allangr1024

I have a dilemma here. By the charts I am overweight for my height. My heaviest should be around 207, but I am 210. I also have diabetes. For some reason I do not lose weight as I exercise. The disease goes in and out of control due to something my doctor calls Insulin Resistance. I don't overeat. My wife sees to that. But is is extremely hard for me to lose the pounds.

I went to Philmont in 2005. I went down from 210 to 202. Everyone else in the crew was dropping 20 or more pounds, but not me.

Two years ago I started to walk to work. It is a 3 and a half mile walk from my house to my work, and for 4 days per week I walk it to and fro. It is a good time to listen to audible books on my mp3 player, as well as scouting pod casts. This has made me a good hiker, and I find a good walking pace comes easily now. But I do not lose weight.

It is discouraging because I will not pass the weight limits the BSA is imposing, and I see no way around the limits. I probably would not be permitted to do Philmont or the other high adventure bases, and I foresee the day when regular summer camps will do the same.

When I brought my sons to our troop, i noted a practice that I did not remember. In my youth in the 70's, our meetings were about playing games and practicing putting up army style pup tents. My sons meetings revolved around merit badge classes. The troop would appoint one of the adult scouters to do the Physical Fitness badge, or the Citizenship in the Nation badge. All the scouts had to do was sit in the class, listen to the adult, answer a few questions at the end of the class (usually asked to everyone, as long as someone gave the correct answer the class passed on it), and receive the badge at the next COH.

Since then I became SM, and I immediately stopped this practice. It was born from one of the Eagle Mill troops that always boasts 50 Eagles per year. But as I read the literature about the merit badge program, the scouts are supposed to do merit badges OUTSIDE of the troop. They contact a councilor. They meet with him and do the requirements as he directs. They bring the signed cards back to the troop for recording. It puts more responsibility on the scouts themselves to earn the badges. I think that is why I did not get to Eagle. I got most of my badges at summer camp, and they were the outdoor badges hard to get otherwise.

I do not think our council maintains a good MBC list anymore. The list I get has a lot of people who don't live in the area anymore. I have to find people myself to teach stuff. That is the big difference in the program I see from 40 years ago.

Want to cut down on 13 year old Eagles, do two things: do away with earning merit badges in troop meetings, and don't let dads teach their own sons.

Man, that is moving. It is amazing to see something like that come from where it is not expected. I would like to do a Scoutmaster minute out of it. I don't think anyone will notice that it is 7 minutes long. My boys comment on my 10 minute scoutmaster minutes as it is.

Are you not just postponing the inevitable? If you don't have new scouts coming into a troop, where are you going to get new venturers to join a venture crew. You are going to have to recruit from the scout troops around.

Our crews around our area are hurt when the scout troops around are under sized, just as our scout troops are hurt when the cub dens are under sized. It is a viscous cycle.

Well, the scoutmaster handbook says "Each time Scouts are formed into a new group, whether it is a new patrol or a patrol leaders' council, the Scoutmaster must evaluate the skills, abilities, and morale level of the newly formed group, then provide direction, coaching, and support based on that evaluation."

So where is this guy? Any coaching going on? any direction provided? Why has ejkelehan and his ASM's had to meet with this SPL? Maybe someone evaluating, coaching, and directing could implant some vision into the kid, or convince him to step down and let the ASPL take his place, since it sounds like the ASPL is doing the work anyway.

Part of the problem described is choosing the candidates for a leadership position. Two ideas I have heard may be helpful. The first is that the troop chooses the ASPL, who will then be trained by the SPL so that he can succeed him at the next election cycle, when a new ASPL will be choosen.

The second idea is this. PLs are chosen by the patrols. When it comes time to elect an SPL, the list of candidates comes from the PLs who have done their jobs for at least 2 months. That way the whole troop can choose between two experienced leaders.

You still need someone at the helm. The process is not well defined in the scouting literature, so that units can explore methods that may work for them.

