BartHumphries

I had some boys who took some of the classes in my area last year who said that they wished they could take those classes again (Wilderness Survival and Pioneering were the most requested). I always invited them to come take them again, but they always wistfully declined, saying that they were already signed up to take other merit badge classes. Some of the boys came on the Wilderness Survival overnighters and some of the boys came back during free time to run through their Pioneering knots and lashings again. I personally have no problem with a boy who wants to retake a merit badge.

And he's an Eagle Scout with the world's 9th largest company behind him. AT&T could shore up BSA from lost Mormon financial contributions without even blinking. They make more in net income than BSA has total assets. Not just the LDS church, there's the LDS, Catholic, and Methodist churches, whose websites say that they don't support homosexuality. That's 39.32% of registered Scouts, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_organizations_of_the_Boy_Scouts_of_America Now add in the remaining churches who have split stances (some of the remaining churches support homosexual

If people rush through Eagle, there's plenty more to do in Scouting. Before you earn your Eagle, though, join a Varsity team so that it's easier to earn your Denali award while you earn your Eagle, and join the OA. Then join a Venturing crew, start working on your Venturing Silver. Start working on earning these cool medals: National Medal for Outdoor Achievement (really hard), Hornaday, STEM Supernova awards. While you're part of Venturing, join a Sea Scout crew and work towards your Quartermaster. Don't forget about NYLT (meh) and Seabadge (really cool pin, also a knot). Heck, if a per

If Cub Scouts never see anyone older than them wearing a red vest, then of course they won't wear one either unless they're either secure enough to "stand out" from the herd and ignore what others think or apathetic enough to not care what others things. You all can decide for yourselves whether or not you're going to wear a red patch vest. Like I said, I'm going to.

I'll be getting a red vest and sewing my patches to it.

Thanks

So, ScouterAdam, what are the requirements for the merit badge?

Every old uniform is still a "proper" uniform since National maintains their copyright on every old uniform. You can go to a meeting in a 1930's uniform and still be just as much in uniform. Thus the saying, "Once in uniform, always in uniform." Since the rules don't prohibit wearing red shoulder loops, and since they were previously part of a "correct" uniform, someone who once had them on their uniform may continue to wear them. Any new Boy Scouts or Scouters should wear the green ones, though. By the way, red shoulder loops are still referenced on the national website at: http://ww

"Technically the sash is only for merit badges!" Yes, the front of the sash is only for merit badges. The back of the sash, though... The following is from http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/InsigniaGuide/03.aspx Excess Insignia With the exception of the Cub Scout badges of rank and Arrow Points, members wear only the insignia that show their present status in the movement. Members should make every effort to keep their uniforms neat and uncluttered. Previously earned badges and insignianot representing present statusmake a fine display on a BSA red patch vest, a trophy h

"Handguns also require one instructor per shooter, plus an RSO. That is a lot of staff for camps...." So don't open up the full range. As I understand it, currently for black powder rifles only one can be shot at a time, no matter how many staff you have sitting around the rifle range. Basically, it seems like a pistol program would work the same as a black powder rifle program. With that sort of limitation on numbers, though, it seems like a person would be rather unlikely to be able to shoot enough to get a merit badge in it, but I could see an activity patch for it -- something like po

"The Camping one looks kind of sad compared to the others. 25 days/nights could easily be snagged in a year of plop & drop car camping. But the others seem to require real effort - 100 miles hiking or backpacking is nothing to sneeze at." To get the full medal, you have to earn the Silver device for Camping. That's 125 days/nights camping. Most people only do weekend campouts (car or not) for a single night. If they went out every month, except for a week of scout camp in the summer, that'd be 18 days/nights a year. That's almost 7 years of camping like that to earn the full medal

All the non-knot, non-rank, etc., patches are easy. Here's how you handle them. Pick one patch, and only one patch. Sew it on your right uniform pocket (if you're a youth, put your rank on the left front uniform pocket, otherwise leave that pocket empty). That's it. If you're a youth, you can put more on the back of your uniform sash. Otherwise, wear a patch vest or put them up on a blanket at home. You know, it's strange, I never really see anyone wearing a patch vest.

In Sri Lanka, like most places that were under "modern" British colonial rule, the highest rank was "Queen's Scout". I have no idea how that all worked when the island became communist, but eventually the island become a republic and the rank was renamed "President's Scout". Anyway, the patch for it is the coat of arms of Sri Lanka. The lodge at my summer camp has a poster entitled something like "Scouting around the world - Scoutisme mondial" It's subtitled "World crests around the world". For most countries, the world crest is the same purpley/blue one. Down in the S section, for S

Anyone with money can get a credit card -- just buy a one-time or rechargeable credit card from a grocery store or gas station. Pretty much every grocery store and most gas stations sell those.

