Strider Knives, Game Over!

[Horned Toad]

What does Lance's job history have to do with other people lying about their military careers? Is this the "shoot the messenger" tactic coming up again, or is this the "throw enough mud up, something will stick" this time?

The questions that Lance asked are valid. They would be valid if anyone had asked them. The main problem is that Lance has such a negative history with SKI that it makes it hard for folks to think he is just after the truth. The fact that he keeps posting his so called creds is what brings them in them up.

I called Mr. Jackson at Blackwater; he seemed like a pretty decent guy. He did want his number off the net which I removed. I guess his most telling statement was they have a lot of guys that work at Blackwater; the good ones have stayed and are making very good money.

I tried calling Mr. Emerson but he was out and I haven’t tried again yet.

I would be interested in when Mr. Emerson’s letter was written though. It has no date; the other from the PD was in late 03. Blackwater was what late 03 early 04, its looks to me like someone needed some references for a job since they probably didn’t qualify when they had no LEO or Military experience. I may call Mr. Emerson next week to ask what Filed Experience means in the civilian world.

For those that are interested SOCNET is still working on this and will be releasing something. I don’t know when or what, that’s not my lane. I do know they did not drop it.

 

[Cougar Allen]

So if the intent here is to warn against doing business, why not do it openly?

The intent here in TGB&U is to maintain an open forum where people can speak freely. Look around this forum and you'll find many other threads that also have gone on for a long time and that you might not see any more point in than you see in this one. We don't close threads here because somebody thinks further discussion is pointless. Anybody who thinks further discussion is pointless can go join another discussion about something else, and you'll find your right to participate in that discussion won't be taken away because somebody else thinks that one is pointless, either.

 

[Ed T]

With respect, it is not me who is missing the point. Read his last post. He does not have a DD214. In place of that, and in the face of false accusations, he offered up the proof that he is able to- just as most any honest man who gives more than a crap about his reputation would do when publicly attacked. IMO, hiding behind obfuscation, dedicated friends and the ever present catch-all, "our lawyers are handling it." are not the actions of an honest person, or of one with nothing to hide.

He typed in bold black print.

I did not recognize that as official documentation of credentials.

 

[Ed T]

The intent here in TGB&U is to maintain an open forum where people can speak freely. Look around this forum and you'll find many other threads that also have gone on for a long time and that you might not see any more point in than you see in this one. We don't close threads here because somebody thinks further discussion is pointless. Anybody who thinks further discussion is pointless can go join another discussion about something else, and you'll find your right to participate in that discussion won't be taken away because somebody else thinks that one is pointless, either.

You are right. This will go on as long as it needs to. I did not think I was promoting censorship. In fact, I proposed stickying it. I think some replies have been made in this thread just for the purpose of bumping it up. I did not propose closing it. (At least I do not recall proposing that).

 

[Spark]

So if the intent here is to warn against doing business, why not do it openly?

Fear of litigation? Now we are right back to the issue of standards of evidence and truth.

If the intent was to warn against doing business, I'd come out and say so.

The one (1) thread I started on this was done to highlight the BS that was being peddled... Mick Strider had lied, in my opinion, for years. I highlighted multiple lies, and cited & sourced them.

You'll notice, I didn't start this thread, nor the plenty of others that have come before, yet I was dragged into it. I did choose to take part in it, though, so I guess that's on me. As far as I'm concerned, it's entirely possible that Duane Dwyer isn't Thomas Duane Poland and whatever assorted other AKA's are out there. That said, it's going to take something more than "it's not me" to lay this to rest now, given the multiple other inconsistencies.

As far as the standards of evidence, well, I guess you've got me there. AFAIK, nobody here has the power to force people to tell the truth; I can highlight inconsistency though, and when the stories don't match up, it's a pretty strong indicator or "evidence" of lying of some form.

 

[roughedges]

He typed in bold black print.

I did not recognize that as official documentation of credentials.

He could just as easily have typed, in bold black print, that he was a super-secret squirrel with experience in multiple actions and an impressive kill count. Or that he could not answer on advice of his lawyers. Or even ignored it altogether (no bold black print there of course). He did not do this though and so I must belive it to be an honest representation of his experience.

