What is the pistol-forum ethos?

[Maple Syrup Actual]

I was thinking about this question last night and I think the answer is - or maybe a better way to put that is "the answer that I would give is:"

It's the same ethos as five years ago, or ten, but operating on different individuals. It remains one of the premiere technical shooting forums on the internet, and retains a large number of successful shooters, which inadvertently results in a broad depth of knowledge because you can't get good at shooting without two things: money, and the drive to push yourself. Anyone who has those two things is going to go pretty far in life, so the membership here is going to be people who are above average in a lot of measurable ways.

But since it's also a place for learning, there's always going to be a bit of a cycle in which people essentially graduate and lose interest in their former studies because now they don't really NEED to learn new things as much...if they're still in the shooting game, they may well have advanced to the point that more classes or more research or whatever aren't very useful compared to just going and implementing all of the stuff they've already learned.


What I find interesting about that is that ordinarily I expect forums to follow this life cycle:

1) bunch of people REALLY into something start a place to talk about it and get better at it etc
2) word gets out that's the place to go for high level information
3) place slowly becomes bigger and dumber, and the people who are REALLY into the original concept leave and start somewhere new
4) word gets out that's the new place to go
5) profit

But PFC has basically avoided this cycle. Some good people have left, but the place hasn't really gotten bigger and dumber, it's just a slightly different cast of characters on the same upward journey.

The only change is that personally I find the place more relaxed now. I would have been a LOT more hesitant to horse around about drug use and other goofball stuff here ten years ago...although I think I did write about Burning Man here in 2014. But I was a lot more guarded about what I said than I would be today, when all bets are off and I might blurt out anything at all if you catch me in the right mood.

[Tensaw]

I think I did write about Burning Man here in 2014. But I was a lot more guarded about what I said than I would be today, when all bets are off and I might blurt out anything at all if you catch me in the right mood.

The Burning Man thread was *epic* BTW. And we love it when you come in off the cuff. It would be a hoot to hang out with you and Tam with a few beers in ya'll.

[LOKNLOD]

about all this talk of Athos.

We’ve had plenty if athos around here but they often get banned.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

The Burning Man thread was *epic* BTW. And we love it when you come in off the cuff. It would be a hoot to hang out with you and Tam with a few beers in ya'll.

Would love to do that myself, actually

[Gun Mutt]

Would love to do that myself, actually

If you make it to the Indianapolis area, I so want in on that action! Fair warning, I'll do my level best to get bourbon added to the drink list.

[Totem Polar]

Fair warning, I'll do my level best to get bourbon added to the drink list.

Fair warning: bring your A game.

[Gun Mutt]

Noted!

[UNM1136]

I’m a relatively new member, having joined in 2016, so with that said I can’t speak to the “old days of PF”, but I’ll throw out some of my perspective to explain my current thoughts about this forum.

I joined my first forum back in 1999 and that forum grew so big that the ratio of quality posts has dropped to the point I rarely visit except for technical sub-forums.

Other forums I’ve been (and still am) a member of have become stagnant because the firearms are no longer as popular and most experts have moved on to other things.

I joined a particular forum that vetted its membership and had a very large military and law enforcement member base back in 2011 or 2012. I was very impressed with the information I was able to glean and the discussions we had. I was able to have many conversations within forum threads and through PMs with Pat Rogers and I’m very disappointed I wasn’t able to train with him before he passed. Many of our discussions brought up ideas that directly influenced how we developed our department’s current low light training program. I think a lot of those military members maybe got out of the service, the GWOT started to ramp down, and the forum started to stagnate... I should check it out again but around that time I found PF.

That was 2016 and I discovered PF due to taking an Ernest Langdon class and reading about the FAST Coin. I quickly discovered the large amount of subject matter expertise within the forum was like no where else I knew in the forum world.

No one and nothing is perfect, but what I like about PF is that to me we are held accountable. Unlike other forums where people can post dogmatic and/or wrongheaded ideas that go largely unchallenged, in PF if you speak outside your lane you are likely to get challenged. I know I have been, and it’s made me a better person in this area. I also see people debating ideas and hashing out disagreements, sometimes vehemently, but rarely with personal attacks and usually with at least some level of open-mindedness.

Perfect example: There was recently a thread involving a video posted by a well-known gun personality. I challenged some of the content of the video, and when I re-read it later it came out in a way that, were I him, would have been insulting given his history and expertise. Instead of engaging in an ego-driven debate, he posted a very professional reply that continued the conversation and ultimately resulted, and will continue to result in good information being shared rather than turning into a useless argument. To me It’s the quality of members that makes PF great. It may not be what it was several years ago, but it is really the only forum that I spend a lot of time on now.

I could list the number of people I know here who are experts in various areas of firearms and firearms training who contribute regularly, but it would just be a long list... I think most of us know who they are and are grateful for them. I don’t know anywhere else I could get honest feedback from such a large population of industry names (and they aren’t even doing it for the ‘gram) anywhere, and it’s at the cost of hitting some keys for a while.

So if I had to make a catch phrase it would be (with credit to and in tribute of Pat Rogers):

Pistol Forum... Where learning occurs.

You are one of the keepers, dude. Your posts are analyzed in depth...

[UNM1136]

No we don't.

No shit. Thanks for returning me to azmuth.

pat

[UNM1136]

Shitty moderators, led by a generous owner who could have sold P-F for millions but didn’t.

Yeah, he needs a lot more mention and credit. And the moderators are still shit....

pat