Mike Long

Yep, I love my pepsi can stove. I've spent several hundred dollars on backpacking stoves and now I'm using a pepsi can. Go figure. We built some at a meeting last Oct. and the boys loved it. Plan for doing it on at least two meetings though. I used the same plan that you did and mine will boil 2 cups of water in about 6 minutes with a total burn time of 11 minutes. Be sure to use a wind screen too.

Well, yes I guess they would take care of your ankles and a whole lot more. I was thinking of these.... http://www.campmor.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=5107&prmenbr=226 This a very nice set but there are much less expensive options that will do the job quite well. This particular example was chosen only because they are shown being worn. (In case there were any questions as to what they are.)(This message has been edited by Mike Long)(This message has been edited by Mike Long)

Gaitors will take care of your ankle deep crossings if you don't linger. The deep stuff.....well that's all I have. I wanna go too!

Its Trail Day I really liked the photos. I bet the boys got a kick out that climbing tower.

Our fist child is due in September and we are fully prepared to homeschool if we feel it is necessary. Franky it frightens me what my Scouts are and aren't learning in school.

Do a websearch for Free hosting. There are MANY places that will provide free hosting to anyone. The kicker is that you are required to allow their advertising on your site. Be sure to see that you have some choice over what gets displayed so you don't get stuck with inappropriate ads on a scout page. Also be sure to have a backup of your site on disk as they do not promise anything regarding data integrity or 24/7 uptime. (Short version= They might lose your stuff) A troop site is the biggest information tool you could have but ONLY if you update it CONSTANTLY. It has been a great help to our unit. It also doesn't hurt to have a Scoutmaster that does web development for a living. http://www.troop623.com/

Best of luck to you.

Perhaps these questions would be better answered by LV himself rather than a proxy who tried to understand his viewpoint. I think I do understand him but don't agree with some of his views. From LV's second post: As an adult, I now practise the faith of my ancestors I take that as a statement of faith. I'm thinking his Troop or Crew find him to be an admirable Scouter. LV is a Scouter with strong views just like the rest of us, only some of his views are different than the majority. Unfortunately the arguement over the delivery drowned out any real dicussion that could lead to mutual understanding.

Just where do you get that LV has no faith of any kind? I though he made it clear that he followed the traditional faith of his people. As I see it he does not equate the term religion with his people's belief systems. I don't think everyones definitions of religion are the same in this discussion. I see no hipocracy in that, only a shared failure to communicate effectivly. I disagree with LV's asessment regarding the nature of the faith of christ. But I do agree that many religions were wrongly used as tools to further the ambitions of some individuals or groups. There is a lot of history to prove that point but the misuse of faith does not invalidate the message. In my view, the teachings of christ can be condensed into "Love one another" overly simplistic I know, but who can argue against that? How is that not truth?

I agree with that assesment Brad. The Royal Ranger clone reference was to the fact that in RR advancment is tied to religious knowledge (when I was a member I advanced several ranks and the only requirements were memorizing bible verses) as opposed to scouts where it is skill based.

I was a little boy last time I was at the Grand Canyon so I can't remember what the trails were like. With 20 stream crossings you will not keep your feet dry unless they are small streams. You said that day is a dayhike, I was thinking backpacking so I typed all that stuff below. I'll leave it in case it helps someone else. It being a dayhike I'd wear my boots but I'd pack along water shoes or sandals. In really wet sections change shoes. Be sure to bring pack towels and foot powder. If you wear sandals put sunscreen on your feet. Sunburned feet are pure misery backpacking, trust me I've done it. Oh it hurts to even remember it. Footwear choices depend on a bunch of things. The biggest being foot and ankle strength, pack weight and trail and river bottom conditions. Sandy bottomed areas can be done barefoot. Rocks however require protection. It is very easy to twist an ankle on submerged rocks. In rocky areas I take off my socks and wear my boots when crossing streams. Change your socks frequently and powder your feet. Lunch and long pack off breaks need to be a no shoes affair with everyones boots in the sun with footbeds removed for drying. It gets very hot on the canyon floor things will dry faster than you could imagine. Your scouts and adults need to be extremely vigilant for dehydration AND hypothermia. Yes hypothermia, that much water exposure can trigger it even in the heat. Do an intensive first aid refresher before you go. I wear boots with tall gaitors (just below the knee) they keep out water just fine as long as it isn't too deep. I also carry sandals. I'd also search the internet for others trips to the canyon. Use the phrase "trip report" or something similar. Also on http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk there are a couple of people with massive experience in hiking the canyon. You might want to post there and see if they respond be sure to mention the exact route you intend to take. Despite all the trash threads there truly is a huge knowledge base there. Warning-they like to mess with each other there, ignore the pranksters.

I'm just clarifing Rooster. We understand each other. I quit Royal Rangers to be a Scout and I ain't going back.

