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Sadly, you are correct, BSA publications are full of contradictions. Even G2SS and G2A have issues, IMHO. Biggest issue with the later 2 publications is that they change so fast that Scouters in the field have a hard time keeping up. Is a revised G2SS 3-4 months online really needed? Best example of contradictions and folks not knowing about them was last years rule that Lions and Tigers could not do Shooting Sports. Rule apparently came out in May in some addendum to the G2SS. So it was not in it, nor the Shooting Sports manual. NO ONE IN THE FIELD KNEW ABOUT THE NEW RULE! (major emphasis)

I'd like to know too. I've been comparing training documents, Kindle versions of guidebooks, web sit content and GTSS content. There are still glaring surprises. For example, I'm searching right now to see if any other BSA document contains this ... "Range of ages (no more than three years between oldest and youngest)." That's written for traditional patrols under the syllabus for scoutmaster specific training. ... Did some author just throw that in? I can't find references in GTSS or other books right now. IMHO, it sounds like a good idea, but I just can't find it. GTSS has a tw

One option is to get a cheapie chinese canister stove from Amazon. You can usually find them for around $10 and they are great for boiling water. Or you can go just a bit more extravagant, and get something like a Primus Classic trail stove for around $20. With it, you can adjust the flame somewhat, and I could use it for steambaking, which requires a low boil. It's a bit heavier than other choices (8 oz vs. 3-4 oz for other choices), but as I said, it adjusts rather well. I have both the cheapie, and the Primus Classic, as well as a jetboil imitator. All have their uses, but if I were to

I remember when Tiger Cubs was initiated. I saw it as a response to Y-Guides (then “Indian Guides”) which began in 1st grade and threatened to capture dads & their boys before they became eligible for cubs. I see Lions as a similar response to youth soccer, which a few years ago began capturing families at Kindergarten. My son & I enjoyed Tigers - and I’ve been involved ever since even though my son is now 23 - but I can see Barry’s point that for most parents, this race-to-the-bottom just invites early burnout.

The problem Tigers caused was requiring more volunteer time to an already heavily burdened volunteer program. I don't know the numbers now, but 20 years ago only half of the graduating Webelos continued to the next step of scouting, troops. I believe that 70% of those Webelos can blame their boring experience to adult leader burnout. It's too much, and now they have a Lion program. Barry

Since I staff the area in a camp with for first year scouts, I work with the youngest scouts. I have seen a small amount of phones during instruction time throughout the whole summer. It’s easy to notice if they are homesick and texting their parents. My camp suggests to not bring it, but people still do. If they do bring a phone, the best thing I’ve noticed was to simply just talk to them. I feel like if I took it away at any point, they would get even more homesick.

BSA task groups operate in bubbles - apparently oblivious of the other bubbles or that there is a "business" to run with the primary objective being "youth served" ($$). There are dramatic contradictions within the same publication and between publications on the same topic.

One reason for the consistancy was because 1 author wrote all those books, and he gave real life examples from the troop he ran as SM. Also, how many editions have we had in the past 10 years? 12th ed came out in 2009. Then the 13th in 2016, and now a 14th this year. It is getting ridiculous.

"""Dinosaur lunchbox, hidden in Smithsonian museum, features family and work mementos."" ""....Arlton Murray, who worked with fossils at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, hid his own time capsule in a dinosaur installation in 1947. The wooden box — containing Murray’s Boy Scout membership card and a note about one of the installations — was a surprise find five years ago as the museum’s Fossil Hall was taken apart for renovation...."" ""...It took a bit of research to discover the significance of the Boy Scout card . . . Murray discovered his passion for fossils o

The story goes that Bill was the unofficial quality/consistency control chief for BSA publications. But he's been gone from the office for over forty years and was not replaced - in fact, whatever the theory. So no one tells whoever did the online "Orientation for New Scout Parents" that this is horribly wrong: "Patrols are one component of what we call a youth-run or youth-led troop." Holy backwards, Batman!

