le Voyageur

If it's one thing that most trail foods have in common are the carbos. But are the carbos (meaning both simple, and complexs sugars/starches) the best way to feed ourselves in the backcountry. That is, is the amount of calories that we are intaking equal to, or greater than the amount of calories being expended during a giving period of backpacking. For myself, that answer is no. Sugars and starches tend to burn much too quick, not enough calories for the weight being carried for the miles to be covered. Instead, most carbos are now being weaned out of the pack and being replaced with protiens and fats. Now carried is a 16oz bottle of olive oil (for 5 trail days), which is liberally added to almost everything, and has reduced the pack's food weight by a full 2 1/2 lbs. As an example... instead of that heavy bag of gorp, it's now croutons (the large chunky kind flavored with garlic and herbs) dipped in olive oil, along with sun dried tomatoes, also dipped in olive oil, and sprinkled with basil. For breakfast, instead of the gooy and energy worthless oatmeal, potato flakes, with Butter Buds, real bacon bits, and a tablespoon or two of O. oil. Munch a few croutons dipped again in the O.oil, add some jerky and you've got a lot more calories to work with....

Some extra tips... For headwinds move more weight to the bow to trim the stern. For tail winds, do the reverse... Remember to have fun andbring em home smelly, tired, a little hungry, and as allways safe...bon chance

Sounds like it time for a little rebellion in the ranks, hey! May I suggest that since recharting will becoming up soon, that all units across the US of A place their funds in escrow, or saving accounts until National gets the message to lower uniform costs to something more reasonable...now, who's got the Gadsen flag????

hmmmmmmmmmmmm....... A pancake breakfast Dutch oven dinners Chili and fixins Provide a service.... consider approaching your school district to clean and prep their buses on weekends

For meself, I've never liked the current BSA uniform. My choice would be something that says serious outdoors. My solution is thus...being a member of a Venture crew that does living history I'm now just starting the process of creating my own hand sewn crew uniform based on the clothing worn by 18th century long hunters. So far,I've bought three yards x 60 of heavy duty cotton dyed the same dark grey as the Venture shorts. Along with hand made pewter buttons this will be the material for a set of French fly breeches... The shirt set will consist of 4 long shirts; two wools, 1 mid weight linen, and a lightweight cotton all in a light dull mossy green, again with pewter buttons. The exception will be the cotton that will have either Dorset or dumpling buttons. For wear over the shirts a dark forest green mid thigh weskit in a mid weight wool. Hats, two...the summer hat will be of the low crown, wide brim style , whereas for winter, a French Canadian fur common to the Couier du Bois... A short wool capote, stockings, wool leggings,belt and few other sundries items to complete the kit... Overall, it's going to be a great winter project to enjoy. As for cost, about 75 bucks in materials...

Contact the Greater Yosemite Area Council in Modesto as they have several trail award programs centered around hiking in Yosemite. Another place for great hiking in the general area would be the Golden Trout region near King Canyon, but this should be considered only for older scouts since it's somewhat isolated....

As mentioned earlier, weight is subjective. As it stands, there are three schools of thought on this subject, the weight bound traditionals, the ulta lites, and those that fall somewhere in the middle. Finding what suits one best just takes a little time. My thought is to keep the load as light as possible without sacraficing safety and maybe a little comfort. For myself, most of my long treks will never see loads over 20 pounds (as of the now I'm canoeing on the river for a week, and my gear and food weight falls in at 8 pounds)... My advise for E.D.'s Philmont trek is to look at maybe loosing a little pack weight by doing a weekender...any non essential gear not used would be chucked. As an aside, if I was doing a Philmont trek, I would control pack weight by supplying my own food since the suff they use is somewhat on the heavy side and loaded with a lot of empty calories...

WJ, Seeing that you're in the upper Michagan peninsula you have a wealth of history that you can tap into. As such, my suggestion would be to develop a persona for a specific period of history and go from there. For example, during the 18th century the Great Lake tribes in your area mixed native American dress with European. Proper dress seen for this era would be a long shirt, breech clout, sash, leggings (wool, or brain tanned deer), and center seam mocs. Other items could include a gorget, decorations made from trade silver, and maybe a weskit and/or capote. Accoutraments would include items like a scalp knife, small neck knife, hawk, powder horn and a small hunting bag. The most common gun was the Fusil de Chasse in 62 cal. When camp ends, I pm you and forward you some photos to give you a better ideal for the correct look if you're interested....

Matuawarrior Been a wee bit of time since I've camped in Guam...enjoyed looking for those old Japanese hideouts dispite the sword grass. Also, a friend and I did the first "hike" from the overlook down to Cetti Bay using steel carabiners, and rebar as pitons to repell from....we left a lot of them in place since there was noway to recover them. Wonder if they are still there???

Thanks, I got befuddled a wee bit...listen to KS, I'm still in the dark ages when it's comes to this comfuser stuff (Bye the bye, once upon a time when I was near your area, I was part of a volunteer group tracking illegals to make sure they had food and water as they crossed the El Camino Diablo....)

Forgive me for being an ignoramus, but are you looking for software programs to "track" advancements, dues, etc., or information on how to track game, and/or people?????

