UKScouterInCA

That is a tough one to crack. I think the answer lies somewhere in the high expectations for youth to actually do adventurous, grown up stuff without parental/adult supervision and leadership. I'm not a big sports person but my impression is that there isn't anywhere near so much of that. I'm speaking as a latch-key generation kid, we were pretty free range and if we wanted to do anything we had to organize it ourselves. I vividly remember my youth scout camps where we would always do a night hike - we'd leave camp at around 11pm and hike until dawn, the adults would arrange meeting spots ever

Additionally, there are example(s) of existing public health initiatives that have leveraged Scouting. The ScoutStrong Presidential Lifestyle Award promotes physical activity and healthy eating. The American Heart Association seem to have had a collaboration to provide instruction at Cub Scout Camps. The 50 year anniversary EPA award encourages Scouts to volunteer in Public Health related service projects. Girl Scouts have a program on SNAP (Scouting Nutrition & Physical Activity Program) to promote healthier living.

Some other useful literature: Asensio-Ramon J, Álvarez-Hernández JF, Aguilar-Parra JM, et al. The Influence of the Scout Movement as a Free Time Option on Improving Academic Performance, Self-Esteem and Social Skills in Adolescents. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(14):5215. Published 2020 Jul 19. doi:10.3390/ijerph17145215 also Dibben C, Playford C, Mitchell R Be(ing) prepared: Guide and Scout participation, childhood social position and mental health at age 50—a prospective birth cohort study J Epidemiol Community Health 2017;71:275-281. and a news report on the

Apropos of tax deductions and Scouting: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/02/14/tax-time/

I'm much more positive on your suggestion here. To answer some of the basic questions here: Is there enough here to write a paper for a school/university class? Yes Does/can Scouting have a positive influence on public health? Yes, albeit hard to measure and probably not super significant given the scale of Scouting relative to the population. Could public policy changes enable Scouting to be more effective at improving public health? Yes, though likely a hard sell given 1) it isn't a primary goal of Scouting, but an incidental effect; its hard to measure, the effect is small, a

I'm not sure how useful this is as essentially pure personal and biased opinion, rather than quantitative fact. However.... My father was a Scout in late 1940's/early 1050's Bristol, in the UK. You may not know much about Bristol, but it is, and was, a major port. It also was the location for the Bristol Aircraft factory. As a result, the center of the city was pretty much leveled by German bombing. The city was essentially an urban mess, with a lot of poverty and crime. My father credited Scouting with essentially putting him on the proverbial "straight and narrow" by creatin

Wondering if anyone ever got any numbers on how many Scouts (ever, average per year) earn this award? I recently saw some reports on a local-ish Scout who earned the Albert Einstein Supernova award and the article said he was the 13th Scout ever to earn it. Anyway I doubt numbers are anywhere near as low, but it would be fascinating to know a ballpark.

A little off topic but we should start a thread of old scouting memorabilia we have collected, and any stories around them.

For car camping and a desire to keep things cold I would splash out for the Yeti Rambler. Hydro flask work fine too. If clipping into a belt I’d prefer just a smaller plastic bottle and plan to refill regularly but I don’t like the weight pulling down on my pants. For backpacking I like to use a bladder as I like to have ready access and I find getting water bottles out of the side pockets to be awkward enough that I don’t drink regularly. Avoid putting anything other than water (no drink powders) in the bladders. I will sometimes supplement the bladder with 1-2 Smart water bottles

We did not unfortunately, and I don't think our other crew did. The furthest south we got was North Fork Urraca. She must have spent time with another equally awesome and cheerful crew 🙂 I hope your daughter had an amazing summer. It must be so much fun to staff there. Oh how I wish I were 18 again!

Absolutely. We always got 2-3 miles under our feet before breakfast. Pocket snacks were a must for the boys. We only had one hot breakfast, that was more of a brunch. On our penultimate day, we’d come down from Black Mountain camp to North Fork Uraca camp. About 3 miles and almost 50 river crossings. We only had a few miles left to hike and we were leaving a water source so stopped for enough time to filter water and cook.

We are recently(ish) back from our Philmont expedition this year, and I thought I'd write up a few things I learned/realized/observed/thought along the way. For context our Troop is based in Southern California, near sea level but with good access to mountains, altitude and steep climbs. But not a lot of rain. We have a Troop that is a little heavier on the 14-16yo right now, maybe 20-30 active members. We typically go to Philmont every other year, and took 2 crews this year for the first time in recent memory. Off years we normally do a trek in the Sierra Nevada. During the year w

I'm surprised no-one has suggested using an umbrella instead. I've not quite made that leap, but maybe one day soon. https://thedyrt.com/magazine/gear/hiking-umbrella/ https://francistapon.com/Travels/Advice/10-Reasons-to-Go-Hiking-and-Backpacking-with-an-Umbrella

Mine is white. Not sure if it is the same brand but looks pretty similar to this: Lixada Rain Skirt, Ultra Light Thin Rain Skirt, Waterproof Lightweight Kilt, reathable Windproof Raincoat Rainwear Liner, Packable Windbreak Kilt Skirt for Cycling Riding Camping Hiking https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H9WNM9M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_2PCWGF541W2X2117G3RS?psc=1

I'm recently back from Philmont and still swear by the rain kilt. Your lower legs get damper, and your shoes. But then I'm combining with trail runners which dry much quicker than boots. For context though, our first 5 days were off and on torrential rain/hail. However, for whatever stroke of fortune, we were. never caught hiking in more than a bit of drizzle. We always managed to be in a camp somewhere when the heaviest stuff was falling. After the 5th day we didn't see any more rain at all.