So I have a troop of 8 boys, and I have struggled to get even 2 new scouts per year. In my area of the country, the schools are not favorable to us. Our troop is in the middle of two school districts. One will not allow any scouting organization to come on their campus. The other district has a bunch of administrative hurdles and rules. At elementary schools they can do one rally event per year, so the cub packs get that. Last year for the first time the district director got permission to set up a booth in the cafeteria at the ninth grade center, and then at the eighth grade center, He collected interest/survey cards the students had filled out and made them available to us scoutmasters. Most of the Ninth grader cards were filled out by girls. I went through the cards from the eighth graders, called the 30 or so names, still found nine or ten girls, got three to come visit our open house, and recruited one.

Kudu, how the heck do you get in to the schools. We could not get to speak to the sixth graders, our prime age category. Put on a show during assembly, forget about it.

I have also not been able to do Den Chiefs. Of our scouts, most have parents who work, and so the scouts do not have transportation to get to after school den meetings. The parents usually put the kibosh on that.

We do 10 tent camps per year, not including summer camp. In August we do a 12 mile canoe trip just for the day. It is hard to justify the extra expense of cabin camping at state parks, and our council does not allow use of scout camp buildings for troops to sleep in. Besides, tent camping is the skill we want to instill.

So, I have a small troop of 8 scouts. We are not associated with a Cub Pack. I need to recruit, and our DE says to recruit at the Webelos Dens, and he gives me a list of the packs with a cubmaster's name and phone and a WDL name and address.

I took an evening and called all the WDL's on the list, and got 3 on the phone. Two said that they would bring their boys over for a visit, and one said he would send the parents an email to the parents, saying that they should visit our troop. I left messages on the phones of the folks I missed. Did not get a return call.

The two dens came for a visit, and our boys lead them in some games. I talked to the leaders, who said that they usually fed their boys to the big troop down the street. The webelos scouts seemed to have a good time.

So, at this point, is it advisable to call these leaders and "invite" myself to their ceremonies, or is there some other way to get in front of these cub scouts and ask them to join. We could do a campout with Cub visitors in the sprint, but I am afraid the crossing over cubs will be crossed over by then. And how do I ask them.

I do not think there is very good coordination between the Cub Scout program and the Boy Scout program. You Webelos Leaders, what is the best way for a scoutmaster to approach you? How did the Pack/Troop relationship come about? What would you do with a guy like me?

I have a uniform shirt from the 1960's that I wear every now and again to show the boys what they looked like (No shoulder bars? weird!) But I do not have any scout pants from that era. Did they have the red piping around the pockets like the youth sized pants had? I also remember a scoutmaster tie or bolo that our revered scoutmaster, Mr Reynolds, wore to every meeting. Do they still sell those?

I use an Osprey Atmos 35 as a day pack, and have used it on an overnight backpacking trip. I like it, since it is comfortable and seems to be well thought out. It has a good waist belt, can distribute weight very nicely, and has several bells and whistles.

My only problem with my model is that it zips open on the back side. I have twice had the nylon material around the zipper tear away from the pack, and start to shred. But Osprey will fix this kind of stuff if you send the pack to them for a few weeks.

I would like to get a larger backpacking model and see how it works on a trek of several days.

One thing I have learned about scout skills is this: If the boys don't have to use them, they lose them. Can't tie a taught line hitch? The kid never needs to. When I was a young scout, we had to use army pup tents. Those only stayed up if the lines were properly tied. If not, we woke to a tent fallen in on us.

I think we scouters need to find uses for these skills around the camp, and make it the normal procedure to use them. Are the patrols required to put up a patrol rain fly or tarp? What knots are used. Do the patrols rotate the scouts on chores like fire building and patrol cooking? Why not. Can we do some sort of first aid skills relay in troop meetings? Can we add the line rescue to our yearly scout swim test, so the boys can refresh their memory? Do we require patrols to construct a camp gadget in their campsites?

If a scout learns something when he is 11 and then never sees it again until he is 16, of course he will not know how to do it. I would not either. We have to find a way to review, and since we are playing a game with a purpose, we can find ways to make it fun, can't we.

