Why was the bring back Von Gruff thread deleted?

[Wishfulthinker580]

As a general rule we in the US, along with sensible people worldwide, believe in free speech. I find it hard to believe a general discussion about the topic at hand violated any site rules and therefore find it off putting that the thread was deleted. If said discussion did in fact violate site rules then why not say so? If the thread was so inflammatory why not address the matter it in a firm and direct manner and be done with it? Simply deleting the thread has a very bad look to it..

 

[Phil Giordano]

May I know what the argument of the discussion was?

 

[WAB]

I am totally in the dark. Apparently Garry is gone and his posts have been deleted? Really too bad, he was a valuable contributor.

 

[WillMFerguson]

If I correctly recall the thread, @Wishfulthinker580 and....well pretty much every routine member of AH...were wondering what happened to @VonGruff. He was an awesome resource on knives and guns and, though I didn't have any of his knives yet, it sounds like he was/is a true craftsman.

 

[PARA45]

Oh man, I didn't know that. Any idea why he left the forum?

 

[Dewald]

This is very sad to learn. I bought a small fixed blade EDC knife from Gary in 2020. Great quality knife that has skinned over 100 animals now, and fits like a glove in my hand.

During the process of ordering the knife Gary was a true gentleman to deal with, and very knowledgeable. I really hope he returns to the forum.

What led to him leaving in the first place?

 

[Phil Giordano]

I am totally in the dark. Apparently Garry is gone and his posts have been deleted? Really too bad, he was a valuable contributor.

It sounds very strange
A sort of "damnatio memoriae"?
It seems unbelivable...

 

[John Wasmuth]

It sounds like the poster deleted himself and his post and mods/admin had nothing to do with it?

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

A day or two ago Von Gruff commented on his “My African Knives” thread saying that it had been decided that it would be his last post on that thread and that any further discussions with him about purchasing knives should be done privately and that his participation thereafter on the forum would be limited. Probably something to do with sponsorship/business (my speculation that I probably shouldn’t do but will anyways). Since then that thread has been deleted and Von Gruff’s username changed to nztimb. As mentioned in the deleted bring back Von Gruff thread that I’m referencing there are two sides to every story and I’ve no clue what went on but I’m genuinely curious as to why the thread was deleted.

 

[SETH RINGER]

GARY JUST GOT A SET OF KITCHEN KNIVES READY TO SHIP TO US AND AS I AM COMUPTER CHALLENGED, I ASKED HIM TO POST PICTS TO THE SIGHT SO YA'LL COULD SEE THEM.
HE STATED HE COULD NOT DO THAT AS HIS ACCOUNT HAD BEEN DELETED BY ADMIN. HE DID NOT ELABORATE MORE AND I JUST RESPONDED WITH "WOW" AND LEFT IT AT THAT.

 

[ActionBob]

It sounds like the poster deleted himself and his post and mods/admin had nothing to do with it?

That is not the case. As for what I think I know, they got in a pissing match, right and wrong on both sides. Sounds like a huge misunderstanding. Comes down to money and hurt feelings.

The community is the big loser here. There is a lot of rumbling going on off site.... Hopefully this doesn't further hurt or diminish the site. Long standing members talking of pulling their financial support can't be good. It obviously takes money to keep things like this going.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

I indeed have deleted a couple of recent threads regarding Von Gruff. Garry left our community by his own choice to apparently concentrate on enjoying his retirement according to what he told me.

He has now been contacting members and telling lies about me and our interaction and I won't tolerate any of it! He is very unappreciative in his words and behavior toward me, I have been nothing but kind, generous and polite to him over the last 6 years. I dislike drama and lies and he is bringing both to the members here. There will be no further discussion on AH regarding Garry or his knives.

I don't make my personal business public so all of this conjecture is coming from his version of events which are utterly untrue as I have had members contact me privately about what he is saying.

Take what ever you hear with a grain of salt because this is one person's point of view and I will not add any fuel to this fire.

 

[WAB]

Wow, very sorry to hear this Jerome. You have always been a man of integrity and I will take you at your word. We will miss Garry and his contributions. He has been a valued member of the AH community.

