Thought we split 'gear' off into another sub forum

Big Mike said:
I vote for Tony's body with Rick's head. :thumbup: :eek: :thumbup:

Big Mike
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Now, I can't help but think what it would look like the other way around.

Personally, I like the split. Makes a lot of sense to me, but we have lost a culture of chronic post-aholics to a larger collective lurker-sphere. It seems the ratio of views/replies is about 50 or 70 to 1 these days whereas in the past it was down to about 25-30 to 1. I am just making that up, but I seem to see the same 15 thread starters all the time, tonnes and tonnes of views, and mostly the thread starters replying to one another.

I think as a group, or at least the folks who don't mind being loud and brassy all the time, should try and encourage some of the lurkers to swing by and post their thoughts. I say we go about that and friendly-ify the place a bit, while trying to preserve the structure. The structure of W&SS, Outdoor Geer and Hunting/fishing just make a pile of sense. What has been happening is that I'm seeing a lot of the 'beating a dead horse' icons show up whenever a new member brings up an old topic. I'm even guilty of that in the last batoning thread, but then it turned out the thread was posted in earnest and the user was in fact interested in learning. Just a thought, but this place can use a few more smiles and chuckles and friendliness.

Even if its yet another thread about how to make vaseline cottonballs, we all been there before, and most of us probably posted a few of these threads in the past. So if we make these folks feel welcome when they come by, they will gain the confidence to begin posting more and participating in other folks threads. Frequent posters also going to keep doing what they are doing if they get some responses. A whole host of views and zero replies is hardly encouragement to continue one's generation of content. But really, before we go after the lurkers, we probably have to pick our own pants. Even the loudmouths have been pretty quiet lately.....Just my two cents.
 
I think merging the three would be worthwhile.

It would take the confusion out of the picture for sure.
Everyday, new members, who have mistakenly placed a gear-related topic in WSS, get smug remarks from frequent forum members. I think some of those people are so offended they never come back. This leads to less memberships being purchased, simply because they never get a chance to experience what a great site this truly is.

If these members don't leave right away, some of which occasionally house a wealth of knowledge, are now too scared to start a new thread or post, fearing the replies they might get.

Besides that, half the time I find myself forgetting about the other subforum(s) associated with the topic.:D

It would be beneficial and appreciated, greatly.
 
Not sure why I'm the first one to point this out - but I believe one of the main reasons for the split was because of all the complaining that would occur if someone started a thread about say, sleeping bags. It wouldn't make if off the first page before there would a post something like "How is a thread about sleeping bags a skill?? In my opinion the perfect fix would be to leave hunting and fishing where it is and RENAME W&SS to just Wilderness & Survival and merge gear back in.

Then going forward, if it's gear, an adventure, or a skill, as long as it's either Wilderness or Survival related, it's good to go :thumbup:

And of course we all need to remember that no matter what, not everyone is going to be happy with the solution.

Lastly, if there is a new mod for W&SS created, my vote would also be for Tony :thumbup:
 
I have ZERO problem with the split..just more elbow room in both departments. Whats the big deal?
I like having "gear" on one side, and "skills" on another. Makes GOOD sense to me.:thumbup:
Besides, now we know where to look for knife makers pimping their next knife. Keep your eyes peeled for mine sometime in the next 5 years:D

EDIT: I would love to vote for Tony as a new Mod, but the final scores arent in on the knife competition so....I will just have to wait to see how I do. Then VOTE.
 
I think that the more specialized or specific a sub-forum gets , the less opportunity exists for people of different skill levels or interests to get involved because the topic point is so one-sided. We all go into the woods for different reasons , wether it's bushcraft, hunting, survival skills or anything else.

There's a lot of cross-over information that's there for all those activities and isolating them into their own sub-forums just seems to segregate people instead of bringing them together , as well as confusion ( especially to newer members) where to post their topic.

