le Voyageur

FOG... You tickle me... However, per your concern,if the batteries die in my GPS it's no problem. I can make a sextant outta two sticks, and a bit of duct tape... As for being belayed on a 30 foot tower, use a static belay just like the local do here with their tree stands...

As the CR, I would phone the CC expressing my concerns, requesting that this practise cease until the SM is in compliance with the standards. Additionally, we three would have a face to face to find a solution to this problem. I would also schedule a refresher training session on Youth Protection for all hands. If the SM continues to disreguard the rules then there would be little choice but to release him from this position since I'm directly responsible to the chartering organization, and must act in their best interest. Additionally, just as we expect our scouts to follow the rules, we can do no less as adults. As said in Wood Badge, you've gotta walk the talk.

Since we're just starting to get this crew going, my plans for the first meeting will be at the Coast Guard Station for swim tests, and a bit of basic water rescue training. Afterwards, we'll rondy at the local pizza palor for a parley to work on the organizational structure of the crew. Until this crew is able to function as a crew (hopefully, it'll only take a couple of months or less) the plan is to hold all meetings outdoors doing something related to high adventure. As I see it, meetings,discussions, and planning can be better accomplished sitting in a canoe out in the middle of a cypress swamp than in a building. Better to be a verb, than a static noun.....

Just getting ready to start a new crew here (high adventure and colonial re enactment)....since we live in a rural county with low numbers of youth available (or even interested in Scouting) the plan is to use the local paper to bang our drum. One of the areas that I'm exploring is having a face to face with the editor to create a Scouting column which will run with every edition....

Aye tis a good look, but how to choose....shall it be the breachan an fheilidh (Class A's, maybe), or the feilidh beag for Class B's??? By the by FOG, break out your Totem Chip card and I'll sign you off for the lochaber

This is indeed odd?!?!?! With the way BSA is structured I can't see how National can, or would want to, to issue it's self a charter and work directly at the unit level. Guess this will be a wait and see story yet to unfold...

These are some of the mb's that I council, plus my comments on how to make them better. Climbing - needs updating with the addition of self rescue techniques. Cycling - to watered down and weaniefied, needs general requirments covering safety, repairs, and conditioning. Followed by a choice of 1 of 3 different options. Those options being Touring, Road Biking, and Mountain Biking. American Heritage - needs a complete rewrite with more focus on living history. Indian Lore - another badge that needs a complete rewrite. Tends to be a give away badge at summercamps for first year campers. I would favor requirements more for the older scouts.. Canoeing - would be great to see a requirement that requires at the very least a 5 mile trek on Class C waters (Class C is one grade lower than Class I...just enough current without the fear of getting a newbe in trouble)as a capstone in earning the badge. Oreenteering - a ghastly merit bade that should be changed to Land Navigation offering a choice between two options, Oreenteering for the jocks, and Land Navigation for the wilderness travellar with a focus on GPS, and the UTM co ordinate system. Whitewater - lacks self rescue techniques. Get rid of the gates, the best way to learn how to handle a boat in whitewater is in whitewater. Not on a pond doing figure 8's around poles...

With the fires burning around Julian, is Lost Valley out of harms way. It's a great camp, but the last time I was there it was dry as a bone....got my fingers crossed that your camp will be spared... bon chance to you all

KA6BSA This is the first that I've heard of a ruling like this...however, I guess, since I'm First Nation I've got a little more latitude than most adults. But, I've no problem with adults dressing out if their kit is accurate...as I see it, adults can't teach, or share what they don't know, and if this is one of the ways in which they can learn of our traditions, and then pass it on to the younger generations, I'm all for it.

Pack, Actually, this is very do-able, with Camp Chick closing in a few a years, those units in that Council will have no choice but to go to other places. The way to make it work, is for those two Councils to be willing to co-op funds in the greater interest of those units they serve....wouldn't it be better to have one great camp shared by two, or even three or more Councils, instead of a number of competing and mediocre camps within the same backyard...just a though..

