Newbys...think of it like this...

[Sarge47]

You've been hiking alone for many days now, & you find yourself in the woods. You're running out of food & you're down to your last granola bar. You haven't had hot food in two weeks. Suddenly you smell something good roasting on an open fire. Then you see the fire & quite a few tough-looking people gathered around it. Would you just barge right in & help yourself to their food, or would you approach slowly & introduce yourself; then ask for help? It's sorta like that with the intros; it lets the rest of us know who we're conversing with so we can offer the "paw" of friendship & "food" (info). It's not an unreasonable request.

[crashdive123]

Sarge, Sarge, Sarge. Do you realize how many billybadazzes are just gonna tell us how they'd take the food as they go in blasting?

[Beo]

Yeah Crash is right, but I agree with Sarge.
So where is Billy anyway?

[klkak]

Come in with a purr and go out with a ROAR!!!

[Fletcher]

You've been hiking alone for many days now, & you find yourself in the woods. You're running out of food & you're down to your last granola bar. You haven't had hot food in two weeks. Suddenly you smell something good roasting on an open fire. Then you see the fire & quite a few tough-looking people gathered around it. Would you just barge right in & help yourself to their food, or would you approach slowly & introduce yourself; then ask for help? It's sorta like that with the intros; it lets the rest of us know who we're conversing with so we can offer the "paw" of friendship & "food" (info). It's not an unreasonable request.

Very well said Sarge47

[wareagle69]

are you takin your meds boss?

[Ole WV Coot]

Don't guess you saw Deliverance Huh?? If you have it just comes down to how hungry you are. Hold out for seconds, tell them you're not cheap just reasonable. Being butt ugly like me helps.

[Sarge47]

Sarge, Sarge, Sarge. Do you realize how many billybadazzes are just gonna tell us how they'd take the food as they go in blasting?

Yeah, but that's a bunch of BS as well. The guys around the fire are usually meaner, tougher, & also pack heat. The "Dean" of Science fiction: Robert Heinlein, wrote a Sci-Fi survival novel years ago, entitled: "Tunnel In The Sky".
A group of high school students have been studying survival skills in the classroom & are going to go out and do it for real in the "field." The "field" being any planet in the universe. The protagonist in the story asks his older sister, who's already completed the course sometime back, for advice. She tells him that when he goes to choose his weapons, to leave the guns behind & only take knives; the logic being that a person with a gun is "10 feet tall & covered with hair." A knife, however, tends to make one cautious. Over all a great survival novel. I read it back in high school.

[crashdive123]

Oh, no arguments here. I always find it amusing when we get the posts about how "I'm just gonna take what I want, and go in shooting if I have to." To those I would say, ya better pack a lunch, you may be a while.

[SARKY]

First off....if I am out in the woods for over a week, I am usually eating better than before I ran out of granola bars. I tend to forage just out of habit. The more you are moving the more opportunity you will have in finding something edible. Let's face it , you have to be an opportunist if you are going to survive in te wilderness.
Now as to the toughs around the fire....first they look rough. second they don't care if anyone smells their food or sees their fire. This tells me that they are either naive or don't give a rats butt if anyone knows their position.

[klkak]

First off....if I am out in the woods for over a week, I am usually eating better than before I ran out of granola bars. I tend to forage just out of habit. The more you are moving the more opportunity you will have in finding something edible. Let's face it , you have to be an opportunist if you are going to survive in te wilderness.
Now as to the toughs around the fire....first they look rough. second they don't care if anyone smells their food or sees their fire. This tells me that they are either naive or don't give a rats butt if anyone knows their position.

Sarky, you totally missed the whole point of this thread! Go back an read the first post again!

You've been hiking alone for many days now, & you find yourself in the woods. You're running out of food & you're down to your last granola bar. You haven't had hot food in two weeks. Suddenly you smell something good roasting on an open fire. Then you see the fire & quite a few tough-looking people gathered around it. Would you just barge right in & help yourself to their food, or would you approach slowly & introduce yourself; then ask for help? It's sorta like that with the introductions; it lets the rest of us know who we're conversing with so we can offer the "paw" of friendship & "food" (info). It's not an unreasonable request.

