kenk

As I recall the Whittling Chip card can actually be earned at any age. If your den has boys that are dying to use knives, I'd rather teach them the Whittling Chip skills early for safety's sake. I really like the idea of having them to a bunch of whittling on soap with a metal butter knife. Do it on a pastic tarp - it makes quite a mess. Our den didn't do it until the Bear year. I still emphasize that it is up to the parents whether the boy is allowed to bring a pocketknife to approved events.

First, our Pack is one of two sister packs in the same schools. At one time there was one Pack, but it grew too large and was split into two. Both packs draw out of the same elementary school (k-3) and middle school (4-8), and we hold recruiting together. The only difference is that one has pack meetings on Wednesday nights and the other has them on Thursday nights. First we see if any boys/parents have a definite pack preference (to stay with siblings/close friends/specific nights), then we split up the remaining boys to try to even out pack & den sizes. Second, let me specify that e

Being a Webelos Den Leader who has a fair amount of map/compass/GPS experince I've been doing a lot of reading Troop websites to look for compass recommendations. Most match what is being said here - low end baseplate compasses are what are recommended. But this has led me to wonder what troops are teaching boys on how to handle magnetic declination. When I was a boy in Scouts the method taught was to draw magnetic north/south lines on the topo maps and then orient the meridian lines on the compass with the magnetic north/south lines. Is that still what is done? It seems the only oth

Kittle, Call your local Council office and ask if they are planning to hold a Webelos Woods or similar. This is a Webelos-focused campout where the Webelos dens are paired with Boy Scout Troops and are exposed to Boy Scouting. Our Webelos den participated in a Webelos Woods last weekend. It was a blast for the parents and the boys. I continue to be so very impressed with Boy Scout youth and leaders.

There is a lot more to using a GPS than hitting a button. First, you have to make sure the GPS is set to the correct datum. Select the wrong datum and you can find yourself way off on your map. The data should be printed on the map. Second, all a GPS does is spit out your location in terms of a coordinate, typically a latitude/longitude set or a UTM coordinate. Neither of these is terribly obvious or "natural" to find on a map. I should mention that most electronic maps on mapping GPS's simply do not have sufficient detail for the electronic maps to be useful in the field. For

Wow, you are getting very close to my idea for sheath knife tolerance!!! My original post suggested tolerance of reasonably-sized sheath knives that are carried in rigid containers (kitchen boxes, tackle boxes, ...) or larger packs (backpacks, larger duffles), with the emphasis that they not be carried on the belt, in pockets, or in small fanny/shoulder bags.

Hunt, Can you point me to where BSA says one-on-many is OK? It would sure make life a lot easier.

A Webelos Den Leader here ... I haven't heard the "green bars" term before. I take it that refers to an Assistant Patrol Leader, a Patrol Leader, or a Senior Patrol Leader. Is that correct? Do Assistant Patrol Leaders also sign off on requirements? For some reason I was under the assumption that the Scoutmaster signed off on requirements, but I wondered how one person could take on such a large task. Use of "green bars" makes a lot more sense to me.

kittle, Read this section of the Guide to Safe Scouting on Camping: http://www.scouting.org/pubs/gss/gss03.html#aa It provides a lot of information about the sorts of camping that are allowed for each level of Scouting. Though camping is lots of fun for boys, my advice, with all due respect, is to approach it age-appropriately. Don't try to turn Cub Scouting into Boy Scouting. There will be plenty of camping opportunities for the boys when/if they become Boy Scouts.

I have no problem with burning "burnables" while backpacking - assuming such fires are legal and done safely (I recall hearing about a large forest fire that was started by someone burning their used toilet paper), BUT I don't think it is appropriate when "car camping". Unnecessary burning kicks out all sorts of pollutants and the paper ash is messy and a risk to tent flies. There is no reason why metal, aluminum, glass, cardboard and plastics can't be hauled out and recycled. Paper and messy stuff (such as foil used during cooking) can be baged and deposted in an appropriate trash bin.

Alright, I have to tell you a funny story ... Last weekend my son & I were at Webelos Woods. When I came back my wife told me this story: I guess my 8 year old daughter was running around outside with our three dogs. At some point she came inside and proclaimed with great pride that she had just gone to the bathroom outside "just like the dogs". She had peed and pooped on the ground. My wife was horrified and explained to her that that was simply not appropriate. They headed out the door with a plastic bag to clean up only to find the subject of my daughter's pride was no l

Regarding tobaco use: The only Council camp I've been to (with Cub Scouts) requires adults to smoke in the parking lot. Unfortunately many adults smoke on the part of the parking lot right next to where the U.S. Flag is. That puts them immediately adjacent to youth. To me that is just not appropriate in Scouting. First, let me say that I do not smoke, but I have absolutely nothing against smokers and have a number of very good friends & coworkers who do smoke. Though it is not policy, I would much rather have tobacco use occur completely out of sight of the youth. All the

Thanks for all the replies and advice. To clarify on the type of latrine, it was a three-holer with a large trough and no inside lock on the door nor a sign on the door. I think my best best was to wait until the latrine was empty and then use the last stall rather than the trough, and to keep myself "covered" as much as possible. Then if boys had entered, once finished, get out a quickly as possible. tortdog said: "Would Scout leaders also not enter a public restroom when there is a Scout inside?" That view concerns me. His question is the foundation of my questions 2 & 3. The

I'm a Webelos Den Leader. Last weekend I attended Webelos woods with my son. Lots of fun. Issue #1: On Saturday I asked the district execs there if there were any youth protection or 2-deep leadership issues with me, a leader, being alone in camp alone with my own son. They said that was no problem, which makes sense since we spent the night in the same tent anyway. Question #1: Do you agree that it is OK for parents and their sons to be in one-on-one situations even if the parent is a leader? Its an odd question - the answer seems obvious, but I thought I'd ask to be sure.

