jrdalys

'WhatKnot' for iphone; lots of knots with step by step tying instructions. free

I just completed cub day camp as a denleader yesterday. Our council is large enough that each district runs their own camp, but there were some great things done at this particular district's camp (Willamette in Cascade Pacific Council). They insisted that the boys wear the camp provided t-shirts each day. This helped us know which kids were supposed to be there ... but even better, they provided solid color neckerchiefs for each den; a different color for each den. It was AWESOME to be able to easily see 100 feet away where your own boys were, and made doing headcounts a snap. WAY be

For me, one of the major differences between Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts was close order drill. The other differences were uniform inspection, saluting, and 'obeying orders' (from an adult 'officer' or from a senior petty officer). I don't know how common it was with other Sea Scout Ships of the era (early to mid 80s), but Sea Scouts felt like you were in the Navy or Coast Guard. Now my Boy Scout troop on the other hand, was a very relaxed group of guys that went camping once in awhile, happened to wear uniforms, and to whom 'drill' WOULD be the twisty thing you use to make a hole in

I ended up buying the crate lake +20 'regular' bag from REI Outlet - they are selling them at the same price as scout direct, plus included free shipping. Gotta tell ya - GREAT quality for money! Haven't camped in it yet (coming soon...) but already I can see that it is worlds better than the discount store bags for quality. Even the stuff sack is clearly better. One interesting feature I hadn't seen mentioned in product descriptions - the bag has a drawstring at the top...haven't seen that on a rectangular bag before, but I'm sure that will cut down on drafts.

I know that when I was a Sea Scout (mid 80s), the members of the ship mostly carried sheath knives. To be honest, it was not very functional (using hunting knives for marlinspike seamanship...not the right tool for the job), but we did it because we wanted to look 'tough'. It was a bad thing in my opinion...it led to a very dangerous attitude and culture amongst the members of the ship.

Just curious...if the background check turning up a felony isn't enough to keep someone from passing muster with the council, just what WOULD be enough? I know my company won't let me hire anyone if they have even a serious misdemeanor - what is 'too much' for Scouting? I'd expect that a conviction for anything child abuse related would have to be on the list, but then again I would have thought that ANY felony would be too much.

Thanks guys - that helps alot!

I'm no orienteering expert, but I walked through a 'Scout-O' (a special Scout orienteering event put on by a Portland Oregon area Orienteering club) with some cubs several weeks ago. The instructions we got (from a very experienced Orienteering instructor who also teaches wilderness survival) led me to understand that the maps published for orienteering 'events' use MAGNETIC north, and not true north. He made a point of explaining that to us so that we'd understand the difference between the Orienteering sport and the use of USGS maps while hiking etc.

I have been strongly considering buying a sleeping bag through the scoutdirect.com program, but since I don't know anyone with the bag I'm interested in, and can't find it in any local stores to look at, I'm reluctant. Does anyone have a RECTANGULAR Alps sleeping bag? The specs on the Alps Crater Lake 20 degree bag look good for what I need (mostly car camping with the cubs). Thanks

I fairly recently bought a Garmin 62s (REI was having a sale). It's a great unit (very sensitive, large onboard memory, expandable memory), but there's a learning curve if you're not familiar with Garmin hiking GPS units. By the way...I "discovered" gpsfiledepot.com as a source of FREE maps for the device. The Garmin Topo maps cost over $100, so I'd see FREE as a big discount. I am using Oregon and Washington maps from gpsfiledepot, and they work well.

Alabama - the non BSA zipoff 'tech pants' appear to be a similar price to the BSA ones, unless you found some kind of screaming deal. Around here, the North Face ones are around $50, which is about what the scout shop is getting for the 'official' ones.

yes, this is 'fake uniforming' ... but The Gap outlet...$18 for OD cargo pants... I'd care alot more about wearing the real deal if I could actually see why spending double made sense, or if it was a truly unique garment, but come ON, its a pair of OD pants... Flame away...

Our CC is pretty well the co-leader of the pack with the CM. It is a very big role. She's involved in coordinating and scheduling pack level activities. She's involved in 'leading' the pack parents and keeping them engaged and informed. She's involved in recruiting and getting trained leaders. As I said, our CC is basically the co-leader with the CM. The CM is more boy focused, and the CC more program planning focused, but they are a visible team. I think this tends to vary a lot, but we sure appreciate our CC! -Sean(This message has been edited by jrdalys)

I think the point is the June 1 rule...as of June 1, all your Tigers turn into Wolves, and the Tiger DL typically becomes the Wolf DL. Upwards of 90% (ok, I'm making that up, but I bet I'm right) of the Tiger Den Leaders sign up in the fall with their sons at the start of First Grade...not at the end of Kindergarten. So...that makes a typical 'Tiger Year' 3 months shorter than the other programs. If you want to encourage and recognize the Tiger DLs (and I sure do!), you go ahead and recognize them for leading the den through to the end of the Tiger program year in June. My $.02

