Article about: G'day all today was the last email message from the first ever forum type that I had been involved with BCNers- Thank you all for the friendship, the education and help with my collection. 1
G'day all today was the last email message from the first ever forum type that I had been involved with Bugger it is now finished as I have learnt a lot from the people there
BCNers-
Thank you all for the friendship, the education and help with my collection. 1996 just seemed like yesterday. We almost made it 20 years but that is okay. Should you ever be in Huntsville, Alabama USA please send me a note and I would love to show you my collection, have a beer and get caught up on some old collecting stories. Again, thank you everyone for the great memories and collecting relationships! The BCN emails will be gone forever, but the memory the first internet militaria and bayonet collecting network will live on for some time.
Regards,
Your Founder
John C. Jacobi
From Jim Maddox:
I have been a BCN member from the start. It was fantastic for the first 10 years. We had some great discussions, good deals, and learned from each other. BCN has been slowly dying on the vine for quite some time. If not for Fred Marut, it would have perished several years ago. Thank you, Fred, for all your efforts. I also thank all members who participated.
BCN leadership and members:
I know that I am a very new member, and have been a silent partner. I wish my submission for membership wasn't timed during an overseas move for my family and I. Thank you for the chance to belong, and please keep my e-mail.
Respectfully,
Dorsel Boyer
To the Membership ,Fred M. and John J. :
The BCN has had a great run and was much appreciated by myself and late collecting friend Steve Shaul. Steve's large K98 bayonet collection was mostly sold through the BCN membership with his family being very appreciative of the results. A collection of great size and value is a real problem for a family that has not a clue as to what to do or where to go with it. We in the BCN talked about that a few years ago after the Shaul family found themselves in that situation, and we all need a plan for our families as to current value and what to do. As for myself, I am very sorry to see the closing of the BCN and it will be missed as was the KCN (Karabiner Collectors Network) when it closed many years ago. I am thankful for all of the members I have met over the past many years and hope to again see members at the annual SOS in Louisville.
Best Wishes,
Gary Hay
Tempus fugit!
Although not an early contributor to BCN I always valued the circulation that it gave. So many great people out there with a common interest. Ironic that the last call coincides with my 70th birthday! As a non-smart phone/social media user I will miss this bulletin, even if not so frequent. Thanks so much to the facilitators. No great stories to share but great memories. If you still want to keep engaged specialist bayonet forums do exist elsewhere. Contact a devotee and they will know where.
Farewell BCN. You will be missed (by some).
Graham Priest
A unfortunate decision Fred but I understand. For my own part I'm afraid the frosty reply I got from one member several months ago presented me with a reluctance to send you anything for fear of incurring his or others' wrath with novices. Since that unfortunate exchange I believe that the BCN was sadly not a site for beginners but an exchange site for experts who all seem to know each other. I shall miss receiving and reading the postings and wish you all the very best for the future and please accept my thanks for your efforts and hard work.
Bob Clarke
Hello Fred and All,
Donal here with a final post saying goodbye. I have met several members from the BCN and some have developed into friendships. I hope to keep those friendships alive and well. I have learned so much, and had many cool collecting opportunities due the folks in the BCN. I even met two family members that before, I didn’t know existed. I wish you all happy collecting and I thank those who contributed to the newsletter and my education.
Take care,
Donal Williams
Fred:
Sad news indeed. You are the reason the BCN lasted so long with the current situation.
Wish I could have been more help, but, as you know, I sold off my collection five (5) years
ago . . . . my personal best wishes to you, Fred.
Ron Berkeley.
Members, Fred and John,
I felt some sadness and regret reading the email terminating the BCN emails, but it was an inevitability. Sometimes, even in the collector world, things get played out to where there is not as much left to talk about and I believe we have come to that point. I do agree with Fred and John in that the online resources are so numerous today, and the info and replies can come much quicker, that the email letters became of less interest. It is too bad because I always looked forward to the BCN mails and eagerly opened them to see what news there was. I fondly remember the times when the email ran great lengths with so much information and discussion. I wish I had participated more, but my knowledge of bayonets was limited and so is my collecting funds.
I cannot say for sure what year I came on board the BCN, but it was a long time time ago... probably in the late '90s I believe. I have picked up a few bayonets, and many guns, and even some books from contacts I made on here and that has been a huge advantage to me. That is one of the things I will miss most. I also learned about bayonets I didn't even know existed (such as the German reworked Czech model 24 bayonets and German reworked Lebel bayonets) and got an excellent education from so many of the knowledgeable collectors and dealers. I also miss the passing of some of our members. It was very sad to see them leave this world. One I remember most is Anthony Carter; one of the premier bayonet experts. Not too long after joining he passed away. That was a lot of knowledge and expertise that left us, but fortunately he passed much of it on in his books.
I personally want to thank the numerous members, such as Fred and Mick, in addition to John of course, who stepped up to create and keep this email going. You have all worked hard and diligently with great integrity. It was much appreciated and I hope every member on here has continued success in the militaria collecting arena. Its a dying art and hopefully it will revive at some point in time. There probably will never be a time period again where so many military weapons and items were brought back to this country by returning veterans for us to collect and examine in such great detail and enjoyment.
