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MVT Forum Update

Today, I made the decision and pulled the trigger on the MVT Forum.

My hesitancy was due to cost – I am having the company that created this site build on the forum as part of the site. It will be better in the long run, but it is expensive in the short term.

The estimate for this being ready to go is late January/beginning of February.

The idea is to create a ‘non-tacticool’, ‘non-fanboy’ forum for the discussion and development of tactical matters related to the armed civilian; primarily focused on post-societal collapse and SHTF situations, facing lawlessness and perhaps requiring armed resistance against ‘enemies foreign and domestic’.

I will still be blogging and we will also put the blog posts up on the forum, in order to facilitate an easier discussion. I am impressed by the quality of the commentariat on my blog; the intent is to give you a place to discuss these matters, to allow a community to grow. In fact, once the forum is created I will be taking a step back – it’s not about me, I have no intent of trying to create ‘fan-boys’. I will do what I am told and input as is helpful ;-)

I will be taking moderators (‘Twat Patrol’) from current members of the blog and past students. Some of you already know who you are. We will be working on ideas for areas on the forum, such as a prior student private section etc.

I may put an entirely voluntary ‘donate’ button up, to defray some of the cost of this.

UPDATE: I have created a Forum ‘donate’ page HERE, for those that wish to entirely voluntarily help defray the start-up and running costs.

Some of you already know this: the rates that I charge for classes, vs. the investment in land and equipment (electronic pop-up targets etc.) puts me a long way away from breaking even on training. But I want to keep the training rates low in order to make it affordable to those that need the training i.e. ordinary people. To be frank, it’s book sales that keep me above water. That is why my conscience is clear asking for donations, and that perhaps you buy a book or two, in order to get this show on the road and keep it there.

Live Hard.

Die Free.

Max

47 responses to “MVT Forum Update”

    • PS: You really have too much activity here already for a blog.. were you have to approve every post…;)

  3. Hey Max, you given much thought to the Forum sections ? I visited a few that you left links to (where you had been making friends) and they are a bit too formula.
    e.g. General discussion
    Firearms
    Places to buy pink cammo

    • Had some ideas. More welcome. After all, I need to know what you want, because the forum is for you, not me.

      I’ll have to start a lecture circuit: ‘Max on how to make friends on Internet forums’

      ;-)

      • Max-

        I had thought about donating my copy of Dale Carnagie’s ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ to you but realized I burned it years ago…after realizing how full of crap he was to think it necessary to play well with idiots. :)

        I will however donate to the payment of the Forum costs. Let me know how. It’s really getting difficult to keep up with the invaluable info posted here.

        Keep up the great work.

  4. If I could make a small suggestion. Please don’t have post counts for members. I sorry if this has been covered before but I’ve seen too many forums go downhill because people are more concerned about increasing their post count than putting up quality information. I get tired of the people who have to make a couple word comment on every thread. Worse yet are the members who are assumed to be some sort of except due to their large amount of posting.

    • Deeply agreed! And for the same reasons.

      Post count and cute names for post count thresholds (ie: 5000 posts is a “Cat 4 Operator, 5th Degree Full Beard”.

      Let posters and their posts stand on their own merits.

      • PS: Would love to see a section dedicated to training and trainers and discussion of training techniques.

    • I’ll second that.
      To much emphasis based on pure post count.

      That being said- perhaps a title for certain folks- like Max would be labeled as a “subject matter expert/SME” and say a person who runs a gear company would be like “industry expert” or something- just so that people who actually are what they say can be immediately known, before having to resort to petty stat-comparing when called out on their position/knowledge base in an argument.

  5. Max. At our class, we discussed possibly setting up a password protected site for private communication with past students and like minded individuals. Have you considered this? Paypal could reduce your financial costs. Maybe put it out there and see the response. Thanks. See you this summer.

    • Max

      I’d be up for a paid subscription section. I’ve received so much value from the original blog, this blog and it’s discussions that the few books I’ve bought don’t begin to pay it back.

      Lord willing I’ll be bringing my team leads to training this summer, but I want to be sure that your efforts don’t wither because of lack of funds.

      BJ

  6. Awesome! I would really like to see sections on PT, H2H, forming a resistance group, and of course, weapons systems.

    Its going to take a while before I can afford to attend a training, but I am going to make it happen.

