Southpaw

Yes they do.  I know they have had a few different ones in the past. 

Here is a link to the one on ScoutShop.org

https://www.scoutshop.org/uniform-leather-hiking-belt.html

Here in Salt Lake City, Utah I am finding interest from a few girls.  But, I am having trouble finding women that are willing to camp.  Moms are supportive of their daughters joining a Troop and are willing to help on Thursday night meetings.  But, no interest in or willingness to camp.

18 hours ago, RememberSchiff said:

"...not build campfires or cut wood with electrical saws that can cause sparks..."

I get not building campfires in dry conditions, but is she advocating using saws that require highly flammable liquid and controlled explodes while simultaneously producing hot exhaust? 

I did not know that my electrical skill saw, jig saw, reciprocating saw, and chain saw where fire hazards.  I will need to rethink my electrical lawn mower, thank goodness my snow blower is gas powered.

The LDS Church is not just dropping Scouts, they are replacing them.

BSA may get a slice of the pie short term as the young men try to finish Eagle.  Long term, I am afraid they will only get crumbs. 

I am good with what you are doing and your goals.  I wish you where in Salt Lake, I would take advantage.  

Over the winter when we have two feet of snow on the ground, I think Leather work would be a great opportunity/activity.  Our challenge is the cost of repeat projects.  $5 each person and they get a 3" round thing, while that is cool the first year, I don't see it holding their interest every year.  I feel, having a variety of projects that a group can work on, but, at the same time keeping the price low is a must.  So, what are your plans or what are you thinking for projects?

Is it just me or are those shirts really just the same shirt, they appear to just have additional pockets on top of pockets.

I want to see the shirts with the typical display of patches in the correct proposed locations.

Put some bling on them and then use an anatomical manikin so we can see what they will actually look like on a Scout.

Or better yet, make a National Executive SEW the badges on and then get some Venture girls to model them and give feed back.

Also I spoke with some friends that have strict religious / moral standards and the skorts do not make the cut.

1 hour ago, Jameson76 said:

mysterious "Linked Troops" netherworld

"Linked" Troop is code word for "Coed" Troop

15 hours ago, BigDale said:

For troops that don't do any leatherwork other than camps and expos:

     Would you like to?

     What would you need?

Yes, we would like to.

We need reliable consistent access to tools and knowledge.

I would like to see Belts & Knife Sheaths.  Axe Covers, Yes, I don't think we could afford dutch oven cases.

I would use both options 1 & 2.  Option 3...avoid like the plague.

2 hours ago, qwazse said:

they will share the troop #

At Least we will not need to buy a second Troop Flag, those are expensive.

I knew a troop that would hold Board of Reviews with every scout, every month, regardless if they where getting rank or not.  

They had a pretty good knowledge of the scouts and what motivated them.

I have had a few parents complain that sports give their kids something to do every day, but scouts is only once a week.

Around here:

Tigers are $35  for a one day day camp.

Wolfs, Bears, and Webelos are  $55 for two days, but, no over night camping.

Leaders are free and most of the staff appears to be paid. 

I showed this Youtube video at a Court of Honor in an attempt to teach the parents how merit badges are supposed to be earned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81t74RXWr-s

The Scouts got excited and mothers horrified about a Rat Study merit badge.

How many units do not have their own bank accounts, but instead process financials through the church's book keepers?

All LDS Scout units run their financials through the church's system.  

The three Councils here in Utah are charging:

Trapper Trails = $2,850

Great Salt Lake = $3,450

Utah National Park = $2,995.

Looks like all three include a week of touring.

@@vumbi  The instructions from the LDS church are that "No Scout sponsored overnight camping should be planned for boys under age 11."  Scout Handbook for church Units page 4 section 6.1  However, the Cub Scouts can and are expected to participate in day time activities.  

@@ntc  As an LDS scouter, here are my recommendations:

If it is they have just not been interested then I would just keep working toward finishing the Webelos rank.  However, if the Cub Scouts had been motivated and are now just running out of time due to extenuating circumstances, then I would look at pushing the Arrow of Light.  Either way you choose to go the most important thing is to make it fun.  If we lose a Scout at the Cub level; then it is very difficult to get them to engage in Scouting once they become Deacons, and they are more likely to fall away from the church as they get older.  

Also I recommend completing the Scouting Adventure, it will greatly help the Cub Scouts transition to Boy Scouts.  But, do keep in mind, that even though your Webelos do not camp, the Scouting Adventure still requires that they participate in a day outing with a troop.  Fortunately, Klondike session is starting so there are some opportunities to hook up with a troop.

Scuba Diving - around here the going rate is about $250

Hiking - 20 mile day hike

Citizenship in the Community - 8 hour service project

We have two organizations near by that will bring a live Eagle and do a presentation as part of a Court of Honor.

