Gift or Give away Kit Section

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Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
Yesterday, "not mentioning any names" someone PM me and very kindly offered me some bronze. Today Skog is offering some shotgun cartridges to members to make their own waterproof match case. So how about adding under the, Members Classified andSwap Shopa Gift or Give Away Kit section, just to spread the good will among the members. No rules, just if you have any unused or old kit lying around, kit you don't use or need any more or maybe just kit you don't use or need but is just to good to bin, and your not really interested a trade or sale. So how about a freebie and good will section. I know I have, I'm on the move in the very near future and have one or two Horses Hoof Fungi in the garden that I was intending to use to make some amadou, but will now just have to go into the reclining, in my area I have an abundance of some natural resources and I know that in some areas of the UK Birch trees and there associated mushrooms are quite uncommon, If I need a bit o Flint its a 2 or 3 hundred mile round trip, another member kindly told kindly me the location of some Iron Pyrite recently, unfortunately that's a 1200 mile round trip for me. Just throwing the idea out there to see what other members think about adding a give away section.
 
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Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
27,807
2,893
62
~Hemel Hempstead~
Excellent idea :)

Great Idea.

I think it would need to be clear on postage - who pays?

Also how to claim? Reply to thread? PM? Both? Which has dibs?

Postage ought to be up to the gifter... they can say it's included in the gift for small items or the gift is excluding postage.

As for claiming, again it should be up to the gifter and how they want to play it.
 

Ahjno

Vice-Adminral
Admin
Aug 9, 2004
6,861
51
Rotterdam (NL)
www.bushcraftuk.com
In the 11 years the forum is around there was never been a real need for such a section. Usually people post up a thread in either Member Classifieds or the Swap Shop as "free" or "to a good home". It works and prevents most of the time any chancers begging for free kit. I think a Give away Kit section would attrack these people more.

Furthermore: the forum already has a plethora of (sub)forums and a lot of people struggle to place a simple thread about (for example) boots in the right section ...

It's something Tony has the last say, though I'd advise against it.

What would be an option is to extend the range of tags / pre-fixes in the Swap Shop (available for all members) with a "Free" tag.
 
Aug 4, 2013
866
3
Berkshire
It works and prevents most of the time any chancers begging for free kit. I think a Give away Kit section would attrack these people more.

Good points Johan - maybe if it were only eligeable to people who had been members a certain amount of time and/or certain number of posts?
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
I'm with Johan that it isn't really needed and would need to be policed. A bit like the pass it on thread where folk offer up stuff for exchange. It breaks down from time to time with folk putting up some questionable stuff and others forgetting to put anything up. Also hard to keep track of at times.


Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
In the 11 years the forum is around there was never been a real need for such a section
Hi Ahjno, Not being around for years in the past doesn't necessary mean is shouldn't be around in the future though, Sliced bread wasn't around for a years, that's popular now. Over on Natural Bushcraft everything is just listed under " Buy, Sell or Gift Kit, that works to.

Usually people post up a thread in either Member Classifieds or the Swap Shop as "free" or "to a good home". It works and prevents most of the time any chancers begging for free kit. I think a Give away Kit section would attrack these people more.
I was thinking more about the members who just want to gift kit, certainly not about any scroungers wanting to write up a Xmas list of kit they want.

((( A Gift, Donate or Give Away Kit Section))) A good will gesture from BCUK members to fellow members if you will, certainly not a, ( I want section)no way, to hell with that.

But as yourself and Goatboy quite rightly pointed out, I can understand some of your concerns.

I'm with Johan that it isn't really needed and would need to be policed. A bit like the pass it on thread where folk offer up stuff for exchange. It breaks down from time to time with folk putting up some questionable stuff and others forgetting to put anything up. Also hard to keep track of at times.
Hi Goatboy, "questionable stuff" now that would be a concern, I have seen plenty members putting stuff up for sale in the Members Classified section which " in my opinion " are entirely unrelated to bushcraft. But perhaps that's a matter for the mods to address.
 
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Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
Hi Ahjno, Not being around in the past doesn't necessary mean is shouldn't be around in the future though, Sliced bread wasn't around for a years, that's popular now.


I was thinking more about the people who just want to gift kit, certainly not about any scroungers wanting to write up a Xmas list of kit I want.

