Hedgehog

We tried a New Scout Patrol last year. The plan was to isolate the crossovers until the end of the year so as not to disrupt the existing patrols. After two weeks, the NSP Guides talked to the SPL and ASPL and they came to the adults requesting that we abandon the project and just integrate them to the regular patrols. We did. I think that it makes no sense to have a NSP camp on its own. We have more than 10 new boys joining each year and I can't see how you can have the group of them go camping without the adults interfering. Heck, it is hard enough to keep any adults that cross over

I like the idea of using Chapstick, a Q-Tip and a cut open aluminum can. Not good for a patrol to cook by, but fun for the guys to make.

Stosh - I wasn't thinking of refilling them myself - I tend to be quite attached to my body parts. The tanks I linked to seem to be able to be refilled whereever you refill your 20# tanks but I may need to get an adaptor for them to use in refilling the tanks.

Is that the Northstar lantern? It looks like the one I linked to in my original post. That's where I was leaning due to lack of tanks and batteries to throw away. My concern was that the boys would need supervision to fill and light them and that would require them to come over to the adult campsite to ask one of us to go over to their campsite to supervise. We tend to arrive at a lot of our campsites in the dark and to do a lot of cooking and clean-up in the dark (we camp year-round). We haven't had any broken glass, but we go through a lot of mantles. Our outdoo

It is time to replace some of the lanterns our Toop uses and we were debating several options: OPTION 1 - Coleman Propane Lanterns http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Northstar®-PerfectFlow-Instastart-Propane/dp/B00HUG7OZQ OPTION 2 - Coleman Battery Operated Lanterns http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Twin-High-Performance-Lantern/dp/B001O3F5Y8 OPTION 3 - Coleman Duel Fuel Lanterns http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Premium-FuelTM-Lantern-Carry/dp/B017VL1VIU The problem with the regular propane lanterns is that we end up with 6 propane cylinders that we throw out after each campou

I tend to take everything with a gain of salt -- or a cup of coffee -- or a glass of something stronger. What works for a troop of 7 boys or 20 boys, may not work for our troop of 50 boys. What works for a new troop, may not work for an existing troop like ours that has a tradition of 10th grade SPLs, 11th grade no-shows and 12 grade Eagles (who haven't camped since 9th grade). The question is how to change that culture. I'm always in favor of using all the available tools to fix a problem. The SM and I have kicked up the Outdoor Program over the last two and a half years --

So Stosh, would you sign off on the POR requirement for a Patrol Leader who did not camp once with their patrol over the course of a year? Would you consider a scout to be "active" if the attended four meetings a year and didn't camp out? So what percentage of your scouts in 10th, 11th and 12 grade go on outings on a regular basis?

If you are anywhere near New Jersey, you are welcome to join our Troop. Only requirements are that you like spending time in the outdoors and you bring your own chair and coffee cup -- so you can sit down and drink coffee while the boys lead.

My question is not about misplaced frustration, but it really comes down to what is an "active" scout and how you judge whether someone performs their POR. Can a scout that hasn't camped in two years be considered "active" in the Troop? Can an SPL or PL who doesn't lead in the outdoors be considered having fulfilled their POR? By deciding on a criteria ahead of time, it makes it clear what the expectation is. I think that is better than having ascoutmaster not sign off on advancement after the fact. i view having a set number of outings to be a "safe harbor" -- if they don't reach tha

For rank advancement purposes, do you require scouts to go on a specified number of outings to be considered "active"? If you do, what is the requirement? I was thinking that attending one in three outings should be the minimum for being active. For the SPL/ASPL and the PL/APL maybe there should be a higher threshold such as attending half of regular outings (we have 9 to 10 regular weekend outings, a week long summer camp and a week long adventure). This would be a going forward change being announced before elections for the next school year. Thoughts?

I agree that it is a long and hard road to get to a strong boy-led troop. Our troop when I joined was boy led... well it was sort of boy led for the weekly meetings. The outdoor program wasn't. Being the new ASM on the block didn't keep me from objecting when the Troop committee planned the first couple of months of the outdoor program. The next week, the new SM (who just took over), pulled me aside and said he agreed with me. Since then, we've worked together to push the troop to being strongly boy-led. The PLC now decides on the outings. The adults used pack the gear in their cars.

The boys learn about camping by doing it. Its up to the older guys to teach the younger guys what they need to know - whether that be at our weekly meetings or on campouts. If a boy doesn't have 15 nights, I won't work with them on the MB. They just don't have the experience to make any discussions meaningful to them. At 15 nights, most of them have done summer camp at least twice (only one counting) and five other campouts. The boys have enough opportunities beause we do an outing every month of the year. They need to provide a list and I check it against Troopmaster which tracks nig

The just get one night, because the second night they slept in a shelter that was already built. Interesting that Adirondacks don't count for Camping Merit Badge but do count for National Outdoor Award and Order of the Arrow eligibility because there is no "under the stars or in the outdoors requirements." In my case, I'm the MB counselor. I actually did all the research on what counts so that I'd know what to accept and what I can't accept.

