Owl62

I know this is going to probably be very controversial but here goes. What about Order of the Arrow membership for Venturing? Both youth and adult members? Currently, OA membership is restricted to qualified members of Boy Scout Troops and Varsity Teams - both youth and adult. I am an advocate of OA membership for qualified Venture Scouts and Scouters. My rationale is that those in Venturing are part of the BSA and often do many of the same types of activities as Boy Scouts. Many Venture Scouts and Scouters who are not also in Boy Scout Troops are interested in OA. OA membe

I like the stars! Like Scout insignia, they provide a kind of "instant recognition". My vote is to bring them back and keep them! Thanks.

How many of your units wear custom neckerchiefs? Please describe your unit's custom neckerchief.

Besides the general BSA requirement that our uniforms be neat and clean, it would seem to me that most in Scouting would at least try to keep their uniforms neat and clean. But in some units I have been with and in others that I have seen, it seams that many, especially Scouts, often wear uniforms are are not neat and not clean or both. We had one Scout who wore the same uniform for a long time, complete with dirt and food stains from about a year's worth of camping. You could almost tell where he had been and what he had been doing, and eating and drinking by just looking at his uniform

Keeping dry and warm in the out of doors not only makes outings more comfortable and enjoyable, but can be critical from a health standpoint. Seems like rain gear is always an issue on Scout outings. We always advise everyone to bring some type of rain gear. Most do, a few forget (one of the reasons we always bring a few extral oversized plastic trash bags). And those that do, including adults, well, you never know what they might bring. Some bring some type of rain poncho - although most I see are inexpensive PVC ponchos. A few bring higher quality waterproof nylon ponchos.

Bob White: What is the definition of a "unit leader"? Is that the Scoutmaster or does it include Assistant Scoutmasters? And I consider the Troop Committee "unit leaders" as well as they are the "board of directors" of the troop. I do believe that no commissioner should be the commissioner for a unit that they are registered in. Just doesn't gel with me, regardless of any policy. I know if very few volunteers at district or council level who are not also registered as volunteers in units. Sometimes as Scoutmasters, ASMs, Committee Members, etc. After all, the program is for t

Bob, Thanks for the reply. I can tie a Friendship Knot so say a dangle on a shirt pocket button. However, I am having great difficulty tying one on a Wood Badge Bead leather thong. I just can't get it so that the knot and beads are at the proper place on the thong. Any ideas to help? Anyone? Thanks

I am wondering how many of you out there are registered in more than one Scouter position and what those positions are? I am registered both as an Assistant Scoutmaster of a troop and as an Associate Advisor of a Venturing Crew. I appears to me that there are many Scouters who hold has least two registrations. And I see many Scouters who are associated with units and then perform work at the district or council level as well. But I am not sure if many of them just perform services at various levels but are not necessarily registered in all of them - even if they wear the insign

Does anyone know where or how the giving and wearing of Friendship Knots started? Also, does anyone have instructions on how to easily tie the Friendship Knot. Thanks.

Does anyone know where or how the giving and wearing of Friendship Knots started? Also, does anyone have instructions on how to easily tie the Friendship Knot. Thanks.

Does anyone know where or how the giving and wearing of Friendship Knots started? Also, does anyone have instructions on how to easily tie the Friendship Knot. Thanks.

How sad - yet I am afraid common. But I am proud to see all the support and thought for him and his family here. I wish him and his family the best. Thankfully, there is Scouting!

What kind of pocketknife do you carry and use for Scouting? I carry an official Deluxe utility style knife made by Camillus. I carry it in a hand made leather knife pouch that I made myself. I carry a similar knife but an Old Timer outside of Scouting when wearing jeans.

I have several LED Lights as there are many advanges to using them over incandescent lights - mainly because the LED "bulb" almost never burns out and batteries last MUCH longer with LED lights. My personal LED favorites are: Photon MicroLights. They are very small and light, make excellent key chain or necklace lights, use watch type lithium batteries. Come in three basic types I, II, and III. I is activated only by squeezing the housing. II is activated by a small slide switch, III is activated either by squeezing the housing and holding it or pressing on the other part of the hou

For those of you who want to keep the brim of a campaign hat flat, here is how we did it in the Army. (We were not allowed to have "floppy" brims on our campaign hats but then again we were not supposed to spray them with anything either - so we did what we had to do) Disclaimer: Use this method at your own risk. It never hurt any of my campaign hats but.... Also, Scotchguard can be hazardous. Again, at your own risk. Caution: If you use scented hairspray you may draw various critters - especially bees. Get a can of unsented AquaNet Hair Spray and a Can of ScotchGuard spray.

