mrkstvns

It's sometimes easy to forget WHY scouts (and scouters) come to scouts....it's the promise of OUTDOOR ADVENTURE. When we lose sight of that, we lose sight of anything that makes scouting special and that differentiates it from ordinary youth activities. Here are 5 web sites that I think every scouter should visit periodically as they scout their way across the web... Outdoor Project: Excellent resource for ideas for places to explore, things to make the adrenaline rush, and ways to do it efficiently, safely, comfortably, and ethically. https://www.outdoorproject.com/ Outside Online: Outside magazine has been a go-to authority for dependable outdoor adventure information since 1977. Sometimes a bit too enamored of style and travel, its heart is in the right place and there are always solid viewpoints on outdoor adventure places, stuff, tips and more... https://www.outsideonline.com/ The Adventure Plan (BSA): When scouting is done right, everything happens outdoors and adventure is the name of the game that enables everything else to work. Help your troop plan a genuine adventure... https://tap.scouting.org/ National Geographic: I often find that the world becomes a much smaller place when people starting thinking only inside their own little box. If your troop's idea of "adventure" is going to the closest state park then maybe it's time to think about all the possible adventures that exist wayyy outside the box. I might never get to most of the places that National Geographic writers go to, and I might not do most of the things that they do, but I can always dream... https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/ National Park Service: Ever since Congress made Yellowstone the first park back in 1872, America's national park system has been a shining jewel to showcase and preserve America's natural wonders and our collective national heritage. Today's National Park System encompasses some 84 million acres of parkland that generates $35 million annually in direct revenue. Parks include wild rivers, majestic mountain ranges, dense forests, and deserted, uh, deserts... https://www.nps.gov/index.htm

My son's patrol sometimes likes ramen --- especially on backpacking trips. At first glance, that might seem to be a cheaper lunch or dinner, but in practice, it's often not. The reason is because ramen by itself is not particularly satisfying. When the boys have ramen for a meal, they virtually always mix in something: occasionally dried peas, but more often, diced chicken (like Sweet Sue, which sells for about $1.50 per pouch). If you buy a pouch of chicken for every scout and 2 packs of ramen, you're up to about $10 for a patrol of 6 scouts (though the ramen itself is a small fraction of that total). The REAL ramen meal is thus more expensive than other cheap alternatives.

Could it be time for the scouts in your unit to earn an International Spirit Award? Maybe....especially since one of the requirements is to participate in Jamboree on the Air or Jamboree on the Internet and both events are coming up in about 6 weeks time...if you want it, now is the time to plan how to make it happen. Requirements and application: https://i9peu1ikn3a16vg4e45rqi17-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/International-Spirit-Award-app.130-044.pdf Info about Jamboree on the Air (October 18-19, 2019): https://www.scouting.org/jota/

Now hold on just one second there! I said I wanted QUALITY content, so any cash raised has to go to those who check their facts and write like professionals! The way I see it, y'all owe ME a whole heapin' pile of Benjamins... Please make the check payable to "mrkstvns".

Uh, yeah, sure.... And I'd like free donuts for life and hot swimsuit models to entertain me for free and a free Ferrari to get around town in. There's an old adage that "you get what you pay for<' and as the world has discovered, when information is available for no cost, it also tends to have no value (or even a negative value). I would prefer BSA pay professional writers to actually research their material, and to write it professionally using good communication skills that they paid real money to develop in real universities. I would prefer BSA to pay real fact checkers and editors, just like a professional publisher or a professional news organization does. I would like to think that BSA provides information that reflects all fhe quality standards that every competent publisher has known for centuries. Things like accuracy, completeness, relevance, readability, and so forth. Publications that have those qualities aren't free because professionals need to be paid. If scouting publications "cost zero and are online publications" then they become as worthless as "news" published on social media and they become easy targets for manipulation and abuse (as any human being who has paid attention already knows). I'd rather pay a few bucks for GOOD info than get trash for free...social media already fills that niche.

When you were a new scout, you had to explain to your Scoutmaster or ASM why patrols eat together. Do you remember that conversation? Have you ever thought about it since then? When we eat together as a patrol, we unite as a team and a family. We learn to rely on each other and trust each other not to always burn all of the pancakes. When we eat together, we talk, we laugh, we share stories and we know that we belong. All of us like junk food, but we all know it's not good for us and we can't live on junk food alone. When we get together as a patrol to plan our meals, we talk about what foods we all like and sometimes we even mention foods that are healthier. We might not always remember to choose well, but when we have a group, chances are good that at least one of us will remember our pledge to keep ourselves "physically fit and mentally awake" and we'll choose foods that are better for our physical and mental well being. Hopefully... A scout is cheerful....and friendly. When we eat together as a patrol, we enjoy each others company. Meals are fun. They let us relax. After dinner, when we're well fed, we are happier and less stressed. Eating together might also broaden our horizons. We might get a chance to try new foods that we never had before, and we might learn that we really do like foods that we never ate very much simply because somebody in our family didn't choose it. Minds are like parachutes, they only work when they're open. Trying new foods opens our mind to other new experiences... There are a lot of reasons to eat together as a patrol. Have you ever thought about how boring a campout might be if you had to go off and eat by yourself?