  7. Max: It would be nice if we could post regions of the country where we live, so like minded people may be able to meet and train together for as an example. Or talk about problems encountered by region. Like living in a hot desert, with no trees to hide from the Mordors ever present eyes above. Being down in the SW in the jackalope land, be nice to hook up with other knuckle dragging types. Haven’t found that many like minded soles down here yet, or even close to it. May have one or two that are starting to pay attention to what’s going on, I am working on trying to get them up to speed, but they don’t see the urgency as much as I do. Unfortunately it is going to be awhile saving for the class and fuel and time off to drive out there to have myself educated in the ways of the world. Thanks for all you do Max; you are a real American Patriot. Merry Christmas, Shotgun

  8. Let the Hunter whose motor pool high speed low drag buddy teach him shit and let him serve as the meat shield whilst the true freedom lovers do the real work. Fuck them, Fuck Lonnie and Fuck whatever horse they rode in on.

  9. This has been a long time coming. Contrary to what some have said, I think we can find the tactical truth, or as close to it as we can get. Putting pre-conceived notions, ego, pride, and prejudice aside can be painful and humbling but it is possible.

    I also like the international flavor here. Having Royal Marines and Soldiers is a treat, and keeps us honest.

  10. I think the “donate button” is a good idea. If we can help defray costs and get this going I’d gladly chip in. And a “networking” “tribe building section on the forum sounds good.

  11. I’m doing this because I think it needs to be done; it is the definite way forward. I hope it grows the community and gets the right tactical word out. Rather than all the ‘tacticool’ ads that normal forums have (I may take a few decent ads on), but I will primarily be concerned with publicizing known III trainers, such as myself, Mason Dixon, Mountain Guerrilla and others that become known to me. Also trusted gear guys like UWGear.
    In my quest to initially get the word out about my books, before I even started the training school, I experienced a lot of forums and blogs. I stay with the good ones such as WRSA. However, on many I was put off by the kind of far out craziness that blogs such as FTWR exhibit.
    The intent here is for a forum for the sensible armed civilian, concerned about both potential collapse and encroaching tyranny. I want a forum for the reasonable man (and woman, and their family) that discusses real tactics and related matters.
    This blog, with me moderating all comments by necessity, has outgrown itself in comments, wbich is great. It is time for a forum. I only regret it will taken a month.

  12. Max-

    As a CRCD alumnus, I’d like to be able to communicate with others who have attended your classes. That would be a great benefit to the forum, I feel. Also, the though of networking by region has a real upside as well.

  13. Outstanding! Agree with comments re: regional sub-forums and some mechanism for private sub-forums. I too will be hitting the donate button.

    • I wonder if maybe they could/should be combined into the same thing-
      Going back to the “regional training link-up” idea brought up a few times here, I love the idea- it would be great to be able to get together for some practice with folks doing the same thing since I only have me in this neck of the woods to train with.

      But at the same time, I don’t think that sort of thing should be *complete* public knowledge to every person from the internut who decides to browse the forum- aside from the fact that training with any group of “unknowns” outside of a class makes me nervous, God only knows who may show up at an event…
      At the same time, if you limit each region/subforum to people from that area, than other useful folks “passing through” will be unable to get in touch in that area.

      And even if you do limit the access… it’s still the internet, so it’s still not a very foolproof safeguard.

      A tricky problem indeed…..

  14. Looking forward to it!

    I really like the idea of regional posting, so’s we can get together with like minded folks in our region.

    Bob’III

  16. Max,

    I’d suggest a regional “bulletin board” style calendar of events. Obviously your training dates should be up and highlighted, but a common place to find other training/meet/trade opportunities would be a great help to the community.

    Very respectfully,

    MM1 (who still owes you an AAR)

  17. I recognize your views on free speech, however if you dont control the tide of topics from the get go, a forum can be over run and inundated with every sort of conspiracy post that can be shouted from atop soap box and every lawnmower armored car post conceivable. There has to be boundaries but ppl will hate you for it and ppl will love you for it too. Ive always followed a quality over quantity type policy. Lenin said “Quantity has a quality all its own”, I disagree. A good vigilant and thorough staff is invaluable to creep about and sort things. The question is how. Growing pains are inevitable.

    Personally id like to see a good quality and diverse section regarding Camouflage and Concealment, from head to toe..Including kit and face paint. Id like to see it covered in multiple terrains and environments. Not the normal posts you see everywhere of a guy using a ghille in his back yard and using it completely wrong as his wife snaps picture of it.. Something that’s focuses on the good old school basics, and not the current trending in style camo uniforms out there people flock to w/o giving a second thought to whether it really works. And definitely not the tacticool poses people love with their Oakleys..Low crawling in a muddy drainage ditch in full kit, face down should be a requirement to post in such a section..(jk) But not just the physical appearance, the motions and methods for creeping undetected..

