Double Eagle

This is a touchy issue with me as two brother scouts in the 70s, that recruited me, never made eagle as they didn't go to church. They were the best scouts around that I knew of. One even helped me when I broke my leg in three places...longer story for another thread. They had all the skills, BSA gear, summer camps, and OA participation. That one active attendance "duty to god" piece kept them out. It was disheartening to see them scout from 12-18 yrs old, earn all the good stuff, and turned away. No leader or adult came to their aid. That was the late 70s, but times change or do they?

Tick keys work around here. Almost as essential as well...the essentials. Its like a knife, ask a group of scouts to raise their hand if they have one, and all hands go up.

In the south, mosquitos were out even in January. Mild temperatures allow for easy winters and hearty bugs. While regular sprays work mostly, we used to put Avon "skin so soft" on and it worked great. I don't know if it is even around any more. While at a stationary site, a Thermacell is now the going option. Most campers and hunters in L.A (Lower Alabama) carry these and consider them an essential. Permethrin is sprayed on clothes for ticks and chiggers. Chiggers are the worst. This yankee growing up in Michigan didn't know what a tick or chigger did until entering Alabama. For

This is going to be touchy issue. My first response is for a parent/grandparent/guardian not to write the religious letter for their child. You already support the child and it shows if they made it this far. Whether an "active" church goer, or not, there are other ways duty to god can be displayed. One of the most generic in a troop could be the troop chaplain position. Used correctly, that could be the only duty done. We never asked denomination or attendance records of the troop chaplain. Level of devotion and duty is measured differently in everyone. Some showboats have to sho

This takes me back to boy scout sheath knives and hatchet on belts. We had similar issues back then. Although different and uses differ, my weathered experience tends to lean toward allowing them. The best thing I suggest is educate, enforce, and praise limited use of phones and electronics. I've seen units set aside 15 minutes of call times when parents and scouts were available. We have parents as "separated" and needing the contact as the scout. Phones are not going away, better to fnd a way to work positive into our programs.

That is great news and the right direction. As we look at back-to-school nights, the worst question is how much will everything cost. The sooner the better on this change. Just another example, the wood badge woggle is cheaper than the boy scout metal and cub scout neckerchief slides...hhmmm? The embroidered neckerchiefs online are the same price as silk screen printed ones. You gotta wonder.

As I was browsing the scout shop on line today looking to uniform my new Tiger granddaughter, it came to me what goofed up Cub Scout uniforms we have. Each Cub rank specific hat is $15, rank specific belt buckles are $7, specific slides are $6, and socks are $6. Why the heck are Cubs getting a new batch of uniform items each year? How about just changing the neckerchief and letting it go with that. That item is only $10. Early 90s, all Tigers wore were the orange tiger shirt with earned paw prints, as they were just trying out scouts. We nickel and dime (really $5 and $10) our adults eac

I got to see this in action in 2005. This is a great win for everyone. How cool it would be to run the refuge and gather antlers. So much for popcorn. This district has the right way to go about getting funded with a renewable source each year. In addition to elk antlers, there are a lot of other things available to find. There are skeletal parts from winter kills, deer antlers, and all kinds of things to keep scouts bug eyed. I applaud the refuge directors and scouts in getting this continued. If only more districts and councils could do things similar. One council that comes to

Ok, I'm stone axe dumb on what is being stressed. First, I don't want to get started on how scouting is turning into a rich scouts game. So much is being stressed over fund raising that no emphasis is placed on the program to deliver. Most scouters are tired of pushing popcorn and rightly so. Our council does a fund raising card in addition to popcorn. I met a new cub parent at the local scout office and they were in sticker shock after buying her cub a uniform. As a scout, I had to sell "Scout-o-Rama" tickets and that was it. We rarely ever went camping outside the one council camp. J

Agree about getting the adults to understand and even create an adult patrol. An old goat patrol may be fun. Have the adults do everything like a patrol would do, especially on an outing. They can have an adult patrol leader and positions per se. The patrol emphasis has way more contact and interpersonal communication and interaction with the individual scout. Depending on the ages and/or rank of the troop, you have a lot of options on how to structure events. While stressing patrol methods, I've seen where ranks like star, life, or eagle have troop level activities. We pulled all star s

I hope there is a special final resting place for those that prey on the masses. The price markup by big pharm companies is criminal. It just goes to show the tyranny of benefitting from another's misfortune. Kind of like how the elderly cannot afford insulin and other drugs on their limited income. Now that is one thing I do believe needs overhauled and fixed by working class types, not wealthy politicians claiming everything should be given.

I've scouting in other countries and even picked up a few turk's head woggles made of different material, from yute to leather. My two cents is the WB woggle should only be worn with the WB neckerchief. If any youth can make a turk's head, go scout! I've seen many with paracord of colors to signify patrols too. I believe the initial WB woggle leather is related to the tread powered sewing machine cord, about the same stuff. I did have to come the rescue of one new adult that made a woggle while at summer camp. She was so proud until some WB'er told her she couldn't wear any woggle.

