Double Eagle

You are good for the coldest of weather. A tuque will act like any knit cap during moderately cold weather or when you are a bald eagle and mornings below 45 start to get cold on the head.

Survival kit: Waxed dental floss is great. Half a hacksaw blade will cut almost anything. Any sized aluminum foil. Rubber bands for everything. A arrowhead (broadhead), cutting and hunting. Vaseline covered cottonballs. 35mm Canisters for anything.

When backpacking, trash compactor bags outlast normal trashbags.

Contact realtors and ask if you can put flyers in their offices. Many times, out of area families will search for a home with them and it helps to get the word out. Any school event can be turned into a recruiting event. A simple flyer or person with info and registration sheets will work. Churches,grocery stores, and radio is great. Also, get a local newspaper involved with what you have now and do an article. Marketing is the key to getting recruits even if you have a feeder pack.

Any info with the local chamber of commerce will help too.(This message has been edited by Double Eagle)

Funny you mention corners. My ASM, a medic, severely cut his finger while "carving". After we saw him with a paper towel wrapped around his finger, we helped him rummage through his medic bag. Needless to say after he doctored himself. I asked him for his and not only took one corner but three, one for each finger sliced. The scouts thought it was funny, and he volunteered to teach totin chip to get a new card with the understanding that his old one would be retained until he left and it would be presented (on a going away plaque).

Same day: Second one, my son (using his mom's side the brain) hit himself in the forehead with an axe handle by choking up too far on the handle. Being too embarrassed to say that outright, he told the medic that the axe caught on an overhanging branch. Well, both sat next to each other with banadages, odd shaped totin' chips and bummed faces. Real funny at the time after the blood stopped flowing.

These sure bring a new meaning to "be prepared". We need some serious medical help. One being the pharmacist to fill the needs and a doctor to suture the results of taken or missed medicine. And we thought the toadkiller & humper were out there. The machette one is a real side splitter (pun intended).

A tuque is like a ski cap. Its woven and has tapered front and back. For a good view, watch "Strange Brew" with Bob and Doug Mackenzie (hosers). Those from the US/Canadian border may be familiar with them.

To all the fellow critters, thanks for some woodbadge fun and for those that are future critters, its all in fun and overall when the kudo horn is sounded we all put our ears, wings, tails, and smirks towards the SPL.

I'm kinda torn on this. I have to lead towards the anyone with one can teach it but under the eye of a responsible leader. If at camp, a staff member teaches it, I would not second guess it. But, if a guy who earned it way back when is just returning to using the woods tools, coaching and guiding may be needed. I certainly don't condone an untrained, untested, and just-earned scout teaching the class. It is also up to how you are working advancement requirements within the troop. Another scout may teach it but the testing may be only with approved leaders. Good judgement and observation on the scout and the instruction is needed before I'll sign.

WRONG!!! I don't think it is a bear, I hope its not any mother-in-law. Bears have nothing on a mother-in-law. Or worse, a mother-in-law that is a bear. It just keeps getting worse. I've known a bob to be pretty scary until the light finds it. Kinda like a snipe.

A bear fly? hmmmmmm... I've seen a horsefly, deerfly, housefly, and even a dragonfly, but a bearfly? Isn't that when a fly doesn't have clothes on? Come to think about it, I have seen a bearfly. It ran, rather flew, away when confronted by a chipmunk.

This is a question for Teddy, Boo Boo, Yogi, Cindy, and Baloo. Who is the king of the forest when bears decide to sleep for months? Is it so hard moving around for a couple of months that you have to take months off? "Eagles are too chicken to fight a bear", well. Imagine how the other critters would make fun of the bear of it were to be beten down by the eagle. Eagles recognize this and are smart enough to know that the bear would have to hibernate for ever if it got embarrassed like that. Next thing you know a bob white would be mopping up the forest floor with one or making a bear a mass transit means for bobs. Eagles choose to soar, we will walk if we want to. Why be limited to walking or lumbering as a bear does.

Gotta agree about the intentional part. Those forms are not user friendly to someone that hasn't tried them before. As a SM, I don't sign the advancement sheet but I turn in the completed blue card to the advancement chairman.

