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  1. Today
  2. Jameson76
    The best method we have found is rally points along the way. We all depart at the same time and maybe meet at some designated break spot, then meet at the next logical point. For our winter trip this past January departed the CO, met about an hour down the road (got outside the major city we live near), then another hour to our first trip stop. We departed there a few hours later and the meetup was an hour down the road for the camping spot. On heading home day met an hour down the road for a tour stop at a historic place, then an hour or so up the road and after we hit the main hi
  3. AwakeEnergyScouter started following What is it about the BSA that has allowed it to survive?
  4. AwakeEnergyScouter
    I'm with you! The ventilation and being able to transfer the weight onto the hips is huge. I have two external frame packs and I'm not getting rid of them at any price! My old, smaller pack for my scout, the larger volume one for me. The soft packs were originally for climbers and it made sense for them, but I'm not a climber, I'm a hiker.
  5. InquisitiveScouter
    Which means they would have to exceed the legal limit?
  6. qwazse
    Saw the driver ahead of you rush an intersection and get t-boned, and I never set convoy again. We arrange rendezvous points. The scout riding shotgun navigates for me. (I have paper maps for the very purpose.) He also checks my texts while my car is rolling.
  7. BetterWithCheddar
    I no longer view Scouting as "inexpensive," but when assessing the program, I consider cost a strength because it still fits in most family budgets. Cub Scouts can be done well for $50/mo. Scouts can be done well for $100/mo. Sure, it adds up fast, but those are reasonable numbers for 2024.
  8. SiouxRanger
    That is the hard part. Never had that happen. I had to anticipate light changes and a green light in the distance, well, I'd slow down to make sure we all had to stop. I am not saying it was easy-it was not. Very stressful. Sometimes the light was so short that the whole convoy did not make it through and we'd pull onto the shoulder for the rest to catch up. I'd only do that if very low traffic, etc. If not, then I'd proceed at just at legal limit so folks could catch up.
  9. SiouxRanger
    Well, as to cost, it depends on just how far a scout moves through the program. Having 3 scouts who earned Eagle and a number of Philmont treks, and having helped numerous other scouts borrow or purchase gear over 20+ years, some truths have appeared: In a scout's early career, they usually get by with their existing clothes, heavy duty shoes, family camping type sleeping bags, blankets, rain coats, and such. It is already owned, heavy, bulky, adequate for troop car camping, cabin camping, or situations where in the event of really inclement weather, scouts can resort to the shelter of
  10. Yesterday
  11. DuctTape
    Total cost is on a continuum. I have seen high quality active outdoor troops which were relatively inexpensive. I have seen low quality less active troops be more expensive. And everthing in between. A quality program is not synonymous with expensive. Quality, Easy, Cheap. pick two. A thrifty troop fills the $ gap with more work/effort.
  12. MattR
    Beauty and expensive are in the eye of the beholder, so I'll leave that be. Momentum? The membership in 1995 was about 1M scouts (so not cubs or anything else). Right before covid that number had dropped about 25% to 750k. Covid has cut that number another 40%. Time will tell if the BSA withstood or fell to a thousand cuts. I wish the BSA would focus on those first two sentences. I would add that it also helps learn about working with others. Yesterday a scout called me up asking about some volunteering info. Well, he was my first scout that joined when I became SM some 20
  13. Cburkhardt
    Outdoors and Camps. Our movement teaches our young people how to master the outdoors. The thought of heading outdoors for the weekend is very positive and that helped us get through the difficulties. Some of our camps approach matching the beauty of our national parks. This is what comes to mind for many when they think of Scouting.
  14. Cburkhardt
    We are Inexpensive. The annual expense of involvement in our Troop is about $1,000 per year. That includes annual national dues, our council program fee, summer camp and fees for troop participation (campouts, etc.). That is under $100/month, which in my experience as a parent is indeed quite inexpensive. You cannot name another youth organization that provides anywhere near that deal for a quality year-around experience. My Sea Scout Ship is a bit more (around $1,200/year). So yes, we are inexpensive. Our unit always supported the Friends of Scouting effort, so our families cont
  15. AwakeEnergyScouter
    You don't mention your academic background on your profile, so apologies if this is telling you something you already know, but if Scouting America funded the researcher (as implied by "engaged" in the press release), then they weren't independent. I looked for the funding and conflicts of interest sections in the paper that I would expect to find, but either they're behind the paywall or weren't included. Either way, it's not clear to the public that the researcher really was independent. It's well-known that studies often end up biased in favor of the funding source in social sciences (see f
  16. DannyG started following What is it about the BSA that has allowed it to survive?
  17. DannyG
    Scouting empowers young people to leadership through its methods: Scout Oath and Law, Patrol method, etc.
  18. JSL3300 started following What is it about the BSA that has allowed it to survive?
  19. JSL3300
    100% this. Our council just announced that they'll be doing a council fee that matches the national fee so now before one single activity, it is $170 to be a scout. As far as I can see, this gets you zero fun. My family has two scouts and two leaders. We're looking at $470 before a single camping trip, rank patch, anything. Maybe the small expense was once a draw (When my boys started in 2018, it was $33 for national, $42 pack fee and that wasn't even very long ago!) but that's in the past.
  20. fred8033
    I will challenge this one. If your scout is active, scouting has significant cost. If your scout and you are both involved, it's very significant. IMHO when both scout and parent are active in scouts, the cost is at least the same as most sports; if not more.
  21. InquisitiveScouter started following What is it about the BSA that has allowed it to survive?
  22. InquisitiveScouter
    BSA using the legal system to deter other organizations from using the terms Scouts and Scouting.
  23. BetterWithCheddar started following What is it about the BSA that has allowed it to survive?
  24. BetterWithCheddar
    The Eagle Scout brand is still very strong.
  25. yknot
    We've talked about that document before here. This document was from 2011/2012. In 2019, its paid consultant/author was stating such incorrect things as: "100% of cases over the last 50 years have been reported to law enforcement." That turned into a big, credibility damaging "research" miss and mess that led to an embarrassing Congressional apology, and pretty much discredited it. You can be generous if you like, but that 2011 document was more press release and PR strategy than a serious attempt to contribute anything useful and heartfelt to the public CSA discussion. BSA h
  26. HashTagScouts
    Merit-Badge-Counselor-Qualifications.pdf (scoutspirit.org)
  27. SiouxRanger
    What would "restricted" merit badges be? Thanks.
  28. Last week
  29. qwazse
    It is common knowledge that BSA made its ineligible volunteer files available to an independent researcher at the University of Virginia. She provided initial findings in 2011, and an executive summary in 2012. Here's the reference to her formal work on the files, published years later on a sample of 6878 perpetrators of CSA: Warren, J. I., & Reed, J. (2021). Victim selection patterns of community‐residing child molesters identified by a nationwide youth‐serving organization. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 39(3), 307-327. Those conclusions have been folded into the
  30. InquisitiveScouter started following Is Becoming a MB Counselor Worth the Effort?
  31. InquisitiveScouter
    Thank you for trying to do this. And welcome to another headache of mistreatment by paid staffers. If your integrity and doing things with excellence are important to you, then yes, pursue. If you are not the type to jump through bureaucratic hoops, and you have a unit leader with access to Scoutbook who will approve MBs on your behalf, then consider that option. We are in a similar situation. We have an adult leader who submitted the application in Feb. He was approved as a MBC in March (about a month later), is populated in Scoutbook, but has NO MBs associated (yes, thi
  32. skeptic
    I am curious at the comment of the BSA rate and a comparison. That suggests that BSA or Scouts America has one of the lower stats compared to others in the comparative fields. Is that something that might be important to share more directly? I am asking, as a number of times when I have noted percenage comparisons I have been shouted down and called names. So, a verifiable link or notation would be useful, if nothing else. Thanks.
  33. swilliams
    I filled out my application and turned it in to Council April 12th. Heard nothing back, so I called and left a message asking about my status on May 3rd. Got an email on May 7th saying I needed to turn in another adult application, along with the consent form, as this is a separate position. That seems nonsensical and redundant, but sadly used to this with scouts. I filled out another application and sent it to our committee chair to sign (having received no instructions to the contrary), then she forwarded it to Council. We (CC and I) then got a passive-aggressive email back saying
  34. SiouxRanger
    And I will just have add: When things go really bad in the outback, and your life depends on it (the news has stories weekly of folks who have died), having MASTERY of a skill is potentially lifesaving. And if not saving your life, will make a stressful situation more comfortable. Louis Pasteur's quote "Chance favors the prepared mind" means that the better prepared and more knowledgeable you are, the more you'll be able to take advantage of any chance opportunities or observations. Once, headed into a federal wilderness in winter time, the rangers, after looking at our gear sai
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  • Posts