For those of you who want to keep the brim of a campaign hat flat, here is how we did it in the Army. (We were not allowed to have "floppy" brims on our campaign hats but then again we were not supposed to spray them with anything either - so we did what we had to do) Disclaimer: Use this method at your own risk. It never hurt any of my campaign hats but.... Also, Scotchguard can be hazardous. Again, at your own risk. Caution: If you use scented hairspray you may draw various critters - especially bees. Get a can of unsented AquaNet Hair Spray and a Can of ScotchGuard spray.

I have some questions about tents in Scouting units out there: What kind of Scouting unit? Does the unit provide tents for the Scouts? If provided, what brand and type? Are there enough unit owned tents for everyone? Do any or all of the Scouts and Scouters own and use their own tents? What brand and type of privately owned tents are used? Our Boy Scout troop has enough 2 and 4 man Eureka tents (They are green "pup" tent style - Timerline I think) for everyone but some Scouts and nearly all of the Scouters use their own tents - mostly dome style of various br

Our troop, that does not currently have an adopted neckerchief, is considering adopting a troop neckerchief. Neckerchiefs, at least to me, are a great Scout uniform tradition. Scout units that wear them really look sharp. Back when I was a Scout, the neckerchief was required with the official uniform in our troop. We wor a red neckerchief with yellow edge bands and BSA logo. I still have mine. BTW - before there a a bunch of comments on what is official, etc. There is nearly a full page of information in the Insignia Guide 2003-2005 on pages 6-7 that details what is authorized and h

My vote is for suspenders too - for common sense reasons.... And there is nothing that I can find in the Insignia Guide that forbids the wear of suspenders.....

I can find very little in the 2003-2005 Insignia Guide as to what constitutes an official "complete" uniform. Many of the insignia are optional or the wearer "may" wear the items. Some references to what must be worn are: Page 1. "No alteration" means to me, that if the US Flag insignia is sewn on the uniform shirt, it should not be removed - same for the Boy Scouts of America strip - etc. Page 7: Cub Scouts wear the offical Cub Scout navy blue web belt with metal buckle and Cub Scout Emblem. Boy Scout wear the offical olive web belt with the metal Boy Scout Buckle (may wear th

The 2003-2005 BSA Insignia Guide is very clear on services stars on page 42: "Service stars may be worn by all youth and adult members who have at least one year tenure with the Boy Scouts of America. The stars are worn with the appriopriate color background for the phase of Scouting in which the service was rendered. If an individual's primary registration is in one phase of Scouting and later in another, separate stars with the appropriate background and numerals may be worn simultaneously. Or, leaders may combine youth and adult tenure into one or two stars with blue background."

You might want to go to www.scouting.org which is the BSA National website and click on the local counci finder at the top of the page. Then type in a zip code and it will take you to the local council website. You should be able to at least find a telephone number or maybe even a listing of units with contact information. Good luck.

Is there anyone out there that is associated with or has knowledge of the Baden-Powell Scouting Association that would share information about that organization here? Thanks.

I am still trying to determine the proper way to wear the leather belt type hat band (not the little chin strap) on the BSA Campaign hat. Most pictures I have seen show the leather hat band worn with the buckle on the center of the left side of the crown with the distal end of the belt pointing to the rear. The Insignia Guide does not even address the leather band. Is it even required? The only insignia mentioned for the campaign hat is the "adult universal hat pin" and it says that adults "may" wear that pin, which indicates to me that it is optional. Perhaps the leather band is op

While I have not seen them available for regular sale for a long time, the old red with white lettering council or communittee strips are seen from time to time. I still have mine from a council. The Insignia Guide says on page 4 that "A custom designed multicolor shoulder emblem is designed for each council...." It says nothing about the older red and white version although since they were once auhorized, I see no reason why they cannot be worn - if worn properly. I have no idea why the member of that unit would wear them on their right sleeves. Perhaps one person sewed them all on and di