Dwyer, on the other hand, offers very little except references to lawyers and lawsuits.

A question, Ed T. Why are you focusing so closely on one poster's reputation and background? were tamashigiri to disappear in a puff of smoke, everything relevant in this thread would still stand on its own merits. No disrespect intended to him, but tamashigiri matters as much as any of us- which is to say, "very little"- and, in trying to steer the focus onto him, it sure seems as if you have some private motivation that is obscuring your judgement.

 

[Ed T]

Spark,
I know as the owner of the forum, you get pulled into more than is probably fair.
I am not saying impacting business it is your intent. I think it is the OPs intent.

I am not singling you out, please do not personalize my comments to you alone. I think when you respond as if they were directed to you personally, it stops that line of thought.

Truth can be very hard. Subtle lies of omission or failing to correct misconceptions can be as significant as outright lies.

In the process, people end up smearing others that have nothing to do with this.

From 1988-1990 I was assigned to A Co. 109th MI. E Co. had the division scouts. 2/75 was across the street from us. There was a fair amount of migration of soldiers between the two. IIRC when a dicipline issue emerged, it was not uncommon for 2/75 people to be sent to 109th until they could return to 2/75. If I am wrong here, someone let me know. We ended up with a driver for our CO from 2/75.

There were a lot of soldiers that served in those roles without tabs. I would not want to have their service diminished because of all of this. Is that Mick Striders fault? Is that Lance Harris's fault? I don't know. You could argue both. But this drama does paint with broad strokes.

 

[Ed T]

He could just as easily have typed, in bold black print, that he was a super-secret squirrel with experience in multiple actions and an impressive kill count. Or that he could not answer on advice of his lawyers. Or even ignored it altogether (no bold black print there of course). He did not do this though and so I must belive it to be an honest representation of his experience.

Dwyer, on the other hand, offers very little except references to lawyers and lawsuits.

A question, Ed T. Why are you focusing so closely on one poster's reputation and background? were tamashigiri to disappear in a puff of smoke, everything relevant in this thread would still stand on its own merits. No disrespect intended to him, but tamashigiri matters as much as any of us- which is to say, "very little"- and, in trying to steer the focus onto him, it sure seems as if you have some private motivation that is obscuring your judgement.

I don't like anonymous posters. Sorry. Especially when they turn out to be long time actors in the drama. I put bubba on ignore. RVNVET as well. I think they came here to stir the pot.

They registered new accounts specifically for the purpose of crapping on our lawn. Nice. That is my beef.

 

[Cougar Allen]

Once again, what does it matter what Bubbanumber1's purpose in posting the link to pownetwork was? What if you prove he's a 12-year-old boy too, or he's a mental patient using the computer at the nurse's station because the voices in his head told him to post that link -- would that have any bearing on this thread?

Then you go on with more of someone who is not Duane talking about couldas. You can do that if you want to. He coulda been abducted by aliens and fought in wars on other planets, he coulda been drafted by timetravelers and fought on St. Crispin's Day....

 

[Cougar Allen]

Some people who are active on other knife forums have come here to post because this is the place where both sides can post. You might not want to call this neutral ground -- objectivity is not the same as neutrality -- but it is the place where everyone can post and their posts are not edited or deleted. People who have banned each other from posting on their home forums can have a dialogue here.

 

[Ed T]

Once again, what does it matter what Bubbanumber1's purpose in posting the link to pownetwork was? What if you prove he's a 12-year-old boy too, or he's a mental patient using the computer at the nurse's station because the voices in his head told him to post that link -- would that have any bearing on this thread?

Then you go on with more of someone who is not Duane talking about couldas. You can do that if you want to. He coulda been abducted by aliens and fought in wars on other planets, he coulda been drafted by timetravelers and fought on St. Crispin's Day....

I guess I am in the wrong.
Again. I said I needed to walk away. Just can't seem to do it easily.

 

[RVNVET]

I really hate to say anything, but: When I saw Lance Post his letters on the Forum, I thought: Oh Boy! Here we go.

Lance shot himself in the foot when he made that Post and invited attention, questions and criticism to his background. That was a tactic that he should have never done. Furthermore, I am confident that most of you thought the same thing. What a mistake.

