BartHumphries

I think tennis shoes are great camp/outdoor shoes, but that's just me. Whatever floats your boat. I think "hiking shoes" were good back when people were really going "hiking" cross country, when you were walking through thistle patches or places where the landscape feels the same underfoot as a post-apocalyptic landscape covered in half-buried barbed wire. What with the general move to only camping/hiking on "established paths/campsites" and the increased emphasis on Leave No Trace rather than the more general Outdoor Code to leave things better than you found them, we're mostly walkin

"if you're not wearing the Scout uniform, you're not supposed to wear a Scout hat" "Says who? I think most uniforming issues happen when people make up rules." http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/InsigniaGuide/03.aspx "In any informal indoor activ�ity where no official ceremony is involved, the headgear is removed as when in street clothes." Again, though, I still sometimes wear a Scout hat when I'm not wearing any other part of the uniform, so I'm not castigating anyone for doing that (otherwise I'd be a bit hypocritical). Nobody's perfect. To give the full context:

I have more than one shirt for summer camp -- I put a different temporary patch on each. It'd be cool if I could wear them all at once, but then my uniform would look like a big merit badge sash -- every square inch covered with patches. Basically, youth all pretty much look the same with their patches and all. Sure, you might have a different rank insignia, a different unit number, a different temporary patch etc., but the differences are pretty subtle (although you might have a rope thingy hanging from your epaulette, a quality unit patch, maybe even an arrow of light patch or OA pat

I'd just recharter him and not tell him. Seriously, rechartering is only $15. Add an extra dollar to add him to the insurance and you're all just fine. Normally, only registered/chartered people can attend or work at summer camp. A visitor could go, but they're literally just a visitor, they can't go have fun doing any of the activities -- they're just passive watchers. So, sure, he could attend as a visitor, but he already paid the full fee and the recharter fee is a pittance compared to the full summer camp fee. Then you're totally covered, paperwork, insurance-wise, there's no tro

So I've been working on putting together a compass course. I'm looking at two different "100 foot rope laid out along East-West axis, starting at the center origin pointing to the East with sections marked off in 5 foot increments" courses. I wanted an "easy" way to figure out how correct they were, so I put together the following Excel sheet. I'll just past the cell references, then the formulas in each cell. A1 degrees to point, using orienteering degrees (0 at the North, proceeding clockwise, 90 at the East, 180 at the South, 270 to the West) B1 feet to travel C1 the

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/InsigniaGuide/03.aspx states (among many other things), "Members should make every effort to keep their uniforms neat and uncluttered." I have many things that I've earned in Scouting that I'd love to show off, but only a few things go on the uniform -- mostly the things on the uniform are about the same for everyone. The uniforms aren't a brag vest, where you show off everything you've ever earned. Some awards go on swim trunks, some are actually sewn on equipment, some go on the uniform, most are just left at home. It's not a uniform police t

I used to send my clothes out to the local drycleaners... where I would then clean and press them. If I was still working there, I would seriously hate to see the new uniform shirt/pants come through -- a good deal more of a pain than the older pants/shirt. I also never creased patches.

If I'm going to be getting dirty, then a uniform during morning/evening flag ceremonies and dressing for dinner, with a non-uniform shirt all the rest of the time (since, seriously, non-uniform shirts are far easier to replace, both in pure cost and time to sew on patches). If I'm not going to be getting dirty, I'll just wear the uniform shirt all the time.(This message has been edited by BartHumphries)

Ugh, more difficult to iron shirts. Seriously, after a day or two in the pack, the shirts are going to look terrible and be difficult to iron when we get back home. I'm not sure why some people would want a ventilated back yoke. If you have a pack on your back or something else that covers your back then it doesn't matter whether it's ventilated or not, it's going to get wet. If your back is clear and free and there's nothing covering it, then it's going to stay dry unless it's so hot that you're profusely sweating all over (in which case a back vent really won't matter much). It does

One of the reasons I like the old uniforms is that they're so easy to iron. Turn the iron up hot, turn the steam on, spread the clothes out on the ironing board, swipe, swipe, they're done. The new clothes need a particular iron setting (not too hot), just barely hot enough to make any steam which just makes it more of a pain to iron the clothes (not to mention how difficult it is to get the new pants to lay flat for ironing). Now, if the new clothes never wrinkled, that'd be one thing, but they do. Seriously, try putting a Scout uniform into a pack you're taking out for a week and try

I wonder if they have a version of Cub Scouting or if they just have nothing until you hit 15.

