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Is that a camels nose I just tripped over? Barry

While I like the convenience of ordering online, I suggest you not teach this to the Scouts. I suggest you teach them the skills of planning, pricing and buying "the old fashioned way" for a few reasons. Partly so they know how to do it without the aid of the computer/website and spreadsheets that calculate everything for them. But also because preparing for a campout should be a patrol activity. It is an opportunity for a couple guys to spend time working together to achieve a goal. It is interesting and often funny to watch a few 13 year olds shopping for a menu they prepared. This oft

USA Archery Level 1 instructor level training is all you need (minimum) in order to be an Archery merit badge counselor: "Archery. Archery activities must be supervised by a BSA National Camping School–trained shooting sports director or USA Archery or National Field Archery Association instructor, or by someone who has been trained by one of the three; or alternatively, the activities may be supervised by someone with at least Level 1 training in the operation of an archery range from USA Archery, NFAA, or an equivalent."

Been there, done that. Get lots of head bobbing and it never gets done. Gets to the point when parents just drop at the door and go. They want to have their Scout in a great program but they don't want to have to give up any time or effort to support it. I call them out in emails, in Troop Meetings, Court of Honor's, you name it. When enough events get cancelled, maybe then they will step up. I should not be working more hours in a week at my volunteer job (Scouts) than I do at my paid job.

Probably not, but it depends on the adults. I remember my Webelos watching the scouts during a troop visit lash a flag pole together. It became pretty obvious the scouts didn't know their lashings. They struggled for about 15 minutes before the ASM jumped in and cussed them out, using some pretty rough language. The troop was taken off our top two list. The discussions can become pretty extreme on this forum and I can see the difficulty of new leader molding their reality into the idealistic world being described on the forum. No adults doesn't necessarily mean NO adults. But, putting s

As I've stated, I'm good with girls in scouting. I've been amazed at the numbers for girl cub scouts being reported here on the forum and wondering how accurate it is. I've no way to judge. I've only seen one girl Webelos unit in my district and I only know of two others in the council. Not to say that there aren't more girl cub scout units in my council, but I'm not involved in them so I don't know anything other than what I hear or see. But in any case, after the last Webelos Woods event I was interested in a girl Webelos unit close to me. My daughter is interested in joining. I couldn

Our experience is the scouts after a year had a totally different view of what they really needed for camping than what the adults felt was required for the first camp out. If I were to do it again, I would start with equipment only needed for backpacking. That is where our troop ended up four years later anyway. We had several really nice well designed patrol camp boxes laying around that nobody except the adults used. Scouts hated them, so we ended up lending them to new troops. Barry

I agree with you. If anything, this can turn the grocery shopping into a patrol activity, rather than an individual one. They can do the price comparisons, etc. I'd much rather have the boys order the groceries online at a meeting, than have their parents do the shopping.

Lots of little things will come up as your scouts determine program elements. Storage shelves, lighters/matches, candles, tables, whipping string, lumber for projects like klondike derby sleds and camp boxes. Compasses. GPS. If you all are doing a lot of acquatics: pfds, oars paddles. If bicycling: helmets, pumps, repair kits. Map sets!

That isn't quite as direct as I think you mean it. In what way does a Scoutmaster exert this influence when administering the method of Advancement? I would say that a Scoutmaster is in charge of delivering/directing the program of which Advancement is a part. National is in charge of how a scout advances.

There is a bit of "eye of the beholder" going on. For example, having a couple of scouters 100 yards away in an open meadow -- while the SPL/ASPL may shuttle between scouts and adults as needed -- is what I call "reasonably engaged." But, last week we backpacked mostly first-years over moderate terrain to an idyllic, but narrow site between thickets and a stream. My dog was the only seasoned backpacker under the age of 13! So, yes, the adults were within eyesight and earshot. On the other hand, if this group keeps itself together, in 3 years, we'll be on the opposite side of the valley f

I always wash my things thoroughly after outdoor activities (I am not a fan of mud or grime), so my first sash has remained pretty clean and bright through the years. A clean sash may be a sign of a lazy Arrowman, OR it may simply be a sign of a fastidious one.

