over them and their car. Then maybe you can find those assholes :/

wintremute

Encase it in brick. http://www.instructables.com/image/FYC4THNFPIUQOC9/Do-it-yourself-Brick-Mailbox.jpg

Beezlesnort

If it's your standard metal box on top of a wooden post, then you might want to upgrade to something a little sturdier.

Something like this: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=stone+mailbox

What I'd do:

For a post, I'd find a squared metal tube the size of a 4x4 and sink it two feet deep, then fill it with concrete for extra strength and paint it brown.

For a box, I'd find a welder that could make me one out of half-inch metal plate, paint it silver to look like it's made of galvanized sheet metal, then bolt it to the top of the pole.

I guarantee that anyone that hits that with a bat will get what's coming to them.

joker_of_the_deck

Make a bulls-eye out of light wood and have it hung over your mailbox by a single thread. Write points scored if hit in different areas of the bulls-eye (50 points for centre, 10 points for edge, etc.).

When the kids come to hit your mailbox, their eyes will be drawn to the bulls-eye and they will try and score points. Since the bulls-eye is hung by a thread, no amount of bashing will break it.

Your mailbox will be gleefully safe.

tsoldrin

You can get a deer camera at most sporting good stores for about $50 bucks. They have night vision and work on batteries (coming on via motion detection) and are camo. I don't think you'll have the resolution to see a license plate, but you'll see the people and make of the car.

diggalator

Ok so here's one that I saw while driving in the sticks of VT. I was going to try to describe it, but decided to draw a picture of it - http://i.imgur.com/5Oyp1.jpg. The idea is that when someone hits your mailbox, the pole rotates and the big rock hits them or their car.

old_po_blu_collar

eh, this will be buried but why don't you get one of those motion detection night cameras that hunters use?

Smay

I used to have the same problem at my old house. Unfortunately I never thought of a solution until afterward, but here are a bunch I came up with depending on what tools/methods you're comfortable with. A combination of some of these may be your best defense.

Disclaimer: I have no idea if these would work, they're just ideas.

Warning: Don't try to do anything which could hurt the kids, you'll probably end up getting sued.

Put the mailbox post on (heavy duty) springs. The idea behind this is the mailbox post is attached to the ground with springs. When the mailbox gets hit, instead of getting smashed up the springs will absorb the shock. The post/mailbox will just swing down to the ground, then back up again. Since your mailbox is still getting hit, this will probably cause some damage to it still.
Build a protective cage around your mailbox out of steel rebar or iron pipes. Something like this. This would require welding if you use rebar. If you don't have welding equipment, you could use iron pipes/pipe fittings to construct the shape you need.
One interesting method I've seen is to surround the mailbox with steel posts. You would only need a few, just make sure they're at least as tall as the mailbox. The idea is to make it almost impossible to actually get to the mailbox with a bat.
This one may be a bit dangerous for the kids. Get two mailboxes -- the second should be small enough that it fits completely inside the first. Place the second mailbox inside the first, then fill the space between them with concrete.

GoodTimeLimeChime

Rig up a strobe light that's triggered by the movement of the mailbox. That'll freak them out.

Get in their head.

The strengthening of the mailbox may only challenge the offenders.

oddmanout

I thought this was a pretty innovative idea, not sure how well it actually works, though

http://www.punkproofmailboxes.com/boxes/b-buster/b-buster.html

rightc0ast

I know a guy to this day who broke an arm in the early 90's being a repeat basher.

Evidently, at night the homeowner started putting a bowling ball in his large mailbox, and talking it out in the morning. I didn't see the ball though. It's just what the guy says happened.

pestilence

put it on a swivel and rig it to release a fiberglass bicycle flag rod that's been tied back so it whips the little bastard in the face as he bats the mailbox.

thantik

This honestly sounds like a profit opportunity. Make the whole smaller mailbox inside bigger mailbox thing, but instead of filling it with concrete, seal it and fill it with UV gel, something that won't wash off easily. Have cops go around with portable black light and voila.

llaskin

Buy larger mailbox. Place smaller mailbox inside. Fill air space with concrete.