I have been camping in a hammock since 2004. I started out with a Marina mesh hammock. I found this guys website (http://mormonsite.wordpress.com/camping-in-a-hammock/) and followed his method to the wire. I did this summer and winter, down to temps of 10 degrees F. I love camping in a hammock. I shudder at the thought of the condition of my back if I have to go to ground again.

I now have a Hennessey hammock that I bought on Ebay for $50.00. From that source I have also purchased the Hennessey Hex Fly, and a Thermorest pad to put in the hammock for insulation.

I would suggest that you also add to the hammock a good tarp or rain fly for rainy weather. Get one that amply covers the hammock. The stock rain cover that comes with my Hennessey is not large enough. That is why I got the larger Hex Fly. I have seen the Kelty Noah rain fly, and like the size of the 12 foot model. I am not a fan of Eno models that are shaped strangely. Even a regular plastic tarp is ok, although the weight will be significant. I once used a piece of Tyvek insulation covering. It worked and the weight was acceptable, but when the wind hit it, it was loud, like paper blowing in the wind.

Buy the tree straps too. It is easier to use tree straps to connect the hammock to the tree than to be using a rope on the tree, and the rope can damage the bark.

Last, investigate the Hennessey snake skins for packing up the hammock. I thought it was a dumb idea at first, but I saw some used, and it really did make packing and unpacking a lot simpler and easier. When the hammock is packed up this way, it can be wrapped around the outside of any backpack for backpacking. I think anyone can make a set of these "skins" with a sowing machine.

And if you have not found http://www.hammockforums.net yet, go there and find out more about it than you ever thought possible.

Yep, that is about the way our troop looks on any camping trip. And I marvel at the skill of this scoutmaster. If only ours was as cool under pressure and knowledgeable of scoutcraft as this one is.

Barry,

Our troop was camping this weekend in Cleveland, OK. I almost missed the earthquake. The wind on Saturday was so strong there that when the quake happened, we thought it was just a strong gust. It explained the train sound that my wife says she heard at home in Tulsa. Monday's quake happened when we were sitting watching TV. I felt that one for sure.

BTW, don't say that stuff about the volcano too loud. This is Oklahoma, after all. As you know, in this place, anything goes. So, I figure we should not tempt the powers that be with any more "novel" natural conditions.

I started using a hammock after I saw this article:

http://mormonsite.wordpress.com/camping-in-a-hammock/

I got the Marina double web hammock and set up just the way this guy did. I got a good pad to put under my sleeping bag and a regular tarp for the rainfly. The other scouters at the time (around 2004) chuckled and smurked when they saw what I was camping in.

But, I remember one night we got caught in a storm. My son and I (both above the ground) were the only ones dry in the morning. The only drops that landed on me were the ones that bounced up off the ground.

Now I use an older Hennessey Expedition 2.5 that I bought off of EBAY. I bought a large Hennessey sil-nylon tarp because the original diamond shaped one was too small. I did get wet when I used it in a rainstorm.

Since I use a pad under me, I do have room to turn over on my side to sleep. With the right pillow, it is a snap. I use one of those curved pillows that you can halfway wrap around your neck. I don't sleep on my stomach so that is not an issue. My back no longer bothers me in camp when I get up in the mornings.

The pad is sufficient to keep me warm down to 20 degrees. I use a Thermarest ridgerest. This is about the worst here in Oklahoma. We went winter camping in Kansas once, and the temp got down to 10 degrees. I could feel the heat departing underneath me. I had to get up and lay a coat and other clothing under the sleeping bag, and that got me through the night. In those extremes, I would get a hammock under quilt, or rig something similar, to keep the warmth under me.

My only complaint is that you must lay out the sleeping bag in just about the perfect position just before you get into the hammock. Once your back is in the hammock, stuff under you, the pad and bag, are pretty much pinned, and it is very difficult to adjust the position of the bag to zip it up or anything else. It makes me not want to answer the call of nature in the middle of the night, thinking about the difficulty of getting everything back into position and laid out "just right".

But that is a small price to pay for the comfort I have in camp and the good nights sleep I get. I use a hammock, and I will never look back.

