User Experiences

[bigpaul]

EXACTLY!!!

[NorthernRaider]

I detect a poor deceased equine being flagellated like mad now

[Straight Shooter]

I think any input from any country is valid .....ok most newbies start off with ....at last a uk site ! Just like I did....but it is relevant to have information transfer and knowledge .... different points of view are good for us all , and direct from that country .....as they report it to us , I take the view this is a asset to our site after all WE ARE ALL PREPPERS and have a common purpose. As for putting restrictions / elite members.... this robs the whole site of vital views..for my part .....most the views and opinions shared here , Have changed most of my thinking on a lot of things , its a learning process for us all . In any event visitors my well turn into members based on the content of the threads they read, sometimes its easy for long standing members to loose sight of the basic needs of a newbie..because you can be way on down the road.....this is off putting for a newbie, or wannabie. We All have a duty to welcome All newbies and encourage them onboard our ship, they will enrich us all given the chance, I see nothing wrong with the site ....what I do see is lack of new threads and lack of members giving much needed posts......even NR started at the beginning ......can just make the bugger out in the distance......

[NorthernRaider]

God don't go there for Christ sake, I was chatting with some Brits and Merkin survivalists on another forum and I said how honoured I was to get a reply to a fan letter I sent decades ago from both Mel Tappan and Ragnar Benson way WAY back when in the dark ages any they replied

"WHO" !!!!!!

Seriously there are supposedly experienced survivalists from both sides of the pond have never heard of the two founders, or for further insult Colonel Jeff Cooper !!! , Ferk it makes me feel old.

[bigpaul]

Winston Churchill always said" Britain and the USA 2 countries DIVIDED by a common language", and when it comes to prepping and survivalism there are great differences too, lots of things are universal but I started on American sites but found them much too gun heavy and the distances quoted were far in above anything we have here in the UK.i believe there is too much of a difference for American preppers to understand why we as preppers do what we do.

[NorthernRaider]

I certainly admit that whilst many US forums are colourful, dynamic and very active many British forums are drab, boring, cannot distinguish between bushcraft and survivalism and are often more like a WRVS forum or coffee shop than a survivalist forum.

Again in the Americans favour ( they DO lead but we sadly aint following) You find very many well researched articles, product reviews, political commentaries pertaining to civil defence, off gridding, vehicle adaptation, organic farming, resilience etc that are sponsored and written by respected non prepping sources such as MDs, US army corps of Engineers, Business owners, agricultural experts, law officers etc. Many Americans publish papers of aspects of prepping with full accreditation and detail.

In the UK we get very rare bursts of genius from a tiny minority of experienced preppers using their expertise gained from years of radio use, light engineering, traditional archery etc.

Whilst the Yanks often display amazingly high levels of professionalism we match at times with banality and utter mundane drivel.

Articles backed up with full links, references, sources, full colour images etc are very common in the US community and more importantly they are very frequently backed up by well thought out consider responses and discussions from the rest of the forums members, The authors efforts are rewarded in full by their members considered responses.

That is a very rare thing in the UK community,(nearly as rare as fresh research and articles) most of the "preppers" use forums like newspapers and just take what they want but never contribute to the greater knowledge, they are simply living off the backs of the few who do all the work (Then after contributing nowt and just taking for months they make a post asking to form groups or to attend RVs and don't understand why no one wants them).

The forum should be divided at least with a section for the newbies and hobby preppers who only want to read and download, then a closed section for those who do produce and respond in depth to posts. We can give the open part of the forum enough basic essential material so they can get on with their preps or hobby, but the closed section can sustain those willing to make a bit of effort.

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In front of me I have two magazines both about Prepping

Magazine one is bright, colourful, stuffed to the gills with properly researched fresh articles such as
Are You Ready for another Katrina
Article the preparedness mindset by prepper icon Jim Benson.
Stockpile what you eat
Power Store it, make it
When its for keeps The Go Bag
Portable preparedness Smart phones and tablets as tools
Why you need to store fuel AND how to do it
Mobile Medical crisis article by an MD
Short Wave comms A How To article
An article on the history and development of the Jerry Can
An Article on preps and kids
An article on I prepping.

Exiting, informative, dynamic, colourful and very very good.

