Gold Winger

You need to go back to Anthro 101. Humans are not apes. Assuming that you are human, we are primates. However, we are hominids, of the family Hominidae and apes are not, they are of Pongidae. Bit of a difference.

"That appears to cover the issue of firearms, the other item to address is the need for sheath knives." There are no rules prohibiting sheath knives.

Ed, That would be true if getting merit badges wasn't as important as it currently is. If the idea behind summer camp was to have fun, explore and try new things, dining halls wouldn't be needed. However . . .

I just received this. . . May 14, 2008 To: Scout Executives From: Mark L. Dama Director, Insurance and Risk Management Subject: Unauthorized and Restricted Activities Risk Management and Health and Safety have received several inquiries as to whether paintball and laser tag are authorized Scouting activities. Per the Guide to Safe Scouting, "The following activities have been declared unauthorized and restricted by the Boy Scouts of America . . . Pointing any type of firearm (including paintball, dye, or lasers) at any individual is unauthorized. " Over the last several years, we have learned of three serious eye injuries that have taken place on Scouting outings in which paintball was one of the activities. Be aware of the following alert, which soon will be posted on the Scouting Safely area of Scouting.org: Paintball is prohibited in Scouting! Paintball poses a significant risk of injury, especially among children. In contrast to other Scouting activities involving firearms, the object of paintball is to fire a pellet at a speed of at least 300 feet per second at another human. A paintball that hits the body may produce a mere sting or welt, but a paintball that strikes an eyeball can cause severe injury to the eye and even blindness. The Consumer Product Safety Commission noted three deaths between 2002 and 2005 from paintball gun equipment. At the request of the Risk Management Advisory Panel, the Health and Safety Committee is working to establish guidelines for laser tag activities, including and not limited to indoor commercial facilities. The guidelines will become part of the Guide to Safe Scouting.

Position patches are the same but the "trained" patch has gone stealth. "2. The material is a bad choice. I would like to see a ripstop cotton nylon blend. The current material feels to me like I have nothing on." There is a new cotton/poly pants for the new uniform as an alternative to the flimsy nylon. I don't care for the mesh pockets of the switch backs. Keys and such tend to get stuck in the mesh. I don't need breathing pockets.

"Venturers have SPRUCE green shoulder loops, boy scouts have FOREST green shoulder loops and RED shoulder loops. Totally different!" What if it is a spruce forest?

A non-firing replica might be a good alternative. Schools might be problem unless you get permission from the administration because in the minds of many sheeple, toy guns = real guns. http://www.by-the-sword.com/acatalog/Americana_and_Western_Rifle_Replicas.html http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/denix-replica-rifles-winchester-rifle-1111.html Another option would be to get an inexpensive .22 lever action and have a gunsmith deactivate it by plugging the barrel and drilling a hole in the receiver. BTW, for most purposes "gun with firing pin = gun without firing pin," at least when dealing with ATF or the police. (This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

Well they could always go with a nehru collar or a Mandarin collar, those might be more to your liking. :-)

Don't know about OA rules but someone gave you bad gouge about the ammo. The .32 WCF is also known as .32-20 and is a popular cartridge in cowboy shooting. http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/cfrdetail.aspx?symbol=X32201&cart=MzItMjAgV2luY2hlc3Rlcg== Of course if you have an original 1892, you'd probably want to think twice before firing it with modern ammo.

The collar looks the same to me. You must have problems wearing an open collared shirt.

The entire BSA uniform could be described as a "BCU" for the younger fellows. On the other hand, I was in an airport wearing my uniform (with knee socks) and I was dragged off to an empty lounge by the Laker Girls where they had their way with me. Then a really strange thing happened, I woke up and found myself in my bed. Don't know how I got there . . .

Call me strange but back in my day, we behaved because we had no other options. "Behave or you mother gets a call and you get to go home" works for me.

"True, but science is in the schools(where it does in fact have a place)" Why? Only because the priests of Science have infiltrated the legislatures and the school boards. Science only works because you have to use tools developed by their clergy when "doing Science."

I like the knee socks :-( As Tevye said, "tradition" that and if people actually wore them in the field, they'd keep critters off your legs. I doubt if the new "cool" uniform will prompt many Scouts to want to wear their uniform to school. Scouting will still be considered dorky, no matter what the uniform is like. I suppose that I'd better get down to the Scout shop and pick up a couple pairs of knee socks while I still can.

Shirts need pockets but if you want a bellows pocket, make it big enough so that it is practical and doesn't look like . . . a bosom.

In the last edition of the Scoutmaster Handbook says that once a Scout is certified by the BOR that he should receive his patch ASAP, usually at the next troop meeting and later recognized at a formal COH. By extension, that gives us three times UNLESS we leave the Scout hanging after the BOR. "Okay Johnny, we'll let you know at the next troop meeting." If you tell the Scout that he's advancing, that the first time. Give the patch, that's number two. COH, number three. Unless, of course, the COH and troop meeting are the same event.

"So something that Unit level Scouters should do is detailed in a publication aimed at district and council level Scouters that happen to sit on the Advancement Committee? Am I the only one that thinks this is odd? " That's a publication for unit Scouters. Myabe they told us that at Scoutmaster school. I know that it was written somewhere otherwise I wouldn't have change out troop procedures to work that way.

I don't see what the big deal was with red patches. We've had them almost forever. A subdued number patch makes no sense with a brightly colored rank/position/CSP. Buttons dorky? That's a new one by me. Velcro? Don't care for it as it collects lint and makes noise when you undo it. I agree with the others on the silly pockets. The front are too small to really be practical as bellows pockets. My M65 field jacket has pockets big enough to stick a paperback book into. That's a nice sized bellows pocket. I'd also like to see a pair of grown-up pants for those of us who don't spend much time in the woods and have no need for zip offs. Cap? Okay, fine. Socks, nothing special or unique there. Shoulder loops? Will venturing get a new color loop? If we wear our old shirt should we get new loops and a new troop number? I wouldn't have cried if they had dispensed with the epaulettes and the loops. Alas, no one asked me. :-(

I've always heard that we're supposed to recognize a Scout three times. (ducking and running!) I believe that's in the Advancement Policies and Procedures Handbook.

Grits? Never saw the purpose. Corn bread, corn muffin, corn cake? Okay. Ground up corn, boiled and soaked with butter. Not for me. My breakfast is a Slim Jim and a cup o' Joe. As for the rules thing . . . I've found that "membership" organizations are big on secret publications. Also, the whole "membership" idea is a farce, just like a gym. We aren't members, we're customers. We have no say in the operation. We don't elect anyone to a position. The employees run everything and have the power. Maybe if we could see the rules, we'd learn that the man behind the curtain isn't so great and wonderful afterall.

Dang!

" the troop numbers are green on khaki," The went camping and played outdoors with white on red of many, many years. Don't see why they changed. :-(

I thought that you were involved with a program for youth from the local community. That might be why most of the answers are about kids and medication.

I wonder if the new uniform will be made in China.

Not mention a new revenue stream for National since all of the old uniforms on ebay will be outdated. :-(