I miss the old BPL…

Been a member here for almost 20 years and have a really stupid question: What’s a GGG and how does one attend living in Boston?

Maybe the fact I don’t know (but very much suspect) what a GGG is points out a big BPL promotion weakness…

“I locked into my gear and couldn’t care less about losing another gram

+2  My gear is perfect for my trips planned for this year (crosses fingers).  My next step down the weight continuum would be a MLD Core and Speedos, … not going there. There will always be some gear wonkery, and probably different style trips …. sooner or later, so hoping the site recovers.

Maybe the fact I don’t know (but very much suspect) what a GGG is points out a big BPL promotion weakness…

Gary, you’ve hit the nail on the head.  This is one of the best resources to promote BPL and take it to a whole other level, but to my knowledge, the owner hasn’t attended one.  Just from a purely fiscal perspective, I think he’s foolish not to promote these.

I’m not an active member of Hammock Forums but it’s rarely a mystery when they have a “frozen butt hang” as it creates a fairly large footprint on YouTube and the internet.  Let’s say he invested 48 hours a year promoting them around the country, and then spent $1500 flying to a few every year, I’d be willing to bet that he’d quintuple his return on investment from new members and increased clicks which equal ad sense revenue.  Heck, he might even sell a couple BPL trips in the process.

As things stand, the GGG has a strong relationship with BPL but was created by the members and I’m unaware of BPL (corporate) officially promoting them in anyway.

I left BPL about a year ago, in somewhat of a huff. I was disappointed in the website. I was disappointed in the customer service. I was disappointed in the management.

With a year to reflect, I came to realize I never visited BPL for the things that drove me away. Ryan was already a fading memory when I started coming here around 2011/2012. The forum software, although different now, was never a paradigm of operational efficiency. I came here because I valued the community. While at times dysfunctional, this community has given me good advice, has opened my eyes to things I would have otherwise missed, and has even brought me to tears in laughter. My $25 newspaper subscription pales in comparison.

And so, I came back. I just paid to re-new my membership with an intent to stop worrying over the things I do not like, and start contributing to the things I do like.

Seems that the powers that be don’t care for feedback on Editors Roundtable threads. If a moderator is going to delete posts outright, rather than leaving a stub with a comment (as RC has been known to do in the past), then at least have the common decency to PM the author of the comments rather than have them discover the censorship later. Dissenting opinions are clearly not tolerated on “flagship” articles.

Agree heartily with Christopher*. Sometimes I am reminded that MY principles or ideals are not necessarily others standards. Especially when seeking like minds on the Internet. Among other lessons hiking teaches tolerances one never thought possible and  acceptance of others diversities. We would hope that “intelligent conversations” would be the norm rather than the exception here but after all we’re only human and the unavoidable slump happens. Reminds one to keep a sense of humor also. Despite the glaring negatives of late I still visit here enough when I’m blessed with Internet connection to enjoy the banter and the collective knowledge base. And I still recommend BPL to hikers who ask for a good jumping off place to acquire information. I just tell em to grow a thick skin before jumping in these waters.

The meat of the BPL site may get stripped off every once in a while but the skeleton still remains, and it’s a good one made with

sound intentions.

The terribly unfortunate reality is that there is a tremendous wealth of information here of which the greater backpacking community has absolutely no idea.  Much of this information used to come from the articles and reviews as well as the forums but in recent years virtually everything of any value is coming from us, the BPL forum community.  Granted. there is not a whole lot of new information here these days, but what is old news for us is virtually unknown to 90% of the backpacking community.  From my own experience as well as from blogs and youtube videos, the percentage of backpackers still carry conventional weights and think that LW and certainly UL hikers are either crazy and/or irresponsible.  I sure am glad that I joined BPL fifteen or so years ago because it transformed my hiking and I regret that the same product is no longer attractive to the greater backpacking community.

I really think it is facebook. It’s not just this forum. I have a forum on my own personal site that a few years ago was pretty hopping (for its smallness) but now is a ghost town. I’m thinking of taking it down.

I participate in a forum for a particular musical instrument and it, too, is a ghost town compared to a few years ago. Explore deep in the pagination and you can see how active it used to be. Same goes for yet another musical-instrument-oriented forum I used to spend lots of time on. Almost all the posts are just instruments for sale.

But go to faceboook and everybody is there. My boyfriend spends hours every day on the various PCT Class of 2016 facebook groups (there are more than 1). You want to know about music gatherings or flash sales for the instrument? Join a bunch of facebook groups. Hell, I hear about what my own mom and sister are doing through my boyfriend who hears about it from facebook. Nobody actually sends emails directly or goes to specialty-interest forums anymore.

Life moved to the walled garden of facebook, which is ironically today’s version of AOL.

