My first online forum membership was in the SASS Wire, in the late nineties. After a while in cowboy action shooting, my interests returned to muzzleloading, which was always my “first love,” anyway. I then joined the Frontier Folk and Historical Trekking forums. Shortly thereafter I discovered Muzzleloader magazine’s Campfire forum and ALR, and I also joined CAS City. All of those were enough for a while and I put off joining here for some time, but finally took the plunge.
Every forum has its crew of “regulars” and it’s own unique culture. I am not a reenactor, but have a deep and abiding interest in frontier life and skills. Frontier Folk was a reenactor’s board, and if you were not a member of the inner circle, your thoughts and opinions had no merit There. So, I learned it was best to just ”lurk” on Frontier Folk. I will say there were some very knowledgeable contributors, and some interesting discussions on Frontier Folk. The last time I went there, maybe a couple of years ago, my computer flashed a warning screen and identified it as a dangerous website. I’m glad to hear it is now available for viewing again. The Historical Trekking board filled the same niche as Frontier Folk, and was populated mostly by the same people. It just couldn’t compete. I don’t know if it still exists.
I liked the Muzzleloader Campfire forum, and I’m still a member there, but only a very few people could figure out how to post photos and I was not among them. I’ll say the same thing about CAS City, which actually has a good bit of muzzleloader discussion. Pictures add a lot to any discussion, and if it was easier to post them on the Campfire and CAS City forums, I would probably be more active on both.
Several excellent forums have “gone under.” I think my favorite was “The Last of the Plainsmen,” which focused almost entirely on the trans-Mississippi frontier in the mid-19th century. There were some terrific discussions by interested, knowledgeable, and generally welcoming folks, but one day the forum simply vanished. Lock, stock, and barrel, all gone. Rubbed out.
Another very good forum was “Whitesmoke,” from South Africa. We Americans don't always realize that there were people with ox teams and muzzleloaders moving into new territories, hunting big game, and clashing with native people in other parts of the world. South Africa has a remarkable frontier history and muzzleloading tradition, and there are a number of people in South Africa who celebrate and recreate these traditions. However, the Whitesmoke forum also evaporated. I don’t know why either of these two went under. They were both very good, and always busy.
I recognize a few names here from other forums, but you may not recognize mine. I use “Notchy Bob” on most of the various blackpowder forums, but I’ve made up some other aliases for some places. I was “Crooked River Bob” on the SASS Wire, and “Grysbaard” on the Whitesmoke forum. “Notchy Bob” just didn’t translate well into Afrikaans. There are a couple of others, but that’s not important here.
The Muzzleloading forum, right here, is probably the best of the lot though, in my opinion.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
