krikkitbot

In the years that I have been involved with my troop, I have never met our UC... never, ever. I've always wondered what all those people with UC patches do and why they disappear at roundtables after the opening announcements. 

The COR is only around when we chase him down because we need signatures. Even then, it takes a number of phone calls and e-mails to be able to reach him. 

GTA 4.2.0.0

"Both adult and youth leaders approve Boy Scout and Varsity Scout advancement. This permits greater emphasis on standards and more consistency in measurement, but it also places another level of importance on teaching and testing. As Scouts work with one another, learning takes place on both sides of the equation as they play teacher and student in turn. Parents are involved at home encouraging, mentoring, and supporting, but they do not sign for rank advancement requirements unless they serve as leaders or Lone Scout counselors."

In our troop it traditionally is scouts First Class and above who taught the skill or were at the activity. It is rarely adults signing off requirements. 

I have sometimes over the years encountered some on the forum that use the negative button on those that disagree with them regardless of how polite and positive that may be.  It might be good to review the use of the green and red buttons so that everyone is on the same page.  I have never used the red button against anyone that has disagreed with me.  If that was the case, I would have known the daily limit a long time ago.  Disagreements is the life-blood of new knowledge and insight.  I would never want to discourage that process. 

I disagree

While there may be something sinister going on, more often than not what I see is sheer incompetence. People (we are all volunteers, remember?) get in over their heads. Even qualified people can get overloaded because they underestimated what goes into maintaining the books for a troop/pack. 

It's one thing to maintain the books for something like the Rotary club vs. trying to properly allocate payments and expenses for 30 scouts plus their parents. 

When my oldest son was signing up for his first summer camp, he was signing up for all Eagle required merit badges. I looked over his form and vetoed it. I told him he could AT MOST take one Eagle required MB class. The rest of the time was for fun activities that he could not do in the city.  He had a blast. 

I've read the requirements for road to first class and I can honestly say that there is nothing in there that requires peeing standing up in order to advance. 

If a person can get through the same requirements, why does it matter which latrine they use?

I feel the same way about OA. Women can't be OA unless they are over 18. I see plenty of women wearing sashes with triangles on them. I guess they were unworthy at 17 but magically worthy at 18. 

I think one of the silliest things I see, all the time, is some Eagle's photo in the newspaper for his ECOH with an Eagle medal and a Life patch on his uniform.  It just doesn't work.  We patch right after EBOR, GTA or not.  Far too much delay for ECOH, or sometimes getting the certificate back from Council/National.

I agree that they can start wearing it as soon as the paperwork comes through. However, the NESA poster shows a Life patch with an eagle medal above it and it is a great image. 

http://www.nesa.org/court_honor_prints.html

It also depends on the physical conditions of the river itself. We have a river nearby that 400 CFS is a drag (literally and figuratively), at 1000 CFS is challenging, and at 4000 CFS is boring because the water flattens out over all obstacles. 

For that kind of information, it is best to check the local resources. 

I really like my Eureka Amari pass 2. It has held up in all kinds of weather (when properly staked). My son borrowed it for a backpacking trip and thought it was a 3 person tent because it was so roomy. It is lightweight too, I've been considering going the hammock way but once you add tarp, straps, and hammock, you are at about the same weight as my tent. 

Playing cards and dancing is immoral too.

"From the oldest of times, people danced for a number of reasons. They danced in prayer... or so that their crops would be plentiful... or so their hunt would be good. And they danced to stay physically fit... and show their community spirit. And they danced to celebrate." And that is the dancing we're talking about. Aren't we told in Psalm 149 "Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song. Let them praise His name in the dance"? And it was King David - King David, who we read about in Samuel - and what did David do?

"What did David do? 

"David danced before the Lord with all his might... leaping and dancing before the Lord.

"'Leaping' and 'dancing.'"

---Ren McCormack 

The printed book meets opposition from adults for its use? Maybe in 1356 but not in the 20th or 21st century.