Magazine two has an intro with the editor in chief begging for articles to publish, followed by self promotional banners and huge gaps where adverts are supposed to be.
Then over half of the remaining pages is about
BUSHCRAFT not prepping
What prepping is about
A few articles on aspects of bug out kits
A recipe !!
an article on cooking an MRE ?
an incomplete acronym list
More blank pages
Some cut n copied images often distorted

Anyway you get the idea.
Now lets be fair all kudos to the folks producing both magazines at least they are TRYING to achieve better things for the prepper community, and I'm guessing Mag one is funded by multiple advertisers and contributors whilst the other is the result of a lot of hard work by only one or two people. The efforts of both teams MUST be recognised and applauded.
But while the difference in quality can be fairly justified because of the clearly better budget mag one has but surely the CONTENT and internal QUALITY should be equal on all counts, both magazines contents SHOULD be ON TOPIC , IE preparedness being 95% and Bush craft being 5% , not 50% bush craft / wilderness survival (besides there are already plenty of much better mainstream magazines in Smiths on Bush Craft and Wilderness Survival).

The point I a trying to make is definitely not an attack on the hard work and effort made by the production teams of either magazine, BUT like many forums as well as magazine, and equally many You Tube Videos the Americans 90% of the time make enormous efforts to be as professional and high quality and UNCOMPRIMISING as possible. Whilst the British efforts all to often reflect a slapdash amateurish approach with personal attitudes and egos often overwhelming the end product so it perhaps pleases the author / owner / editor but disappoints the readership.

For a Magazine / You Tube Channel / Forum to really thrive it has to be bright, colourful, illustrated, very informative, very on topic ( something very difficult to achieve in our community cos it overlaps so many other subjects), Its got to have RESEARCHED articles with links, and probably adverts ASSOCIATED with the articles findings. Its got to be EXPLORATORY and CHALLENGING, its got to create a DESIRE FOR MORE, Its got to be constantly HIGH QUALITY, Its got to be a bit CONTENTIOUS, It needs colour, imagery and infographics.

IT NEEDS TO BE RESPONSIVE and it needs to drive and encourage membership response and participation.
It has to make its members feel both wanted and a PART of the community.

Forums especially must not be allowed to become banal, boring, mundane, they must constantly feed and stimulate the mind, yes there is a need for recipes, knitting patterns and tips about grannies pet rabbit, but the driving force should by the major fundamentals not the banal inconsequential waffle.

Homes, Retreats, Shelter, Construction, Power, Water, Energy, Food, Fuel, Materials, Comms, Transport, Medicine, Education, Animal husbandry, Risk assessment, Intel LOTS of Intel and NEWS. Debate, How To's, Work issues (getting to and from not the bitch in the next office doesn't like me), Safe travel, Getting the kids PROPERLY educated and trained.
Case studies, Reports from the field, feedback from disaster or war zone survivors, kit reviews and shortcomings, Propblem solving, Q & A, Defect reports. Do this and you wont have time to wonder " What have you eaten for tea, What laundry you have done today, What soap you watched etc "

Otherwise it will inevitably start, expand fast, stall, wither and fade away (Think ASG or C & S)

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One thing I do love about many US publications are articles on forums with big bright images is their great habit of posting a picture of the subject matter and the people its affecting, then they give you a complete breakdown of all the equipment and tools that feature in the image with links to places you can find out more or places that sell the gear.

[Lightspeed]

Earalier in this thread graded membership was mentioned.

How about a participation based grading system? The more you contribute the more you can take out....

The objective here is to get newbees posting and if possible starting new threads.

Non-contributors get limited to what they can see, and for sure cannot access file resources.

Maybe newbees get access for a limited time period, or limited number of accesses before their sign on rights are reduced to a very basic level?

[NorthernRaider]

Yup I think LS is thinking along the right lines.

[bigpaul]

I think I may be forced to agree with you, I don't like it-smacks too much of P2S but it may be the only way to go, still its SD's baby and its up to him to decide.

[Little Lou]

I disagree. The main reason lurkers don’t post on a forum is usually because they don’t think they have anything to contribute, and the changes we’re proposing would make them feel even less welcome.

I’m one example. I haven’t posted for months, and only did so this morning because I actually knew a site which discussed homemade remedies against biological warfare and thought I had something worth sharing. Mostly I don’t.