Boys that were members of my troop will always be my boys no matter what. Our troop plans and conducts the Eagle COH in accordance with the Eagle families wishes. The whole family (directly and indirectly) worked to help the Eagle earn the award in our opinion, we honor all of them. Give him his Eagle court, and work to make it a good one by whatever existing standards or procedures your troop currently holds.

I justify no such thing. I merely point in the general direction of information and there is plenty if you have the time to keep looking. positive testimony? from my original post. "...Some had good experiences but..." I thought I covered that. If it is true? Well, my Great-Grandmother (Eastern band of the Cherokee) thought it was true when she lived through it. I assume that LV lived it too. Again as I said many times before wrong is wrong. I believe in guilt or innocence not blame, I also believe in forgiveness and redemption. and yes, I am a Christian too.

As to the question of federal laws forcing Christianity. Do a little research on the federal and religious (mostly boarding) schools that our government forced native children to attend in the 1800s and onwards. Some had good experiences but most amounted to re-education camps. Not recent enought to matter? Check the dates. This is not ancient history. http://www.canoe.com/CNEWSFeatures9904/28_indians.html http://www.canoe.com/CNEWSFeatures9904/28_indians2.html

The "buck naked" in the sleeping bag thing is a myth and has been scientificly been proven false. Matter of fact that theory is referred to as an "Old Boy Scout Myth" rather widely. I'm trying to find that article that proved it. I'll post it when I do.

That's right FScouter, eat it all. If I pack in food only to throw it out that's wasted effort. No, don't do it. Animals will begin to identify that area with food and will come back to look for more. Once again, habituating wild creatures to human food (or any food they can't get by themselves in their own habitat) is a bad thing.

I really enjoyed that! Thanks.

Yep, I looked it up the first time he came around. They are one in the same person. Search Google for the name and check the email addresses, eventually they will all link up. Yes his views are honestly his.

Buring food scraps is great for composting but bad for wild areas. The real issue is animals. Critters will dig up anything that remotely smells like food. Once a wild animal finds rich human food they will begin to frequent that area looking for more. If you happen to dump scrap near a frequently used camping area chances are that others have done the same too. The local critters will begin to associate the campsite and by extension humans with food. With that happening we cause the creatures to depend on humans for food and disrupting their natural cycle. Some human food is very bad for animals and will cause sickness in those that consume it. This habituation is also dangerous for humans. When animals get habituated they lose their fear of humans and may become aggressive towards humans. This can lead to life threatening situations when animals get really hungrey. Once habituated the only solution is to destroy problem animals. If you intentionaly or otherwise feed a wild animal you have killed it. Most folks only think of bear encounters in this instance but ANY animal thus habituated can cause problems. For example: In the Bob Marshall Wilderness Mt. and few years back deer were stealing hikers sweaty clothes for the salt. On the AT in the Roan Highlands section of NC I know of a guy that a deer chased him away from his open pack. The deer grabbed his food bag (full of a weeks worth of food, it was day one) and took off. On Cumberland Island Ga. I saw three racoons steal a full cooler of food. One on each side pulling by the handles and one in the middle pushing the cooler down the trail. I just walked up on them while night hiking, I wish I had a camera. Just recently here in Florida a lady ended up with 12 stitches from being repeatedly bitten by an aggressive squirrel. Animals have a MUCH better sense of smell than us and are infinitly more motivated than we would think to dig up scraps. Burning food scraps also infuses the whole area with food smell that also attracts animals. Pack it all out.

A couple of things.. First, air is not an insulator. If you use one the cold WILL transfer through to you. As FScouter pointed out an air mattress will work in cold weather as long as you use something like a closed cell pad on top of the air bed to gain insulation. Second, most folks don't use inflatable pads correctly. You are not supposed to inflate them until there is no flex. For maximum comfort inflate the pad and push in the center of the pad with one finger. When the pad flexs in about halfway or a little less stop. The pad is supposed to cradle your body. If it is still not comfy get a thicker pad. As to your question about the "thermarest" style pads. I my opinion yes they are worth every single penny. I am a backpacker and weight and bulk is a big issue for me yet I retired my thin thermarest for a camprest LE (about 2.5 thick.) I gained a little over a pound of packweight but I rest easier at night. If you are ever in catcus country get a patch kit, you will need it.

Terry it wouldn't be very difficult to lock folks down to only one usermane per address. At least it makes it more of a pain to troll. As a long time user, thanks for the site and keep up the good work.

I don't think so Brad. I had 35 MBs when I sat on my Eagle BOR. I earned my silver right after eagle cause I had the badges covered. Anyone know for a fact either way?

Actually Clay county is Orange Park and not part of Jacksonville but we'll claim 'em anywho. We have had Brian Sexton (the voice of the Jacksonville Jaguars) speak at our troop before on a few occasions. Anyone in the area that needs a keynote speaker be sure to give him a call, he is awesome and a big supporter. Thanks for the story DD. I missed this one.

Say, How often do y'all plan on doing the chat? Or will this be a catch as catch can sort of thing?