Eagle732

Why do you want these particular patches?

Im at the station working today and it just so happens that we had 4 hours of EMT refresher. After the class I asked the instructor to review the Wilderness First Aid book and asked if our EMT certification meets the WFA standard. The opinion was that EMT far exceeds the WFA material cover in the WFA Basic book which is the minimum standard required by Philmont. Also I posed this hypothetical situation to the instructor; Im with a crew in Philmont (or anywhere else) along with a certified WFA individual and there is an accident with serious injuries. Who is legally responsible for the patient?

So I see that high adventure camps are now requiring at least one crew member to have Wilderness First Aid certification. A friend with no previous first aid training took the16 hour long, $90 course and is now good to go to Philmont this summer. Now Im all for training, in fact Im on our districts training team, and I believe that you can never have enough training to prepare for an emergency. Ive been a firefighter/EMT for over 30 years, the last 25 with a major metropolitan fire department. So what Im wondering is why doesnt BSA accept EMT as sufficient training in place of Wilderness First

We should try to provide as safe an environment as possible for our Scouts. If this means asking the rest of the troop to go without peanut butter, posting ingredients, and knowing what to do in case of an allergic reaction than so be it. The scout and his parents also have the responsibility to check foods and make everyone aware of his condition. For the past 3 years I have been the Safety Director for our districts Cub Scout Day Camp which hosts over 500 scouts. I have reviewed medical forms from these scouts and you would be amazed at the number with severe allergies and other serious cond

I asked my 11 y.o. son what bullying means to him. He says Bullies are kids who are bigger than you and are mean to you or push you around. Some kids are bullies some times but one kid (on our troop) is mean a lot

Calico You are correct, cheerful service. I was kidding about doing it for nothing:)I hope the Scouts today get it, sometimes I wonder. I'm a SM for a troop that happens to be located just a few minutes drive from that same camp. We adopted a camp site and do one work weekend a year there prior to the camp opening for the season.

Calico You mean I spent an entire weekend giving service to my local scout camp for no reason! Than was almost 35 years ago and I still remember that weekend. It just seems to me we diminish the meaning when we make it easier to achieve.

Ive been a firefighter for 25 years for a large metropolitan department.

Im a new Scoutmaster (4 months now) who took over a troop in decline, with a lot of problems including some you have described. I have come to accept that what was done before I took over is already done, water under the bridge so to speak and there is not much I can do about it. However, I have made it very clear that I am a by the book kind of guy and that is how our troop is run today. The OA thing, there isnt much you can do about it. Maybe just let the SM know who has made the camping trips for future elections. Little or no POR work can be a problem in troops. The troop leadership ne

There are a lot of new ideas out there in reference to lightweight backpacking that would benifit Scouting but many are stuck with in the old days. I doubt that I would have taken up backpacking again if it meant carrying a 50 lb pack again. I'm working with my troop to get them to go lighter. Freezerbag cooking and making their own backpacking meals from grocery store items, alcohol soda can stoves, are just a few ways. Home made gear can be part of the solution too but mainly it's just buying the right gear.

How much weight should a scout carry on a backpacking trip? Do you set a weight limit by % of body weight of the scout? What equipment can a scout buy that will lower his pack weight without breaking the bank?

Maybe that should be another thread. How much weight should a scout carry amd how to get to that limit or less without spending a lot of money?

I've backpacked hundreds of miles in trailrunning shoes without the ankle support problems you mention. The only negative is that I only get about 500 miles from a pair. A good heel cup and proper fit create a stable platform. Trail running requires a shoe that keeps the foot stable over a wide range of conditions. I would not recommend them for heavy backpacking of say 40 or more lbs. If your scouts are carrying that kind of load than go with the heavy boots but they won't enjoy themselves as much as if the were carrying a 20 lb. pack and going greater distances with more comfort. I remember

If your looking for ideas on backpacking gear for new scouts check out this site: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/boy_scout_gear_list.html I copy this article and give it to all my new scouts. They also have a Philmont gear list that recommends more appropriate equipment for high adventure. As far as boots go scouts might consider a high quality trail running shoe with a stiff sole. I've put many miles on a pair of Montrail trail runners while backpacking the AT with no problems. They are lighter than full boots (a pound on the foot is eaqual to 5 in the pack)

This is a very, very sad. The troop lost a scout (at east one, don't know if the brothers were in the troop too but they were old enough to be) and a Scoutmaster. I live in the area where this happened and this story has had non-stop media coverage all week. Most of the times they mention he was a scout, one story said he was one interiew (BOR?)away from Eagle. The community and especially the local Scouting community is devistated over this. What a waste.