JohnYonder

I'd try asking your mail carrier or local postmaster. They've might have some good advice on how others have handled this problem over the years.

mhyquel

You could see if they filmed themselves.

Any of those yours?

b00ks

Everyone seems to be leaning towards lots of concrete that leads to pain. I recommend an alternative, find a way to make the whole thing out of nerf or some extremely resistant plastic. So when they hit it, it springs back to shape.

chancesarent

Take a large mail box and a small mail box and set the small one inside the large one. Fill the large one with cement and make sure the small one sets dead center in the cement. Find a friend to help you mount it, and congratulations, you now have a bat-proof mail box.

Tarasosx

Fill the mailbox with concrete. If the hoodlum's baseball bat is wood, it will break, giving the mischief maker a face full of splinters. If it's aluminum, the bat will kick so hard he'll drop it.

DharmaBeer

Catching the punks is going to be too difficult to even make an attempt. Imagine if you will a square 1/4" plate steel mailbox on a properly installed steel pipe post. All welded together. That would deliver a pleasant treat to a bat wielding punk. I can just imagine how bad your hands would hurt after trying to bash it. Now imagine if the box were mounted at a 45 degree angle. If the perp hits too high the bat will be deflected upwards, if the perp hits too low, the bat will deflect downwards. If you cannot weld, I would discuss this with a fabricator. I wish you luck with this endeavor.

salamandertamer

Get a brick mailbox.

Exedous

God damned rednecks. Get a metal one attached to a metal pole. Disguise it as a wooden mail box. When one of those patty wack honkey sons of bitches tries to smash your box they'll fall out the window and possibly sustain a well good, old fashioned southern wrist fracture. By then, there will be a huge commotion. Run outside with your shotgun and shoot him in the fucking face.

NelsonUWP

If it's any consolation, a couple of kids in a small town near me got into a car accident throwing pizza ovens at mail boxes and lost control. One of them got tangled up in barbed wire and died.

thegreatgazoo

The Amish have a solution http://www.lehmans.com/store/Home_Goods___Accessories___House_Fittings___World_s_Toughest_Mailbox___79515?Args=

Kind of odd for there to be an Amish web site.

steve358

I laughed when I saw this becuase it reminded me of the time my father god fed up with having our mailbox bashed by the local invasion of drunken teenagers that visted my home town (Infamous party town on the shores on Geogrian bay) so he had a welder cut a hole in the bottom of it and ran a big steel pipe threw the bottom to the top of the box then proceded to set it in concrete things were good and quite on late summer night when I heard the sound of aluminum hitting the pavement followed by tires skreetching and someone yelling "DUDE HE BROKE HIS FUCKING ARM LEAVE THE BAT AND LETS GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE".... our mail box was a bit crumpled on the one side but the steel pole did its job and I bonused a nice aluminum bat out of it, a month or so later we all got "superboxes"... so the half crumped box is now laying to rest as a bird feeder in our backyard..

Forbichoff

old friend of mine had this happen a lot, so he put a hollow post in the ground, filled it with concrete, he heard when they tried to smash it later that month.

the person trying to smash it broke something in his hand when he went to smash it, they apparently weren't using a wooden bat. i consider that a lesson learned.

ropers

Aren't mailboxes federal property (automatically, by virtue of being installed as a mailbox)?

EDIT: Yes, they are. Mailbox vandalism is a federal crime.

So basically wouldn't a motion detector and a webcam-to-CCTV conversion enable you to give any evidence you gather right to the Feds?

EDIT: And from https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/aboutus/laws.aspx :

Mail or Mailbox Destruction (18 USC 1705)
The Postal Inspection Service is committed to ensuring the safety of the nation's mail by securing letter boxes or other receptacles for U.S. Mail. To this end, Postal Inspectors aggressively pursue individuals who willfully or maliciously injure or destroy such receptacles.

According to this you can (also) use this form to report vandalism of your mailbox.

jenkstom

On a rural road near here I see lots of mailboxes placed inside metal pipe. Basically it's a piece of steel pipe maybe 10" in diameter, and about a foot and a half long that the mailbox goes inside of. Then that pipe is welded to a smaller pipe that goes to the ground and is set in concrete.