Boy, if it's one thing that our Council is really lacking in, is programs for older scouts. This is especially true for their summer camp, which is, to be quite honest, just another merit badge camp....it's the reason that I left for greener, and more active pastures.... Here is what I would do if I was one of the powers that be to change this around for the better....the first step would be the hiring of a Reservation Program Development Director who's job is just that, the creation of programs...no fund raising, no numbers games to work. The RPDD would start by doing an inventory of available assests and resources both on, and outside the reservation, and from there develop a 6 month, 1 year, 3 year, and a 5 year mission plan. The RPDD would also work closely with the O.A. and the Venture program assisting in creating viable programs of interest, and ensuring that the reservation has the resources available for their use... Again, if I was one of the powers that be, here's the programs that I would hand to the RPDD to develop and make happen.... The creation of a Fish Camp (Outer Banks, 4 days of fishing creeks, and river. One day of deep sea fishing) Two canoe bases (Nottoway/Chowan, and Alligator rivers). Outpost camping with canoes and dories...whitewater running on the Nottoway) A living history internship program (a summer camp program - a week spent at Jamestown/Willamsburg learning how to be, and serving as historical re enactors) A better C.O.P.E. course, especially high C.O.P.E. Two Sailing Bases (one on the Chesapeake, the other on the Albemarle) A SCUBA certification program A Long Hunter Program (a hunter safety course more focused on black powder) A Dismal Swamp Cycling Trek A Wilderness First Responder Course A week long Power Boat handling course Those are mine...so, what are the improvements you'd like to see within your council???

Boy FOG, you nearly had me stumped, took awhile to figure out what a Janeway was?!??....guess I'm not a Trekie since I prefer the 18th century life of those canoe paddling voyageurs over this asphalt coated, and concrete covered world we live in... As for a name for the rig...never gave it much thought, figured it'll just name it's self...

FOG, you're right in that a kn is a unit of force, and is the standard used in the climbing industry. However, everypiece of climbing gear that I've seen has always expressed the kn in terms of foot pounds of energy. Thus for me, a 5 000 lb anchor system would equate to 20 kn, a tremendous amount of force that would shock load the system (climber, harnesses, rope, knots, carabiners, anchors, rock, belayer) at some point into failure. Maybe it's not good math, but it's enough to keep me aware of what could be generated in the system letting me take the precaution to keep everything below the limits of failure, and work within the manufacturers recommendations. However, I understand what is being attempted, which is a totally bombproof system. However, there are many weak links in these systems that will not allow for an effective anchor system rated at 20 kn's or higher. The first one being the very rock in which the anchors are placed. Thus, for some types of rocks, sandstone being one, anchors will have to be some type of fixed expansion bolt epoxyed in. With heavy use, and exposure to the environment these bolts will more than likely have to be replaced every year, thus degrading the rock even more. The next weak link are knots....thus I would suggest not tying in with a Figure 8, but instead with a Figure 9 to reduce the bend angle. To understand this, take a piece of kernmantle and just fold it over to form a bend. At the top of the bend the fibers in this area are under tension (a shearing force), while at the bottom of the bend, these fibers are under compression and are holding very little of the load. The sharper the bend means more fibers under compression with a greater strain on those few fibers under tension and holding the bulk of the load. Hence, any shock load to any knot with an excessive bend angle could result in rope failure reguardless of the amount of energy (or force) that the anchors can hold. Thus the reason for a Figure 9 knot over the 8.... It is because of this, that I've developed my own anchor system which is not only self equalizing, but capable of bleeding off, hopefully, enough energy (or force) to protect the system to prevent failure...

I've yet to get a current copy of the new standards for either Climbing, or COPE. However, a 5 000 lb anchor system is odd, if my math is right thats works out to about 20kn (kilo newtons - foot pounds of energy, 1 kn = 250 foot pounds of energy). Thus any fall that would produce this much energy would be a non surviable fall even if the rope didn't seperate, and the climber never made contact with the ground. No doubt about it, it's time to get a copy and see what the changes are. On a side note, I've developed a self adjusting anchor system that can bleed off anywhere between 3 and up to 8kn of energy (750 to 2,000 ft lbs of energy)to eliminate/reduce severe falls... (that reminds me, gotta give a follow up call to the company that I trying to get to make this thing....hopefully I'll have a bunch to sell, or just plain give away to a few camps before summer..)

So, what's the story behind the first merit badge that you earned....here's mine My first was Cooking (1962) - spent months getting the requirements right, and per my usual, always putting in some extra effort in trying something new. Most of the time, the "new" just didn't work out as planned. Such as the time when attempting a peach cobbler using an old army mess kit for a Dutch Oven. P.A. and I had hiked out into desert some 7 or 8 miles for an overnighter. We pitched a simple camp using a puncho as shelter, and of all the rare events that could happened in the desert, it did. It rain enough so that the peach cobbler was both half cooked, and half burnt. Overall, looking back on this event, I gotta admit that this was probadly the finest peach cobbler ever made... The other time, was near Ft. Apache, started cooking biscuts in a cardboard oven at a camporee....guess someone thought it was a good ideal and passed it on. However, when it came time to head off to the M.B. councellor for the sign off, the only way to go was either by foot, or via bike since he was some 15 miles distance. I decided the bike would be quicker, and in the process of getting there and back it became apparent that the two key merit badges was Hiking and Cycling. The realization was that it was possible while working on those requirements, one could also work on numerous additional requirements of closely related merit badges at the same time, allowing one to earn a half dozen or so merit badges in the process. For example, while working on the requirements for Cycling, it was easy to work on the requirements for Nature, Botany, Bird Study, Astronmy, Insect Life, Geology Photography, Art, Reading, Scholarship and even Public Speaking (I still talk to myself). Without a doubt, it was the Cooking mb that gave me the insight on how to not only advance quicker, but to have a lot more fun in doing so. It also led me to my passion for canoeing....

