>>2522019>circle jerkYeah, it’s quite a problem. Years ago there was a big debate in r/Ultralight about the weight of an alcohol stove vs a BRS 3000.
Someone made a spreadsheet showing fuel consumption over 7 days, working from the required amount for that time period down to zero. For instance if an alcohol stove requires .5oz per day, the data started at 3.5oz on day 1, 3oz on day 2, and so on, until day 7 (0oz). The spreadsheet showed the BRS being lighter beyond 2 days or so. To the r/Ultralight crowed, this was 100% conclusive evidence, and anyone pointing out flaws was simply downvoted or shouted out of the conversation.
Obviously the data was totally flawed. The guy who made it failed to include the weight of an empty isobutane cylinder (he did include a container for alcohol though). But the main issue is real world application. With alcohol, you really do measure how much you’ll need over a given hike. But with a canister, no one is emptying out fuel to take only the required amount and ending at zero fuel for the end of the trip.
So this weird, theoretical nonsense was taken as holy scripture simply because everyone agreed that it was correct. And it was passed around for years as evidence or proof. It was really kind of bizarre, seeing as how anyone with half a brain could see that the data was skewed, but no one listening.
Tarptent was another huge circle jerk. That sub absolutely loved sucking each other off over Tarptent. Every discussion about shelters was muh ProTrail! Muh Contrail! The products look solid of course and have great reviews, but there’s no way it was organic; other companies are making stuff that’s just as good (or better) and Reddit is the only place I’ve seen so much discussion on that particular brand. Like normie FB groups have a much larger variety (Gossamer Gear, Six Moon Designs, HMG, Durston); shouldn’t Reddit be similar?