His Patriotism, Honesty, Dignity, etc. had never been in question to warrant his posting. But as always, hind sight is always better.

However, I believe the issue is DD and his dirty little deed. Throwing hand grenades to create diversions is a known tactic and focus needs to be maintained.

I don't know if your aware that, STRIDER is/was designing knives for Kershaw. I stumbled on this link the other day:

Go to Kershaw's Home Page: http://www.kershawknives.com/
Click on: Serious Missions, Serious Knives
Click on: Search By: Designer

Designer........... STRIDER

I knew about Buck, but had no idea about KERSHAW.

Just FYI for those who don't know.

 

[Cougar Allen]

For whatever it's worth I don't think you're a bad guy, Ed, and I don't think you've really been advocating any of the ideas I've been refuting.

 

[Horned Toad]

From 1988-1990 I was assigned to A Co. 109th MI. E Co. had the division scouts. 2/75 was across the street from us. There was a fair amount of migration of soldiers between the two. IIRC when a dicipline issue emerged, it was not uncommon for 2/75 people to be sent to 109th until they could return to 2/75. If I am wrong here, someone let me know. We ended up with a driver for our CO from 2/75.

There were a lot of soldiers that served in those roles without tabs. I would not want to have their service diminished because of all of this. Is that Mick Striders fault? Is that Lance Harris's fault? I don't know. You could argue both. But this drama does paint with broad strokes.

Just to clear up some facts about life in the Ranger Regiment. The Rangers are not like any of the regular Army units. If you get hurt, disciplined, or don’t meet any of the physical standards you get sent down the road to leg land and the regular Army. For someone who has made it to the Rangers and wants to be there that is a fate worse than death. Most guys who were sent down the road for discipline problems would come back ASAP. The most common were DUIs and normal stupid drinking stunts. If a guy went down the road due to an injury it would depend on the injury one whether or not he was allowed to come back. A lot of times they were shipped off somewhere else to heal up and then come back.

Now did this happen to Mick, I am not sure yet. We know he was in 2nd Bat even Lance will agree. He was shipped of down the road and then after discipline problems he was out of the Army. I know my site still has a thread open on this. We just haven’t had anyone show up yet from that time frame.

 

[Horned Toad]

I really hate to say anything, but: When I saw Lance Post his letters on the Forum, I thought: Oh Boy! Here we go.

Lance shot himself in the foot when he made that Post and invited attention, questions and criticism to his background. That was a tactic that he should have never done. Furthermore, I am confident that most of you thought the same thing. What a mistake.

His Patriotism, Honesty, Dignity, etc. had never been in question to warrant his posting. But as always, hind sight is always better.

However, I believe the issue is DD and his dirty little deed. Throwing hand grenades to create diversions is a known tactic and focus needs to be maintained.

I don't know if your aware that, STRIDER is/was designing knives for Kershaw. I stumbled on this link the other day:

Go to Kershaw's Home Page: http://www.kershawknives.com/
Click on: Serious Missions, Serious Knives
Click on: Search By: Designer

Designer........... STRIDER

I knew about Buck, but had no idea about STRIDER.

Just FYI for those who don't know.

Well I really agree that trying to use myspace as a form of verification was not the best move, but you can also say what does DD's business with Kershaw have to do with the current issue. It is statements like this that really make it hard for folks to believe that there is not some sort of agenda out there other than just wanting the truth. If folks just wanted the truth, they would have claims listed and facts to prove or disprove. Then the chips would fall where they may on the business side after folks made a decision.

 

[RWS]

After we all finish making Lance continue to substantiate himself here even more than he has in this thread, which was suppose to be about Duane Dwyer (aka The Big Double D):thumbup:, maybe we should all ask each other to show proof who we are while we're at it.

After that circle jerk of an exercise in mental masturbation, perhaps we can stop the diversion tactics and maybe, just maybe, Duane Poland Dwyer the Super Duper One-shot Kill Sniper Shooter will get permission from his "coaches"...... I love the terminology used "COACHES"........to make some kind provable statement somewhere about his global multi-kill, super fascinating, special ops in the trenches sniper experience.