“But go to faceboook and everybody is there.”

Yup, that is my experience also.  Small forums have almost no traffic anymore.  It has all moved to facebook.

Where is the closest thing to the BPL forum discussions on Facebook?  I’m a very minimal FB user – I just find it very information-poor and a big time waster.

But go to Facebook and everybody is there

Probably this place needs to concentrate more on articles, with a forum thread of course, and then use it to get hyperlinked from Fb.  Facebook is a social networking place, but it’s all 1 sentence … maybe 2.

What’s this going to be…
https://backpackinglight.com/events/

My guess that the 17th will be an ad for some kind of trip or class that you will pay for and upon completion participants will get coupons to buy gear from companies that advertise here.

Exciting !

Perhaps we should take Ken’s advice over in Chaff and take a break from posting on the forums at all. Communicate as much as possible with PM’s. The forums are promoted before articles in the subscribe now. The posters are product, not customers.

ive always found it most interesting that many folks seem more interested in posting about how “bad” BPL is than in actual forum posts about say gear or techniques …

im sure everyone. including myself, has done that at some time or another

theres plenty of decent discussions on BPL, but then those arent the ones that see the posts … its ones like these that do

;)

Whats interesting is that there has not been one single post in this thread from a mod or more to the point RJ … pretty much sums up what most think … they don’t give a crap and are more than happy to take subscription money and not deliver a product as promised, time and time again.

matt …

youre absolutlely welcome to biatch …

and your absolutely welcome to leave of course …

or to answer someones technical question ..

BPLers make their own choice …

but it does seem that folks complain about how bad BPL has become … and they dont do much themselves to make it any better …

how about a marmot BBQ ???

;)

Pareto principle in effect.

Where is the closest thing to the BPL forum discussions on Facebook

I am also curious as well. I have searched Facebook for “ultralight” communities without luck, yet people are posting here saying Facebook is the “problem.”

What makes BPL great to me is the depth of knowledge and experience on the forums, both in recent posts and historical.  Even though the forums aren’t as active as in the past, the quality is still quite high.  I don’t know anywhere else that has members with the expertise, interest, and passion on lightweight backpacking.  I could be wrong, but this all seems to exist despite poorly implemented software and a seeming disinterest from the ownership but a true community can survive that.

Articles don’t really matter as much to me, but I also don’t have a subscription so I can see why many would be displeased if they’re paying for articles.

Whats interesting is that there has not been one single post in this thread from a mod

True, true … but do you need me to comment? Everyone seems to be having lots of fun already. But I am reading all posts.

Cheers
the only mod

Been a member here for almost 20 years and have a really stupid question: What’s a GGG and how does one attend living in Boston?

Gary, there have actually been some NE BPL GGGs (Gathering of Gear Geeks), at least two in the past five years, maybe more (a search shows several additional planning conversations). One was in NH in February in -18*F!   I went to one in 2011 in Western Massachusetts and it was awesome to meet folks.

My understanding is that it takes the initiative of one or two BPL members to get the ball rolling–start the conversation on the forums, pick a weekend, pick a place, talk logistics. I’m sure if you were interested in having one, lots of folks would jump in to help out/ share their planning experience/wisdom.

Here are some links to the NE ones:

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/56055/ 

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/54971/

20 posts later, and someone (Greg) finally answers Gary’s question about what is a GGG?

First off, being a reader of Dan Savage’s sex-advice column, I’ve known GGG as instructions to be “Good, Giving and Game” in bed and that one should expect those things, within reason, from one’s partner.

But in a BPL context?  A Gathering of Gear Geeks is a camping trip, announced long in advance on BPL, where BPLers can gather, compare gear and techniques, socialize, and actually meet each other F2F, sometimes after years of online correspondence.  There have been stove- and wood-stove contests, pack weighing, and sometimes organized hikes.  Some have solicited gear vendors and others haven’t.  Self-anointed organizers find a venue, figure out how maximum party size rules can be skirted, whether there’ll be a single person or all parties making reservations, and post a notice on BPL.

There haven’t been any here in the sub-Arctic (although BPLers do come visit me – Manfred & Sons are coming up in 2 weeks), so I keep on eye on West Coast GGGs and have made it to one in Marin County, CA.

I’m sure there’s some validity to the old “Facebook is killing on-line forums” argument, but in this case this explanation ignores the fact that there was a rather large and sudden drop in postings when BPL made the big software switch.  Their forum software has never been what I would call great, but now it is abysmal, and the BPL-supplied content (articles, reviews, etc) is virtually gone.  It also aggravates me that I have a paid lifetime membership but still have to see so many ads.  I have never been very active here, but I definitely find myself coming here less and less.