Farmgal & JAB,

I see more interesting points from both of you.

Yes, it is good to see that the Forum is having positive effect on the membership and face-to-face meetings are increasing across the country. That is good. Live networking is showing a sense of trust is building between folks who have only met over the internet. We are creating a positive energy, so's to speak.

But the activity on the Forum, should be growing between all these networked folks. With many being so far apart from others they network with, I would have thought, a free, non-threatening environment - like the Forum would be where a lot of rough work got harshed out, so that things could be fine tuned at the precious face-to-face meet-ups.

The time period I really enjoyed on the Forum was in the Spring of 2012, before July 2012. If you made a post, a reply was posted within 30 minutes to an hour. Right now, it can take days between posts on a thread.

I enjoy it when there is a lot of traffic when I have a chance to be on the Forum. It is great when 3 or 4 people have made a post on a thread you are following in the hour or two since you last checked in. I want to know how to get that back. As the Forum and individual groups become more established, we should see an increase in posts as more folks are comfortable communicating with each other. Why is this not happening?? I like the observation that cabin fever was strong this long winter and folks want to get out and do stuff, before they are locked indoors, I get that. But when folks are on here, what needs to happen to get folks to post more often?? Not everybody is at the reading to catch-up stage. There are a lot of members who have a lot of knowledge. What is missing, what keeps these fine folks from sharing?? What is the barrier??

This topic is generating more interest. Great.

Thanks. Together we will find a workable solution.

Mountainman.

I believe we may be at a crossroads here. A division between the homesteader / Hippie types from the '60's and the prepper/survivalist types. Although there are many attributes shared by both there is a fundamental difference. I believe that difference is that in the former it is about being self sustaining through agriculture, energy, storing and building. What I see as the "true" prepper is the one who has/does all of that...PLUS has or develops the skills, resources and mindset to defend what they have and those they love. Also they are prepared to band together with those of like mind to make it happen. The hardest question to ask yourself and those around you in this.... "ARE YOU PREPARED TO TAKE A LIFE IF NECESSARY" TO PROTECT THOSE IN YOUR FAMILY OR GROUP? Many of the former are set for current times and in any scenario where there is rule of law. In a true SHTF scenario they will be eaten alive. I can think of one individual on here who gardens, cans, dehydrates, looks at and develops old time skills... but adamantly states that if they have to bug out ALL there critters have to come with them. NOT DOABLE !!!!!!! Hard decisions will have to be made and for the most part the vast majority of those decisions will have to made well ahead of time. To do otherwise will put not only yourself but those around you at risk. Again... the difference between the "hippie" mentality and the real prepper mentality. I believe the board is being dominated by hippie types. That said those who have or are ready to make the hard decisions simply sit back and shake their heads. Just a few thoughts.JAB

I'm not trying to start trouble by quoting JAB BUT I can see where there are judgements being made here on what someone says that they will do in a given situation - unless you know someone you do not know what they are capable of! Nobody here really knows what life experiences I have had (or anyone else for that matter) so how can you assume that the "homesteader types" won't defend themselves with brute force?. I am totally with farmgal on this - I will not discuss what I would be willing to do to defend myself or my family on ANY board where ANYONE can see (I personally don't feel the need to do so).
I don't believe that there is a right way or a wrong way to prep - each to their own. We all need to be more tolerant and willing to offer guidance IF we are qualified to do so. I don't believe that it's respectful to criticise anyone for their approach to securing their own survival. You may think that your way is the right way and it may indeed be the right way for you but, it should be remembered that we are each prepping for "our own version of SHTF". Is it possible that the "prepper/survivalists" on this board are not "educating" those who are more inclined towards self sufficiency by providing guidance on alternative methods of doing "whatever"? Why would that be? Those who homestead are sharing information constantly but not many "survivalists" are posting tips on bush survival (as an example). Is it possible that there is less tolerance to differences of opinion than there was in June 2012? Angry outbursts, personal attacks, manipulating what has been said so that you can take offence and feel justified in attacking someone else etc etc is NOT conducive to good dialogue nor is it encouraging for new members to post their thoughts.......(bracing myself here and expecting to get my head bitten off....)

Bringing this back around to the point of my first post, Green Mountain Man, I do think it is having a effect that is being felt on the board in all provinces that are holding regular meetings.

what does Green Mountain Man mean???

I'm not trying to start trouble by quoting JAB BUT I can see

by stating BUTright off the bat, you are indeed starting trouble and this is an adversarial way of posting, indeed starting a conversation.

lets get off the adversarial attacking please and get back to the Original question, thanks

I'm not trying to start trouble by quoting JAB BUT I can see

by stating BUTright off the bat, you are indeed starting trouble and this is an adversarial way of posting, indeed starting a conversation.

lets get off the adversarial attacking please and get back to the Original question, thanks

I don't believe that I attacked anyone. Perhaps I may suggest that you read the entire post.....