The date was Thirtieth of June, two thousand sixteen, in the year of Our Lord, by the Gregorian Calendar. It was a dark time for, alas, the youth were addicted to small magic boxes in their pockets while the adults debated on large magic boxes. 

I'm referring to Mr. Bob's post from last night a few comments above. ^^^

Why do you need to carry a (separate) book on how to tie knots?  Do you (k)not already know them?  There's only five: taut-line, timber, sheet-bend, bowline, clove.  I don't count the square knot or (two)half-hitch, because they should have learned that by heart as a Cub.

You forgot:  Figure eight on a bight, Figure eight follow-through, Water knot, Double fisherman's knot (grapevine knot), Safety knot. All needed for the climbing merit badge. 

Arbor backing knot, nail knot, needle knot, nail knot, double surgeon’s loop or blood knot,improved clinch knot, Palomar, and turle. These are for the fishing and fly-fishing merit badges. 

You will also need to know the sheepshank (that one is for the scoutmaster to prove he is a scout and not an enemy spy  ), square lashing, diagonal lashing, shear lashing. These are for pioneering. 

Canoeing requires the trucker's hitch. 

You can learn how to tie all of these using the Grog Knots app or by going to animatedknots.com. They even have a scouting section. 

I apologize to all if I have threadjacked this topic. I'll gladly delete my comments if requested.

OP, I still hope that your son has a good time at camp regardless. 

Yeap!  100% agree.  Since I didn't go with my "Chartered" Troop I found out via Text one scout was getting home sick and that his dad kept calling to check on him...he had his phone with him!  I immediately told the SM to take the young mans phone and talk to dad about it.  No phones no problems

Found out via text? 

We all use technology even when we go camping. Outings would be very different if we had to do things the way they do in Naked and Afraid. My boots have a nice Gore-Tex lining. My tent weighs a few pounds. My sleeping bag keeps me toasty in sub-zero temperatures. I have a camp chair that folds into the size of a small umbrella. Should we give all of these things up too?

Looking at how to tie a knot on an app is no different from carrying a book on how to tie knots. The knot is not going to tie itself. 

Here is the article that I read that made me change my mind. 

My oldest completed NAYLE at Philmont last week. He had an amazing time. The scouts all bonded over the week, e-mails were traded, tears were shed. 

Luckily, at Philmont, we were allowed to stay at tent city the night we dropped him off and the night we picked him up. 

My younger one can't wait until he gets to go. 

You know what chaps my hide? Kids with these new-fangled things they are using to light fires. Little canisters of butane and a spark mechanism. Why when I was a lad all we were allowed to use were two sticks, AND WE LIKED IT!

In all seriousness, I used to be one of the "better not see electronics at a camp-out!" people. I then read an article that put it into perspective. These scout aged boys have NEVER lived in an era before cell-phones. Most of them don't remember a time before smart phones. 

Smart phones can be a great tool on a camping trip. They have a compass, you can do geocaching, you have apps that teach how to do knots, identify birds and plants, and be a rescue lifeline.

I'm sorry that there was miscommunication in your troop. Hopefully your son still has a good time and the good memories outweigh the bad.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to hitch my oxen. I have to get home from work before fall sets in.

I call them arbitrary deadlines when you look at the repercussions and who's on the late list.  If the kid can still go or there is a way to make it happen, then it's arbitrary.  Call it a preferred date.  It's just not a deadline.  

 

The funny one is when I've seen these deadlines and who's missed the deadline.  It's usually the scoutmaster and his kid; the camp coordinator and his kid; other key leaders and their kids.  I always enjoy it when the person publishing the date misses the date too.  

I will fess up to this. I usually miss the deadline to turn in forms but simply because I am usually going on the trip and I can fill one out on the spot for myself and my own kids. This year I am stepping back some in order to "let other parents 'step up.'"  So I'm struggling a bit with having all the forms. 

