blw2

ahh....took me a minute @@Stosh, but I thin i get your point....

As I have really been getting into this, it's really striking how much lighter and streamlined things are today. Hiking in trailrunners. Folks entire pack base weight today is approx what my old hiking boots would have weighed! At my age and condition I'm all for it too. I'll throw some money at that lighter gear. I can almost imagine myself lugging maybe a 7 to 10 pound base weight up a mountain trail.... 20-30 pound...not so much. I can't say I go all the way back to the yucca pack, but it was similar. Basically a nylon version as I recall.... I do have an internal frame pack n

hey good job Frank!!! I'm currently dreaming...and gearing up to do something like that next summer hopefully. Slowly getting some more lightweight gear to replace the heavy stuff I have, and thinking through different plans. Maybe AT, maybe BMT ??? I keep coming back to starting the AT at Springer approach....maybe to Neels, or maybe a bit further. I'd only be able to pull off a week. I just keep coming back to that, I suppose with the idea that I could always start a tradition of coming back periodically and picking up where I jumped off last time... So far my son hasn't expresse

Similar in a way, and in another way not so much but I recently did a family RV trip. Approx 5,200 miles in 19 days with my wife and three kids living in approx 200 square feet. Even at the end, I wasn't home sick, didn't miss my house, my stuff, work, any of it. Not one bit. I had what I needed with me (and then some!)

yes he was very difficult to read. Actually annoying to me...but you are right his opinions were worth the effort! Sorry, I don't have an answer though..... Sadly, there have been a few really great posters that have fallen off.... & I don't know why.

I know of at least one flag football team with a girl (boy's team) I'll have to admit in only skimming through this thread and not reading as carefully as I'd like. Just exploded and too big. As a formally extremely active scouter at the pack level, and father of two girls coming up behind my son... I have wished for coed pack for a long time. My 2 cents is that ideally and assuming enough girls there would be girl dens and boy dens, but in the same pack. Realistically though, I'd guess more often than not there won't be quite enough girls to have clean split dens at each rank so

yeah, but these aren't typical neoprene dive boots.... they look to be more of a canvas HD combat boot designed to fit in fins and also drain....

I still think that in a way it would be great if it were more logistically feasible to get a troop bus, personally.... Reduce stress over having enough drivers and seats.... all the scouts can ride together and be together during the sometimes long drives.... could even do patrol meetings etc on the move! More fun and productive at the same time.... and if it's a big bus there's lots of room in the basement!

I had to look up Altama, since I'm not familiar with the brand.... but of course now I see that I have seen them lots of times.... Their OTB maritime boots looked especially interesting to me... as a SCUBA diver. Seems like that could make a great HD water shoe!

ha ha...yeah, we recently took a family RV trip out to the grand canyon. I forget where we were exactly.... I think in TX...but drove past a few car dealerships and I had to laugh out loud...and point out to the family how many more pickups were on the lot as compared to cars. It was really striking!

Oh how I dislike these cryptic games and also when folks already have the decision made but call a meeting to "discuss" it. ok, but is it the fact that it's single gender that makes you interested in BSA? Is that really primary? I'd ponder a guess that it at least is partially, and probably mostly, because of the program and methods. Sure one get get involved in 4H instead, but then they wouldn't be getting the patrol method applied to a camping and outdoor adventure program.....they would instead be getting.... well I really don't know what they do in 4H..... what, learn about growi

well put. Size of troop....but also "style" of troop. If one has the whole stock of several huge chuck-boxes, and all sorts of other equipment that gets lugged out every time, THAT is very different than a troop that is promoting ultralight backpacking (where not that you would want to, but could almost get away with each boy holding their own stuff in their laps and no need at all even for trunk space) Now that I agree on! I do like a whole lot of what you outlined stosh. I can only imagine, since I have never experienced a troop like that, but I do believe the scouts would

yeah, well....I'll give on that. I haven't been to Northern Tier so my thoughts are more general.... but then again, as I said I'd look into different footwear if I were going to climb the eiger. So perhaps for Northern Tier too. I just know that generally when it comes to footwear, BSA advice (or that from a lot of scouters), doesn't really mesh well with the reality of the rest of the world.....and in some cases actually cause injury.

