Eagle1982

Just heat it up again. You don't need to start over. Technically it's the continual cooking and oiling operations that make them well seasoned.

Hike a lot with the pack on for good training. Uphill if possible. Poles are a personal preference issue. I borrowed some once and liked them, so I got a set. Some people don't like to use them. I'd say have him borrow a set and see if he like them. They do make hiking easier, they also fill up your hands. To get the benefit, you need to use two trekking poles.

What makes it a performance shirt? Just making a T-Shirt out of synthetic materials does not automatically make it a performance shirt. Cut matters. Shirts for various sports are cut different, with different features. With a shirt designed for backpacking, the seams may be out of the way, or done in such a way as to not irritate. For biking you may want those obnoxious colors. For rock climbing, you don't want the shirt to snag on anything, so you may go for a snugger design... Besides, synthetics aren't the be-all do-all of fabrics. There are performance shirts with some silk content. There are performance shirts with a merino wool content. Cotton has gotten a bad rap, but works well in a variety of situations. National should stay out of it, and leave it to the troop level, based on what the troops are actually doing.

"Cocoa has caffeine too, as does tea/honey. Both have a bit less than soft/energy drinks, though. " Just FYI informational http://www.energyfiend.com/the-caffeine-database Drip Coffee - 18.1mg per oz Brewed Coffee - 13.4mg per oz Green Tea - 3.1mg per oz Tea - brewed - 5.9mg per oz Iced Tea - 5.9mg per oz Coke Classic - 2.9mg per oz Diet Coke - 3.8mg per oz Mountain Dew - 4.6mg per oz RedBull - 9.5mg per oz Monster Energy - 10mg per oz A big glass of sweet tea could be worse than a can of Coke. That big thermos of coffee may not set the example of what to drink.

My parents would never have let me take merit badges with them, even if I had wanted to. I grew up in a small town, and my parents drove me around 2 counties to get my merit badges. Only the citizenship ones were done by a troop dad, all others were done by parents all over. I guess times are different.

"The only objection I have is that it's probably a waste of valuable classroom time. In my state, the teachers already complain that they don't have enough time to teach extra stuff because they have to teach the Standards of Learning." Please, current public schools are such a waste of time. There is plenty of time if you take away the fund raiser meetings, pep rallys, field trips, movies, and busy work worksheets.

Most Real Navy Seals don't advertise that they were Seals. This is a problem in the martial arts world also, a lot of people claiming to be special forces, or seals, to bolster their image. I can see why in the martial arts they would lie, but to lie to a scout troop to bolster your image???? Get him out as fast as you can. You can also report him to pownetwork.org Curious, does he have a tattoo? If so can you supply a description or picture?

For a little more $ you can check out the Exped down mat, The stuff sack is also the inflation pump. It's warm and comfy. http://www.exped.com/exped/web/exped_homepage.nsf/b43HomePageE?openframeset

I like the Henry rifle, I don't think it's too outrageous in price. If you have ever had a gun engraved, you quickly can find that engraving can cost more than the original gun. Everything else, blech. Doesn't support thriftiness.

But the unions managed to get 90% benefits for laid off persons, at the automakers expense. The unions managed to set up their "job bank" where people get nearly full pay for sitting around and reading the paper. The unions managed to get top tier health care, which has now ballooned in cost, at the automakers expense. Although GM was hemorrhaging money, the unions still saw fit to surgically strike the popular plants (like the Malibu plant, once it started selling well) - way to go. Now, auto company management accepted all those contracts, so they are just as culpable. I just wish the Union and automakers would work together for the betterment of all employees and for better quality of all vehicles instead of being adversaries all the time. The autoworkers didn't complain about SUV's when they were cashing their bonus checks a decade ago. Inflation still requires demand. Without high demand, you can';t have high inflation.

"How about having the bears wear collars that are linked to some sort of GPS system, that calls campers cell phones when the bear comes within a quarter mile of where the camper is? This would also ensure that here in the forum we don't have threads that are 102 pages long about cell phones. " How about a 102 page thread on who is going to put up and pay for adding all the additional cell towers and running electricity to them?

Yea, I agree with Beavah, prob ably time to look for another troop. However, I wouldn't worry too much about what they may say to other potential troops. I suspect if you find a good one, they will know about the type of leadership coming from your current troop.

"There also appears to be a difference among bears even in relatively small spaces. The stories I hear about Yosemite bears suggests that they have lost all fear of humans and have learned a great deal over the years about human habits. Alledgedly they even know what ice chests are for. Similarly, Philmont bears probably get more exposure to humans than bears in less intensively used areas. So modifying one's priorities to adapt to local bear behaviors makes a certain amount of sense. I have no science to support this, but I think it is a reasonable hypothesis. " Actually, if bears were to have a convention and get together to share stories, we would be in a lot of trouble. Different National Parks have different rules regarding food storage. I believe in Yosemite (or Glacier) only the bear vault is allowed, as the bears there have figured out how to open a bearicade (it may be the other way around). Always check the parks regulations before setting off. Supposedly near Shenandoah, a mama bear taught her cub to climb a tree, shimmy along the branch and jump on the hanging bag, to have it crash to the ground, and make a nice feast.

