Where's Doug Been

I don't mean realy. I know he stops by. I just mean I haven't seen alot of reviews lately. We all miss him. he got me to get my kit started. I just wonder if anyone else misses his input.

That's a dumb question, I know we all do. I'm just looking forward to more reviews and miss his participation.

Doug spends a majority of his time living out of a suitcase as he travels around the country meeting with government and business leaders. He sends us mods his itinery, it's pretty brutal and doesn't leave much time for this forum.

-Blast

So what knife does Doug carry in his constant travels?

He's said that he alternates between a Mk.1 and a Sebenza. I'm guessing he checks bags a lot.

If you want to see what Doug has been spending a majority of his time on, head over to www.kniferights.org.

On the knife question; when I have traveled with him he has never had one knife with him. Usually he has more then a couple... last time I know he had an Mk1, Mk4 and a Leatherman.

This thread has prompted me to post something that's been on my mind for a while: I think Doug should consider changing the content and format of the equipped.org site completely.

There's no doubt that the core content regarding survival priorities, mindset, attitude, planning etc. are timeless and always applicable. But the pages on gear & equipment are getting quite out of date. When I first stumbled across ETS years ago those pages were current and usable. But today they are really not of use.

I think Doug should consider rearranging the site with the following key focus points:

- the forums (which can also handle the latest whiz-bang topics that are important for a week or 6 months but then not so much)
- Doug's essays & articles on the survival topics that are timeless and not tied to technology
- real-life accounts of ditchings and other survival stories
- selective ETS reviews of survival-specific emerging technology (like PLBs and the SPOT)

I am not saying Doug is a failure or has done anything wrong. I just think that since he is so busy these days, and the technology changes so fast, that he should streamline the site to focus on these core things.

The problem with reorganizing the site is that some of us come back here to look up something that we read once and already have difficulty tracking that down because there's a lot of information here. I would worry that reorganizing would only make that more difficult.

While I love ETS and appreciate all Doug has done to promote survival knowledge and knife rights, the reviews section could use an overhaul. But I realize that takes time and money, two things that are perennially in short supply!

Cool links never die... and never should die.

Rearranging the front page of equipped.org to bring it up to speed with Glock-A-Roo's suggestions can be done without moving or deleting any of the "old" material that's being linked to from the main page of equipped.org. Just let the web pages sit there so old bookmarks will continue to work and the links between those pages continue to work. Or you can redirect. Redirection is better than just let stuff disappear, but I much prefer to just let things just linger.


Over time, search engines and peoples bookmarks will point to the refurbished version of equipped.org. Still no reason to let the old material disappear... just don't have any links from equipped.org main page to stuff that's clearly out of date.

It's not always about equipment either. So what if Doug hasn't reviewed the latest wiz bang gizmo? 99% of survival has to do with the stuff between the ears.

Wesites cost money and are rarely money makers for the owners unless there is a lot of advertising. Doug has his priorities and is putting his time to those. Not my business to harp him on updating his site; there are so many other good sites other there as well that provide information and reviews on equipment and my computer is just as good as the next being able to source those out if I need more information.

That said, I miss seeing Doug's input on the forums.

That's my point: focus the site on the timeless elements plus the community factor provided by the forums, not the technology. The forums also provide a way to keep up with current events & fresh info. It really is valuable to see what's going on with PLBs and such.

I'm not talking about the particular file structure or graphic appearance of the site (though I realize that affects internal links). Do we really need reviews on kits from companies that don't exist anymore, Leatherman overviews last updated in 1999, or LED flashlight info that's 10 or more generations out of date?

Please don't take this as raggin' on Doug. Nobody appreciates his work more than I do. But if you can't keep up with the data, why is it a good thing to maintain a vast archive of outmoded information? If the answer is "well a newbie could Google for the latest info if he sees something outdated at ETS", then... why have gear info at ETS at all?

I think the site should be trimmed down regarding specifics on gear. For example make general points about the value of LED lights in the context of survival but point people to CandlePowerForums for specifics on the technology and current market offerings. That site is loaded with subject matter experts and you'd be hard-pressed to do a better job at keeping up with flashlight info than they do.

If ETS chooses to let the fruit die on the vine that's fine, of course; it's their site and their money. I just felt these things should be pointed out.

Glock-A-Roo, I think the rule here is that if you make a suggestion like that, you've just volunteered to do all the work to make it happen.

Great! Give me admin rights and I'll go to town on it. Blast...?

That's up to Doug and HTMLSpinner. I'm just the bouncer.
-Blast

Yeah, that was mostly tongue-in-cheek since every revision would have to be preceded by a judgment from Doug.

I'm not sure I'd be comfortable checking $500+ worth of knives that often, or at all, with the baggage handler/TSA pilfering and all.

Been a wee bit busy. Knife Rights and the NYC situation has been taking a significant share of my time. If anyone has a spare $1,000,000 in their pocket, I'd have a whole lot more time available. <~>

Fact is the concerns about ETS site are valid and a concern for me. AAMOF, I and a ETS Board member were just discussing these issues this morning. We have some ideas, and some rough ideas for solutions (including switching ETS to a modern open source content management system), but a lot hinges on developing some new funding streams to support and supplement me and my efforts and we have some ideas there as well. None of this will get solved quickly, but we are looking to address these issues in the next year or so, hopefully.

Fact is, between Knife Rights, which has exploded, my participation on various standard setting committees where I am the sole representative of the end user, you, to develop better standards for survival gear that will save lives (in large part because I have showed that what's there doesn't work like it should, trying to sort out my business such as it is in order to keep a roof over our head since, as many here know, Sue can no longer work and is on disability, and taking care of Sue (who obviously has some serious chronic health issues), I am stretched rather thin. Did I mention that business sucks because of this recession that some pinhead said is over?

But, we are aware of the issues and I want to find a solution. Unfortunately, any real solution starts with money. That's the harsh reality.

Now, back to your usual programming....