robhixkg

Good afternoon all,

I am processing our troop summer camp advancements and I have some questions.

First let me state, I am aware the guide to advancement state that once a requirement is signed off we cannot take it back.  I am guessing this goes for merit badges as well as rank requirements.  

Second, let me say I absolutely loathe the fact that BSA speaks out of both sides of their mouth on some things.  They state that the requirements must be done as written then do not require the camps to abide by this requirement.  I know some things cannot be done at camp.  That should be documented in the camp materials, the merit badge completed as a partial and then move on.  The scout should have to finish that up away from camp.

This leave me wondering what to do in situations where I know a requirement could not have been completed at camp. 

First case, the camping merit badge, requirement 4b states:

Quote

Help a Scout patrol or a Webelos Scout unit in your area prepare for an actual campout, including creating the duty roster, menu planning, equipment needs, general planning, and setting up camp.

I cannot see this being done at camp, yet I have a camp saying that scouts have completed it. What can I do in situations like this?

Second question, the scouts in our troop that were doing the camping merit badge had to have the Scoutmaster verify their camping nights for requirement 9a.  Since our Scoutmaster did not have access to their camping records, he would not sign this, promising to follow-up after getting back from camp.  Yay scoutmaster and camp on this one.  One of our scouts, not getting a scoutmaster signature for completion, went to his dad and got him to sign for the requirement.  Dad was at summer camp.  Dad is not a registered merit badge counselor for anything!  However, the scouts records come back from camp showing that he completed the camping merit badge.  On this one, I think I can deny it simply on the fact that the camping night verification did not have a valid signature on it.  Can I deny him completion on this?  If not, what are my options, if any?

Thanks for any help you can give.

I have a scout who just turned 16 in April and wants to be sure he meets rank requirements before he is too old to meet the time in rank for Star, Life, and Eagle.  

If my calculations are correct, he has to obtain first class by the age of 16 years 8 months to still be eligible for Eagle.  Does that sound right?

For example, gets First class at 16 years 8 mos., Star at 17 years, Life at 17 years 6 mos., and Eagle at 18 years.  We are trying to get him through quicker but I just wanted to clarify my math and understanding of the requirements.

Thanks in advance....

First off, Hedgehog, let's remember that LNT is not a list of rules, but rather an ethic to use when making decisions about our impact.

In my LNT trainer class they suggested the book "How to $!@& in the Woods" as a reference on this subject. The author mentions the goal is to keep from contaminating waterways, period. Thus the attempt to keep out of flood plains.

Col. Flagg, if I recall correctly, the 12 person maximum is for backcountry. This is NOT backcountry and with the old Road Bed on the site, we can easily minimize impact. Total for the trip is around 18 or 20 though. As for the urine, we are between a creek and a river thay are not quite 400 feet apart. So, we cannot strictly follow thay rule. Getting out of the floodplain is not possible as the surrounding property is all privately owned.

I do like the one use bag idea. That would certainly be more sanitary in the end.

Thanks for the input, all.

Hey all,

Our troop is going on a camping trip where we are pitching tents by a river.  Leave No Trace guidelines say waste disposal should be 200 ft away from the river and out of the floodplain, neither of which can be met at our camping location.  So, we have to go to the pack-it out method.

I want to fix up a nice bucket toilet kit for the troop so we can take this elsewhere when needed.  I am currently reading "How to #$%# in the Woods".  It has a lot of great information in it, but I wanted to poll others to see what there experience or suggestion would be.

First, should I use a two-bucket system with urine only in one and solid and liquid waste in the other or should we only use one bucket for everything.

Second, what would you put in the bucket after the job is done.  Obviously I would be looking for something to cover the excrement so flies would potentially not carry disease back to the camp kitchen (which will be FAR away, but still).  I would also like something to dry out the liquids in the waste so that I can dispose of it easier.

Any ideas, especially those gained from experience, would be greatly appreciated.  I think this is something our troop will use regularly and enjoy for years to come, so I want to set it up nicely.

Thanks in advance.

I have not shown him the Hornaday award yet.  He becomes quickly overwhelmed and I am trying to keep him focused right now on his ranks.  He should earn his Eagle by summer of 2018 and he will still have three years in the program to go for things like the Hornaday award.  I would love to see him get it too.  I would be one proud dad!

Thanks again.

Hey all,

Thanks for the replies.  I see everyone's point and agree with most of them.  

I am not looking for the easy way out.  If anything this one needs the hard way out, but I am trying to get him excited about doing something.  This will give him a more active and visible role in the troop that does his webmaster role which he simply does not seem interested in.  We are working together to find his niche (other than video games).

After thinking it through, I can easily see why it would be inappropriate to count the class hours toward his conservation outdoor award.  I also understand and agree with not counting troop instructional time as part of his service hours because it is part of his position, I did not think about it long enough to see it that way.

However, for his life rank service hours I see no problem with the service project being to provide Leave No Trace awareness sessions to the surrounding community via short (1 hour or so) classes within the program structure of one of our state parks or one of out local outdoor outfitters.  This would be providing an educational service to the public.  He does have to work at coming up with a course syllabus, notes, etc.  It is not for the Boy Scouts, and it would be done for free.  On top of all of that it would meet the minimum three hour conservation credit required for those service hours.  Of course, this is up to the interpretation of the Scoutmaster.

Thanks for your input  it has made me think through things a little also.

