Signaling in Scouting

[scoutingagain 20]

Next thing they will ban red meat... from Canada.

 

SA

[scoutingagain 20]

Speaking of old skill requirements, whatever happened to stalking/tracking?

 

Now that this thread has me digging through the cobwebs of my brain, wasn't there a second class requirement at one point to follow someone for a mile or two without being seen or identified?

 

SA

 

 

[NWScouter 9]

I think it went away in the 70's change. I always get a laugh when I mention when I was an Instructor in the 60's one of my areas was stalking.

[Be_Prepared 10]

regarding stalking, the 2nd class requirments were to do two of the following:

 

- follow 1/2 mile trail made with trail signs or somebody dragging a whifflepoof

- follow 1/4 mile the tracks of person or animal in soft ground or snow

- stalk another Scout for 1/2 mile, without being seen by him

[NJCubScouter 1389]

Whifflepoof! (As opposed to wiffenpoof, which is different.) I was trying to remember what that thing was called. It was the log or board with nails stuck in to make marks on the ground, right? And now I remember noticing back in 72-73 or whenever that they had taken the stalking and whifflepoof out. I seem to recall a de-emphasis on map and compass as well... it was still in the book but it was stuck into one of the Skill Awards so you didn't have to learn it as early as under the old requirements... or maybe not at all. It's a little hazy from 30 years ago... I'm amazed I remember any of this at all!

[OldGreyEagle 5]

Ah, yes, Whiffenpoof's...

 

From the tables down at Mory's,

To the place where Louie dwells,

And the dear, old Temple Bar we love so well,

Sing the Whiffenpoofs assembled,

 

With their glasses raised on high!

(non-alchohol of course)

 

And the magic of their singing, casts a spell.

 

Yes the magic of their singing,

of the songs we love so well;

"Shall I Wasting" and "Mavourneen" and the rest!

We will serenade our Louie,

Till health and voices fail'

And we'll pass and be forgotten with the rest.

 

We are poor little lambs

Who have lost our way,

Baa!Baa!Baa!

We are little, black sheep

Who have gone astray!

Baa!Baa!Baa!

 

Gentlemen, songsters, off on a spree,

Doomed from here to eternity;

Lord! Have mercy on such as we,

Baa!Baa!Baa!

(Now if they were competent in Orienteering and GPS they wouldnt be lost)(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[Fat Old Guy 11]

"Scouting has done a better job of keeping current than Morse did."

 

However, the US Navy still teaches and uses both Morse code and semaphore. Evidently it is still relevant in the world.

 

My radical opinion is that the signalling requirement was eliminated because it was "too hard." Most rquirements for 1st class can be completed in a day or on a single campout. However, signalling takes days to master.

[willysjeep 10]

True, morse code may be a bit outdated, but it is no less useful today, if scouts still knew it, than it was in 1911. As for stalking and tracking, I am really sad that that requirement is gone too. Tracking and stalking are skills that I wish I had learned as a scout. Now I have to pick them up by myself. I do find that I get to experience nature more fully by being able to read tracks and follow animals though. Mabey they could reintroduce it under nature study or low impact or something. After all, if a deer doesn't notice you, you are probably less visible to other hikers too.

 

So, here are some things that I wish were back in the program in some degree:

 

Sheath Knives (I think they're OK and we had a discussion a while back on them)

Stalking/Tracking

Signaling

less watered down wilderness survival skills

 

 

[Region 7 Voyageur 10]

Speaking of things that Mr. Jeep wishes were still in the program, I wish that Cooking was still a required merit badge and that that hiking was still a part of Second Class requirements.

[hops_scout 9]

Last I checked, hiking was still required for Second Class. When did that change?

[Region 7 Voyageur 10]

hops_scout

 

You are correct. What I ment to say was the three 5-mile hikes that were required at one time.

 

Dave

[NWScouter 9]

Back when I was a Scout in the 60 it was only one five mile hike. I checked my sons book from the mid -eighties, the Hiking Skill Award, you needed two five mile hikes. One in your town and one with your troop, patrol, or two or mother other Scouts. When was it three?

[rlculver415 10]

My brothers and I had an advantage when we were in scouting. My father was an officer in the Signal Corps (Army). He taught us lots of interesting things like semaphore, Morse code, etc. When I was a Webelos den leader in the latter part of the 90's, I taught semaphore to both of our Webelos dens. They gave a welcome one Pack Night using flags we had made. "Lost skills" are often fun for boys to do, even if they are no longer required.

[Region 7 Voyageur 10]

NWScouter,

 

In the handbook copyrighted 1965 there was a requirement for three 5-mile hikes. I think this went out in 1972.

 

Dave

[NWScouter 9]

By that time I was First Class, I guess I did not realize that they had increased them.