Mark Confort
Dear All,
Very sorry to hear about this. I joined the BCN for more than 10 years with the kind assistance of the ever so helpful Dennis Ottobre. I am indebted to all members who educated me on everything about bayonets, especially our founder John Jacobi, Otto, Mick O' Shea, Jim Maddox, Raymond LaBar, Graham Priest, George Wheeler, Roy Williams, Old Smithy (Carl Ziegler) and many more....
THANK YOU GUYS and perhaps we'll meet again in other forums.
Keith Lam
Hong Kong
Hi all:
Having been a BCN member for around 15 years originally recruited as a 19 year old College student buying too many items from Otto, I will miss the emails and the group. It has been a magnificent ride and I have learned much, made great friends and my collection and references have improved vastly from the knowledge and dedication of the group.
As a new resource I offer everyone here access to the Treasure Bunker Online Militaria Forum (free no charges):
Treasure Bunker Forum
The forum is an online extension of a physical shop in Glasgow, Scotland but run as a collectors resource and not a extension of shop sales. It is well moderated and eager to take on new members.
There is an Edged Weapons forum section and in talking with the owner and moderators they welcome BCN members. They would be happy to expand the site to accommodate BCN posts or name a section specifically for the BCN and take on some of our older members as moderators. If this sounds a good solid idea to provide the BCN with a moderated web forum I am happy to arrange it.
Else for anyone in the UK or elsewhere please do keep in touch and if other online methods are found I hope to see you there.
Best Regards
Greg Sheridan
(Ed Note: Greg, this sounds like a very promising opportunity. I would like to hear what John Jacobi's thoughts are as well. The BCN was, for some time, an international organization and could be hosted anywhere on the globe (as it was under Mick O' Shea's editorship).
Otto here with my final post:
I would bid all farewell but I think "Until we meet again" is more appropriate. I've personally benefited immeasurably from my association with the BCN in more ways than I can count. The mass of personal friendships it has led to is vast and I will certainly stay in touch. For those who don't like constantly phoning their friends I urge you to seek out other clubs and forums and not led the end of the BCN discourage you. It's been a great run of 19 years and 9 months but all good things must come to an end. Consider that we have outlasted all American television shows shows except for The Simpsons;-)
I would like to extend my sincere thanks and unending gratitude to our Founder, John- First Shirt Derek- Moderators, Fred, Mick, Robert, Clay, Steve and my sincere apology if I have missed anyone. I also offer my thanks and appreciation to all the members who not only participated in the discussions but were always ready to help out with research projects. My own books were GREATLY enriched by this help. It is with great sadness that I will retire the BCN Certified Dealer seal from my web page shortly.
Thanks for the memories,
Otto
Hello Fred and BCN Members:
Sad news but I understand fully there is not enough interests probably to share information and bayonets between members. I joined BCN in 1999 and was very pleased with it, as it was very interesting forum in USA, but some good members of Europa joined too. Over the years we discussed many interesting bayonets and items, I was involved in database search and estimate of serial numbers S84/98 bayonets. If someone in future will contribute data or need a information on this, there will be my email under. The stand is about 16,000 samples now in database. It would be probably in future published partly by some already prepared books of German bayonets... some probably of BCN authors. I met many interesting people here and have good friends in bayonet area from various countries of the world. Many thanks to all guiders and editors, but mainly to Fred M. and his hard work. Thanks to John J. for starting this platform. I am still on various American and German forums: Gunboards, Warrelics, Wehrmacht Awards, MFF, SMG ,there is too small part of BCN Forum here:
Members:
It was a great run. Thank you for letting me be a part of this fellowship. Kudos to all who have spent much time and effort to keeping it going. I will be seeing many of you at future shows and will always say "Yes, I am a member of the BCN!".
Happy Hunting
Carl Bigdog Winkler
Well... all good things must end someday... I was a charter member of the BCN when it was formed and it was quite revolutionary as far as Internet list service organizations go when founded. The BCN was very helpful to me when I wrote my book on German Bayonets in the 1990s and members unselfishly shared information that I needed for research. I made many friends and got a lot of help over the years, even matching a numbered bayonet scabbard to one of my S84/98 bayonets. I would remind everyone that we still have a BCN category page on bayonets on the German Daggers web site that we can still use at:
Thanks for all the hard work that has been done by John and various BCN moderators over the years.
George Wheeler
Hello Fred:
Many thanks for all your past efforts. I shall miss reading the BCN emails.
All best wishes.
Roger D.C. Evans.
Very sorry to hear this is the end of the trail for us, but I think many things made this happen. It might sound farfetched, but people are just tired, the world isn't getting any better, and interests tend to focus elsewhere when things are on a downward slide. Part of my own, is economic, since by wife lost her job , a third of our income vanished, so funds must be devoted to other things, hence less purchasing of collectables. I think last year I bought four bayonets. This year only one, which I will thank the member who mentioned it a couple of weeks back, the double stamped "cof44". Beyond that, zip! Hardly go to gun shows anymore, nothing I can afford, or want. I'm sure I'm no different from many of our members, and a good chunk of the U.S. population... just breaks of the game. Actually been trying to get rid of part of my gun collection, but gave up on putting them on consignment at the local gun store. Everyone wants black guns and Glocks. Last Spanish Mauser I had in there I almost bought it a birthday cake! It was there one week shy of a year, and this one was a excellent condition M1943. So goodbye and good luck to all my friends, Nigel, Mick, Robert, Dennis and the others. May better times come again for us all. The All Father watch over all.
