kenk

I think the Alps Mountaineering for Scouts link is http://www.scoutdirect.com/ . The main Alps Mountaineering site is http://www.alplsmountaineering.com .

I'd recommend the Taurus OF or the Merimac OF. The Taurus comes in 2, 3, 4, and 5 person sizes. The Merimac only comes in a 4 person size. My tendency would be to get a 3-person tent for 2 Scouts and a 4-person tent for 3 Scouts.

IMPORTANT - Don't let Scouts bring cots. These will shred your tent! Also as mentioned before, no shoes, frame packs, food, or flames inside a tent!!

These are their outfitter tents. I'm pretty sure that the only difference between the two is that the Taurus has full vestibules, while the Merimac has awnings. I'd lean toward the Merimac since Scouts can be hard on vestibule zippers as they try to squeeze through tiny openings. These outfitter tents come with heavy duty zippers and floors.

If you'd prefer fiberglass poles (not as strong as aluminum, but fiberglass can be stepped on without much damage) you can also buy the Meramac 4 with heavy duty floor and zipper but with fiberglass poles (this is what I got).

ALSO, don't rule out the Eureka Timberline Outfitter tents. These are great tents, though more expensive than the Alps tents.

Are you looking for a similarly tiny package?

If yes, my first thought is to check with your local film developing store.

If not, then I'd suggest Ziploc freezer bags or small Tupperware-type tubs, especially the "semi-disposable" ones.

Just to be complete, there is another kind of camping for Webelos - the resident camp. I don't have my Cub Scout Leader book with me anymore (I passed it on down the line), so if someone could describe how those are to work, that might be useful.

My own thought is that parents SHOULD be welcome at committee meetings, and a reasonable amount of input should be welcome and useful, BUT that does not mean that they have a voice in the committee's decision-making process.

Recently our troop's committee chair added a Scout's parent to our troop committee (I couldn't attend that night so I don't know if there was a discussion or vote), but the parent doesn't have a specific role. To me that seems odd. If she is on the committee it seems she should have some responsibility for supporting the troop (treaturer, activities, communications, candlestick maker, ... whatever).

Ken K.

Since I'm an advancement coordinator, as well as an ASM who is relatively new to Boy Scouts, this thread has been very helpful!! With upcoming board of reviews this topic has been on our minds.

I seem to recall our SM saying something about OA service activities not counting toward rank service. Would you agree?

He may have just been referring to the hours spend during their ordeal activities and not other OA activities dedicated to service.

Ken K.

Use a "standard" sewing machine needle, medium sized (10 or 12 in American sizes; 70 or 80 in Europian sizes), and 6-8 stitches per inch. This is a bit wider stitch than for sewing most clothing, which is typically 10-12 spi. A basting stitch is usually 4 spi.

For smaller patches its not uncommon to run the machine almost entirely by hand, unless the machine has a very low-speed setting (a great feature to look for).

For patches I will usually use transparent tape (Scotch tape) in an X-pattern to fasten the patch to the cloth while sewing. The stiches perforate the tape and make it fairly easy to remove when finished sewing. I find pins just don't work well for patches, since they are so thick.

Patches on shirt pockets are my nemesis. I really don't like to sew pockets shut, so I'm forced to sew these by hand. I've heard of people who take the the pockets off of the shirt, sew on the patch, and then resew the pocket back onto the shirt. The problem with that is that I've yet to find thread close enough to the "official" uniform color at my local fabric shop.

I can do you one better. This month there was an "Illini Camporee" where a huge group of Scouts took time from their campout to actually GO to a Univeristy of Illinois football game. Unfortunately our troop could not attend, but I would have been there if I could.

I'll quote the Beav: "The boys decide and the adults facilitate and mentor". I really like this and so long as the this kind of activity isn't specifically prohibited by existing troop rules I see no problem with it.

Be strong. Maybe you could passify the parent by making a rule that this kind of activity will happen no more than X times per year.

SR540Beaver said:

"The boys decide and the adults facilitate and mentor. Everything we do is within the program delivered by the BSA and within the G2SS."

What a great statement!! Especially the first sentence. I'm bringing that to my son's young troop.

My son's three-year old troop is going through some "birthing" pains. Rollover of older Scouts and a bit too much decision-making by some adult leaders. This thread has been very helpful to me in my attempt to help make the troop more boy-lead and boy-run. As an assistant scoutmaster I've taken the training and will do what I can to encourage our troop to follow the program.

I agree with you, but don't try to turn the Webelos program into Boy Scouts ... follow the Webelos program and follow the age-appropriate guidelines for safety.

Our council-owned camps have forbidden Scouts from bringing "sheath knives" onto their property, BUT our troop does allow reasonably-sized fixed blade knives.

In Scouting, knives should be viewed as tools, not weapons. Of course just about anything (water, soap, fire, tents, ...) can be dangerous if used incorrectly.