I'm pretty sure that you can't earn the same knot twice (the DL knot in this case). I'm 100% sure that the requirements for the Cub Scouter knot spell out that the time in service requirement for it can't also be used for another award. That said...is it really worth the fight? If he's a good den leader (if he runs a good program for the boys), I'd just plain let it go. if he isn't a good den leader...I'd stay on point about why he's a bad den leader. In my opinion the knots are there to encourage service, which he has given. Is he wearing them right? No. Did he really earn all

That's your CC removed then, right? Wow...hope you get some adult help soon! Have you decided on a cutoff point on moving down the road or staying on? I can't for a minute imagine taking on effectively all of the adult leadership positions at once. I think my head would pop! Thinking good thoughts for you here in Oregon Sean

Thanks for the help!

My parents recently dug out my old Cub Scout uniform shirt(mid to late 1970s vintage), so that my son could see proof that I used to be a cub just like him. Looking it over, I saw a patch that I just can't figure out. It's a row of three white stars on a blue background, maybe an inch long and a third of an inch high. It was sewn on my left sleeve. Does anyone have any idea what the patch might mean? My parents mean well, but they really don't remember any kind of details like this. thanks! -Sean

AKDenLdr- not all of the programs are the same for both boys and girls. I have a Brownie Girl Scout daughter and a Tiger Cub son, and we're Catholic. The programs might be the same for certain faiths, but not Catholics. The medal program for Catholic Cubs has Light of Christ and Parvuli Dei (http://www.nccs-bsa.org/Youth.php). The medal program for grade school aged Catholic Girl Scouts has Family of God and I Live My Faith (http://www.nfcym.org/gscf/recognitions.htm) YMMV -Sean

E92 - having been a Sea Scout in the early '80s (my ship was what they called a 'Navy' ship - one that did full uniforming with dress blues etc., close order drill etc.) I have some perspective on the 'bug' term. With the size of the patch, the 'first class anchor' kinda does resemble a beetle or other similar bug. We used the 'bug' patches on three spots - white ones went on the 'dixie cup' white covers in the front, and blue ones covered the two stars on the flap of the 'crackerjack' dress blue uniform. Sea Scouts at the time was interesting from a uniforming and program perspecti

Hi Mark! I'm getting ready for my first year as the Wolf den leader for my pack. My son is a Tiger, and the cubmaster has been acting as both the Tiger den leader and the cubmaster both...he was pretty happy to find that someone was interested in taking over for next year! In the process of getting ready, I have found the 'Den and Pack Meeting Guide' book published by BSA to be really useful. The book is only like $6, and has den meeting plans for all levels of cubs...and they even published most of it online for free. Here's a link to the Webelos I page, if you are interest

I had thought that perhaps the reason for the application was to ensure the unit wasn't bypassing the fundraisers the Council shares in (popcorn, candy, pepperoni sticks out in my neck of the woods) and doing their own thing instead. On a related note...what IS to stop a unit from deciding not to participate in the fundraisers the council takes a piece of and instead do their own thing? Yes, I know the council uses the money for things they say they need money for (not going there), so I'm not advocating the position, just curious to see if there is any kind of control mechanism. I

Same question...kinda stuck here. You'd think the 6 oz (smallest) meat portion, with veg and half a potato would do it...but it won't, and there's no way past it. Has anyone successfully taken this online class? Thanks! Ridiculous...you have to feed it pie to get past. smallest meat, veg, pie and I think the half potato.(This message has been edited by jrdalys)

So, I agreed to take on my first Scouter position...I'll be the Wolf Den Leader for my son's pack in June. That means I have a uniform to buy! Back in MY day (man, I feel old saying that!), there were no choices in fabric for uniform shirts. I wore the Olive Drab no-collar Boy Scout shirt. ...anyway, I see that there are three fabric choices for the shirts now, as well as short/long sleeve. Sleeve length seems like a given - I don't know why the local scout shop seems to think everyone wants short sleeve, but I'm buying long..easier to roll them up than to wish you had more fabric

Just like everyone else...the best ones were the ones that I wore as a Scout! Cub scout uniform that SAYS Cub Scouts on the tape. Interesting that the color has changed over the years...my son's shirt looks blue next to this shirt...my old shirt looks almost purple. Green (OD) Boy Scout shirt with NO collar to get tangled up with a neckerchief And my favorite of all... Sea Scout dress blues (US Navy 'crackerjack' uniform with a few tweaks). Not the most functional ... Sea Scouts had WORKING uniforms for getting dirty in, but great for the once a week ceremonial meetings.