Kaufmannroy

To "twocubdad";

I think the idea for the tongue depressor came from a Scout Show I attended. Wish I could remember the presenter for certain.

To Wallace;

YES! Safety/Band Aids first.

To Bob White;

I regret I forgot to thank you for your safety and soap tips. I apologize.

Have FUN,

Roy

A very large and profound "round" of applause to all!

Your posts are sound, very thoughtful and greatly appreciated.

I think I will start with "fotoscout"'s approach. However, for the first week we will use "twocubdad"'s idea involving wooden knives. One primary change will be the use of pre-profiled wooden tongue depressors. Soft wood is soo much easier for me to work with than oak. The depressors are cheap, I can get them at the local First Aid Squad for nothing, they are easy to profile into a knife shape, they need NO ripping, are about the right length/width and should prove east to "sharpen" for my Bears. I believe my Scouts will have an easier time learning or redoing the basic handling techniques with these depressors too.

I will most likely purchase the basic "Official Cub Scout Knife". $13.00/each. Brass lockback. Looks very cooool on the belt loop.

I have already informed the Scouts that they may only wear and/or use the knife at Scout Meetings and Scout events. No exceptions. My Scouts and the Parents will know the rules, demonstrate the rules and acknowledge the rules by signing the "card before getting the knife".

I have also told the Scouts and Parents that the knives remain my possessions. Any serious or repeated misuse of the knife will result in my repossessing the knife. The Scout and Parent may retake the instruction prior to reissue of the knife.

I think I've covered all the basics.

Again, thank you for your posts!

Have FUN,

Roy

YOO! hops scout,

2 bucks for a lock back? You are thrifty! Is it a good knife? Who made the knife? Is the knife still available?

Have FUN!

Roy

Bob,

Is the Victorinox Recruit a "lock back" pocket knife?

Have FUN,

Roy

To the Forum,

I am about to introduce pocket knives to my Bears.

Aside from the info in the Bear Book, does anyone have ideas about how to introduce knives? My Parents are fine with the topic, however, I do not want to miss an opportunity to include ideas from others who have "been there, done that".

BTW, Does anyone know of a, inexpensive, source for lock-back pocket knives besides the Cub Scout pocket knife?

Have FUN,

Roy

hops,

Absolutely, my favorite show on History!

Mabye I should send GySgt Ermy an email about ykw!

And I'm not kidding!

Have FUN,

Roy

to ykw,

If this were "Mail Call" you'ld be doing push-ups by now! And...you'ld be doing them forever!

Oorah!

Have FUN!

Roy

Yes, you reference yourself as an Eagle Scout Dad! Very well done!

Did I misunderstand?

Have FUN,

Roy

I really wish the BSA would revisit and review contemporary use and display of our Flag as worn on the uniform of the very noble members of our Armed Forces.

I'm certain they might be convinced to change our uniforms.

Ooorahh, Semper Fi!

Roy

Holy smokes!!!!!

Congratulations evmori! An Eagle. God Bless him and God Bless you!

I am much less concerned with origin of a flag than I am about how it is displayed and/or worn.

My Scouts have made flags at our meetings. Do they "meet specs"? Not even close.

Does it bother me? Nope. Its all about learning what a flag means. All flags! Even one a Scout might make at home.

I do, however, have very special concerns about our Flag.

Home of the FREE!

Because of the BRAVE!

God Bless America!

Have FUN out there,

Roy Kaufmann

Interesting post, very precisely directed, minutae detail, realistically (economically) irrelevant.

You have also expressed your problems with the one of the most basic of flag etiquites on this site. Which direction the field of the Flag should be in when worn on opposite sleeves of a Uniform! The Armed Forces (Yes, the Army too) seem to have resolved the issue. The blue field leads!

Otherwise, have a nice day!

Roy

FO Guy,

You quote from an Institue of Heraldry. The stuff they compile is of a historical nature. It is not intended nor implied to reflect contempory views a couple of hundred years later. Things change. We now, for 200 odd years, have a standard USA Flag! It is also extremely unlikely that the wearing/position/orientation of the Flag on any units uniform would be left to the organizations commander. That could be a Squad Leader. A decision of this nature had to take place on a DOD level.

The Marines developed camos. On a side note; The Marines also developed the newer "bit map" camos. The Army likes to put stuff on uniforms. If I recall correctly, the Marines did not want to place any item on the uniform which might degrade the effectiveness of the camo scheme. Remember, this (camos) was new stuff!Hence the introduction of "flat black painted, pin-on" emblems of rank. Cheap emblems which were easily removed should the situation require it. However, the Army prevailed!

Why you take comments out of context intrigues me. Your replies give the impression of a educated, and, presumably, thoughtful person.

Should a military computer operator, from anywhere, be unfamiliar with the proper look/wearing/donning of a camoflage uniform? Or a gas mask? Or a life-preserver?Should that operator be immediately transferred to a hostile environment, whos gonna have the time to set him/her aside for a few days or weeks to train them? It is, ultimately, much easier, cheaper, SAFER to have "UNIFORMS".

Actually, khaki uniforms, during WW II, were a scarse commodity. The Military was given the highest priority for khaki material. The fact that the US Merchant Marine, or any other Maritime Organization, may or may not, have decided upon gray or any other color was more a reflection of the times!

Which leads me (Thank You!) to my original question. At this time, is it proper for the BSA to address the direction of the field on a sewn, uniform, Flag emblem?

Remember, Have FUN,

Roy

hops_scout....You, for all of 14, are one very well spoken Scout.

You may want to consider that the Military also has versions of uniforms for operations in the artic, mountain, sand, at night, underwater and (probably) many others.

Nice posts. You'll do very well in the future!

And to Ron, I hope you can help me find those archives.

Roy

To Scout Master Ron, Thanks for the welcome. The fire appears to be well stoked! I would appreciate looking thru the archieves. Are you able to point me in a general direction? Again, thanks.

To F.O.Guy, ALL Branches of the Military (DOD) appear to have the field of the Flag leading on Uniforms. The rest of your reply does not address the topic, however; From very personal experience - ALL Branches of the Military have forwrd, deployed, aviation units in the field. Having some capability to camoflage one-self in the field, to blend into or confuse the background, just in case a lone nit-wit with a weapon gets that close, works for me. Universaly, all aviation ground support equipment (from ground power units to ARFF equipment) is repainted to reflect/blend in with the local area of operations. Naval Aircraft generally, on the other hand, deployed from Carriers at sea (and the naval aircraft mechanics) would not normally (excluding the Marine Air Wing who should/do normally wear camos 100% of the time) be expected to operate from any thing other than the Carrier platform they are on or took off from. Hiding or camoflaging individual Sailors or Marines on a 1,000' long, 180' wide, 175' tall and 90,000+/- ton object in clear open waters should seem to be irrelevant. Therefore, the presence of a naval uniform "at sea" (to blend into a gray aircraft?) for camoflage seems moot.

Fellow Scouts and Leaders,

Have you noticed the direction/position of the blue field on the American Flag worn by our Servicemen/Women on the sleeves of their uniforms?

The blue field leads!!!!! Whether on the right or left sleeve of the Military Uniform. The blue field leads.

Are we, Scouting in general, missing something?

Have FUN!,

Roy