moxieman

Randy, you might want to contact those putting on the OKPIK training. Up here in the Maine Wilderness, equipment is provided under the assumption that those attending either don't have the equipment or don't know which equipment to bring. All you bring is your body and clothing--they'll even supply some of that (outer layers) up here. Also, what would be an appropriate sleeping bag for OKPIK training in Maine will not be the same as in Florida or Montana or Alaska. My winter mummy-style bag is rated only to 20F. I have made a fleece liner for it that brings it down another 10 degr

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I don't know what he has and has not looked into. I'll pass these along. As I stated in my origin post, I know little about this section of the scouting program.

I'm not that familiar with the Venturing program. There are maybe 4 crews in our district. At our district roundtable last night, the associate adviser for one of those crews spoke to me. He's a bit frustrated with a lack of information on suggested ceremony ideas for the Ranger Award. You see, one of his Venture Crew members has achieved this award. Furthermore, she's not only the first one to do so in our district, she's the very first in the council, and apparently only the second one in the entire state. There are going to be council big wigs at the ceremony as a result. However, he

Our district here in the Maine wilderness hasn't done one in nearly 20 years due to the lack of a reasonably priced venue within the district large enough to host all 80 or so units (Cubs, Troops, Crews, & Posts) of the district. I know of two venues large enough to host such an event--the Augusta Civic Center (would be several grand), and the field house at Colby College (an Ivy League school) in Waterville. One of the last ones we held was outdoors at a local fairgrounds. We got lucky with the weather, but had little turn-out 'cause it was out in the countryside rather than near one o

Others here are more knowledgeable than I am in regards to what Cubs can and can not do. It is my understanding that Cubs can not camp out in the snow. I could be wrong. As for the Polar Bear Award, that varies from council to council, but usually includes camping out in the snow. In our Council, it's an award put on by the local camp boosters, the Camp Bomazeen Old-Timers. It's called the Cold-Timers Award. You simply need to camp outdoors in the winter time with temps below freezing. It is only available to Boy Scouts, Venturers, and leaders. Below freezing temp is to be confirme

Like John-in-KC, mine was a tap-out, but not so hard as to floor the scouts. The most impressive call-out I've seen was while I was in grad school in Lubbock, TX back in the mid-90's (Nakona Lodge). Chapter Chief and others in regalia show-up at the evening campfire of the district camporee. They call forward all youth who are eligible to be members of the OA to form a circle around the fire and their leaders to stand behind them. In this lodge, those who have been elected are not notified prior to call-out. A lodge member starts beating on a drum and one of the other members

The current minimum age requirements for Boy Scouts (per the 12th Ed of the Handbook, page 17): 11 years old OR Completed 5th Grade OR Earned the Arrow of Light Award AND be at least 10 years old. So, if this boy meets one of these three requirements, he can cross over.

Well, I don't own that style of pack. I own a "traditional" external frame backpack. But there is a non-removable bracket within the top section which holds it open for easy loading. The few times I've needed to wash it, I've used my bathtub, cold water, and Woollite or similar soap designed for hand washing. I let it soak an hour or so. Rinse it the best I can and then hang it to dry. Again, I don't know if that will help you or not as I don't know what your internal frame is made from.

This might help explain the notice on our council's website: http://www.pinetreebsa.org/whatsnew/mustreads/NTP%20-%20Canada.pdf Yes, it's partially due to the changes in the requirements from the Dept of Smoke & Mirrors..er..Homeland Insecurity. But if you now need to mail your tour permit to Irving and await a response rather than sending it to Massachusetts, I can see that yes, you had best be sending this in 2 months in advance rather than 1.

Welcome to the virtual campfire as others have said. I went to Party...er..Plymouth State University (back then College) and volunteered with Troop 56 of Plymouth, NH while there. Plymouth is home of one of only three boy scout statues in the country (and Plymouth's is a fountain that sits on the "Other Plymouth Rock"). I saw this past spring that it's been restored/refurbished recently. Born and raised a Mainah, spent a little time in exhile in West Texas, but back in Maine. If any of your Cubbies are already into patches, you might want to bring'em down to Camp Carpenter

I have roughly 2,000 patches from around the world on five blankets. One of those five covers things I've earned, positions I've held, and places I've been. The other four are things I've picked up over the years through trades, some gifts, a few auctions, and fundraiser events (ex. a patch set from the New Orleans Council/Lodge, post-Katrina to help their scouts go to NOAC). I guess you could call it sort of a traveling patch museum. In addition, one retired scouter gave me a brief case filled with patches under condition that anything already in my collection be given away. So,

Many state parks here in Maine do not have group sites. However, they do have a "day use only" area with a picnic shelter/pavilion, that defaults as a group site when a troop or other such group contacts them to stay at the park as a group. It works out in a few ways: Usually the "day use area" is well away from the campground, so you don't have to worry about complaints about noise. Group rate at most of the parks is in the $3 per person per night range. If you work it out in advance, you can get a discount/waiver from this by offering some community service time to the park.

