It's been too many years since I took the time to re-connect with this creaky old forum. The big social platforms are easier to use, look nicer, have a much larger audience, and have sucked the oxygen out of small independent forums of many kinds, including this one.

But this independent forum - and others like it - are rare indeed, because they exist simply for the benefit of the forum members. You're not the product here, there's no "monetezation" of you and what you do here. There's no tracking cookies. There's no "please subscribe" pop-ups. Yeah, it's "retro" - and that's what is drawing me back in. This place exists because it's just neutral ground to talk about the stuff that we like to talk about.

So I'm going to re-invite some friends to come here and re-awaken the art of civilized conversation, if I can.

As long as the old stalwarts remind ETS will endure!

Mr. Ritter has been incredibly generous in keeping this forum online, which I'm sure costs him real money.

I agree with the sentiment of "not being the product being bought and sold." There are a number of curiously oddball and highly useful forums where I am active, and which push back against the worst tendencies of the billionaire bro shmoes.

Revitalizing this forum would be a long hill to climb. Then again, it might be old enough to be retro or vintage or analogue -- if we could catch the right wave.

Cheers folks!

We all appreciate it. I don't come here every day, but when I do, I always find something interesting or educational.

I try to check in every few weeks or so. It is not as active as it once was, but it endures when others have fallen by the wayside. There is something to be said for observing the experiences of like-minded individuals.

I used to check in here everyday but that is a waste of time nowadays. Nothing happens here anymore; might as well erase all together.
Even if I had something to post I have lost the interest to do so here. I do it on bushcraftusa and bushcraftuk. And facebook.

BCUSA is still pretty lively! But I still check in here almost every day.

I'm certainly open to suggestions as to what we could do differently.

LOL at some of the comments above. Membership on this forum never cost a single penny. So please, no whining. If a member wants to stir up new action, they are welcome to step up and make the substantial effort required to make that happen. It takes a lot of active posts and SEO. Be the change you want to see.

Regarding "might as well erase all together," I don't like the lazy online trend where discussion boards vanish into the ether forever. This is a little bit like burning libraries. Erasing history impoverishes us all.

Thanks to our long-serving volunteer moderators for putting up with us all these years. Cheers!