Kudu

How is a frog different than a minnow? Frogs are green and they jump. Its ok to stick a hook through the head of a minnow or into a worm or grub but not a frog? Well, it's not something that I do anymore. When my squeamish Scouts ask me to bait their hooks, I ask them why they don't want to do it themselves. The quote came from a chapter on live bait in Dan Beard's Outdoor Handy Book, "For my part, a live frog is a very unpleasant bait. Its human-like form and its desperate struggles to free itself by grasping the hook with its strange little hands, are too suggestive o

You are not required to go to National Camping School to run a week-long camp for your Troop, Bob Geier writes: "There is no obligation for a unit (or a group of units working together to put on an outing) to follow the National Camp School standards. The NCS standards only apply when a BSA corporate entity (council) offers a resident camp for a fee (which triggers the application of camp licensing laws in each state). "A troop or group of troops that put on their own summer camp are no different than running a camporee or a long troop trip/venture patrol trip. "When

You might want to think outside of the "stay in one place" summer camp box. Our week-long backpacking trips are not subject to all of these regulations. For a collection of personal accounts of running Troop Summer Camps, see: http://inquiry.net/outdoor/summer/camp/troop/index.htm You should also get a second opinion on the "it doesn't count toward OA elections" warning. Everyone who actually does this reports that they had no such problems with their lodges. Kudu

OldGreyEagle writes: It does seem you slam the BSA program any time you get a chance and I was reacting to that.

Well, advancement was more difficult back then. Requirement #7 was to build a fire using only two (2) matches, so perhaps the more fires a Scout needed to build, the more opportunites he had to pass both requirments :-) Kudu

Ozemu, is utensil-less cooking still part of the Scouting program in Australia? At one time the BSA 2nd Class requirement #8 read: "Cook a quarter of a pound of meat and two potatoes in the open without any cooking utensils." This style of cooking must have built some lasting memories, because 70 years after a Girl Scout horseback campout in the back country, my mom still talks about cooking over the fire that night with a broiler they made by weaving green sticks together. Utensil-less Cooking might make an interesting chapter in a Scout Cookbook. American Scouts from the new Bad

Just how do you know how the troop I serve regards the Oath? That would be the Scout Law, OGE, not the Oath. Perhaps you would like to make a postive contribution to the discussion by sharing with us how the Scouts in "the troop you serve" regard the sixth Scout Law, rather than engaging in your customary trivial personal attacks. I mean, who cares if the Scout in the PETA commercial is a sophomore in college now? Kudu

ozemu writes: I'm interested in a frank discussion but using emotion and particularly guilt annoys me. I think emotion and guilt have a legitimate evolutionary social function. Civil discussion is just a way of expressing your emotions in the guise of "logic" and "objectivity" :-) We don't use Baden-Powell's Scout Law here in the United States. In the BSA it is just a jingle-jangle of single words that the Scouts rattle off, and I doubt if one in a hundred sees any connection between "kind" and the treatment of animals. This could perhaps be intentional. For 96 years th

No. But I would give them credit for an appropriate milestone marking a quarter-century of absolute Uniform Method incompetence :-/ While old fashioned traditionalists like me would consider this to be the stupidest decision since outlawing laser tag, it might paradoxically encourage the rebirth of the BSA Uniform. A secret cult honor camper service society would spring up at Philmont. Form would follow function, and freed from the corruption of old dress designers at BSA Supply, Philmont would develop an innovative Outdoor Uniform: a breathable nylon shirt with mesh vents unde

Baden-Powell's original wording of the sixth Scout Law as it appeared in Scouting for Boys was: 6. A SCOUT IS A FRIEND TO ANIMALS. He should save them as far as possible from pain, and should not kill any animal unnecessarily, even if it is only a fly--for it is one of God's creatures. By 1911, B-P had added: "Killing an animal for food or an animal which is harmful is allowable." For a chart that shows the history of the changing meaning of Scout Law, see The Inquiry Net: http://www.inquiry.net/ideals/scout_law/chart.htm As noted in the recent Hunting thread, Baden-

PETA is a front for ALF, a terrorist organization There, you see? George Bush was justified in spying on American citizens' e-mail and phone calls without a warrant :-/

I'm getting an error message on your Email address: scoutingrecipes@bellsouth.net could not be delivered. The specific error is: 550 Invalid recipient: scoutingrecipes@bellsouth.net

I don't see why a trusted older Scout can't sign off when a First Class candidate has discussed citizenship with a selected individual approved by the leader. The official might be honored to actually sign the requirement off in the Scout's handbook, but it isn't necessary that he do it. Kudu

Slip the 'biner on the Scout belt, 2 loops back or so. John-in-KC, Maybe it is just me, but when I wear cords near the waist area, even behind me, they snag on stuff all day long. Gear is tied off, and the dummy cords don't go around the neck! Do soldiers still wear dog tags around the neck? Eamonn writes You are about the most argumentative fellow I have ever met. Well, thank you, Eamonn! I do try to look at each and every element of Scouting with fresh eyes, and that certainly does tend to irritate true believers like you. Sea Scouter's don't wear

