Kaji

Well, ok, technically not true. I have two of the old green ones from the late 1970s, but they're both thin and have short sleeves, something I've never liked in a uniform. What I DID get today, however, was an old long-sleeved shirt from about 1960 that's in great shape, and a set of pants that matched it. Since I happened to have the proper insignia to do up the shirt to match my current one appropriate to the era in which it came from (including Salem, W.VA. community and state strips and a felt troop number), I decided to go ahead and do so to see how it worked out. While the color

http://www.mninter.net/~blkeagle/smallbig.htm 2nd to the last paragraph is what you'll find of interest, I think. Basically, assuming that the information is still accurate, you can give the supply shop your measurements and they'll have your uniform tailored to fit. No more having to buy a shirt that fits the shoulders but not the bust, or vice versa. Pants can be tailored likewise.

Amen on the sewing thing, man! My mom sewed all of two merit badges on for me when I became a boy scout and that was it, even sewed my scout badge on myself. Think the only other time after Cub Scouts that someone did any sewing for me was when my aunt switched my patches to my new shirt when I hit first class for me. My scoutmaster was always of the view that now that the boy's in Boy Scouts he should be learning to be self-sufficient, and sewing was just another way of becoming such...hehehe...

Up to six months after they turn 18 you can hold the board if everything else (workbook included) was done befor their 18th birthday. After 6 months, a petition needs to be placed with National to be able to hold the board, with an explanation for the delay (which to my understanding, unless you got called up for military duty right when you turned 18 or something like that, they'll generally turn down...). Amusing the things we found out when my little brother decided to literally finish his eagle in the 11th hour...

Reviving an old thread, I know, but I just thought I'd throw in my 2. From what I've seen, if you want an original handbook, it's going to run $5-600. Saw a mint condition original Eagle patch sell for $560 (standard background, so it'd be even more if it were one of the sea scouting variants...). Most expensive I'd seen prior to that $13,000 patch above was $1,600 for a Skipper's Key square knot (which was only made between 1942-1944). The Ranger Award knot is similarly rare, I've only ever heard of about 4 documented finds of it (one in a display case at a council office, which indic

http://www.sageventure.com/scoutingcentury/eagle/robbins3.htm I picked up a medal much like that one with its certificate at auction last fall. The metal parts are all in great shape, but something's got me wondering on the ribbon. As you can tell in the picture, the red is supposed to be on the left side when looking at the medal from the front. Looking at my own medal and the pictures of every other medal on the site, there has been no variation in that theme at any point. However, the 1934 Eagle medal I have has the BLUE stripe on the left. At first I wasn't sure if maybe som

From what I understand from having read around here, the Chartered Organization can make any call it wants about membership requirements, as long as they're no more liberal than the BSA standards (e.g. if a church decided all members of its units had to be Catholic, they'd all have to be Catholic). Personally, I would have sided with the adult leadership up until the weapon came on the scene. Whether or not to expel from the troop over it is subject for debate, but I would definitely say that he deserves far more than the standard first-offense treatment, he needs to be taught that pulli

I've seen a lot of advocacy for them here, but speaking as a patch collector one thing rather concerns me about it. While I can certainly understand people using velcro and the like for quick changes when wearing multiple hats, the applying of such to things like rank insignia and merit badges on the other hand seems a bit worrisome. I remember picking up a merit badge sash as part of a lot where the boy had sewn on about the first 11 merit badges, then used a double-sided sticky substance to stick on the rest, of which I located about 8, 3 of which were off the sash (and considering that it

Hey there! Lucked out and found a pair for $16 with shipping on eBay, came in just the other day. Need to put the hem back in them, but otherwise they turned out to be a good fit. Thanks for the advice!

Whether or not Eagle MBs should be taught at a fair I leave up for debate, but I do like them for the way they make merit badges available for those who are interested in badges, but have a hard time finding a counselor to work with them on. I wouldn't have been able to do Cinematography or Genealogy if I hadn't done them there at a merit badge fair. There's also always the more middle of the road approach in devoting the entire day to doing a single badge as well. I earned Geology when the USGS was holding an exhibition. Took the whole day to finish the requirements, and we still had

> Does this mean that some troops elect Historian, Bugler, Quartermaster, etc? In my troop growing up we held elections for all boy positions every year in September, with the exception of Den Chief. Only had two Den Chiefs from the troop while I was a Boy Scout, and the only requirements for that was that you had to be at least 2nd class and have a Den that was willing to take you, the SM would pretty much auto-approve at that point unless he had some gross objection. One thing that DID result from having all the positions elected was that in my troop we had a dynasty of sorts w

> - The Counselor concerned won't sign off on this Scout's work. > At that time the MBC asked him to show him the materials he had written for section 8 which the MBC had approved and signed-off on 5 months ago. The card was signed, at least according to the first post. Therefore the signature is binding, no?

