Oldscout448

Well I can understand not letting the new crossovers hook up or light the stoves until they are shown how to do it safely. It should also be done on their very first campout.

True, but its better than " Hold mah beer"

Yep, there is a troop about 5 miles away from me that has banned axes, walking sticks, and only adults are allowed to light stoves. All in the name of " safety" I was very much tempted to buy a giant roll of bubble wrap from Costco and hand it to the SM.

what is this G2SS you speak of?

that sounds risky! WE used a sturdy branch.

Survival campout- we held one every summer just before school started. Limited to firstclass and higher. you were allowed a canteen ,a knife (any size) and whatever you could fit in an altoids tin. shelter? make one. food ? go find some blackberries or cattails, or catch a fish in the lake. Fire? bow and drill isnt that hard if you have practiced, or find some quartz and cattail fluff. 3-4 day canoe trip, camping on islands if possible catapults and water balloons! every patrol makes their own. and is issued 40 small and 15 big balloons. Firing to begin at 2:00pm tonights cracker barrel is somewhere in the woods, here is your first compass bearing. make sure you start by the white oak tree and not the poplar which patrol can lash together the best table /chair by dinnertime ? Apple pie to the winner

Last time I camped out with the troop, sitting round the campfire, some of the older scouts asked for a scout story from the old days. So I told them one or two , then turned to go. They asked for another, then another. Surprised and somewhat pleased they were so interested I never once thought I was getting myself in trouble. But the next PLC it seemed all the scouts demanded to know why they couldn't do fun stuff like Mr Oldscout did. I dont think I'm gonna be allowed to tell stories without supervision anymore. And I had left out all the crazy ones. When I joined scouts in '70 it was billed as an adventure, one without safe spaces or coloring books. We were sometimes cold, sometimes wet, sometimes hungry. But it was the most fun we had ever had. Bottom line The more we make scouts like school the less boys will like it.

Sorry if that came off sounding a bit snarky, I just think you are showcasing a loophole that will barely exist.

Sorry but from all the "loving inclusion " I have been reading about in Catholic publications and hearing from the pulpit. I would be astonished if any parish would establish such guidelines that would last three years before being nullified by the bishops Does " Who am I to judge?" ring a bell?

The amount of pride in any accomplishment is directly proportional to the amount of effort expended in achieving it. I still remember pacing back and forth waiting my turn outside the room where the troop committee held its monthly boards. Every scout in the troop was always tested on something. Almost always it was our weakest skill. It seemed that the committee actually asked our patrol leaders about us. Sneaky old adults that they were! If we failed and I mean totally failed not just struggled a wee bit we were kindly asked if we felt that we truly deserved the rank. If we answered no we were asked to let them know when we thought we were, and they would meet with us as soon as possible. As scouts we understood that in our troop badges were awarded for showing mastery of the skill not just a passing acquaintance. That's why we wore them with such pride. We were all rather very disdainful of the troop down the road which had quite a number of scouts who wore Star or Life patches and couldn't light a fire on a hot dry day without an entire box of matches,or tie a bowline without the handbook and several tries. We loved the merit badges that were challenging like shooting, pioneering, wilderness survival, archery. or lifesaving. Fingerprinting? Bah ! Lets Make Scouting Fun Again !

Ah, thank you

Let me make sure I understand you here. Are you saying that everyone in society should just follow whatever moral code strikes their fancy?

if you feel no need then there is no need.

Perhaps we could get the moderators to open a religious argument only section of this forum.

Hawkwin, I too have attended many a southern baptist meeting. As well as Methodist Catholic Episcopalian and a Pentecostal or two. Allow me to make a distinction here. I think there is a difference between failing to live up to biblical standards and the outright rejection of biblical standards. Yes we all fail none of us are perfect yet we are called to keep trying. To keep getting back up after falling. I think the difficulty lies and where some of us would say this is clearly a sin biblically speaking. But others say no it's not it's fine in fact it should be celebrated we don't care what that old book says. Again I am not the keeper of anyone's conscience I am merely trying to point out that it is disingenuous for someone to say I believe in the Bible when they obviously in fact do not

Umm guys? Can we take a deep breath here? What we have here is failure to understand that we have two different paradigms. LegacyLost is clearly going on the belief that the Bible is the Word of God, and as such it is to be studied and followed. Granting him his premise all his arguments are logical and coherent. How can one say " I love God but I refuse to do what He says" ? I can only assume that Firestone believes that Paul of Tarsus, who penned half of the new testament, is not to be taken seriously here and has somehow come to terms with that. Very well I am certainly not the keeper of his conscience. Or anyone's but my own. Can we all show a little understanding ? I Cor.13 comes to mind

This is easier said than done but " Do what is right for the scouts, they are why we do this. " An nasty email from a cubmaster is rendered insignificant when a proud smiling cub scout says Thank you. Even if it's not in words.

and if you had two you could always play Capture the Flag

25 years from now? Heck, todays parents are shocked that I let my kids play in the woods just behind our house. In fact a few years ago scoutson #4, who was nearly 17 at the time, was stopped by a young sheriff deputy for walking to a friends house by himself on a lonely country road. His older siblings had been doing it for years with nary a problem. I had to drive over and pick him up or the sheriff was going to take him to the county office. For his own safety of course. Safe from what I have never been able to figure out. This world is different than the one I grew up in. I guess that's normal for all generations. But I thought BSA would stick around . with minor changes to be sure but... Patrol camping? gone Patrol hikes? gone Patrol method? only on paper Most SMs have little idea what it is and seem to care even less. I havent seen a patrol flag or heard a patrol yell at a camporee in years. Woodcraft? almost gone. OA? most likely gone in a few years. Life after scouting? I guess so but right now i do not see a clear path or even a destination. Right now I am unsure if I should give my boxes of patches and stuff to my sons or just light a big bonfire and give it all back to the sky. Then to perhaps seek out the Gray Havens and see if I can stowaway

I think that Tupelo lodge has been gone for some time, could you have meant Tutelo lodge 161 in the Blue Ridge Mountain council ? I have no rank to pull, but I have been doing / coaching tapouts since '75, and so far as i have ever heard although a lodge or chapter can write their own tapout ceremony they cannot make it obligatory.

The reasonable man will adapt to conform to the world, the unreasonable man will attempt to conform the world the fit him. Therefor all progress is made by the unreasonable man. GBS

One thing that seems to be almost totally gone is the practice of signing your name to your work. A man or woman who puts his name to his work is saying I am proud to have made this, it's good work and if it breaks you know who to blame. I often find a name and date in hard to find places on old pieces of furniture that are brought in for repair. It's almost like reaching back in time to shake the craftsman's hand. I sometimes leave little notes next to the name. Explaining what was broken and how I fixed it, so that in another 150 years somebody else can do a little less head scratching.

and have a virtual ( non fattening ) doughnut.

Roofing done by scouts ?! I can only assume that your roof is less than five feet high

As the Beaver said it is totally optional. It is intended as a public recognition of the scouts who were elected by their troop,as they are not allowed to talk about the Ordeal to non members and its kind of expected that an arrowman is humble enough to not go around showing off his new sash and lodge flap. In most troops getting elected is a pretty big deal. Its one thing when you earn some merit badges at summer camp and get a star or life rank patch to wear, but when your peers tell you by voting you into the Order that they consider you to be an example of what a scout should be... and welcome to the forum!