ianwilkins

On a static camp, or dump camp, here in the UK, we (though I'm not speaking for the whole of the UK, actually, I am pretty sure there is no mandated right way to wash up) use the bin and three bowl method. A bin at one end of the table Then the three bowls... 1. hand hot water with washing up liquid 2. hand hot water with washing up liquid 3. hand water with no washing up liquid Scrape as much food and sauce of the plate as possible into the bin Wash off all remaining food in the first bowl with a brush/sponge/cloth Clean it in the second bowl Rinse it in the third bowl Put it

Classic. They all like pink too right? Easy solved. Don't buy the magazine. If enough people don't buy the magazine, they will either try and work out why, and change, or fold. If people are buying the magazine, then that must be what they want. Just because it's not some peoples idea of what they should want, doesn't mean they shouldn't have it.

As Cambridge skip says, yes, we Explorer Scouts go winter camping, yes, south of england, it's commonly a very British winter, mild and a bit wet. Though last year we struck gold with a couple of inches of snow on the Sunday morning. Not enough to cause travel chaos (that's about 4", seriously), but enough for snowball fights. Usually though, it's mud that's the issue. We happen to use "tepees", though they aren't really tepees, more accurately called a Laavu, Finland again, or the Sami people of Lapland I think, shaped like a tepee, but one central pole, and lightweight modern fabric. An 8-10

I say shop around, if you can, Boy Led or not, the troop will reflect the boys and the leaders in them, what might be right for many, may not be right for yours. I've seen it a fair few times, when cub packs and scout troops have wildly different programmes, it can be difficult for kids to move up, as they don't like the new style. My son was the same, in the UK, loved Beavers (aged 6-8) like crazy, hated Cubs (8-10). Left. Not pulled on a woggle since. You can't change the past, so let it go, but you can influence the future.

@@qwazse my first downvote. Woe is me! Yes, I'm not sure there's any quantifiable answer to either of those. Over this side of the pond, co-ed and all that, we do have one local anomaly, a cub leader has refused to go mixed, as "boys need their own space" in her opinion, yet they were fine with their daughter being one of my explorer scouts. That's different apparently. I can sort of see the point, if "boys need their own space", maybe they do, if the leader would change the programme to accommodate girls, scouts is no longer what it was. There's also a whole raft of discussion ar

If you changed the Eagle award so that someone without testicles could be awarded it, and changed nothing else, would that still take honour from the boys?

In my unit, in the UK, adults pay nothing, generally, unless the cost of the adults attending would add prohibitively to the cost for the kids. I think we (the unit, not speaking for all UK scouts) work on the principle that leaders give up their time, it's wrong to expect them to put their hands in their pockets. When we had an expensive trip to Portugal, leaders paid, when we have our normal camps, their costs, food, camp fees, are either divided and added to the cost of the camp for the kids, or the unit funds subsidise the camp. If the unit wanted to buy a tent, if a leader bought it on th

In the UK, we went coed some time ago, and didn't change the requirements for our top award, the Queen's Scout Award. It retains the same honour as it always has (well, I'm guessing old Queen's Scouts, or indeed King's Scouts, not many of them left, many would say "ooh, it was much harder in my day", same with exams) I'm sure there were "political correctness gone mad" grumbles at the time, but not, as far as I recall, about girls becoming Queen's Scouts. In my opinion, if you were going to let girls get eagle, it would only be by letting them take all the steps that a current eagle takes,

Certainly is! For the first time we had more girls than boys on our explorer summer camp. They're all just "explorers" to me, though one instructor did ask how come girls are in scouts...ooof he got the death stare from some of our young ladies. Small point of UK order. Ventures, which was a section started in 1967 for 15.5 to 21 year old, that was phased out when Explorers and Network started in 2002/3. Ventures was co-ed from 1976. Ian

Yes, but neither was our explorers sneakily pulling an all nighter and/or sleeping in a nearby field on the last night of camp. Was I angry? Not a chance, no one is going to remember the night Ian sent them to bed on time are they? The night stargazing however... If nothing else we're in the business of making good memories. Like you say, if I could have laid in the field stargazing with them, and not been tucked up in bed so I was awake enough to drive the minibus home...damn straight I'd have been there with them. We had a massive mud fight last year. As you say, not on the programme. Pr

You're right, mostly, many scout campsites in the UK will have a shooting range, it will almost certainly be for air rifles. I had to look it up, and we can use air pistols, but I haven't seen one in a long time. I'd guess it's easier to run a safe range with a rifle than a pistol. We are allowed to go to a government approved small bore range with an affiliated and registered club, and shoot .22 rifles, full bore rifles (no, I don't know what that means, .303 I suspect). I know our County Scout shooting club runs a day at Bisley (basically, UK shooting HQ) where they get to try these in