 

[Shootist43]

ActionBob, you are correct. I am one of the folks that considered pulling my financial support from AH over this sad and unfortunate affair. I wish there was some way for all parties involved to "shake hands" and figure out some way to proceed. I was the first AH member to ask Garry to make me a knife. In a way I feel somewhat responsible for us losing a valuable member.

 

[Mekaniks]

As a general rule we in the US, along with sensible people worldwide, believe in free speech. I find it hard to believe a general discussion about the topic at hand violated any site rules and therefore find it off putting that the thread was deleted. If said discussion did in fact violate site rules then why not say so? If the thread was so inflammatory why not address the matter it in a firm and direct manner and be done with it? Simply deleting the thread has a very bad look to it..

Yeah I agree that freedom of speech and freedom to speak is important. It's something that we grew up with as a fundamental right and foundation of our democracy.

The reality tho is the internet is very much a capitalist machine. (Think network of privately owned corporations)
The guy that owns and runs the site (business) makes the rules, and gets the final say. Period

 

[ActionBob]

ActionBob, you are correct. I am one of the folks that considered pulling my financial support from AH over this sad and unfortunate affair. I wish there was some way for all parties involved to "shake hands" and figure out some way to proceed. I was the first AH member to ask Garry to make me a knife. In a way I feel somewhat responsible for us losing a valuable member.

Art i hope you nor anyone else pulls their support of the site. This is truly a fantastic community and I for one am very grateful to Jerome for having built and maintained and grown the site.

The deleted member is sorely missed. As I said earlier, we are less without him, in my opinion anyway. Truly unfortunate this happened.

 

[BRICKBURN]

​

As a general rule we in the US, along with sensible people worldwide, believe in free speech. I find it hard to believe a general discussion about the topic at hand violated any site rules and therefore find it off putting that the thread was deleted. If said discussion did in fact violate site rules then why not say so? If the thread was so inflammatory why not address the matter it in a firm and direct manner and be done with it? Simply deleting the thread has a very bad look to it..

Have you read the rules you agreed to?​

https://www.africahunting.com/help/terms/​

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[Josh P]

Garry is the kind of person that really makes a forum. Lots of experience, knowledge, and willingness to share. He is a big reason I got enough out of the forum to contribute financially (can we please get another hat run for this purpose?) and it's disappointing to see things turn out this way. Hopefully there will be resolution in the future.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

​

Have you read the rules you agreed to?​

https://www.africahunting.com/help/terms/​

"Terms:

The providers ("we", "us", "our") of the service provided by this web site ("Service") are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts ("Content"). Content submitted express the views of their author only.

You agree to not use the Service to submit or link to any Content which is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, spam or spam-like, likely to offend, contains adult or objectionable content, contains personal information of others, risks copyright infringement, encourages unlawful activity, or otherwise violates any laws.

All Content you submit or upload may be reviewed by staff members. All Content you submit or upload may be sent to third-party verification services (including, but not limited to, spam prevention services). Do not submit any Content that you consider to be private or confidential.

We reserve the rights to remove or modify any Content submitted for any reason without explanation. Requests for Content to be removed or modified will be undertaken only at our discretion. We reserve the right to take action against any account with the Service at any time.

As it would disrupt the conversation we do not delete member's accounts once they have posted. If you want to make changes to your privacy settings so that you will not be notified from the site you can do so at the following link: https://www.africahunting.com/help/privacy-policy/. If you have not yet posted and wish to close your account, please contact us.
You are granting us with a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, unlimited license to use, publish, or re-publish your Content in connection with the Service. You retain copyright over the Content.
These terms may be changed at any time without notice.

If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use this Service."

Does anybody? All that stuff is a given. I get it. Doesn’t change the situation

 

[Josh P]

Does anybody? All that stuff is a given. I get it. Doesn’t change the situation

A forum is the online equivalent to private property. You're free to say whatever you want at your own house, but if you try to say certain things at my house, even if half the neighborhood is over for a cookout, you're going to be asked to be quiet, change the subject, or leave. We, the users/members, do not own the "property" that is AH.com, but are allowed to participate here as guests.