Help for new scouters. Your name cannot be on as a board of review member if your son went through. Getting a blue card for a merit from the SM is one of the first parts of earning a merit badge before completing any requirement.

as mentioned above, sometimes your critter chooses you. There's no insurance about staying the same. Sometimes as staff you are transformed into a mess. Okay, you were an old grey eagle scout and were seen as a bear. You are a Beagle. If you are a beaver and your spouse is an owl, you will have bowls (pronounced: bowels) as children. Buffalo and bob whites. White buffalos of course. How about a bear and a fox, either boxes or fears. Antelope and owls, Owlopes. You pick. Interesting ain't it. The bears and buffalos may need pictures drawn to understand what I'm talking about.

rlculver415, welcome to the circle of life where eagles rule. When you are finally exposed as the critter you deserve, probably an eagle, you will contemplate why you were selected as... To be honest you will be what you have inside you. Fox, maybe, are you good looking? Sly, cunning, or skittish and afraid of other predators? Bears, well we all have our ideas how a bear acts. One of the biggest but not known for its intelligence. How hard is it to figure out a bear bag rope. Buffalo, tastes like chicken but too big to leave no trace. Bob whites taste like chicken too. Owls, like them, they are the eagles of the night. Beavers, like them too, they flood areas so eagles can get fast food, McTrout. Antelope, they bounce instead of running across the prairie. They have horns, not antlers, so they can arrange their tumble weeds all year round.

So the critters start to dress for battle and for some reason can't reach up to the level of an eagle. (whatcha got critters?)

Seriously: The whole wood badge thing is great and the program is excellent. Good luck and work your ticket. The critter fight is just part of the fun. Oh, $20? that's it. well, its better than the canadian nickel with a beaver on it. Gotcha beavers.(This message has been edited by Double Eagle)

Have your COR give the scout and parents, in writing, a notice stating the troop will not support this tri-registration and will not be supported until resolved by the parent what troop this scout will be registered in.

Advancement: This creates a nightmare if he is a patrol leader in a troop and tries to go to a board of review in another troop. How about a SM conference in one troop and the board in another. Lots of confusion there.

I'm not sure how many of us could hold our same positions in another troop or district. This must some super scout.

from my earlier post: ...a bear arrives and thinks that it is the king of beasts. Well, you are cute, cuddly and even have pretty ribbons around your necks. Top of the food chain? You envy the beaver's tail. You are too big to hide, sneak, or even leave no trace. With an overhead view, I can only say that you wish you could soar. So the games begin.

Caution: If the treasurer and SM are in the same household, you may want to get someone other than the SM for signature. This way you don't have a conflict between committee and who authorized. This is also sensitive like having the committee chairman and SM in the same household.

My CO requires a monthly budget report and a plan for the money. Whether it is fund raising or donations. A budget is needed. After the planning session of the PLC and the plan is approved by the committee, this should start your budget planning. That way you know how much you will need to cover their program.

Red Feather, A heads up on the MRE heaters. They have to be disposed of as hazardous material, like paint and some household cleaners. The military came out with this policy in the past year. Also caution the scouts about playing with the heat, although they feel hot, they produce a cold-injury type burn. Magic? I don't know why, just does. Not to give bad ideas, but many of "popper" or "MRE Bomb" has been made by emptying the gray heater stuff into a plastic bottle, adding water and screwing the top on tight. As the pressure increases... you get the picture. Hope this helps with the MRE stuff.(This message has been edited by Double Eagle)

The super glue is for broken glasses and stuff. Also in a pinch where you need to close a wound. Be sure you are not just sqirting it into a wound. If it will stick fingers together, it will hold flaps of skin until the emergency room can give sutures. BTW most emergency rooms carry a super-type glue for this instead of stitches.

Egg on a spit: Tried it, didn't work and made a challenge to scout spirit. Especially if you only get one egg. Most of the time the stick rotated and the egg just spun. Burned on one side or broken shells. If you are going with primitive egg cooking, you may try to carefully break the shell in half and cook the egg in the two halves, like little pots. Hardest thing is to regulate the heat.

What is an "official" neckerchief? I've persued this on an occasion or two and was told by professionals that they either had to have "BSA" on it or the fleur di lis. Much the same as OA lodge flaps must have "WWW" or "OA" on it somewhere.

Wilderness survival: Ah, a favorite topic. On one campout, we kept everyone in the immediate area and they were acting as if alone. I had a cooler that we kept meat and vegetables in and after being able to track and make traps, the traps were dismantled and I gave out a portion of the meat, like a chicken breast. It represented the animal and they had to come up with ways to cook it after lighting their own fire. Not adding to the MB requirements but to the fun. Once they found wild plants, they got vegetables. The same with tea for drinks. They had to go through the process of harvesting mint or grasses and then they would get a tea bag. Most still won't like it. Take along some aquarium pump hosing for sucking water from tight spots or on rocks. A fast-food straw works in a pinch. If you take a straw and melt the end closed, you can fill it with spices and melt the other end closed. This is easy for transport.