Maybe his buddy, Mickey, can give him some pointers on how to tell the truth when he finally decides to give a statement....

 

[Horned Toad]

After we all finish making Lance continue to substantiate himself here even more than he has in this thread, which was suppose to be about Duane Dwyer (aka The Big Double D):thumbup:, maybe we could ask each of the other posters to this thread prove who they are.

Well about 10 pages ago there was this group at SOCNET that said they would do it. I haven’t seen any new info by anyone here since then. I ever agree with Lance that these things take time (did I just say that). I am not sure how long you think it should take to go back 20 years and get facts, but I don’t think it would happen over night.

 

[lotus1972]

The intent here in TGB&U is to maintain an open forum where people can speak freely. Look around this forum and you'll find many other threads that also have gone on for a long time and that you might not see any more point in than you see in this one. We don't close threads here because somebody thinks further discussion is pointless. Anybody who thinks further discussion is pointless can go join another discussion about something else, and you'll find your right to participate in that discussion won't be taken away because somebody else thinks that one is pointless, either.

NOTE; This is not towards you Cougar but to the community in general.

The idea of an open forum where people can speak freely is a great idea and I'm all for that but this is not the case here.

Speak freely to defend someone until they are proven in a court of law to be guilty or simply because you feel it's dishonorable to talk on an issue that cannot be resolved without said parties all participating and you get labled as a follower or a dupe.

You can't go into a theater and yell fire because YOU think that the theater is showing films you feel were marketed dishonestly. But apparently at bladeforums one can post ad nauseum and try to destroy a person's livelyhood.

If you bought a knife based on the marketing is it the sellers fault or yours? If you bought a Strider based on marketing then by all accounts ( as their knives are not in question from everything I have read ) then you still have one hell of a rock solid knife.

BF is ( for now ) the single largest knife forum on the internet but stands apart as being the only knife forum where one can publicly try to destroy another human being because one can.

Let a person be judged by their actions. The actions of SKI appears to be one of an upstanding knife company run by guys who truly care about their customers and actively support the military.

Let a person be judged by the fellowship they keep. SKI appears to have support from Mawhinney, Marcinko, The Rangers ( after all they are there every year at the best Ranger comp ) and a vast majority of the SF community along with many many vets. I am also a vet and during my service I knew plenty who wore the uniform but were soldiers in name only. Being a vet doesn't entitle to you to any special status in my eyes ( unless you served in combat or have been wounded ). Being recognized by true proffesionals within ones field as SKI has done not only in the Military but also in the knife makers community speaks volumes.

If you don't like SKI then simply don't buy their knives but don't act all self righteous and say your defending vets and stolen valor when your really just personally attacking someone.

If the knives are rock solid but you attack SKI because you don't like Mick or DD or whomever then it is a personal issue for you and Spark should show more class than to allow this to continue.

It is evident to anyone here that this thread is going to solve NOTHING yet it continues and when the issues are not resolved and it becomes clear the issues will never be resolved then the posters resort to attacking the character of their fellow posters creating disharmony and discord. All this thread has served to do is create and foster more bad blood more discord and more personal attacks in it's self fullfilling nature.

 

[RWS]

Well about 10 pages ago there was this group at SOCNET that said they would do it. I haven’t seen any new info by anyone here since then. I ever agree with Lance that these things take time (did I just say that). I am not sure how long you think it should take to go back 20 years and get facts, but I don’t think it would happen over night.

I edited my post to make it more clear.
What I meant, and I was being sarcastic, was that maybe we should divert the thread even more to where we are all trying to prove to each other who we are before we continue discussing Double D....e.g., I'm a CPA....or am I?...Maybe I wanna be a CPA so badly, I'll beg you to let me do your estate planning to make you believe that I am.

 

[Horned Toad]

What I meant, and I was being sarcastic, was that maybe we should divert the thread even more to where we are all trying to prove to each other who we are before we continue discussing Double D.

I edited my post to make that more clear.

Cool beans, I have trouble picking up sarcasm in print, thx for clarifying.

I would have to wonder though how many folks would still be posting if it wasn’t from behind an anonymous screen name.