We also struggled with med forms in the past. What we do in our troop now is keep a master binder with all the med forms. We request new A & B at re-charter/cross over. As they are needed for different camp outs, the committee chair makes copies for the ones going to each camp out and handed to the SM/ASM in a separate binder. Everyone is informed that if there is no Form C by the time we leave, they will not be able to make the trip to summer camp. 

I learned how to deal with closed toe shoes and blisters.  If done correctly one can maximize safety and don't need sandals.

 

9 days in Philmont, no blisters.  One boy who mirrored what I was doing did not get blisters either.  Everyone else did, some were pulling off bloody socks at the end of the day.

 

Trading cuts for blisters doesn't need to be an either/or choice.

Ironically, I was at Philmont over the weekend picking up my son from NAYLE. I was wearing boots because my wife wanted to go on a hike. I stepped on a rock in the PTC parking lot and rolled my ankle. I now have a lemon size knot on the side of my ankle. 

I don't blame the boots. I blame myself for not watching where I was going.

I've been wearing sandals most of the time (weather permitting) for 28 years. Yes, I was one of the first to get Tevas when you could only get them in small, medium, and large. Sport sandals have come a long way since then. I wear them hiking, canoeing, rafting, and have even worn them rock climbing. 

I even worked at a picture frame shop and wore sandals every day. I still have all my fingers and toes even though there was broken glass and razor blades.

What a rip-off.  My unit has never participated in OA, so I had no idea.  

I'd like to know more about why David feels this is a rip off. For the amounts of activities that our lodge does and what the scouts get out of it, I feel like we are getting a great deal. As mentioned before, the fellowship and the leadership experience that comes out of OA is unequaled. 

Then again, as with anything, you get back what you put into it. 

Ok, I have a question with all of these different patrol configurations. As you may remember, we are trying (kicking and screaming) to move to patrol method. The scouts arranged themselves into mixed age patrols about 6 months ago but we did leave a NSP since most of them came together from one pack. 

We are getting ready to go on the first ever Patrol camping trip for the NSP. It's been easier to nudge the new scouts that way rather than the ones who have been around for years and used to the troop method. I brought up patrol camping to the PL of a mixed patrol and he was excited but an adult reminded me of the rule where scouts with more than 2 years age difference can't be in the same tent. Doesn't that interfere with the mixed age patrols? Do you just end up taking extra tents so that the ages can be segregated?

The older boys are indeed backing off. They are getting a whiff of the fumes and their attentions are drifting elsewhere.

More than half of the troop are scouts who have been there one year or less. Looking at the next camping trip, there are 3 older scouts going and then 2 or 3 from each patrol. This is our biggest turn out for a camping trip ever and most of them are the ones who have just crossed over. 

Reading the comments, it seems like if there are 2 or more from each patrol, each patrol should do their own menus and do their own cooking. Is that right? Traditionally, we've been doing troop cooking but I think the task is getting to be too much. It's a different skill to cook for a group of 12 than to cook for 3. 

Well, we have grown thanks to crossovers. We have great attendance at meetings. Usually about 20 scouts. About 10 scouts are High Schoolers who have reached Life and are participating less and less. 

The camping trips are where we only have 5-10 scouts show up. It is usually the same 5 plus a few others. Are you suggesting that the 5 that always show up be grouped into a permanent patrol? 

In January they redid their patrols on their own after years of being assigned patrols. We are (slowly, painfully) trying to move further into scout-led rather than adult-puppeteered. 

Thank you for your input and for the welcome message

We are a troop that has grown from about 5 scouts to about 30 in the last couple of years. Troop cooking has been the norm. On camping trips we normally get about 5-10 scouts and 2-3 adults. 

My question is where do you make the decision to go with patrol cooking vs. troop cooking when you might have only 1-2 scouts from a particular patrol attending? Would you still have the patrol purchase supplies for only 1-2 scouts or would you integrate them into another patrol for the trip?