Is this a backpacking site or political site?

“I'm sorry. Like I said before I cam e here to get new lingo, gear info, and such from backpackers. But all this board is talk about trolls, politics and random postings about everything BUT backpacking and the outdoors.

Sad.

The webmaster should really filter and keep his/her site to thebackpacker.com original content not Politics #&%!$ session.

I'm sorry, but I will spend my questions on other, smaller, sites with experts who talk about the stuff I want to read about backpacking and camping.”

“Sure it is a backpacking site, but something as outrageous as a recall in California with about 200 candidates just has to be made fun of!
If you have a specific question about gear or technique or locations, use the search feature. If you post on an old thread it will move up to the top. If you cannot find something you want then start a new thread and people will respond. Keep in mind that alot of responses will be in fun, but you can get some serious answers to you questions as well.”

“wheeeeeee!”

“sorry to see you go so fast.

i wish you would just relax a little and get to know and understand this place a little more before you go.

to understand us is to love (except bacpac)

we talk about all kinds of things. it's like sitting around a big campfire. when you go hiking with friends, is Gear all you talk about?
BORING

so instead of getting mad and leaving, just relax and enjoy the ride. get to know us and try to understand us more.
Im sure you will have some fun along the way. you just came on at a time when some of the reg. posters have gotten off the beaten track. (me included)
things will right themselves again. Im sure of it.

so what do you think?”

“Like I said yesterday, it's a dysfunctional family!”

“so tell us where have been some of the places you have gone backpacking and camping?”

“liberals suck”

“buh-bye!”

“Well, kyle, if you seek single track subjects, this is definately not your place.

If you are the type of person who wants to sit aroung a campfire and discuss the relevant merits of synthetic vs. down all night, you are in the wrong place.

However, if you want to obtain information from a very knowledgable group of backpackers, you might try looking for the wheat among the chaff here.

This group is diversified and I for one find that to be much more enjoyable than sitting around with a group that is so reserved they are afraid to say anything.

As I am fond of saying, "If I only wanted to hear things I agree with, I would be limited to talking to myself".

Sorry to see you leave.”

“Tahoe is right! You can a wide spectrum on here. There is a multitude of info coming from some very experienced people about a lot of things. If every question on a large board like this had to do with hiking, the spectrum would be very limited and probably somewhat repititious. So, we also have some fun here. There is room for both. The troll thing just hit a fever pitch in the last few days and it seems that everyone is responding correctly by trying to ignore it. Ranting about it isn't helping that either. So, enjoy it or move on. The choice is yours...”

“Another "I'm leaving TT" thread!”

“I'll think about you when I'm backpacking next week!”

“I agree with KR some what. However, KR, understand that this is what some call the "off season" of BPing. Not a lot of us hit the trail during the hot summer months. During Fall, Winter and Spring, you will see more BP related threads than what on now. There is SOME info on this board at the moment, you just have ot weed through the BS threads to get it. Speaking of BP related threads......”

“You can also use the feature at the top of the page to select only gear threads to show on your browser.

Although this doesn't mean you're not going to see a little thread degeneration.


OK, a lot of thread degeneration!! :-)”

“it's a cactus?? ;-P

where are you going, Aero?”

“That was some kind of record for arriving and departing. Made my head spin!”

“moooooaaahaahaahaa!!”

“Canada, eh!”

“I can barely remember what she/he/it looked like.”

“Don't let the door hit you in the butt!”

“Guess he really did leave. Oh well!”

“If anything I have a list now of serious users and "trolls"....UpUrs, violin, packman....”

“What makes you think that there aren't any experts here?”

“Quick study.”

“Better add KyleReese to your list.”

“Who is this guy? And who cares what he has to say?”

“"Who is this guy? And who cares what he has to say?"
UpUrs
09:56:43 AM
08/07/03

That's funny. That's what people think about you UU!”

“Troll.

If you wanted "serious" backpacking question answered, you should have asked them in the first place.

You would be amazed at how quickly this site can go from silly to serious when a "true" backpacking question is asked.

Oh and another thing, Matt is a great webmaster who does not hold reign over the content of this site like the Gestapo. It's one of the added benefits of this site. How dull would it be if ALL we talked about was backpacking?”

“GeoBeatsIt thanks for the info. That is why you responded?”

“That's reassuring Twinkle Toes, from some of the posts I didn't think it was 'regulated' like the Gestapo.

I'm going to go look for a GPS to buy....”

“It always cracks me up when someone starts a non-backpacking thread to complain about the non-backpacking threads.”

“It's a catch-22.”

“Kyle, the short answer is that the board is not going to change to what you want it to be. This is a family. We chat on here virtually every day, and many of us have hiked together and know one another. We do welcome new people, but we're not going to stop relating to one another in whatever way we do because somebody simply wants to talk shop all the time.

Many people on this board use GPS and can offer you advice or share their experiences. They will be happy to. Just post a gear thread about GPS and you'll learn more than you know how to ask.

But if your point is to tell us to change or else, then you probably do need to find another site and let it go.”

“Then maybe this is not a public site as advertised... if you aren't part of the group get out....

I get it.”

“Don't listen to Geo Kyle he has a little sand in his vagina.”

“Not what I said dude.”

“Are you the same Kyle Reese from "The Terminator 2"?”

“It's not that way, Kyle. New comers are always welcome, but just expect the whole spectrum here...

BTW, I am looking for a GPS too. Just don't know enough about them to figure out which I want yet...”

“That's pretty much the way it is. Kind of like America - Love it or leave it!”

“Is this the gay bishop thread?”

“I swear, you reach out to the guy and he cops an attitude! Not worth it.”

“If only people here would follow that mentality and "I am ashamed" threads wouldn't happen...”

“When I worked for a backpacking shop I ran an ad that said "we don't just sell it, we do it"... Well, this group does it.......OK, OK some do it more then others, but you get the idea.”

“For the last time, Kyle. You walked in at a time where the troll thing came to a head. Everyone should be commended at this point for turning their backs on these morons. Rehashing it is getting old too....”

“I am not coping an attitude, just stating what I see.

Not need to get all worked up over it Geo, we haven't even met yet. You this irritable in real life?”

“KR, "if you aren't part of the group get out...." was an abysmal misinterpretation of what Geo said. You almost have to WANT to be offended to read that in what he wrote. I think that's the attitude he was talking about.

The majority of us here were "new" here after this group was already established. This is not a group that is hard to become part of. Just take what you like and live with the rest, and everything will be fine.”

“Hey aero, what're we gonna talk about around the forest fire next week? Gear? Trails? Trolls?”

“Well, the "I am ashamed" thread was mine.

And I meant it. I think at least one troll went over the line in being offensive to the point I felt is was malicious.

Unfortunatley, in life, this type of individual will show up from time to time. I spoke out and meant what I said.

On the other hand, people like Nigal and laqtis, gave solid advice that the best way to deal with such people is to simple ignore and avoid them.

The part that bothered me the most is that a trailtalker exhibited this type of behavior. Good natured jabs go a long way, but a malicious grinding while wearing a troll mask was sort of cowardly.

The long and the short of it is that everyone threw in their two cents, we accumulated the money, bought a keg and jumped in the Lime Green Jellow pool.”