[Bibow]

well first i'd take a good look and if they have pistols and rifles as close as possible around them i would most likely just quietly keep moving. if they don't look like any kind of threat i'd go in introduce myself talk for a minute or two and if there nice they would most likely have already given me a taste of what there cooking.
oops okay time to change this i'd say hi ask how it's goin let them know my name and the situation i'm in find out there names just have a laugh for a couple minutes and if i seem nice enough they'll most likely let have somethin to eat and hang around a while.
ok this is hard maybe i should'nt have tried. oh well

[crashdive123]

See what I mean Sarge?

[Arsey]

G'day Sarge,
Interesting question. LOL
Well instead of hanging around watching forever, cos I am hungry, I'd say a cautious G'day and see what kind of response I got.
If it was unfriendly then I might just be able to get away unscathed.
If it was friendly then I might just stay where I was until I could gauge the kind of people they were.
They might be fine. They might be friendly.
Caution is my middle name. Well OK it's not. Passes is, or wind or something like that, but you get the idea!
Either way I would stick around at some distance or other until I decided if they were worth the bother or not.

[Smok]

Sarky ...You may find that all of them are not lighted by the fire .. Like me .....I just sit back out of the light now and read ...I do not add much any more ....I use to ... Lone ago ...But ... Best left unsaid ..?........Thanks.... Sarge47 I don't think I've read that one

[crashdive123]

Guys! I do believe Sarge was using the campsite analogy to explain why introductions are important due to some of the broohaha over doing an introduction on this forum.

[klkak]

OMG!!! What the heck is wrong with every one? I beginning to believe there are some folk on here that are a little thick between the ears.

EVERY ONE LISTEN UP!!! THE WHOLE POINT IN THIS THREAD IS TO EXPLAIN TO THE NEWBIES THAT THEY NEED TO GO TO THE INTRODUCTIONS PAGE AND INTRODUCE THEMSELVES. IF YOU ARE READING ANYTHING ELSE IN THAT FIRST POST BY SARGE47 THEN YOU ARE BORDERLINE RETARDED.

[Gray Wolf]

Good post Sarge, long awaited....

klkak, Great translation for those who are a little thick!

[Tony uk]

OMG!!! What the heck is wrong with every one? I beginning to believe there are some folk on here that are a little thick between the ears.

EVERY ONE LISTEN UP!!! THE WHOLE POINT IN THIS THREAD IS TO EXPLAIN TO THE NEWBIES THAT THEY NEED TO GO TO THE INTRODUCTIONS PAGE AND INTRODUCE THEMSELVES. IF YOU ARE READING ANYTHING ELSE IN THAT FIRST POST BY SARGE47 THEN YOU ARE BORDERLINE RETARDED.

lol, Nice post Klkak.

I agree with your point Sarge, Nice way to get it across to

[Reiver]

I've been hiking alone for many months or years now, & now find myself in the woods. I do just fine fending for myself, but as usual, I'm running low on some things I need. I spot some tough-looking people gathered around a fire roasting something that smells good, which maybe worth trading something for. I don't steal, I don't beg, I trade or share.

So, what do I do? I watch you all around your fire and size you up. Do you have anything that I can see worth trading / sharing? How do you interact with each other. Are you tough or just tough-looking?

If I decide to, and not just pass you by without you even knowing I exist, I whistle, so as not to alarm you and say 'friend ahoy' from hiding, watching your reactions. Do you go for your weapons? My escape path is set, should you be trolls disguised as men. I have already picked out the alpha(s) to deal with, and hidden my stuff on my escape path.....Anyway you get the picture, just like I get the picture. I am assuming the folks around the campfire are basically friendly in this neck of the woods, so we should have no dramas, right?

Remember, not everyone is starving and lost, and even those who are may have valuable skills and stuff to trade.

You've been hiking alone for many days now, & you find yourself in the woods. You're running out of food & you're down to your last granola bar. You haven't had hot food in two weeks. Suddenly you smell something good roasting on an open fire. Then you see the fire & quite a few tough-looking people gathered around it. Would you just barge right in & help yourself to their food, or would you approach slowly & introduce yourself; then ask for help? It's sorta like that with the intros; it lets the rest of us know who we're conversing with so we can offer the "paw" of friendship & "food" (info). It's not an unreasonable request.