Decline in spudgun popularity

[PCGUY]

Alexa stats suck... maybe Google searches for spudguns has been on the decline, but SpudFiles has been growing just fine.

[Biopyro]

Wow, absolutely, I was wondering if you'd share the site stats. Do they rise a lot through spring every year though? I know I concentrate on spudding much less in winter simply because it's not nice to work outside. On the other hand variaition of 30% seasonally is definately a large proportion!

[PCGUY]

It does not typically grow this much from season to season, this is just SpudFiles constantly becoming more popular, it's been growing like this for some time now. Summer is just enhancing it.

[rp181]

i searched railgun those hae been going down except a spike, probably from the navy railgun.

[DYI]

I have no idea what I did, but I dont get any respect from the people that know me. I build one pnematic and all of a sudden Im a terrorist. People dont even trust me near a fire any more. FFS, some people in my school have never heard of the word spud.

I don't know for sure about your situation, but if it's anything similar to mine, then the people who think you're a terrorist are weak minded, ignorant sheeple. Simply using the word terrorist seriously classifies them as such. They aren't the kind of people who deserve respect from anyone.

My theory is that the efforts of the governments of the free world to induce paranoia and to suppress creativity, resourcefulness, intuitive thought, and any other potentially dangerous impulses in the general populace are succeeding.

Luckily for the hobby of spudding, its products are usually considered to be nothing more than short-lived and relatively harmless toys, so it hasn't taken as strong a hit as hobbies such as pyrotechnics, rocketry, and explosives. And of course, no matter how hard it tries, no regulatory agency can ever prevent spudding in its most basic form, simply because the base materials are too necessary to the daily operation of society to do away with.

[BigGrib]

@ Biopyro I agree that it is harder for young people to be taken seriously when they mention the fact they are a spud gunner to people. I was fortunate enough to live in an area that is populated mostly by rednecks. Even still I have the occasional person cringe or ask me if it's dangerous when I speak about them. I simply tell them that I belong to an online spudgunning community that emphasizes safety above all else and I give them the website. Most of my friends have shot my GB Combustion but there are a couple that are still hesitant.

I think the rise and decline of spudgunning is always going to be affected by the seasons. of course noone likes to go outside and freeze balls to launch a spud. I also think there is always going to be certain parts of the world that it is going to be less popular merely because of local laws and availability of parts. as Mr. C said in the you know you're a spudgunner when thread "you know you're a spudgunnner when you have to explain why you have 30kg of plumbing parts in your suitcase"

[magnum9987]

OK I have a theory, but i want to know when you guys started spudding, as in what age you started at.

I saw in the news a few weeks ago, that mothers are protesting to get the Count taken off Sesame Street, because "He's too scary." We all know that is bullshit. But a like situation is what we are seeing here: PArents are teaching their kids to stay away from weapons. I was talking about explosives in elementary school and some kid heard me, told his mom, and she reported me because she thought i was planning to blow up the school. Of course, i wasn't really planning this. The point is, parents are keeping children away from stuff that we are interested in. As a result, if the younger population is not "exposed" to spudding, airsoft, or anything of the like, they will likely never become interested in anything we consider fun.

[BigGrib]

I started spudding 10 years ago at the age of 15. It stayed basic spray and pray til i found this forum last year.

[magnum9987]

Age 15, ok, that is at a point where your parents did not "control" you right?

[psycix]

Age 15, ok, that is at a point where your parents did not "control" you right?

It was probably also the point random stuff in the house got damaged and vegetables dissapeared.

[magnum9987]

ha, that gave me quite a laugh. anyways, it is more than likely my theory was correct

[BigGrib]

Age 15, ok, that is at a point where your parents did not "control" you right?

Not at all. My parents merely asked that I let them know what I was doing. My dad knew what spud guns were and didn't see any problem with them as long as I was safe about it. I started shooting guns when I was 7, and he said just be sure to treat it like any other gun.

So why don't you tell me what this theory is.

[MrCrowley]

So why don't you tell me what this theory is.

Agreed. I didn't get what you were saying before magnum.

I started spudding at about 13. I built a combustion which my parents didn't want me too and then they realised it was good for me and let me build what I want.


Is that part of your theory too?

[Biopyro]

I started age 15 too. My parents have always been pretty liberal and have taken a fairly neutral outlook on all my projects. So long as I don't make a mess and stay alive they are pretty ok with anything from guns to pyro.
A few years on and I think they now see that it hasn't done much harm, and realisticly has probably enhanced my interest in chemistry and physics. At the moment I'm branching out into biology, by breeding super nettles I wanna breed something similar to the tree nettles they have in NZ, but a liuttle more woody and durable.

[magnum9987]

Sorry, havent looked here for a while.
Any ways, my theory is that with the war, hype about gun laws, and with more and more school shootings such as virginia tech, people are being more conservative and fearful of guns, and, as a side victim, spud gunning. People don't like that huge caliber guns are being used in their neighbors backyard. In fact, website like this are guaranteed to be watched by some government agency, so spudders like us are being monitored in case one of us decides to build something relatively dangerous to the guns people are currently building.