markrvp

You can get what you are looking for at Wal-Mart and Academy (also Cabela's, Bass Pro, etc.) Here is a link to the hose at Wal-Mart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/COLEMAN-8-PROPANE-HOSE/13848690 Typical Coleman type stoves and 1 lb. propane tanks use what is called a 1" fitting

I guess I don't understand the outrage. I am new to Geocaching, but have found geocaching.com to be a great site. Last night I downloaded Groundspeak's iPhone geocaching application. This takes advantage of the iPhone's built in GPS, WiFi, and cel tower reception to give you your location. The application connects wirelessly to geocaching.com (and your account there) to show you cache's and information. The compass and map feature in the application led my son and me to within 12 feet of a geocache this morning on the way to school. If you already own an iPhone, this $10 app is certainly a great, cheap way to get going. You have the advantage of geocaching.com AND your GPS in one unit.

Now that you know what a Dutch Oven is... buy one and get to cooking.

A lot of good discussion here. In my troop I am the "merit badge guy." The SM has delegated to me the responsibility of keeping track of all the merit badge counselors for our district and helping the boys find a counselor to work with them on their badges. Right now I am looking over the requirements for all the badges our scouts have signed up for at Summer Camp and making sure they are aware of any pre-requisites they should have completed before getting to camp. Keep in mind that logistical/financial factors come into play with several of the badges. Camps and merit badge colleges bring in economy of scale. I don't know about you guys, but I can't buy my son a horse and saddle so he can earn Horsemanship. Buying a $70,000 ski boat to earn the Water Sports merit badge is out of the question. I feel that camp is the place to leverage resources to earn badges that would otherwise be very hard to do. In that spirit I just paid $43 in basket weaving materials for my son to do the Basketry merit badge on his own so he can save his camp slots for badges that we absolutely couldn't do on our own. He would like to do leatherwork, so I am looking for a counselor who has the tools needed so I don't have to buy those too. Trying to earn every merit badge on your own without the resources of a camp or merit badge college just isn't financially feasible for most people, and I think it is against the spirit of scouting for only "rich kids" to earn the most fun badges. In our troop, we normally don't have our own merit badge workshops, but we are making an exception for the four historical merit badges that are only available this year. There aren't any counselors for these badges, so I am registering to counsel all four and I'm bringing in experts in the four fields to teach the skills. All the boys will have to show they can do the skills (can you say semaphore signaling?), so I don't feel like this is a problem at all.

It's hard to beat a good iron skillet. Academy has a great selection of cast iron cookware... I would recommend the LODGE brand over their cheaper brand. Get either a 10-1/4" skillet or 12" skillet for under $25. Our local Wal-Mart also carries LODGE brand iron skillets Sam's Club has a selection of "restaurant" cookware... aluminum pots and pans with or without non-stick finish. I have used some of these for years and they are relatively inexpensive. Wal-Mart has a couple of T-Fal stock pots with a non-stick finish. I've used one on the last two campouts and it works great. The only consideration is that it has a glass lid which will probably get broken eventually. I love to cook and cook for our adult patrol... usually 8-12 people. I have assembled my own pots, pans, and utensils. Most of the utensils I got at Dollar Tree... that way if they get damaged it's only $1 to replace each piece.

The Blind Side