My only thought about the assisted-open knife is to make sure it is legal with respect to local and state laws. Some states only allow their use by persons in law enforcement.

About the disposable blade, well, there are certainly uses for a disposable blade, but in Scouting we generally tend to try to avoid disposables of anything where possible and reasonable (excluding toilet paper?). That is why we use mess kits instead of disposable plates/utensils. Hopefully you're not truely dealing with toxic materials, and if you're referring to food-related nasties or plant sap, then a little soap and/or WD40 or light oil does wonders at cleaning up a blade.

Could you be thinking of the Voyegeur? A two-person A-frame canvas tent with a pole front and back and guylines that run from each peak?

If your tents fell down my guess is that one of the stakes came out. Even back then most of our guylines were fairly high strength nylon cord.

Yup ... get those parents involved.

I was the den leader for all five years of Cub Scouts and somehow got wrangled into also being Cubmaster for the middle three years, and with both myself and my wife working busy jobs I simply could not plan all of the den meetings myself without failing miserably - even with the help of a great assistant den leader.

I asked the parents to help and they stepped up wonderfully. We ran our den much like it is described in Tiger Cubs. Each year I created a schedule of topics for each month throughout the year and then a specific parent (including myself) volunteered to take on that month's den meetings and activities. I'd meet ahead of time with the parent and make sure things were planned and do whatever I could do to help. It worked very well and kept the parents actively engaged in the den. Of the six Webelos who got arrow of light, four moved on to Boy Scouts in the same troop (I'm an Asst. Scoutmaster).

Good Luck and have some fun!!!

Here is a basic cornbread recipe. Unless you use a pre-mixed package, you can't get simpler than this:

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/dutch-oven-recipe-cornbread.htm

Best Ever Cornbread

1 cup butter; melted (or vegetable oil)

2 cups cornmeal

4 eggs; beaten

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups milk

4 tsp. baking powder

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl mix together butter, eggs, and milk. In a separate bowl sift together sugar, cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients 1 cup at a time just until blended - don't beat this too much.

Spoon cornbread mixture into a lightly greased 12" Dutch oven and spread evenly.

Cover Dutch oven and bake using 8-10 briquettes bottom and 14-16 briquettes top for 45 minutes or until cornbread turns golden brown.

NOTE: For even browning make sure you spread the coals on top and bottom evenly, AND make sure to turn the oven and lid 1/4 turn in opposite directions every 10 minutes. Every 10 minutes or so roate the dutch oven 1/4 turn in one direction and at the same time turn the lid 1/4 turn in the opposite direction (note: the lid will alway point the same way). This distributes the heat more evenly on the food.

Serve warm with honey butter.

Serves: 10-12

Lodge dutch ovens provide this table of how to set up the coals for different temperatures:

# of coals (top/bottom):

Oven 325 350 375 400 425 450 degrees

8" 10/5 11/5 11/6 12/6 13/6 14/6

10" 13/6 14/7 16/7 17/8 18/9 19/10

12" 16/7 17/8 18/9 19/10 21/10 22/11

14" 20/10 21/11 22/12 24/12 25/13 26/14

Cornbread is usually baked at 400 degrees.

Oh man! My brain hurts from trying to picture what you're doing. Maybe its just that it is Firday, but ouch.

Wow! I ordered my Meramac 6 yesterday and it arrived today. Amazing.

First, a disclosure - I just ordered my first Alps Mountaineering tent - a Merimac 6 ZF FB.

Now my comment regarding the Timberline replacement. The Timberlines are quite a unique tent these days. Alps Mountaineering seems to be focusing more on the dome-style tents.

My guess is that Alps Mountaineering is targeting their Taurus and Meramac as "replacement" Timberline troop tents. Except for the flies, the tent bodies for both the Taurus and Meramac look very similar (if not exactly the same). The floor dimensions of the Taurus Outfitter and Meramac Outfitter (7.5'x8.5') are similar to the Timberline Outfitter (7.17'x8.75'), and the heights are about the same (5' vs 4.8').

As mentioned, one real difference is in the price. The Timberline Outfitter 4 is $235 at Campmor.com (I hear Campmor gives Scouts a 10% discount, so figure $212), but with the Scoutdirect.com discount, the Taurus Outfitter and Meramac Outfitter 4-person tents are only $138. The Meramac 4 with the heavy duty zipper & floor and fiberglass poles is only $88!!

The Taurus fly provides two vestibules over each door, while the Meramac provides an awning over each door (more like the Timberline has).

Being the owner of lots of Eureka tents (too many to list - enought to be kind of embarassing), I'll report back on the quality when the new Meramac 6 ZF FB tent arrives.

Ken K.

I'm a relatively new Assistant Scoutmaster and I've been considering the purchase of an Alps Mountaineering Meramac 6, but find they don't have the aluminum-poled version in stock and won't until next spring 2007.