I really liked when W&SS was one forum as well. The gear part of it...well, that's the point , it IS part of survival skills. I saw no point in isolating it on it's own. Granted there are some who post some ill-fitting topics ( which rightly should be moved) but for the most part all bases where covered as far as survival skills go when the whole works was together. Hunting and fishing are survival skills too , and it wouldn't upset me if they where part of it as well. One big survival sub-forum. And 2 less sub-forums to moderate as well. What the heck...just one man's opinion.:)
 
If I'm starting a thread about making a fire - if I use a BK11 to make a feather stick - is that a skill. Then I use a firesteel.com rod to spark the tinder - is that gear? If I use the BK11 to carve a handle for a blank rod, is that a skill post or a gear post?

I think it waters down both sub forums and leads to less overall content. How many posts never get made b/c someone doesn't want to offend by breaking the rules and posting in the wrong area.
 
Like Esav said, if you're not sure, post in here. The worst they'll do is move it to the other one.
 
If you are using gear, it's a skill.
If you are showing off a new piece of gear, it's gear.
 
I actually brought this up in a kinda tongue in cheek mood.

After listening to the responses, I believe that remmmm has articulated how I feel, when he said
In my opinion the perfect fix would be to leave hunting and fishing where it is and RENAME W&SS to just Wilderness & Survival and merge gear back in.
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Esav Benyamin said:
If you are using gear, it's a skill.
If you are showing off a new piece of gear, it's gear.
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A gear post inevitably drifts into a use/technic discussion and a skill post inevitably focuses on the gear used. I say save yourself the endless task of trying to separate the two and merge them back together :thumbup:
 
The double forum has worked well but I wouldnt mind some help. I,ll be outside alot this summer
 
I'm all for keeping the forums separate, gear and skills. As Esav said, using gear is different than showing it. As for another mod, no problem adding another here. Tony M is a good guy (and one of the WLC grads so I can attest to his ability) but the mod decision isn't solely up to me. Last time, when we added Joe, Brian Jones and I talked, had an open thread for the members then made a decision. I too will continue to be busy teaching, traveling and generally getting out as usual. Many hands make light work right?
 
Halberdier said:
A gear post inevitably drifts into a use/technic discussion and a skill post inevitably focuses on the gear used. I say save yourself the endless task of trying to separate the two and merge them back together :thumbup:
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Agreed. :thumbup::D
 
Wilderness Survival is about learning how to use the gear.
It's a symbiotic relationship that should have never been split.
You can't have fire without the tools to make it. A knife is a tool.
Put the gear back together with the wilderness and rebuild a successful forum please.
 
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Although posts did tend to drop off of page 1 quickly, I think I preferred W&SS and Gear in one place. Really, doesn't matter much to me as long as we leave it one way or the other and define the scope. I don't like it when my food bowl gets moved.
 
I don't care either way. I just made a separate "favorite" link for the gear forum and jump between the two.
 
from limited experience w/ other forums, splitting and re-splitting forums inevitably starts to dilute the overall experience and participation

clearly there have been inappropriate threads in the past- trying to sell knives, gear that has nothing to do w/ wilderness and survival, etc- your still going to get that w/ two or three forums

I've had threads moved in the past that were clearly geared to garner input from the W&SS, only to be moved to Gear and Gadgets were they sat unviewed and unanswered.

I say merge them back together and if it doesn't fit the W&S framework- move the thread

the ultimate goal of this forum should be for members to share knowledge and gain knowledge- IMHO I think this is better accomplished w/ one forum
 
Halberdier said:
A gear post inevitably drifts into a use/technic discussion and a skill post inevitably focuses on the gear used. I say save yourself the endless task of trying to separate the two and merge them back together :thumbup:
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Agreed.

I do more lurking than posting, so I'm going to give myself only 1/2 a vote, but I liked WSS better before the split. Not only are the two topics intertwined, it's a PITA to toggle between the two sub-forums. Also, no one likes having their posts moved, and it seems like that is happening with great frequency.

BTW, as I'm writing this I've got a Gossman WTK on my belt. It a great knife. The blade is about 3 .75", and it's about 1/8" thick. It has green micarta scales. I just got back from a woods walk where I used it to make a walking stick and some fuzzies. In which sub-forum should I post about it?
 
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