Poll: "Campouts" forum??

[Peter_pan]

I don't know about the rest of you, but this forum has wildly exceeded MY expectations. I'd call it a raging success. Consequently, I tend to think that any ideas we support as a group will probably be equally as successful.

Pan, I'm not really sure why you see a movement of hammock traffic away from WB as a BAD thing. Basically, this forum concentrates your customer base in one place, and then provides you with a nicer, more direct way to communicate with them. Yes, in the short term it's not terribly easy for people to find us, but that'll change soon enough. The reduction in hammock talk on WB, coupled with our continued membership growth, is proof that the word is out there.

I guess there's probably a sense of loyalty connected with WB that I'm just not privy to, having only been on forums in general for a few months now. In general, though, my appreciation of succinct, concentrated information outweighs my sense of tradition. But that's just me.

Blackbishop351, et al,

Don't get me wrong....

1) This forum is doing well and is a fun place to participate...

2) While I do have business interest/bias I was a serious hammock user and active pioneer in the warm/dry/comfort and UL area... long before Jacks 'R' Better... before most of those now hanging were into hammocks.

3) I am primarily a hammocker who shares knowledge/experiance to shorten the learning curve, less the converts "bail" before they find 'nivarna"... ie to promote hammocking as a way... Primarily because I believe that the comforts and weight savings over tenting will keep those who love backpacking in it longer into life... Plus, I believe that it is lower impact and thus better for over used locations suffering thru population explosion.

4) In four years of participating on yahoo groups/hammock camping and whiteblaze it is clear to me that the growth and broader participation on the premier backpacking site of WB has done more to broaded the cause/awareness of hammocking. I do recognize, although, that both approaches are good.

5) There is a ton of good stuff in the Archives and photos of WB that has not readily transitoned here... although we do have a link or two for those who search.

6) Group think is seldom desirable in and of itself... clearly several points of view ultimately improve the outcomes...

Pan

[blackbishop351]

Blackbishop351, et al,

Don't get me wrong....

1) This forum is doing well and is a fun place to participate...

2) While I do have business interest/bias I was a serious hammock user and active pioneer in the warm/dry/comfort and UL area... long before Jacks 'R' Better... before most of those now hanging were into hammocks.

3) I am primarily a hammocker who shares knowledge/experiance to shorten the learning curve, less the converts "bail" before they find 'nivarna"... ie to promote hammocking as a way... Primarily because I believe that the comforts and weight savings over tenting will keep those who love backpacking in it longer into life... Plus, I believe that it is lower impact and thus better for over used locations suffering thru population explosion.

4) In four years of participating on yahoo groups/hammock camping and whiteblaze it is clear to me that the growth and broader participation on the premier backpacking site of WB has done more to broaded the cause/awareness of hammocking. I do recognize, although, that both approaches are good.

5) There is a ton of good stuff in the Archives and photos of WB that has not readily transitoned here... although we do have a link or two for those who search.

6) Group think is seldom desirable in and of itself... clearly several points of view ultimately improve the outcomes...

Pan

By no means am I doubting your motivations, Pan. By no means did I intend to imply that you were only here for advertisement - I know you, just like the rest of us, love hanging and want to share that with others.

All I meant by the traffic comment was that, as far as I can see, your business might shed positive light on this forum rather than negative.

I see where you guys are coming from as far as getting more exposure on WB. When it comes down to it, I guess I'm biased toward this forum just like some of you tend to lean towards WB. I think most of my problem with WB is that I'm tired of sifting through tons and tons of completely and utterly meaningless threads, like this one:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18685

This guy was just trying to get some real info on hammocks, and the posts that WERE relevant were quickly overshadowed by people just messing around. That thread has > 1100 posts. I quit reading after ~ 300 because nothing was hammock-related in the slightest.

But, again, that's just me - I don't come to the forums to goof around, at least not to that degree. I come to learn, to share what little knowledge I have, and to bounce ideas around - all relating to camping, not to sports or whatever. I don't mind jokes or other kinds of talk, but only insomuch as it's limited.