    Bergmann

  18. Please please please limit the ability to create new threads to those that have proven themselves capable of responsible forum management (however you would like to screen for this would be fine, but I suggest setting a “secret number” of posts contributing something useful to a conversation, Number would be only known by Max and Mods; or only grant this power to Mods and when someone has an idea for a new thread they PM the Mod for that subject area). I would really hate to see the forum get over run with stupid posts and repeat topics from those that can’t be bothered to read stickies and do a search before posting.

    • Unfortunately that would also seem to throw the new guys/gals out to bake, as they wouldn’t be able to ask a question separate from a current discussion.
      And then you would get that annoying situation on a forum where people show up out of the blue posting random completely off-topic questions in a thread dedicated to a certain topic, because they can’t post anywhere else. It can get really disruptive…
      And frankly, I’m not a fan of kicking this forum that’s *supposedly* aimed at avoiding the BS associated elsewhere, with a cabal of all-powerful mods that get to dictate when forumites are “good enough” to start their own thread.
      That’s what the “thread lock” feature is for on forums- immediate action for idiots. lol

      That being said, I totally agree with your point on not having the same discussion over and over every other day. A well known forum I’ve been on for quite a while did quite a good job of policing that sort of thing- the subject was simply helpfully pointed to the correct post[s] addressing his question, and that persons current thread was locked.
      Because if on day 1 someone asks “what lube should I use for my AR” and then day 2 there’s another thread on the same topic, yeah- that get’s old quick.
      That being said, one can’t fall into the “it’s all the same” trap and just pound the “lock” button willy-nilly every time something *similar* comes up.
      Like if the basic lube discussion is had but then someone asks for advice on lube specifically for extreme cold or something, than that would be a legit standalone thread, because it’s a totally different angle.

  19. I like Sfsigo110’s concept of limiting the ability to start new threads. I’ve seen in other forums supporting other subjects a rapid decay to repetitive garbage when there is no structure and control.

    That being said, I’d like to recommend a thread on recruitment and motivation. Discussion on how to recruit, successful recruiting programs and how to motivate the new recruits to really get on with the training and become useful.

    BJ

  20. One of the things I liked about Bill Murray, before I left Kali, he had sustainment training for alumni every month. I would like to see regional groups set up so we can do something similar. Then go train with Max quarterly and “max” the course, so to speak.

  21. Anxiously awaiting partII of Patriot Dawn. I’ll continue to support in any way possible. Thanks for all your hardwork.

    -Mervo

  22. “….The idea is to create a ‘non-tacticool’, ‘non-fanboy’ forum for the discussion and development of tactical matters related to the armed civilian…”

    Well Max… good luck with that… lol :P

    That being said, I am going to recant my previous anti-forum position.
    While I still see a lot of potential for it to turn into a train wreck, based on the last few posts’ comments, the blog definitely needs an outlet where people can branch off and discuss topics more in-depth, with more organization and ability to keep track of “who said what, when”.
    So, count me in whenever it gets sorted out.

  23. 1st post. Been keeping my mouth shut and ears open. I’ve learned more from this blog in a month than I deserve.

    I will be signing up for the forum , telling my like minded friends , and hitting the donate button.

    Thank you to everyone here.

  25. Since you asked for suggestions, my suggestion is to avoid taking on any corporate sponsorships. This will keep reviews honest without the threat of losing their money.

    I’ve seen it happen on other forums. Once the forum becomes beholden to corporate sponsors, they not only start to dictate what can and cannot be written about their products (and their competition’s products), but also the content of unrelated posts.

    They are afraid their customers might become offended by a post and associate it with their company because they have a banner on the page.

  26. Max,

    Thanks for all you do. This too is my first post. I think what you and John Mosby do is very noble. It shows that you have a passion for freedom and your prices make it clear that it’s not about the money. I have purchased and read Contact, Patriot Dawn and JM’s the Reluctant Partisan. To me, all three books have a ton of priceless information.

    As a former US Army Combat Engineer officer during the cold war, you have helped me re-establish my tactical mindset. I didn’t realize how much I have forgotten! :-)

  27. Max,

    I am a moderator on another forum called CQB-T.

    http://cqb-team.com/cqbforum/

    We are an established forum dedicated to ‘non-tacticool’, ‘non-fanboy’ discussion and development of tactical matters, specifically CQB but also “greenside” tactical matters (i.e: outdoor combat).

    Perhaps we could get involved in each other’s communities for a better growth.

    Sincerely,

    jimothy_183

  28. Newish to all of this. Mostly trained in survival and have become a die hard camper backpacker some what a minimalist camper. I have probably +12 seasons under my belt of extreme camping or bush craft having started at 10. It happened when I became old enough to see that our world is falling apart. And I then really got in to preps and stuff like that. Now I know how to disappear an leve no traces of my existence behind me. But when it comes to this I would love to learn more. And soon….