Now I'm wondering if the fiberglass-poled version will be OK. I've read lots about fiberglass poles splintering with cold and age, and am pretty concerned about it. Someone suggested to me that fiberglass poles might be even better than aluminum poles since they can get stepped on or hit without much damage. Weight is really not an issue since this tent will only be used while car camping - I use a Eureka Spitfire for backpacking.

Advice? Experience?? Should I buy the tent with fiberglass poles now or just wait until the spring to get aluminum poles?

We've tried to keep their backs under 25 pounds and that has seemed to work. For that age the idea is to have fun and to have them learn about backpacking and how to pack simple and light. If we needed extra gear we've been known to "cheat" and have a parent drive the gear to the final destination.

On sort of a side note ...

We had purchased the quart freezer bags to do eggs-in-a-bag, but at dinner-time we found a new use also.

We were making fajitas and needed to warm up the refried beans, so we put the beans in a left-over freezer bag and put them in the boiling water intended for cleanup. Once warmed up we then clipped a corner of the bag and simply squirted the beans out as needed. It worked great required zero cleanup time.

Under the uniform section http://www.scoutstuff.org shows a nice Expedition Hat that I've seen Cub leaders wearing, and it looked appropriate when I've seen them. The Apparel section also lists a number of very nice hats, though I'm not sure if they'd be considered part of the uniform.

Keep in mind though that lots of non-venomous snakes, such as corn and fox snakes, "rattle" their tails when threatened even though they they don't actually have rattles on-board. They depend on their vibrating tails slapping against leaves and other ground litter to make the noise. The odds are that the snake you saw was harmless and, as always, best left alone.

The young Scout would not meet the requirement for re-joining a Cub Scout pack.

I REALLY REALLY like the Gern's idea of making him a den chief to his former den and giving him time to adapt to Boy Scouts. A GREAT idea!

Other initial thoughts would be to limit Mom's presence at troop activities (unless she is a leader), identify someone else that the youth can talk with when scared or frustrated (cut the apron strings a bit), and make sure he is truely prepared for events (dressed & geared appropriately). Some leader (youth and/or adult) needs to focus on the new scouts and make sure their first year is all that it can be.

Even I am overwhelmed by some of the noise & craziness at troop meetings, and I am a 47 year old ASM with five years as Den Leader under my belt.

I am brand new into my son's troop and have volunteered to be an assistant scoutmaster and advancement coordinator.

My first Court of Honor was last Sunday, so when I went to get the awards at the scout shop my committee chair (a mom) asked to make sure that I picked up parent pins ... so I did.

At the Court of Honor the Comitteee Chair was wearing two Proud Parent lanyards - one for each son. The other parents thought they were cool, so I am now collecting requests for lanyards, and earned but missing parent pins. I'll pick them up from the scout shop, but our troop will only pay for 1 Boy Scout pin per earned rank per scout, but the families will need to pay for the lanyard and any earned but missing Cub Scout pins. Seems fair to me. I heard a lot of talk about Mother's Day gifts.

Ken K.

Last weekend my troop backpacked to the Indiana Dunes State Park - in northern Indiana right on the shore of Lake Michicagn.

This was my first time using a new Eureka Spitfire 2 (two-person version - I'm a BIG guy so I didn't fit inside the one-person Spitfire). My son used a new Spitfire 1 (one-person version). It rained a bit, so we both kept the fly doors zipped closed at night. It got to about 40F overnight, and by morning the inside surface of the rain flys were both soaking wet with condensation.

The great news is that neither of our sleeping bags got wet, which means that the condensation was enought to start dripping or running into the tent. It also meant that the tents were sized sufficiently to fit our bags and still not have them rub on the fly through the tent's mosquito netting. I did hear my son scream when he climbed out of his tent. Clearly the cold wet inside of the fly door rubbed across him as he got out - he didn't like that.

Beyond opening the fly doors at night - which we couldn't do since it was raining - I dont' think there is much that can be done to stop the condensation. It is just physics at work.

After I'd gotten out of the tent in the morning and removed my sleeping bag and pad (which was also bone-dry) I opened the doors and shook the moisture off of the outside of the tent fly to speed drying. That apparently started the condensation on the inside of the fly running & dripping, since after that I found a fair amount of water puddled up on the floor near where my feet had been.

I REALLY liked the Spitfire 2 for one adult (I left my backpack outside covered with a 55 gallon plastic bag). Next time I use my Spitfire 2 (next weekend for Adult Outdoor Leader Training) I plan to bring along a small synthetic sponge to soak up condensation/rain from the inside/outside fly surfaces.

Here is a related link: http://www.meritbadge.com/adv/t21-alt.htm .

I'm sure there are many on this forum that know more about the answer to your question than I do.

Ken