qwazse

Who told you that equipment decoration was not a miscellaneous patch? Typically equipment decoration is sized differently. It's usually too large to neatly fit on a shirt pocket. The classic example is the Philmont Bull. (Does that mascot have an actual name?) It would be stitched on the back of brag vests, on backpacks, some guys even sewed it on the flap of their tent. There's no way it would fit on a sash. However, that doesn't mean that all equipment decoration should be disallowed on a sash. If the boy is proud of earning it, if it helps tell an important part of his scouting story, and if it fits, sew it!

I encourage, but don't require it.

Once upon a time There was a patch for that https://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Bookbinding

That water bottle will be reused after the first mile!

Any reused bottle will pose risk for severe infection 1. if not properly cleaned. 2. if the mouth and lid are not properly sanitized during purification.

@Hawkwin, this is not about feeling like being a bully, or a savior. It is about assuring that the scouts with cutting implements are sufficiently disciplined to wield them. Can it get out of hand? Sure! But you're weighing a possibility of feeling hazed against the probability of harm to life or limb. Handing a kid a partly-colored buddy-tag possibly could be bullying, but pales in comparison to the probability of drowning. Neither buddy tags or Totin Chip teach anything per se. But both inform scouts something about themselves and each other. In the process, they enable scouts to set goals for each other. Goals that ultimately improve each other's character.

Overnight outings, yes. Nothing new there. Meetings and activities, no. I've had plenty of meetings with female youth in the room when only male adults were present.

I think this was a frog-boiled-slowly kind of deal. Clubs were segregated into sports vs. recreation. ( @David CO collegiate intramural clubs are often unsupervised.) Then the sports clubs were judged according to one level of risk/liability and the recreation clubs were judged by another standard.

How do I know how many times the TF was warned? I might have seen him once passing by my hammock whittling recklessly ... told him to behave. He says "yes sir" ... and puts on his best behavior ... while he thinks I'm watching. On the way from his patrol site, the SPL may have seen him horsing around with his buddy, knife in hand ... told him to behave. He said "yes sir" ... waited till SPL continued rounds to next patrol. At his patrol campfire, the PL may seen him ... told him to behave. He said "yes sir" ... then took his buddy on a walk away from his patrol site. By his tent, an APL might have seen him ... told him to behave. He said "yes sir" then ... went to his patrol campfire. So, do the PL, SPL, or I Confiscate the knives of every single scout after every single infarction that I see? That would be a lot of knives/saws/axes confiscated. Assume this was a one-off until confirmed otherwise at after-action review with the PLC at cracker barrel, thereby allowing a day to pass with this kid likely to nick the hide of a young @CalicoPenn? Or do I ask to see the Totin' Chip cards of any fey scout to determine if this would be his first or his final warning? And, if first, clip and counsel appropriately. If final, ask if I should secure his blades until he and I can set aside time for an SMC to review knife safety. Common sense tells me leaders should communicate. If you see something say something. The nicks in the card are simply a discrete way of saying it. As always ... Your mileage may vary.

Happy Valley is a little less happy http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-student-organizations-lose-university-recognition-after-risk-analysis-review,1476216/ From the club's board http://sites.psu.edu/outingclub/ Hello? Venturing?

Been there done that with venturing. Prepare to buy lots of flowers/chocolate. Just to remind everyone that the last I heard this was to apply across all programs for all meetings and activities. Advisors of co-ed crews, brace for impact.

And some scouters seem to perversely think that robbing a boy of his or his patrol's cutting tool -- even for a small infarction -- puts one on some moral high ground. I'm sorry, thievery, albeit temporary, does not make a scout/scouter some holier than another scout/scouter who tags a card. Don't want me to call your suggested practice thievery? Don't call the practice implied by the totin' guidelines hazing.

I've seen too many Nalgene bottles shatter. Aluminum takes a lot of dents and can be patched. I do like the 96 ounce collapsible bottles. But after 10 years, they are starting to stiffen and crack. I had a camelback once. I concluded that there was a reason I stopped nursing by age 2.

Tent pitching ... blindfolded.