[Peter_pan]

Blackbishop351,

No offense taken... I only stated my views for the general reading public.

BTW, I agree with you on the wasted threads on WB....There are plenty of them too... I just ignore them once they go on tangents or start the name calling crap...

Gotta go... demoing Hammocks to a combined Boy Scout and Cub Scout rountables meeting tonight...

Can't wait for the Mt Roger hangout...hope you can make it.

Pan

[attroll]

I agree with you to a certain extent Pan. I think that WB was getting over run with hammock threads. I am not saying this was a bad thing. I had users sending me PMs and asking me to make the hammock forums so that they were subscribable forums like we have with other forums on WB. I was dead set again that. The reason being is when you create subscribable forums on a web site those forums do not get searched by the spiders like google and yahoo and all the others. If they do not get search by those spiders then if a new person interested in hammocking tries doing searches then they will never get results from those forums.

I can see why some of the users were getting a little aggravated by all the hammock posting going on, but then again I can see why the hammock forums should still remain on WB an that way why I did not remove those forums.

On the other hand I have some opinions about why this forums is a good idea.

First off I did not start this forum just because I wanted to. It was a suggestion by someone and others chimed in and I offered to create it. I got a lot of replies from other users saying that they really would like to see a separate hammock web site.

If this forum continues to grow it will be a very good source for hammockers to come to to ask questions as they all do now. As time goes by every day there are more people interested in hammocks and hammock camping.

As of right now there is not one single good source for hammock camping discussions, reviews and reports on the internet. I think if we create a good web site and discussion forum then it will be the ground work for becoming the number one source for hammock camping web site. Once we get the search engines going through our web site regularly I think we will see a lot more people coming to our forums.

If we did not do it someone else would have eventually anyways I think.

Now it is up to us to get the word out and help make this a good source for hammockers to come to. I think we are on the right track. The web site is only as good as the people who participate on it.

[Peter_pan]

ATTROLL,

Good post...

Pan

[Frolicking Dino]

I feel a forum on this web site about camp-outs is good idea because while this web site is a spin-off of WB for now, as the spiders crawl this site and begin sending people who are looking for hammock info here, this will become a stand-alone site that offers hangers' info - completely separate and independent of WB. Many of those new members may have no interest in joining WB and will not learn of the camp-outs if there is no listing or forum is available here.

As for promoting hammocking - perhaps organizing some "want to learn about hammocks?' campouts on this site in various areas would be wise - and then spread the word about these campouts on more general hiking and backpacking forums. You guys could bring your extra hammocks and let people learn how to put them up, how underquilts work, how to tension tarps, etc. Overcoming the fear of the unknown is half (or more) of the battle to getting people to consider using hammocks.

While I cannot hammock due to ortho issues, I do see the value of the hammock and have stayed close to this community because you are some of the most innovative designers of new gear I have met. Gear design is as much a passion for me as backpacking.

[slowhike]

ya know, maybe i`m wrong, but i get the impression that people may be talking about two different things here.
it seems almost that some are thinking about starting another web site.
i`m thinking that what headchange4u was talking about in the 1st post was simply another category that you would see when you click on forums in the bar near the top the page (like hammock news, general hammock talk, hammock manufacturers, etc).
if it`s just another category under "forums", then it seems like a good idea to me.

[Porkbutter]

I also think that it would be a good idea. Whether it gets used frequently or just occasionally, it would still be a nice way for people who wish to participate in Campouts to make their wish known. Otherwise, there is a good chance that the post would be missed by others who may be interested. It would avoid having to dig around in all the other posts trying to find it, too.

[sdveirs]

Sounds like a plan, maybe topics can be <date> <location>

Scott

[jakethesnake]

I can see it being more helpful for us on the west coast. I don't know anyone else in San Diego that hammock camps, and this would help out getting campouts in other places not covered by the WB.