KA6BSA

It doesn't help with the current craze of rock'n'roll band members as role models wearing pseudo BSA uniforms with random patches here and there. Seems like the only requirement for them is to have some red and white troop numbers on one sleeve or the other!

However the SPL and SM decide to do it the Acting SPL for summer camp should meet the same qualifications the troop has for the regular SPL job. In our troop that would be First Class, previous PL experience, and attendance requirements (active Scout). Being SPL at summer camp is a demanding job, working with boys who may be homesick, not be eating right, and worn out by all those fun activities. It should be done by a qualified boy so he has the best opportunity for success.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

Our Scout Shop had the soft cover version but also sells a cloth cover (with a velcro closure) for it. I like the idea of the cover and bought one... similar to the cover for the Handbook the boys use but a little larger and green with red edging rather than black cloth. It has a ribbon sewn in to use as a page marker.

When my son (now a silver palm Eagle) was in elementary school he was a quiet wimpy passive kid and seemed to be an attractive target for bullies. He got pushed around at the playground and often came home upset that he had been called insulting names. I do like all the advice you have been given for how to handle the BSA aspect of the problem, but there may be something you can do to eliminate the problem at the source. I am not implying that your kid is wimpy too or anything negative like that... there are so many reasons bullies find their prey, but what I did was start taking a parent-child karate class here at UCSD with my son. I know karate is a G2SS item but this class (Okinawan Ryuei Ryu Kobudo Ryuho Kai taught only in Japanese) has no face/head and strictly limited body contact with the emphasis on Kata (individual development of form). The result was that I got into better physical shape and he stopped attracting bullies. Our Sensei made it very clear that he strongly disapproved of his students ever fighting (outside of sparring in class) and he would take away our rank belts if we did (we are both brown belts now after 8 years of training). As time went on my son never hit anyone, never returned an insult, and was never anything but nice and polite (he did block a few punches early on... so hard a block that the attacker's arm hurt) and the bullies just stopped picking on him. He has never had the problem since. It is something non-verbal in his confidence now, of the way he walks, the way he makes the first impression that the bullies pick-up on to leave him alone. In fact he now enjoys playing on the water polo team in high school. We need to remember that BSA is just part of our other lives and sometimes the solutions need to be found for all-around living not just Scouts.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

The word dagger sounds so menacing and dangerous, the same Hollywood movie image that has made double-edged blades mostly illegal in California and Massachusetts. But it has been explained to me by others that this knife is really a necessary tool for those rare difficult situations where there is about a 50-50 chance that the wrong side of the blade would get used to try to cut a line or harness. With limited reaction time in the water and working by feel you only have a few seconds, and trying to cut with the blunt edge would waste that precious time. No dull edge no time wasted and your best chance at survival, so I am glad you can still get them even here in Calif. Still under normal circumstances most young Scouts will likely cut themselves if given the opportunity to fiddle around with this kind of knife, and being a straight blade it should be restricted to the specific task by troop leaders.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

Thank you for the details on how the stars were calculated (in another thread). That part is now understood but the actual voting is still coming from "out there somewhere." Personally I am not very interested in doing any voting myself, but I am sure some folks out there would make an effort to manipulate the system to their own objectives. I am glad our fearless moderators are doing their best to deal with that but it will be a moving target to actually improve the "quality" of the forums.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

Red Feather I would like to hear about the double-edge for canoeing too. I am not disapproving... just never had anyone around to explain it to me. Here in California any dagger, that is a double-edge sharpened on both sides knife is not legal for carry. They fall under the same regulation (Calif Penal Code section 12020 known as the "dirk and dagger" law) that forbids carry of butterfly knives, cane or umbrella swords, knives disguised as belt buckles or pens, etc. even non-functional decorative daggers like replica movie knives. You can legally own them but not carry, trade or sell them (go figure). But it has always puzzled me how anyone here can buy at the shopping malls (even seen them at REI) "rescue" knives that are sharp on both sides. I think Gerber has a yellow handled one with a sharp tip and a tether, some others are blunt on the end. I don't think it is a blade length issue but they mostly are not much over 2 or 3 inches. So how do you use such a knife in a canoe tipover? Is it for cutting yourself out of tangled lines? Seems like that would be a tricky bit of work with these sharp little daggers. Scuba divers often carry a special hook shaped line cutter for tangled monofilament fishline they may swim into accidently, working even behind the back or overhead for line caught on their tank valve. So why the dagger for canoes?(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

