• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

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powhound84 said:
You're quick on the draw haha. I deleted my comment almost immediately, realizing I'm the minority in that regard and my opinion really doesn't matter.

As others have pointed out, Red owns the site and can do whatever he wants with it. If he chooses to make decisions that push valuable contributors away from the site, so be it. Not my monkeys, not my circus.

Honestly though, no, I don't get much out of the site that isn't available elsewhere. I only really got involved to try to help educate people that are constantly misusing rock climbing gear and recommending dangerous practices. The hope was that maybe I could help prevent misinformed saddle hunters from hurting or killing themselves. Props to @mattsteg in that regard, he's a knowledgeable and consistent advocate of best practices and proper safety. If he's sticking around, you guys should take what he says seriously. I know there are others as well, but he's the one that really stood out in my short time here.

Take care and happy hunting!
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Sorry man! didnt realize you deleted it. I had hit reply, then started doing some work on another screen. Yes there are some very knowledgeable people on here, @mattsteg is definitely one of them. Unfortunately, with the huge growth, those with greater knowledge get diluted. A while back, many of them moved into the shadows a little because of the overwhelming desire of some folks to argue, or just ignore plain facts, and ask the same questions a million times without using the great knowledge base this site already is. Believe it or not some of us have a ton of experience in climbing and mountaineering world...We've all tried to convey as much safety as possible, and those of us who care appreciate yours and everyone's efforts.
 
Good deal for me. I have gained a tremendous amount of insight and ideas for my saddle hunting setup. I also need to sell some of my gear that is stand related. A big plus, now we won't get the posts (I'm as guilty as others) of "why can't I list on the classifieds if I'm a new member." So I'm all in on this change. Hey, one of the things that I'm certain of; you're either changing for the better or worse because nothing stays the same (I think this is for the better).
 
I can’t wait for the day when the realization that you’re the product on social media and other web based services, not the consumer, occurs to folks against things like this.

You’re totally missing the boat. It’s unfortunate in the big picture. A lot of what’s wrong with our economy, society, and culture is caused by this detail that 90% of folks either don’t recognize, or choose to ignore. About 9% of folks recognize it and are trying to correct for it. And 1% is laughing all the way to the bank/positions of power.

Red intuits the flaws in that model. I respect him for it. I think my favorite part is that the time it took to complain about the issue, is the same time it would’ve taken to earn the 15 bucks in some form or fashion.

Some perspective is due here
 
Just sitting back and reading the "blasphemy" that has ensued is quite comical lol.

My 2 cents; the classifieds are what brought me to this great site.

If I would have had to pay $15 up front to see the item I had originally found I would of clicked off the site as quick as I was on it and probably never would of found a reason to get back on. I wouldn't have been mad or anything just wouldn't of been worth $15 bucks to maybe see if I wanted the item I was wanting to purchase (which I did purchase, Sitka bibs and overalls). That being said the classifieds are also a big reason I get on here daily. I like to look through them and find an item then go to the forums and search to see whats being said about them before I purchase.

Folks are making the point that its "only the classifieds" while this is true, the classified are clearly the sites biggest draw. You don't see it being $15 dollars to view anything else because the draw isn't there. My only concern is the site will see a decline in growth when charging for the attraction that is bringing a lot of new people to the site.

I have saved well over $15 dollars by purchasing items on the classifieds. Will I pay the $15 to get on there? More than likely I will. Will this drop the amount of items put on the classifieds? Yeah, probably. I hope this doesn't hurt the site but I could see a big drop in new members and classified posts. Fingers crossed it stays the same.
 
Bchadwick1990 said:
Just sitting back and reading the "blasphemy" that has ensued is quite comical lol.

My 2 cents; the classifieds are what brought me to this great site.

If I would have had to pay $15 up front to see the item I had originally found I would of clicked off the site as quick as I was on it and probably never would of found a reason to get back on. I wouldn't have been mad or anything just wouldn't of been worth $15 bucks to maybe see if I wanted the item I was wanting to purchase (which I did purchase, Sitka bibs and overalls). That being said the classifieds are also a big reason I get on here daily. I like to look through them and find an item then go to the forums and search to see whats being said about them before I purchase.

Folks are making the point that its "only the classifieds" while this is true, the classified are clearly the sites biggest draw. You don't see it being $15 dollars to view anything else because the draw isn't there. My only concern is the site will see a decline in growth when charging for the attraction that is bringing a lot of new people to the site.

I have saved well over $15 dollars by purchasing items on the classifieds. Will I pay the $15 to get on there? More than likely I will. Will this drop the amount of items put on the classifieds? Yeah, probably. I hope this doesn't hurt the site but I could see a big drop in new members and classified posts. Fingers crossed it stays the same.
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I have to respectfully disagree. I do not believe the classifieds are the site's biggest draw. It is the wealth of knowledge of all things saddle hunting.
 
DanO said:
I have to respectfully disagree. I do not believe the classifieds are the site's biggest draw. It is the wealth of knowledge of all things saddle hunting.
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When I first joined, it was to learn about a new (to me) way of hunting with lightweight gear while being way more safe than my Treestand days. The classified section is a nice place to go and get lightly used gear at a fair price, and to sell my lightly used gear so it doesn't just collect dust. But if it weren't for the knowledge available on this site, I wouldnt give it the time of day.
 
@powhound84 @Vtbow
Thanks for the mention and honored. Pretty everything that I know about climbing, ropes, devices, etc. either came from members helpful enough to contribute here, or from researching topics I would not have even known to check without this forum. I don't have a rockclimbing or arborist background - just an engineering one. And the details that you, @kyler1945 and guys I haven't seen much from in a while like @TonyGreenway with direct experience in those areas have passed on...are critical. Without that grounding it's a long slog to innovating safely.

And I can pretty much guarantee that no one is consistently picking up things like proper carabiner loading, stopper knots, fall loads, etc. on Facebook where every discussion starts from 0.
 
DanO said:
I have to respectfully disagree. I do not believe the classifieds are the site's biggest draw. It is the wealth of knowledge of all things saddle hunting.
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I'm not disagreeing there is a large amount of wealth and knowledge I respect that position 100%.

I am looking at simple numbers. 5.8k threads started on the Classifieds the next closest is 3.1k on Anything Saddle Related/Climbing Methods.

Do they have more messages? Yeah, of course they do, they are discussion threads that can be posted on by anybody that thinks they know the best way to do something. Classifieds generally go to PM's or texts for discussion hence the lower message count.

I was just going based off numbers I guess a more analytical approach.
 
Nutterbuster said:
Yep. And I don't mind losing the folks who are mainly here to use the classifieds and not educate or entertain me.
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The point is that you shouldn't have to lose members period. This is a step in the wrong direction when growth should be the intent.
And stop eating so many snacks man. It's bad for your health.
 
Jase244 said:
The point is that you shouldn't have to lose members period. This is a step in the wrong direction when growth should be the intent.
And stop eating so many snacks man. It's bad for your health.
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Bchadwick1990 said:
Classifieds are another tool to bring new people to the site. No different than your videos on YouTube.
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I'm not so sure that red is looking for growth. I'm not an old timer, but I think they had a really cool site going before the explosion last year. In fact, I think he might be trying to slow the growth and keep it small.
 
Nothing wrong with that and I'm all about the $15 bucks as I stated in my very first post. But to say the classifieds aren't a huge draw when you can see the numbers is in my opinion a little off.

Why not just do away with the classifieds and pay $15 for a membership?
 
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