Also, if you haven't read Cody Lundin's book "98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive", I highly recommend it. Its a relatively short fun read and has lots of practical information.

Dan - What are the tent stakes for? Are you planning to sleep in your rain suit if it rains at night? Are you bringing a map? What are you carrying water in - your sierra cup? Do you need gear to sanitize water? I might encourage you to consider carrying an Adventure Medical Kits Pocket Survival Pak. It contains many of the items I'm listing below in a convenient 3.9 oz package. My list would include: Lightweight tent or tarp (if overnight trip) First aid kit (could be very small & simple) Water bottle(s) (32 oz wide-mouth Nalgene) Butane lighter (instead of matches - man

I agree 100% with Bob on this one. Youth protection is there to protect the youth from any and all adults - regardless of their sexual persuasion or gender. Homosexuality IS an immoral behavior. I myself certainly don't "fear" homosexuals at all. I see homosexuality as something that is morally wrong - much like sexual relations between a human and an animal (bestiality), or between two closely related family members (incest). Not that I'm insinuating that a person who engages in homosexual behavior has a higher propensity toward bestiality or incest ... they are seperate beha

"There is no reason why unmarried boys and girls need to be going on overnighters together. Any organization in which a substantial portion of the activities include overnighters should not include young men and women. Such only invites sexual misconduct, and would leave the sponsoring organizations exposed to liability." Isn't that what the Venturing program is doing with boys and girls 14 years and older? I actually envision fewer problems with a co-ed program with younger kids. Its not that the program advancement requirements are boy-only material. Most of the requirements are qu

My council camps also forbid sheath knives. Do your patrols include fixed blade knives in their patrol kitchen gear? My guess is that most do. If so, then fixed blade knives WITHOUT sheaths are OK? If the kitchen knives are in sheaths, then are they forbiden? I'm REALLY not trying to get into a battle of words. I'm really not a very radical person and the first to tell people that if the rules say something isn't allow, then it isn't allowed. I'm just trying to understand what exactly the councils' intensions are. Do they not want boys to carry fixed blade knive

I had to smile when one of my distict execs brought a small sheath knife to tonight's roundtable to help cut up meat used as part of a dutch oven demonstration. He even smiled and sort of apologized while admiting that they were "forbidden". I quickly pointed out that they are NOT forbidden at all. I'm not one of those people who thinks Scout leaders are nuts when they forbid sheath knives ... But, one of my personal goals in the next few years is to try to get my Council to lighten up on the "sheath knives are stupid" and/or "sheath knives are forbidden" montras (actual statements m

I'm confused. Are women banned from being adult leaders in a Boy Scout Troop? Assuming the answer is NO, then here is a slightly different question: I found a Boy Scout Troop website that has a requirement - they say it comes from BSA Policy - that in order for a female leader or parent to attend overnight camping, there must be no less than two attending females. That is to say that a lone female leader or parent may not attend Scout overnight campout. Can someone point me to that policy? Also, regarding the age of adults, the GTSS says: "Two registered adult leaders or one regi

I'm confused. Are women banned from being adult leaders in a Boy Scout Troop? Assuming the answer is NO, then here is a slightly different question: I found a Boy Scout Troop website that has a requirement - they say it comes from BSA Policy - that in order for a female leader or parent to attend overnight camping, there must be no less than two attending females. That is to say that a lone female leader or parent may not attend Scout overnight campout. Can someone point me to that policy? Also, regarding the age of adults, the GTSS says: "Two registered adult leaders or one regi

We usually just have den leaders build their own supplies as needed and have them submit expenses to the treasurer. At least in my den, many of the expenses are often just absorbed by parents hosting the particular meetings. The graduating Webelos den leader usually hands off left over supplies to the younger dens.

I once made up a sort of pin the tail on the donkey game, but using a compass. Its been a big hit. All you need is a simple compass, a bed sheet, and a pad of post-its. Color one post-it a bright color and post it on a wall - that is the donkey (the target). Now explain to the boys how compasses work. Show them that they can move the bezel to "box" the needle, spin around, turn their bodies to box the needle while leaving the bevel alone, and they'll be pointing in the same direction. Initially the would do this game with lots of adult help, but eventually they could do it

I haven't had any problems with my Princeton Tech Aurora LED headlamp. I don't tend to have it on while sitting still though. It is only on when I'm walking, setting up camp, or doing other chores. I can see where bugs might find me if I was standing still cleaning dishes, but to date we usually have dinners cleaned up before it gets too dark, so it isn't a problem. Also, I tend to keep the light level at the lowest usable setting to conserve batteries. Keeping the light low may help reduce the attraction by insects.