Find a local Fire Safety merit badge counselor or convince one of the troop leaders to sign up for that. Then using those requirements as a starting point set up a troop visit to the local FD letting the staff there know what you intend to accomplish. The boys learn about fire and they can earn a badge too.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

My favorite keychain multi-tool is the Leatherman Micra because it has good scisors and stays closed in your pocket. I really like the Columbia River (CRKT) Carson series with the blade flippers. As much fun as a Benchmade auto but legal and you won't cut yourself like with the Ken Onion assisted spring knives. The M16-13 is my favorite but there are some plastic handled ones that I like too, and even a titanium model (the M16-14T Tanto) I only carry on special occasions. A neat knife to fiddle with is the SOG Blink which is an Onion copy in the form of a money clip. I also have a collection of five of the California-legal Pro-Tech Runt autos. They are expensive but really high quality and strong snappers.

The stars are not visible to me right now and I am definitely logged in. I don't miss them... just more internet info from an unknown source.

Unless it is a special "family" campout siblings are not allowed to attend outings. They are welcome at troop meetings if they are concidering joining, but the Scouts do the planning and preparation for the outings and siblings would not have participated in that important process. They also would not be part of the duty roster and the Scouts think that's unfair. The idea of having a parent come along with a sibling just makes the situation worse since the parent (if not a trained troop leader) will not understand the BSA methods, and will not behave appropriately. As a boy-led troop the Scouts decide these issues at their PLC and are quite vocal about not having adults at campouts "acting like parents" with or without siblings in tow.

Answering questions like this makes me wonder how many troop committees out there are just a bunch of parents with no BSA training or interest in knowing how to present a Scouting program, making up their own rules and thinking they are doing fine.

Our troop has a bylaw item stating we travel to and from events in full uniform... adults too. The tour leader has the option of allowing troop T-shirt activity outfits if the outing is a work detail or otherwise appropriate. When anyone whines about the policy I relate many true stories of the advantages, from getting free ice at McDonalds for the cooler chests, to getting let through locked gates by the rangers at parks for camping when we arrived after closing time.

Ordeals are not usually held in conjunction with summer camp (maybe at the same location), so I think we need a little better description of what your boy's status is. The process is pretty straightforward: get elected, called out, complete the ordeal, pay dues get the book the sash and flap, and start participating in the chapter's activities. Has he just been called out at summer camp or actually completed his ordeal? If completed he should have been invited to attend regular monthly OA chapter meetings where he will find out about the other OA activities. Our chapter has a fun picnic dinner, complete with games and drumming-dancing to welcome all the new members in September.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

Don't agonize over it too much, the boys know more about it than you think they do, and forcing anything on them, even after "you have seen the light" is not the way to go. Our troop's adults "share the secret" of BSA's mission with the boys at recruiting time so they can tell the Webelos what Scouting is all about. By teaching the Cubs the boys actually learn it for themselves. That leads to better understanding when they apply themselves to the responsibilities of a truly boy-led troop.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

Seems to me that a boy "not suited to life in the patrols" is a boy not behaving according to the Scout Oath and Law. That basic deficiency needs to be addressed rather than tinkering with the appointed positions in the troop to somehow accomodate him. If a boy is not living by the Oath and Law then certainly he does not deserve a leadership position, and if it is a boy-led troop the elections would make sure of that.