How does always giving 2 days credit for a subsequent long term camping experience become classified as a rare exception? You acknowledge that you changing the merit badge requirement in that you don't argue that your interpretation is correct... only that you think it is fair. The GTA is unequivocal - "No council, committee, district, unit, or individual has the authority to add to, or subtract from, advancement requirements." You are subtracting from the requirement "One long-term camping experience of up to six consecutive nights may be applied toward this requirement." and replac

Reach out to the folks at council. Find the general number off the internet site and call it. They will help you. Council has the official records and they should be able to give you a printout of what they have. You should be able to use that print out to get any missing patches. The portion of the blue cards you get after completing the merit badges are not collected and don't need to be reviewed. The print out from council is all the proof you need.

We have a scout who doesn't like the outdoors and his mom worries about him getting dirty. He also has allergies. I guess we could make an exception for him. IT would only be fair. Maybe he could set up a tent in his basement and sleep there. It says "under the sky" or "in a tent you have pitched" -- so if he pitches the tent inside that works. I guess it needs to be a campout, so one of his scout buddies can stay with him. If we give him credit, we would have to give his buddy credit. But what about the other guys? That wouldn't be fair to them. We could allow everyone to set up ten

Yeah, but if doing the 25 milers on two consecutive days is any indication, I'd be sore for four weeks if I did RAGBRAI.

Remember, there is no time limit. I've got a lot of open MB's for backpacking. Most have done the book requirements. I've got 7 guys that have a 30 mile trip done. A bunch that have a couple of 15 mile trips done. I've got one that's completed it and that most likely is because he is my son and we did our own three day backpacking trip last year (one of the best adventures we've had!). That being said, my son still needs the 50 mile bike ride to finish cycling. Considering I'm probably going to be asked to do it with him, I've not objected when he has put it off to the spring.

That really doesn't matter if they are active. One long-term camp can only be counted for the 25 nights for the Camping Merit Badge. If they participate in long-term camping it counts the first time. If they participate in long-term camping a second time -- whether it be summer camp, Philmont, a 50 miler or a 5 night canoeing trip IT DOES NOT COUNT. There is no discretion. It is not subjective. A scout is obedient. A good scout leader is obedient. What you are doing is not leadership, but setting a bad example by ignoring rules you don't like for scouts that you do like. Further

Qwazse is correct. You can count one full week at summer camp. Full weeks or partial weeks in subsequent years do not count AT ALL. I suspect the intent is to expose scouts to a number of different experiences. Weekend camping is different than summer camp. Also, this permits for a number of camping experiences -- rather than 3 summer camps and one weekend campout a scout is required to do one summer camp and seven weekend camping trips. The first words of the requirement are "show experience in camping..." and I agree that the more trips a scout goes on the more experience they get.

I'd vote for Backpacking. It requires three trips of 3 days and 15 miles and one trip of 5 days and 30 miles. That is a total of 14 days backpacking, 10 days camping and 90 miles. It requires a strong outdoor program that has those trips or a motivated scout who finds other opportunities to backpack with family and friends. We've adjusted our outdoor program from having 2 day backpacking trips to having 3 day backpacking trips and we've added a summer 5 day trip. My vote for second hardest would be a tie between hiking and cycling. Hiking requires five 10 mile hikes and a 20 mile hike

I'd vote for Backpacking. It requires three trips of 3 days and 15 miles and one trip of 5 days and 30 miles. That is a total of 14 days backpacking, 10 days camping and 90 miles. It requires a strong outdoor program that has those trips or a motivated scout who finds other opportunities to backpack with family and friends. We've adjusted our outdoor program from having 2 day backpacking trips to having 3 day backpacking trips and we've added a summer 5 day trip. My vote for second hardest would be a tie between hiking and cycling. Hiking requires five 10 mile hikes and a 20 mile hike

Being an adult leader is a thankless job... until someone says thank-you. I've saved a couple of thank-you notes from scouts and a bunch of e-mails from parents. Last weekend I saw the current Cubmaster from the pack and he said, "I hear the Troop's outdoor program is kicking butt." Occasionally, I must be doing something right.

CalicoPenn: I like the ideas. I have been doing "on the job" training with new leaders -- especially in the area of cooking (I'm about to turn the Adult patrol cooking over to them... I've set a pretty high standard so I have great expectations). We get good adult leader turnout for our more adventurous trips and, like the boys, the best way of learning is doing. Heck, I had never canoed on a river before this year! I think we would have difficulty doing an adult only campout (although it would be fun!) because we have Troop outings pretty much every month of the year.

I'm pretty sure our boys would gladly camp there when we get the opportunity to pay the RIGHTFUL owners.