I realize this post will not be a new revalation, nor even particularly enlightening to most but since I happen to make a direct observation I decided to post it just the same.

Many people consider me, and those like me, to be a "knowledgeable person" with respect to the usual topics associated with this forum.

This is mainly because I can express myself "reasonably well", seem to make logical and practical sense, and I apparantly have experience with a wide variety of weapons, etc. And as most of my replies are in "general agreement" with the majority of the other EF Huttons on this forum I have a degree of credibility.

In contrast I personally know an individual who is far more knowledgeable regarding firearms than I am, has combat experience I will never have, actually IS special forces and has been since I was in Middle School. However, he is NOT terribly educated, doesn't organize and express his thoughts as well and can't type for shit. He also RARELY has time to fart around on the internet and has only a vague grasp on what message board communities are really like.

But so I can keep in touch with him when he is not local I did help him register an account on another internet forum last year. He understood the concept of a message board and liked it better than email, sorta like a "party line" where he can update everyone at once.

Well today on this forum (which I'm not gonna name) the subject of small arms and combative applications arose and this individual made the mistake of offering an opinion based upon his experience. And sadly for him, it did NOT concur with current XBox small arms doctrine and the 12 year olds and airsofters came out of the woodwork to denounce him. After all this guy couldn't even spell the big words and he didn't think hanging 12 pounds of shit on a rifle was the best thing to do.

It was kind of funny to watch actually.

Even some of the "actual shooters" questioned many of his unconventional ideas. Most inquired if he had ANY real world shooting experience at all. He only made scant referrence to his military service. And the general consensus of about 60% of that forum is he is akin to an "airsofter" who went to boot camp. The truly absurd part is on that forum I am much more highly regarded simply because I have an established history of posting cool pics of some of the firearms I own.

Surely there is a tab or badge for owning rare exotics. Perhaps something for my beret.

Quoted: Surely there is a tab or badge for owning rare exotics. Perhaps something for my beret.

I thought you were a Seal?

Link?

Quoted: Quoted: Surely there is a tab or badge for owning rare exotics. Perhaps something for my beret. I thought you were a Seal?

SteyrAUG?  Oh no.  He was the first Space Shuttle Door Gunner, recruited by Theodore Roosevelt himself.  SEALs bow in awe when SteyrAUG walks by.  

Quoted: and he didn't think hanging 12 pounds of shit on a rifle was the best thing to do.

Hell, I like the guy already.  

Quoted: Quoted: and he didn't think hanging 12 pounds of shit on a rifle was the best thing to do. Hell, I like the guy already.

+1 K.I.S,S!

it did NOT concur with current XBox small arms doctrine

Sig material.

Anonymity--yet another perk and pitfall of the internet. I'm sorry to hear the way your friend was treated, but it doesn't surprise me. I hope that bad experience doesn't deter your friend from coming back.

So what the fuck?? We're not good enough to hang out with your BTDT friend?

Quoted: Quoted: Surely there is a tab or badge for owning rare exotics. Perhaps something for my beret. I thought you were a Seal?

You mean like the ones in the circus that balance a ball on their nose?

LOL... I know somene like that, as well. An SF-type, he was denounced on another board for similar weapons "infractions" by people who don't have a clue. Their logic was that since he didn't "defend" himself, it must be true. They wanted him to provide background documentation or something.

What actually happened was that some people turned on him because of an Internet rift of sorts, and these people apparently felt the need to choose a side. He actually couldn't give a fuck. It's the Internet.

Can you copy and paste what it was that stirred the pot?

Internet Commando's here?

Some folks do have a way of making others feel a little inept with their divine wisdom.

I dunno, I have heard Jim Scoutten use VERY large words before.


ByteTheBullet  (-:

AUG: You can't just post something like this and not give us a link.

But I have my own story:

I was at a carbine training course where there was an older gentleman and a very wet behind the ears kid.

The kid wanted to go into the armed forces and was taking the carbine class to give him a leg up. The kid had a bad habit of telling the older guy what he ought to be doing.

I sat with the older guy as we ate at Burger King and talked to him a bit. Turns out he was a 25 year veteran of the Army, with a significant ammount of time in SF in Vietnam.

