Hal_Crawford

Getting the straight answers is difficult in part because BSA does an awful job of writing policy. In the G2SS they often fail to clearly define their terms and they often use the word "should" when they may mean "must". They use the word "guidelines" when they probably mean "rules". Sort of like the Pirate's code from Pirates of the Caribbean... "its actually more of a guideline". What is "backcountry" or "wilderness"? When does a "hike" become a "trek"? G2SS uses these terms but does not clearly define them. Like the congressman who said he couldn't define porn but he knew it w

I not sure our CO, a Baptist church knew that we had a White Lightning patrol. Hal

Looking at the AWB it does not appear that the M1 qualified as an "assault weapon". The ban's definition was that it be: Semi automatic (it is) Have a detachable magazine (it does) and that it have TWO of the following: Folding or telescoping stock (no) Pistol grip (no) flash suppressor (no) Bayonet lug (yes) Grenade launcher (unless fitted with an M7 grenade launcher-no). A bayonet lug by itself does not make an assault weapon. IF the M1 is considered an assault weapon it is at least in part because it can fire a rifle grenade. There were some variants of the M1

Our troop had about 16 members, over half of them in the 14-15 age range. We just bridged 8 scouts increasing our size by 50%. Before they arrived the PLC decided to put them in a NSP. The new scouts have arrived and a couple of things happened. Two parents told the SM that their boys had chosen our troop they didn't want to in a NSP (don't know why they thought we wouldn't do that) and the older scouts realized that this has a lot of uncontrolled energy and enthusiasm and as a patrol they might go thermonuclear, and oh yeah, none of the scouts really wanted to be the Troop Guide responsib

Firedog: Getting the boy to change his socks, or any of his clothes is the real challenge. We advise scouts to pack five days worth of clothes in five separate zip lock bags. That way, when they come home they can put four clean sets of clothes back in their drawers ;-) Truth is the scout might change clothes/socks when they become miserable. Maybe, just maybe he will know better the next time or maybe the time after that... The soldiers that landed on D-Day wore the same clothes (impregnated with something impermeable to protect from gas) for 3 or 4 weeks. I guess the scouts

Apparently Clinton did not have enough confidence in what he was seeing or saying to stage an invasion of Iraq... or perhaps he believed it but had enough sense to deal with it through other means. Once upon a time Saddam had WMD, that is well known as he used poison gas on the Kurds. The Israeli air force blew is nuclear program to kingdom come years ago. But it was not clear that he had them in the 90's or since. Even if he did, that was not enough justification to invade. If it were we would have invaded Korea, Pakistan, Iraq, India, Israel, Russia, Ukraine... And because Bush an

No, everyone didn't believe he had WMD. In my area there were a lot of people who were really skeptical. Who lives in my area? Foreign service officers, Pentagon officers and people who work "for the government". There was a lot of head shaking at neighborhood parties in the winter and spring of '03. Bush's administration cherry picked intelligence to justify the war. Hussein was not a nice man. No sh*t! But he was contained. He was no more dangerous than Kim Jung Il or the folks in Iran. People who are probably more of a threat now because we have been stretched thin by waging a two

Brent: Did it bother you when President Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction? Many like to harp about Clinton and Monica but at least he didn't start a war in the process. What about 6 years of budgets that didn't include the war? That was being honest with the American people? No bid contracts, Blackwater, Guantanamo, rendition, waterboarding, Abu Ghraib... the list goes on. In the days after September 11 the entire world was on our side. The entire country was ready to stand with our president and bring the guilty to justice. Bush pissed that all away by abandoning our

Well said, Skeptic. Hal

Consider what other activities his troop will do in the (relatively short) life of these shoes/boots. If they do a lot of hiking then I would lean toward light hikers instead of sneakers. We just had a brand new crossover do a 5 mile backpacking trip with us, his first campout with the troop. We would not have allowed him to go if he was only wearing sneakers. What about mud? I've seen sneaks that have been totally submerged in mud, not a pretty sight especially if it is the only pair of shoes the scout has for a week at camp. Frankly, I would recommend a pair of boots AND a pair of

It depends on a couple of things. First, how old are you? You need to be a 1st class scout for four (4) months before you can earn Star; you have to be a Star scout for 6 months before you can earn Life and you have to be a Life scout for 6 months before you can earn Eagle. That is a year and four months from your 1st class BOR. If you are older than 16 years 8 months then you can make it to Life but not Eagle. Assuming that you are not too old to have time before your 18th birthday, the second question is how badly do you want to do this? It is a lot of work, you will have to be a

The activity shirt is marked down at Scoutstuff.org from $18.99 to $5.99 and it is only available in Small. Sort of screams "discontinued merchandise".

