Re: Best advise on the 'net for everything
vman, you're spot on with how it should be done. I too pour over the threads and the rest of the web researching as I only get a couple months a year I can shoot my own kit, so I try to make the most of it each time. But without some of those threads the research info wouldn't be there in the first place.
Newbs have questions. Some do the research to answer the questions themselves, some ask the questions wanting to be spoon fed the answers. I'll answer those that give details on budget, application, platform, etc. Other times when they don't I will ask for the info and when they give it I will then help them out.
This sport and the equipment involved is highly technical, can get very expensive, and for the newb can be intimidating as hell. Quite frankly if it wasn't for SH there would be a lot more junk CS scopes sold. That alone is worth the "what about this" threads.
I don't dislike the guys wanting info or opinions on the different equipment. Yes, the only opinion that really matters is the person doing the buying, but without everyone's two cents thrown in to help then folks wouldn't know what direction to look in the first place. The "vs." threads get old and I don't particularly like those, but there's worse out there.
The only threads that drive me nuts is the "I just bought this, can I get a pat on the back or a 'yea me' to soothe my buyers remorse because my wife is giving me hell about the Ramen" threads.