Bob, I mentioned earlier about letting the CE know. Got that. Maybe I'm a little thick headed but how do you stop the abuse without incarceration, removal from the home, or counseling. Isn't the bottom line that we want the behavior stopped. How it is done is not really important but putting measures in place that will stop it. This is probably linked with the other post about the excessive disciplining dad.

Picture this, we have the toadkiller (no abuse?) to the extreme dad (possible abuse). Isn't it up to whoever is in the area to "suspect" child abuse? Either of these parents may see it different. With anyone able to cry abuse, its how we handle these situations is my concern. If I was on the side of the extreme dad, I may say that the lack of instilling discipline in the toadkiller is abuse. McMon may think that ANY corrective behavior the extreme dad does is abuse. I'm amazed why there are still leaders that will put thereselves in an atmosphere where ANY disgruntled leader (and we've seen loads in the forum) can cry abuse for spite.

I have faith in the process of investigating such cases but the turmoil that one experiences in unfounded cases is incredible. What I am saying is that before alerting the entire community, look at the cause and affect. If a tongue lashing by another concerned parent can stop it, why not proceed that way. Please don't write the required part again, I got that. I just see things being more productive if handled at the lowest possible level. There's always time for taking it higher, if and when the corrective actions fail, you now have even more material why it should be taken higher.

KoreaScouter, I know well the "stars and stripes". Not comment.

Not only did the BSA get the blame for this, but on the backpacker web site, scouts have a bad reputation for being inconsiderate on the trail.

We cook with stoves mostly. Charcoal on aluminum foil for dutch ovens. This is done on sandy ground that won't make a scar on the ground. The fires we do have are included in the firem'n chit class. Fires only in designated areas because...

In Germany, heres how the law works. If you cut down a tree without the forest meister's approval, you may get fined for that tree and the trees that it would have produced. No lie. The same for roadkills, if you run over a chicken (it happens)and found at fault, you may get fined for all the eggs that it would have produced. Crazy right?

This makes for some pretty uptight leaders and parents. The scouts know that when they do get to do all the cutting,sawing, and burning, its the best thing in the world.

Chances are this type of law came about due to overuse, carelessness, and destruction of the environment.

Bob, To clarify on the overseas scouting. Not every unit is under a military base. Some are embassy scouts or with the American schools for American agencies. Not Department of Defense Dependents School (DODDS). The reason I bring this up is that you spoke about violating state laws. Not to get in a fight, but I bring this up so that other posters who travel to other countries to scout, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Korea and even the world jamboree, realize they may have to contend with this type of incident.

During the posts, I bring up the question of the authorities so that others reading these can get the info. maai is looking for advice and although letting everyone know is supposed to happen, the fallout after everyone takes action has to be discussed also.

What about fixing the problem, the scout needs counseling at a minimum.

Without getting too long (I'll do 10 at a time):

1. A sponge instead of a towel all the time.

2. Every packed item should have at least two uses, or leave it.

3. Whistles for everyone. They last longer than shouts for lost scouts.

4. Leave No Trace is always, not just when specifically stated.

5. An ounce at home is a pound on the trail.

6. Over plan for food.

7. Any fire will liven spirits.

8. Take "look at this" breaks instead of rest breaks.

9. Never leave home without duct tape, compass, lighter, superglue, and knife.

10. Don't knock the weather, its raining/snowing for a purpose. Anyone can have a good time in warm, sunny weather. A real test of scout spirit.(This message has been edited by Double Eagle)

I'll bite.

Overprotective is a pretty good diagnosis. First reply to the "ladies are inside" may have been "where are the scouters"? Sounds like a good time to attend a district level event where troops show their stuff. During this time, take this guy by the neckerchief and visit troops. Let him see how other troops function. You may want to cover this with a training session like he is training ASMs by writing down what they see they like and what they don't. A roundtable item for back in camp or a meeting. This guy has to see what scouts are capable of without him.

One way to keep overprotective parent away from son is to have patrol areas where the adults are away from patrols (within reason). To break the ice from a cross over, I recommend that the parent not tent with the scout. It creates an individual and makes him get along with others. This guy doesn't need a scoutmaster minute, he needs a scoutmaster hour.

As for the gender thing. It may be a good time to introduce some women OA members along with chapter/lodge members as guests or have them put on a camping demonstration. Anything to show him that skills are not limited to males.