Google stories of bear attacks on people in tents. Usually food is involved. There are plenty of articles. Share the articles with the scouts.

Yep, train your replacement! It'll be good for everyone.

There was some really good advice in this thread. Quick question, and Beaveh kind of touched on this when he mentioned not to get impatient. When this boy made everyone late for breakfast, how did the other Scouts react to it? Did they pressure him at all? Did this Scout show any remorse for making everyone late? Questions for everyone. Do you generally let everyone be late for one Scout's inactivity? Do you fear a risk of the Scout getting a "Code Red" when you are not watching? How have boys self moderated this issue (so we can teach the SPL and PL next year)

Minimum square footage has come up often in my state with regards to tents. In Michigan, there is a law regarding square footage for dormitories, tents or other sleeping quarters for any youth program. This is mostly to prevent camps from cramming people in. In Michigan, the law applies to any camp which is over over five nights in duration, and the shelter is not moved during that time. For weekend campouts, backpacking, canoe trips... it does not apply. (unless staying int he same tent without moving for over 5 nights)

Wow, I didn't know Catholic's and Protestants were of different religions and faith systems. I like a boy run service at the campsite whenever possible. I really don't like the services put on at most summer camps where they pray to mother earth instead and great powers/spirits, those, IMHO, are speaking to different religions and faiths.

Kudu, funny story. I know I heard my version on the radio, just can't remember when or who did it (I drive a lot for my job). So, it's interesting the Scout Oath doesn't go "Physically fit, mentally awake and LEGALLY straight", but rather says "Morally Straight". Naturally, everyone has their own interpretation of what is moral (I mean, just because they wouldn't be allowed it in school or at the kitchen table, doesn't make it immoral). While moral absolutists may use a cute story to make a point, I suppose we all can just go with the flow and say, "What's the big deal?" http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/13710340 I mean, in light of the story above, doesn't it just make you want to be a teen again?

Evacuation can not logically be the only reason, because then you would simply have an upper cap instead of a graduated scale. If it was simply for evacuation purposes the policy would be something like 220 pounds regardless of height. While I agree many professional athletes may fall outside of the recommended weight, I can't picture many that would be more than Maximum acceptance. Taking 6 foot again, there arn't many 6 foot pro athletes that weigh more than 239 pounds. Even looking at pro athelete web sites, baseball, basketball, hockey people are no problem. Even in football, many are no problem. It is the football positions like Tackle where you have a pro athelete outside the maximum allowed. Having gone on a professionally guided hunt with two offseason pro football players (linemen) let me just say from personal experience, you would not want them on a Philmont Trek with you. Their athleticism does not complement the requirements needed.

There were two brothers who wanted to go see a particular movie that they know had some inappropriate scenes in it their parents would not approve of. Their parents didn't allow their kids to see these movies for the bad content. The brothers then tried to be logical with their parents. They knew the movie had a few inappropriate parts, but the overall message of the movie is very positive, and surely one or two small negatives would not be such a big deal, the negatives would be outweighed by all the good things and overall positive message of the movie. The parents said to give them a couple hours to think it over. So a couple hours later the brothers confront their parents. Mom offers them some fresh homemade brownies, but they can't eat them until they hear dad's story. Dad begins to explain. He says, like the movie, the brownies are mostly good, made with quality chocolate, fresh eggs and filtered water. Also like the movie, the brownies have a very small, practically minute bad part. See, dad put a little bit of dog poop from the yard in the brownie mix. Now, the dog poop was mixed with all of the good things, so surely they would not be able to taste it. Also, it was bake din a 350 degree oven, so any germs would be killed. It would be completely safe to eat, even the dog eats it's own poop and is healthy. Dad says if they eat their poopy brownie, they can go to the movie. Neither boy eats his brownie. Then dad explains how how if you eat the brownie, sure you may be ingesting some negative things, but they will pass through your system in a short amount of time and be gone. Inappropriate content that they see, whether on purpose or accidentally, stays with them forever. I wish I could remember where I heard that story from to give the author proper credit.

The wording is a little confusing, hopefully the doctors won't be too confused. If you look at the range from "Recommended" to "allowable exception" it's pretty wide open. There is about a 100 pound range potential for a 6 footer.

Maybe the Earth is ready for another flip of the magnetic poles and the one compass was getting ready.

I've been to the lodge shop on the way to Gatlinburg. The answer is, it depends. Like many outlet places, if there are overstocks then they might be discounting them pretty well. Also, sometimes there will be a batch of "scratch and dent" or otherwise not perfect stuff at good discounts. For those, it really just depends on timing and availability. Otherwise, it's a store with a very good selection, but not necessarily the best prices.

Interesting, do you get any kind of metallic or oil taste in the ice cream?