Eagle1982

I sometimes wish the boys in our troop would mutiny. Our Troop's current system of "lifetime if you want it" positions and a non involved SM and a CC that doesn't actually do the CC job just isn't working as well as it could. I'm ready to jump ship, that's for sure.

I suppose on an A-frame tent it can make more of a difference. Whether the wind is hitting a broad side or an inclined side. Many dome style tents, the wind goes around them pretty well. Now, around here,the wind doesn't go North/South, but usually more East/West. Personally I believe the ground is never perfectly flat. I'd rather sleep straight uphill. Down hill is uncomfortable, and perpendicular to the incline means you and your tent mate will be rolling into each other.

http://www.bsatroop780.org/skills/Pioneering.html Pictures of lots of pioneering projects

In all reality the 20th amendment kind of trumps some other stuff. it states: 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin. Which means that Barak Obama became President at 12:00 noon, January 20th. This was a few minutes before he gave his oath of office, and obviously a day before the redo, but he was POTUS as of 1

This is a great question. Scouts often place a higher importance on the other activities because the Parents do. Any activity that is from the school usually is the one given precedence over the others, especially from a parents point of view. Now with my own son, band concerts are two times a year. It's part of his grade. For two nights a year, he can miss that Scout meeting if there is a conflict. Sports practice, usually is before school (swimming) or right after. Practice rarely affects attendance at a Scout meeting, unless the Scout had a lot of homework to do that night. The a

Snickers, pop the small bite sized ones occasionally. GORP is still king, even in winter. Pre slice or pre assemble as much stuff as possible before hand. I like the idea of vacuum sealed stews. Soup in a pot is good. Warm apple cider is good. With the pot, don't forget the lid, heats things up faster. Also, a wind shield can help with heating the pot.

A lot of camping in the cold is about gaining experience in the cold. Starting fires is more difficult in the snow and cold. It is good experience to start one in winter. Cooking may require different menus, and preparations, plus you may need more calories. Gain that experience. Traveling is typically slower, and you are carrying a heavier load, again you gain more experience. Scouts that can efficiently camp in the cold and snow typically have higher skills and are more efficient in the summer. Plus they then gain a measure of self confidence that will stick with them always. It is

When you can't be prepared for the weather, then it is too cold. If you are prepared, there should be few problems. There are alternatives to tents, as already mentioned. Many 3 season tents can not handle the weight of a lot of snow on them, or the fiberglass poles break easier in the cold. Often White Gas stoves work better than propane. It's about having the right gear to be prepared.

When I did a Philmont trek, it turned out that for maybe 1/2 of the other Scouts, it was their first time outside of their own state. We drove in a couple vans. Made stops along the way at historic places, even a pony express station. Flying and the train are faster, but I'd drive again if it were offered. Plus, by driving, we worked the extra day into the schedule to help get acclimated to the altitude. (Have the boys hike up Pikes Peak, one day, then drive to Philmont from there You definitely need practice hikes and backpack trips. You don't need a boy 3 days into a 10 day exped

We would do this one evening during a week long summer camp. Break up with people from other troops and do some agility contests or such. It was a good way to meet other kids and have a good time. However, once that evening was finished, it was back to regular patrols and our patrol which patrol was the best one I can't imagine doing this for a klondike or weekend camping event. I'm also surprised it came as a surprise, wasn't there a prep meeting or roundtable where the klondike was discussed?

Other people said great things, I just want to add a few more. That is why we continue to practice. I think too many Scouts fulfill the cooking requirement for rank, then hardly do any more cooking. While technically they did the requirement, they are not getting much needed practice to become decently proficient. Then on the next campout, you have a new group of boys doing their rank cooking requirement, and the previous group is not getting experience. I blame a lot of this on summer camp. When I was a youth, we didn't work on 5 and 6 merit badges at summer camp. We worked on one o

You did not say whether the older boy(s) are involved in Scouting still or not, and whether the outgoing CM is involved in their troop if they are. If he is involved in Boy Scouts too, and is involved with the outdoor activities, perhaps a piece of really nice camping gear he does not already have? You may be able to get a good tent or backpack or something on sale and come in around budget. Or even a luxury piece of equipment, a hammock or luxury/fancy camp chair (rocking chair ha ha). If his older boys are not in scouting, I like the scrapbook idea from Eagle92. You could also purc