We hear of some strange events on this forum but to me this one is just unbelievable. A SM telling the parents at a COH he is going to kill their kids if they don't earn Eagle? Where is the YPG trainer for this troop? But if it actually did happen the SM needs more than just a YPG lesson... This is like telling a bomb joke to airport security, not only is it not funny it is a serious offense needing immediate action.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

I looked in my March issue of Scouter for the Ten Essential article and there is a picture of a multi-tool pliers thing and a SAK. I wonder if Pedro picked up on the straight-blade error and corrected the picture? As I stated in a previous post the multi-tool gadgets are known to cause more accidental cuts with the younger boys, mostly when opening or closing not knowing how the locks work, but also because the handles and blades are awkwardly set. But still better than a showing a big straight-blade hunting knife!

With the BSA emphasis on range safety in our council we avoid the "w" word (weapon). The rangemaster has a coffee can there because the rule is anyone using the "w" word must put 25 cents in the can for every "w" word he hears. Rife, gun, firearm is fine... but not weapon, because the meaning is specific to fighting. Same reason laser tag is on the BSA bad list in the G2SS from pointing the business end at another person.

How could two stars have stood for three things?

I usually trust Bob White for the facts but with Fuzzy Bear disagreeing about the "twist" of the WB Beads which way is right? I was taught to twist them, really just a half turn of the bead thongs before tucking the neckerchief ends through, and everyone I know does it that way.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

Thanks for the info and the link on the SA patch. My son just got all 20 pins this month and his Blue & Gold dinner is coming up... so I will look into it.

MEK is absorbed right through the skin so don't get it all over you or you will get sick. I know of a laboratory employee who spilled some on his clothes and had to be rushed to the hospital. Since the OSHA people took the toluene out of spot removers like Energine it doesn't work nearly as well as it did.

But there are some very effective citrus-based products that work well and are not toxic... I like one called Goo Gone. You can get it at most drug or hardware stores. It is also better than spot removers for removing the gunk left by price tag stickers.

I think that the rating stars are overly large on the page as well as the thumbs up/down icons. The date could be abbreviated but as it is for 800 by 600 the header usually wraps to another line separating the thumb icons and wasting space. Just sitting back looking at it the stars are the most prominent visual feature of the post... as if they are the most important information, when in fact the process seems so complex that I don't really know what the stars indicate. To me the stars are just another piece of doubious data on the internet where any rating is questionable when the actual source is unknown.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)

Although eisely mentioned it don't forget that the Scout must be First Class rank. And he must have the approval of the Scoutmaster (who will consider any disciplinary issues) to be a candidate in the OA election. OA is not just there to promote camping it is also the honor society of BSA and if a boy has not consistently behaved according to the Scout Law and Oath, shown "Scout Spirit" and leadership in his patrol or troop then maybe he is not ready for OA.

Regarding the camping requirement in our Lodge we count up the nights, strictly allowing only one long term camp (for 5 of the nights) in the total of at least 15. Our troop has in its bylaws the goal of providing the annual opportunity of 5 or 6 nights at summer camp (actually we have two different summer camps each year and some Scouts attend both), ten weekend campouts, plus District Camporee. Our PLC has gone further to try for the annual goal of planning at least a total of 40 nights of troop camping including the High Adventure (age 14) outings. Most Scouts with even moderate participation easily get many more than 20 nights in their first 2 years of Scouting. My troop also has Camping Merit Badge (20 nights) as part of the requirements for Instructor or Troop Guide rather than a minimum age limit. My son (an Eagle and age 16) has a total of 139 nights of BSA camping in the last 5 years and I personally have 89 nights as a Scouter in a tent for the same time period.

So we do not feel the need to make arbitrary judgements like "A second summer camp counts for 3 nights." The total is either 15 by the OA rules or it isn't. With good troop outdoor program planning the boys have better advancement opportunity and also for joining OA. In my troop this year of 38 boys there are 14 of them who qualify for the OA election.(This message has been edited by KA6BSA)