anderle

Sometimes progress is nice but these major changes are not so good. I had the site bookmarked to show the last 24 hours which presented the list of topics, the number of pages, and was sorted from newest to oldest - http://www.scouter.com/forums/search.asp?action=today&sortby=lastpost&order=desc. Made it a lot easier to see what were the hot topics and to jump straight to the page you left off the last time, e.g. topic has 10 pages today, yesterday it had 8, so I clicked on the 8 or 9 and started there. Sorry to say but the changes have made it more of a pain to use and over the last several days I found that I stopped checking the board.

Checked out scout manager. Nice try but lacking so many features that it's worthless. Inability to set dates of when requirements, merit badges, etc done - defaults to current date. Didn't find anywhere to list POR. Can't even say what leadership position the adults are in. Many other glaring deficiencies.

#6 might be true if the SM is designated as an authorized adult to take a youth to and from an event as stipulated on Part B of the Health Form 680-001,2011 Printing, Rev. 2/2011

Decent choice. Another in the same price range is the SkeeterBeeter Pro. It's a couple inches wider and a foot longer. The real trick is in how you hang a hammock to get the most comfortable lay. Laying diagonally will achieve a fairly flat lay vs the banana shape. Check out hammockforums.net for more information, fun, and camaraderie than you stand. There's a bunch of us Carolina folk and a larger number of scouters than I would have expected. There's one near you (Wilmington). I'm in Durham if you ever get up our way.

If you are from NC, do you remember when Jesse Helms was an editorial broadcaster? I also remember getting gas at Esso not Exxon. TV only had 4 stations and the remote control was my dad telling me to get up and go change the channel.

APEX, N.C. An Apex man has been charged with stealing about $2,600 from the local offices of the Boy Scouts of America. James Warren Rupp, 46, of 9037 Holly Springs Road in Apex, surrendered to police Wednesday and was charged with embezzlement. He was released after posting a $5,000 bond. Investigators said Rupp was in charge of the popcorn sale money for the Boy Scouts and that he stole some of it between Jan. 1 and July 6. Rupp is on probation for a 2007 conviction for obtaining property by false pretense. He also was convicted in 2006 on that charge, as well as larceny by employee and writing worthless checks, according to state Department of Correction records. From WRAL.com http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/10076403/

From what I've seen it's 1:1 for rehydration. Most recipes have the meat rehydrating at the same time as cooking ~15 minutes in hot water. Here's a sight with many backpacking recipes that my scouts like http://www.trailcooking.com/

You are better off getting a tarp made out of silicone-impregnated nylon also known as silnylon. For example a Equinox 10x12 weighs 18.8 oz and can be had for around $65 (http://www.gearforadventure.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=EQUGlobeSkimmer&click=27)

Actually I did the opposite and ditched a tent altogether. I now use a hammock with a tarp. The roof is as high as I want, the bed is always the right height, and I never ever have to worry about water coming in or what the ground is like (roots, rocks, slope, etc). The best part is that my back feels better after a night in the hammock than it does sleeping in my bed at home (still trying to figure out how to hang the hammock in the bedroom without being shot by the missus). At this point half the troop has converted to hanging There were a few things I had to learn like insulation tricks but I can use the same set-up either plop camping or backpacking. If you really want to see what the rage is all about check out http://www.hammockforums.net.

Photos of your troop are an excellent recruiting tool. We publish our outing and event photos on the troop website and have heard from many a prospective scout and family that they viewed those photos to see what our outing program looked like. Some were sold on our troop merely by the photos. We do have the parents sign a waiver that expressly indicates their desire for their son to be shown or not. We also do not use more than a first name in any caption.

So this is all good information. Paypal is easy and I've also been looking at Intuit's site https://paymentnetwork.intuit.com/homePage/semLink1 which offers a similar service with only a .50 transaction fee. I think adults are so used to online paying now that offering a method for scout functions might be well received.

It'll soon be time to start collecting registration fees for summer camp and this year I was thinking that maybe we could offer an online payment system. This would give the parents the flexibility of using either checks, credit cards, or direct from account withdrawals. It can then also be used for yearly dues collections, donations, other trip fee collections, etc. It also offers the advantage of them being able to make a payment when they receive an email from the troop or when reading the updates on the website. Has anyone used an online payment system for camp fees, registration, etc? And if so what service do you use?

http://www.bsatroop423.org

I'm a scoutmaster with nominally 4 ASM's but trying to get a 2nd adult for trips is usually like pulling teeth. I'm waiting until 2011 when we recharter and I'll be the only leader registered due to the training requirements.