SctDad asked: "that is the Blockhouse from Hinds, right???" (chuckle) No. I don't know the history behind the blockhouse at the center of Camp Hinds. Nor does the Camp Hinds Alumni Society know. They state as such on their website--no one knows who, when or why that block house was constructed. It could be based on one of the reproduction blockhouses at Olde Fort Western, Circa 1754, in Augusta (central barracks is original, everything else is reproduction), or in the case of Winslow Troop 443's patch, all that remains of Fort Halifax, a single blockhouse. It also dates to 1754

I forgot to mention and should provide a bit of a warning about the drip pan route: They are thin and will only last a couple of expeditions. But they are under $10 each around here. So, it's a great way to start and see if your unit wants to get into the DO cooking way of camping without spending the big bucks on a heavy-duty stand.

SctDad wrote: "Do you happen to remember the Klondike derby patches from teh early 90's. They were all hexagon and if you were at all 7 they formed one large patch. Unfortunatly I only got one, my troop decided to quit going." I'm in Kennebec Valley District in Pine Tree Council. The patches you are referring to are from York District--the far opposite side of the council from me. York District has done a lot of these over the years. Prior to and after that Klondike Set, they did several sets where you had to attend all three district events in a school year (Klondike, Spring & F

Here are some examples of Multi-part patches: Daniel Webster Council's 50th Anniversary: http://home.gwi.net/~moxieman/patches/patchgraphics/DWC79.jpg The combined patch is only 3.5 by 3.5 inches. A scout had to attend five events to earn all five pieces. Scouts Australia Trail Award: http://home.gwi.net/~moxieman/patches/patchgraphics/aussietrail.jpg I don't know the details behind this one or what the requirements are--it was sent to me by a friend Down Under. Each patch is unique, but combine to make the fleur-de-lis. It measures just under 8 by 8 inches. Fin

I've never heard of this term before. In the past, the term I've heard is "Multi-part" patches. I have seen something like what you're talking about before. A Canadian National Jamboree back in the '90's (I don't recall which one-only seen the resulting combined patch) did a multi-part patch as a friendship game: There were ten subcamps. Each scout was given 10 patches for his/her subcamp. It was up to them to meet up with scouts from the others and trade off all but one of his patches to acquire the other nine. Upon doing so, he got the center award patch. Put together, it made sor

On the original poster's Q's, those have been more or less answered. OA patches have a national following, so those, in general will have a higher value than the camp ones. The camp ones all depend on the camp and who is interested in them. One of our local camps, Camp Bomazeen, consistently gets "high" bids (over $10 per patch minimum) when a patch comes up on auction from it. Why? Well, it's been semi-closed for the past six years--no boy scout summer camp program, and there are a couple of deep-pocketed collectors out there who send the prices up quickly when they see one available

One Question for the original poster: Why are you jostling for space in the fire? DO's can be stacked one on top of another while cooking, sharing the heat. The coals on top of the bottom oven act as the bottom coals of the oven above it. The trick is figuring out what you're stacking where so everything cooks relatively evenly. Me? I prefer charcoal when I use my DO as I don't have an easy supply of hardwood and most places our district camps doesn't allow ground fires. You don't need a ground fire for a DO if you use charcoal. A steel garage floor drip pan (can't recall th

As I don't know which youth in our council (Pine Tree) are attending, I haven't noticed an Jambo patches on youth yet. But I know a few of the volunteer council jambo leaders and they are wearing theirs.

Final one...no, honest. This one takes a lot of coordination/planning. A couple of years ago my brother's troop held a car smash during their town's 4th of July event. As I said, this one takes a lot of planning: Obviously, you need a vehicle to smash. In my brother's troop case, he donated his 7,000lb 1978 Buick Electra that would no longer pass inspection. The scouts painted it up for the event: SMASH ME-SEND A SCOUT TO CAMP! You need a hold-harmless contract that every participant must sign before they are allowed into the smash area. Basically a contract that states

I had no problem handsewing the new ring on my two uniforms. Just need a new, sharp needle.

Another non-sale fundraiser up here is holiday gift wrapping. Several units will get permission from the Big Box Stores or the Mall in Portland to set-up a gift-wrapping service in the entry area. They then offer to wrap customers gifts on a donation basis-pay what you think the gift wrap job is worth. Back in my Scoutmaster days, we raised $600 over a Friday evening/all-day-Saturday weekend doing this one year. I think only two people stiffed the scouts. We held ours the weekend prior to Christmas. Best part was we got all the gift wrap, tape, and boxes donated in advance, s

Many units up this way do the bottle/can collection thing as Maine has a bottle deposit law. One unit has an "In" with one of the forest management companies up here. In the fall the unit buys several 50lb bags of black oil sunflower seeds. They then go to a particular location in the managed forest area--where-ever the management company's forester directs them. They collect all the green, closed pine cones that the local red squirrels have harvested from the Norway pines in that assigned area. They leave behind the sunflower seeds where ever they gather the pine cones so the

My only qualm with this push is the use of BMI. BMI doesn't work-out for everyone. I'll give you one quick example of a penpal of mine from Australia: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3839502848_87ce6d5d5f.jpg She competitive rock climbs and regularly beats those who she races against. Ignoring the Purple Hair, under BMI, do you think she is ideal, overweight, or obese? Without revealing her weight/height (she won't do so), according to BMI, she's overweight. Yet, her doctor complains she has too little fat on her body. For the personal record: 6'1", 225lbs. Ove