Gunny is right about Philmont's views on tents. They told us that tents are required for protection from bears. That is the reason for NO hammock camping up there. I am a hammock camper, and was disappointed.

On our first day we did some exercises in getting ourselves grouped together in case we ever saw a bear. Our campsites were laid out with bear protection in mind. And we had to shed all "smellables" in a 20 foot high bear bag every night. In fact the only things we put in our tents were sleeping bags and cloths to jump into in the morning. That year we did not see a bear. But in dry summers, I hear that the bears come down and look for food in the camp sites.

We brought everything we took on the trail except the tarp. We did use a Philmont supplied tarp, and that was there to store the packs under (bear protection again).

As a Scoutmaster, I would take the facebook postings and definitely sit down with the scout in question. We should remember that conferences cover a bunch of different topics and circumstances. Boards of Review are about advancement. I sit down with my scouts at least once per year, whether they are advancing or not. SM Conferences are about all things Scouting, which someone here has rightly said, about everyday life.

So if I see a disagreeable posting on Facebook, or anywhere else, I think it is within my sphere of influence to have a SM conference with the scout to discuss and remedy the situation. The conference is about a relationship, not about advancement per se.

Who knows, I may be doing the boy a favor. If I, in my decrepit old age, (I am older than dirt, after all) can find this stuff, then the kid may be in trouble later with schools, employers, police, etc. I would be showing him that the eyes of the world are on him. I may be able to turn the boy around and prevent a youthful "error" from following him his whole life.

As I recall, in the late 1970's or early 1980's, a scout found a plant that looked like the drawing in the handbook, made a meal of it, and got poisoned. The BSA had to axe the requirement from the program because the plant in question was hard to identify as poisonous, and a liability issue arose. I remember making a stew out of roots and plants when I was a boy, and I hate to see this kind of stuff happen. It is a sign of the times.

Many will rage against the BSA as cowards, but I also remember the wave of court cases the BSA faced over scoutmasters who molested their scouts. The BSA was almost sued out of existence, and had to take legal steps to keep from disappearing from the American scene. The result is the 2 deep leadership policy we follow. The rest of the odious policies we carry with us stem from the same source. The lawyers and the suit-happy public out there will try to steal everything not bolted down. (and these policies are the bolts.) It is a sign of the times.

My view is this; It is my job as SM to sign off on the skills. I may delegate the instruction of the skills to an ASM, or an SPL, or even a patrol leader. But I am there to see that the scouts have learned the skill. So I have them demonstrate the skill or explain the information, or whatever.

I view the camp staff as people who I can delegate the instruction to. It is still my job to see to it that the skill is learned. I like to meet with the scout the next week and go over the list I get from the camp. If the scout meets the requirement, great, his book is signed. After that it is up pt me to see that the skill is used, either in camp or in patrol games, or somewhere I can find with an application for the skill.

My CC has given me grief over not just taking the camp records and just signing off the books. No way. I want the scout to know the skill, not just get a requirement marked off. I do not want to die some day because a scout got a first aid requirement marked off instead of learning how to give CPR. (an extreme example, but it plays well with the scouts.) My CC tries to tell me that I am not trusting the camp councilors to do their jobs. At least my CC gets that. I do not trust a college freshman or high school senior who may or may not have been in scouting to advance my scout, who may have been one in a class of 50 6th graders who sat through an single hour class on first aid.

Anyway, our camp councilors do not sign scout handbook requirement pages. They give me a report of the classes the scouts went to. I have sat through some of the classes and I think I can usually trust that if the scout is on the list, he did attend the class. Beyond that, I will see the skills demonstrated.

I would prefer that the scouts read the MB Pamphlet as a start to the badge. But most don't, although they might use it as a reference. When I was a boy I never read them either.

Some I have used are very good. the Pioneering pamphlet is excellent in teaching the subject. Others I have a hard time with. I tried to sit down and read the orienteering book one time in preparation to teaching map and compass. The text was so badly written as to be unreadable. And I was not sure the technical info about map symbols was correct. Sad.