A baseball bat would just shatter on them. I presume there's a welder that lives in that area that did them all, because they all look the same. I can't find any pictures of such a thing though.

I see a lot of mailboxes built out of brick, but I also see a lot of those broken. I don't think that's the best way to go, unless you make it really really strong.

sinfield

Our previous neighbor was a retired welder. We had problems with vandalism a couple times.

Two 4" steel pipes filled with concrete and set in concrete to a depth of 30". The two pipes are ~18" from one another and joined by 1" crosspieces to provide lateral support. Atop the pipes is a steel cage just big enough to hold 2 mailboxes (one for us and one for the neighbor).

When I was in high school, one of my classmates was out drunkenly joyriding with some girls in his Jeep, showing off. He lost control and slid into the mailbox cage. The side of his Jeep was torn completely off. The mailbox posts were rotated ~10 degrees. Neighbor used a winch to rotate it back.

Never been sued, or had the construct challenged.

threepio

My father engraved a mailbox with an anchor attached. The whole thing was stainless steel.

As the story goes the man involved in the mailbox destruction was a passive aggressive neighbour. They caught him as he was trying to use a chain to pull the mailbox free - it pulled his bumper off and he drove away leaving his license plate behind.

Vock

I have access to an arc welder and stainless pipes of varying sizes, so I'd go to a scrap yard and pay the extra for a few sheets of stainless and weld together an ugly as hell mailbox capable of withstanding the apocalypse. You'd get the added bonus of knowing whoever tried to knock it over would probably end up with a dislocated elbow or shoulder.

If you live anywhere near Hamilton, ontario, and can get me the sheets of stainless, I'd be more than happy to cut and weld it all together and get you the pipe for a post for free.

LakeRat

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. I love the ideas about filling with cement, bowling balls, reenforced steel, etc. but I've read about people being sued when the bashers injure themselves or when a car accidentally swerves off the road and hits an immovable mailbox. I'm not too worried about the bashers, but I'd hate for some old man to swerve off the road, hit my iron and cement contraption, and die.

IrritableGourmet

Remotely deployed spike strip tied to shock sensor in mailbox.

greim

In high school I used to drive my friends to and from school, basketball games, etc. My school was in the country, and my dumbass friends sometimes wanted me to slow down and pull over so they could smash mailboxes. I refused.

maineac

concrete post that goes right up through the mailbox. They will hit that one more time and that would be it

ENRICOs

Intersecting fields of fire (shouldn't require anything more than two 30 caliber machine guns on bi-pods. Concertina wire, (electrified or not, your call) toe poppers planted in a circular pattern around the box, and a good watch dog.

Problem solved.

NakedOldGuy

If you want to get really fancy, then put out an infrared webcam and have it programmed to record motion. When they bash your mailbox next, you have it on film and can take it to the post office or police station and say you have a recording of identifiable people committing a federal offense (because mailboxes are considered federal property).

StrayCloud

Idea. Deflect the blow instead of armoring up the mailbox. Construct an A-Frame mount and anchor it into the ground. Place mailbox in the hole of the 'A' and secure it. Something like this.

This lessens the probability of actually hurting the idiot children while protecting what's yours. I would think that since landing a direct hit on your mailbox will be nigh-impossible, your mailbox's popularity as a target will decrease.

nerdmeister

My family used to have this problem, we just gave up and now rent a PO Box from post office. Makes life easier.

hearforthepuns

In my city we have lots of road markers with rubber bases so that cops can drive over them without damaging their cars.

They'll fold all the way parallel to the ground and then spring back up again. One of those should have no problem supporting a relatively light mailbox.

They also use them in the Ikea parking lot so that dumbasses don't take out the markers every week.

AnnArchist

Put a metal arc over the box. Its gonna hurt bad when they hit the post instead of the mail box.

its deco.

Or put to water balloons filled iwth paint on either side of the box. Wait til you see it get bashed, then wait til you see a car with neon paint.

