I think Blade Forum posters are very helpful and friendly, they are just not overly Politically Correct like most CPFers are. In fact, they hate the PC trend. Blade Forums is basically an all American board where people speak their minds, while CPF is more like an international forum with a more severe moderation style.
I do agree that there are BFers who are helpful and friendly. (I try to be that way when I visit BladeForums). But if you disagree with something that another BFer posts, you might indeed start a thought-provoking discussion.... The other 50% of the time, your post will be used as a lame excuse to start up a flame war.
Also, there's a clear distinction between being kind, helpful, and friendly; vs. being Politically Correct. On CPF, I'm often the former; but never the latter. I can't stand the P.C. crowd! If CPF was P.C., my post count would be in the single digits. And I'd never return! I've openly criticized various aspects of the flashlight world. Thing is, I'm the guy who'll post something like, "This light is garbage," and then I'll post why.
I've spoken my mind many times on CPF. Never had a single Moderator or Admin. warn me to stop when I posted something that was blatantly un-P.C.
I guess it's all about perspective. I don't see the moderation on CPF as being severe. Hell, look at Empath. Have you ever seen him fly off the handle at even an obnoxious User? I don't think he has a mean bone in his body. Part of me still thinks he must be a computer program of some sort. He never gets mean!
On BladeForums, it's often the loudest, most obnoxious Users who get all the attention. And at least one of them is a moderator. He likes to belittle anyone who disagrees with him. He can never give an intelligent rebuttal. Instead, he resorts to childish name-calling. He's very condescending. No clue how he became a moderator. But he spends his time trying to build up a rather fragile ego, by pretending he has a superior intellect. And if you get too angry at him, he bans you.
He never banned me. But that's because I called him on his childish behavior, without getting angry. There's another moderator who constantly misinterprets my posts. He's even more jadded than I am. (And that's saying a lot). Him, I still respect. But I stopped wasting my time trying to get on his good side.
BF would be a far better place if the moderators took a more active role. No, I don't expect it to be family friendly or cheerful. But the sheer volume of egos & nonsense means you often have to bring a shovel to dig through all the $#^%.
EDIT ~
I can't speak about some of the sub-forums, but the guys over at the Kershaw sub-forum on BF are some of the best bunch I've ever encountered. The same thing applies to the Spyderco collectors.... But we generally prefer posting on the forums that Sal set up on Spyderco.com
Just as friendly as CPF, but with closer interactions.... Like a 2nd family.