I've been researching regional High Adventure Bases and found this page: https://tap.scouting.org/council-operated-high-adventure-bases/ The Moab High Adventure Base (formerly called Entrada High Adventure Base) caught my eye. However the links to it are broken and I can;'t find it mentioned on the Utah council website (https://www.utahscouts.org/) I'm guessing that doesn't bode well, but does anyone here know if it still exists? Sounds like it could make for a fun summer excursion. Or does anyone have recommendations for other (Western US) High Adventure bases? I'

Does a Troop often have more than one summer camp? Obviously it depends on the Troop and factors like the age range of the Scouts, how many adults participate, how big/active the Troop is and so on. Often, if a Troop has a second camp, it is geared more to older youth, be that a trip to a High Adventure base or just somewhere further away or with more unique activities. We typically have one summer camp per year, but then either a Sierra Trek (self organized backpack trip in the Sierra Nevada) or a Philmont trip (alternating years). This year our summer camp was at Emer

I think I need to post a correction. I said that " local High Adventure programs ... often have a series of awards that Scouts can learn for going on local trails, climbing local peaks and so on". I am starting to realize that that might just be a local thing in the councils around us (Southern California). I have been searching to see if there are equivalent programs elsewhere around the US and so far drawn a blank.

@The Latin Scot I'd initially assumed the same but now I'm starting to think the local awards from SDIC, GLAAC, WLAC, OCC etc are unique. I haven't managed to find any other council outside of Southern California that offers local awards. They often reference the 4 National HA Bases, maybe their local HA camps (although I've yet to find a good list of them all), the 50 miler, National Historic trails etc. But no local awards. FWIW a few of our Scouts recently earned the "WILDERNESS SLOT CANYONEERING" award from OCC. Impressive patch that! And a fantastic adventure trip to earn it too.

Hi, I'm a Scouter with a Troop in San Diego Imperial council. Someone (thank you nameless person) has put together a guide to all the various High Adventure awards offered by councils in Southern California, up to the Southern Sierra Nevada http://highadventureawards.com/, also see all the awards at http://highadventureawards.com/PDFs/BoyScoutHighAdventureAwards.pdf In a spate of boredom/nosiness I started searching the web to see what awards are offered by other councils around the country. However so far I haven't found any. So my question is this: if Is SoCal unique in

This could be where everyone gets hung up. The definition of atheism is "lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.", while an agnostic is defined as "a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.". Nothing about enforcing their beliefs on others. I've had people tell me that if a Life Scout, who has been a leader in their Troop, engaged in lots of public service, acted ethically and honorably who finds that they don't believe in any god, should be kicked out of Scouting and not allowed to submit for Eagle. That seems cruel to me, and contrary to other goals of Scouting.

Did you read that article? The detail in it kind of says "it's complicated, and it has changed over time". FWIW I would never argue that religion should be eliminated from Scouting. Just that those without religion should not be excluded. And the original point was that excluding those without religion degrades the reputation of Scouting in todays society in a way that it didn't in 1908.

This discussion is really about what Scouting ought to be, and although the religion discussion is on one level a distraction, on another it is very core. Someone who I respect described Scouting as "Where the kids of rich white guys get ahead". It has a reputation, however undeserved, of being an exclusive club for the male children of more affluent, predominantly white, predominantly Christian parents. My father was a Scoutmaster in post WW2 inner city Bristol. This was a city that was pretty much leveled by bombing and poor areas of the city were incredibly deprived. He saw Scouting as

Organized religion is only at the core of US Scouting (note, not World Scouting) because Scouts BSA has chosen to make it so. The only part of US Scouting where it is explicit is in the Oath. The Scouts BSA Mission Statement is: The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. (NB - One can make ethical choices without partaking in an organized religion) A Scout is Reverent (definition of Reverent is: feeling or showing deep and solemn respect.) O

Bear in mind that my youth scouting was in the UK, while my adult leadership is in the US. My observation tends to agree. Much as I love the Eagle program, and the merit badge programs, I see a lot of obsession with rank advancement, getting the merit badges to get advancement, and a scouting career that ends with Eagle. To me, Scouting is about getting confidence in being in the outdoors, in trying new (adventurous) things. The rank advancements happen naturally and provide incentive to participate in the activities to learn the skill. I joined Scouts as a youth as I wanted to camp and h