Chug

Brilliant. Do you remember which troop?

sailingpj said;

"Just answering the question in the title.

No. They should all be Sea Scouts. The girls too."

Excellent answer. I wholeheartedly agree.

I know it's a UKSA logo, but you might like this;

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/Gary290370/seascouts1.gif

Thanks for the update Scott, I was wondering what had happened to you.

I didn't know that, thanks for the info.

Despite being from the UK it's always good to see Sea Scouts showing what they can do.

Just looked at the FB page. Why are the Scouts giving the military salute rather than the Scout one?

Good, enthuseastic adult leaders, and a varied and exciting programme.

That doesn't clash with Gilwell 24, so it might be worth asking the SA if he's available.

When is your National Jamboree?

I know that Bear is visiting our county in October, Mrs Chug has said she's definitely taking her Beaver Colony along.

Get more adult leaders involved. If the same is true in the US as it is in the UK, most Scout Troops fold because of lack of leaders rather than lack of Scouts.

As an addition to this discussion, the President of the UK Scout Association is the Duke of Kent, who also happens to be the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England.

Can't say that Scouting in the UK has had to change much to accommodate girls, separate tents for camping but that's about it. As for flirting and giggling, if any Scout of either gender did that in my Unit they'd be called a tart and told to get on with it. BTW, I deal with 14-18yrs.

Narraticong: I don't think anyone here is saying that the BSA must become coed. Merely that if it chose to it would not be the end of the world. Boy would still behave like boys, they would not suddenly become a pansyfied, Brady Bunch shadow of their former selves. Of course they still wouldn't be as good as Scouts were when I was a lad, but I'm sure we know that.

Girls make excellent Scouts. Scouting here in the UK has been completely co-ed for a number of years, and none of the predictions the doomsayers claimed would happen ever materialized.

I doubt if the Girl Scouts will notice much difference, Girl Guiding here certainly didn't.

Eagle92: No I didn't go to that reunion, although I know the King's Head well.

Eagle 92: Deal is only a few mile away from where I live, and I have camped at Kingsdown on numerous occasions,(It was where I did my woodbadge course)

Mrs Chugs group is a Sea Scout group, and it celebrates its centenary this year. The Girl Guides (UK equivalent of Girl Scouts) ran a Sea Ranger programme until 1973. I thought that was the end of Sea Rangers, but apparently some of them split from the Guides and carried on http://www.searangers.org.uk/html/history.html

Eammon: The Wiki figures includes Girl Scouts. Does US Girl Scouting have a Sea Scout element?

I know here in the UK we have c.10,000 Sea Scouts in c.400 groups.(This message has been edited by Chug)

Try and get hold of some sachets of silica gell, lots of goods come packed with them in the box. Pack a few of these in with the tent and they will absorb any excess moisture.

Right, let's actually read The Scout Associations guidelines;

Published on: 01/12/2008

Information on the use of knives in Scouting

Knives should be considered as a tool and treated as such. Those who are going to use them should get training for their use, as you would for a saw or an axe. Knives are an offensive weapon so great care should be taken when dealing with them. When undertaking training at the Scout HQ, knives should be taken to and from Scouts by an adult. When taking a knife to camp, they should be securely stowed in the middle of the rucksack or bag.

If you consider a knife as a tool, then you should use the appropriate tool for the job. The vast majority of Scout use will only require the use of a pen or clasp knife, the cutting of string, cooking or whittling. Where you have a larger task, such as splitting wood, a larger knife such as a sheath knife may be appropriate. If you relate this to axes, you would not use a hand axe to fell a tree, nor a felling axe to split wood.

There is an issue with regard to clasp knives and lock knives. A lock knife is one where the blade stays open unless some mechanism is used to close the blade. In the eyes of the Law, this is more of an offensive weapon than a standard clasp knife because of this multiple action. From a safety point of view, a lock knife can not fold onto the users fingers and may be better.

The carriage of knives is also to be considered. If a knife is considered as a tool, you would only really carry the knife when there is an expectation to use the tool, after all, you wouldn't carry an axe around a campsite on the off chance of coming across some wood to chop. Therefore, knives when not being used should be stowed away until such time as they are needed. Legally, you are not allowed to carry a knife in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. A campsite, which may technically be private property as it is owned by a District or County, is considered as public property because of its use. Knives should not be carried unless they are going to be used, and should be put away when not in use.

Finally, horse play with knives must not be tolerated.

https://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/1515

The word weapon is used in connection with knives twice, whereas the word tool is used five times.

The actual ruling on Scouts and knives hasn't changed for more than 40 years.(This message has been edited by Chug)

Another Sea Scout, excelllent news.

I don't know if the same is true in the US, but I find many Scouters believe things that just aint true. A game Eamonn should know is "British Bulldog", speak to most Scouters and they'll tell you it's banned. They'll rename it "Irish Wolfhound" or "French Poodle" to get round the ban. Only problem is, it was never banned. People just assumed it was.

Another example is wearing of uniform. My sons Akela says that Scouts are only insured on activities if they are wearing uniform. "That must make swimming fun" says I.

Eamonn

I didn't join the movement until well after the APR. My Scout troop still had staves, they were used for pioneering and also for a variety of games, we also had two trek carts which were often used, especially on camps as many campsites didn't allow you to drive your van onto the fields.

Good post Eamonn. I have often heard Scouter bemoan the lack of traditional Scouting skills. But if we're not teaching those skills how our the Scout's supposed to aquire them? On another Scouting forum someone asked the UK Chief Commissioner to bring back Scout staves, the UKCC pointed out that they were still available, that Scout Shops sold them, and that The Scout Association encouraged their use.

oldisnewagain1:

Yep, just one, I'm sure we could all sit here and try to put the Scouting world to rights, I want to know what you'd do if you could change just one thing.

BTW, talking about traditional Scouting. Have you ever heard of WFIS?

I agree with Wahooker. You've got to remember that leaders are volunteers, usually with families and careers.