Lisabob, I agree. Our Scout that did one 6 month term as Librarian and thinks he's done for his Eagle requirement will be asked to be an Instructor and be responsible for teaching basic Scout Skills one meeting a month and will also help teach the new Scouts. In an earlier post I asked if this could be addressed under the Scout Spirit requirment. If a Scout is asked to take a possition and declines for no other reason than he feels he has met the requirement and doesn't need to do anymore then it would be my opinion that he is not living up to the Scout Law, specically being Loyal and Hel

Should one 6 month term (held before I was SM) as Librarian with little or no responsibility count as the POR for Eagle? Technically I think so, but should it? What if the same Scout was asked to hold another term in a more responsible possition such as ASPL because there was no one else available and his response was "I'm not good at that leadership stuff"? Would you address this under the Scout Spirit requirement?

Class of 1971, Baltimore Area Council, currently a Scoutmaster. Have you though of joining the National Eagle Scout Association? They are currently trying to document every Eagle Scout, for more information go to: http://www.nesa.org/misc/essearch.html

Thanks to everyone for your help. I've decided on the standard Timberline 4 man tent. At 7lbs. 13 oz. it averages to 2 lbs. 8ozs if the weight is divided by three. I plan on 3 Scouts per tent during backpacking trips only, the rest of the time they will sleep 2 per tent. This seems to be the best compromise. The 2 man Timberline would average almost 3 lbs. when divided by two Scouts for backpacking and would be too small for our older Scouts. Thanks again!

Does BSA have a square footage per Scout standard for tents? Gotta love that REI warrenty. I've bought from them for years and never had a problem with them taking care of a problem.

Our troop needs to buy new tents so I'd like some input on what type, brand and size tent you use. What do you consider when buying tents? I'm thinking a tent big enough for 2 and maybe 3 if we have an odd number of Scouts would be a good size. Price is a consideration but I'm willing to spend as much as is needed for quality tents. Weight is also a consideration since we have 2 backpacking trips planned this year. At least a 3 season tent is needed since we camp all year and it gets cold here in MD during the winter. So what type of tent do you use and why?

sst3rd, Our troop is blessed with a core group of parents who hold the various adult positions. We have a very supportive committtee and our COR who has held the SM job several times over the years has been a big help. It sounds like pizza at at troop meeting might be the reward for winning the patrol compitition along with some type of trophy. It helps that one of our Eagles from years ago ownes the local pizza shop!

Thanks for the advice. I'm new at this and need all the help I can get! The money idea is something I was not inclined to do but was wondering if anyone else was doing. I'm still trying to find ways to increase attendance and membership in the troop. Reading these forums has given me some great ideas. Our troop has had declining membership for the last few years going from about 30 active boys to about 13. Lack of program and recruiting is the big reason for this. The program was not much, mostly car camping and nothing planned for troop meetings so goofing off was the usual activity. The Patr

We've been looking at some type of patrol compitition too on a quarterly basis. I didn't know about the idea being in an old Scoutmaster's handbook but since I have most of them I'll look it up. Just wondering about the reward for winning. Thoughts have been anywhere from money (maybe $5 - $10 to each scout to his account) to a trophy passed from winning patrol to patrol. One thought was to allow the winning patrol to assign 1 task that they need to do such as doing their dished during a camping trip or latrine duty at summer camp to another patrol. Do you think this would work?

In our troop the Star and higher Scouts sign off on First Class and below requirements. I'm sure there is a lot of "did it once so sign me off" going on. Since I just took over as SM last month I'm looking at how to change this. Got any ideas anyone? Do the SM and SAs check off requirements in most troops or do the Scouts do it? I think somewhere slightly less than #3 or reasonably proficient is what I would be looking for.