Proceed to kcik their asses.

mrpickleby

Try this?

1) Use a steel-reinforced concrete post for your mailbox

2) Facing your driveway from the street, plant the post on the right.

3) Mount your mailbox parallel to the road so front opens toward your driveway. At least this way, they will hit the post first as it should protect your mailbox.

Jazradel

I used to be in exactly the same situation as you. All we did was build our own mailbox out of thick plywood, it was easily strong enough to prevent future bashings. It's still in 100% shape 10 years later.

smasho1

Jesus, people. I'd just get a fricking PO box... what you're doing with concrete, brick, rebar, etc. is effectively creating a tank-trap. It could actually kill somebody who dips too far off the road, and if you stick it too close to a public thoroughfare, that will always be a risk.

Anyway, about catching the one responsible: deer camera could work, but you can buy and install your own home security system on tigerdirect.com for use with a PC. Get a cheap PC, mount an outdoor security camera (maybe hidden?) and use security camera software (don't have a link, sorry) to manage the frame rate/activity.

I also suggest calling your local law enforcement to get their advice.

unique616

Be careful, I've been told that it's a felony to hurt a federal employee, which includes the mailman.

willywalloo

Can you talk with your post man about putting the mailbox closer to your house along the drive, or maybe plant some bushes around it so it's hard to see?

xftwitch

Easy solution: buy two mailboxes, fill one with concrete, place on heavy duty (preferably metal) stand. Inside concrete filled box (which should be to the right of the real mailbox, leave a nice note that says "Please use other mailbox"

The mailman will get it immediately. As will anyone that tries to bash the boxes.

tcpip4lyfe

How about a wireless webcam on a post looking at the mailbox.

theone2

Try this one. Everybody on Reddit. Seems to like it. http://imgur.com/tJx1e.jpg

Dracius

I'm too lazy to walk outside and take a picture, but here's how we deal with the problem in Phoenix.

ShepRat

I'm seeing mostly people recommending harming the vandals which I find quite disheartening. These aren't some evil people, they are just stupid kids who will grow up one day and don't deserve possible permanent injury.

Anyway, if the look of the thin is not an issue. Bolt an old car tire to a pole and then mount the mailbox within it. You can get them for free and no matter how hard you hit it it won't get damaged and the risk of injury is minimal.

I also see a lot of people in rural areas using plastic water drums as mail boxes. They would also take some concentrated effort to damage.

vegasmacguy

how about a breakaway mailbox

frank26080115

bashing activated camera?

pyroman8813

I think it would be pretty cool to make the mail box on some sort of hinge where when they hit it, it will just fall over without any damage and then you can have it spring back.

Boring right? Here's the added kicker. Set it up so that the mail box being knocked over deploys a spike stripe into the road in front of the offending vehicle. Since this can all be done mechanically you wont need to worry about running any electrical power to it.

Grizzant

just put a simple circuit that if the mailbox is disconnected an EFP goes off. Guaranteed to shred the offender and their vehicle

Radar_Monkey

Just build a concrete form out of plywood and 2X4s just large enough to encase the mailbox. Be sure to dig down a few feet to ensure stability. Build a rebar or even chicken-wire cage to insert into the form that will reinforce the concrete. You could also just use bricks and fill the cavity with concrete. Be sure to insert ties if you plan on filling with concrete.

babucat

granite post instead of wood.

babucat

a neighbor built a stone thing to keep his mailbox in... basically like an outdoor fireplace but with a mailbox in it instead.

neuromonkey

Leave a small amount of unstable material (like ammonium triiodide) in your mailbox at night. It may get bashed, but it'll probably only happen the once.

Extra fun... Put something like an automotive air bag (or just a high-pressure balloon w/ a pin near it) in there, with a sealed bag of monster adhesive and a bag of shiny glitter in front of it. When struck, their car gets instant sparkly rainbow paint job. You could also add a bag of fecal matter.

Or... How about cameras (maybe with high intensity IR emitters) w/ motion detectors that'll catch their license plate? You might need front & back cams.