At least, not the way the site is running at the moment. When I first joined it was great, and nobody made me feel a fool for being a beginner. BP and NR were particularly helpful, and NR even took the time to write me detailed e-mails to help me buy my first crossbow. I knew I was way behind most of you, but it didn’t bother me as long as there were little areas where I could at least offer something back.

These days there aren’t. Almost every thread seems to be on the advanced stuff – firearms or radios or specialized weaponry or super-fit bushcraft or the latest solar technology for taking an entire house off-grid. That’s no-one’s fault – when only the most experienced are posting, then you’re hardly going to be discussing the basics – but it is off-putting to those who are still starting out. We’ve got into a vicious cycle where the threads are specialized because newbies don’t post, and newbies don’t post because the threads are specialized.

To break the cycle, I think we need to make it a more welcoming place to be, and there are two areas where we could really make a difference.

Survivalist vs Prepper

The current postings seem mainly slanted to the survivalist end of things, but not everyone is that kind of prepper. I’d really like to see a few on the more mundane, everyday things, which could appeal even to those who are prepping for major floods or power cuts rather than TEOTWAWKI. I’d start a few threads myself, but am nervous at the prospect of being laughed at or just ignored.

I also think there is real value to even some of the apparently frivolous stuff – eg little mechanical ways of saving time post SHTF, ways to make food post SHTF that actually taste good, ways to keep your house clean to keep up morale. They may seem like trivial luxuries, but there is nothing macho in being uncomfortable when you don’t need to be. We all know that time and mental health will be even more important post-SHTF, and it would be good to discuss some of these things too.

Discouragement

Much of what we post here is highly discouraging to a big chunk of the potential membership. Not everyone is young and fit. Not everyone lives in the country. Not everyone has the spare money to prep as much as they’d like. Not everyone has the clean record they’ll need for even a shotgun licence. Not everyone even has a supportive partner. Yes, we all have our own ideas of the ideal survival plan, but I’ve seen a newbie told bluntly ‘they’ve got no chance’ because they live in London with a young child. One member even had a sig line effectively saying that everyone in the Home Counties was doomed. I think that was actually NR and am sure he was joking – but it isn’t going to encourage people to post, is it?

I also disagree with the philosophy behind it. In a way, both prepping and survivalism are about a ‘back to basics’, minimalist approach, and we all like those games of ‘you have only a penknife and a piece of string, how will you survive in this situation?’ But there are harder, tougher games than that, and a very different kind of minimalism. What if the game was – ‘You’re in your fifties with chronic asthma, you live in an inner city flat with drug dealers across the road, you’re out of work and can’t afford much extra food or gear. Now – how will you survive?’ There are people facing exactly that kind of situation, but history tells us that time and again that some actually survive it. There are other skills than bushcraft, and some are equally valuable. That’s prepping too, and the kind that really deserves respect.

Not everyone does, and I totally sympathize with NR’s long post about wasting time helping those who are only ‘playing at’ prepping – but I still don’t think we should try to drive them away. It’s quite true that the sort of person who’s stashed a few tins of baked beans and a nine-pack of toilet roll isn’t a prepper – but he’s someone who’s taken the first step to becoming one. If we tell him ‘You need 500 times that, mate, and your batteries won’t last so you need to convert your house to solar and get a wind turbine, and when are you getting your ham licence and have you got your FAC yet?’ then he’s going to tiptoe quietly away, and the next time he’s a bit short on the week’s supplies he’ll eat his stash of baked beans. That’s a prepper lost.

Sometimes we can give the impression that this is a good thing – that there’s all the more for us. But I disagree. Apart from general decency, every single prepper in my area is one less person for me to feed, one less person for me to fight away from my own supplies, and also one more potential ally. We can’t have too many preppers.

Of all kinds. SD has always said that all are welcome here, and I’m sure that’s still true. What I think we need to do is make sure that’s coming across – and maybe that means being a little kinder and more encouraging to those who are less advanced.

But it also means the rest of us need to pull our weight more. If things have got slanted one way, it’s the fault of people like me for not contributing more in other directions. It’s hardly fair to leave all the posting to a loyal handful of members, and then complain that it all feels the same.

So I’ll try. I’m horrendously busy at the moment and may not post much until May, but I’ll try, and hope others will do the same. Because I love this site, I admire the people who post on it, and it would be tragic to see it gradually shrivel and die.

Maybe at least I’ll get credit for writing the longest and dullest post so far this year…