I whole heartedly agree. In their ignorance of day to day character growth, these folks couldn't see the organizations real success. So, they made changes for a path of bigger indicators of success, numbers. I guess National's lesser view of outdoors and adventure in the 70s highlighted their arrogance of the traditional program value. But, the new Tiger program in the 1980s highlighted their greed. IMHO, the added burden of toddlers to an already full program teetered the scales negatively all they way to Venturing. The aged based new scout patrols have done a lot of damage to the tradi

@ianwilkins There are a lot of American flags flown in this country. In some parts every household has one, and every light pole on every main street shopping district may be decorated with one, then there are the ones mounted on pickup trucks, motorcycles, golf carts ... Generally, when flags start to get frayed, folks in the community know to give them to scouts and their leaders. It's an odd year when we don't have hundreds to retire.

We can get that many after the removed the flags from veteran graves on holidays, they pass the damaged ones that cannot be reused to us to take care of.

We dont allow the scouts to have phones in camp, they stay in the car. Before we go to camp the SPl talks about the no phone policy and always mentions one of the reason why is because we don't want first years calling home. So even if the older scouts sneak a phone they know not to share it. I am really good at getting first year scouts to rat out scouits with phones, it only works the first year though

By my reading of https://troopleader.scouting.org/scoutings-aims-and-methods/ it's now BOTH an aim and a method (?!?). If anyone on this channel can point to who within the BSA is responsible for integrity among its publications (including websites), please let me know as I'd be happy to volunteer to help where I can. My experience was with TRADOC (Training & Doctrine Command) which performs this function for the US Army. I don't know that BSA needs an entire bureaucracy (none of the other uniformed services has a TRADOC), but BSA obviously need some help. Nowadays such a functi

Summer camp isn't supposed to be prison camp. I would never keep a scout at camp against his will. Even if he didn't bring a cell phone to camp, I would let him borrow a leader's phone to call home and ask to be picked up.

Certainly Baden-Powell's First Class Award is the very definition of Free Range. The final requirement, the First Class Journey, is a 14 mile overnight backpack or canoe trek, alone or with one peer. No two-deep helicopters! > The tracking probably wasn't needed and while the plant and animal identification is nice, it's not really a core skill. > On the whole, it seems to be a bit obsolete Despite the significant controlled risk involved in the First Class Journey, not to mention the increasing challenges of the subsequent Journey and Expedition requirements of the

The thing that's missing here is a description of the program. We have aims and methods but no description of how the methods lead to the aims. It almost sounds like it's multiple choice. It seems to me that @Eagledad is saying the program has a large component in which older scouts teach, work with, and lead the younger scouts to eventually take the place of the older scouts. Although I like this it isn't explicitly explained anywhere. @fred8033 seems to be saying it's less about that and more about adventure. Of course, that isn't described anywhere either. Maybe I'm putting words in people

I fear we read different things into the quotes of Baden Powell and Hillcourt and others. I fear BSA's definition of patrol has been mucked up by poor wording choices. I prefer the 1950s boy scout handbook (page 88): "The Scout patrol is the finest boys' gang in all the world. The patrol is the unit that makes Scouting go. It is a group of boys, usually six to eight, who pal together because they like to do the same things." ... I thought Hillcourt (or another author quoted with Hillcourt) wrote as a gang of friends who wanted to hang together and do things together. Where you

If you or your unit are going to take scouts into the backcountry, seriously consider taking this course: https://www.nols.edu/en/about/risk-services/training-courses/wilderness-risk-management-with-nols-and-rei/. This is the perfect compliment to a wilderness first aid course because it teaches how to avoid unnecessary risks beforehand as well as what to do after you've stabilized your patient. I'm a council IOLS Instructor, ASM, and a grad of WB, Powder Horn, and Kodiak. I'm also an Eagle Scout and former NOLS Senior Course Leader who taught this material for 13 years. This course is w

The thing I seem to forget and am therefore destined to relearn on every trek is that the Scouts have different priorities than the adults. We want them to be physically prepared because we fear that we are not. We want them to learn the map/compass skills so we are not embarrassed when ranger asks them to orient the map. We want them to practice hanging bear bags so it doesnt take 2 hours for the first few nights. They dont care about any of those things - they are young and athletic and will not feel the pain, they dont mind learning the map skills again, they seem to enjoy the fell