I'm a white guy who burns pretty easily if I spend too much time outdoors. I live in Texas too, where the summers are even fiercer than in a lot of places with more shade and milder climates. Of course that means I worry about having sun block when I go outside, along with a water bottle and a hat. In recent years, I've added another weapon to my arsenal of sun defense: my shirt. Like most people, casual outdoor attire usually calls for me to wear a T-shirt. When I'm out with the scouts, that usually means I'm wearing a "Class B" T-shirt. The problem with the typical Class B is that it isn't as well suited to the bright sun of a typical Texas day. It provides some protection from the sun --- but not a lot --- and it quickly gets soaked with sweat, making it not just uncomfortable, but less protective than a dry shirt. Today, there are a lot of clothing options, and there are quite a few shirts that provide better sun protection, that dry more quickly, retaining less moisture than your typical cotton blend T-shirts. Outdoor stores, like REI, sell some high-dollar "Sun Protection" clothing, and that's great for those with the dollars to spend on such things, but you can get good, high-tech, sun protecting shirts for quite reasonable prices. My 2 favorite shirts these days are a stylish shirt from Columbia that provides 40 UPF of sun protection, dries completely in just a few minutes on the line, and that looks sharp no matter how many times I crumple it into a roll to stuff in a backpack. The other shirt is one that I love for it's utter simplicity and lack of pretension: it's made by Hanes and I got it at a local Target for about $9 --- it's called the Cool DRI and it protects even better than the Columbia shirt (50 UPV) and also dries in just a few minutes on the line. (I really should suggest to the troop committee that we get our Class B shirts printed on Hanes Cool DRI instead of whatever el-cheapo T-shirt the printing company uses). Sun protection is important. You'll still want to pack the sun block and hat because a shirt isn't going to completely cover you, but it's one more thing you can do to make life outdoors safer and more comfortable. Sun protecting shirts --- pack 'em, wear 'em, love 'em!

I wouldn't wear one on the uniform, but I would certainly consider wearing it on a hat or jacket while out on the range.

ASPLs and SPL with older scout patrol (aka, leadership corps). JASM dines with adults because he is an ASM.

In another thread, several scouters said that their typical campout food budget is $10 per person. As an exercise in frugality, I've been thinking about how LOW I could get the cost for a reasonable menu that won't leave anyone hungry. For a patrol of 6 campers, I came up with the following menu that I can buy at my local Aldi (selecting their private labels) for $2.55 per person for 4 meals (2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, and 1 dinner). Note: prices vary at different Aldi stores, even within the same market Can any of y'all beat my menu? Breakfast: (this is enough for 2 meals --- both breakfasts) Steel-cut oats, 25oz carton, Millvale (or for another 50 cents, could buy enough Quick Oats to serve the 82nd Airborne Division), $1.88 Cinnamon, 99 cents Dried apples, $2.99 Cook oats: sprinkle with cinnamon and stir in dried apples. Total cost: $5.86, or $2.93 per meal Lunch: Peanut butter, $2.49 Jelly, $1.09 White bread, 79 cents Ranch chips, bag, Clancys, $1.09 Make PB&J sandwiches with chips. Total cost: $5.46 Dinner: Spaghetti, 1 pound, 69 cents Spaghetti sauce, marinara, Reggio, 89 cents medium yellow onion, 40 cents pepperoni slices, Mama Cozi, $1.99 Prepare pasta. Sautee chopped onion in sauce pan. Add quartered pepperoni slices. Add sauce to pan and heat. Serve sauce over pasta. Total cost: $3.97 Total food budget: $15.29 for 6 scouts, which works out to $2.55 per person Am I the king of the frugal camping menu, or can any of y'all ladies knock me down? Lay on, McDuff!

Well, scotteg83 said the current fee is $33, so I would guess that doubling that will cause families to pause. I think more than a $33 increase would be ill-advised.

This is not something I would stock in a first aid kit. I think the likelihood of scouts or scouters being opioid abusers is (thankfully) low, and the naloxone is best left to real emergency response personnel who are trained to recognize the symptoms and use. Our troop's "first" aid kit is already overstocked. It's more like a well equipped hospital pharmacy than a first aid kit. Except that it's chock full of outdated things we never needed (and really never should have had). But some adults just can't help but get carried away by the "be prepared" slogan.....oh my Gosh! What if? What if? What if? The only injectable I think has a place in any troop first aid kit might be an epi-pen *IF* a member of the unit is identified as having significant food allergies. About 2% of the population under age 18 do have food allergies, so the chance of that affecting a good size troop is not insignificant. Youth with juvenile diabetes are a different matter --- they may require regular insulin injections, but they will carry their own insulin and they are trained to self-inject. Opioid overdoses? No, that's not an "emergency" that we should be prepared to deal with in the backcountry, so for practical reasons, I say "ix-nay on the aloxone-nay". Think about real risks, not every possible risk that could ever in a gazillion years possibly, maybe happen...