A rare creature that some of us have actually seen. Unlike of course the mysterious Unit Executive which is a mythical creature which has only been rumored to have been seen by some scouters that say they caught rare glimpses of one, but it was always a foggy nite and if you ask me their tales are often a little far fetched.

These type of posts always amuse me. What are the requirements to earn the Eagle rank? What requirement do you feel the Scout has not meant by getting a girlfriend pregnant?

It might just be sheer luck that I wasn't one of those Eagle Scouts. If premarital sex is a disqualifier for Eagle, I guess I should turn in my medal. I agree with previous sentiments, that it should be more about how Scouts respond to their circumstances. Do they take responsibility for their decisions? Do they do what is necessary to handle those responsibilities?

Your views on spousal selection criteria are at best outdated and at worst extremely sexist.

I gave a clear answer. Life’s collection of knowledge is data, no matter how it was collected. You can take it or leave it of course just like all the experience data that posters provide on this forum. If not, then what would be the point of requesting information from experienced members on subjects like, Starting a new troop: budget items. Collected experience data isnt always noted, recorded, and stored away because who would expect some shortridge down the road of life challenging that knowledge to sway opinion against our integrity. After all, if a person has the knowledge gained fr

I’m still not seeing anything except some inartful phrasing on Bryan’s part to suggest that anything beyond Cubs is going to have a family-camping focus. The core Scouts BSA program is not changing. Besides: Most teens I know would rather lock themselves in their room for a year than go on “scheduled fun family time” with their parents and siblings.

Hah! That's funny. Actually I'm an engineer too. Perhaps because of that, I see Scouting from the BSA as both a set of goals and also a program for individuals to deliver. In the work that I do as an engineer I'm constantly solving problems. If one way doesn't work, I try another. I look at Scouting much the same way. I look at the goals and figure out what we're trying to accomplish in Scouting. I look at the program provided by the BSA and figure out how best use it to accomplish those goals. If the BSA changes the mechanics of the program and throws me a curve ball, I go back

Goodness - this got negative today. I'm sorry to see that we've gotten to the point where you all are so disillusioned. Myself, I choose to keep looking for positives here. At it's core - scouting is still a great, unmatched program. It's still a great way to help our youth grow. I was out socially tonight. One of the troop parents recognized me and shared just how much her son has benefited from Scouting. As long as there are more boys and girls out there like this one - I sure think it's worth finding the good.

The three words no Scoutmaster wants to hear.... "HEY ! WATCH THIS !" Would that be a male or female voice?

Call me a dreamer - but I continue to think the future of patrol method is bright. But, those experienced in it have to teach it to the next generation of leaders.

As I have come to learn, "experienced" scouters can come with their own bad habits and baggage. While you can see it only going one way, I have the utmost hope, and even expectation, that this is a golden opportunity to train the biggest generation of new scouters we have ever seen. Even if there is some failure in that process, some of the greatest scouters we have ever had will be joining our ranks in the next 24 months. I can't see it going any other way.

Family scouting is all about the WHOLE FAMILY going on outings and activities together. So that moms and dads can spend more time together with their boys and girls in a scouting setting. -------------- Julie Anderson has been there. Like most parents, she laments not being able to spend enough quality time with her two children, Ian and Samantha. That’s why Anderson is such a fan of Family Scouting, the BSA’s push to welcome all members of the family into our life-changing movement. Do you crave more time with your children and less time bouncing between drop-offs and

This sounds a little bit like how wives are chosen and treated in the backwoods of less developed countries -- a woman is chosen as a worker and treated like a slave / donkey, and the man goes and finds beauty and love and spreads his seed around with mistresses. Absolutely ridiculous.