Good Evening All,

My son is working on his Life rank.  He has decided he wants to be the Troop Outdoor Ethics Guide.  He has an interest in pursuing a career in a conservation field and feels like this would be a good match for him.  Both of us are going to a Leave No Trace Trainer class at the first of April.  The class is NOT required for the position he wants, but he realizes it would help him perform the duties of the position better by giving him tools to do the job right.

I know him taking the class is not considered a service "project" in the strictest sense of the word "project" so I am unsure whether to expect the SM to give him credit for taking the class toward his life service hours.  He has something else planned if that does not work out.  What would you do?  Credit classroom hours to that requirement or not?  He is already planning on doing the teaching and follow-up necessary to allow the scouts in the troop to get the Outdoor Ethics Awareness Patch.  So, in a way, he is doing this for a project.

Whether or not the classroom hours are counted for the Life requirement,  I feel he should at least get credit for the classroom hours toward the National Outdoor Award for Conservation.  How do you feel about that one?

Just trying to feel out the consensus among others.  We will happily live with whatever decision his Scoutmaster makes on this.

Thanks in advance for your opinion.

Is it me, or are the requirements for the National Outdoor Awards Program some of the worst written in the entire program?

So, I am trying to interpret what the requirements for riding actually mean.  In my case, we are looking at Cycling and we are in the Boy Scout Program.  So, this is how I am interpreting things.  Does this look right to everyone?

Requirement 2 says earn Cycling merit badge and 100 miles of cycling.  So, if we do the road bike option on the merit badge that is 150 miles, then the extra mileage is a total of 250 miles for this requirements.  Since the cycling merit badge only specifies using the buddy system and the extra 100 has no stipulation on it, I assume this means the scout can ride this mileage without it being a formal part of the program.  Does this sound reasonable?

Requirement 3 says complete 200 miles of riding.  Of course, these have to be under the auspices of the BSA, which means they have to be official events for the patrol, troop, etc.  But, this requirements counts the 200 miles done for requirement 2.  Which, since my scouts have 250 miles for requirement 2 means they are done with requirement 3, correct?

Finally, the extra devices.  A gold device is earned for every 100 additional miles as stated in requirement 3.  So, this means these miles have to be ridden as part of a scouting event since requirement 3 requires the riding to be done under the auspices of the BSA.  Correct?

So, the extra 50 miles we did on the merit badge and requirement 2 will only count toward the gold device if those miles were done as part of an official patrol/troop event.  Once again, does this sound right?

If you interpret this differently, I would appreciate it if you would explain to me your interpretation.

Finally, does anyone have any idea why they made this so complicated?  The record keeping for this is going to be a significant pain in the neck.

Thanks in advance,

Rob Hix

Just a quick question here.  I am an old Boy Scout and a new merit badge counselor, so naturally I have questions sometimes.

For the camping merit badge 9b.  I read it as the two events can be done on separate or the same camping trip.  Is that how you read it.  It does not specifically say that it has to be on two different trips.

Next, let's say the scouts want to do the 4 mile backpacking option and the route that they have chosen (slightly more than 4 miles) has an elevation gain of over 1000 feet along the way.  Does that count for both requirements or only one.  What hangs me up on this is the difference in definition between hiking and backpacking.  How do you feel about this.

My thought ... it should count as both.  After all, a backpacking trip covering that elevation is a WHOLE lot harder than a simple hike covering that elevation.

Thanks for the opinion.

Good evening all,

I am about to start a Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge class in our troop.  This will be my first time teaching the merit badge.  I understand everything except two requirements, 7, and 8(a)(b).  After a discussion with troop leaders they cannot remember this merit badge ever being done at the troop level.  They always did it at camp or in other venues.  So, for those that do this at the troop level, I would appreciate some ideas and examples of what your troop has done in the past.  For reference, I have provided the requirements below:

(7) Take part in an emergency service project, either a real one or a practice drill, with a Scouting unit or a community agency.

(8)(a) Prepare a written plan for mobilizing your troop when needed to do an emergency service.  If there is already a plan, explain it.  Tell your part in making it work.

    (b) Take part in at least one troop mobilization.  Before the exercise, describe your part to your counselor.  Afterward, conduct an "after-action" lesson, discussing what your learned during the exercise that
         required changes  or adjustments to the plan.

As I said, any ideas or examples of what your troop does would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Good morning all,

Last fall I started a Geocaching Merit Badge class in our troop.  I hit a big roadblock with requirement 2(a), "Show you know how to use a map and compass..."  For a guy like me that is a little open ended.  I fear that my interpretation of this requirement has led me to making this merit badge a little harder than it needs to be.  My original thought basically had me teaching them the Orienteering Merit Badge.  That is probably a little too deep.  Now I am settling on the following:

• Be able to correct a map for magnetic declination and know how to find the declination for an area you are visiting.
• How to orient a map using a compass.
• How to take the bearing between two plotted points (they have to be able to plot UTM grid points) and walk that bearing.  Including avoiding objects.

I figure these three basic skills would at least get them out of a pickle if they were out geocaching and found themselves lost.

So, my question is, does this look like a good set of requirements for showing they know how to use a map and compass or do I need to add something else.

Thanks in advance...

Good afternoon everyone.

I would like some ideas for gifts of appreciation for my hardworking leaders and parents that volunteered their valuable time (their own vacations in many cases) to attended Webelos resident camp this year with our Webelos scouts.  I would like it to be something quick as we have a pack meeting this week and I would like to present them then. 

I love tying decorative knots.  I am thinking about tying them a keychain or something and presenting it to them at the pack meeting.  Right now, that is the only thing I have thought of.

I would appreciate any idea that anyone has.

Thanks in advance,

Rob