Trolls?

"What is the best black powder pistol for self defense to carry on a continental divide through hike?"

You'll have to give us more information before we can answer that: Flintlock or percussion? Single shot or revolver?

Can I use Mapp gas with my Coleman 2 burner stove? I want to make hash browns and pancakes atop Half Dome this weekend.

"Brandon you are taking offense to something you shouldn't. He is referring to a specific set of people who have been on the forum lately."

I wasn't really taking offence to it. I've just frequented so many forums on pretty much every topic from Linux, online games, and programming to cars and 4x4s, to working out, backpacking, running, cycling, pretty much every interest I have ever had since the invention of the internet. Even back before forums I was in BBS systems and news groups, pretty much all of those were eventually overrun by the collective arrogance of a minority of anti-social members that had nothing better to do than jump on every word of any inexperienced member that dared to ask a "stupid" question. I'm just so used to this discussion, and I have seen where it goes nearly 100% of the time. This sport is the one true constant interest in my life (besides programming which I do for a living), and thus these forums are the last of those topics that I would have wanted to see devolve into some petty elitist soapbox.

My apologies if I missed some other discussion or some comments/questions from some particular individual that is prompting the OP to make this post. I haven't and nor do I care to cyber stalk the op or anybody on this thread to find out exactly what posts everyone is referring too. I just wanted to implore any one who cares to avoid that perception, it's just not good for the community.

Brandon +1, very well said.

…but I still found a lot of the faux-troll examples funny.

…plus I'm getting marginally better over time a recognizing posters quickly where it is a waste of time. But that does not mean I am against any kind of questions. I find I care much less if I just ignore those. If you do that is removes a lot of the irritation.

There are no stupid posts … only stupid re-posts. ;-)

Brian.
You will be amazed at how many people send me E Mails starting with " this is going to be a silly question, but…"
the funny bit is that they never do ask a silly question and I am still waiting for one .
"Questions like recommend a tent for rain, are almost too ridiculous to be honest questions"
At first you would think that asking for a good tent for rainy weather is a silly one, yet there are in fact many popular tent designs that I would not want to use where rain is heavy and or lasts for more than an hour or so,
Essentially any tent that has the floor past the drip line is a type that I would avoid .
(that is because you get water on the floor getting in or out and can't keep the door open for light/airflow or a view)
Even broader than that, the type where you set the inner up first and then drape the rain fly on top is not what I would chose or recommend for this particular situation.
(if it is raining setting the tent up, you already have wet clothes on so why get inside a wet inner tent too? here for example, a good size vestibule is handy too)
On the the hand, a tent that I think is terrible under heavy rain could be very good for high winds or snow.

wasn't really taking offence to it. I've just frequented so many forums on pretty much every topic from Linux, online games, and programming to cars and 4x4s, to working out, backpacking, running, cycling, pretty much every interest I have ever had since the invention of the internet. Even back before forums I was in BBS systems and news groups, pretty much all of those were eventually overrun by the collective arrogance of a minority of anti-social members that had nothing better to do than jump on every word of any inexperienced member that dared to ask a "stupid" question. I'm just so used to this discussion, and I have seen where it goes nearly 100% of the time. This sport is the one true constant interest in my life (besides programming which I do for a living), and thus these forums are the last of those topics that I would have wanted to see devolve into some petty elitist soapbox.

this …

its BPL … we know "better" than everyone else of course

;)

Brandon I think once you are around here longer (ironic of me to say I guess) and experience some of the posts being referred to you might understand the frustration.

I myself am a member of way too many forums as my interests seem to come and go as they please. However I understand the difference between discussing the merits of an upper/lower body split and engaging in a trip that could have life and death consequences. Whether warranted or not, I hope you can see how some of the people on here feel they have earned the right through years of experience to try to talk some of these people off the ledge of their risky ventures or encourage them to do some more research and testing on their own. However I have never seen anyone here respond in a thread and call a question "stupid" as you are describing.

Like I said the trips being referred to have been changed to more appropriate ventures so I guess I will remove myself from this thread and hopefully let it find its way off of page 1. This thread has clearly been blown waayyyyyyyy out of proportion.

Summary: I understand your frustration but haven't seen the superiority complex (outside of this post lol) you are referring to (and have seen myself on other forums) here at BPL.

I got an answer about liner gloves in another thread, but me no likey the reply, so can someone magically alter reality for me and say that they are something different that I will like? :D

Sorry, just had to. I am one of the newbs, and as such I am sure that I have asked some seemingly inane questions. Self deprecation is always better than self defecation, regardless…

"Self deprecation is always better than self defecation, regardless…"

Great, so now you're making fun of us old people…..