Two words: aluminum canteen. Mine's going on 40 years. If you have a friend in metal shop, he/she might be able to spin one out for you. Well ... spin two sides, weld it together, and add a tap. Better yet, 3D deposition print one. Extra points if he prints a chain-mail harness.

1. Cub scouts is not Boy Scouts. Nor is Whittling Totin'. But, this may be @Gwaihir's instructor's source of confusion. The privilege of greater accountability comes with moving up in the big leagues. 2. It's a card. In a kid's pocket (hopefully in a wallet ). It's likely to not survive the boy's tenure. If he damages it, should we call him out for hazing himself? Not every negative action is hazing. 3. We are not interested in collecting/sequestering knives and axes. We want scouts to hold onto them and keep working with them, making the world a better place in the process. 4. Some people see permanent damage. Others personal growth. The thing about those clipped corners? Scouts actually look at cards and compare how they've been cut. In looking at them, they sometimes read what's on them. BTW - after the first summer camp, I rarely see boys commit safety violations. (The catapult lofting empty water bottles at my tent being a rare, and admirable, exception.) I keep an open offer to replace any cut cards with whole ones. So far no takers.

Use analog phones. Problem solved.

... so, maybe the PL's corner should be cut because one of his boys failed to continue to show mastery? As far as requirements, ( from https://www.scouting.org/programs/boy-scouts/advancement-and-awards/merit-badges/totin/ emphasis mine) So, clipping of corners is a way of adhering to the intent of the card. It symbolizes Totin' Rights being whittled away. It should be done quietly, with assurances that you (SPL/PL/SM) believe he is capable of behaving according to the what he claimed he understood to be how he should behave ... that this is a way of helping him prepare behave safely and responsibly. But, Totin' Rights removal alternatives to this form of nano-hazing (pico-hazing?) could also be: Take the whole card. Hang it in a public location for a day. Leave the card. Take the cutting implements. Return them after the scout retrieves his card and reads it publicly. Paint a scarlet "T" on scouts forehead, so that all will know to keep implements of tote from him. Saw a large stump, stick card on it, mount it sideways at 10 paces, hold axe-throwing contest. First scout to sharpen ax well enough to split card at that distance, gets another card.

No worries, next infarction, we'll have the scout stand in front of the troop and read one of the incident reviews (https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/incident-report/incident-reviews/) in operatic voice.

That train has already flown off the tracks in many troops. I have a relative whose SM refused to deliver on the promise of scouting. The boy and his brother are leaving their troop so they can spend more time comping with their dad in their favorite locations. A dad and mom who would have been willing and able to camp with the boys on their preferred out-island adventures in exchange for a volunteer who would help their daughter in her linked troop could have changed that situation.

True resourcefulness would have been cutting apart the sections of the ball, stamping them with your troop # and date, and handing them out as temporary insignia to all of the participants.

That was asked at our program training conference. Evidently one would need to be in a council that supports a Lone Scout program. Ours does not. We did not go on to ask if that was a strategy in other councils who do support Lone Scouts, but I don't that it was a considered to be a practical option for National.

@Eagle94-A1, what @T2Eagle said, or nothing. A troop who decides that BSA policy does their kids more harm than good will temporarily violate BSA policy. National can't enforce this any better than it can enforce patrol method and youth leadership.

But, I already submitted mine for today. So it will have to wait for me to remember it, or someon else to quote me.

So funny. As the kids left, we took on housing 1st year fellows from our church's college outreach (think missionaries in training and you get the idea), what with their ministry and social contacts the house is rarely empty and often quite full. Empty nest? Well, if nests have revolving doors, maybe? And then there's the occasional spur-of-the-moment Kazakh's invite to random events, like the symphony backstage or ballet dancer's birthday party. (Don't ask. I couldn't explain if I tried. I just take it as a chance to try and fit "moose and squirrel" into the conversation.) It's not just me. Other friends "adopt" refugee families, support to high school playoff games, band competitions, etc. The lucky ones, in my opinion, have grand babies. There is life outside of scouting (even my SM ... he was a church organist and delivered Meals on Wheels). Scouting prepares us for life ... not the other way around.