Angry outbursts, personal attacks, manipulating what has been said so that you can take offence and feel justified in attacking someone else etc etc is NOT conducive to good dialogue nor is it encouraging for new members to post their thoughts.......(bracing myself here and expecting to get my head bitten off....)

I don't believe that I attacked anyone. Perhaps I may suggest that you read the entire post.....

lets get back to the Original question, thanks

Mtn Man, see my PM to you
JAB see my PM to you

also, attacking a person or values, emotional responses as well as posts that drag them emotionally into far flung realms of ideology, rather than keeping to the OP

edit.... just like we will see what happens with JAB and his posts.
watch all the females and armchair commandos, line up to slam him now,, my opinion on past experience

Such a pleasant way to encourage conversation....
I do hope that both Mountainman and JAB take no offence to my post - a question was asked and I believe I answered the OP question (which is my opinion only) and at no time have I tried to cause offence. Is the above response acceptable behaviour on this forum?

Susannah,

No offence taken or received. Your points are valid.

There needs to be a general shift in posts from being hyper-defensive or attacking and a return to posts that provide information, ideas and suggestions for improvements.

I have asked for folks to voice their opinions, observations and possible solutions. In the last few hours we have certainly received all and more.

There are no wrong answers here, but it is a little more helpful when the discussion stays on topic. I am not naive or stupid, and I understand some folks do know each other enough to have a history of agreeing to disagree. I am not blind to that, but I chose to overlook those moments if points are being made to move this discussion forward.

So, I still ask for more input on how to make the Forum work???

Obviously, being mean to each other is not the solution. Probably very counter productive to getting the new members to post more often.

I am surprised how much activity this one thread has had in such a short time it has been up. Why can't other threads enjoy this much activity on the regular board areas??

Please be nice to each other. Attack ideas not people. But if ideas are being attacked, I prefer to see your point of view being supported by why you take the position you do and why the other poster is not right in your opinion.

Mountainman.

This is my own person perspective. I fear it will be a long post. I do not like long posts because I do not like to read long posts myself.

Each group has something to offer. Each group shares some common goals. Each group can learn from the other. In a perfect world each group would live in harmony with the other.

It is not a perfect world, far from it. Let’s take a look at how this affects this forum. I can identify four broad, definable groups that use this forum. These are generalities and the qualities exhibited will not apply to everyone.

First we have the “new preppers”. They are average citizens who realise that it is not a perfect world and decide it is time to at least make some effort to look after themselves and/or their family if TSHTF realising that the tradition bastions of Government would be unable to do so. They are eager to learn more, they want to survive and they would love to be both self reliant and self sufficient.

One group with experience is the “prepper homesteader”. This group have developed a skill set that enables them to become self sufficient under normal conditions. A self sufficient, off grid, homestead lifestyle is a goal for many types of preppers. Being free of the demands of society, being self sufficient and being “free” has a certain allure. Much effort and sacrifice must be made to attain this lifestyle. Money is required for the simple reason that land must be purchased. This group can grow or raise a goodly portion of their food requirements. Many home school their children to some extent. They know and are proficient with a variety of skills that enable them to preserve and store the harvest that they produce. They are self sufficient, just like many of our grandparents who lived in farming communities were self sufficient. This group could not be described as average citizens.

Another group with an abundance of experience is the “prepper survivalist”. These individuals often have some background in survival. They master a host of skills that they have taken upon themselves learn and become proficient in their use. Some have already experienced what we all hope never happens. They are always seeking new useful skills even though they are already self reliant. They have a full spectrum approach and give security the respect that is deserves. Every aspect of prepping, survival and self reliance is explored in depth. Often they develop an all hazards approach and are ready for just about any event. They will adapt to situations as needed and act accordingly. They know exactly what “humanity” is capable of and what a world WROL would look like. Most would be described as average citizens from all walks of life. Some may become homesteaders or strive in that direction although it is not their primary goal. Those that become homesteaders got there by a different route to the “prepper homesteader”.

Unfortunately there is another group these are the “armchair preppers”. They are the scourge of forums like the IPN. They have little or no real skills and zero experience. Their only real experience is what they have read on the Web. They get all their information from the YouTube, Wikipedia, Facebook and form Xbox with games like Call of Duty. They are not “new preppers” they are “prepper wannabes”. They pretend that they know what they are talking about and spew their inaccurate, incomplete knowledge to those who will listen, usually the “new preppers”. They may own a dehydrator, a large fix blade knife and may even know how to can food but are they preppers? No, not at all! Some may truly believe that they are preppers but they are delusional.