    • Jameson76
      Is traveling in convoys allowed?

      By Jameson76 · Posted

      The best method we have found is rally points along the way.  We all depart at the same time and maybe meet at some designated break spot, then meet at the next logical point. For our winter trip this past January departed the CO, met about an hour down the road (got outside the major city we live near), then another hour to our first trip stop.  We departed there a few hours later and the meetup was an hour down the road for the camping spot. On heading home day met an hour down the road for a tour stop at a historic place, then an hour or so up the road and after we hit the main highway, stopped at a large center with a beaver as a mascot.  Then the 1.5 hours home to the CO.   At the designated stops keep up with everyone, also we have a text group for trips and have our co-pilots handle the exchanges If our camping spot is more remote, off the path, we meet as close to there as possible on the way in, then convoy the last few miles.
    • AwakeEnergyScouter
      What is it about the BSA that has allowed it to survive?

      By AwakeEnergyScouter · Posted

      I'm with you! The ventilation and being able to transfer the weight onto the hips is huge. I have two external frame packs and I'm not getting rid of them at any price! My old, smaller pack for my scout, the larger volume one for me. The soft packs were originally for climbers and it made sense for them, but I'm not a climber, I'm a hiker.
    • InquisitiveScouter
      Is traveling in convoys allowed?

      By InquisitiveScouter · Posted

      Which means they would have to exceed the legal limit?
    • qwazse
      Is traveling in convoys allowed?

      By qwazse · Posted

      Saw the driver ahead of you rush an intersection and get t-boned, and I never set convoy again. We arrange rendezvous points. The scout riding shotgun navigates for me. (I have paper maps for the very purpose.) He also checks my texts while my car is rolling.
    • BetterWithCheddar
      What is it about the BSA that has allowed it to survive?

      By BetterWithCheddar · Posted

      I no longer view Scouting as "inexpensive," but when assessing the program, I consider cost a strength because it still fits in most family budgets. Cub Scouts can be done well for $50/mo. Scouts can be done well for $100/mo. Sure, it adds up fast, but those are reasonable numbers for 2024.  

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