( A Gift, Donate or Give Away Kit Section) certainly not a, I want section.

But as yourself and Goatboy quite rightly pointed out, I can understand some of your concerns.


Hi Goatboy, "questionable stuff" now that would be a concern, I have seen plenty members putting stuff up for sale in the Members classified section which " in my opinion " are entirely unrelated to bushcraft.

I agree with you. Some of the offerings I thought "... are you just emptying out the junk drawer in the kitchen?...". The bore no relevance to bushcraft or any impirical value as to what had been offered in swaps. I wont mention names or items as that would be unfair. I try to keep an eye on the the Pass It On thread but only from a Mods veiwpoint. It seems fairly self regulating but there have been a few logjams. Also what some folks find to re-purpose (myself included) can seem odd to others. Like a few years back when I was using lamb castrating bands for a project I was working on. I got some funny looks from my staff as they sat on my desk at work. :D

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
 

decorum

Full Member
May 2, 2007
5,064
12
Warwickshire
If there were more, and more regular, threads offering to give away kit then I'd be more inclined to agree with a need for a dedicated sub-forum.

As it is I think the current need would be better served if the swap shop sub-forum were given the ability to add a 'FREE' pre-fix (already suggested earlier in this thread).

Whether P&P is included or not should be down to the gifter and on an item by item basis.
 

Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
If there were more, and more regular, threads offering to give away kit then I'd be more inclined to agree with a need for a dedicated sub-forum.

As it is I think the current need would be better served if the swap shop sub-forum were given the ability to add a 'FREE' pre-fix (already suggested earlier in this thread).

Whether P&P is included or not should be down to the gifter and on an item by item basis.

I think this is the simplest solution.
 

Corso

Full Member
Aug 13, 2007
5,249
449
none
why not add a [FREE] prefix option when starting a new thread in the swap shop section like the classified have

although to be honest I usually just create a comp when I want to give stuff away - I like audience participation ;)



I'm obviouslt a very slow typist ;D
 

Ogri the trog

Mod
Mod
Apr 29, 2005
7,182
71
60
Mid Wales UK
I am nervous of setting up a dedicated sub-forum - primarily because of the chancers we've had in the past - they can strip out the good-will from the whole forum and leave a bitter taste that lasts for ages.

The "Pass it forward" thread (despite its short-comings) is open to see who "offers" and who "takes" - so chancers are quickly identified and there is an implied expectation that the "taker", "offers" something in turn to keep the thread on track.

The occasional offering of "free" kit to a newcomer or someone in genuine need, is made and acted upon and is welcome to/by the BCUK community, but I don't think it needs it's own sub-forum.

ATB

Ogri the trog
 

Tony

White bear (Admin)
Admin
Apr 16, 2003
24,131
1
1,879
53
Wales
www.bushcraftuk.com
I've created a new prefix called 'Free' so that should be usable though the sales threads for anyone that want's to give stuff away.

My personal opinion is that it's unlikely we'd have a dedicated thread for this, maybe we would in the FM area where to a large degree people are already vetted and there's less likely hood of abuse. I think it's admirable that people give things away, it's a fantastically generous thing to do, it needs to be managed carefully though, it's easy to forget that this is a site that's open to the public at large and it's not just a few people that are mates sitting round the fire, it's a huge fire and a huge amount of people.

If at some time in the future it outgrows the 'Free' prefix i've created i'm more than happy to revisit this and se if we can improve and grow it.
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
I've created a new prefix called 'Free' so that should be usable though the sales threads for anyone that want's to give stuff away.

My personal opinion is that it's unlikely we'd have a dedicated thread for this, maybe we would in the FM area where to a large degree people are already vetted and there's less likely hood of abuse. I think it's admirable that people give things away, it's a fantastically generous thing to do, it needs to be managed carefully though, it's easy to forget that this is a site that's open to the public at large and it's not just a few people that are mates sitting round the fire, it's a huge fire and a huge amount of people.

If at some time in the future it outgrows the 'Free' prefix i've created i'm more than happy to revisit this and se if we can improve and grow it.
Excellent, Now I just hope we'er not inundated with boxing day puppy's. Seriously though Tony, you rock.:notworthy
 

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