Hello! This is the UK calling! Nice to meet you. Ian

A question from the other side of the pond...spurred on a little by that youtube video someone posted on differences between UK and USA... So, in my head, I've got the image of a BSA scout camp, but I've no idea how accurate that is. Part of what is in my head is the hollywood version of "summer camp", there's always a lake, it's always in the woods, kids are sleeping in dorms, or huts, or something like that. Maybe I've watched Addams Family Values one too many times. Part is what I've read on here, merit badges are done, kids go swimming, kids do stuff. It sounds like there's an orga

And in an parallel thought, when I learnt software design, we got taught that some sort of funny bubble diagram of whatever methodology it was should have 7 +/-2 items on them, i.e. between 5 and 9, as the theory was that any more than 9 was too much for the brain to take in, and 5 too few to really show anything. Then if you look at how the army patrol Baden Powell would have sent out was formed, I'm sure I saw a diagram with the patrol spread out like a cross. Tricky with 5, too noisy with 9? 8, any more than that and you won't fit in a big patrol tent. An even number so you all

Arrrggghhh! That British kid! STOP SAYING "LIKE"!!!!! Anyway...deep breath... Queen's Scout. I would say everyone in Scouting knows about it. I would say most Human Resources/Personnel people in large organisations would have heard of it, and it would be an interesting point to bring up in interviews, and for some it might well be the difference between getting an interview and not. If you spoke to the man on the street, and told them you were a scout, the first question wouldn't be "are you a queen's scout?" they'd probably say with a laugh "DYB DYB DYB eh? Ho ho", last time we did t

I went to a massive Explorer Scout camp in the UK the other weekend (about 4000 explorers). The Police were there, showing off riot gear and chatting to the Explorers. Just as we walked past them, one turned up with a bag full of donuts for his fellows. I laughed, and suggested to them they may be pandering to stereotypes.

Whenever I eat a krispy kreme, which isn't very often, I feel kinda dirty afterwards.

"Most of the ceremonies and all their buildings are closed to non-members. Members are sworn to secrecy." I hope I'm not just being overly politically correct, but this rings massive alarm bells with me. Maybe that's just because, as someone else says, that kind of secret society schtick is "not my gig". It just doesn't sit well with me. If a scout is friendly and considerate (or kind and courteous), or a brother to all scouts, or part of the worldwide family of scouting, whatever your wording of the law, lording it over others because they aren't in your special club that you have to be i

I once had an enforced wait of about an hour on the bank of a slow moving river in Ireland, with a small group of friends. The sun was out, it was a calm day, so the water was flat as a pancake. The shingle beach where we wandered along seemed to consist almost entirely of flat round stones of various sizes. It wasn't a case of searching for a skimmable stone, they were there, by the hundred, by the thousand maybe. I have the knack of stone skimming. I might even be so bold as to suggest I'm not too bad at it. That hour was total and utter bliss. If I need calm in my head, I try and remember t

That's what scouting is isn't it? Preparation for the zombie apocalypse?

I think it was ever thus. There are people who look up and out, and people who look down and in (and yes, many on the scale from one end to the other). There's people who like to observe things, people who are interested in stuff, and those that seem to let the world wash past them. No doubt Pokemon Go will be no different, some will play it, and only see the game, some will play it as and take an interest in why some things have been marked out as places of interest. It got released in the UK yesterday. My local scout hut is a pokestop, and after a 1/2 hour game of it with my boy, I almos

Not sure, and I know I'm looking at this from a fair distance away, but are the people who comment on fox news articles that representative? Is it unfair of me to suggest that many fox news readers would only think the BSA is ok if there were merit badges for stocking up on canned goods, testing water for fluoride, and semi automatic rifle maintenance? Anything less is liberal namby pamby hiding behind mom's apron nonsense? Of course, it could be a fine upstanding impartial news broadcaster, but that's not the impression I get. Ian

Probably the way you face? I don't know much, and maybe it different in the US to where I am in the UK, but I thought rowing was where you had your back to the prow of the boat. Actually, the difference is rollocks! Or oar-locks. Rowing - the oar is attached to the boat Canoeing - you hold the paddle in your hands, and it's not attached to the boat. Rowing could be anything from tubby little row boats to sleek race boats Canoeing is probably what we in the UK would call canadian canoes, open, long, you use a one ended paddle.

Well done to him. Congratulations.

You mean...there's more special snowflakes about? [i'm joking....JOKING! Sheesh!]