We had our trailer stolen.

They cut the lock on a gate, probably used the safety chains to drag it away because they did not touch the hitch lock, and then cut the locks on the doors.

The only thing that was in the trailer was a foldable Lifetime picnic table, a 10 x 20 portable carport that we used for a canopy, and the spare tire.  

The insurance had a $1,200 deductible for the trailer and $3,000 deductible for the content.  We did not even come close to meeting it.  A dealer was going to sell us a new trailer at his cost, but ended up just giving us a new spear tire.  We have not replaced the table, but we did buy a new canopy

Around here, a trailer parked in the corner of a church parking lot is basically guaranteed to be a scout trailer, so we did not feel that having a troop logo on it made it a target.  However, we think that it was targeted because it is the only one with its own dedicated and fenced parking pad. 

The Trailer was reported at a construction site a week later.  I do believe having the logo made recovery faster, because that site had a dozen similar trailers seating there for nearly six months. 

We looked at tracking devices, but, they have recurring fees that we could not justify. So we just got a wheel boot.

I think that size has more to do with the number of youth being served and not the population.  The smallest of the three Utah Councils, Trapper Trails, has nearly 50,000 youth; the Great Salt Lake Council is claiming more than 76,000; and the Utah National Parks Council is reporting around 80,000.  If the church splits that will leave around 5,000 scouts in Utah.  

As an LDS scoutleader in Utah here is my take:

The LDS church is pissed because of a lack of curtesy on the part of the BSA.  The vote seems intentionally planed at a time that the BSA knew that the LDS leadership would not be available.

If the BSA and LDS split it will impact the BSA:

The church will not simply drop scouts, but will replace scouting with its own youth program.   The youth and leaders will stay with the church’s new program.  A very small number of youth and an even smaller number of leaders will seek scouting elsewhere.  And those scouts will be short-lived once people learn how much scouting costs.

I suspect that the farther away from Utah the less of an impact will be felt locally.

The three councils in Utah will be financially decimated.  And with each reporting close to a 99% LDS membership they will not have any scouts.

The word that I am getting from the councils outside of Utah, are that 2 in Nevada, 2 in Colorado, 1 in Idaho, 1 in Wyoming, 1 in Arizona, and even 1 in California are reporting about a 50% LDS membership each.  If that is true I would be asking, “What are the impacts of restructuring the Western Region?â€

I am guessing we will see:

Councils being merged and or absorbed. 

Several hundred people will be out of a job (including myself).

A massive sale-off of camps.  Maybe the church will buy some of them.

But, if I can pull enough scouts and adults together to float a neighborhood troop, it will be a nice change to have a troop of people that actually wanted to be there.

http://www.oa-bsa.org/pages/content/membership-and-induction

• After registration with a troop or team, have experienced 15 days and nights of Boy Scout camping during the two-year period prior to the election.  The 15 days and nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of six consecutive days and five nights of resident camping, approved and under the auspices and standards of the Boy Scouts of America.  The balance of the camping must be overnight, weekend, or other short-term camps.

On a slightly different tack, what are LDS units doing in regards to the Adventures; are you skipping Webelos and going directly to Arrow of Light, or are you making them earn both ranks in a year? 

On the Program Updates page at Scouting.Org there is a YouTube video called LDS New Program Orientation.  

The video points out that of the 14 total Adventures needed the two Duty to God Adventures are intended to be done with family.  That leaves 12 Adventures, one for each month.    Some of the Adventures could also be completed / worked on with the troop as part of the troop visits.  

Working on both Webelos and Arrow of Light might need some coordinating, but, it is very doable.

NJCubScouter the way it is supposed to work:

On the Scouts birthday they move to the next group.  At 11 they join the New Scouts, which is just an 11 year old age based patrol with the focus on Scout through First Class and they are allowed to go camping three times.   At 12 they move to the “regular†Boy Scout Troop.  At 14 they join the Varsity Team.  And at 16 they join the Venture Crew.  At 18 they move on to the adult side. There is some flexibility depending on resources and needs, but the norm is that an LDS Boy Scout Troop is made up of 12 and 13 year olds.

Yes, the Varsity still use the same rank structure, but they also have some of their own awards, and focus more on high adventure.  The big problem is that must LDS leaders do not know that.  As dysfunctional as many LDS troops are it tends to gets worse in the other programs.  It is possible for christineka’s son to go through his full scout career and not get enough nights for the Camping merit badge.

As I cannot control the other groups, I view it as, I have two years (my two year window) to give the kids the best Scout experience and as many opportunities as I can before they turn 14.  I have told the scouts that if they are not happy with how the Varsity program is being run, then they can hang out with us.  We have two older boys going to summer camp with us.