side track, but I would argue that troops don't really "need" a trailer either.... and in fact I'd rather it be a small one if they do one at all but they can prove useful. Our pack had a trailer, bought long before my time..... but we used it generally several times each year, not so different than how a troop does. Ours was a small enclosed trailer, maybe 4x8 or 4x10... don't remember for sure The pack had some equipment for our camping outings...cook stoves, coolers, ez up canopies, first aid kit, etc...and would stock consumables such as utensils, trash bags, etc....

yeah, I can't imagine anyone even leaving $130.00 unattended like that, let alone $13,000.00. Maybe $13.00....just maybe...... Agreed....doesn't smell right to me. Christmas candles...... oh, now there are some flashback to the 1970's memories! I hated selling those things..... and that is probably the biggest reason I do not push my son to sell fundraisers if he doesn't want to. I didn't like selling anything since I was a very shy kid, but I didn't mind selling the chocolate candy bars for band nearly as much as I hated pushing those "old lady candles" It would be different

yeah, trail runners or even sandals for me unless maybe for some reason I'm doing many miles with a severely overloaded pack &/or bushwhacking over some kind of completely unimproved rugged terrain that is not at all a trail....and even then I'm likely to choose just a more rugged style of trail runners, such as my Salomon XA pro's or unless climbing the Eiger.....but that aint gonna happen light weight, breathe, and dry faster...and more comfortable too.

I have a pair of chaco outcross, evo 2 I believe. Nice light and airy shoes that drain well. I like them. Once wet, they'll stay wet a bit but so will pretty much anything except something like a flip flop or crocs. My only regret is not looking more seriously at a half size up. I ordered them from amazon in my normal shoe size. They fit well enough, but find them on the snug end of things without a sock. Last summer I wore them for most of the week at summer camp so I have a few miles in them!

Our troop sets it up so that daily mail is prearranged and brought up by one of the scouters to be passed out daily. They give typical suggestions, as previously mentioned here.... and it's usually a short note.... maybe a joke + a little candy or snack. They also do a daily bank think, where the parent doles out a little money for spending, and that is passed out daily with the mail. Personally, I don't care for the bank thing. These scouts can handle their money, and if they can't...hey, there's a life lesson! Last year, even though I was along as a scouter, I told my son that I'm

I agree that the hands on is good. get these boys out of the building!!! but my question is this, what do you think will happen...an insert page to put in the book? are the scouts supposed to line out the requirement in the book and pencil in what it is now?

yeah, I always knew that whole thing was horsehockey even when I was a kid too. I don't cramp up when i eat and then head out to the playground to run around..... and I don't cramp up when I eat and jump into a pool for some floating or even moderate activity. but when you don't take things so literally there some sound logic buried in there... for general good practice, it makes sense to me that I wouldn't really want to go for a run right after eating....or do anything overly vigorous. Better for digestion probably to rest a bit after eating.... and better performance for the exercise to

or one could argue that for the relatively small amount of property that a troop has (even including a trailer), that they could self insure.

I've always though lifeguards with whistles at a crowded beach or pool were kinda funny in a not so funny way. They go tooting away, with a thousand folks in the water.... and nobody bothers to look at them to see what's up. Useful maybe in a real emergency to get the attention of the other lifeguards....but the tooting thing at folks horsing around or whatever.... everybody is thinking they must be tooting at someone else!

my only thought is they are no longer registered with the unit. If they have a little brother still in the pack then they are family....but if not they would be a guest..... no different I suppose than a girl scout coming along as a guest.... liability concern perhaps? (that's a real stretch, not a concern)

I have referred to things like that in the feminine....just like a boat I suppose....but never really to the extreme of individual names My bet is they guy was just extending that as a way to make things fun and keep the scouts interested a bit.

We have a scouts bring their own troop.... some solo, some hang in hammocks, some have 2-3 man tents and that gives options to either bunk up sometimes or go solo others.... I've mentioned before that I recently read "Rocks in My Backpack" Now that troop was into Indian lore, had an Indian dance troop too... Somewhere along the line they got hold of a tepee or two. I've got to say the idea of something like that....while probably quite a headache to haul, could really promote some good times for the scouts. I'm imagining the same result, although maybe a bit less "cool" factor, would