"I'm getting marginally better over time a recognizing posters quickly where it is a waste of time."

I resemble that remark….

As a ULer who's a subject matter expert in the crapping o' the pants, it never occurred to me until just now that I should make a weight comparison between a pair of adult diapers and a week's worth of TP.

Thread on this very topic forthcoming…

What's the best (lightest) way to inflate a coleman inflatable queen size mattress? I don't mind the weight of the mattress itself but the inflation device uses 4D batteries and is very heavy.

"a pair of adult diapers"

How many are in a pair?

–B.G.–

Kate, since you are new on here you stepped into the trap, but you will learn: never bring up the subject of crap. Virtually guaranteed to start a how new flurry of activity. Basically a lot of us have the maturity of 6 year olds, and therefore think fart and shit jokes are like the funniest thing imaginable. :-)

"weight comparison between a pair of adult diapers and a week's worth of TP"

Ian, you are planning on wearing the same pair of Depends for a week???!!?? On second thought, don't answer that – I'm not sure I want to hear the answer! ;-)

I think there's a huge difference between someone asking a question out of genuine (albeit possibly ignorant) interest and a troll. This is Backpacking Light. People are coming here with questions about…backpacking light. Yes, they forgot to use the search function. Yes, they are asking the same question- a backpacking related one- more than once. But they are staying within the topical interest of the forum, and unlike some of the people responding to them, they are remaining polite. I don't see how that makes them a "troll".

And frankly, if we're not going to discuss ANYTHING that has been discussed before, then I guess we should shut the forum down except to discuss the latest, greatest stuff on the market because pretty much everything has been hashed out multiple times before. Hasn't it? Just because YOU'RE tired of discussing something doesn't mean other people are. And the rule doesn't seem to be hard and fast, because I see a new thread today that has 2 pages of responses on wool shirts. Pretty sure that's not a new topic. I'm not bashing it, because I think that's the point of the forum, but it seems like there's a double standard going on.

I don't know, I guess I still subscribe to the "if you can't think of anything nice to say, don't say it at all" thing my Mom taught me. If I read a new thread, and it doesn't interest me, I move on. It's good to point them to previous threads (not every person is well versed in using forums and the search function) if you have time. I guess I don't see the point in insulting people. I definitely don't see the point in starting an entire thread about it. I kind of thought BPL was above this mean-girl behavior.

+1 Dena

DK,

Here's my diaper plan of attack so far.

Step 1) Put on Diaper

.

Step 2) Hike with Diaper

.

Step 3) Poop in Diaper

.

Step 4) Check Diaper

.

Step 5) Bribe fellow hiker with beer to change diaper

.

Step 6) Wash diaper, dry, and repeat.

.

Ha!!! Love the pics!

I went through this "hating the repetition" thing before. Probably went through it a couple of times.

-Just know that repetitious threads happen and will continue to happen cause there aren't 'sticky threads' and there won't be sticky threads because the software doesn't allow it- and if you change software you lose all the old stuff. (and there is some REALLY good old stuff)

– for God's sake, DONT CLICK ON THE THREAD!

you'll just end up getting pisssed off.

I see it like this:

Noobs: read every thread and comment a lot.

Mid-timers: Read a lot and answer a lot, but not everything. (ya kinda know what you like by now)

Old-timers: read a lot, or don't read much, who cares at this point?.?. Only comment on 'haute conversation" or ridiculous threads to add ridiculousness, or to make fun of the poor bastard who wrote something they shouldn't have. (like the 3 month REI employee wanting to schools on gear- that still cracks me up, his next post, presumably after browsing the site was… "more humble")

OBV there are exceptions: Some people have been commenting often, every week, for years. But I think this is pretty true.

Ian, your poop looks yummy! If only I also could poop what look to be tootsie rolls I think it would solve the TP issues as well as decreasing the number of energy bars I need.

@Jeffs Eleven, I think that's probably true for the most part. Although I tend to lurk for quite a while before I make my first post. This forum for example, I have been a member of since 2009, but hadn't posted even once until recently. Granted, I haven't been involved for quite a while due to some foot problems which I just recently had surgery for. I was in great shape back then, UL wasn't as much of a priority for me, to maintain my love for the sport, as it is now.

In any case, I agree. There will always be repetition, might as well not let it get to you. You don't realize how much happier in general you can be when you stop letting trivial things matter so much. :)

^^^^
Like grammar…

;-)

Haha! Good catch! That said, "one doesn't" at first. I forgot to change that as well when I edited it! :-P