I went to wermy's website for the Chinese Scouts: http://sac.clubspaces.com/PageCustom.aspx?id=29&o=269194 Here's the important things that I saw: Scout Promise: On my honor I promise that I will do my best To do my duty to the President and to my Country (and to God*) - *for those who have a religion; To help other people at all times; To obey the Scout Law Do my Duty to the President (instead of God)? The God afterthought seems more like Girl Scouts than Boy Scouts -- something just put in to conform to the World Organization of the Scout's requirement that a member or

"How long before the pinewood derby gives way to a cookie making contest?" Wait, what's wrong with a cookie making contest? As long as nobody has a problem with people eating dough while they make cookies, it's a really fun activity -- everyone loves raw cookie dough, right?

Wait, I'm not sure I understand the OP. At first he decrys merit badges that can be earned in a week, then he's upset because more merit badges weren't earned in a week, then he says that merit badges at camp should be earned in a week?

There's a swimming merit badge book?! The mind boggles... just kidding. Anyway, merit badge books offer a how-to, tips & practices, and ideas for activities. If you're already an expert in a subject, then you may not ever need the merit badge book, although real experts know that there's always more to learn about their subject.

Eagle Court of Honor ceremonies are like church worship ceremonies. There's all sorts of different clothes and words and orders and meanings associated with different groups "standard" ceremony. Here are some ready-made ones if you'd like some more help: http://www.eaglescout.org/finale/coh/coh.html Otherwise, just kick back with the Committee and come up with something you all like.

What's TLT again? Troop Leader Training?

I wondered about that, Scouts in Muslim countries, so I went out looking. The official Bangladesh Scouting site mentioned following the Scout Oath or Law, but didn't say what they thought those were. http://www.bdscouts.8m.net/ (an unofficial site) does list the Oath and Law. The 2nd point is, "A Scout is a friend to all." Hopefully, this means our money is supporting a program that helps prevent terrorists. I guess a terrorist cell could reorganize itself as a Scout troop, but I really don't think that happens with any degree of regularity.

Well, it was actually Mike Rowe's idea. Strangely enough, the Guide to Safe Scouting has nothing to say about ostrich wrangling, despite their known ability to literally rip a truck door off its hinges.

On the previous page, someone said that a name change wasn't necessary, they should just tweak the logo with a more masculine rainbow. I replied: I'm curious, what would a "more masculine rainbow" look like? Well, the image of a "more masculine rainbow" (based on Trogdor, I presumed) just wouldn't leave until I made this to share it with you all. http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a66/bubbajoe12345/scout/RainbowWarrior.png Trogdor! I mean Raindor! Raindor the Burninator, I mean the Rainbinator, Rainbinating the countryside... Raindor! If that's not funny to you, then you aren

So I just listened to Mike Rowe's speech at the 2010 Jamboree at Online Video Platform (starts about 3 hours 8 minutes in). You may have heard of him, he's that guy on that Dirty Jobs show. He put up a Scouts in Defense of Dirt at http://www.mikeroweworks.com/2010/07/boy-scouts-in-defense-of-dirt/ So, what would a Dirty Jobs merit badge actually look like? The thought of one reminds me of that Duct Tape merit badge: http://www.dtmb.gobot.com/ Seriously, though, what would a Dirty Jobs merit badge entail?

If you want clarification from a source which isn't the guy you disagree with, why not just ask your question?

"If you look at the rainbow on the Rainbow Council CSP, that looks like it's a good representation of what a masculine rainbow might look like." For those of us on the other side of the country, can you give a link to what it looks like? http://www.rcscouts.org/ has a shoulder patch on the top of the page, but the image seems pretty grainy and the "rainbow" looks to me like it only has two colors. With the star on one end, it looks to me like the trail of a "shooting star", not a rainbow.

This is how I've divided up the requirements into related sections. Each section would take either 30 minutes or an hour, which leaves us time to teach and practice (play some game to practice). Cooking is going to take longer though and requires boys to work with their patrol -- you have to both be an assistant to someone else cooking and you have to be the person in charge, so likely will require multiple meals. Citizenship/Computers -- should probably be Eagles Nest 1st Class 5: Visit someone and discuss your constitutional rights and obligations as a US citizen. Our camp is in a

I think there's a huge difference in a war between destroying infrastructure and killing thousands of unarmed civilian non-combatants. Those guys who stole the General even picked up 11 Confederate soldiers along the "regularly scheduled route". I haven't seen any mention of the Union soldiers killing those Confederate soldiers that boarded the train, just some property damage. I think that's about as honorable a war as anyone could likely expect -- a far, far cry from the September 11th attacks.