It's part of Surbaugh's new marketing campaign...."Scout me OUT!"

Some of our unit's fundraising activities put money into a scout account. Funds in that account can be used for various purposes, such as summer camp, troop activitiy fees, or the annual charter fees. The unit also has a small "training scholarship" fund that goes towards sending scouts to NYLT.

A military veteran will donate a trailer to the scouts to replace their stolen one. The local VFW also threw in a $300 check to use towards replacing camping equipment. Story: https://www.kmov.com/news/veteran-donates-trailer-to-boy-scout-troop-after-theirs-was/article_b65a1248-e0be-11e9-b184-13b39e0ebe0e.html

I think the markings help identify the trailer. It's also a sign of pride in the troop, and it may aid PR/recruitment. I don't think it hurts: after all, according to that article, 12 other trailers were stolen in the area, and I'll bet thieves got much more valuable booty out of those trailers than the tents and camp stoves they got from scouts.

Unfortunately, removing tires, putting the trailer up on blocks, and locking the tires inside the trailer is a lot of work to put on whoever the adults are who are pulling the trailer to/from campouts. I'll bet the process wouldn't last long.... To be effective, whatever locking solution you use needs to be easy enough that the trailer can be secured within a few minutes of arriving home from a campout, otherwise, your parents won't want to do it.

A Boy Scout troop in Beaverton Oregon had their trailer stolen from a church parking lot... https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/beaverton-boy-scout-troops-trailer-camping-gear-stolen/

Well, Latin Scot, you're right. That's what the policy says, but don't you think that maybe the policy is the MINIMUM amount of Flair we should put on our uniforms? And maybe some of us might want to express ourselves a little more loudly.... Look at perdidochas over there....he has 37 pieces of Flair on his uniform. No, I'm not saying you need to add lots of blinking lights and clown emblems to your uniform....unless maybe you feel it lets you be you.... Why do I feel like these discussions of rogue uniform practices always sound so much like Jennifer Aniston getting a lecture about her "Flair" in the 90s flick, "Office Space"...

🙂 Youch! That would be a painful mistake! A few of the funny grubmaster faux pas that I've witnessed include.... * Grubmaster planned a pork chop dinner for his patrol of 7 scouts. Dinner time came and ...ooops! .... looks like there's only 6 pork chops in the package! How did the scouts solve their problem? Well, there's 7 scouts and only 6 pork chops, so obviously, only 6 scouts would eat pork chops. Later, the Scoutmaster found out, and the patrol had a "Scoutmaster conference" about fairness and problem solving... * Grubmaster planned to serve hamburgers for dinner. He went and bought everything a couple days before the campout. When dinner time rolled around, there was no hamburger in the cooler! Did the grubmaster actually buy it? Yep. But in his rush to get out the door Friday afternoon, he'd forgotten that he'd put the meat in his fridge to keep it cold. The patrol dined on plain white buns that night... * No ASM advisor had been assigned to the new scout patrol. Their Troop Guide wasn't there when they planned their first campout menu (5 meals). When we got to the camp site, the other patrols found that the new scouts' grub box contained 5 of those big "family pack" boxes of frosted strawberry Pop Tarts....and nothing else!

Some people might think that McDonalds serves better breakfast food than the classic Egg McMuffin. They're wrong, but they still think it. The key to making an Egg McMuffin that looks like the ones you get at the drive-thru window is RINGS. You need a good ring mold to keep the eggs shaped correctly while it fries and to make sure the egg is the right thickness. Buy that handy little gadget, and you are on the road to fast food breakfast nirvana right there at your camp site! Here's where you can get the egg rings: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/tablecraft-1240-four-4-black-non-stick-egg-rings-with-handle/8081240.html INGREDIENTS: For each Egg McMuffin, you will need... 1 english muffin 1 medium egg 1 slice Canadian bacon, eh? 1 slice American pasteurized over-processed cheese-like food substance (aka, Kraft singles) DIRECTIONS: Split the english muffin and lightly toast it. (Do a bunch at once and set aside). Set egg rink on a griddle and spray insde rings with Pam. Crack an egg into each ring. When cooked nearly to firm, flip over and finish cooking. Heat Canadian bacon on griddle. Place a cooked egg on each english muffin. Top with Canadian bacon and a slice of cheese.

Oh. And here I was thinking that we can't have our convicted felons learning to be "Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly...."

When I was little, my brothers and I engaged in a lot of sibling riflery. I miss my brothers...

A Virginia Scout sold $88,000 worth of popcorn last year, making him the #1 popcorn salesman in BSA. Over the last few years, he's racked up over $200,000 in sales. This year, he's helping other scouts learn how to sell more. The story: https://www.richmond.com/business/goochland-teen-was-nation-s-top-boy-scouts-popcorn-seller/article_68f766f4-f079-55ba-b81a-a90bed803e43.html

When marshmallows are outlawed, only outlaws will have marshmallows.