The tone of some of the discussion here is sometimes a little too heated to be productive. Was it really important enough to string out that many pages on including a gun in your pack?

I read other sites but seldom participate. I like BPL because there is good info here. You just have to hash through a lot junk (like why are we still here?).

PB has a good podcast with some really informative people. Listening to some of the manufacturers helped me decide on the purchase of my last pack. It also provided info on the guy that made it. So when I called I had a place to start a discussion with him. That worked out well for me and I was able to get him to make one more pack before he left town for a couple of months.

I would say the podcast at PB are there most imformative section.

Edited by CaptainJac on 01/03/2008 15:31:18 MST.

Give me the "strict" control Bernie has any day over the anything goes attitude at WB. After more than two years there I finally decided yesterday that I was wasting my time because all I got for my efforts in trying to supply some decent information was a lot of infantile remarks. I am the first to insert silly comments but if someone asks a straight question I try to answer that or just shut up. Having some idiot that posts "why don't you get a hammock" in every tent question thread is not my thing.
Franco
BTW , Bernie does not allow any criticism about any other site either...

what is WB? I don't think I am familiar with that one.

whiteblaze.net

Franco -

Sorry to hear you're leaving PB. Your experienced input has been invaluable and appreciated by most of us there. Unfortunately, with the on-set of winter, there seems to be an increasing population of rude youngsters trolling that and other backpacking/hiking forums of late, apparently looking for kicks. Bernie will ban them when he's had enough of their cr*p.

At least keep monitoring BPL, and stay in touch.

DAM THE TROLLS - FULL SPEED AHEAD.

Wandering Bob

The way I read Franco's post above, he's leaving WB -- not PB.

Bob...

I believe you misread what Franco said. He left WB, as I did for almost the same reason some time ago. I, too, believe the more I see of forums, the more I appreciate PB and Bernie's way of doing things.

They come around every year due to boredom. They need to take up snowshoeing and flatland trails ;-)

I am sorry that my message was not very clear. I was pointing out that as much as PB is highly controlled, White Blaze is way too open to trolls and too many opinions are expressed as facts and go unchallenged.
However (at WB) it is not just the passing traffic that bothered me, there are several regulars that keep wanting to impose their point of view such as :
Q : Does anyone have any experience with the Pocket Rocket ?
A: Why use a stove at all ?

Q: what would I gain in warmth changing from a R-2.3 to a R-3.2 mat ?
A: you gain more by eating a healthy meal...
A :(another poster) : too small of a difference for your body to detect.

And these are the kind of answers you get from the regulars .

But obviously a lot of folk like that sort of input. I'll stick with PB
...and BPL, Backpacker Forum, TLB
Franco

Edited by Franco on 01/05/2008 23:23:17 MST.

I take the Middle Way -- BPL, Backpacker Forum, TLB, etc.

I ran across this post in a search, so thought I would chime in.
I have been involved in a number of forums over the years, and even offer a couple covering topics true and dear to my heart.
The first one that I attended and for 10 years, is an absolute mess with runnings on off topic. Just when you think you've found a good thread, some one says hi and a 3 page discourse about other things takes place or worse yet some one dislikes someone else and they fight for three pages.

One extreme to another, I have had a post or two deleted on PB but I can see why and I'm not offended at all.
Each owner/moderator owns that forum and has a right to run it as they see fit.
I like the content, and not the clatter/clutter.
PB gets my 3 thumbs up.
(~:
PS I am hoping to find awesome content here as well, and maybe even contribute.

Well after re-reading my comments above, it is rather peculiar to me that I still post at White Blaze but have not posted at PB for months and have no intention of ever doing so again.
Franco

i have not spent much time on PBF, i have spent a little time on backpacker forums. occasionally i'll check out the destination section on backpacker forums to see what going on, but that's about it.
Anyhow, being realtively novice in backpacking, (a few years), i became a member of this forum at the start of my backpacking experience; and i find this forum to be excellent. i have learned very much in my time at BPL and feel there is a good sense of community here. i have recieved a bit of help from members who i have had no relationship to prior to BPL. i like that the BPL staff doesnt "regulate" strongly - it seems that forum members tend to take care of the random troll that comes by. i also think the gear swap section is great, the trust factor is huge.

just my 2cents-

The beauty of choice is that those of us who love going off topic have plenty of forums to hang out on ;-P Honestly....when a forum requires everything to stay 100% on topic it gets boring quickly. Sometimes the best discussions come out of one poster making a quip and it going from there - it opens up new ideas.

But hey......each to their own.

INTJs on BPL, and ESFJs on PB

Boring quickly or wandering aimlessly.

Take your pick.

Edit:(Why, INTJ, in case you were wondering)

Edited by greg23 on 05/12/2010 11:12:45 MDT.

Well after re-reading my comments above, it is rather peculiar to me that I still post at White Blaze but have not posted at PB for months and have no intention of ever doing so again.
Franco

Interesting things to be learned about ourselves when an old thread gets dug out of the grave.

Bradley wrote: "PS I am hoping to find awesome content here as well, and maybe even contribute."

No need to hope! You WILL find awesome content here, as well as general, fun discourse between "friends." I say "friends" in quotes only because most of us have not met one another in person, but have come to know one another over these forums. The community is such here that I would consider some folks here my friends, even though I've never met them face to face.

Some complain about threads going on aimlessly, but most of these are relegated to Chaff, where that is openly tolerated since it provides a place for us to ramble on about the topic of the day/week without distracting from the actual backpacking threads.

Even if a flame war erupts, much of the conversation is still civil. If things get too heated, most of that is amicably worked out as well.

I like BPL for the fact that I can contribute and interact in a manner similar to that of a group of my friends sitting in my living room, having a beer, and still come away with some very valuable knowledge.

-------------------
Sam wrote: "Interesting things to be learned about ourselves when an old thread gets dug out of the grave."

Sam, one of my favorite quotes is: "Much of what we know about ourselves does not come from within, but through the interaction with others."

Edited by T.L. on 05/12/2010 15:58:28 MDT.

I go to all of the sites, including PB. If a thread gets too wacked-out or off-course, I just move on....

What is "TLB"?

The Lightweight Backpacker