CA_Scouter

The question seems only related to the type of sex in which one participates. Perhaps retitle 'what type of sex is acceptable for BSA leaders and members'...

'Lifestyle' could conceivably include use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, religious dietary restrictions, etc.

Just like I don't need the government in my bedroom, I don't need the BSA there either (it just gets too crowded).

Earthquakes! (yawn)

My first summer camp was 1969, when Cutter Scout Reservation opened ( Santa Cruz County, CA ). At the time, they had a pool, a commissary, rifle and archery range,... and latrines. That's it. Each camp had a free standing iron stove ( Shepard Stove?? ) and a campfire ring. That was it. We had to hike up to the Commissary every meal to get our food, which was carried on a std boy scout frame with a small wastebasket bungied to it. Every meal cooked and eaten in camp. Clean up, pack it all back to the commissary.

Over the years, they converted to central dining, then built a dining hall, then dug a lake, then put tables in all the campsites, then added showers in each camp, then blahblahblah... Every year they added more infrastrucure.

My best year was the first.

Ditto on the waxed cheeses, like the mini-goudas. Costco has the best price on these and they last quite a while. For longer trips, I tend to lean towards low moisture/dry cheese for the days late in the week, like a dry monterey jack or a parmesan, etc...

I read Crockett's autobiography a couple of years ago. I gather he had a rather high opinion of himself. I think he considered running for president at some point. Interesting read....

We have a scout in our troop that is a direct descendent of Davy Crockett. Mom's side.

HikeO... you didn't indicate if you had contacted the rangers out there to get a report on conditions... I personally know friends who hiked up to roughly 7000 feet up near Tahoe this last weekend and trails were ok.

Adults in our troop split dinner responsibilities, the rest you are on your own.

Typical for me...

Breakfast

Coffee, granola bar, dried fruit

Lunch

MiniGouda cheese, triskets, beef jerky, driect fruit, peanuts

Some Dinners we've done ( all from the grocery store, no freeze dried )

Powdered soup mixes

Boil in bag bread mixes

There is a soy-based taco meatlike product, tastes like the real thing, tortillas, hot sauce packets

Reconstituted meatballs with couscous mix containing pistachio, pine nuts, dried fruit

Swiss meatballs with pasta ( rehydrated meatballs )

Kung Pao chicken using those foil wrapped chicken parts along with fresh veggies

We also bring along fresh garlic, shallots, herbs from my garden, little bottles of olive oil, soy, etc.. for extra flavors.. we adults have a friendly competition and have a lot of fun with it... with the purpose of showing the Scouts that you can do more than just ramen noodles.. ;-)

@Basement

Ja. I don't purchase freeze dried personally and I've got a dehydrator which I make good use of...

HOWEVER

I am mostly completely hands off with patrol food (and money). The only thing I raise objections to are mostly pop tarts and candy, so if they choose to spend Mommy and Daddy's hard earned money on that freeze dried cardboard, then I don't interfere.

@PACK

YUK! ;-) There is nothing more satisfying to me than to sip a hot cup of coffee watching the mist rise over a lake as the sun comes in the morning.

We have some guys who buy the freeze dried gunk and just boil water and pour it into the bag. No pot cleanup.

We have others who cook in the pot, so that requires scraping before cleaning and packing out the leftovers. We drilled a bunch of holes into a small frisbee which we use to strain dishwater so we don't leave food particles all over the ground. Soap and rinse cleanup, air dry.

Gotta try Alabama's method sometime though...

For an alternate point of view...

If it don't fit in the pack, it don't go on the trip.

We treat every outing as a backpack trip. Lightweight stoves, one pot meals, 2 man bp tents, etc.. even when we car camp... on a few occasions we might bring the dutch ovens but that's just one extra box.

Cost of trailer - $0. Cost of insurance for trailer - $0. Cost of extra gas for trailer puller vehicle - $0. Cost of place to park trailer - $0.

Bada boom. Bada bing!

;-)

When I was SM we did something like:

Jan: indoor/rock climb/basketball/trampoline etc

Feb: Snow camping

Mar: Car camp

Apr: District Camporee

May: Backpack

Jun: Backpack

Jul: Summer Camp

Aug: High adventure backpack

Sep: Backpack

Oct: Backpack

Nov: Nat'l Forest cabin

Dec: day hike/bike/something or other..

But even the car camping we treated as a backpack/lightweight trip, ie.. backpack stoves/gear but not backpack food eh? ;-)

New leadership in the troop includes a BLM River Guide/Compliance Officer, so this year several canoe/kayak trips are being planned in lieu of backpacking..

Yes, but when you are splashing around inflating your clothes, what do you do with the chicken?

Just wanted to add that you should use free-range chickens these days.

(This message has been edited by CA_Scouter)

I vote CricketEagle for next Chief Scout Executive!

Yea, wmjivey, that's all it was: discussion. No facts.

Out here on the Left Coast my son received acknowledgements from Obama, Biden, Feinstein and Pelosi in additional to The Governator and our local congresspersons of both parties. Curiously Mike Rowe did not respond. But they did take a while to trickle in, though October seems a bit long...

Friend of mine sent me this post. Nice info.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Benghazi-Boy-Scouts-Fill-Vacuum-of-Libyan-Social-Services--117668589.html

When the Gadhafi government lost control of eastern Libya, a vacuum formed in social and other basic services. Among those who have stepped forward to help are the Benghazi Boy Scouts.

