Whittling chip rank minimum?

[83Eagle 11]

I had it in my head that the Whittling Chip could only be earned by Bear or above. However I can't find that in "da rulez" and I may have come up with that idea because the Bear Book is the first one that mentions it as an activity.

 

Is there no rank minimum for the Whittling Chip? (Tigers on up are eligibile)

[83Eagle 11]

Never mind, answered my own question. While not a rule per se age appropriate GUIDELINES say Wolves on up.

[momof2cubs 10]

Interesting..I just assumed it was a rule, but heavily based on conventional wisdom too. I don't think it a good idea for a bunch of 6 or 7 year olds at family camping to be wielding knives. But hey that's just me.

 

Funny thing is, my youngest son's den leader and I were having a conversation about this issue. When our older sons were Bears, we had no qualms about them getting "knife certified", but for some reason the thought of our younger sons (entering the Bear year right now) getting the chip scares the hell out of us! We can't figure out if we are babying our babies or if we truly just don't think they are as ready as their brothers were.

 

As a side note: our younger sons have later birthdays in the year than our older sons do. In other words, they are younger in their Bear year than their brothers were. In fact, my son started his bear year at 9. Do u think 6 or 7 months make a big difference?

[shortridge 184]

And yet there's also the WC certification form, which states only Bears and Webelos can earn it. See http://www.scouting.org/filestore/cubscouts/pdf/512-028_WB.pdf

[83Eagle 11]

Hmmmm...with a 2011 publication date no less...

 

The mystery deepens...

[rjscout 11]

I always thought Bear rank or higher was the rant, but at a cuboree in the fall, the district opened it up to wolf cub scouts who were 8. I never saw an official ruling.

[83Eagle 11]

This wouldn't be the first time that the age guidelines did not jibe with some of the other guidelines.

 

Regarding the "certification form," that's the first I've seen of that particular document.

 

My thinking that it was limited to Bears and above is the fact that the Bear book is the first one that mentions it. (Then again, the Webelos handbook doesn't mention it either.)

 

Looks like a gray area to me.