AGain, the ABC story has some more info: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=6498405&page=2 (1) It is claimed that the injured person was able to get their seat belt off themselves, showing a state of non paralysis at that time. (2) The rescuer did not pull the other people out (3) Alcohol was involved (4) If the rescuer was afraid of the car exploding, why did she "drop" the person by the car and leave her there? While I don't like the precedent that can be set, I think a case can be made that this is not emergency care. I thought everyone learned in drivers ed not to mo

There is lots of good advice on this topic posted. What temperature are you expecting down to? Lots of people are mentioning lots of different temperature ranges in sleeping bags, the important thing is to be prepared for the weather. If you are not backpacking, you can get by with a higher temp sleeping bag by adding fleece. There are dirt cheap fleece sleeping bags for indoors, add that to a 32 degree bag and suddenly you have a 20 degree bag. Not everyone can afford 0 degree bags and also 32 degree bags... Keep moisture out of the bags, don't breath in the sleeping bags. Dpn't put

While I can appreciate Mitch Albom's comments, he hardly speaks for Michigan, and there are a lot of Michiganders that would rather read the Motor City Madman (Ted Nugent) over Mitch Albom. There is precedent for the U.S. allowing so many complete industries to leave the U.S. - hardly any electronics are manufactured here. The U.S. once made some of the best milling machines for manufacturing, now Japan and China own that market. Steel Industry, textile industry, so many others are not here any more. It might lead one to think perhaps we can manage without a domestic auto industry.

One other link for paracord stuff for sale: http://www.survivalstraps.com/ Makes you wonder about selling some of that at the popcorn stands and whatnot.

This one is a toughie. One thing is clear, the Detroit 3 gave up more than they should have years ago. However it's not so easy to just turn a battleship on a dime. The Detroit 3 have been renegotiating contracts. They have been reducing dealerships. They have now a two tiered pay structure, new hires get paid less, and they are doing buyouts on the older ones. Their quality has gone up. Although Toyota and Honda assemble cars in the U.S. - the latest data I saw, 2006 shows that for every Detroit 3 job, there are between 11 and 12 jobs that rely on it (people that don't work directl

http://www.amazon.com/Paracord-Bracelet-Parachute-Cord-Survival/dp/B000O2JVF4 People sell paracord stuff. It's not too hard. http://theprepared.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=80&Itemid=55 http://www.instructables.com/id/Paracord-bracelet-with-a-side-release-buckle/

I can see it, Scout campout 2028 SPL, "Timmy can your patrol set up the Axe Yard?" PL, "What's an axe?"

Is Lem dead? You mean the guy who volunteered to be Scoutmaster to impress the girl? There are still tons of guys like that. What you need are single girls that would be impressed by Lem.

Quote, "Mountains usually look the same, and magnetic north doesn't shift". Actually, magnetic north does shift. Declination in my area has "officially" changed by more than a degree since I was a kid. The history of the Earth shows that the poles have actually flipped more than once. For fun with your scouts, go to the web page below. You can put in your zip code and a date and it will tell you the map declination. http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/struts/calcDeclination

Some bugles have pretty small (diameter) mouthpieces, which makes it harder for the boy. A trumpet sized mouthpiece is better than too small of a piece. http://www.usregulationbugle.com http://www.instrumentalsavings.com - try this for an inexpensive bugle http://www.grothmusic.com

Some National parks have bear vault requirements. Not just in their use but in which models are approved. Seems in some parks, the bears have figured out how to open certain brands up. Always check before going. You might check now and purchase the one approved in most places. You put your food in them, seal them up, and lay them some 100 yards from camp or so. Hopefully, in the morning, it's still around there somewhere. Attaching stuff to trees gives bears leverage to bash things open. Regarding the tasty morsels in the tents, backpacking in bear country is why scouts absolut

Which is why I don't get my knives from Walmart or Cabelas.

I'm a food snob and prefer to eat well while car camping, backpacking or at home (my belly shows I eat well - to that end, for backpacking, I will often dehydrate good leftovers to make into a fine stew or other meal. Dehydrated taco meat, pulled pork or shredded chicken can be used in a ton of recipes, and provide real meat instead of small meat like chunks of whatever. Eggs last longer than many people realize. Lots of countries don't refrigerate eggs. You can coat eggs with vasoline to make them last longer. I've carried cream cheese, hummus, regular cheese for long weekends, in July