I miss the old BPL…

This thread makes me think of a certain Doors song.

Well said Will :-)

Even though I use Gear swap a lot I was very happy when it got moved a while back, but then it reappeared.

I love to read good trip reports and really enjoyed the recent ones from Jorgen about his Alaska treks. I also like reading about gear and reports from the outdoor trade shows etc but there is only so much you can spend on gear.

I think the opportunity is there to refresh some older content like “hiking in a cold sustained rain” with any new techniques and changes made possible by gear advancements in the past 10 years. Some article refreshes could be low hanging fruit to mix in with new content.

Oh now THAT would be something…a BPL website Kickstarter!!!!

As far as editorial content goes, we’re not launching the space shuttle here. There’s only so much that can be said about walking with a backpack on before you find yourself saying the same thing over and over again.

I agee with Ian’s simple observation. You can build the best website on the planet and publish a ton of quality new articles, but it’s still just backpacking and little has changed in decades other than some high tech materials to manufacture gear.

BPL is the people who post, that’s the biggest draw. After a while many people leave because the conversations become the same thing over and over.

BPL once received $35,585 from Kickstarter. We received nothing for it. That is only one example.

Related

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/backpackinglight/bsa-high-adventure-documentary-camp-parsons/comments

KT, yes the issues such as those encountered with RJ’s packrafting series is just one example of why I stated I am not big on crowdfunding… There is an inherent risk in handing over money for something where the integrity of the individuals/organization or their plans to utilize the money efficiently cannot be verified or guaranteed, but that is part of the nature of crowdfunding.  I threw it out as a possible source of capital for BPL, but really it is up to the individuals contributing to perform any due diligence and ultimately make the decision to take on the risk of contributing or not.  I am not advocating handing money over blindly to BPL, but some people may find value in taking on the risk and possibly getting a refined product in return.

Step one is figure out what the customer base wants/needs and figure out how to deliver it before funding is even an option anyway.  At this point it seems wither BPL doesn’t know, doesn’t care, or plain just doesn’t have the resources (human/time/money/knowledge) to deliver.  If its a resource problem, figure what resources you need and figure out how to obtain it… if your customer base wants to “invest” and share the risk in obtaining these resources then great, if not, figure something else out or this site will just die a slow death…

EDIT:  just saw on kickstarter there have only been 2 projects via BPL and both were never delivered… didn’t realize it was that bad (100% non delivery lol).  Yeah gonna be hard to get contributors going forward

I hope you guys realize that was a kickstarter joke, right??????

Sore subject here Jen.

There are multiple threads spanning years offering suggestions and assistance to BPL that have just been flatly ignored. Many, many good ideas. RJ is the biggest issue.

Wasnt there a UL hiking blog that took crowdfunded moolah to make some UL vid or sumting like dat?

and it was never produced … Some folks were up in arms about it …

these days no one cares about all the great tests BPL used to run such as testing the R value or pads, or measuring the internal humidity of rain shells, etc …

its about marketing buzzwords from “ambassdors”, getting in on the drops in time, having “mainstream” cottage brands, and posting pics of you unused gear on reddit

UL is mass market

;)

You speak of Hendrik’s ULAZ video fiasco eric.

this is why I made the joke – Kickstarter on BPL…BPL turning TO kickstarter to stay alive….

never mind.  I’m having a bitchy day at work today.

That was it ken … I think his blog is still around

one VERY important part of BPL, and now OGL is to act as a check against the marketing nonsense of manufacturers …

who else will point out issues and marketing mumbo jumbo?

the climbing media?, blogs that get free gear?, sponsored ambassadors?, fanbois?

for climbing anyways, there quite a few issues with lifesaving gear that you will never find talked about outside the forums ….

something like BPL and its forums is needed to hold dem marketing teams to account …

;)

@Eric Chan – you wrote “these days no one cares about all the great tests BPL used to run such as testing the R value or pads, or measuring the internal humidity of rain shells, etc …

Very much disagree with that. A whole lot of people on BPL care about the in-depth types of tests, that’s why a lot of them have memberships – because BPL used to be the only site that would go through the pain of making those tests.

Gary …

you missed the nemo pad thread this year

i pointed out that nemo doesnt publish R values and that one cant really make a comparison with other pads

they just publish a temp rating without saying how this was obtained or how it applies to say men or women (en ratings are different for men and women)

some BPLers werent too happy with me pointing this out ….

Basically it was “trust nemo, we dont need R values, who need to compare anyways”

as long as its the latest and greatest and is light … Most folks dont care about empirical tests …

;)

Oh my! In the past 5 years I bought 3 major pieces of gear that weren’t reviewed on BPL. Shame on me, how can I make wise buying decisions if BPL doesn’t validate and approve the gear?

I like tests. I would love to see some apples to apples wp/b tech tests.

