Yes, this forum is a quiet nowadays. However like many other forums of all genres, social media sites like Facebook have captured the masses. There on FB, you can find any conceivable group that you may ever want. And certainly, there is no shortage of special interest and sport / hobby groups, which includes many centered on outdoor / urban survival topics.

The problem with FB groups, is the sheer masses of people, where many of the climbing / hiking groups have in excess of 20k members. In fact, one of the local hiking and outdoor groups has 43k members which boasts a high amount of knowledge and experience, however the signal to noise ratio, is often very high - which is the extreme opposite of this forum.

It should be interesting to see how traditional internet forums hold out against the ever beating social media drum, especially quality forums such as ETS. There is beyond a wealth of knowledge here and would be a sad day for the internet if this forum ever turned off the lights for good.

In the meantime, any new or resurrected posts and threads here in regards to bears vs bear-spray vs guns or who should pay for SAR rescues, always seem to stir the masses and is a surefire way to liven up the ETS dance...

It's quality over quantity here.

An easy way to build up a cash reserve is to keep the same amount out of your paycheck every time. Any that is left over when the next check comes, put it up somewhere. I started doing this when I got tired of missing the bank on Friday afternoon and being broke until Monday. I was keeping just enough cash to make it from check to check and putting the rest in the bank.

There are still some, they shall remain nameless, who check ETS routinely every morning, at least....

I check every morning. Well, when I wake up at 7:00 it´s 21:00 in California.