That is interesting, I just checked and it is limited to 3 years. I am not sure why, I can go back and view very first post from 2005.

Maybe there is something we can do about that, but than again maybe not.

It's exceedingly rare to see a thread go wrong at ETS. I don't really see any issues. If anything I said added to the problems I apologize.

This is the main reason I had only 13 posts ALL LAST YEAR. The threads I visited mostly were commentary in nature...all fluff and no REAL content. Opinions, he said/she said stuff...I read the first post in a thread, and if I don't care, I move on.
Perhaps I've outgrown the site...hopefully not because I learned a lot in the first year or two after I joined. I haven't watched the news in 25 years, I haven't read a newspaper in 30 years, I'm not into social media AT ALL. What I've learned on this site I've actively searched for.
Is ETS still relevant..absolutely. I respect the mebers with thousands of posts...but I know I'll never be one of them. I don't even have 200 in six years! I'll quietly learn what I need to, and research stuff that is relevant to me and my family.
Thanks to all the old timers for being there and passing on your knowledge to everyone willing to take being prepared seriously. Not in a radical way, of couse, but in a responsible way that encourages everyone to grow and help look out for each other.

I participated in the thread at question; I don't think my post stepped over the lines, but if it did, I apologize.

I value different points of view on topics. I have found my preconceptions challenged by people who have had different experiences in different situations---different from my own, which challenge the conclusions I have drawn from my own experiences, and in several cases, caused me to change my preps.

So, for me, it is not just about the equipment, but when and how what is needed and how to use it, or avoid the situation entirely.

Facts and experiences, our own and that of others, are building blocks we need. Opinions, are just that: to be treated as information, but not evidence. I always try to remember "I could be wrong." So can the poster's opinion.

This forum has a tremendous base of real world experiences and expertise to share, and points of view about those experiences. I do not consider respectful, even sometimes heated, discussion of those experiences and points of view "noise." They do, often, need some thinking about. Unsubstantiated opinions, not so much.

For example, most recently, I learned a lot about Ebola in this forum that I never heard in the news. We had several members who were quite well informed on the subject, and I, for one, learned and appreciated their factual (and fact based opinion) input.

I hope we all can take a deep breath and focus on exchanging facts, information and yes, fact based opinions based on our experiences that can help other members be prepared for eventualities that we hope they never have to endure.

Mere discussions of piece of equipment "A" is better for survival then "B," without a full exploration of the context of its purpose, use, and alternatives, including opinions on these topics, is really not useful to me. Wading through all of those details and discussion can sometimes seem like "noise," but often that is how I learn to make my own trade-offs and judgments.

In response to your request, I would like to say that you don't need to do anything (even though I said I am not interested).

The thread "Save a Life", which prompted this thread, is the most useful thread that I have ever seen on this site. I'll tell you why. There is one post in there by a guy who has posted only 55 times since 2008. The thread prompted him to share the fact that he had to shoot and kill a home invader. He's disabled and uses a wheel chair.

I have since introduced myself to this user in a private message and have become a sort of Internet friend. He has shared more information that has been extremely useful. If I could take just one nugget from this site over the years I've been here, then it would be the interaction with that one user.

By the way, in all my years of living, I have found the biggest gold nuggets of information come from natural conversations with people. If moderators were to meddle with the natural flow of conversation, then I highly doubt this site would get the type of gold nuggets that I described above.

The simple solution is to have users ignore threads in which they have no interest. Such a solution reduces your workload, keeps your site rich with gold nuggets, and encourages members to develop another survival skill. Yes, learning how to filter noise is an important survival skill.

Thanks AKSAR for starting this thread. You have written far more eloquently then I could on the seemingly slow demise of this once great forum. I too share your thoughts and also have substantially curtailed my active participation here for quite some time.

I find that that this forum no longer suits my primary interest of outdoors adventure - and survival as the direction here is turning more concentric to just general commentary rather then advise and tips on how to be equipped to survive.

Much of this commentary and discussion can be off-putting as many times it turns into a long drawn out thread and which, 75% of the info is not relevant and only presented in a misguided game of one-upmanship of quickly (but not researched) internet gleaned "knowledge" wars with fellow posters.

I am contemplating in purchasing some semi-remote land for vacations, long weekends etc. Currently investing time, research and some money on solar and other alternative energy technologies with real world testing during longer camping trips to see if this would actually be right for us.

I have often thought about starting a thread here on this topic but do not think it would be all that worthwhile as another aspect of this forum is it does not seem to have many people who are actually outdoor active, let alone into short term, semi-remote living and survival.

That all said, I still check the forum multiple times per day hoping there will be some good threads to read and comment on...

I for one would appreciate such a thread. I'm not sure I would have much to contribute but I would be very interested in reading it.

One person's "noise" is another person's "music".

So long as things remain civil and reasonably on topic it would be a shame if someone didn't post or reply to a post for fear of thinking that their thoughts would be perceived of as "noise".

I know the number of my posts have decreased over the years because as I learn I ask fewer questions. On top of that as these old bone age I find myself spending less time in the "deep" outdoors. Still, I continue read the forums and reply when I think it might be helpful.

I have to agree with KenK's explanation.