Eagledad

I'm riding a Harley Road King Classic. Had a bunch of bikes when I was younger but took a break to raise kids and do scouting stuff. Now two of the three are on their own and I wanted to get back on the road. I have lived on HW66 most all my life and still do. So while this part of Oklahoma is flat, the riding is good. Barry

>>I grimace when a scout leader says "my scouts are not ready or able to do activities on there own." What they do not realize is that what they are saying is "the adult leaders of our troop have not seen to the development of the scouts we are supposed to be serving".

>>I truly believe that some are so intent on not liking what the scouting program is that they do not actually take the time to read posts that support the program methods.

>>You format your post using the "Format this post" link below the Your Message on the left side of the message input screen. << WOW! That is really cool. Thanks John. Barry

Great Scouting All >>It isnt an either or- Just more Its ME than Bob White.

Great Friday All >>I would think that this issue would be the #1 goal of every leadership program.

>>I think a good compromise........

>>I dunno. That sounds to me like youth lead the program, eh? In fact, I'm not sure we could find a place in the SM Handbook that suggests otherwise.

Very few knots are practiced by the average person today. Even scouting is getting to be a tougher place to practice knots in this bungycord/velcro society. But teaching skills is not the vision of the BSA. The vision of scouting is to help boys guide their lives into becoming men who make moral decisions based from the oath and law. We do that by building the confidence to attack and overcome obstacles. All adults do is start them in these habits by giving them skills that in first glance look difficult or even a little scary. Even in the square knot the scout practices to set a goal, pursue the lesson and complete the mission by proving his skillmenship. While we don't use Morse code much these days, it is at first and even second glance a complicated if not scary to learn. But when one does master the skill, the confidence gained from it is huge. I know because I remember my struggles to master it quite well. My PLC use to laugh at me on our March camp outs because I prayed for rain as we drove out to camp. I found that while we don't give it a second thought, new scouts can be pretty quiet thinking about setting up the tent in cold rainy dark. But once they get it done and realize how easy it was, well they are standing three feet off the ground for the rest of the week. And, strangely we got rain on our March camp outs more often then not. Thinking on this, my motto to our JLTC staff was: "We are not here to teach, we are here to build confidence. With skills we can brag. But with confidence we can move mountains." I love this scouting stuff. Barry

So, how doe's tying knots and lashings build character? Barry

Sunny Skies all >>I am in a bit of a quandry over this issue.

>>Yah, just to be clear, I haven't posted anything on this thread yet, eh?

>>For the most part I'd agree with Beavah's list of pros and cons, except for the bit about longevity.

>>Yeah Webelos is broken, just look at how many scouts drop-out during the Web years. The excitement is elsewhere.

>>Is this typical at many camps? Just curious to know whether I ought to be concerned or not, what do you think?

Great day all Aw to be your son. Getting backpacking equipment was always wonderful experience for me. My dad wasnt all that active with my scouting, but I we spent a lot of time together finding gear for my first backpacking campout in Colorado. I suggest external frame packs for the younger scouts. As John said, your son is going to be growing and external frames adjust easier to growing scouts. They are also easier to pack, unpack and adjust on the trail if needed. They can take a lot of punishment and are little cooler to wear in the summer. New scouts like to just throw things in here and there, so they external is great for that. Plus it is much easier to find a piece of gear in one of the many compartments of an external frame backpack in the dark tent. Internals require patience looking for anything. The external backpack will teach your son how to pack for when he is ready to get and internal. Then there is the cost difference too. External packs look uncomfortable compared to the external, but they are fine. There are several good brands. Jansport and Kelty have good beginner packs for less than $100. Lisabob is right to check for used gear. Ask if your troop has any to borrow or for sale. We had several. If you find an old pack somewhere, make sure it has a good hip belt. The hip belt is the most important part of the pack suspension system because it will carry 85% of the weight. If it looks cheap, skip the pack. John is right about good boots, but not too good of a boot. I have two sons who out grew a pair of boots every year until they were seventeen. What you need for growing scouts are boots that will hold up to a teenage boy for a couple years. But it is hard to know what is good and what isnt. So here is a good test. Grab the sole of the boot you are looking at and try to twist the boot. If the boot has little or no twist, then it will likely work fine. Leather works better, but there are some good no leather boots out there. Wallmart has some decent boots for the job. No steel toes. They get cold in the winter. Your son needs to walk in those boots as much as he can before the first hike. If not, blisters are likely. Socks are where I wouldnt cut cost. Typically backpackers wear two pairs of socks. Liners and main socks. The thin liners repel moisture which is the main cause of blisters and cold feet, and they allow the main sock to slide enough to prevent less friction which is also the cause of blisters. Technology is getting good enough where you dont have to wear liners to repel the moisture, but I still like them and asked my parents to get them for their sons. If the feet get very wet, which is common in backpacking, great socks will protect the feet where good boots wont. Check the material of the socks and make sure they dont have any cotton. That is why they will be a little more expensive, but cotton absorbs moisture. Expect to spend $6 to $10 for good reasonably priced hiking socks and liners. Try on the boots with the socks because they can fill up a boot pretty quick. There are some good sales right now if you mail order. Do a search for different stores, Campmor and REI are good starts. Those are couple suggestions, I know others will step in as well because backpacking is a lot of fun. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

Beautiful Weekend All >>Contacting Barry off-line in hopes of stemming further problems. BW>Thank you gentlemen.

Great Camping All >>I usually have a raft of questions I have stored away so as to keep the conversation going and the boy taking. Otherwise it is designed more for the boy's reflection rather than information gathering on my part.

Beautiful Saturday All This really sounds great Gwd. I always look forward to your post. I would like to throw out one thing. I think our culture today is struggling with personal one to one communication with each other. We dont seem to know our neighbors as well and our youth mainly stay in touch through all the latest in technology gadgets. Because one of our Aims is citizenship, I look at Scouting for Food and other opportunities for scouts to personally meet the folks in the community. Not only that, in a time when Scouting needs to put its best face forward, the community needs to meet and talk to these young folks while in the practice of citizenship. This is who we really are and it is the face our community needs to see when they think of boys scouts. However you can and want to do this, figure out a way that your scouts and your church community, and even the surrounding community can meet each other in community service. When a parent comes to me and ask if I would by popcorn for their sons unit, I cant give quick enough. But I also tell them I would sure enjoy meeting their son personally. I know it is a pain to the scouts, but maybe they just need a little prompting of the value of personal communication with their community. Give the community a chance to actually shake their hand and say thanks. And if I could have just a couple seconds to brag about being a scout once myself in Bethany Oklahoma, it would make my day as well. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

>>Your answering for me isn't going to work.

Happpy Friday aall Sorry about the accidental unfinished post, fat fingers? Lets try it again. >> Barry, I have no idea how you come up with your conclusions about what Bob posted. He never said he was developing the Venture Crew to take ALL the 14 y/o and older Scouts. Please tell me how YOU arrived at that conclusion.

>> Barry, I have no idea how you come up with your conclusions about what Bob posted. He never said he was developing the Venture Crew to take ALL the 14 y/o and older Scouts. Please tell me how YOU arrived at that conclusion.

>> No Barry, we can't let it go there,

Great Scouting All >>Barry, Can you honestly say that a troop of 150 is not heavily adult run?

>>Nice post derf56 Barry