Newbie Handling?

[kayak karl]

From where I sit, it seems that most of the negativity happens amongst those who have known each other a long time, who have met in person, or who have a nemesis here whose words or opinions rub them the wrong way.

I remember going to the SoRuck'06 and getting to see people and put the faces to the names on the net. Some of the names I'd recognized had what I'd considered "heated posts" with each other - but they were there, getting along fine and seemed to be having a great time!

WB is a such a great resource, and I've gotten some terrific advice as well from other hikers. It's all about continuing to learn.

We all had to take our first step into the woods, acquire our first piece of gear, and we were all newbies when we first found WB

i posted threads that were talked AROUND like it was a chat room. never answering my orginal question. i know u know each other, but i don't give a. we are looking for experience not criticism. don't say we we are wrong, tell u what to can do better. dont use the threads about how u met on trail days. i don't care. pm each other. when the end off the thread, has nothing to do with the first post, there is a problem.
this isn't about all of yous (South Jersey word for YOU ALL). many poeple help calm our fears. my fear is not the woods, but being away that long, its not easy(children, grand kids and friends). immature answers to a question do not help this, but all in all, im hiking my own hike. but, there are certian posts i look at all the time;l. wolf. frolick dinos, cuffs, srg rock. attroll, smile, take-a-knee and others. take example from them. u hit 15,000, keep it going.

[hopefulhiker]

I know that I was treated well as a newbie. And that was not that long ago....

[DawnTreader]

I've been posting on and off for a couple of years... In the begining, I believe it was my second post; I naively brought up a sensitive topic, got flammed, and accused of trolling... I was initially turned off, however the wealth of info on this site brought me back and I have been overall happy with the discussion. I have seen some newbies post naivley as I did, and get flammed... It is rare however, but I think we all need to stand up for this when we see it.. Excellent site, many thanx to the moderators and the great posters who have given great advice to myself and everyone else who loves to wander.

[warraghiyagey]

I've been posting on and off for a couple of years... In the begining, I believe it was my second post; I naively brought up a sensitive topic, got flammed, and accused of trolling... I was initially turned off, however the wealth of info on this site brought me back and I have been overall happy with the discussion. I have seen some newbies post naivley as I did, and get flammed... It is rare however, but I think we all need to stand up for this when we see it.. Excellent site, many thanx to the moderators and the great posters who have given great advice to myself and everyone else who loves to wander.

Hey, at least you didn't get kicked off this site for nothing more than disagreeing with the host.

[turtle fast]

As a relative newby I think I have been treated fairly. You just have to have a sense of humor here. Life can not be all about work, a lot of folks here post after (or during)work and find this community as a stress relief...plain and simple. Good talk about things we all have in common...the trail.

[warraghiyagey]

As a relative newby I think I have been treated fairly. You just have to have a sense of humor here. Life can not be all about work, a lot of folks here post after (or during)work and find this community as a stress relief...plain and simple. Good talk about things we all have in common...the trail.

GO PACKERS!!!!!!!

[hanstheprety]

The wbsite is great. does anyone have a detailed list of stuff to pack for a newbie hiker who is starting the trail this summer?

[SGT Rock]

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...311#post132311

here you go.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I've been reading and posting here for exactly a year today (I survived ), and WB is one of three online forums I regularly participate in. The other is a golf forum and a politics one. Overall, people here are friendly, knowledgable, and have a good sense of humor. There does seem to be a little cliqueiness here and there at times, but I think a lot of that's due to people who know each other IRL and they're just more focused on that relationship than the rest of the board.

I kind of just jumped right into the fire from the beginning, and probably put a few people off with both speaking my mind and my sarcasm from day one, but I've kind of just grown accustomed to doing that in online forums - life's too short to just lurk. Between poking fun and being an all around wise a$$ though, I've learned a lot here - about different hiker/hiking philosophies, alcohol stoves, hammocks, which handgun to carry, which shelters to burn(all of 'em ), why dogs should be left at home - oops, there's that damn sarcasm again. I just can't keep my big mouth shut.

Seriously though, once I clear up a nagging health issue(bad back) it would be fun to meet some of the members here IRL on the AT next summer or at a ruck.

My advice to other newbies is just jump right in. Life's too short just to dangle your toes in the water and lurk. The worst thing that could happen is someone might disagree with you. But without that none of us would ever learn anything new and different. And sooner or later if you participate in online DB's you're gonna get flamed for something. So what. Hike on.