Accept the inner geek in you and don’t fret. :)

NM

With the increased popularity in hammocking, I suspect a lot of backpackers (even some UL) are going over Hammockforums.net. I own hammocks, tarps, and tents and frequent both sites. HF has really taken off in recent years and it seems like there’s a lot less bickering and more positive, creative conversation happening there. I think you also have to factor in the ‘tinker’ value of a hammock/tarp which might appeal more to some folks.

That and they have Shug.

For better or worse, I think gear is what’s driving a majority of web traffic to any backpacking site. I suspect that vast majority of people (not all) want to read gear reviews and discuss how to refine their setup. When the BPL mantra is less>more the conversation often gets funneled down to “I have a cuben bag with straps and use aqua mira. End of story”. As someone else posted earlier, UL isn’t complex, but perhaps it’s gotten to the point where it’s so simplified it’s not quite as exciting or reader friendly.

It’s ironic this post is in the General(gear) section of BPL too.

Forums in general are , if not dying a slow death, aren’t as vigorous overall.

A quick Google Search shows that this observation cuts across all interests.

The causes seem similar.

Nick has a wonderful analysis as well.

Paying to read a forum…lol.

“For better or worse, I think gear is what’s driving a majority of web traffic to any backpacking site.”

I could see that – someone is starting out or returning to backpacking and is researching a particular tent or tarp.  They could easily under up on BPL.

But what keeps me here is discussions of technique more than gear.

As a new member who often read older threads when googling before becoming a member, I can give some of my perspective.  A lot of the older articles with lots of science are very interesting, but they feel outdated.  Same with old threads, with everyone recommending Golight this and Golight that for example.  The membership fee is no big deal, but it seems odd when I still am unable to even access my forum profile since the link is broken and site admin won’t respond to my messages.  I’ve had some questions answered, but it hasn’t been the most welcoming online community – reception on threads has been lukewarm, a good number of brief, sarcastic comments that are pointless, a good number of personal attacks.  Although the excessive tangential responses on John’s quilt thread may have been an anomaly, it now means other threads have to be infected with a flood of sarcastic full disclosure comments?

FWIW, here are some of my non-expert recommendations for BPL to survive:

1. Dump the membership fee – this is a barrier for new members contributing to the conversation, who may just be starting or dabbling in backpacking. It fosters a community of unwelcoming veterans.  Newer members are more likely to respond to new questions and keep the community active.  I don’t think admin policing the threads is the solution – more new members and more activity will police itself. It seems with greater traffic created by dropping this barrier, even more income could be generated through ads and end-of-year fundraising goals supported by voluntary donations. I can see lifetime members being upset about that, but a lifetime membership to a dead site is worthless.
2. Modernize the notification system.  Users need a much easier way than getting email notifications to subscribed threads to flag the forums and threads they are interested in, check for new activity, etc.
3. Create more options for user-contributed content apart from forum postings, such as searchable photo archives, videos, gear lists, lists of what gear you own, gear ratings/comments, MYOG designs, trail conditions, etc.
4. Create a comprehensive gear database – while this would be a ton of work, it could mostly be driven by users once admin created the infrastructure.  Ideally every BPL-relevant gear item would have its own entry (user generated), with a description and various tags to make it searchable and a way to compare gear across various variables.  Users could rank the gear they’ve used on for example a 1-10 scale.  This would create something kind of like what Outdoor Gear Lab produces, but would be much more comprehensive, include all the ultralight, cottage gear that OGL mostly ignores, and would never go out of date as members flag items that are no longer available for sale or have been redesigned by the company (in which case it would get a new entry in the database).

Much of these recommendations are based on my experience using the exceptional forum site boardgamegeek, easily the one-stop shop for everyone interested in boardgames.

BPL: Wait for it to load, and then have a few topics on the page lost in the gear swap. Mobile interface doesn’t exist. Search has always been broken. Requests to admin for information are ignored. Time lines given for fixes/changes blow past with nothing happening and no updates as to why. The site is not easy to use, slow and clunky.  It feels like the owners have gone on a long walk and forgotten about it.

Reddit; Loads fast on the pc or the mobile. There is a choice of mobile apps that load even faster. Don’t have to trawl through pages of gear swap.  Easy to follow a discussion and reply. Search works!

I did, and still do, like the discussions here. There are a lot of knowledgeable people that still contribute. But in the end, using the site isn’t pleasant. The few gems aren’t worth the time and effort. I visit less frequently and spend less time looking about before leaving. With the current state of the forums, I think that it will continue to die a slow death; why put up with all the difficulties here, when reddit (and other sites) make it so much easier to find and contribute.

Edit: Started reply on mobile, but decided to find a PC.

I love the technique articles more than anything else, which is why I joined several years ago. The lack of regular, new articles has been frustrating to say the least. I think there are several factors contributing to the decline here, but more than anything else there just isn’t any new material and those that have come out, such as the one about the MSR stove today, don’t interest me that much. I pretty much have all the gear I need and would much prefer to read about technique related issues. I do, however, appreciate the articles about gear that debunk the marketing hyperbole. I keep hearing that once the software issues get resolved that there will be several new articles up on the website. I’m hoping this is right and happens soon.