blw2

I think I mentioned earlier that our trailer was damaged in the recent hurricane. I had heard that the SM was considering going with something a wee bit smaller as a replacement..... I heard wrong, or he changed his mind. Talked with him some time later, and have since overheard him talking to others, about getting something at least as big as we had, or bigger. His thought is that the trailer is really bigger than our size troop needs now, but if we want to grow the troop we should be planning for it.... Our old trailer was fairly big. I'm guessing 16ft or 18ft enclosed, dual axle with the single side door.... My 2 cents is that we should go the same size or SMALLER. My thinking is we don't need that big of a trailer now, it tends to lead to bringing along the kitchen sink as others have suggested here, etc... also those that can tow it are limited to folks with large trucks with brake controllers. and if we ever do grow, maybe it would be better to have a second smaller trailer at a later date, rather than one big one now....better versatility and all.... (take one or take them both, something folks with SUV's could tow.....maybe the future SM won't have a pickup truck...etc...) Help me make a good case for that thought process, so that I can better throw out my 2 cents to the committee

well from the standpoint of NLP, I like that your 1st point fully cements the endeavor with a positive attitude.... "A FIRE, I WILL create."

Right after I started this thread, I pulled up the GTA, here's what i found: 4.2.1.2 The Scout Is Tested The unit leader authorizes those who may test and pass the Scout on rank requirements. They might include his patrol leader, senior patrol leader, an assistant unit leader, another Scout, or the unit leader himself. Merit badge counselors teach and test him on requirements for merit badges. Seems to support what @@eagle 94-A1 wrote.... up to the SM

In your troop Who can sign off on a Scout's advancement requirements? Who can sign off on things like his camping log, his volunteer log, etc... in the back of his book? No doubt this is spelled out in the GTA & I know I've read it before....but honestly I do not recall.... what it says about signing off on Scouts' rank requirements, etc... My understanding is that this varies between troops as well (maybe this should go in the scouting myths thread) and I don't know what our troop's rule on it is....but I'll bet if I ask 3 different people I'll get at least 2 different answers. This came up in a discussion I had with my Tenderfoot PL son this AM. I steered him to think that maybe he should contact his SM if he wants to know, thinking that many of the scouts may not know a consistent rule....

I doubt that is true..... because nobody is going to the playground anymore. They took away all the fun parts! The part about the traffic is likely true...... the kids are just going someplace else....

So a person is administering CPR another bystander rushes over and offers to help, saying they know CPR. Do you ask to see their CPR cert card? ..... if they did and it was two years expired, would you refuse the help..... Nope. I can picture that a confident and well trained 1st repsonder might tell the 2nd responder that he/she is doing 30 compressions to 2 breaths....or whatever method/ratio they are following.... and ask them to do the breathing...... or to take over the compressions.....

I recently bought a gross of these little things... in a drawer at home. I love them and hate them at the same time...... I have found that I don't even bother changing batteries in them if they last that long..... because IF they last that long, they are soon to fail anyway. They are great, till one day without warning they'll get glitchy and will work fine, then when you want it again in five minuets and pull it back out of your pocket it just wont come on.... slap it around, it'll work..... time to toss it. Not very eco friendly in that regard. and the beam doesn't have much throw either, ok for close work though... I saw some inflatable solars still glowing the next morning at summer camp....

I have been reading a fair bit lately about hiking the AT, and the Sawyer systems come up a lot..... especially their "Squeeze". Seems to be popular, but I have no experience with it.

Ever notice how hard it can be to get a handful of pine needles on fire.... or almost anything else for that matter..... but yet 1 loose tiny ember gently landing someplace in the forest without any help from a person blowing or tending....can burn hundreds or thousands of acres One of life's little mysteries....

I'm not gonna pretend to be a firemaking guru, especially with primitive methods but I think tinder is a HUGE variable when it comes to trying to light with spark or friction..... not to disagree with this statement my any means though.... But in a competition using spark, flame aint gonna happen if you don't have good tinder.... no matter how long you have.

sorry, not sure on the van ... Seems like I did catch wind of someone getting a discount though, I kinda want to think it was Enterprise. I see this is an old thread....but earlier it was mentioned about Dicks Sporting Goods offering a discount. I tried several times at our local store and was told no each time. I just figured it was the clerks just not being aware of it. I contacted Dick's corporate and apparently it's not a national thing..... store by store. I have used the discount a time or two at Gander Mountain. Once the guy made a point to ask me if the stuff was specifically for scouts or for a scout trip. Apparently that might be a restriction.... not just a discount extended to scouts.

yeah, I haven't used it often.... maybe that limit has always been there....I just feel the need sometimes to "silently" voice objection to provoking/contentious comments on what is supposed to be a bunch of scouts sitting around a campfire supporting each other.

