The whole idea of the fringe area was the subject of great division on the board. There is a lot of history behind it's creation, and I really don't want to open any old wounds and pour salt into them. Basically, we had a few members who would post things like you are all stupid if you don't believe that the government is trying to kill us with chemtrails or something to that effect. Now, personally, I don't buy into that kind of thing, but there are many preppers who do. Does that mean that I am right and they are wrong....no.
The whole idea of this board is to educate fellow preppers, share knowledge and skills, and to get as many of the "sheeple" to realize the importance of being prepared. My fear was that a lot of discussions about end of times, government conspircies, etc. would turn away a lot of people that were new to the idea of prepping. That is why the fringe was created...to give those who wanted to, place to discuss such topics, while keeping it hidden from the bots and search engines.
Yes, the fringe does seem to be quite inactive lately, but that could change at any time.
Not wanting to open old wounds, the fringe will stay for now.

Just my opinion but I think Denob has outlined a good rationale for the fringe. Let er sit and gather dust or die of natural causes, but there's a good reason that she's there.

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the fringe is needed....just too busy to post much these days