Welcome to the forums, Rising Storm. I'm one of those who are easily confused, so your edited 1st post and the next few posts made me think I'd stepped into the wrong zone of some sort. (Actually wondered just what Schmackey was smoking)
The advantages of the forums. Do you mean compared to other forums? Do you mean compared to life without forums?
I'm disabled and frequently housebound, so the forums have become the major focus of my life since I discovered them. I'm also gabby -- maybe even garrulous -- curious, fairly strongly opinionated and you can see why I have so many posts in my short time here. (I also try to do what I can to make newbies feel welcome.) For me to lose the forums would be awful. The quality of my life would deteriorate seriously.
This forum has the largest number of truly knowledgeable people regularly posting. Instead of an "auction" used by a couple guys a month, this forum has sales forums. Many good bargains are to be had here. Of course, somewhere along with discovering all those good buys and learning more and more about knives, buying them can easily become an addiction. I almost never go to the sales forums any more. Just can't stop buying when I do. (This isn't a disadvantage, mind you.)
Somebody else already answered your other question. Be sure to use the search function in G,B,&U. And elsewhere. Tend to expect that many or most of your initial questions may well have been asked and answered as many as a couple dozen times. Also, since you sound reasonably young, questioning is a better bet than sharing your opinions, at least during the early stages of your participation here.
Keep coming, read a lot, and enjoy yourself!