A very cool guy when I got him to open up.

I asked him how he was enjoying the course.

"It's great....except for that kid who won't shutup."

Imbroglio is posting again?  Where?  

Set him up here on Arfcom so he can be properly worshipped.  

I hope he didn't take it with anything more than a grain of salt... There are those of us non-BTDT types that like to learn from the words of those that have BTDT.

Quoted: I often cringe with some of the spelling and grammar corrections--even when the point is not lost.  I too know of a few people who will not post because they fear being ridiculed for their poor speech skills--even though they are HIGHLY knowledgeable about many subjects.

I understand what you are saying...

But from this end, those type of posts and the ones from the 12 YO Air-softers are indistinguishable.  I take a moment to check my spelling with Word on nearly every post simply because I know I am particularly bad at spelling.

When someone else has a history of dumping inarticulate, lazy, ignorant spew on every post; I get tired of it am call them out.  There are posters on this board who insist on adding,,,comma’s,,, every few ,,,,words, for emphasis.,,,

It’s their credibility problem, not mine.

In similar fashion, there are many “Blue-Collar” guys who work for my company who know much more than the metrosexuals with the V.P. title.  But, since they sound like they never made it past second grade, they’ll never run anything more than a forklift.  

Once again, their problem, not mine.

It probably happens here more than anyone knows.

Anything that is not on the cutting edge of technology or the most expensive item in the catalog is no good, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a poser.

I'll give an example.

A few months ago, I asked about mounting a maglite to a rifle. Before the Surefire and rails, maglites and hose clamps were quite common in some branches of the military and with some police agencies. The SAS used maglites on rifles for almost 20 years. Since I was a college student at the time, I couldn't afford a quality rail setup or a dedicated weaponlight.

So I asked. Withing a few minutes I had a lawyer accusing me of being an airsofter. A fucking lawyer. Now, I am not some kind of special operator. I am not a Navy SEAL. I am a former Marine, and a veteran of OIF I. I had over a thousand posts on this board at the time. There were pictures here of me in Iraq. IIRC, I was more established on this board than the asshole who called me an airsofter.

There was thread recently about BW. Simplydynamic repiled and some asshat basically called him a liar. So no it does not surprise me at all.

Quoted: Link?

+1..Link?

+1 for cut & paste the conversation, please.

Quoted: AUG: You can't just post something like this and not give us a link.

I know but there is a reason I can't/won't post a link and a copy/paste would google right to it.

And it's not because I need to protect the covert status of the SF guy.

I hope you defended your friend.  I am guessing he does not want to post details of his service and you should not also but you can say something like, "I know XYZ ABC and he is a great guy with some real world shooting experience."

Quoted: Quoted: AUG: You can't just post something like this and not give us a link. I know but there is a reason I can't/won't post a link and a copy/paste would google right to it. And it's not because I need to protect the covert status of the SF guy.

Fair enough........but isn't it already on the internet.

And in all fairness to your friend, he is posting on the internet, and he doesn't need his status protected, so this is strange.

The above is rambling and basically a "tag".

Quoted: I often cringe with some of the spelling and grammar corrections--even when the point is not lost.  I too know of a few people who will not post because they fear being ridiculed for their poor speech skills--even though they are HIGHLY knowledgeable about many subjects.  Oh well, it's just the way of things. In this case, hopefully your friend wasn't soured by it.

It's not my intention to be a prick when I say this, but the whole reason why we have education and schooling is so we can read, spell, and communicate effectively. If, while communicating with others, a person cannot spell or have reasonable command of grammar or the English language as a whole, then that person's message is diminished and/or overlooked.

If a person's message is important enough, he or she must communicate it effectively.

Quoted: Quoted: I often cringe with some of the spelling and grammar corrections--even when the point is not lost.  I too know of a few people who will not post because they fear being ridiculed for their poor speech skills--even though they are HIGHLY knowledgeable about many subjects.  Oh well, it's just the way of things. In this case, hopefully your friend wasn't soured by it.   It's not my intention to be a prick when I say this, but the whole reason why we have education and schooling is so we can read, spell, and communicate effectively. If, while communicating with others, a person cannot spell or have reasonable command of grammar or the English language as a whole, then that person's message is diminished and/or overlooked. If a person's message is important enough, he or she must communicate it effectively.