Jamboree - from the Kiswahili (the language of Kenya) word Jambo, meaning hello, and or greetings. Ree being a shift form the prefix of re to that of a suffix. Re as in renew, restart, review, etc... Hence, a jamboree - a gathering of the villige, tribes, or clans for a sing, a dance, a feast to (re)new old friendships and kinships, a (re)turn to one's common roots...

Well guys, I'm green with envy hearing that you'll be backpacking the Barrens....dang, looking for the Jersey Devil on Holloween, what a hoot....you guys will be having some fun..

The Fall Fellowship was a bit of a bust...the problem was Isabel, seems that most school districts were running classes on Sat. to make up for the missed days. Also, the camp was a mess, gonna take a lot of work to get it back in shape...however, the estimate of 1300 trees being down seems to be on the low side, my guess would be around 3x's number if the leaners are counted.. Well, next year's Fellowship will be better...(fingers crossed)..

Fall Fellowship....be leaving early am on the morrow. You guys have a great weekend.....

I would suggest just section hiking one of the more easier sections of the Long Trail...with the fall colors in bloom, even a short 5 or 10 miler would be just outstanding. Also, maybe consider the Pine Barrens in south Jersey, with a side trip to Cape May for sticky, buns and a stroll through a really neat little town....

Four silvers, one gold.....guess I was an over acheiver

Since Plams are not ranks, I've alway's wished that National would make a blank "square knot" so that those who have earned more than one would have a place to wear them....kinda hard to get five Plams on one Eagle square knot...

TP....so true, this would also include the Olmec, Toltecs, Aztecs, Mayans, as well as the Seneca, Sioux and other bands. Since our ancestors had no written history we'll also never know the complete history of pre contact genocide. It would be great if we could. However, we're not perfect, never were, never will be, we're human like everyone else with the same human flaws.....however, neither the Ottawa, nor the Potawatomi continued on to become he dominant power of this country either....

Ignoring, and shifting from the tedious and tiring sparing between liberals and conservatives, but trying to stay within OGE's rules I'll continue the post what I started...as stated, I'm an iconclastic properterian anarchist As an anarchist I'm aware of the choas created by such freedom, as it is the human nature to be base, greedy, self serving and destructive. However, it is a postion that those of us who are native Americans need to take in order to become more inclusive within the present government that has conquered and subjugated us. We need to raise holy political hell. Not for a homeland as that would be impossible. However, I feel that this country could be divided into two political regions with the dividing line being the Mississippi. Those tribes in the west would elect two Senators, and an appropriate number of Congressmen based on population. Those of us in the east would do like wise. Additionally, would be the phase out of the BIA, and the creation of a cabinet position. As an iconoclast, my feelings toward the Christian religion is hostile, as it was the principle element to destroy what was left of our culture after the Federal government decided to stop killing us. We need to return to our roots freeing our selves from this imported posion. As a properterian we Native Americans need to better protect our culture, and cease from selling it off in cheesy tourist traps. That our burial grounds are off limits, and that past treaties agreed on, but ignored by this government will be honored.... Maybe then, I can settle down into the mundane and decide if I want to be a liberal, or a conservative....but, until then, there's a civil rights fight that needs to be fought before this century is out....

Politically, I'm a iconoclastic properterian anarchist...have never liked any form of government except for the absolute bare minimums. Governments grow to enslave their citizens directly or indirectly. Governments create laws to subtract, restrict and regulate the freedoms of it's citizens, while giving itself ever increasing power over it's citizens. It is one of the hidden functions of government to imprison it's citizens for infractions of it's law while limiting or eliminating redress for it's own infractions. It is also the hidden function of governments to exercise a policy of democide to kill it's citizens directly, or indirectly through either it's criminal justice system, or it's military. It is the power of the government to levy runious taxes to suppress the power of the middle class, while protecting it's elitist power base. Without poverty created by governments the wealthy would not exist...