...award be changed, or rather updated. Over the years, many of the old merit badges, such as Cooking (wish they would rethink this one, too), Hiking, Camping, etc. have seen changes. However, these two awards have stayed the same, with the HTA not fully reflected of the broader American experience. With todays advances in computer aided embrodery producing an outstanding design would not be that difficult. My thinking, make an award that every Scout would consider a must have....as an example, consider what a few councils, such as the Grand Canyon Council has done with their O.A. flaps which could be considered fine art....

Just a thought concerning PFD's...I've seen a few come off of folks being maytagged, which suggest in such an event, it's to late to learn to swim if you don't know how. Better hope your buddy is ready with the throw bag....

OGE Gotta think that your dad must of been one very knowledgeable outdoorsman. Most greenhorns tend to get the biggest knife they can find to dress out game. Heck, a musket flint will dress out a deer with no problem. But, I do like carrying a fixed blade with a serrated edge on the river, beats trying to open a folder with wet fingers in an emergency...

Maybe National should amend this non swimmer passenger rule allowing it only at a camp's well protected waterfront.....(that, or they should reconsider B.P.'s mandate of "every Scout a swimmer")

For any canoeing activity I've always cosidered the GTSC as the absolute minimum. I've never had a problem of cranking up the requirements to keep a person, or a crew safe. For me, even on flat water everyone must be a swimmer dispite what the guide says. Here's why.... If there is one constant about flat water it is this, that it isn't alway flat. Flat water is always a mix of weather, winds and currents. Even on large bodies of water an unexpected storm can quickly change a placid lake into a nightmare of rolling waves, and deep swells that can swamp or flip a canoe with little effort. In this case the parents are being unreasonable thus putting the overall safety of this crew at risk...

wow, what a question....okay, here's my two cents worth based on my experience running white water programs. First, training. Sad to say, the majority of BSA Aquatic Directors have little to no experience in this area. So be careful here, if they can't tell you what it means when they don't see eddies behind boulders, or how to swim through a pillow, you better find someone else... Second, a BSA Lifeguard Certification does not prepare the holder to handle whitewater emergencies. Nowhere in their training do they learn how to deal with strainers, pins, entrapment, how to read the river, weather, how to set pulley systems, or how to use flip lines and so on...whitewater is a different world where small mistakes add up quickly. Third, find someone that is not only trained, but experience is running crews in swift water. They may cost you a bit, but the price is cheap compared to what you don't want to happen. Fourth, I never take anyone on moving water who has flunked a swim test, period. You can make them part of the support crew, but keep them out of the boats. (my test are divided into two swims, the standard swim test used at camp, followed later by a 100 yard self rescue swim training sesson in fast water) Look at what personal gear they need, we require class III pfd, and never allow any one to wear those bright orange horseshoe pfds. Also, never, never allow anyone to wear a puncho while in the boat, these things are drowning manchines. Consider whistles, knives, small folding handsaws (Gerbers), small flashlights, two carabiners, and helmets as essentials, not nice to haves...

If possible, contact some of the area's military ombudsmans to see if they can help in the recruiting. Most military Commanders I've asked through their command's ombudsmans have sent their best people over TAD to give us an assist....

Forgot to add, as always, practise with plastic ware first....

Dishwashing - here's a tip for a little enhancement in a Unit's totem chip training...how to wash knives (butcher knives, serated blades, etc...) Here's how... knives are always washed alone and never mixed. The handle is always kept toward you and the pointy end away. If you're right handed you want to keep the sharp side on the left (reverse this if you're a lefty). Thus, you can reach into the water without fishing around, pick up the knife by it's handle with the left hand, and wipe down with the right(again, reverse this if you're a lefty...weak hand controls the kife, strong hand scrubs along the dull side)...make it a habit, and this chore becomes a lot safer..

Do a internet search on NOLS, Leave no Trace, and BOSS; or go over to www.rei.com to their learn and share section.... From these, you should be able to build an outdoor handbook that'll help you fine tune the stuff in the Scout Handbook

Bob, Much in agreement with you, and a lot of others on this board...and I think purcele on another thread (Issue's and Politics section, re., Rules for Adults) nailed it solid... my plan is to listen to the pros and cons being presented here, and hopefully to have the wisdom to follow the advice that comes from a broad range of experiences....it's why I said, I'm dragging my feet as I want a scouting program ran by scouts. Not a money program running scouts...

I'm in agreement with dsteele on this one as nearly every camp has a Wailing Wall. In the above instance, the CD should of set phone useage hours outside of the camp's main program time for scouts. Also, I feel that these cards should be seen as part of an emergency kit....

Being a historian, I really hate seeing how political groups with an axe to grind are rewriting history since I prefer the unvarnished truth....but, as in Georgia, and South Carolina "the times, they are a changing" Thus, I would consider as a new name the James River Council...

Thanks all,lots of good advice that is much needed and that I'll heed (taking notes), if you've got more thoughts feel free to post, as I've seen good units, and friendships wrecked over money squabbles...better to let the ideal die on the vine then to loose a unit... As for my wife, the organization she volunteers for raises money for FeLv research (Feline Lukemia, a retro virus akin to the human AID's virus, the goal is to crack it's DNA and find the Achilles heel) ....being a backpacker, I suggested cat pup tents for a product line. For the now the contracts have been signed, and soon they'll be carried in 90 Wal Mart stores....