Or... Sculpt a mailbox out of a high viscosity, very sticky material that'll pull a bat out of your hands if you hit it.

Or... Sculpt a mailbox out of a dense, highly bouncy rubber. Bat bounces back.

DJ_Deathflea

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ropers

Relevant.

http://www.boingboing.net/images/texas-mailbox.jpg

jooes

Build a new mailbox out of thick steel with a thick steel beam that's cemented into the ground. They'll only hit it once more, that I'm sure of.

potator

This reminds me of a guy who lives near us. To remedy the "mailbox baseball" problem, he created a mailbox post made of industrial I-beam. The box is held on with bungee cords.

Huggebugge

Let this be your inspiration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka4_nQWtuVU

pistolerov2

Fill the mailbox with one of those paint-bombs they use to catch bank robbers, the mailbox explodes when it's hit and covers the perpetrators in semi-permanent blue paint, the next day it's pretty obvious which kids where doing it.

eclectro

This is the mailbox you need to get. There have been other discussions about fortifying mailboxes.

mavaction

Most semi decent digital cameras have a remote trigger. It's a mini 1/8 jack that allows attaching a remote clicker to snap photos at the end of a long wire. The remote switch is usually a fancy thing that costs but you can just simply get a mini jack plug that fits and attach long wires with two free ends. The picture snaps during brief or permanent contact of the two wires...

Attach 30-40 feet of wire to your remote switch. Make a contraption so that when the mailbox is struck it triggers the momentary switch...The camera should be pointed down the street towards the mailbox in such a way as to frame the car during the shot...

Take test shots to see the car will be well framed...take tests on the switch mechanism to make sure it will fire...

Have a plan to save your camera...perhaps an alarm on the same trigger... Just like a red-light cam...these guys are going to know instantly that you busted them when they get flashed...

Make sure camera is not set to auto-shut-off ...maybe reset hourly. Make sure auto focus is off...have the focus properly adjusted for the shot of the car and mailbox...

xmod2

If you want to catch them, put a lever arm in front of the mailbox. Then when they swing and hit the lever arm, it throws caltrops out in front of the car.

drsnow711

Get a plastic mailbox that will take being hit by a bat. Get a 4x4 post and about two thirds of the way to the top cut it at a 45 degree angle. Drill out a 3/4 in hole in center of each part of the post. Place an steel rod in the bottom hole of the 4x4 and put the top part on the 4x4 on the part of the rod that is sticking out. There is now a steel core to the 4x4. Wax both sides of the cut to make them slippery and make sure the 4x4 can spin around the steel core. Mount the mail box to the post and set the bottom in concrete, making sure to put the lower side of the cut is towards the road. When hit the post should swivel around and drop back into place.

greim

I think if you made it obvious you were actively resisting their vandalism, you'd potentially attract their attention. They'd swing around and make sure your mailbox was destroyed. Something subtle is needed here.

AmandaKerik

Make the box out of concrete sandwiched between two normal-looking aluminum walls, reinforced with whatever's available. Same with the post - pretty wood outside tacked onto concrete reinforced with rebar / metal. Perhaps consider attaching the post and box with a heavy duty spring that would be invisible until bashing.

snuffaluffagus

Wide open-ended metal pole, cemented roughly 2 feet into the ground, fill the pole with cement, and then form a cement shell for your mailbox and overlay the regular metal box. My uncle lives on a farm and he used the aforementioned tactics and it worked quite well. There was broken glass from shattered windows as the bats recoiled when they struck the mailbox. Seems overkill, but he figured the cost of the materials and time would save him the hassle and overall cost of new mailboxes.

dkeav

Same thing, we solved it with a 5in steel pipe casing 5ft into the ground and sacrete'd in place. The mailbox was cut open to run the pipe into the mailbox, if they smack the mailbox they hit the pipe too.

RobotMafia

I've had this exact problem.

I solved the issue by purchasing a 6x6 Cedar post. Dug a roughly 48" hole (frost line), and set it in concrete.

It has yet to be smashed, but I imagine they would have some nice bruises.

Mr_Sadist

Rubber pole so it swings right back up...

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