The chaos that has engulfed Libya in the last few weeks has sent ripple effects throughout the society. One unexpected group has been called up to fill gaps that no one could have anticipated.

The Boy Scouts of Libya, around 3,500 in the town of Benghazi, are organized, and able.

They find themselves called upon to take on tasks that many would expect of the state - or at least more professional, trained volunteers.

But the state is all but gone in rebel-controlled Libya. Its offices just burnt-out shells. For 42 years the Gadhafi government set things up so that it was the only game in town, when it came to social services and running the country. As opposition spokesman Mustafa Gheriani puts it, that left a troubling gap.

"The regime really did not invest any time or money in building these institutions," he said. "Basically, the regime ran this country like a company and he puts a head in each department and that particular head has one interest - line up his pockets. And when the revolution came, these guys disappeared and we found out that there is no system, just a big vacuum."

Also compounding the problem is that so many of those who should be doing these jobs came from neighboring countries. Libyas population is sparse and outside workers were needed. And they were first to flee when the fighting started.

So, whether it is working in the bloody mayhem of a hospital or directing traffic because no one trusts anyone in a government uniform, in many cases it is now scouts who are sorting out the international medical aid that has flooded in.

A young Boy Scout directs traffic in Benghazi, March 7, 2011

These young boys and men - in uniforms recognizable around the world - are no longer just a youth organization. They are helping to keep order - a job perhaps well beyond their tender years.

The man who heads the Scouts in Benghazi, Abdul Rahman, now finds himself leading an organization which is no longer about keeping kids on the straight and narrow but instead about mobilizing them to help. The moment has filled him with pride over what his young charges can do.

"Because of God and for myself, it adds to my pride being enrolled at the Scout movement and as an international movement we offer a service to my country," he said. "With my experience and as a history of the movement we give activities that have a good response and they praise the scouts and give us self satisfaction."

VOA - E. Arrott

A Benghazi Boy Scout, 7 March 2011

Every day the scouts, who range in age from 7 to 18, meet to learn vital skills that can be used to help the people of their city - including first aid and organizational skills. Its no longer just about getting a merit badge.

With the fighting showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon, it appears that what now seems like play time could soon be all too real for these young boys in uniform - the Boy Scouts of Benghazi.

Echo Scoutnut. Most tents I've seen at Costco have those umbrella flys, not a full fly. This is OK if it doesn't rain, but scouts are rain-attractants, ya know...

We turned our troop from car camping to backpacking. We purchased Coleman canister stoves (I forget the model, ~ $50), MSR water filters ($80) and a cheap 6qt aluminum pot from REI ($14). We also purchased one small First Aid kit per patrol. We chose the canister stoves because I didn't want to mess with white gas with newbies, and the aluminum pots are likely to get worn out pretty quickly and are cheap to replace. Tents/packs/bags are personal equipment in our troop.

We made sure to do a couple of car camp trips with the backpacking equipment to do a proper shake down and work on LNT things.

Prior to my tenure as SM, the troop would go camping with 8-12 boys and 4-5 truckloads of equipment. Sheesh. We looked like we were climbing Everest.

Make sure to do plenty of skillbases on all the equipment, from boots, to shirts, to layering, lots of cooking skills and recipes, fitness, field first aid, etc... Make sure the adult leaders follow the plan and set the example for the rest of the scouts... check your council also for Basic Backpacking Awareness...

I was thoroughly trounced and jumped on last year when I tried to do this with the troop. One of the committee members almost had a coronary and the district people shot it down with multiple SAM's.

Mebbe we should just never let 'em out of the crib... ;-)

Wow... how old ARE you Eagle92??

;-)

Handmedowns from Dad at first:

64 Ford F150, 3 on the tree.

66 4 speed, VW something or other that my grandfather shipped over from Germany, a model never sold in the US

67 Buick Wildcat

66 Cadillac Coupe

First I bought:

73 Monte Carlo

Tell 'em its 'Manual Tweeting' !

Oh Yeah. Shazaam! The Diamond Hitch... wow I remember doing that with and old wooden pack frame and canvas bag... and signalling and Morse... classic old First Class requirements. Mebbe dig up some old rank requirements from the early days and see what kinda interesting stuff you run across...

Not an injury, but the troop was tested on a day hike we did a couple of years back. My JASM asked me if he could fake an injury to see how the others would respond. I moved the ASM's and myself out of earshot and he faked a sprained ankle. Now this kid was 6'4" and 200+ lbs so this was no small matter. It turned out pretty good, two of the older ( Life ) scouts helped him out walking and also found a walking stick he could lean on... I don't recall if they tried to wrap the ankle or not, but he put on the show for close to an hour so it was a pretty good test.

Ya. Overtrained IMHO...

Quoting the 'there is no class B designation on Boys scouts' and sending a broadcast email to our group along with a link to some quotation on the subject ( who the heck cares what you call it??!?? )

The 'Generals' as rkfrance notes.

The one who publicly chastised me for asserting that patrols could go on outings by themselves. He also took it up with our district commissioner. Unfortunately the DC agreed with him...

The same guy who complains about not being asked to do skillbases when we are having the scouts run 'em...

The ones who treat the scouts like little boys instead of young men.

Mostly the 'General' types...