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You should probably ask the older scouts Mom as she obviously has set the rule.

John, Standards go back into the 1920's - Post WWI, units were advised to do week long camp during the summer. It didn't always go well. Standards where introduced shortly after. Source is the letters / pre-Scouting Magazine. I am pretty sure they are electronically archived, it has been a few years since I reviewed. @mrkstvns 2013 was when the NCAP program was rolled out and while I haven't found the direct link or source as above, it's my best guess that the origins of ACA's (and a couple of other) original standards came from those early ones of the BSA. I've got some ne

The rugs are also a good idea for practical reasons. Who hasn't had coins or a pocketknife drop between the slats on a tent platform? A rug can keep that from helping (plus elminate the old splinters in the foot issue). Not only should rugs not be banned, they should be recommended as one of those "comfort" items that a scout might want to bring (space allowing).

I really enjoyed perusing the standard for grappling hook design. And you could buy the whole thing through the 'Supply Service'! Can you imagine seeing one of these on the rack at your local Scout Shop? I imagine that these were intended more for clearing debris from a swimming area than for body recovery? Can someone with knowledge of waterfront standards chip in to let us know if today's environmental standards allow us to disturb natural sediment or is that considered destructive to habitat? The language used to describe the big blunt hook grapple is poignant. Not only are they c

Here's a news story about the first year of Scouts BSA Girls attending our local camp. https://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Local-BSA-scout-camp-opens-doors-to-all-girl-troops-511816471.html

The only problems I see are the tent flaps are not properly rolled up. Points off on inspection! Also, if it rains, that rug is going to get wet .

Staff tents look like this at my camp! These scouts know the drill.

"A surgeon would later reattach the bone holding his nose to his skull, using four plates and some 20 screws that remain in place" that ain't no bloody nose; he also missed two months plus of work. That's a pretty big financial hit, possibly devastating to he and his family, especially if he has anything but first class medical coverage. As DavidCO said this might have been driven by an insurance company, or it might have been driven by desperation. I'll withhold judgment without a whole lot more information.

I'm always a fan of scouts thinking ahead and thinking outside the box. I like it.

I am imagining this scenaro. Kid, at home, before camp, in family room and eyeing the throw rug on the floor. Asks "Mom, can I take a rug to camp for my tent?" Mom, eyeing same throw rug (her favorite) and imagining what it would look like after a week of camp says, "No. Not allowed". Kid jumps to conclusion and . . . .

You have my sincerest wishes that your troop remains unsullied by anything similar, and I certainly hope we figure out how to navigate these things ourselves! We're about as racially, socioeconomically, culturally and special-needs diverse as it's possible to be with 12 scouts, and we simply did not see some of these things coming. Then Friday night, "boom"... Still, I'd do it again, and I think all of the girls would too, so we'll figure it out eventually!

If I understand the back and forth of differing opinion..... In broad terms, 51 weeks of the year the statement on the AHMR covers administration of OTC's that a troop might have in their FA kit or that Scoutmaster Bessie has in hers. Tylenol, Benadryl, would be common. Unless normally taken they would not necessarily be listed by a participants on their medication matrix. In the distant past, that would have been a solution to list them all Terasec. It still could be for you or your youth. Would say it would be okay to say list 200 mg of ibruprofen as needed for pain. T

I think the interesting thing here is that you can see how stressful even frivolous lawsuits can be for those who get dragged into the liability cattle call -- the CO, the CM, the ACM, the DLs and even young scouts who had to be deposed. The people who were named in this lawsuit had to live with the stress for years. It's another reminder to make sure you know GTSS and reasonably follow it. Not all judges are as sensible as this one. You also can't rely on parents having common sense when it comes to supervising their own kids on family activities.

Okay, I know I am a bit jaded when it comes to the news media. I read news with numerous questions about what the REAL story is far too often. In this case, the article is about a civil law suit, filed 2 years ago, about an accident 5 years ago, being dismissed. That happens dozens or more of times a day in a city (MSA) the size of Buffalo. So what is the news worthiness? Is there any real news here? Was it just an excruciatingly slow news day in Buffalo? Or, is there some other agenda. Of course how one reads an article also lends a bias, but I still don't get the news value here.

This happens all the time. In most cases, it is the insurance company who is actually doing the suing. The insurance company files the suit on behalf of the customer, in the customer's name, in an attempt to recoup some of the money they paid out for hospital bills. The customer is often required, under the terms of the policy, to cooperate with the insurance company's suit. If the customer refuses to cooperate with the suit, the customer could be liable to repay the insurance company. Some insurance companies are becoming very aggressive in their attempts to recover their losses. We had

The rug stuck out? So, the reasoning is the tent is not uniform, or something? If it was truly outlandish, maybe it could be the SPL's call but certainly not mom. Either way, this is just a dumb way to lose trust with the scouts. They should have let it be.

Looks to me like some Scouts who have learned how to make their home-away-from-home more comfortable. Isnt this what we want - for Scouts to be resourceful and go beyond the bare minimum? For them to be comfortable in the outdoors rather than "just survive"? Isn't it like the Scouts who make a "4 star" meal instead of hot dogs?

All-Girl Troop Report from Summer Camp Our all-girl, non-linked Troop just returned from a week of summer camp. We had 21 of our 30 Scouts go with a total of 7 leaders. There were 17 Troops and 350 Scouts in camp. In addition to our all-girl Troop there was another 6-girl group. Every Scout earned at least 2 merit badges, with a couple of superstars earning 6. At this particular camp there was an objective point-based system to determine a few "honor troops", and our unit was one of three that qualified. The co-SPLs figured out the point system on their own without adults running th

We had a Scout who had while not an anaphylactic reaction did get some hives while playing a wide game, got into some vines or other underbrush. We gave him some Benadryl. One leader wanted to know what happens if they have an allergic reaction to benadryl. I told them we would give them more benadryl

When I put together our Ship's first aid kit, it includes an epipen. One of my youth in the program had a bunch of extras and donated it to the kit. I haven't had to use it but it makes me feel a little better knowing it is there.