Chuck Leech
Fred, John et al:
Although I was a late arrival, I will miss the camaraderie. I've learned and shared information on the BCN and enjoyed the many collectors/researchers I've gotten to know. As I have retired and slowed down some. collecting has been more enjoyable To John for starting the BCN, to Mick and Fred for handling the emails, the utmost thanks and appreciation from me.
Best wishes to all,
John Guenther Athens AL
Hi Fred & Members:
If I can be of service to any of you, please contact me.
Don Liller
Stafford, VA.
So very sad to see the BCN go! Thank you for all you've done for us! I decided to sell my little collection of U.S. M-series bayos, incl. the BCN one, and German bayos and helmets, caps. I try to avoid piecemeal on Fleabay, etc. I am working on an inventory list, but that will take a little time.
Sven
Boynton Beach, FL 33436
Members:
I am saddened to hear of the demise of our Bayonet Collector's Network. I became a member in 1998 and enjoyed the information and exchanges over these many years. Through the BCN community I met and became friends with a number of great people. There is a feeling of some remorse or guilt that I have not contributed more; especially in the last few years. I learned a great deal here from some very knowledgeable members and tried to give back in return. Thanks to all of the folks who contributed and especially to those who served as editors.
I also want to say thanks to all those who have helped with research efforts over the years. The membership here never failed to respond when asked for examples of pieces from their respective collections or details thereof. This information has been most appreciated whether it was serial number data for 1944 dated S84/98, RG34 cleaning kits, 43/44asw, phenolic grip makers, or Weyersberg "41crs" examples. Research continues in these areas and the BCN will always be a part of these efforts. Although not bayonet specific there is some discussion of the S84/98 on these collecting forums:
The K98k Forum (co-founded/owned by BCN Member Bruce Karem) - Has an active sub-forum for "Bayonets and Accessories": The K98k Forum
War Relics Europe Forum - Has a "K98 Bayonet" sub-forum within "Daggers and Swords of the Third Reich":
A number of current or former BCN members are already contributors on these forums.
Best Regards to all,
Lance O. Adams
Members:
I'll do my best to add any Facebook users to the Facebook BCN page. Thank you all for keeping this going for as long as you did.
From Your Editor:
Thanks to all those whom were willing to share their thoughts and reminiscences of the BCN past and present. A few others opted to send both John and I personal emails and we thank you as well. I also spoke with longtime friend & BCN member Jack Schrader recently. He has not been on his PC for almost a year now, but wished to send warmest regards to his friends & fellow members. I am glad this opportunity was afforded to everyone rather than ending things abruptly with the 6/1/15 Final Newsletter.
Concerning links to online Forums and websites dealing with bayonets, here are a few additional sites to those supplied by the membership:
The Bayonet & Edged Weapons Forum on Gunboards.com: http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdis...Weapons-Forum&
http://www.mocityman.com/resources_a/254.htm
The UUID I use on most Forums is "pwcosol". Should any former BCNer find themselves in need of information regarding the German S84/98 T3, MPBS M9, or AK bayonets, I would be happy to assist or share what information I may have with you. Post me at either the current BCN address, . I pretty much summed up my thoughts in the 6/1/15 Newsletter, and so with that, I wish you all the best and good fortune in any endeavors you may undertake.
Fred M.
That's sad news there were a bunch of experts, authors and other bayonet collectors with a ton of knowledge I never belonged but got a bunch of great education from that forum. timothy
That's sad news there were a bunch of experts, authors and other bayonet collectors with a ton of knowledge I never belonged but got a bunch of great education from that forum. timothy
Yep it is sad, I did receive a lot of info and also great advice! J.A Maddox was one
A Tragic loss to the Hobby....for reasons that are suitable to the owner.
Yet the loss has produced some of the greatest minds and future teachers..of the bayonet topic. Everything is temporary in this life..and we must make use of the time and experience gained.....so as to pas it on again.
It has been stated that the forum due to the knowledge that was available ..mainly suited the well seasoned..which it will be those who will teach the novice. Those novices..that were on that forum with a desire to learn....will attach themselves if driven enough to the minds and authors that grew from BCN.
The creation of BCN..was a " Win" ...what it had produced is a " Win " . Although a loss to many...... now an opportunity to pick up and hold together as a community. I only see greatness coming forth in future days and years to come..all because of one mans desire to give. Awesome .
Keep the faith ..those who at least picked up one seed of knowledge are more better off..than not having any at all. Regards and Best Wishes for a great bayonet collecting future...and so great as it is that some of them are here on the WRF. Regards Larry
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!! - Larry C
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
BCN - Bayonet Collecting Network Last Day Today
Bugger it is now finished as I have learnt a lot from the people there
by timothy
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