And too, my favorite GPS thing..... NASCAR   GPS:   "turn left, NOW.   turn left, NOW.  turn left, NOW.   turn left, NOW....." 

I had the scouts first figure out what they wanted to do, then we figured out where to do it. Giving them lists of ideas helped a lot. Another part of figuring out what they want to do is also figuring out rough percentages of types of campouts. Is the idea to mostly be a challenge? Fun and games? A couple of our usual campouts? Without first doing that they would get stuck on an idea and all of a sudden they did that all year. They did the same for meetings.

I totally agree on the worthlessness of the skillet with the Trail Chef Kit and the cups weren't much good for anything but a measuring cup, however the rest of the kit was quite handy in my opinion.  We has cast iron skillets for cooking.

Cheers to Philmont and National!  The upgraded tents for families sound great and are exactly what we need at this time.  We need more of this across the BSA property footprint where appropriate and soon. The Philmont Training Base is not the back country, and never has been.  Wade Phillips built his magnificent mansion complete with its own small row of hotel rooms before the BSA was ever a factor.  It was used to bring in people from around the world to experience the American West who otherwise would not have ventured there.  The result?  The land and wildlife was experienced, preserved and eventually became the iconic and beloved place of youth.  And, most of those folks indeed experienced the rough wilderness as well.   Some of the griping, in my view, is just plain silly.  Al Lerner and his staff engaged in extensive research to determine how to significantly increase awareness and usage of the high adventure bases — and by extension and example the equally-important larger council properties like Goshen, Ramsberg, Owasippe and Ten Mile.  I know it is true because many other current and front-line Scoutmasters like me received and responded to the surveys and asked for this in overwhelming numbers. The rustic experience of youth crews trekking across Philmont will continue as always.  The fact that many more thousands of families with spouses and younger children will delight In the experiences of the training centers and associated natural beauty at Philmont, the Summitt and (hopefully) the Sea Base, canoe Base and (eventually) our best council properties will support the appropriate growth and upgrade of the BSA. Count my family and me in.

I don't have time to listen, but this "research" isn't linked to in the show notes.  Does anyone who has listened have more information on this research?  I am having a hard time believing that an author of a book about how humans used to navigate is unbiased when interpreting research about GPS.