I think it may be easier for extroverts to wrangle Cub Scouts, especially in a "timed" setting where you can't just sit or wait around. Instead of shouting at them to "act like Scouts" or something, just ride the wave and redirect their enthusiasm to whatever activity they're "supposed" to be doing. I think it's almost impossible to herd a group of cats with a quiet "leadership by example" mindset. I'm not saying that it is impossible for a real introvert to be a Cub Scout leader, but I think someone who (maybe has learned) to exhibit extrovert methods of operation tends to just naturally t

Mine came off somewhere along the line. Luckily I had a Sri Lankan World Crest that I'd just traded for, so I sewed it on instead. What's more brotherly than wearing a real international patch of brotherhood? It's the top left image here: http://www.srilankascouts.lk/

https://plus.google.com/102418362536033466522/ is better (better quality and a heck of a lot cheaper) than eBay. A Scout is Thrifty.

So tonight I announced that I was going to be running a Firem'n Chit class. "Tonight, come for Firem'n Chit!" I turned and started to walk back out of the limelight, only to be conscious of a very quiet group behind me. Maybe it's my speech, but I apparently have a hard time emphasizing the "ch" enough to make it sound like church instead of sheriff. I kind of wish it was "Firem'n Safety Card" or some other name instead.

"To meet the requirements of the Search and Rescue merit badge, Scouts must complete a series of nine requirements relating to SAR fundamentals such as: The process and safety methods of working around specialized teams such as aircraft, canine, and aquatic rescue teams Identifying differences between search and rescue environments, such as coastal, wilderness, rural, and urban landscapes Determining when Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) and latitude and longitude (Lat/Lon) should be used" I thought Search and Rescue would be a combination of Wilderness Survival and Climbing, but

Technically, neither of them can be worn on a Scout uniform, especially not the round one since it doesn't say "Boy Scouts" or have a fleur-de-lis on it or anything that identifies it as a Scouting patch. I could see a case being made for the "shoulder patch" to be worn in the temporary spot on the shirt, as long as it isn't larger than the pocket (if it's big enough to overlap off onto the shirt, then it's too big). http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/InsigniaGuide/03.aspx says: All temporary insignia must contain identification including one of the following: corporate name (Boy Scou

eisely, I don't know what the law is in your case, but there isn't really a statue of limitations in California. True, in California, you must file a civil claim of sexual abuse within 8 years after turning 18 (meaning before your 26th birthday). However, an extension may be allowed if you file within three years of the "discovery of child sexual abuse or its effects." In other words, if you have repressed memories that come out later (discovery of abuse) or you think that you're fine but some later event suddenly brings everything into your mind, you can't stop thinking about it and yo

"People are willing to wear a uniform they think is a) functional, b) affordable and c) something they are proud of." I'll agree with C, but I don't agree with A or B. Personally, I'm waiting for the BSA to bring out uniform boardshorts because they'd suddenly be (A) - functional. Those "uniform swim suits" are piddly small -- do I look like Lieutenant Dangle on Reno 911? Seriously, I'm not going to walk around in public (i.e. anywhere outside the swimming pool house) with shorts that high above my knees. Edit: I don't even walk around in the pool house with shorts that high, I wear b

I think Penn State and Jerry Sandusky shows us that people who abused in the past can and should still be held accountable for it today.

It seems like there is there no good way to abbreviate "Outdoor Skills". I struck down the initial initials at first glance. I mean, if we're going to call ourselves the OS maybe we should have little skulls on the front of our hats... no, just no. Slightly less objectionable is using the first letter of each syllable, ODS which would seem to be literally pronounced as odious or phonetically as odds. I thought about throwing in the final R on Outdoor, but that left ODRS, which is longer to literally say than the original Outdoor Skills, or phonetically pronounced as odors, which doesn't so

I think, regardless of a person's sexual orientation, the only people attending a Boy Scout function should be Scouts, registered leaders and any parents/guardians who are checking it out to see if they want to become registered leaders, or who are needed because there aren't enough registered leaders. From that standpoint, regardless of the aged-out Scouter's sexual orientation, he shouldn't be attending (and if guy in question has no reason to attend, his boyfriend especially has absolutely no reason to attend). I think someone may be getting confused with the Cub Scout program where f