My troop was labeled like this in the late 70s, early 80s. We didn't have 12 in a year, but had maybe 3 per year when only 1% of scouts were earning it. We had a great program as a troop, lodge, and council. Never new of a district existing. We had the Mackinac honor guard each summer and is still going on today. Had a large group go to the National Jamboree, international camping in Canada, and every other year a group from council went to Philmont. It was the norm to have troop members on summer camp staff and to see eagles awarded often. It kept us motivated, as it was obtainable. N

Daydreaming of the past weekend with scouts, families, and the OA event, I got to thinking about all the discontinued items that I found were helpful with my two eagle scout sons. Now that I have grandchildren entering scouts, I broke out some older discontinued items I thought were great and treasure today. The first batch that comes to mind are the information bandanas like 40 knots, animal tracks, first aid, and the night sky. They are missed and were useful back in the day. Tooth of Time traders carries a couple versions, but are hard to find elsewhere. A couple other discontinue

I must have had all the "different minded" scouts as a youth and adult. Without listing every wild thing they did, another one was bringing a huge fantasy axe like from lord of the rings. The thing was novelty and could never get an edge. The axe was almost as big as the scout and I don't think he could have swung it 10 times. Now that scout had confidence.

Keep them coming. I had a scout bring iron leg traps as he said there was a lot of muskrats around the canoe pond and no one was trapping them. We had a talk about trapping seasons, scout camp, and impact of processing animals in camp. Such is scouting in the great north woods of the Adirondacks.

With all the talk about the best gear, tips, and hacks to take to summer camp, I got to thinking what is the worst or most outrageous things you have seen taken to camp? We all know about the usual stuff of Rambo knives, flame throwers, fireworks, but I've seen some that made me say what the heck? From giant stuffed animals, family pets, TVs, to a week's worth of food because they didn't like the camp food, what have you seen.

As I revisited this thread, I was thinking about how to compromise the heritage with rules. How about making a viking or hammer patrol, there used to be a patrol patch for it. A patrol cheer with a fist hitting an open palm could signify a hammer and anvil. As the Viking is pretty popular, items for the patrol are endless.

After reading the thread and looking back, a few things come to mind. First is whether a closed trailer is labeled or just left blank. I've seen several times full trailers stolen or broken into. These advertised the unit and chartered org. Shame on those that stole it, or broke into it. MacBrave has a blank trailer that wouldn't let out a scout troop uses it... no offense. I like the blank ones like I like the blank trucks not advertising a hunter owns it. I am all about secrecy and not advertising what we do or have. I could see a better way to advertise the unit by having car door m

Digging into the uniform guide and since it was mentioned above, I turned to the "special regulation" section about wearing multiple patched on jackets on page 11. It says only one patch on the back of jackets. But as reality sets into today's word, the red wool jacket is now the gray beard jacket. Today's youth are not interested in it. In lieu of a brag vest, hide, or blanket, if a scout wants to put them all over a jacket, so be it. There are bigger issues in scouting that need attention than busting a scouts pride. Its sometimes hard to get scouts to wear the uniform outside an event

One of my favorite topics. First, about every woodbadge bead wearer takes pride in their earned beads, neckerchief, and woggle. I've never seen anyone having a problem with that wear at any function. I do keep them available and wear them often. With that said, I have a lot of neckerchiefs going back to 1978 when I was just a tenderfoot. At long term camps I like to wear a different one daily, and change the slide daily too. I think the 30+ slides say a lot and bring up conversation as an ice breaker with new scouts. I like to wear the frying pan slide when I'm doing a dutch oven demo.

Any slide they make with a 3/4" - 1" should be great. I have a box of slides I rotate through. I tend to use the lightest slides for action activities where the banging around won't knock me out if it loosens up. The bigger and bulkier ones are more for idle time. In a pinch, I've seen a key ring used. There is no right or wrong slide unless it keeps falling off. I think slides and knives are most lost items of a scout.

I would be more in favor of waiting and attending summer camp. Attending another council's WB gives them the support to continue with their program, while taking your council's need away. Without the need, your council may change and do it less frequent. I've seen some early scouters take WB and try to check the block and gather knots. They were good for a short term, but not the long haul. I managed to go to WB about 18yrs after my eagle. It is personal development that has to be done at a good time and opportunity. No pressure to go or finish a ticket in a month, self paced I guess is

Anything with their patrol critter is great. I've seen their "ticket" framed beside their woodbadge completion certificate. Tasteful gag gifts are good too. The BSA has a myriad of WB items that would be great.

You may want to contact the Kandersteg International Scout Center in Switzerland per their website. As an American, I've been there a couple of times and they host summer and winter programs with scouts from a lot of countries. They also have a neckerchief and patch trade on the side like most scouting events.