Let me suggest our own council camp, Camp Tom Hale, or Hale Scout Reservation, at Talahina, OK. It has trail to eagle, merit badges (lots of water stuff), dining hall, modern rest rooms and showers, a program called "Outbound" for older scouts tired of merit badge work, a good Philmont practice trail hike called the Bohannon Trail (all uphill both ways, lol). And it is close to Texas. In fact some weeks the majority of troops are from Texas.

We have done a few out of council camps. I liked Ben De La Trour's option of cooking in the camp site. They had not aquatics, but we went to enjoy the cool air of the mountains that year. They had a 12 hour a day chuck wagon demonstration where the dutch ovens were churning out goodies every hour. Very cool camp.

We also went to Camp Constintine in Fort Worth, where aquatics are king. The lake that this camp is on is huge, and the boys had a great time with the water just 10 feet from the tents. We did a proper swimming area with adults to lifeguard and buddy checks and everything. However the camp never did get our merit badge records right.

Good luck.

Our troop here in Oklahoma plans 2 per year. I pretty much tell the PLC they have to work in a fall and a spring backpacking trip. Usually November and March. We are constrained by access to good backpacking trails. Arkansas has loads of them, but at 3 or 4 hours away, it is hard to do more than that. And, like someone else here has said, summer is too hot at 95+ degrees.

Add to that the fact that our scouts want to do a variety of things. We have a campout for skying in Missouri, rocketry, canoe trip, an event called Trappers Rendezvous, Webelos Woods, summer camp... And they should decide.

As scoutmaster, I thoughts on the t-2-1 programs are these: I am responsible for seeing that a scout has the instruction in all of the skills covered in the requirements. I may decide to teach these skills myself, or I may have our SPL or patrol leaders teach the younger scouts, or I may send the scouts to the summer camp classes. But when I sign off on a requirement, I myself, or an ASM, test the scout to see if he can do the skill. If not, then further training or practice is required. I do get a list of the skills taught for each day at camp.

I have learned that a boy in a class of 50 learning a clove hitch may or may not have learned the knot, but he will get credit with the camp councilors for it. The boy may tie the knot once in front of his councilor, but ten minutes later he will have forgotten it. If he does it for me later that week, he will have to freshen his memory of the skill.

I like the final stage of the EDGE method of learning: EMPOWER. To me this means that the scout must actually use the skill and make it a part of his personal skill set. For instance, if he shows me a taught line hitch, I will then send him to put up the dining fly and make sure the lines tied to the stakes are extra taught.

Bottom line, I will not shift the relegate the responsibility to a stranger.

Our troop is failing, due to our lack of recruiting. We are now down to 4 scouts. Neither me (SM) nor our CC, nor any other adult with our troop has seen any training on how to do this, nor have we found much literature (I have read a pamphlet on open houses), nor are any of us recruiting types or professionals (Sales). I would love to have a unit commissioner come work with us.

The problem: I don't think our council or district has any unit commissioners. I have not met any. I have talked to our DE, asking for help, and our District commissioner. But in the 3 years I have been with the troop, the only visitors we have had were the Friends of Scouting fund raiser guys, and the OA election guys.

The DE gave me a list of boys who were Boy Scouts but who did not re-charter. I called them, but did not get any results. The District Commissioner told me to go to the Webolos dens and recruit. Our district list of cub scout leaders was so out of date I could not find many of them. Those I did find, said they were committed to the big troop down the street. No results.

Someone said there are 12 steps to build a troop. Can you elaborate? Is this in a publication? Let me know.

In our troop I give the scouts and families the option of doing their own program or having the troop leaders do it. Since it is all about honoring the Eagle scout, I can go either way.

There is not a set series of elements required in the Eagle ceremony. Anything tasteful is ok as long as the medal gets pinned to the boys uniform at the end of it.

I can recommend the book "The Eagle Court of Honor Book" by Mark Ray. He has examples of lots of different ceremonies you could use. Mark seems to have a sensible approach to the whole thing. I have used two of his entries, slightly adapted for our troop.