So how does this play out in the forum? For most aspects of prepping there is a good basis for the exchange of ideas and experiences. What are required at all times are respect and a little understanding.

However sometimes both are absent when it comes to posts where ideologies collide or are perceived to collide. It has been my experience that “prepper survivalists” generally take a factual approach in the same way that they approach prepping. Some “prepper homesteaders” take a less factual more ideological and emotional approach. When emotion is involved reason and sometimes respect go out of the window.

We can only talk about BOBs so many times and we need to be able to discuss all topics that may be relevant to prepping even if it offends our view of the world. We have to do this respectfully. We have the wisdom to leave a topic alone and move on if we cannot refute the argument.

Once a topic becomes somewhat contentious people jump to have their say. Those topics generate a lot of posts. This thread for example has generated 24 posts in two days.

I believe that I, and the other mods, generally agree that confrontation on the board has been non existent for the past couple months, until about a week ago or so. As the monthly stats show, new posts and new membership was generally level until the month of May. I don't think that the controversy we have been seeing over the last week or so can be responsible for any drop in activity. To the contrary, these topics have been quite active. I am inclined to look towards the change in seasons, as we also saw a drop in participation this time last year.

This question has been raised before, followed up with a PM to those less active, as to what would make them want to participate more. The answers that came back generally pointed to a desire for these members to read more than write...perfectly OK.

HOWEVER...it does seem that over the last week or so, there are those that take opportunity to hijack threads, such as this one, to use as a platform for some mud slinging. Not sure why, or if this perception is even valid...just my observations. Having a very confrontational atmosphere certainly isn't conducive to a healthy and active forum.

I have, in the past banned members for making posts such as "you are all stupid if you can't see my point of view" type of thing. Of course, this brought me both good and bad reactions...if you read my tag line, it kinda says it all!

A question was asked "What is needed to get more activity on the forum?". This should have brought some very positive responses, but a fight breaks out!
I don't get it!

Denob,
can you post the stats here for the last two years along with the stats for this for members, sign ups and posts?

Perhaps a monthly/quarterly newsletters would assist and encourage postings!

Unfortunately, the stats were only published and recorded over the last couple of months...anything before that is unfortunately gone.
The newsletter idea has been brought up before and is being considered as a future project, just not right now...good idea though, keep them coming!

Morning All,

It has been suggested to me, that one possible means to get more activity on the various topics and threads is for more, actual hands-on project type posts. Perhaps with photos, a description of the construction and parts list, step-by-step's, challenges or problems encountered during the build and how these challenges were resolved.

This way folks with knowledge in different can exchange ideas and projects and others can post their projects and questions if they chose to make a similar item.

Thanks ICRCC and Denob for your input. I would like to think with the wealth of knowledge our membership has, we should be able to work around our differences. Do we not share a common goal?? Personal and family survival during and after a natural disaster and/or a man-made crisis?? When in doubt about a post, we could each reflect if what we are about to post will be helpful to our collective common goal. If not, maybe wait a day before posting?????

So, in the short term I will accept that we are in a seasonal low for posts. And I will hope that in the long term, folks will continue to share their knowledge and experiences - especially, that which helps all of us progress to that state of being totally prepared for all threats to our safety from natural or man-made disasters.

Please, keep the ideas coming.

Cheers,

Mountainman.

I think there may be a little more competition for the prepper community post than there was a year ago. I was recently made aware of another prepper space which was set up similarly to this one. I checked it out was was not too surprised to recognize many of the 'handles' of the members posting. Your question might be better phrased, "how do we get the existing activity back on this forum???" The creation of this fringe area was a healthy start. The new forums are doing the same. Then there is that FB looking site for preppers. It took me about five whole seconds to write that one off.

I don't really have an opinion for JAB's proposal regarding homestead oriented members vs. survivalist oriented members. I do think, however, that as this forum space matures and topics are discussed again and again, there is less need to address the same questions. Often a new thread is quietly shut down simply by one member posting a link to a previous thread dealing with the same content. How many times do we really have to define our take on SHTF, or whether to bug in vs. out?

If you really want new activity on the forum, I think it will have to be done with new membership. Further, if we are to provide a welcoming atmosphere for FNGs, the older and more established members are going to have to hold their tongues, and let the discussions happen ad-nausium. Really, most of us who have been here a year or more have had our say. We have had our opportunity to stake out our territory and make our positions known, perhaps that is why those same names are showing up on other forums?

Two bits.

Out of curiousity I looked at the activity in Alberta (because I knew what the weather was here) and it seemed like there were more posts than there had been. Weather was wet and dreary and it seems like people had fewer "outside" diversions. Anyone else see a similar pattern in their region on the weekend?