ext3 and reiserfs / patches

[P.Agenbag]

Hmm, very stupid question...
Firstly, thanks to all the responses helping me to get the 
(EXPERIMENTAL) out of the way...
Now, is reiserfs the same as ext3? if not, what's the diff/best?

Also, concerning the patches

I only once attempted to patch a kernel and it came out a beeeeeg 
messup. I'm not very sure about the procedure, I always untar my new 
kernel in /opt and then rename the linux folder to the version number ( 
sometimes have 4 or 5 kernels, so need to distinguish...)
Lets say I have a  /opt/247 kernel source , how exactly would I patch it 
and with which of the patches? Do you patch the 247 kernel with the 247 
patch, or do you patch it with a higher version, and if so, how many 
"steps" can you go higher?

Sorry for the ignorance, but hey, atleast i'm willing to learn!
Thanks