Actually the ground will not really heat up, it will suck the heat right out of you before it gains significant warmth. I've personally slept great at 20 degrees hanging and if you search YouTube, there's a hanger named Shug who record the trip he took at -27 in Minnesota and slept well. If you have scouts interested in hammocks (5 of mine have so far converted)try making your own. http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=670 or http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeHammock2.html I assuming your scouts already have some kind of insulating pad like the WalMart blue pads? Sailingpj: I'm surprised about your experience. If a hammock has enough slack and you lay on the diagonal, then you should have experience an near flay lay. I know I'm sounding very enthusiastic but that's because since I've changed over from ground dwelling, I've have slept much better, with no (none at all) back or shoulder pain in the morning. I don't even fell this good when sleeping in my regular bed at home. BTW I'll be 50 in a couple of months so those of you in this age range know what I mean about the wake-up aches. As a side benefit I don't have problems finding a level, dry spot to set-up. I have slept on steep hillsides that would have you smushed into one end of your tent. http://www.mcmannenscouting.org/Troop423/photos/Michie0310.htm http://picasaweb.google.com/manderle/200911FallsLake?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSBh-PK6eHNaw#5407359333126118226 http://picasaweb.google.com/manderle/ShiningRockWilderness2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCILjtcC72qiMUA#5352495615835093122

I use a hammock year-round here in NC. The trick is insulation. You can't just use a sleeping bag because your body compresses the insulation under your back leaving no air pockets to trap heat (that's how the bags work). Just like tent camping a closed foam pad is needed. I use one of 2 different sizes or both depending on the temp. I always use a 40x60 inch 1/8 inch closed cell foam page in the bottom of the hammock. This is large enough to keep your shoulders warm. When the temp drops into the low 50's I then slip a mummy shaped self inflating pad into my sleeping bag. This keeps it from slipping out from under me if I squirm during the night. If I ever get the funds I'll get a down underquilt that attaches to the outside bottom of the hammock and use a top quilt inside. The very best source of hammock information can be found on the Hammock Forum pages (http://www.hammockforums.net/). These are all hardcore hammockers who love to share their knowledge. There's also several scouters there as well.

We experienced the same thing this past year at Cherry Point MCAS. They let us stay on base, using the barracks that the Young Marines use, but this year they didn't have anything we could do except bowling on-base. Previously they arranged tours of the control tower, flight line, and the guys on the Rescue team were happy to show their stuff since they had to be there anyway. Too bad, I imagine it as a great recruiting tool for the future.

(why this duplicates my post I don't know) Our church has these huge cast iron kettles for making brunswick stew and they use mineral oil to season them. Applied cold and no unusual taste.

(removed as duplicate - don't know why it does it)(This message has been edited by anderle)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8628871.stm Scout level rise biggest in 38 years, association says The scouting movement celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007 The number of scouts in the UK has increased by 16,500 since the start of 2009, the biggest growth in 38 years, according to figures. Membership has now risen for five years in a row, taking levels to nearly 500,000, the Scout Association said. The surge was largely due to a record level of interest from teenagers, who now number more than 65,000, it said. But it warned the need for more adult volunteers meant waiting lists to join the movement were at an all-time high. Although more than 13,500 new scouting places have been created this year thanks to 2,871 new adult volunteers - up 3.1% on 2009 - some 33,500 young people are still waiting to join, it said. The number of teenage members has risen more than 26% since 2001. Adventurer Bear Grylls, 35, who is the UK's chief scout, said the surge in scouting was "fantastic". "Scouting is empowering, wild and fun, and offers so many adventure-based activities for young people and adults alike. "My goal is for every young person that wants to be involved in scouting to be able to be so I hope to inspire even more adults to volunteer and help this happen," he said. So what do we need to do to have a revival here in the US?

Boy Scout finds $2,000, gives it back Posted: Today at 8:10 a.m. Updated: Today at 9:41 a.m. http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/6627837/ GREENSBORO, N.C. An 11-year-old North Carolina boy has found and returned a stolen purse with nearly $2,000 inside. The News & Record of Greensboro reports Wednesday that Edward Myers and his siblings were helping neighbors plant trees in a Greensboro park when he spotted a purse on the creek bank. The Boy Scout and his mother called the police, and the purse's owner showed up to collect. The owner told police her car was broken into on Thanksgiving. Police say the thief took $30 out of the main billfold but missed $1,900 in another compartment before flinging the purse into the creek. The owner rewarded Edward with one of the $100 bills. He gave $40 of it to his mother and spent the other $60 on a Carolina Panthers jersey. --- Information from: News & Record Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Here's one scout that understands honesty

Here's the queen of freezer bag cooking's site http://www.trailcooking.com/ and another good one is One Pan Wonders at http://www.onepanwonders.com

Training is all well and good - if you can get it. In my district they offer the basic training once a year and then canel parts of it when they have scheduled it during a time now one will make. I've been a SM for almost 2 years and can't get the trained strip because I can't get to a IOLS event. They offered one on Oct 31, no one signed up becaus e we all had family commitments and then cancelled it. They didn't have one scheduled last spring so therefore I'm "untrained". BTW I was a trained scouter in the early 80's but those records were lost and I had been out of it for the 20 years in between.

Make sure the straps actually go around the bottom bar of the pack's frame