Yeah, I used to call it "Tailgate camping", but have gotten lazy and taken up the shorter plop I suppose there are nicer was of describing it..... tailgate or glamping both work.... Maybe I'm wrong but I think that was meant tongue in cheek..... glamping and all....

It's interesting... we now have a quota for negative votes. No more than one per day it seems....

yes, I understand the idea of splitting loads, and such....... what I was trying to steer towards is was more about having a discussion of what @pety091 's real world scout patrol is doing a backpacking trip and how they are going about it..... things they were smart about, things they learned from, what equipment works, and what doesn't, what they brought along, what they lived without....any interesting or fun stories about how these young scouts came to the revelation..... such as.... did they bring along the dining fly as @@resqman mentioned? How did that go? was there any scout that had some piece of equipment the others are now wanting.... and so on....

so two good patrols then.... one scouts and one old goats I'd be interested in details about how they are sharing the load and keeping weight down..... ie. is each carrying their own hammock, splitting tent components, etc.... how many stoves, water filters, etc.... split among the group.... I'll have to look at the philmont diet you mention... I'm not familiar.... Is it all freeze dried stuff?

How many scouts, and what age range? I hope you report back and let us know how it goes....especially stories about equipment and packing revelations and so on. Oh how I wish I were close enough to run up there for a 3-day weekend!

Do you recall what you had available for tinder? I'd imagine that makes a HUGE difference.

my 2 cents worth is that this is a great idea, @@snowowl. I have been saying for a long time that I think troops should think like "backpacking" (or canoeing), even when plop camping. Almost anyone can plop camp, but it takes a little more consideration, and gear to camp light(ish), and it seems that your practice will prepare your scouts for a lifelong ability to camp, plopping or otherwise...... where as scouts that spend their entire scout career plopping behind a well equipped trailer may never really be able to camp out of a canoe or tackle the AT....without going further with more self education anyway.... Just found out last night that our SM is planning to replace our damaged trailer with one equal as big. I'm a bit disappointed, but I get it. I wonder though, if some time in the future the troop may not be able to use the trailer if no scouters have a big truck to tow it. (as it is now we don't have many that can tow it....)

well, whatever it is..... I'm honestly embarrassed sometimes about the money.... Our troop is a mostly affluent area, so mostly it's not a big deal.... but it does seem like everytime we turn around there is something being said or asked about money annual dues $100 then at the same time, we're trying to "push" one or more fundraising efforts then once a month there's a camp, usually we're asking $20 a head for grub then....oh yeah, don't forget to sign up for that fundraising effort..... then next month another $20 grub fee then there's an opportunity for some random MB fair..... that has a fee then we're starting to talk about summer camp..... that'll cost you.... then the parents have to start thinking about a new uniform since he's growing.... or lost his uniform socks..... it seems it's always about money!

I haven't, sorry... but why couldn't you just open a google account under something like WBC313316@gmail.com and then stuff the things into the account's drive? or do a similar thing in dropbox? I guess I don't understand where non-profit has anything to do with it...

I could sure see this as an issue..... As treasurer, I'm still trying to collect all of our dues for the year. We charge $100....with $36 going to national for dues and Boys Life, and the balance being a troop "activity" fee. If they were to blindside us with an additional fee, that would look very bad to have to go back and collect more. It would be very tacky, IMO

because, after a hard day of sitting behind the desk in MB classes, the scouts will be rolling back into camp just a few minutes before dinner. No time to get a good bed of coals going. Then, after dinner, they'll soon be rushing off to do more sitting around the campfire program circle.... and a fire would burden someone to have to stay behind and tend to it.... This is a push-button culture now, and LP fits right in with that....

If I were to ponder a guess, I'd say it's probably like an "Assistant to the DE" position my district, as an example, is split with two DE's, one of them being a "Senior". I'd guess this new position may be a similar set-up.

not really safety related, excactly.... although one could argue... but kinda goes along with the other "local" adult imposed rules mentioned ....no cell phones. Scout's phones are confiscated and remain locked up.