Eisely: I missed the Oscars this year. Did someone denounce "homophobic boy scouts"? Hal

From G2SS Part III-Camping "Pack Overnighters These are pack-organized overnight events involving more than one family from a single pack, focused on age-appropriate Cub Scout activities and conducted at council-approved locations (councils use Pack Overnighter Site Approval Form, No. 13-508). If nonmembers (siblings) participate, the event must be structured accordingly to accommodate them. BSA health and safety and youth protection guidelines apply. In most cases, each youth member will be under the supervision of a parent or guardian. In all cases, each youth participant is respo

1 ODL long sleeve with patches 1 ODL short sleeve with patches 1 pair ODL pants 2 pair ODL shorts 2 pair Switchbacks (pre-centennial) 1 scout web belt 1 tooled leather belt with Goshen Scout Reservation 35th anniversary buckle. More scout socks than I can count as I got all my son's when he aged out. No neckers or uniform hats as our troop doesn't wear them. I plan to buy at least one centennial shirt before summer, probably short sleeve. Don't know what I'll use the Technology pocket for as I don't smoke and don't take my ipod camping ;-) I just got 3 green custo

I saw it last night; excellent film; very moving.

We do a similar investiture. With the lights out, the new scouts are brought blindfolded into the room. Once in place the blindfolds are removed by the PL or SPL. On a table there is a log with 15 candles, three represent duty to Self, God and Country and the remaining 12 for the points of the Scout Law. The candles are lit as each is explained. The SM asks the scouts if they understand the Oath and Law and if there is any reason they cannot live by them. The log has been used for nearly 65 years and the SM usually makes a point of saying that all scouts of our troop have stood before th

Ours just arrived too. They look great.

Wait a minute, you guys drive to scout camp? Is that really what Baden Powell had in mind? A clear breakdown of the patrol method! Shame! I blame Woodbadge! Seriously, I don't know the lat/long but I was surprised to find out that Goshen Scout Reservation is one of the preprogrammed locations in my Garmin GPS (nuvie 200, a pretty bare bones model). A number of local church campgrounds that we use are also preprogrammed. In fact, just about every camping area I have looked for was already in there. They are all under the "lodging" menu. The only one that I have field verified is Ca

Does everyone here use Long/Lat? UTM seems a better choice for land navigation.

Would anyone give it a second thought if the same boys were working as counselors at summer camp? As long as age requirements for specific activities (climbing for instance) are met then you should be good to go.

Good point Stosh. Shenandoah National Park limits backpacking parties to 10 on a permit. I suspect a lot of other national parks set similar standards in the interest of LNT.

I'm confused, the boy is a Webelo 1, meaning he is fourth grade, right? He is too advanced for Webelos and the leaders (by this I presume pack leaders) think he would strive in Boy Scouts but those same leaders do not feel he has earned AOL? First thing that you as CM needs to do is read the requirements to join Boy Scouts. "Meet age requirements. Be a boy who is 11 years old, or one who has completed the fifth grade or earned the Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old, but is not yet 18 years old". If he is a Webelos 1 he is probably not 11, he may not even be 10 and

Our district has a Vietnamese troop and the SM likes to show a picture of a tower built when he was a scout. It was at a camporee in Viet Nam in 1964. This wasn't your typical tower but rather a bamboo replica of the Eiffel Tower. I kid you not, the thing was at least 50' tall and had more than twenty scouts standing on it. He said the base was made of four deciduous logs forming a pyramid but the rest was bamboo. Amazing. And think about doing this in a war zone. Gave me pause to think about what became of the rest of the scouts.

No punishment for being out of uniform just fewer points for scout and his patrol. I know a leader who held a year long uniform competition. The SM was a lawyer and had a client who ran a limo service. The client wanted to do something to support his lawyers troop so.... the winning patrol went on a camp out in a limo loaned by the client. A bit over the top for sure but the scouts got into the competition and they were a well uniformed troop, at least for that year. We expect scouts in full uniform for for SMCs and BORs, CoHs, our annual banquet, and at camp for flags and evening mea