Sorry for the caps thing. I'm just getting the hang of this "forum" thing. I'm having some technical difficulties myself! Another concern we've had in testing is that while the recipes are absolutely delicious they are also very fattening. That is a responsible position to take, given the incredible rate of obesity among American children. But as a Scoutmaster, I'm not very ethical when it comes to weekend campout food! The most important Scout Law is "A Scout is cheerful," and they especially love Dutch oven recipes with a lot of cheese :-) Maybe you could jus

Long cords do work, but I'm not mad about wearing things around little Lads necks, the cord can get tangled and ruin a good tree climb. I first read about this practice in a wilderness survival book. The idea is that even if you unexpectedly lose your pack and everything but what you are wearing, you still have your knife, spark tool, and whistle. I wonder if in the last 99 years of Scouting if any one of these hundreds of millions of Scouts has ever been injured by wearing a cord around his neck? At any rate, our rule is to wear them inside their shirt so there is less temptat

I clicked on this topic intending to message somebody for typing in CAPS, but WOW! Lipsmackin' Backpackin' is a really great backpacking cookbook! Why pay for a cookbook when you can download good Scout cookbooks like the Geezer's Dutch oven cookbook for free? Well, this one is worth the investment. If you want to encourage Scouts to break the car-camping habit and get out into the real wilderness, Lipsmackin' Backpackin' can eliminate the common complaints about bad tasting backpacking food. It is available in many Scout Shops, or for around $7 used at Amazon, see: ht

I've done a lot of reading on B-P, James West and Bill Hillcourt, but very little on Seton and some of the others. I'll have to correct that deficiency in the coming year. Seton's "Woodcraft Indians" handbook, The Birch Bark Roll can be found at The Inquiry Net, see: http://inquiry.net/traditional/seton/birch/index.htm Dan Beard's handbook, The Boy Pioneers: Sons of Daniel Boone can be found at: http://inquiry.net/traditional/beard/pioneers/index.htm Kudu (This message has been edited by Kudu)

Some random thoughts: 1) Just make the thong longer, so that it doesn't have to be unfastened! 2) Consider a backpacking or fishing vest. This is also a great place to store your "10 Essentials" between campouts. 3) I set the example and tie a 3' brightly-colored cord to most of my gear. For some reason it makes it easier to find, especially in the snow, even if it isn't attached to anything. 4) Best cord has a very small diameter with highly reflective thread woven into it, buy it in climbing equipment stores. 5) Whenever you list a pocketknife, compass, etc, on an

The Redskins Patrol was a subset of the Patrol Leader's "Redskins Tribe," an alternative Scouting "Troop" that he had organized while he was still too young to join the BSA. The tribe's activities were drawn from his extensive collection of library-discard books about Native Americans. His favorite finds were Ben Hunt and Ellsworth Jaeger, followed by Julian Harris Salomon, Ernest Seton, Dan Beard, Baden-Powell, and William Hillcourt. The Patrol Leader, "Chief Standing Wolf," was a very quick reader with a photographic memory, but he and his Patrol members were all tough, street

thanks for the update on game laws in England Well, you are very welcome, OGE! I'm happy that I could put things in perspective for you :-/ Kudu

Another way of obtaining used Scout uniforms is to offer a "finder's fee" for anyone who brings one in. The going rate in our Troop is $10 for a Scout shirt in good condition, or $5 for one that is "wearable." Plus bonus Reese's Cups, the true coin of the realm. The idea is to encourage Scouts and their parents to pick them up when they see them at at thrift stores (usually for a $5 profit) and to ask their friends and relatives who have left Scouting if they still want their old uniforms. This has had the unanticipated consequence of some boys returning to Scouts after having quit (in

Another way of obtaining used Scout uniforms is to offer a "finder's fee" for anyone who brings one in. The going rate in our Troop is $10 for a Scout shirt in good condition, or $5 for one that is "wearable." Plus bonus Reese's Cups, the true coin of the realm. The idea is to encourage Scouts and their parents to pick them up when they see them at at thrift stores (usually for a $5 profit) and to ask their friends and relatives who have left Scouting if they still want their old uniforms. This has had the unanticipated consequence of some boys returning to Scouts after having quit (in

I hope at the very least they only hunted animals in season unless of course the original Baden-Powell program included blatant disregard for the law I suppose it depends on what you mean by "the original Baden-Powell program" :-/ I believe Baden-Powell once drew a sketch of himself as a boy cooking a rabbit over a small fire in the "Copse," a wooded area near his Charterhouse School. He had to learn how to make these fires smokeless, because his presence in the Copse was a blatant disregard for the school rules. One pair of sketches shows him hiding from one of the school's

Some of us consider "A Scout is Cheerful" to be the most important Scout Law because nothing kills the Scouting spirit faster than complaining! The 2nd Edition of Handbook for Scout Masters was the last edition of the book written before the arrival of William Hillcourt from Denmark. During this period, the BSA brand of Scouting was heavily influenced by the YMCA. Long before the invention of television and "Saturday Night Live" style, pun and put-down based "campfire skits," a lot of creative effort went into campfire programs and what were then called "campfire stunts." A "Burn