WTF are you trying to say?

Quoted: A person who has practiced his or her skills and knows how to hit with a Smith Model 10 is far better equipped than the urban warrior who has his HK super gun and fires his 50 per year to prove to himself that it still works.

I have been saying something to that effect for the last 10 years....100% agree

Hey Aug, is this him?

Quoted: WTF are you trying to say?

If you look or sound like like an idiot...your message won't register with your audience.

You'll just come across as another idiot.

Quoted: If a person's message is important enough, he or she must communicate it effectively.

That's why it isn't really important.


Seriously, I feel just the opposite. If the message is that important.......I can overlook a few misplaced vowels, and a few misplaced your/you're/there/their.

Like if some guy was at ground zero on 9/11. Misspelled words would not diminish his message to me at all.

YMMV

Just look at Todd B.  He is an uber sucessful businessman.  He singlehandedly creates HK variants better than the comapany that invented them.  He gobbles up foreign military contracts like cheetos.  But because he cannot spell, he is derided by a bunch of internot jeks.

Quoted: Quoted: WTF are you trying to say? If you look or sound like like an idiot...your message won't register with your audience. You'll just come across as another idiot.

Your comments depend upon the type of message and information that peole are looking for.  Most of the people that post or log onto this board don't really care about spelling and grammar as much as the information behind it.  How many combat veterans or MOH winners had/have an education level that allows them the ability to communicate with a lawyer, professional, etc?  The flip side is that when it comes to the info that we really want, they have it.  Some of the best tactics for what I do were given to me by people that probably wouldn't have been able to write those instructions down but they have still saved my butt plenty.

Quoted: There was thread recently about BW. Simplydynamic repiled and some asshat basically called him a liar. So no it does not surprise me at all.

Yeah I remeber that thread

Quoted: Just look at Todd B.  He is an uber sucessful businessman.  He singlehandedly creates HK variants better than the comapany that invented them.  He gobbles up foreign military contracts like cheetos.  But because he cannot spell, he is derided by a bunch of internot jeks.

I just spit soda all over my monitor.

Quoted: Quoted: AUG: You can't just post something like this and not give us a link. I know but there is a reason I can't/won't post a link and a copy/paste would google right to it. And it's not because I need to protect the covert status of the SF guy.

It's on DU, isn't it?


I knew it. You traitor.

Quoted: Hey Aug, is this him? www.raddue.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core:DownloadItem&g2_itemId=5877&g2_serialNumber=2

AirsoftPlayaz?

I have was derided once on a non firearms message board. I am in no way a firearms expert but I try my best. Somehow the topic of home defense with firearms came upon this board, and some Canadian who probably only shoots once a year(the type who breaks out the 30-30 lever gun, sprays some WD40 in the action, and goes and shoots at rocks in his back yard before deer season) comes on their and says that  a shotgun loaded with bird shot is the best load home defense weapon. I then post something like, "No bird shot is for birds, it will not reliably penetrate deep enough to hit  vital organs in a crack head home invader. OO buck is a much better choice". The guy then replies that I don't know what I'm talking about and that bird shot is the best because it is one solid wall of lead[which is true enough, but it still will not penetrate deep enough] at close range and it won't penetrate drywall and kill some sleeping child, therefore it is best. The thread was locked before I had a chance to post again.

Anyway, sorry your friend was given the smack down by some 12 yo airsofter. Maybe you should introduce him to arfcom, he would definitely get more respect here.

I know people who are doing too many things and don't have the time to sit around and stare at a computer screen all day.

1) I hope you used your higher level of credibility on that forum to defend your friend.

2) Introduce him to ARFCOM; at least half of us will listen to what he has to say.

Quoted: 1) I hope you used your higher level of credibility on that forum to defend your friend. 2) Introduce him to ARFCOM; at least half of us will listen to what he has to say.

1. Actually he could honestly give a crap about the folks on that forum, he decided to simply keep his opinions to himself.

2. I will but I think the guy actually sits in front of a computer maybe 6 times a year for about 10 minutes.