Well, how old are they, first off? No parent myself, but it seems that under the age of 13 or so it's best to keep an eye on them, even if it's just to make sure they're not handing out too much information. I remember when I was about 12 or so I got hit up by a rather creepy guy on AIM because I had my name for an SN and my city and age in my profile. These days I don't worry so much about it, as I know how to protect myself, but at that age it's a different matter. That aside, it's not too hard to land on some unsavory stuff by accident if you don't know what you're doing (and even easie

I was always taught that the hard and fast rule in the BSA regarding signing things off is that once it's signed, it's permanently signed, and shame on the person who signed it if the boy didn't actually do the work, logic being that it's not fair to the boy to say he's completed something and then revoke it for circumstances that were beyond his control in the first place. Granted, it's not fair to just let him off without doing the work, but it's the lesser of two evils.

I collect most anything BSA I can get my hands on, myself. Haven't had access to much in the way of CSPs or lodge flaps (only have them for the ones I've been registered in - NCAC and Allohak Council in WV. May be getting a DS one soon, though), occasionally get a community or state strip, though. Mostly I work on the rank and position insignia, currently have a nigh complete collection stretching back to when they stopped making the scouts fold the patches to sew them on (about 1954 or so?). I started my collection by talking to my troop's awards chairman when I was an SPL back in the day

hehehe...I remember when I was a Wolf, all the guys in my den and I attended the same elementary school, so den meetings were basically just held in the school library right after class ended every Tuesday. Likewise, I remember proudly wearing the uniform all day on those days, too. hehehe...

I've never heard of a unit not wearing them, personally. As others have stated, they've always been a signature part of the uniform, and in the eyes of many are about as essential as the shirt. I know that in my old district growing up (Prince William in NCAC, now Occoquan district) about every unit had a custom-designed neckerchief that they used. My unit presented its neckerchief at Tenderfoot as a way to get the boys motivated (they were naturally allowed to wear the standard red/gold one until then, so it hardly constitutes hazing the way, say, withholding epaulets might).

Virginia and West Virginia also have coral snakes and water moccasins to deal with. Those in the same family as well, or would either require special treatment as per the end of the post?

By the time I was going through scouting the BSA had long disavowed the "suck and spit" method, but cutting Xs over the bite marks and using suction cups to try to suck out the venom (if such resources are available) WAS the method they were teaching. Looking over the Webelos handbook last week, it said that that method is nothing but a wive's tale, and that now you should basically just not do anything and call 911 ASAP (as though that's any good when you're 4 miles out on a hike!). It makes some mention of a brand name snakebite kit, but says nothing on its use, just that it CAN be used.

I feel you pain, man. I've been filling in for the 1st year Webelos Den Leader for my pack here and there, and we've been trying to get them working on Readyman. To say it's a chore getting them to pay attention is an understatement. They seem to get into it when I have them doing activities, but they can't remember the verbal information at all half the time. Case in point: I taught the boys how to tie splints one week. The next week we were trying some cases to see how well their judgement worked, and to teach them to look for other problems that might exist as well (especially sinc

I missed 3 pins while a Webelos scout (Athlete and Forester because I didn't have time to finish their requirements, Aquanaut because I couldn't swim well enough). Sure, it leads to some wistful thinking now and then, but I never let it bog down the rest of my experience. Out of 6 boys in my den (3 of whom (myself included) had been together since Tigers), one transferred out, and one of my denmates from the beginning stayed in about 6 months to a year. One never even joined because he didn't want to have to camp without his parents. I stayed on the whole 7 years. In the end, it's not

I favor using baseball pages as well. Any time you apply an adhesive to something you run the risk of discoloring and physically degrading it. From the perspective of validity of the records, however, I've never heard of any problems stemming from laminating the cards (once the badge is finished, of course).

A scout is trustworthy. I wouldn't even ask about the criminal proceedings and simply ask him if he feels he has met the scout spirit requirement, and then have him explain to me why. Taking him at his word, I'd sign the requirements off and then see about a waiver from National to postpone the board until his case has been heard before a court of law. After he has been convicted/exonerated, let the board convene and take this into account as they see fit. If he's guilty, and has not made sufficient effort to make amends for it, the board will be able to justly deny him. If he's i

Back in the day I used to have a complete uniform, and wore it proudly to every scouting event I went to. Then I turned 18, school and work picked up, and it got packed away. These days I don't know where my old uniform pants and belt have escaped to (or if said pants still fit, for that matter), and being a student I don't have the extra money on hand to throw $50 into a new pair of pants. I do, however, have a blue suit that matches the Cub Scout epaulets I'm wearing rather well. I was wondering what people thought about using that as an alternative until I can get a real pair of

Or they can just forgo a camp patch and wear it instead as something that stands out. I can recall seeing hundreds of boys with C&O Canal trail patches in my time, I was the only one I ever saw wearing the World Conservation award (a bit surprising, really, since the only thing required for it that you don't do for Eagle already as it is is Soil and Water Conservation...).